Friday, Friday...

If you walked into our shop today, you would have seen our gigantic classroom table FULL of trims, laces, flowers, charms and bling blings...  as we spent most of the day preparing for the upcoming teacup pincushion workshops.

At one stage we even spread into the garden so that all the freshly dyed flowers, laces and trims could dry in the sun -- what fun we had creating these perfect little packs for you.   Each one, though slightly different, includes all the bits'n'pieces to make your own pincushion -- all you need to supply is a handful of stuffing!!!  

Look how pretty they are...

And this is the stunning end result...  Priced at just $33.50, these kits would make wonderful gifts for someone special this Christmas!!!

Come take a little sneak peak at what's been happening in the shop over the past week!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas 

Ev'rywhere you go; 

                           

Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again

With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Toys in ev'ry store

 

But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be

On your own front door.

A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots 

Is the wish of Barney and Ben;

Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk

Is the hope of Janice and Jen;

And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.

                                  

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Ev'rywhere you go; 

There's a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,

The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow.

                                  

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;

Soon the bells will start, 

And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing 
Right within your heart.

Isn't it just gorgeous -- No wonder Christmas is our most favourite time of the year!!!

Who can resist a teacup and a pretty pincushion - especially when the two are combined!!!

From as far back as I can remember, and for a reason which I can't really explain, tea cups have held a very dear place in my heart.    Whenever we go away I always seem to come back with more teacups to add to my collection...

And as hard as I try, I just can't resist them.  My husband can even tell you the story of a time when we were in Venice and on our last hours there, he left me at the hotel to quickly go back to buy me a Murano glass teacup which we had seen in one of the shops earlier.   I hadn't bought it at the time because he said it was too fragile to bring back home to Australia :(
Try as I might, I couldn't get that teacup out of my head -- so for some peace hubby decided he would go back to the shop on his own as it would be faster.  Well he did buy me that teacup but he also got lost on his way back and we both nearly missed the start of our cruise -- all because of a teacup!!!  He still has heart palpitations just thinking about it -- the teacup incident in Venice left him scarred for life!!!  Now whenever I see one that I fancy he simply says "just get it if you like it"...

Now I'm getting sidetracked -- so let's go back to the reason behind this blog post...
Last Thursday Kim and I received a parcel and upon opening it I discovered the most exquisite...  you guessed it -- teacups!!!  Each one had been crocheted and heavily starched, complete with its own little saucer.  Such delightful little creations -- we put a little bear in one, and some tulle flowers in another -- oh how sweet they all looked!!!  Then it hit me -- they would make great little pincushions.  I walked around the shop and grabbed some supplies from our extensive range of pretty ribbons and trims.  I was itching to get home and start creating this new project...

Starting with a circle of  "ever-so-soft" cream cashmere I embellished the centre with the bits of laces, trims, beads and sequins I had collected.  To this I added charms, buttons and a tulle trim -- I fiddled and faddled until I was completely happy with the result...  What do you think???

If anyone is interested in making one of these, (they are quick to make and quite inexpensive) we have set aside two of our social stitching nights to help you.  (Tuesday 4 & 11th December 7.00pm - 9.30pm)  We are also desperately trying to squeeze in a one day workshop before Christmas -- probably on a Tuesday.  Give us a call if you are interested...

Hugs
Josey ;) 

Some brainstorming in time for Christmas...

Over the past month or so the shop has been a hive of activity...   Every day has been busy, busy and busier...  We have had quite a few interstate teachers come visit us and have run some very successful and fun workshops -- Susie McMahon with her beautiful dolls, Merilyn Pursell with her amazing bears and Lynne Parker with her quirky little characters...  It has been so rewarding to see the smiles all round!!!  Well done ladies!!!

Apart from all the workshops, we have also had quite a few shows this half of the year...  And as you know, shows are extremely hard work -- each time you have to destroy the shop, only to put it  together again at the shows end!!!  Brisbane and Woodend were our last shows for 2012!!!


So today found Kim and I at the shop all alone, trying to pick up the pieces and put the chaos back into some form of order.  We worked really hard and managed to achieve lots -- we sat done with a cuppa at the day's end to do a little brainstorming!!!

Back in August at the trade fair, some gorgeous Christmas trees caught our eyes and on impulse we bought them.  These little trees are eco friendly and made from 100% coco fibre.  Each tree has been carefully handmade using Fair Trade principles so its not only kind to the planet but also cares for the communities that make them too.  The trees have been sitting around in our back room for a couple of months -- so we needed to make a plan for them.

We decided that they should be decorated with some gorgeous little decorations which have just arrived from the U.S. -- miniature garlands, baubles, gingerbread cookies, stars, wreaths, and the list goes on.  We also have some very cute battery operated mini lights which have travelled all the way from Italy...

And of course no Christmas tree is complete without its skirt!!! (But you'll have to come back next week to see that)  One thing led to another and then we both thought "This tree needs a bear" -- so we opted for a mini version of my "Nicholas" 

 We put it all together (quite roughly) and were very excited with how it was all looking...  Come back next week after we've done some more fine tuning, to see how it all looks finished!!!

We've set aside Tuesday 18th December to run a workshop in creating this little vignette...