Ally Pally.

Good morning friends.
I trust you are well. After a really challenging work week I was in need of a little cheer me up time so on Sunday I decided to pop on up to Ally Pally. I will be honest and say that it was generally disappointing. There were definitely less stalls than previous years and less people too. Still, I had a good day chatting and catching up with some folk I hadn't seen for a while along with a little retail therapy of course....
My first stop was to catch up with Lisa at the Creative Expressions stand.

 After a quick chat I wandered over to PaperArtsy. This always is an inspirational place.

 This was one of my favourite pieces there.

 I spent some time watching the demos, gorgeous layers and image transfer was on the program.

 While I was there, I decided to enjoy one of the make and takes. A little chunky canvas with Fresco paints and JOFY stamps. I just need to add some more details to finish it off.

 Then I just took a wander around stopping wherever things caught my eye.

 Inevitably, I ended up back at the PaperArtsy stand for another chat and a closer look

 Next stop was Visible Image. I do enjoy their imagery though I don't have many.

 They had a lovely modern vibrant stand and it was nice to catch up with them.

 Then it was back to Creative Expressions where Lisa had made progress on her gilded lantern.

Of course, I didn't walk away empty handed.

 I couldn't resist this Visible Image stamp. I blame Lisa for the gilding flakes.

 These stunning metal embellishments are from PaperArtsy, really heavy and detailed.

The Tim Holtz stamp was only a tenner which I couldn't walk past. Especially since you get the acrylic block included. Then, lets talk about the distress ink minis and tin....Well, when the mini pads first came out I said I would not be getting them because I already have the large pads. However I saw the tin and had a bit of a moment. Needless to say, I now have 8 minis in my favourite colours and what I've done is put the pads down either side with the small round foams underneath and two small round blending tools run in the centre so now I have the perfect little distress ink travel kit......

So, though it was disappointing in some ways, I still found some gorgeous goodies and had a wonderful time chatting to everyone and returned home full of inspiration.

So, what have I been up to? At the moment I am trying to get a new class sample finished so that is taking a fair amount of my limited time but in between I have been working on another piece, here's a peek

Now I think I'm going to steal a little more time in the studio before I have to head out to work again.
Take care folks and enjoy your day.