Great Lakes Mega Meet ....

...  It's been a really fun day here in Northville.  Today is the first day of the Great Lake Mega Meet in Novi and I was out early as those of us who pre-register can get in at 9.00am.  I think that a lot more people registered early this year as there was quite a crowd waiting for the gates to open!!

I had several things that I wanted to get today - the new Distress pads in both colours, some more Copic markers and the new Hero Arts ombre pads.  I was really pleased as I manged most of that - sadly only managed to get the Fossilised Amber though.  Here's a photo of my haul:

I'm delighted with my new goodies.  Here are close ups of the various items:

Love these crazy bird stamps.  A few Christmas stamps from Dylusions and then these wonderful sets by Brett Weldele - love the zombie!!

There was a special on this stand - buy three Lawn Fawn items and get the fourth free - well, it was a bargain!!

I found the Hero Art ombre inks - I think they're fab.  The bottles are Color Burst from Ken Oliver Crafts.  They contain mircofine highly pigmented water colour pigments for watercolour backgrounds.  They are bright and easy to use.  Check out this video here.

I got some super new Spellbinder dies - basic shapes and some really fun geometric designs.

And finally - the lovely Fosillised Amber and the Grey Slate Dylusions spray. 

I didn't both to take a photo of the Copic markers - they are already in use!!  I bought a copy of Sandy Allnock's wonderful Hex Chart at the weekend and I spent yesterday morning colouring in the hexagons that I have.  I added the ones I bought today and you can see that I've still got quite a few to get!! 

If you haven't got this chart yet, it is well worth getting.  You really can see the way the colours relate to each, and you can also see the ones that are very similar!  Anyway, that's all for now.  It's time for me to get dinner sorted out.  See you tomorrow!

Great Lakes Mega Meet ...

... hello everyone - hope you're having a good day.  I've been busy this morning catching up with some ironing and I finished it.  It was made so much easier as I watched Silver Linings Playbook - which was excellent.

I told you yesterday that I was going to the Great Lakes Mega Meet - well, it was brilliant.  I took two classes about colouring with Copics - well worth it too.  I feel much happier about colouring now.  My third class was about Zentangles.  Our teacher was Diana Hirsch - she is a super teacher.  She created a wonderful atmosphere of calm, which was very welcome after walking around the exhibition, and then started to teach us three basic tangles.  After our class we had all completed a tile - here's the photo of the group's work:

With only three tangles - each work is totally unique, and it really was lots of fun.  I felt very relaxed at the end of the session and also want to learn more!  Here's a close up of my very first tangle - I think I'll be making more.

I did get a number of bits and pieces at the show, but I was reasonably restrained.  I got some scrapbook templates to make shaped pages, a few books with new tangles in them, some stencils for mixed media and art journalling, some wonderful new shimmer acrylic paints (Silks), some Cuttlebug 5" x 7" embossing folders, some laser cut titles for scrapbook pages and, the best deal of the day, a lot of new Copics.  I got a selection of greys and the fluorescent colours!  Very pleased with my stash!

That's all for now, as I'm off into my craft room to play - got to make a card with some of my new stash!!  See you soon.

I might have gone a bit mad!!! .....

... OMG!!!  What can I say?  The Great Lakes Mega Meet was fantastic!  Jonathan dropped me off at the Suburban Showplace, Novi at 9.30am and there was already a queue to get in at 10.00am!  Still waiting in line with my cellphone and Facebook made the time pass quickly.

The doors opened promptly at 10.00am (9.00am if you'd pre-registered) and in we went, picking up a show guide as we passed.  My plan was to walk up and down the aisles to see what was on display.  And there was so, so much!  I knew that I wanted to get some of the new Spellbinder dies - and I did that :))))  Good prices too - I got mine from the Scrap-mart stand - dies here in the States are so much cheaper than in the UK.  The Crown Circles, Ovals and Mega Rectangles shown here were only $10 each (£6.00).  I also got some Shapz dies - also made by Spellbinders - again at a great price.




I think the buy of the day had to be the bling shapes by Want2Scrap - all on sale for 99ȼ - they had very long queues!!!  I got some lovely gem and pearl flourishes, as well as some bling frames for Labels 18.




I found all the new Memento inks pads too - I spent ages looking at them, picking up one colour and then another and changing my mind.  In the end it was easier to get them all ;)

Scrapbooking is very popular in the States, less so in the UK, so I intend to scrap some of the many, many photos that Jonathan and I take.  Mega Meet is aimed at scrapbookers with so many pretty papers, embellishments, stamps and albums.  I found a number of exhibitors specialising in digital scrapbooks (looks like fun) and also several companies offering templates and layout techniques.  I particularly like the clean lines of the Mosaic Moments by Tami Potter - I treated myself to the introduction pack.  I also found some really fun 12" x 12" papers at Stamping Station featuring London, England and Wales - hard to believe I had to come over here to find them!!  Not only did I find papers, I got co-ordinating stickers too.  They had papers for just above every country in the world, all the US states and many European countries too.

Finally, I found a super storage solution for all my loose ribbons.  On the First Choice Products stand I found the "Spool & Store" kit - it's such a good and simple idea.  I've already made a start on my ribbons, but I think it'll take a while.

I realise why I've not visited fairs before - my credit card took a bit of a bashing!!  But it was super and I've had a totally brilliant day.  Next year I'm going to try and book some of the classes and get inky!  Hope you're all having a great weekend.  See you soon.