I was really looking forward to the Craft and Quilt Expo in Melbourne this weekend. I even managed to find a crochet friend willing to buy an $18 ticket to accompany me for the wild ride.
The best part of the show was seeing the beautiful cross stitches displayed and getting ideas for what I would like to stitch:
I could have stared at them all day. Three years ago after I attended the expo I told my husband that I wanted to fill my whole house with cross stitches (his face filled with fear). I felt the same burst of enthusiasm looking at the works today.
The way they were displayed - without glass - was very effective.
Overall, however, the expo was a disappointment.
First, the lack of range. Okay, so it wasn't a cross stitching expo, but the very few dedicated stalls were packed with people, so I wasn't alone in wanting to see more cross stitch.
I went with the purpose of purchasing some DMC threads, Mill Hill beads and a Pako needle organiser. Nowhere to be found. I was told at one stall that I should try Spotlight. Derp.
The second disappointing thing was the prices for kits. There were heaps of Design Works and Dimensions Gold kits that were on my wish list. But the prices on them were unrealistic - $20 to $30 more expensive than what I could pay for them on 123stitch.com.
Three years ago when I attended the expo, the same kits were cheaper. For example, back then I purchased Frederick the Literate for $35. This year he was marked at $45. How a standard Dimensions kit has managed to go up in price three years on, I don't understand.
So due to the lack of range and the disappointing prices, the $100 I budgeted for didn't get spent - except for one thing. This magnifying lamp for $25, which takes batteries (necessary in my apartment, since my cats like to chew through thin electrical cords):
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