Creative Moments

Due to our pending exhibit at CHA Chicago, any orders placed on the website after or on Thursday 22nd July 2010 will not be dispatched until Monday 2nd August 2010.

The shop will also be operating for the following reduced hours:

Friday 23rd July – CLOSED
Saturday 24th July – 9:30am until 5:30pm
Sunday 25th July – CLOSED
Monday 26th July – CLOSED
Tuesday 27th July – 10am until 4pm
Wednesday 28th July – CLOSED
Thursday 29th July – 10am until 4pm
Friday 30th July – CLOSED
Saturday 31st July – 9:30am until 5:30pm
Sunday 1st August – CLOSED

Our normal opening hours of 9:30am until 5:30pm (Monday to Saturday) will resume on Monday 2nd August 2010.

Take a look at our sister blog here for a Sneak Peek of our NEW CHA Summer 2010 Releases………….

http://creativeboutiquepapers.blogspot.com/2010/07/fifty-downfifty-more-to-go.html

Okay, so we may have been a little quiet here on the blog in the last few weeks however we have been VERY busy over the last nine months developing our newest project! (which I think you may all like  just a little!!!!!)

After much teasing and lots of requests, we feel now is the time to reveal all……..you listening?……….

Two weeks today, the Creative Moments team will be heading out to the USA to attend CHA in Chicago. (CHA Chicago – for those of you that don’t know –  is the Summer show for the Craft and Hobby Association where all the biggest and best manufacturers debut their newest products and collections)

Now when, we say ATTEND, we don’t just mean attend – we will infact be EXHIBITORS of this prestigeous show!!!! We are VERY excited to announce that we will be launching our own paper line under the name of Creative Boutique!!! How exciting is that?!?!!!

We have four rather beautiful collections (even if we do say so ourselves) of 12″ x 12″ paper – with some papers even featuring intricate die-cut edging. We can’t wait for you to see these beautiful collections, so if you are off to CHA, please drop by and say ‘hello’! We are holding a morning workshop on Tuesday 27th July 2010 from 8am until 10am at CHA, so why not book a place (through CHA themselves) and be amongst one of the first to get your hands on these gorgeous papers!

Wow!!! We are sooooo excited and have been finding it hard to keep this to ourselves for so long!!! So now you all know!

Okay, Okay – I can hear you all asking for more, so I will let you in on the names of these fantastic collections…………..

Drum Roll Please………………………….

• VINTAGE DRESSMAKER
• TIME FOR TEA
• PEACEFUL GARDEN
• TWEET TWOO

I bet your imaginations are running wild, thinking of what these collections are really like!!! Well for more information, on our collections visit our NEW website (which still needs tweaking and updating) and the CHA site.

NEW workshops for July HERE!!!! Make sure you book your place today!

(The second part of Claire’s guest blog post)

Come with us on our journey, as we wake up, whilst everybody else is still asleep and embark on our long drive to the venue…… and then like little elves erect our stand ready for you all to enjoy tomorrow.

For us the craft shows don’t just start that morning, they can start up to a year in advance, when we will find out which shows are on and when. It is then important that we book our space with the organisers as soon as we can…but even this is more involved than one might think! The costs per metre of a stand can be very frightening and it can be hard to know just what to book so far in advance. We initially started with a very small stand, but it was just impossible to fit all of our beautiful products in – let alone anybody to view them! So we have gradually grown in size and have recently exhibited in our biggest stand to date. It is much more comfortable than the smaller stands and gives us a chance to demo for you and display lots of inspiration and great products – which is of course what you have all come to see.

A month or so before the show it is time to start getting all the new products in which we want to display, we will also be very busy at this point sending projects to our design team to complete for display and creating our own samples, but the real work – well that’s just about to start!

The day before the show, we will start packing everything we want to take into boxes, as well as till operator, demoing and stock filler, my job for the next few days is also as the resident van driver!!! The night before the show, is always a late one as we are often unable to bring the van to the shop until after 6pm as our shop is located in a town centre.

When we first started packing into the van, we didn’t realise just how technical at times this can be! You have to ensure that everything is pack tightly and well balanced so that nothing gets damaged. As well as the products, we have to ensure we take all the furniture our stand requires including the slating grid wall. Paper trays are our absolute nightmare as they are plastic and we always have one or two that result to shards of nothing by the time we unpack!

I cannot tell you the relief you have when that van door is shut for the final time and there is nothing else to squeeze in! We are terrible as we find it very hard to travel light and want to make sure we have nearly everything you could possibly ask us for! By this time it is probably 10pm or so in the evening, so it’s off home to bed we go to get a good few hours sleep.

Most venues allow us in at about 8am to set up, so we always ensure we are ready at the venue to unload by then, so that we get a good start to the day which can mean some very early starts, depending on how far we are to travel!

Unloading, Unpacking, Building and Displaying fill the next few hours so easily, that when I Iook at my watch, I am always surprised to find it is already 6pm or so! We usually have until 8pm or so to finish our stands off to Perfection. We will often stay right to the end as there is so much to do and only us two! We envy the stalls which have a team of people to erect their stand or those which have special set-ups where they can fly in, erect in about 2 hours and zoom off home again! Maybe one day – we will get to be super duper quick too!!!

We then have a little hunt trying to track down the hotel we have booked to stay in before having a little dinner and off to sleep.

The morning of the show, is always filled with excitement and buzz! We are up again early, usually arriving at the venue 2hours before the show starts to finish little bits off. You soon know when the doors have opened as there is usually a flurry of people all dashing to their favourite stand!

Tip: If you are going to a show and are not sure where to start, most people walk the aisles from Left (usually the ‘A’ aisle) to Right. So to avoid the crowds why not start at aisle B/C onwards to make sure you are one step ahead of the crowds!!!

Our days are usually filled up with demoing, Make & Takes, Answering questions, assisting buyers and operating the till!!! The busiest period is usually from opening until around 12:30ish when people start to go to lunch.

Tip: If you are planning on coming for the whole day, bring some food and drink with you as the queues for refreshments are often very long at peak periods! This will mean you can eat your lunch when you want to, save you valuable time from not having to queue and make the most of the quiet period when everybody else has gone to lunch!

The afternoon is usually slightly quieter as people start to go home – some may have long journeys, others to get children from school etc and some may even be attending workshops at the venue.

Tip: If there is a choice of time to book on a workshop, try to participate as early as possible as the stands are usually busier earlier in the day as most people prefer to participate in the workshops after they’ve had a look around (and a bit of a shop!!!)

Stands are limited to what they can bring to a show – unless they live close to the venue this is usually just whatever they can fit in their van! So if you know you want something specific, do hunt around to find it as early as possible as I’m sure if you are looking for it, then others are too. Once you have found it – buy it!!! We have had so many occasions, where people are so relieved we have something and say ‘ohh – i’m just looking this morning. I know they have it and I’ll pop back after lunch for it’, however when they come back often it’s gone!!!

Tip: The aisles can get very busy with trolleys and people, so always make sure that you protect your paper purchases by bringing along a sturdy 12″ X 12″ paper box as the last thing you want to do, is to get home to find your beautiful paper purchases all crumpled!!!

Around 4pm, the shows usually start to get very quiet and it is a great opportunity for us to take away empty pegs and adjust the layout slightly of the stall to fill gaps. It is then off to find some food and to bed, ready for another busy day tomorrow!

Tip: The two busiest days of a show are usually the first day and the Saturday – so if you are not worried about buying anything specific which could sell out on the first day, the others days are usually a good bet as they will not be as busy.

The last day is I think the hardest of them all, as we have to be very well prepared! After the show has finished, it is all hands on deck to take down all the furniture and pack away all of the stock. There is usually also a race to the van by all the exhibitors to see who can park the closest to the venue doors to help them have an easier load. You have probably guessed, that we never end up winning and are usually parked what feels like miles away!!!

This is then loaded into the van before our long drive home where our discussion is usually filled with the highs, the lows and the excitement of the show.

You think we’re nearly finished?!? Whoa!!! Hold on one sec, we have to drive back to the shop, unload the van, fill it with petrol and then take it back – all before morning!!!!

Phew! I’m exhausted just writing this – What a weekend!

Thank you for letting me guest blog this week here, I’ve had so much fun!!! And remember next time you come to a craft show, come and find us and say “hello”, meeting you all is certainly one of our favourite parts of the show.

A few months back now, Claire agreed to be guest blogger on a craft blog, this is a copy of the post that she submitted:

Wow!

I am privileged today, to be the guest blogger here today, we are going to have so much fun!

Firstly, a little about me. I am Claire Smillie and I have a serious addiction to crafting! I work for Creative Moments, Yeovil (www.your-creativemoments.co.uk) and you can usually catch me prepping for a workshop, demoing at craft shows or making a mess in the corner! I LOVE playing with all the newest products out there and you’ll often hear a lot of “oooh’s” and “ahh’s” as we open the delivery’s to reveal some stunning products, which just keep getting better and better!

Not only have I got one treat in store for you, with hands on project today, but I also have a behind the scenes look at what really happens for us at a Craft Show!

Shall we start by getting our hands dirty? Go on then!!!

Take a look at these pictures, aren’t they just gorgeous?!? And best of all they are sooo easy to make, it’s unbelievable – you’ll be whipping them out in no time at all! They are a great way to start to take your crafting up a gear and moving off the scrapbook page to a beautiful display of art – they can make fabulous presents!

The creations are made upon a canvas, which can be available very cheaply from us here at Creative Moments. I have used a canvas which is 20cm x 20cm – although it is a little smaller, it still maintains the classic square shape of a scrapbook page. Canvases are available in all shapes and sizes, but this is my favourite to work with – not too small as not to fit anything on, but not too large where it seems you are forever trying to fill the gaps!

Before adding any colour to our canvases, I love to add a texture to the surface which adds interest to the creation. I do this by using ‘Gesso’ from the Claudine Hellmuth collection. Gesso is artist quality primer for surfaces such as wood, canvas, chipboard, paper and fabric. It dries exactly how you put it on – so if it is all lumpy and bumpy, so will the end result, if it is thin with scribbles, then so will the end result. Have a play with the Gesso as there are so many different ways you can put it on for different effects – my favourite is to load it on in a random fashion creating unusual and interesting effects. Experiment with putting gesso onto your canvas in different ways too, for example you could use a splodger (which is like a credit card) to slap it on (!) or use a brush for thin coatings –ALWAYS wash whatever you use immediately as once gesso is stuck it will be a permanent addition to the object! Make sure you keep it away from your clothes too – as it is impossible to remove! (And my favourite pair of jeans told me just that!)

Once you have an interesting background, you must leave it to dry naturally (probably overnight is best) as it will bubble up and ruin if a heat gun is used. Whilst it is drying, it gives you a great chance to think about your colour scheme.

If you are not quite sure, what to colours to use consider the following points:

• Who are you making your canvas for?
• What you want to put on your canvas?
• Which embellishments are you thinking of using?
• Why you are making the canvas?

You shall, then be able to begin by choosing your background colours – ideally you want more than 1 colour to give a nice painterly mix – I usually use two or three so that you can get some lovely blends and textures.

My FAVORITE acrylic paint, has to be the Claudine Hellmuth range. My reasons? Well, the colours are absolutely gorgeous , it can be used on so many different surfaces such as paper, chipboard and FABRIC (yes, I did say Fabric!); it has a semi-gloss and can be mixed with multi-medium to change its outlook and the colours can be mixed again and again without becoming muddy to create even more fabulous colours! (Check out Claudines website for her colour mixing guide). It is really gorgeous and has a lovely creamy consistency – it looks yummy enough to eat!

Start by painting your lightest colour onto your canvas with a paintbrush – I use a fairly large paintbrush for this job. It doesn’t matter if parts look inconsistent or are not completely covered- that just adds to the painterly look. I then start adding my next colour before the first has dried to get some awesome blending effects, just paint how you feel – there’s no right or wrong in this part. A little here, a little there – adjusting as you go. Before adding your third colour – which I usually just use as a slight accent for edges and to highlight certain areas of the canvas – let the first two layers dry, so that the third colour does not quite blend in as much.

Continue layering the colours until you think, yup – I like that!!! The greatest tip, I can give is when you get to this point STOP!!! As I guarantee you will go one step too far and will find it almost to alter it back again!

Once you are happy with your painted effect, I love to spray a Glimmer Mist over the canvas to get a beautiful glisten. Look at the difference you can see here.

Let the Glimmer Mist dry and then to make the most out of your texture, run an Adirondack Ink Pad over the entire canvas. This should pick out the raised area of the design and create an interesting texture. Any areas, which look too dominant, can merely be rubbed in to the canvas with your finger.

Now the fun part and the part you are all able to do with confidence – EMBELLISH!

That’s right, pull out your scraping stash and embellish until your heart’s content – remember often the simplest designs look the best! Like this one, which I absolutely love and was so easy to do. I used the die-cut Silhouettes from K&Co’s new Handmade collection and adhered these onto the canvas. The best medium I have found to use as an adhesive is again down to Claudine Hellmuth! Her Multi-Medium will stick onto many surfaces including canvas successfully. I have used it here by painting the canvas entirely in it, placed my flat embellishments in place and painted over them again using the multi-medium to sandwich them in place.

I have then created 3D centres for my flowers using the same die-cuts and put a brad in the middle of each to secure.

Creating Canvases can be very addictive! Try adding photos, text, fabric and more. I have even used Donna Downey’s iron-ons! The options are really endless! Experiment with the painted background too – why not try creating your own polka dot/flower backgrounds?

This has been fun! And I hope you’ve enjoyed my quick tutorial on creating canvases – you can see more examples of canvases and other projects at Creative Moments blog at www.your-creativemoments.co.uk/blog

Now, go find your stash and get creating, I’d love to see what you create. And after you’ve finished, why not settle down for tomorrows post with a cup of tea and enjoy my insiders look at ‘What really happens at a craft show for us’.

We had an absolute blast at Scrap-A-Mia 2010 which was actually unbelievably over three weeks ago now! We have been really busy here getting things back to ‘normal’ (haha!!!) but with no shows until September we have a golden opportunity for lots of workshops and time to work on our new project (which should be revealed oh so shortly….think July). During Scrap-A-Mia, we were so busy whizzing around that unfortunately we neglected our duties of been photographers during the weekend (might actually be a good thing!!! Did anyone ever see that photo I tried to take for Shimelle whilst spinning on the chair!?!?)

So with great thanks to Jo Lys who attended Scrap-A-Mia and has very kindly donated the use of her photos from the event for this post, I am now able to show you just some of what we got upto during the weekend! (All photos belong to Jo Lys, with exception to photos as individually noted that have been taken from the blog indicated next to the photo)

First up the classes:

This gorgeous 20cm x 20cm canvas was Cleo’s popular class which combined vintage music paper, Webster pages, ribbon, paint, sequin waste and lots of intricate cutting!

This beautiful Scrapbook page was Ifa’s sample (picture from the blog of Ifa Zainon at http://ifazainon.blogspot.com/) isn’t it just gorgeous? In this workshop we experimented with Lego, Paint, Distress Inks, Bannana Frog Stamps, Beautiful Papers, Beads, Buttons, Thread and Chipboard.

Shimelle’s class was in true Shimelle Style, a mini-book absolutely filled with great details and lots of layering. There were many more pages that were completed in addition to these shown, but these three (and I was only meant to choose one!) were my absolute favourite with the handmade flowers and beautiful layered butterfly embellishments. (Pictures taken from Shimelle’s PDF Handout which was emailed to attendees).

We were very lucky to have Jane Dean join us on the Sunday and just look at this unique project which she brought to show us! Pizza Boxes, embellishments and pretty papers were the key to this fun class…..oh and lots and lots and lots and lots of Staples!!! (I think we used over 3000 between us all!!!!) Picture of Jane’s project from her blog, http://www.seabreezes.typepad.com/

This layout which opens up was taught by Claire on the Sunday. It featured 12″ x24″ paper, water (!), tearing, chipboard, jewels, flourish templates, birdcages (not real ones!!!) and more! Everybody had the chance to create their own take on this and my, there were some fantastic variations.

The three pictures above show Kirsty’s Layout – which was sponsored by Inspire Me Papers – in all of its glory. It was a very clever layout that was almost like a little mini-book on a page and was finished with a beautiful ribbon ruffle.

(Picture of Ifa demoing from Tracey’s blog at http://vixensscrapping.blogspot.com/)

The workshops were held throughout Saturday and Sunday and everybody who attended participated in each workshop, on the Saturday evening we had a little fun with Ifa doing a demonstration on how she created her apron, Kirsty making some beautiful flowers with girls in the crop room, Cleo and Jane teaching fantastic mini-books with lots of clever folds and Shimelle hosting a Design Challenge, where the winners will be appearing in the next issue of the Scrapbook Inspirations Ideas Book, so make sure you keep an eye out for that to hit the shelves! You can see some of the fantastic entries below waiting to be ‘judged’ by Shimelle:

In the evening, we also hosted a Prize Draw, where products were donated from a variety of companies from within the industry. Tickets cost just 50p each and we managed to raise an astonishing £240.50 for Cancer Research, so thankyou to everybody who donated a prize or brought a ticket J

Even the teachers got into the swing of the prize draw, with Shimelle donating a place on her NEW class (so new, there is not even a title yet!!!) due for release later this year, Kirsty donating a free photoshoot and Jane offering up a fantastic piece of art…….THIS CREATIVE APRON!!!!

(Picture from Jane’s blog – http://www.seabreezes.typepad.com/)

WOW-STER!!!! The aprons were another special touch unique to Scrap-A-Mia, as each teacher was sent a Prima Apron prior to the event for decorating in any manner they wished. Well, Jane Dean – what can we say!!! It was absolutely fabulous and really helped boost sales of the tickets for the prize draw. Each teachers aprons were so so different, here are a few snapshots below…..(can you guess who they belong to?)

(Picture from Ifa’s blog – www.ifazainon.blogspot.com)

(Picture from Kirsty’s Blog – www.limegreenbogiegirl.blogspot.com)

(Photo by Claire Smillie)

If anyone has any pictures of the aprons by Shimelle or Cleo, we would love to post them, so please send them to us at sparkleandscrap@yahoo.co.uk

As you can see, Scrap-A-Mia was one very very hectic weekend and we could probably go on with this post so much more as there is just so much to tell…but perhaps some secrets just have to stay within Scrap-A-Mia. Here are a few last photos below which help sum up the weekend below:

Shimelles class cutting their papers

Shimelles class creating pretty flowers

All smiles from Kirsty and Cleo

Creating boxes with Jane

Working on Janes class with the fabulous shop in the background

Beautiful Decorations

I’ve just noticed, we don’t seem to have any pictures of the Inspiration Station – now this was a very exciting room which was laid out with layouts, mini books and makes from the teachers and other attendees who wished to participate – there was just so much inspiration in that room on the Saturday night it was hard to choose a favourite and I think that everyone who entered went away with lots of ideas that they were eager to try out!

We had lots of beautifully gift-wrapped scrappy prizes up for grabs throughout the weekend and their was a lucky winner during each session. There were also some little extra suprises for us too!! Like the lovely gift Sam W brought us, full of chocolates (our favourites as well!) and some beautiful paper clips which were created by Denise for everybody in the Butterfly Group. They were absolutely gorgeous and we have ours right here by the till to remind us of our great weekend.

We had an amazing time and rest assured that the all the brilliant ladies who joined us this year at Scrap-A-Mia 2010, will be the FIRST to know if another similar event develops for next year.

Wow! Where has the time gone, since our last proper post!!! We have been so busy here at Creative Moments and have lots to catch up on with you all. I am just awaiting some promised photos from Scrap-A-Mia and then you can expect a loooooooonnnnnnnggggg post to come your way!!

You’re probably thinking, well where does the title fit in with this post? Well, Marg is currently sunning herself in Rome, Italy so I thought we’d have some fun of our own!!! I have uploaded a discount code for you to add to your shopping baskets this weekend which will entitle you to 15% off your order if you spend over £10 Aren’t I good to you!?!?!

So, get those orders coming in as after such a lovely holiday (jealous, me?!!? haha!!!) we want Margaret to be working extra hard on her return on Tuesday getting them all out to you!!!

Have a great weekend

P.S. Did you spot the new items I have uploaded to the website today? Cosmo Cricket, 7gypsies, Prima Flowers, My Minds Eye – Lush, Stix 2? I have splattered some pictures in this post for you to give you the idea!!!

Due to our Scrap-A-Mia event this weekend, please note the following changes to our opening hours.

Friday 21st May – 9:30am until 12noon
Saturday 22nd May – 9:30am until 17:30pm
Monday 24th May – 12noon until 17:30pm

Normal opening hours of 9:30am until 17:30pm will resume on Tuesday 25th May 2010.

DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES WE NOW HAVE ONE SPACE AVILABLE FOR OUR SCRAP-A-MIA EVENT NEXT WEEKEND (Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd May 2010).  THIS WILL BE SOLD ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS AT A COST OF £190.

PLEASE PHONE US ON 01935 422499 OR EMAIL US AT sparkleandscrap@yahoo.co.uk AND WE CAN CALL YOU BACK  TO RESERVE THIS LAST REMAINING PLACE (full payment must be made to reserve this place).

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: www.scrapamia.wordpress.com