Where do I start … it was just too WONDERFUL!
Marc is such an inspiration not only creatively but also as a person. I was very, very spoilt, my suitcase was bulging when I left, and I was very pampered with lovely food, the most gorgeous bedroom and the company of three beautiful Bassett Hounds. ….. I can safely say that Lottie and I bonded!
Unfortunately, for Marc, he soon discovered I have a propensity for tea leafing things, not deliberately with the intention to steal …. I just sort of aquire things by picking them up … for example:- on the underground I discovered that I was wearing his partner Rick's specs and in the morning after going out for a meal I found Marc’s VERY expensive pin in my rucksack!!!! He also found that I also liked to make little piles of “stuff” all around the flat …. a bit like a establishing my territory! I must have been a nightmare guest!
We talked constantly …. about everything, but crafting was always lurking there in the background.
The first thing we “played” with was Marc’s A3 Foil It machine, he’d had it for quite a while but this was the first time he had used it …..
All I can say is OMG, OMG, OMG .......
I always thought foiling was soooooo complicated, but all you have to do is print whatever it is you want to foil, e.g a card verse, on a copier or laser jet printer and then pass it through the Foil It machine with a piece of special foil over it (just like a laminator) and then Bob’s your Aunt Fanny!!
The foils come in all sorts of colours and finishes and I was unashamedly hooked …. already thinking about my son’s wedding invitations …And now I have a confession to make to Marc after he offered to lend this wondrous machine to me, I knew that if he did he would never get it back ….. so as soon as I got home, before I had even unpacked, I was online buying the smaller A4 version, (because I thought I would be able to take it to work on the bus and use it on certificates and stuff!!!) I have so many ideas …… and Marc was well and truly the hero of the day re: my mojo!!
Marc also showered me with a huge box of wooden embellishments from a company Crafty-Emblies who he has been raving about for ages, they are stunning, and I think you will be seeing a lot of them in the coming months. It’s really worth having a look at their website at the range of really unusual embellishments and boxes and you wont believe the prices! 
I love the large mdf folder above so much. Amongst all the goodies was a wooden train with twenty five carriages ….. Marc had an Advent train in mind when he ordered it … I don’t think I have enough time to do it for this year but I can see it becoming a labour of love for next year.
Marc makes the most exquisite pins ….
….. and he showed me his mahoooosive collection of beads and showed me how to make the pins …. oh my life they are stunning!
This is a box Marc made covering it first with microbeads …. 
…and then adding other beads and 3D paint liners.
My pictures just do not do it justice …. and the work involved ….. wow!
And as for this cross!
I owe Marc so much, when I went to bed I made endless notes in the little book I took with me ….. I was so inspired and fired up with so many ideas, my mojo is back thanks to him! ….. Marc is the most incredible sharing and generous person I have ever met, he has so much talent but he is so quiet and modest about the incredible things he has done …… I am so lucky to be able to call him a friend and I cherish every text, e-mail, phone call and meeting we exchange. All being well I will see him again in January …. and hopefully I will be able to repay his kindness by one day having him and Rick stay with me.
Tomorrow my first make inspired by my visit …….
Foil It & Foils http://www.patsymay.co.uk/
