Shoshiplatypus

Just to warn you – this is a very long post, but persevere, because among the many photos, there may be something that you find interesting. Plenty of different styles for different tastes!

On Thursday 26th September I went to the Creative Crafts Show at the County Showground at Westpoint, just outside Exeter. It’s been a while since I went to a craft show so I was really looking forward to it. As always, it was a brilliant day out, with the usual opportunities to stock up on things, with some of the regular stand-holders there, and a variety of different displays and exhibitions. There are always workshops and make-and-take opportunities for those who want them, but I didn’t do this, preferring to spend the time looking around. There’s always too much to do in a single day, I find!

Here are the photos of my favourite highlights of the day.

Pergamano

My friend Margaret (Glitterandglue), who had hoped to be with me at the show but unfortunately couldn’t make it, is an expert Pergamano crafter, and she asked me especially to visit the Pergamano stand on her behalf, but the lady she asked me to visit wasn’t there, and the two ladies on duty didn’t know about her. Unfortunately I forgot to note down the lady’s name, which didn’t help! Anyway, I took quite a few pictures at that stand, not only because I thought Margaret would like to see them, but also because this is absolutely exquisite work! When Margaret visited me at home one time, she brought along some samples of her beautiful pieces which were quite mouthwateringly gorgeous, but I decided this craft wasn’t for me as it’s very fiddly and detailed, and as a result, extremely time-consuming. Watching her do it, gave me an appreciation of just how much effort and care and attention goes into each piece, and my admiration for the people who do it knows no bounds!

This absolutely exquisite piece stole the show for me on the Pergamano stand. It is a 3-d picture made up of several layers.

The shading and embellishment is so subtle and dainty. Pergamano looks like the finest lace.

Some pictures of the display of Pergamano on the walls at the back of the stand.

There were a number of items on the table, too.

Here is a detail shot of the progress sheet, showing the stages of working in Pergamano. The top row shows the development of the subtle shading, and the bottom row, some of the work done with the various embellishing tools, impressing and piercing the parchment paper.

Before attending the show, I had downloaded a plan of the hall layout, and a list of the exhibitors, and marked on the plan the stands I definitely wanted to visit. Doing my homework in this way enabled me to visit the stands I really wanted to see, right at the beginning, and then after that I would be free to wander around and look at everything else.

Inventors’ Asylum

One stand I definitely wanted to visit was that of “The Inventors’ Asylum” – something as different from Pergamano as you could possibly imagine! I was intrigued by this and had visited their website beforehand. This is a husband-and-wife team who make various costumes and embellishments for theatre, film and cosplay, mostly on the sci-fi/fantasy gothic theme. Bex Raven (“Queen of Rust”) does most of the needlework, whereas her husband Jay (“Inventor”) does wooden laser cuts, 3-D printing and casting, working with technology. They make an awesome team! Although much of what they produce isn’t really to my taste, I was intrigued with the materials and techniques they use, and together they make an awesome team!

In this first picture you can see a rusted “metal” crown which is actually made of 3-D printed plastic! Beside it are other 3-D printed objects, and to the left of the picture you can see a large 3-D printed gun Jay is working on. There are also various moulds and castings and badges, and in the foreground, some laser-cut wooden pieces.

Some of the materials they supply from their online shop, including compounds for accelerating rust, and cyanotype kits. This latter is something I am keen to try. It involves treating a substrate (such as paper or fabric) with a chemical, adding something as a resist (photo transparency, leaves, paper cut-outs etc.) and then exposing it to UV light, which develops the chemical into an intense blue shade. This is how the old engineering blueprints were originally made.

Examples of rusting.

From his wooden laser-cuts, Jay made thicker pieces by layering them together, and then distressing them. After this he used them to make silicone moulds from which he could cast as many repeats as he wanted, using epoxy resin. These could then be painted and treated to make them look like distressed or rusted metal.

 

Some armour made from rusted fabric, with additions!

Some rusted fabrics, some of which include some cyanotype printing.

Jay told me that some metal objects, if they are made of different metals, will give different coloured rusted effects.

A sample piece incorporating some simple embroidery.

Some of Bex’s costumes. Bodice with embroidered skull.

 

Intriguing, don’t you think? This couple are so creative and imaginative, and these techniques would lend themselves to many different styles.

Contemporary Quilts

Moving on, again to something completely different…

One of the highlights of the day for me was the Quilters’ Guild display of contemporary quilts on the theme “In Print.” A fascinating selection of extremely varied designs inspired by this fairly open-ended challenge!

The first was a quilt depicting an enlarged fingerprint. An extraordinary piece, with an incredible amount of work involved. What a dramatic result.

This resonated for me with thoughts of my own father’s death. I was inspired very much at the time by the work of ceramicist Edmund de Waal, whose Zen-like installations of simple white cylindrical porcelain pots was as much about spaces between as the objects themselves, which made me think of the space left behind as my father left us. “Leave No Trace”? Only in my heart.

Here is a detail shot of this quilt.

“Aspects of Venice.” A beautiful, subtly-shaded quilt. evocative of history.

A trio of quilts, “Quote Quilt,” “From Rannoch Moor to the Mountains,” and “Murmuration.”

“Freedom of the Press.”

A humorous quilt on the theme of rejected work.

“Blueprint,” one of my favourites in the collection, featuring as it does the cyanotype technique.

“Of the Shed.” This artist had been clearing out her garden shed and was inspired by the dead leaves, rusted objects, etc. I love the colours in this quilt, with the contrasting leaf prints, and the little touches of random stitching at the bottom. It gives me further inspiration for my teabag art!

Glimpses of Royalty

Moving on again to another must-see display at the show, the Madeira embroidery competition 2019, whose theme was “Glimpses of Royalty.” The overall winner was this one on an oriental theme. I love the 3-D nature of the piece, and the delicate cherry blossom embellishing the frame. Unfortunately, as in several other pictures in this group, the camera simply doesn’t do justice to the piece, whose gold positively scintillates in real life.

Russian icon depicting Ivan the Terrible.

My hubby said to me he thought it was a pity that so many monarchs in history had rather negative descriptive names like this, such as “Vlad the Impaler,” and “Ethelred the Unready,” but I said there were a few that were “the Great” – Alfred, Catherine, etc. He said there should have been a few such as “Frank the Not Really Too Bad,” or “Bert the Did Quite Well.” I said that these characters could hardly be described as earth-shakers!

Another beautiful gold piece, with an Egyptian theme. The face is worked in the finest canvaswork and looks almost like a photograph. Again, the gold was scintillating. A lot of 3-D texture.

This was a fun one – King Henry VIII, probably England’s most famous king. Definitely a larger-than-life figure. Note the silver frame, also embroidery.

I particularly liked the way this artist had padded out the figure from behind (to be as true as possible to life!). I had to take a side-view picture to show this!

This sculptural 3-D piece depicted an eagle surrounded by representations of enamelled miniatures of various English monarchs.

Here are some detail shots of the kings and queens, not in any chronological historical order. First of all, Richard III, made famous by Shakespeare’s play, and also by the discovery in recent years of his body, buried in a car park in Leicester. His body was exhumed and examined, and sure enough, it was found with a pronounced scoliosis of the spine, proving the legends about him. He was reburied with great ceremony in Leicester cathedral in 2015.

Queen Victoria. Until the reign of our current monarch, she was the longest-reigning monarch in our history, giving her name to an entire era.

Charles II. He ascended the throne with the restoration of the monarchy after the English Civil War and the Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell, following the execution of his father, Charles I.

George III. Famous because he went mad. A pity that is his only claim to fame in the popular imagination, because he was a decent, cultured man, who unlike many royals, was moral and remained faithful to his wife.

In the centre of the display was this magnificent 3-D sculptural embroidery of a magnificent royal crown. Again, the photos hardly do it justice because the metal thread and the gems shone and glittered. It is set on the monarch’s Royal Standard.

A beautiful representation of one of the dresses of Queen Elizabeth I, worked mostly in machine embroidery.

Going way back in history to a depiction of an illuminated manuscript illustrating Aethelflaed Lady of the Mercians.

Finally, in this display, a magnificent representation of the official Royal Souvenir programme of the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the parents of our current Queen, Elizabeth II.

At this time of political turmoil when I find it hard to be proud to be British, this is a timely reminder of our great heritage and reminds me that I am a patriot at heart!!

Spellbound Beads

If you are still with me, take heart – not much further to go! The final photos are of various stands that took my fancy. The first was that of The Spellbound Bead Company which sells kits to embellish decorative baubles. With the addition of delicate fine beads, these are so pretty! They would do for Christmas or any other time of the year

This was my favourite one:

They also do bead jewellery.

TeePee Crafts

The TeePee Crafts Stand. They do kits, ribbons, fabrics, etc. etc. I was drawn to the gorgeous muted colours, and in particular the beiges and browns mixed with blue. Lots of teabag inspiration here!

A hanger with pockets. I just love this colour combination. Also, good ideas for using up scraps of lace and fabric, odd buttons, trims, etc.

I love the fabric flowers and the use of cotton reels in this embellished basket.

An old-fashioned folding sewing caddy – another way to use up scraps of this and that.

All rather shabby chic and pretty.

Lion and Lamb

I was happy to find that the needle-felter Joan Prowse was there with her “Lion and Lamb” stand – she is at most of the craft shows and also at the County Show. I have photographed her magnificent signature piece before, and this year there was a new felted piece of the Crucifixion which I found very moving.

Janie Lashford’s School of Millinery

Janie Lashford was wearing a magnificent fascinator hat which unfortunately doesn’t show up as well as it should in the photo! She was working away all day at her hats and attracting plenty of attention.

Black Sheep Wools

The fabulous crochet blankets on the Black Sheep Wools stand drew my attention, in particular the “Eastern Jewels” blanket. What gorgeous colours.

Exeter Embroiderers

The Exeter Embroiderers’ Group had a lovely stand, with three very friendly ladies on it and we had a nice chat. They had lots of examples of shibori ribbon in their work, which really intrigued me. I had never seen this “in the flesh” before, and it was even better than the pictures I had seen. They very generously gave me a piece (photo at the end of this blog post).

In the corner of their display was a construction in the shape of a volcano. It was hollow inside and had a hidden flickering light. I wish this photo had come out better because it doesn’t do it justice! You will just have to use your imagination.

Sue Hawkins Needleworks

The Sue Hawkins Needleworks stand had loads of examples of her work, which you can buy in kit form from her site. She didn’t allow me to photograph any individual pieces (fair enough) but she gave me permission to photograph her display as a whole. Exquisite little objects made from fine canvaswork embroidery – sewing cases, magnets, glasses cases etc. etc.

That’s all the photos I took at the actual show.

My craft show purchases

I told my hubby as I went in that I probably wouldn’t buy much stuff this time. Famous last words… (I justify it by saying that craft shows are only once or twice a year!!)

Miscellaneous useful supplies. After I’d bought the pack of double-sided adhesive sheets, I found some really wide rolls of double-sided tape, so I bought a couple of those as well. I find it really helpful to back paper or card with this before die-cutting it, especially if you are using an intricate die. It makes it easy to stick it down. Previously I have stuck strips of double-sided tape on the back of pieces of card for die-cutting but this is rather laborious, and it’s nice to have bigger pieces.

I also stocked up on lots of Distress Oxides in colours I was missing, and I found those spring clips for £1 – nice and strong, and will be very useful for holding things while glue dries etc.

There was a stand with Japanese things – they visit Japan every year and arrange tours too. I bought a little pack of Japanese embellishments, including some papers, threads, little fans, cut-outs of Japanese figures, coins, etc. I’ve got a pad of Oriental-style papers that I bought at the last craft show I attended, and I think these embellishments will go well with that, when I get round to making an album from it.

The little pot of cement balls will be useful for adding texture to mixed media projects.

Pebeo

I visited the Pebeo stand – the French paint company. They have loads of different art media and I bought a 3-D foiling adhesive and some sheets of foil. I won a prize on their “spin the wheel” thingy – a pen, which I may or may not find useful!

On the needle-felting stand, I decided to buy a proper needle-felting mat. To date I have been using a foam block, and this has now disintegrated quite a bit with all the stabbing it has endured! The lady said that those are fine for entry level, but the large brush-type mats are much better and will last much longer. She had a deal if you also bought the cleaning tool, which can also be used for blending the wool prior to felting, so I went for that.

The Indian wood block stand was there again, so I treated myself to three more blocks. Last time they had sold out of elephants, but I got one this time. I was tempted to buy more but restrained myself – they are rather expensive! They came in the pretty little fabric bag that you can see in the photo.

On one of the craft stands they were selling “Udderly Smooth” moisturising cream, so I bought a pot of that. I was supplied with this by the hospital when I was having my chemo, to protect my skin from drying and breaking down, and decided it was the best cream I’d ever used! It was developed in the USA to treat cows’ udders but the dairy farmers were so impressed with how soft it made their hands, that the company decided to market it for humans too, retaining the fun name and cow-hide label. Nice to find a new source for this cream.

Right at the end of the show, after most of the crowds had dispersed, I found a quilting site which sold the wide rulers I was after. I bought a small one, which I think I will find useful in my paper art work.

Also on the Pebeo site, I bought a selection of their stencils.

I bought a selection of miscellaneous dies from various sites. Just basic shapes mostly, but a rather nice set of gear wheels, and a nice honeycomb one to go with my bee stamps.

That’s all folks! Phew. Well done if you’ve made it this far. I hope you enjoyed your virtual visit to the Craft Show. It was tremendous fun and I really enjoyed my day out. I look forward to using the things I’ve bought, and hope to show some results before too long. I can definitely feel my studio mojo returning…