Reflections of a Craft Show…

On 11th September i attended my local craft show which has been a wonderful place to purchase all my crafting tools over the last few years.

The venue at 8.45am, so quiet, no coffee available for any long distance travellers and the queue getting longer by the minute, i was lucky to be allowed inside to sit down.

The lovely Paramedics who keep us safe making sure the wheelchairs were ready for the day.

After the terribly staged opening ceremony and obligatory photo session it was let time for the ‘let everyone in at the same time stampede’, those of us who struggle to walk or in a wheelchair were pushed out of the way by the eager crowd.

  Imagine my disappointment when i found 85 stalls listed under the ICHF banner and 25 stalls listed under Woman’s Weekly Live.

Out of the 85 stalls there were:

23 craft stalls

25 fabric/haberdashery stalls

6 beading stalls

1 Storage stall

5 yarn stalls

totalling 70 stalls so far, the rest of the 85 stalls were made up of nail art, garlic grater, sweets, cheese, bags of all shapes and sizes and quality, travel companies, RSPB, Cancer Care Foundation and a couple of felting stalls.

Then we had the Woman’s Weekly stalls which are of no interest to me at all. It was like receiving junk mail except in the craft show, i was not happy.

If i hadn’t managed to book three small free workshops i would have been finished and home for around 1pm (the show starts at 10.00am). I do not walk fast or easily but there really was nothing to engage me except the places i shopped for craft tools and the Powertex stall.

The three projects i made were

Top image the fantastic and messy Powertex piece, the bottom image is the felt flower brooch and playing with felting piece.

The Powertex stall had no spaces left by 10.30am on any of their free workshops, i was lucky to get a space. Here is their stall and some of their lovely staff.

Here is the stash i managed to get, some on the list some not.

Flower making stylus tool set, pokey tools with handles, white Signo pens and some mini Distress Ink Pads.

Needed this die since it was released, it is so beautiful.

The two dies above were not on the list!

Neither was the Powertex kit…

Or the sari material, but who could resist this gorgeous silk.

I complained to the show organisers as i was leaving, there were too many places selling the same dies and very bad quality fabrics. There were other factors involved in my complaint especially asking where all the other craft stalls had gone.

I hope you haven’t been put off attending any shows but i do wonder where all the craft stalls have gone to. There are so many craft shows all trying to outdo each other it has reached saturation point, i am also wondering how much longer this madness is sustainable.

It will be interesting to see if the Craft Show as i know it will still be around in a couple of years.

Thanks for dropping by and i look forward to your comments and observations.

xxx