Crafting away from home...

So here I am in the USA at Katherines house, Dearborn, Michigan and trying to prepare a couple of card designs for us to make this evening. I brought my Make a Mitten stamp set and the lovely matching punch and a small kit of tools ( they fit into a pencil case!) and figured we could buy the other supplies here. Those of you who have been in the States will know Michaels and Joann as well as a plethora of Indy craft shops - sorry - stores! Well there is nothing like having to use non-Stampin' Up! card stock and paper to make you really really appreciate the quality of Stampin' Up! products. Yes - we all know they are great but you kind of get used to the beautiful colours, the accurate printing and heavy gauge of designer series papers. But after trying to use locally bought paper and card I am even more convinced of the value of using SU. And as for crafting with 5 tools and the contents of the kitchen drawer....phewee - how good is it going to be to be back in my studio with everything to hand. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. It is wonderful to be here though - and all Katherines friends are fabulous. Very enthusiastic and welcoming. We are taking part in a sketchbook project and I have started on mine. The downtown area of Detroit has had a very tough time with several areas effectively abandoned. They are talking about bulldozing whole blocks and maybe turning the land back into farmland. The Detroit Institute of Arts runs a lively programme of activities, which are free,to try and encourage people to come into the city more often. I will try to post pictures of my sketchbook when I get home and on to a bigger computer. I had better finish prepping for our group this evening - hmmm I can use a fork to help tie bows, maybe a cookie cutter as a template for card and the corkscrew to ...... well open a bottle of wine of course!