Sunday 13 April 2014

Ally Pally - a day with friends - and a credit card...

Hi, Happy Sunday to you - and good luck to all running the London Marathon... I will be - watching from the sofa!!

Yesterday, saw my twice-annual trip to Alexandra Palace and the BSSBS - Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show - I LOVE this show, (my credit card gets lots of exercise too...as you will see later)

The day dawned early - I like to be near the front of the queue, lol!!  This time, I was meeting the oh-so-lovely Julie Ann  at Victoria station in London for only her second trip to Ally Pally.  From there we headed to the venue to meet Lin  It was nice to have someone to travel the rest of the way with and chat in the queue - although to be fair, most times you just chat to the person next to you anyhow.

At 10 when the doors opened we headed - dashed! - straight to Paperartsy (of course) for the new stash we'd missed out on in Paris (bottle caps, Emma!) The lovely Lin Brown and Leandra were already hard at work demoing (early entry for disabled visitors to allow them some space at the stands) so we did a bit of a sweep of the racks!
Lin working hard - tags covered in fabric and paint stencilling on top (you can see in the samples at the front too)
 Leandra also working hard with her funky new hair colour!
Julie Ann and Lin laughing with Leandra..
 this tag with the gorgeous doilly stencils turned into a bit of a Jo Myhill/Leandra collaboration - so much so that when Leandra had a break, Jo stepped in to demo -
 both these stencils had to come home with me, lol!
 

 Jo was a natural!

 Mark - Mr Paperartsy - then had a well deserved break and Leandra had to work the till... hope it's not in too much of a mess, Mark!
 that finished tag - a beaut
















 there was time for a look round too - it was fabulous to catch up properly with my fabulous friend Gabrielle, it's the first time for ages since her awful accident last year, but you looked great Gab, and so did Freya-brayer (in joke) and her cousin Rebecca, seen here with the lovely Karen who was sadly there working!
There were lots of people there, but now the show is held in the Great Hall it doesn't feel too crowded - unless you want to get to your favourite stands!

towards the end of the show the #PATWITS gathered back at Paperartsy - here's Jo still working away!! - and the lovely Lesley watching Lin

and Christine and Lin doing some last minute browsing!

 Once the show closed - and we all finally stopped going "oh I might just get this" some of us headed to the bar for a drink - though the inside was packed we had to sit outside - it was a bit chilly - Jo, Julie Ann and Nicky
and the group having a catch up on our days





 Mark and Leandra's gorgeous daughter Millie

 so I guess I should remember to put in pics of what I bought - some cardstock and tissue
stencils - just one or two!
 this and that - sorry it's not a good picture!
and some stamps...
now, where can I put it all....? I could be gone some time!

Thanks to everyone for a great day yesterday - and if you're going today, have as much fun as we did!

25 comments:

Pinksparklegirl said...

Looks like you had a brilliant day, these pics have made me very jealous. Nice to see some faces to put names to!

Unknown said...

Looks like it was a fun day!!

Deborah Wainwright said...

Oh wow Helen what a great time you all seemed to have. Loving your stash, looks like some great creations are on there way.

I loved reading about your day great post and great photos. Thanks for sharing Debs xxx

Virginia said...

Looks like a fabulous day was had by all!

BJ said...

What can I say but WOW - BJ

Hazel Agnew said...

Thanks for that Helen, love the stash, want that words stencil top right. Details please? X

Carmen said...

Those doily stencils are just yummy. I only have one doily stencil - the Balzer Designs one and I use it to death. I might have to add these in with it ;)

Last time we went was the first time we'd been in the big hall and it was so much nicer not getting squished. Hopefully we'll get there in September! Nice haul!

sam21ski said...

Looks like you had another fabulous day Helen, can't believe that it was a year ago since me and Emma were there and met you and Lin for the first time, seems soooo much longer than that!!

Great stash as ever and thanks for sharing all your fab photos.

Sam xxx

massofhair said...

Great post Helen, great stash and what a wonderful time you all had. Your pictures show us what a lovely show AP is. Looking forward to seeing what you create :-) x

Julie Lee said...

Such a lovely post, Helen, capturing all the fun and friendship as well as the gorgeous things to be seen and your fab stash! I really enjoyed seeing everyone - and stocking up on 'goodies'. Thank you for your company. It was a lovely day! Hope even more friends will be able to make it next time! Julie Ann xxx

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

So lovely to hear about your day out Helen. I never get to this show so wonderful to see how much you enjoyed yourself with friends, wonderful goodies too. Tracy x

ellen vargo designs said...

Looks like you had a fabulous time - lots of demos, good friends, and a nice workout for your credit card! :) Saw you got a set of my stamps - yay! Hope you have fun playing with all your new stashly goodies. xxx

Lucy Edmondson said...

What a terrific write up and photos, Helen. Wish I had been there. Hope I get to meet you soon,

Lucy x

Sarah Anderson said...

Thanks for the great write up and photos. I may make it one day, you never know! Fab stash too x x

Unknown said...

Looks like u had a Fab day! Love those stencils & stamps! :) xxx

Minxy said...

Glad you had a fab time, was lovely to see you. that 1st pic im in is horrid though, I look like a bloody drunk lol

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful day you had! Great photos of everyone, fantastic new stash to play with & your tag from Leandra & Jo is STUNNING.

Gabrielle said...

Ooh! What a fabulous post! I LOVED spending the day with you - thank you for spending so much time with me- much appreciated! Had a lovely day today decanting my bulging bag and having a play! Mwah xxx

PaperArtsy said...

Brilliant summary Helen. Great to see your stash too!

Words and Pictures said...

What a collection - I was restrained by comparison!! Looks like you all had a ball...
Alison xx

craftimamma said...

It was so good to see you again Helen. Really would have liked to stay for a drink later but my friends and I had such a long day especially Elaine that we knew we'd be dropping by the time we got to our hotel & got a meal sorted out. Fab photos, I don't know how you find time amongst the chatting, shopping and watching demos. I took my little camera but only took a few pics of PaperArtsy artwork and then promptly forgot to take any more. .... I'm hopeless! It is a lovely time to catch up with friends though even if only for a few minutes.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Unknown said...
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yoursartfully said...

Fab blog post Helen - nice haul!!! So nice to see you on Saturday, sorry we didn't chat much though,it was a tad busy!

Lin x

Netty said...

wow you hit the jackpot again Helen and bought some wonderful stash, especially love your lacey stencils. Hope you are enjoying a well earned rest now. Look forward to seeing your new creations, Annette x

http://nettysartadventures.blogspot.co.uk/

505whimsygirl said...

Oh wow -- now I know why everyone mentions Ally Pally!

Great new items!

Hugs,
Kay