Paperific Bingo!

Paperific is on in Melbourne again soon - next week, in fact. What is Paperific? Just the best show for paper crafters, that's all. A great place to buy fancy paper, stamps, inks, paints, markers, and weird stuff only we know about. To say nothing of the festival of ideas!

Every time it comes around, I like to support Paperific in whatever way I can. Did you know, I worked on the door at the very first show (Melbourne Paper Crafts, the great-grandmother of Paperific)?

How exactly do I 'help' Paperific?

Well, in 2012 I posted this, an very concise review of my visit. I posted it before actually going, which saved me heaps of time.

Last May I posted this description. I HAVE used the triangular books!!!

One year I took cookies. One year my stamp club ran a stall. Several times I've worked on stalls. And I've added a Paperific tag to this very blog, so if you know how to use tags, you can see a bunch of photos in one place.

Well, this year, I think we need something new. So here it is:

PAPERIFIC BINGO!

Yup, just print out this super handy bingo card, or pop it on your phone, and see if YOU can get Bingo. When you are ready to yell "BINGO", here's what to do. Take the card to any Paperific staff member (who's not currently busy doing helping someone), and show it to them. You will most likely be awarded a smile, or maybe a withering look, depending on how busy it's been lately.

And if you don't know who Naomi is, she's the Boss of Paperific. You'll find photos of her on this very blog, so you'll be able to recognise her.

Hmm, must go and do some more work in my triangular book.

One last thing I got at Paperific

As I have noted to a few people, stencils are hot right now. Lots of exciting varieties around, lots of great designs. I mean, look at these ones:

Hmm, they are made of a thicker plastic material than the usual stencils. Each one is about A5 size. Amazing designs!

Had a quick go with the spritzer and a marker - yep, that's going to work.

But the most interesting thing about these stencils is that they didn't come from Paperific at all. They were from the neighbouring Better Homes and Gardens show (I went to both). These are actually samples from the guys at QAQ, who make decorative screens for home and office use. Go look at their site, their ideas are way cool! These samples are 1/10th scale versions of what they sell, and they hand them out as freebies!

My day out at Paperific (May 2013)

Paperific started today - I've supported Paperific since before it was called Paperific, so I had to go!

Here's some of my fun news of the day:

Here's a little skeleton in a closet. The samples at Twiddleybitz are completely awesome. I asked permission to take photos here, by the way. You must.

This is a lovely little chipboard kit, all those intricate pieces all cut out for you, and priced at just $8. Now that will be a fun afternoon at stamp club!

More Twiddleybitz samples - this little house/money box was decorated by a guy! So cool. Bought this kit too. Just $5. It's practically free fun!

"Please try our pens" - thank you, I did. Rossdale are wholesalers of some cool gear, and it was all nicely displayed. They were doing make and takes too.

I wrote the "Art", and the "Smart" and the "Big". There's a purple pig there too, but I definitely didn't draw that.

Joan keeps an eye on me, as I keep an eye on her Distress markers. That was my only make and take today (I'm a busy woman you know).

Rossdale also had : TRIANGULAR BLANK JOURNALS! Proper hardbound, triangular books!

The young people have an expression these days:

"Just shut up and take my money!"

Trickier than it sounds to actually buy them - as I mentioned, Rossdale were there as wholesalers, giving people a lookie at their stuff, not actually selling. But they were hooked up with both Bellbird Place and Little Bits. If you desperately wanted to buy something on the display, one of their lovely staff would walk you around to a retailer.

I dragged another buyer in my wake. I do that, I think I am good for business. We both bought the small and the large book (yes, there are two sizes), for around $10 and $15, which was very reasonable.

If you want one too, be quick at Paperific, or get in touch with your Little Bits, or Bellbird Place, or your local crafty or arty supply shop. Then we can all do triangular books together!

My day out at Paperific - an early review!

Well, Paperific (the best papercraft show in town) starts tomorrow, and I plan to go. I always like to write a little report too, to share the fun. See, here's an earlier one.

Problem is, I'm generally pretty tired in the evening. So this show, I thought I'd do the report BEFORE going. You with me? Let's go craft show shopping!

Some of the details I won't be sure of, so I'll mark alternatives in brackets like {this}.

Well, I tried a different mode of transport this time, and it turned out great! The {car, tram, train} ride was most pleasant, and I got to listen to music all the way. I {found a park easily, didn't have to park} and breezed in.

The ladies at the front counter were gorgeous as usual, and gave me a {lolly, smile, hug}.

I saw Naomi inside (she runs the show, you know) and she was wearing {a smart dress, her pajamas, bunny ears}. She looked on top of it all, and hurried off to make sure everyone had enough {lighting, change, coffee}.

I saw a new vendor, selling awesome stuff I'd never seen before. I just had to get {one, some, the whole set}!

I saw some old favourite vendors with even more of that great stuff I like. I thought about it for a bit, and bought {a punch, a die, a template} and I might even go back for more.

Saw a heap of cool stamps, and chose one with {a bird, a flower} that would look great coloured with {pencils, paints}.

Boy did I get tired! I went to the cafe for a break, and had a {coffee, really big coffee} and met {some mad scrapbookers, some stampers I knew, someone I'd swapped emails with}.

After a few hours it was time to go home, but I made sure I {took some photos, got a new book, had another look at markers} first.

What a great show! See ya next time!

November 2009 Paperific Report!!

The latest Melbourne Paperific show has just been on (actually it finished a whole week ago) and here is some of my personal report - I've been doing them for years, so no reason to stop now.

Here's a typical Paperific sight, a demonstrator with several visitors, all making stuff in a Make and Take. Such a good idea (I'm sure most of the vendors say "what a hassle", but there's no better way of showing off your wares!).


Then there's ... oooh, lots of stamps! I've been thinking that there are too many fairly-cheap, imported stamps around in recent years, and they all seemed a bit "churned out" to me. No, I have no evidence to back up this opinion, just the fact that I've been to a few shows in a row and not purchased any stamps. But this year, I felt that nice stamps are coming back again (not intending any offence to the people who've been making awesome stamps all along, of course!).










And then we come to ... punches. Drool. For a stamper, I sure do buy a lot of punches. Gosh they are satisfying. EK Success have a new style out, which save space. And that means new designs. I'm giddy! And the old ones are still around, and as good as ever. Punches age well - five years down the line, a circle punch will still be in fashion! And Martha Stewart has brought out a range of punches. Very pretty, and sure to be influential. I noticed one that was a little pop-up village. Now that's a little specialised for me!

I scored another bird punch (big brother of last year's one), some photo corners, some brackets (yep, these things {}) and a bunch of little flowers and stuff - older style ones, just filling out the corners of my collection.




Then I spent longer than expected at Twiddlybitz, looking at chipboard and wooden constructions. Wow! Congratulations to their design team, the display looked amazing! We're going to make the Advent House (just as soon as we have a minute!).















And here she is, the new Queen of Paperific, Naomi Swan. She's taken the reins from Stacey, who started it all, and she's running with it. Oh, wait, I think that was a mixed metaphor. She's stepped into the big shoes, and she's walking around saying "Look at me, I'm Mummy!". No, that doesn't sound right either.

What she's doing is running a fun and lovely show, the first of many. In this photo, she's looking radiant and happy, which is odd, because she was feeling awful and on the way to the doctor!

Well done Naomi, it was a great day out for us visitors, and I'm sure it was a super day for vendors.

Next Paperific is 5-7th March 2010, at the Showgrounds again.

Oh, and by the way, I used public transport to get there from all the way on the other side of the city. SO EASY! The tram was is sight of the front door. So there's a recipe for arriving cool, calm and collected.

Punchcraft from BEFORE THE DAWN OF TIME!

Or from the Cartoon Cretaceous period, anyway.

I got this new punch at Paperific last weekend, from Catchy Crafts, who always bring an exceptional range. I had never seen this punch before - it's a new variety from EK Success (who always make such good punches anyway, even Stampin' Up use them to manufacture THEIR range). This one is the Dinosaur edge punch, and I couldn't think of any reason not to buy it. IT'S JUST SO COOL!

So I had to make a card with it quick smart. Here you go, dinosaurs at night. The "stars" are stamped in Stampin' Up white ink (the whitest white I've ever found, and no hassle to use), with a Lucy's stamps "Aging block" as the dot pattern. The alphabet is a retired Stampin' Up one - I love all alphabet stamps, so there's no such thing as retired at my place!

Paperific part 5 - A really tiny house to live in

How good are these? Little house shapes, with real windows (like the "proper" houses little kids draw). Paint 'em, collage around 'em, put little people in the windows ... the other shapes behind it are basic house shapes. "Micro Art" is a series of laser cut chipboard shapes, in really, really cool designs. And all small - they fit on little projects like ATCs. Lisa even brought her laser cutter to the show last time - wow, that was an afternoon's entertainment in itself!

There ya go Lisa, your phone number's visible in one of the photos, so that's all the shameless plug you get this time.

Oh, but you have to hear this - my Micro Arts project just got accepted for publication! That means it's still a few months off, of course. Wanna see a preview? Cause you can't! Stamping and Papercraft have negotiated to have first go on it, and that's only fair.

Paperific part 4 - my li'l owl

At Pipedreamink, I got to make an owl! Here he is. He's chipboard and Opals, and a little glitter too.

But check out his spooky soulmate from the church fete. Once again, I contend that he followed me home. And can I keep him?

Paperific part 3 - Best sight of the show

Here she is, my new friend ... well, she was, briefly. A little lady, dressed in her show best, calmly browsing through (and rearranging) some ribbons.

Another highlight - sitting down with Marion and Barb for a chat before going home. It's been ages since I saw either of them!

Paperific Part 2 - Make it and Take it!

The best bit of Paperific is the Make and Takes. You get to sit down (pleasant in itself) and make some simple project, guided by a patient demonstrator, who has usually prepared all the bits for you. Here's Sue at Pipedreamink, showing off the gorgeous Christmas bauble she was inviting people to make. Very neat indeed, and you can even fold it flat for posting. I made an owl - no photo yet, it's still packed.

If you are clever enough to get on the waiting list, you'll be able to do a make and take at Collections. Yes, they are so popular you have to book - a very casual booking list, the demonstrator gives you an estimate of when to come back, and she tries to see people in order. I waited an hour and a half, but later in the day the queue was three hours! So get on the list early. This one was fun to make. And do you see? It's Bunky! Well, some people know what that means - that's a topic for a whole 'nother post.

Paperific part 1 - A story with punch!

Here's where I start the story of a really big day out at Paperific. Now, what time of day to go? It's a hefty drive from here, but I decided to skip the morning traffic and leave after 9am. Up the Eastern freeway, round the cemetery, pass the hospital, don't get distracted by the race course, and you're there. In the grounds (it's $5 parking, but that gets you nice and close) I managed, despite really clear signs, to drive the wrong way to the car park. And the car behind followed me, because, well, you do that, don't you. So, a few moments of turning around and I was in the car park.

Going in - it's $10 admission (pretty good deal; remember the general craft shows are up over the $15 mark these days). Argh! I had a magnet from last time; that's good for a $2 discount. Should have remembered it.

First stop - it was Catchy Crafts. That's just because of the layout, and the direction I chose. Ah, they have punches. I like them. Whoa, they have NEW punches. I got excited already. Here's what was exciting : Really HUGE punches by EK Success, in classic shapes like circles, squares and scallops. At 2 for $70 (yes, I told you they were huge) it's a pricey item, but wow. What *I* chose was a smaller swirly punch, and a really cool bird one.

Next installement in a few hours - I have to go to a church fete...

My Paperific ATCs

Well, I gave 'em all out! All ten of 'em. Yup, the big one-oh, I managed to make a whole 10 ATCs for Paperific this time round.

But it was nice giving them to people! Sue from Pipedreamink was pleased to have a sample with her stamps, and Lai Sie asked about the paint. All good fun.

The meaning of "Pauline's Big Day Out" is that I've been semi-invalid for a few months (on and off), and a trip all the way to the other side of town was a big deal for me. Felt fine all day, thanks for asking! Next post : all about the day out itself.

I'm off to Paperific

Tra la la, I'm off to Paperific, the terrificest papercraft show in Melbourne ever!

It started years ago a "Melbourne Papercrafts", then became "Melbourne Paper Arts", and now a new name. The first one was at a community center near me, then it moved to St Kilda Town Hall (amazing spot, but the show outgrew it), then Telstra Dome, Docklands, and last time at Caulfield Racecourse. This one's at the Showrounds. A heck of a long way for me, but it's worth it.

It's always a big day out at Paperific, so I'm stashing the car full of water, lollies, and cash, to make sure I struggle through.

I even made ATCs to swap - a whole 10 of them! The phot here is a preview - can't show them off before they've been legally handed to their new owners; that's my code.

I'm looking forward to seeing Pipedreamink again, 'cos they have new stamps; bigger versions of the ones I've been really liking. AND they've added Golden paints to their repertoire - not a common item at all in Australia. So I think I need a few of them!

So anyway, see you there if you're going, or else you can look here tomorrow for some photos.