Creative Crafts for Christmas

I had a great day at the Creative Crafts for Christmas show at Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena today, along with my mam, sister and one of my nieces.

A lot of different crafts were catered for at the show (knitting, patchwork, paper craft, cross stitch, beading, parchment craft and so on) and there were demonstrations and workshops too. There were also a lot of stalls selling ready-made gifts: from chocolates to jewellery, and secateurs to soft toys!

There were a LOT of people there, shopping for Christmas pressies and supplies to make their own handmade goodies. Unfortunately many of them left their manners at home, as there was a fair bit of shoving to get to the stalls and very few apologies. Why are people so impolite and selfish nowadays? I thought crafters were better than this!

Ok, rant over. Aside from some gorgeous Christmas pressies, which I bought but can't show you yet as the receipients may be reading, I also bought some lovely black/white/grey mixed yarn - another scarf will be on the needles soon...

And a gorgeous blue mixed yarn (though it looks more of a grey here) - for another scarf, no doubt...

Some neutral, chunky buttons, which always come in useful but some of these are destined to be fasteners for scarflets...

Some sparkly beads in lots of delectable colourways - I have a tonne of beads already but I couldn't resist buying these as they were such a bargain price and will be perfect for embellishing Christmas tree decorations...

And finally, some bargain-priced ribbon in pretty colours, for my floral brooches and possibly Christmas decorations too.

Everyone who pre-booked a ticket for the show received a cheaper entry - and a fab goodie bag from the organisers.

The bag itself is big and strong, with a flat base so it doesn't fall over when you put it down - but that advertising is pretty major so I'm not sure if I'll be using it on an everyday basis! It was great for using at the show though - unfortunately I went along with the premise of 'It's a big bag so I may as well fill it up!'

And these are some of the goodies that were inside the bag. There were also some decorative papers, ribbon roses, small paper flowers and a tiny travel sewing kit in each bag, but the girls in my party did a bit of a swap for the items we'd find most useful so I managed to get all of the lovely ribbons and buttons.

And not being one to resist other people's Christmas decorations, I bought these two sweet wooden reindeer.

I love decorating the house for Christmas and can't wait for 1st December when all the boxes and bags get dragged down from the loft. The tree in our living room is covered in handmade decorations only (mostly my own) and each year I enjoy making a few different ones; it always draws appreciative comments from visitors.

This year I'll also be making some to sell in my Folksy shop and at local craft fairs. So, after getting lots of inspiration at today's show, I'm hoping to spend a lovely day tomorrow surrounded by all my fabric, buttons, beads and ribbons, making some festive decorations that I hope you'll love. I'll keep you posted with what I come up with...