Our trip out of "The Shires" to Top Drawer London

I was quite proud of my bag until the "Shed fairy" turned up
 with an enlarged purse!

Last week the "Shed Fairy" and I took ourselves off to London to visit http://www.topdrawer.co.uk/ to have a look at all the movers and shakers of the greeting card world.  So we packed our very small bags and of we went for an overnight stay.

On arriving in London we thought we would do something cultural, so firstly went to visit the National portrait gallery http://www.npg.org.uk/collections.php which i always find really inspiring. Inside we found  a large crowd jostling around their newest portrait which is of The Duchess of Cambridge by the artist Paul Emsley      

Well we thought !!!!! it's made her look ten years older and she has bigger bags than the both of us put together and that's saying something!!!!! . It may have seemed a little harsh but honestly it's not the best (maybe the next one will be better)  On the brighter side though there are some great official photographs of the Royals and a video of David Beckham asleep or he seemed to be anyway!!

look no hands!!!

Outside the National Gallery http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/ we saw a silver man who seemed to be sitting in mid air, brilliant!! we couldn't see how he achieved this as there was nothing under him magic!!!!.

The next day it was off to The Top Drawer London, design- led gifts, lifestyle and fashion accessories at Earls court, home of some really very lovely things 

We had  a great day browsing the aisles, gathering information and looking at how everyone had displayed their wares.  The Shed Fairy was a greetings and gift show virgin and i think pleasantly surprised of  how relaxed it all seemed to be.  We had a chat with a few people   http://www.afarmersdaughter.co.uk    http://www.wrendaledesigns.co.uk/  http://www.birdsbranch.com/  http://www.charlottemacey.co.uk/ 
great little creative businesses.  Showcasing also was http://www.dimblebyceramics.co.uk/ from my home county of Staffordshire , they were on the http://www.makeitstokestaffs.co.uk 'Make it Staffordshire' stand  an initiative run by the City -of Stoke-on -Trent Council, which fosters the development of up-and-coming ceramicists and designers from the area.

 After having spent quite a long time in the top  drawer section of the show we ventured into the Home section, which was full of beautiful homewares, cushions, throws, lighting and things to make your house look like something out of the pages of Country living.   Quite by chance I stumbled across  http://www.lushlampshades.co.uk/  the company that two years ago i had bought my special piggy lampshade from, love it! they had some new quirky designs,my Birthday is on it's way hint hint.!!

 I noticed that there was a real trend in animal imagery all through the show, which i great because i like to draw animals in my card designs.

All in all we thought it was a great show and so went home with loads of things to think about and get sorted (i can hear" website" screaming in my head) yes i know!!!! before we could poke our toes in any forthcoming trade shows.