Sunday 27 October 2013

Craft Exhibitions at SECC Glasgow on Thursday

Afternoon Everyone,

I hope this finds you well and having a super Sunday.

The weather here is appalling ... much rain and the wind is revving up more and more as the day progresses. I hope those of you who are down in the south of England have battened down the hatches ... I hear you are in for a big one ... gale, that is ... the forecast is for 80mph! Hope you all get through it without too much damage.

I'm happy to report that the weather was kind to my daughter, Juli, and I when we tootled off to Glasgow, to the craft exhibitions ... there was two going on at the same time, Crafts for Christmas and Hobby Crafts ... at the SECC.
Check out that blue sky :) And what about this building? It's the recently built SSE Hydro which just opened on September 30th this year ... in plenty time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. It's a sporting and entertainment facility ... see a photo of it lit up at night here.
Our first port of call was the Crafts for Christmas exhibition which had a display of items from the various stands in the hall. I liked the Christmas tree and Julia loved the 3d picture of The Waverley Steamer - the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world ... she's been going since 1946 and hopefully will keep on going for many more years.
We were both agreed that this dragon is spectacular ... it's made entirely of recycled metal components ... so we went off to find stand E21 - Roosters Creations - and were totally wowed by what we saw ... here's just a montage of some of the many photos I took.
I think you can click on the photos to enlarge them ... the hand in the second montage is amazing. And if you want a much better look at Scott's (that's Rooster) creations made from discarded cutlery, teapots, spark plugs, tools, scrap metal, etc., check out this YouTube video

We spent a very enjoyable hour or so checking out the various stands and loved everything we saw ... we could have spent a fortune but we exercised great self-control, saving ourselves for the Hobby Craft hall :)

Almost our first port of call was the ClarityStamp stand where Barbara Gray, seen here chatting to a couple of fans, very kindly showed Juli just what can be done on a Gelli plate. And I learned a new trick or two too :)
This chap is the Decopatch Penguin ... he looks very smart in his floral waistcoat. Juli was fascinated to discover some of the crafty things her mother gets up to in her craft room. Some, like this form of decoupage, she had never seen before. I think we may have a crafting convert now after watching demos on everything from air brushing to Zentangle!
Here she is, almost at the end of the day, having a rest and a cuppa ... it seemed that we had walked miles around all the stands. And what did we buy? Juli found some fat quarters of fabric for the patchwork she is working on and, though she didn't buy it there and then, she also found the sewing machine of her dreams ... one specifically designed for quilting and patchwork. And here's a pic of my haul.
As you can see I was remarkable restrained - a Clarity stamp I'd had my eye on since watching Barbara demonstrate it, two pots Pinflair Buff-it, gorgeous stuff, and the sponges for applying it, an Imagination Crafts stencil with thistles I couldn't resist, some fat quarters - love the red one with the wee Westies on it - a patchwork strip, a quilters quarter inch measure, a reel of very nice Christmas ribbon from Designs on Pine and a Pigma Micron pen ... to try my hand at Zentangle some time.

So that's it. I hope you enjoyed our trip to the SECC. We chatted to a lot of lovely folk, watched some brilliant demonstrations and all-in-all had a lovely day. We came away tired but happy and planning return in March for the next Hobby Craft exhibition.

Take care and happy crafting,

7 comments:

Cathy said...

Looks like you both had a wonderful time Elizabeth. TFS the pics, the rooster creations stand does look amazing! Cathy x

Alison Scott said...

So jealous Elizabeth, I normally go each year to this but had an appointment on the Thursday which is my day to go (way to busy at the weekend)
I am determined to go in March though. Not missing it again.

Jackie said...

Sounds like you both had a wonderful day. Love that magnificent photograph of the new Hydro :o)
Jackie xx

Sandra H said...

Morning Elizabeth....Just look at those goodies ooh l'm so jealous l hope we are going to see something made from them looks like you enjoyed your day .....weather terrible here as it is in lots of places take care x

Hettie said...

It is always nice to have an outing somewhere isn't it? Love that stencil you bought!
Hugs
xx

Patricia said...

My Goodness Elizabeth you were very restrained.....actually so was I this time. It was a good show but a lot less stands than previous years.
We went Thursday as well, thank good as Friday was appalling weather.
Glad you had a good day out.
Beautiful day here as I sit typing this, cool but who cares the sun is out!!!
Happy crafting

Patricia xxx

Cornelia (fun stamping) said...

Hi Elizabeth, looks like you had a blast there - what FUN! And yes, you were very restraint - I could never do that.... Thanks for becoming a member on my blog - I have a welcome picture for you - hop on over, if you find time...
http://fun-stamping.blogspot.com/2013/10/merry-monday-81-and-more-new-members.html