Did we enjoy Paris?
26/11/2009
Did Rachie and I enjoy Paris? YES, YES YES, it was fantastic.
We turned up on the stand on Saturday morning (after negotiating the Metro from the airport) to find Ali demonstrating Ribbon Embroidery with a crowd around her. We were both rather nervous, and had been practicing our little smattering of French, all the way across the channel!! But with so many French people around we came over all tongue tied and forgot everything!
Finally when Ali emerged from the stand she gave us an envelope each, tied up with ribbon – what is this? They were full of Euros – with a big hug she told us that we were not in Paris to work on the stand but to have some fun. She told us to go and enjoy the show, have lots of fun and spend the money. Wow Wee!!!!
So we did! We spent Saturday at the show, and what a wonderful show it was. We went on every stand, looked, touched and just soaked up the atmosphere. Every so often we popped back to the stand with espresso coffee for Ali and Tony, we had exhibitor passes so could go into the exhibitors lounge and make our own, that would be cool for Hobbycrafts at the NEC!
By late afternoon we were shattered so went back to the hotel for a rest, we were shopped out! Once our energy had returned, we went back for another visit. Finally the show closed and we went for a delightful “French” meal.
Sunday a quick trip to the show to buy a few extra bits, then we ventured into Paris to see the sights! Bet you cannot guess where our first port of call was?
Yep the Eiffel Tower. It was unbelievable,we went all the way to the top, although it was rather windy.
Next had to be the Champs Elysees for a little bit more retail therapy! To our surprise there were little chalets lining the street and it was a proper “French Market”, awesome. We had so much fun. Ali and Tony joined us back at the Trocadero for a meal and to wait for the 9pm Eiffel Tower new light show for it’s birthday. It was unreal, the changing colours were amazing– it lasted about fifteen minutes and was just wicked. Shame the photo’s do not do it justice.
Monday our last day, boo hoo. Another look round the show, we had found a favourite stand (apart from Crafty Ribbons!!!) and wanted to buy a few extra goodies. After saying a tearful goodbye to Tony and Ali we made our way to Notre Dame, where we enjoyed a delightful lunch!!! Before we knew it, we had to go back to the airport, we had left all our purchases with Ali, so nothing to carry. She had given us strict instructions not to leave France with any euro’s – so we headed to the duty free shop!!!
Ali and Tony, what can we say, we both had a magical time, thank you so much we loved it.
Bev and Rachie x x
Oh La La
25/11/2009
Oh La la - we forgot to pick the winners of our Friday FREEBIE ribbon box winners yesterday. Shhhhh don't tell Ali, she will be in later.
The winners are numbers....
5 - Claire Louise Clubb
25 - Cazzy
28 - Trish Lucey
Well done winners - all you have to do to claim your 3 ribbonboxes is to email info@craftyribbons.com with your address details. Thanks to everyone who left wonderful comments, we have a super prize coming up for this weeks Friday FREEBIE, so don't forget to check back.
Rachie and I had a wonderful time in paris, will let you know ALL the details later, but I must rush back to the orders before Ali gets in!!!!
Bev x
Friday FREEBIE
20/11/2009
Oh I am so excited its Friday, yes it Friday FREEBIE day, but tomorrow Rachie and I go to Paris!!!! We only have one more sleep left, poor Rachie has to be up at 4.30am to come and pick me up, so it is only really half a sleep!
Rachie and I were putting our heads together yesterday, picking this weeks prize for Friday FREEBIE - so what do you think of these?
If you have never seen these before they are our Ribbon Boxes and they are crammed with RIBBON! There are 10 different colours in the range, and would make perfect Christmas prezzies for your crafty friends. We have 3 prizes this week of 3 different ribbon boxes each. All you have to do for a chance to win is..... leave us a comment. Easy
The office will be closed on Monday, (just incase you have forgotten, we are in Paris!) so we will pick the 3 lucky winners on Tuesday from our "Bingo" Bag.
Tony and Ali had a fantastic first day, Ali was very tired last night, it must be very difficult working in a country where you can not speak the language - I am sure Rachie and I will find out soon!
Have a fantastic weekend, we are taking our cameras with us, we are sure we will share a few piccys with you all.
Bev x
FREEBIE Winner
16/11/2009
We hope you are all safe and sound and have not been blown away this weekend. We arrived at the office this morning with loads of leaves all over the ground, it was a shame they were so wet, I love kicking up dry leaves, it's such fun!
Sydney did not want to pick a winner this week, so I got voted to do the honours, not often you get to see me, I am normally the one behind the camera!
The winner of the Friday FREEBIE Christmas ribbon prize is.....
5 - Charmaine Macedo
Well done Charmaine, if my memory serves me right this is your second win, lucky you. Please can you email us your address at info@craftyribbons.com. Thank you to everyone who left wonderful comments, we love them.
I have been working on a few new samples for the Paris show, Tony and I leave in a couple of hours to catch the night boat (hope the sea has calmed down!).
This is one of my creations, it uses our Pick n Mix Embroidery Kits, but I have turned it into a cushion rather than mounting it into a Frame. I used blanket stich to sew it to the fabric then added gorgeous shell heart buttons. This is one of 5 different cushions I made over the weekend, fingers crossed the French ladies like them as much as the girls did.
That's me for the next week, I have made a big decision (for me) not to take my laptop or my camera with me to Paris (Boo Hoo), I am so worried that they may go missing from the stand. Better be safe than sorry.
Have a fantastic week, if you are at a loose end you can always come and visit me at Creations Savoir Faire - see you there.
Friday FREEBIE
13/11/2009
WOW!! Where has this week gone? One moment it is Monday and the next it's Friday!!
Things have just been manic in the warehouse this week, not sure what has happened but everybody in the world has decided to order ribbon this week! As soon as we clear orders through the system, new ones come in. Bev described it as like "groundhogday", she felt as if she was getting nowhere.
So here is a rather late Friday FREEBIE!
Chistmas ribbon is selling fast, we are sold out of several designs, and stocks are becoming limited on many more. So before they all go - for this weeks Friday FREEBIE we have a wonderful selection of Christmas Ribbons PLUS a pack of WANT IT ALL Magic Cord, which comes with an instruction leaflet on how to tie these wicked bows. All you need for a chance to win this prize is to leave a comment, and we will pull a number from our "Bingo Bag" on Monday, after lunch.
If you are worried that you have not received your Challenge Ribbons, please don't - they have not been sent out yet! We have really been so busy this week, I have not known a week like it. We have even roped in the help of Mums, Vicky's and Sarah's Mums have been bagging ribbon for us at home!! The girls found it very funny, they had me in the packing department, checking and packing orders. I was so fed up with the way the envelopes and bags were all over the place, that I re-organised it - now everything is to hand and it's much quicker!!
Have a great weekend, if you had your eye on a special ribbon to wrap your prezzies or go around your christmas cake, I suggest you get in quick!!
Snowflake winners
09/11/2009
Cor it's turned chilly and that's not because we have been cutting snowflake ribbon!! We are all wrapped up warm in coats and scarfs, apart from Sarah who is new to the warehouse. This is her first winter with us, she is off shopping at the weekend to buy some fur boots and wool gloves.
The Friday FREEBIE winners have been picked from our "Bingo" bag, Syd was rather put out that everyone wanted to pick a number!
The winners of the Bev's NEW Snowflake Bag are.....
3 - Clare
5 - Lisa
9 - Margaret
13 - Leslie
16 - Liz Ford
23 - Ruthyb
Well done to the lucky winners, thank you all for your wonderful comments. We hope you will enjoy your snowflakes and that they do not melt in the post! Please can you email us at info@craftyribbons.com with your address details.
It is all go here today, as the office and warehouse were closed on Friday, the girls are trying to catch up. Rachie and I have laid out the Paris stand, deciding what will go where. It is a different size to our UK stand, so nothing fits!! I have designed a few new embroidery kits for the show and have been trying to persuade (twist a few arms!) the outwork girls to make them up in time. The main problem is that I have embroidered the pictures BUT not written the instructions or got the raw materials in. Not as if I have left things to the last minute...no not me!
Ribbon Challenge # 10
09/11/2009
Our Ribbon Challenge # 10 is full. All of you that have sent an email are included, slightly more then 12 but who is counting, it's Christmas!!!!
Sorry if you missed out on this challenge but we have another one coming up soon, so check back regularly.
Ribbon Challenge # 10
08/11/2009
SORRY THIS CHALLENGE IS NOW FULL.
It looks like you are all up for another challenge!! So here is Ribbon Challenge # 10 “A Crafty Christmas”.
We have 12 free bundles of Christmas ribbons to give away, each bundle will contain lengths of a selection of our Christmas Ribbons. All we ask in return for these ribbons are two cards or projects that “shouts” Christmas!!
The ribbons can be used to enhance all forms of card making, projects or ATC's. If you are up to the challenge, then send us an email to info@craftyribbons.com marked RIBBON CHALLENGE # 10! The first 10 to reply will be sent an email requesting address details so we can send your free ribbons!! Your finished cards will be posted onto our blog.
All the Christmas Ribbons for this challenge can been viewed on our website – here.
We had a great day at the NEC yesterday, it was manic! We have not known it that busy for several years. We had great pleasure in meeting some of our challengers, first Wilma came bouncing onto the stand, then Beryl and finally Tracey and Paul. It was great meeting you all and thank you so much for saying hi.
Thankfully Rachie and Bev helped us to re-stock yesterday evening ready for today, so we had a little lie in this morning. The alarm was set for 7am not 6am!!!! Wow!
Friday FREEBIE
06/11/2009
When I woke up this morning I could not work out what day it was. Doing all these shows have merged the days together!! But I finally worked out it was Friday FREEBIE day!
What have we got for you today........
How about 18mtrs of snowflakes!!! That's what Bev has decided to put into her NEW Bev's Bag. Sheer ribbons with glittered snowflakes, satin with white embossed snowflakes, each of the 18 ribbons have oodles and oodles of snowflakes and they could be yours. All you have to do for a chance to win a Bev's Bag is to leave a comment.
There will be 6 of us in the office on Monday, so lets have 6 prizes for this weeks Friday FREEBIE, that way we can all pick a number!! The draw will take place on Monday afternoon from our "Bingo" Bag, so go on and leave us a comment and make us smile.
Rachie and Bev are due to arrive at the NEC today, I have just heard on the news there is a cow on the M6. Rachie has come up with some good excuses for being late for work over the years - but that is a new one for her!!!!!!!
Really looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.
Bevs Bag
04/11/2009
Do you like snowflakes - I do, my NEW Bev's bagis overflowing with snowflakes!
Snowflakes in every shape and size, blue, white, red, green - with glitter or embossed, you will find them all in my Bev's bag. 18 meters of ribbon with hundreds of delightful snowflakes to be enjoyed and all for the amazing price of £5.00 Billy Bargain!!!
I am really, really excited, I am almost bursting!
Rachie and I got called into Ali's office yesterday. What had we done wrong? With a little trepidation and racking our brains we sat down. Crafty Ribbons has a no "blame policy", as long as we admit to an error there are no ramifications or bad feelings - it's just dealt with and we move on. So what was this all about?
Ali said she was not sure how to put this to us, but....... "Would we both like to fly to Paris to join her and Tony for the weekend of "Creations Savoir Faire."
Would we or what, yes, yes, yes please. We are going to Paris, I have never been before. This is my first business trip and it's to Paris!!!! Ooh La La!!
There has been a bit of buzz about this show, Rachie went two years ago and had a wicked time, although she said the hours are a killer. Restocking at 8am and the show closes at 7pm, with a late night till 11 on Friday. This year the show has been combined with the Marie Claire Show, you know the magazine, so it is expected to be extremely well attended. The exhibition halls over look the Eiffel Tower so I will get to see the new light show designed for it's 120th birthday.
If you want to join me the show is called - Creations Savoir Faire 19th to 23rd November at Port de Versailles, Paris, Rachie and I will be there on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Back down to earth Bev... We are at the NEC this weekend at the Hobbycraft Show. Our stand is straight in front of you as you walk into hall 20, opposite the Crafts Beautiful stand. Please do go and say "Hi" to Ali and Tony, you might even see Rachie and myself there at the weekend.
Have a great time at the show everyone
Bev x
my basket