A Visit to the *Stamp Mecca* in Hagen

Yesterday I went with my friend B to a craft fair in Hagen, a town about one hour's drive from here. We set off early - which is why I didn't get round to blogging yesterday - and were there as they opened the doors to let us in. What a wonderful sight met our eyes - stamps, paper, inks, paints, sprays, and much, much more - it was difficult to know where to start. So first we went round and looked and admired everything, and all of a sudden we were each holding several bags filled with this and that, and I didn't even intend to buy anything. I think there's a saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions - but the roads we trod yesterday led us straight into a crafter's heaven. Those crafty things just seem to jump off the shelves and into our baskets! In between we went to the cafeteria there for coffee and waffles to strengthen us. The people were all friendly, happy and chatty. People from the USA, Germany, and various other European countries were selling their goods, and the visitors had also come from lots of different places. There were make-and-takes to join in, demonstrations to watch, and people always willing to give tips and advise. We did two make-and-takes with a lovely crafter called Michael from Strong Stamps, a native of California with a sunny temperament and full of good ideas. It was really good to see such a lot of new things and tank up with fresh ideas. By the time I got home yesterday evening I was completely knocked out, my legs were killing me, but I was happy.

On Saturday I made a good start on my chest of drawers. I had to give it 3 coats of white paint till it was really white, and now I just need to do the drawers, but first I have to buy some masking tape today. Then when it's all freshly painted, I will grunge it up a bit, and then I can show it!

And I made my challenge tag for the Dragon's TIO. The dragon has been dreaming of red wine, and wanted to see mostly red tags. I started with a white tag, which I stamped with a background stamp from LaBlanche, using DI in barn door and poppy red EP from Zing. I added an image from my stash, a red heart, some red backing paper, a red paper clip and a red rose. And to finish it off a red ribbon. Hope that was enough red!

And as I had the red ink out, I did a spread for my scribble journal using a lot of red and yellow ink, and had a good time flicking the ink around. As the colours fitted well to autumn, I used the *prototype* from my Autumn fairy, added a tree, a mushroom, and some thoughts about the magic of childhood. Was fun to make, and good to do something different again.

So, that was it for today. Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for visiting!