Newsletter - February 2007

Welcome to our February newsletter, January seems to have passed all too swiftly, bringing snow, hail and rain along with some wonderful winter sunshine! As I write, it is a glorious sunny day with blue skies after a very heavy overnight frost. In the garden the blue tits are pairing up and choosing which nest box to fight over, the hellebores are in bloom, crocus and daffodil bulbs are poking through and there are masses of snowdrops everywhere!

Thank you to all the stitchers and beaders who have signed up for our newsletter since the beginning of the year, we hope you will find lots to interest you and we do welcome your feedback. Let us know what you would like to see on our website, the types of classes/workshops you would like to attend and anything which you would like to see in our shop, if you do not see what you are looking for on our website, please give us a ring or send us an email, we may have it in stock or we may be able to get it for you.

We have just spent a very pleasant weekend with the Thursday Beaders and tutor Elaine Peel who taught us to do a variety of peyote components which could be made up into stylish bracelets and necklaces. We had a treat on Sunday when Alison baked a gorgeous Birthday cake for Anne – thoroughly enjoyed by all!!

There are a few places left on Elaine's weekend teaching Beaded Tassels for Beginners on 10th -11th March 2007, this will be held in Gosforth, Cumbria so see if you can come and join us. We can recommend a few B&B's if you want to make a weekend of it.

It is not too late to join us on our Block A Month course with tutor Barbara Slee. Let us know as soon as possible if you would like a place, or maybe you would like to join us for one class and make your block into a cushion? We mentioned last month that we had had our first delivery of fabric, these are all new designs for 2007, if you would like to see them, please give us a ring to arrange a time.

We are now taking bookings for the Calico Gardens Embroiderers' Bag with tutor Irene Coulthard. Places are booking up quickly so let us know if you would like to take part. There will be three classes, June 25 and August 13 & 14. We have seen the finished bag and the embellishments and it is stunning! Don't miss this workshop!

At this time of year most of us find the fading light makes it difficult to do those tricky, intricate pieces of work. We now have OTT-LITE lamps available. These provide natural daylight illumination, which shows colours accurately and details clearly. They fold easily to a compact size which can be carried around to classes and workshops. Of the many craft lights that are on the market these are given a very good write up in the needlecraft magazines. There are various sizes plus floor standing lamps available, and we can order these for you.

We have added some new items to our stock, including some Shepherd's Bush kits with a spring-like theme: Birdhouse Roll, Folk Heart Roll, Spring Scissor Fob, Bee Garden and several more, do have a look. More books have arrived, including A Perfect World In Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork, this is a stunning book and has been reviewed in the new issue of New Stitches magazine. We have some new beadwork books too, such as Jill Oxton's Beautiful Bracelets and Dare to Bead by Heather Laithwaite which had an impressive write up in the second issue of Bead magazine.

Talking of books, we have a special offer for the month of February: we are offering you the chance to buy A-Z of Embroidery Stitches for the special price of £9.99, a saving of £5.00. This book is spiral bound making it an ideal companion as it can be laid open at the page you need, it is described as "a complete manual for the beginner through to the advanced embroiderer. More than 1300 step-by-step colour photographs of every stitch you will ever need". It is a great reference book as a reminder for a stitch you may have forgotten or for exploring different stitches to experiment with. Limited stock available at this special price until the end of February.

Don't forget this week is Bramley Apple Week 4-11 February, a good excuse, if you need one, for a delicious Bramley Apple Crumble! Also this month, Valentines Day on the 14th, a good excuse to treat yourself to Love Letters from Shepherds Bush?

Have a great month, make time for stitching and beading,
Best wishes

Beverley & Edna