I know you’re probably thinking I’m mad. A stationery party? Seriously?
Yup seriously, last Saturday I went to an arty party because arts and crafts events are the best!
As a child some of my earliest memories are of my mum taking my sister and I to local souqs in Saudi Arabia (we lived out there) where she would shop for gifts for the children at the school she taught at. The only thing I remember about the place is how AMAZING the stationery was. I’m pretty sure that’s where my obsession stems from. My sister and I have had a love for writing and desk accessories ever since.
I have many passions in life, art, travel, writing, all of which I can showcase on the blog. For the last year I have regularly written notes to myself to try and include some form of craft post, it’s something I absolutely love doing and I just wish I had more time to indulge in it.
When I started having my aversion to watching television, I took up crochet as a way to give myself something to do whilst I was sat with Mo and he was catching up on his programs. Kept me busy, very addictive and it meant I didn’t have to sit bored whilst the TV rattled on.
Since then my spare time has become less and less frequent and I do really value any time I can dedicate to arts and crafts. When you’re an adult there are so few opportunities to unleash your creativity if you happen to be stuck in the corporate world so an arty party hosted by Viking was definitely a welcome breath of fresh air.
Venue
The venue for the day was the exquisite King Street Townhouse hotel, the only one in Manchester to boast a rooftop pool. Boutique in style, kitschy-but-modern interiors, it was the perfect place to host a bunch of bloggers.
The sun was beaming on Saturday, almost as if it had been scheduled to do so, as our craft party was being held in the 6th floor event room, with outdoor terrace. An outdoor terrace with views looking out over the city, what a location.
Activities
The Viking team were joined by some wonderful helpers: Chloe and Stacey from the crafty hen and the lovely Joyce from Artsynibs. Three separate crafting stations had been set up: Notebook customisation, block printing and calligraphy.
We separated into groups and tried our hand at each one, getting stuck in the minute we sat down. We stopped only for lunch and mini tea breaks in between activities and I think I picked up my phone only a handful of times that day, my camera even less.
One of my main takeaways was how accommodating the Viking team were. I’ve been to many blogger events and this one had been so well thought out. Viking really focused on bloggers getting stuck into the activity at hand, just enjoying the moment with a photographer floating around taking snaps – saving us the hassle in feeling pressured to take our own. What a genius idea. And highly necessary as the moment I started the day on notebook customisation my focus was very much on my creation and nothing else in the world mattered!
I’m pretty chuffed with my little take aways, the file organiser and notebook are things I always need and the whole personalisation process inspired me to think a bit more on my home office and how I can create a spectacular working space, using simple accessories and jazzing them up. (I sense a Pinterest spree on its way).
Calligraphy wasn’t really my strongest skill, but as a typography nut I loved it anyway. I’ve met Joyce a few times before at various events and it’s always lovely to catch up with her, and whenever I get the opportunity to watch her in action, its quite mesmerising!! We were treated to not only an introductory lesson but also a newly released calligraphy set, which I am determined to practice at home with.
And of course not only was I able to create some fun take home accessories, but I got to spend an afternoon with a collection of pretty fab bloggers too! I finally got to meet the wonderful Maggie whose journey I have been following as she travelled through Asia recently, worth checking out trust me! I also met Holly, the lady behind WeBlogMcr, very excited to get networking with her in the near future. And of course there were many others, I’ll list them all at the end if you fancy some new blogs to read.
The whole day made me realise all that talk I posted about recently on wanting to introduce a digital detox really needs to be something I take seriously now. Having an afternoon where my mind was focused on anything but a screen, was so therapeutic. Even though it was a busy afternoon I felt completely relaxed (I think the sunshine helped!)
Viking were sure to give us a goody bag to take away too, luckily mine had lots of gold inspired stationery, perfect as I can use it to finish off my notebook 🙂
Fabulously fun inspirational day, at a stunning city centre location.
Can’t wait to get my craft back on.
*** Huge thanks to Viking for organising a wonderful bloggers event . All images used on this particular post are my own, with no editing apart from a couple have had brightness adjusted as I was using my c*** phone. ***
Some lovely bloggers I met who are definitely worth checking out:
- www.planeschampagne.com
- www.alltheworld-blog.com
- www.hollygoeslightly.co.uk
- www.polkadot-pink.com
- www.sweetiesal.com
- www.1weekmary.com
- www.seeingspots.co.uk
