Stix2 Demonstration weekend in Portugal, by Michelle's Tubo De Ensaio

Thursday, 8th May Day 1, Hello! Hola! Olá!

I arrived to Portugal on time, Patricia's brother Joăo was at the airport to pick me up. (Patricia is the lady hosting the event and also the Stix2 Distributor for Portugal and Spain) For our first night I met Manoli the other designer who only speaks Spanish and was staying in the same hotel as me. Fortunately enough for me ( and Manoli) Patricia speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese. She was my saviour for the trip... alongside Google Translate! Dinner was by the harbour and plans were made for our first day alongside breakfast and transport to the Colombo Centro, Lisbon.

Friday, 9th May, Day 2.

At the shopping mall Manoli and I met Rita and Vitor our other demonstrators who also acted as translators and assistants for the weekend. Before my first class we needed to make that important trip to the basement and was in my element... Hot Melt Glue Guns, Layer Perfects, Diecut Stencil Sheets, and many more Stix2 products and hundreds of them.

We all mucked together in the workshops and Patricia and Vitor translated for me... We had some fun while doing it too!

All our classes were fully booked for the whole week through Patricia's powers of clever advertising and social media. Their hard work paid off and every class was full of people eager to learn.

The crafters loved all the techniques I was showing them with the Hot Melt Glue Gun, All the classes ran smoothly one after another and I was starting to pick enough words to chat to everyone and start to properly join in.

Saturday, 10th May, Day 3.

While we set up for our second day of crafting the centre was already buzzing. People again arrived on time for the workshops, and today we had a queue waiting to see if there were any cancellations. Wishful thinking and shows why its so important to book in advance!!!

Everyone joined in and was enthusiastic about the projects we were working on. Questions, techniques and ideas were shared and once again I had a fantastic time.

Crafters enjoyed stamping, stenciling and many other techniques I was sharing with them. Although they couldn't understand me properly when talking one on one, they could see what I was doing and copy and managed to take everything on board.

Plenty of Adhesive Remover was used on this trip to keep the Crafting Sheets and tables in pristine condition and it works like a charm.

Sunday, 11th May Day 4, sadly the last day.

6 workshops to deliver today so off we went to the basement to top up the products. Opening boxes of Stix2 stock is like Christmas. Hot Melt Refills, Diecut Flowers, butterflies,Tapes and Glitter... All fanastic stuff and I was raring to go!!

More people arrived and even more stamping into gooey hot glue. As usual the crafters were early, eager and excited!

As my last workshop came to an end, Manoli made an announcement to let everyone know I'd finished and was heading home.... At least I think that's what she said! Everyone cheered and took photos. The atmosphere was fantastic and I felt very humble to be appreciated by the team and the customers and proud Stix2 chose me to represent them in Portugal.

I've now made some friends for life and enjoy keeping in touch with them. I am very much looking forward to a return visit with more techniques using adhesives to share.

Saturday 5 July 2014