Only 5 more weeks to go until NZ’s Papercraft Expo! (yes it's that close!)

This will be a short edition tonight as Vicki and I are in Australia enjoying the Brisbane Scrapping and Cardmaking Convention. We do have lots to share – but you’ll have to wait for some of it!!

Interview with Melissa Kennedy Today we enjoyed informal (and at times jovial) interviews with Melissa Kennedy and Al Hannah (the tutors teaching Artfull Crafts classes at SENZ). Here’s Melissa’s take on life and scrapbooking…. Melissa’s favourite paper range this year … (Yes, I meant Kaiser papers Melissa…) is Devonshire. (So it’s just as well she’s running a Vintage clock class using this range). She also mentioned Prima’s Shabby Chic (who’s got good taste in papers?!)

Mel’s favourite product at the moment is the new Kaisercraft wooden flourishes (in particular the vines). She says, “It’s versatile. It starts plain but you can tiz it up!” (Well maybe Al added that bit! This interview was a bit like a circus – with one starting and the other finishing the answer! We are sure you’re going to enjoy the Mel and Al show at SENZ this year!)

Melissa was quick to point out that layouts are her favourite type of paper crafting activity. She started scrapbooking to keep a record of her kids’ lives and also has an interest in family history. Melissa also enjoys making gifts for others (but did suggest that after she had finished them she often wanted to keep them for herself!!)

She describes her style as “A little bit of this, and a little bit of that”. She also enjoys clusters and is willing to experiment with different styles.

Mel just happened to be using 3 retro flower punches when we asked what her favourite tool was… and the evidence was on the floor! A pile of punched out scraps – she said she was preparing for her Dream Layout class (I do believe she’s running that one at SENZ too!! In fact it’s so popular we’ve timetabled it twice). She also mentioned she loves paper distressers – any brand will do…

Melissa loves to craft in the room her husband built her while she was away at a CHA in the USA. Her kids are welcome in the room and they seem to enjoy ‘borrowing’ her equipment!!

When asked about her upcoming trip to NZ she said she was excited about coming and meeting lots of new people. She’s also looking forward to seeing a bit of NZ. (She has been to NZ once before skiing – but I reminded her that we’d be working her too hard for any skiing this time!!)

Brisbane Expo

So here we are in Brisbane. We came with 4 goals in mind. Let’s look at each of them and see how we’re doing…

1) See what makes a great stall – layout and display ideas. Comment: Lots of stalls have been jammed packed with people and have been difficult to get in and out of. So we think an open stall design might work better. The displays on some sites have been outstanding – Twiddlybitz in particular had stunning display items. Check them out on their website…

2) New product exposure – what’s new and popular. Comment: Invaluable for this. We’re going to be bringing in some new products – and we’re very excited about some of them! Think Tim Holtz, Copic markers, some very classy stamps, opals, Martha Stewart punches, smooch, and more…

3) Demonstration and Make-and Take ideas. Comment: There has been a definite theme in the demos this year – cutesy stamps with Copic colouring, Peelcraft with Gelly Rollers and chipboard laser cuts by the miles.

4) Meet Manufacturers and Distributors. Comment: Oh yes!! It’s been great to meet people in the industry – and put faces to emails! We have one more day at the show and then we’re off to the suppliers warehouses. We’ll bring some stock back with us, but other stock we’ll be getting from the USA in the next few weeks.

We’re back from the show toward the end of the week and I suspect we’ll be busy with a few hundred email messages until the weekend! Then we will compile the class email lists and send you more information about the classes you’ve booked in for.

Design Team

We’ve announced our desire for a larger Design Team. Check out our ads in the Up 2 Scrap magazine and the upcoming Scrapbooking Memories magazine, or head to our website to read all about it. Aussie entries also accepted! Please consider joining our fun team.

Next Week

We’ll have Al Hannah’s responses to our (very) informal interview.

Until next week,

Happy crafting!

Liz

Artfull Crafts