ProMarker Challenge Club - Please vote!

by Rita Ward

Surprise, Rita you are the winner of the last ProMarker Challenge. The challenge was to make a monochromatic card. Well done, when you are next visiting the shop please don't forget to collect your ProMarker pens as your prize.

So, that brings us to the latest ProMarker challenge using this adorable Whiff of Joy Wedding stamp. Now we have had a fantastic response, so thank you ladies for getting into the spirit of the ProMarker Challenge Club. I think this month it is going to be tricky to choose a winner so, take a look at the entries below and please vote leaving a comment below leaving your name at the end of the entry.

Card #1

Card #2


Card #3


Card #4


Card #5


Card #6

The next ProMarker Club will be held on the 1st Saturday in June so, if you would like Nicky to show you some new colouring techniques with your ProMarkers why not pop along to our friendly group (click here for details).

Newsletter 28th May

Hi Everybody

Can you believe that it is going to be June next week? Where has this year gone? AND the summer is only just starting - or has it been and gone?

Don't worry about making a cup of tea, this is just going to be a very quick one. As you can see, it is mid-morning (not middle of the night!) so I should be working hard in the shop - not writing a newsletter. But I have hidden away in the office and left Nicky to mind the shops, naughty girl aren't I?

Anyway, I just wanted to thank everybody for their efforts with the Crafters Car Boot sale the other week. Well done to everybody that came with their car boots. Thank you also to Pauline, Susan and Joanna who came with biscuits and cakes for us to sell with the cups of tea and coffee (they went down very well!). Thank you to everybody who donated something for the sale table and thank you to all who put something into the rattle tins & buckets at the entrance and by the tills. AND the weather was good - bit of a cold wind, but the sun stayed out.

It was a great success and we raised £313.56 for Cancer Research. Well done!

So now we are onto Half-term - which means, of course, that we bring Ruth out, dust her down and put her up in the playroom to entertain the little darlings. She has come up with two lovely designs for a necklace and a bracelet. As usual the classes are on Tuesday and Thursday mornings 10.30 'til 12.30 and cost £10.

Tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) there is a Necklace and Natter session in the bead shop. Come along and have a go at making a necklace with Ruth (I will be out to begin with, but should be back mid-afternoon), enjoy a cup of tea and a chatter with others. You can choose your own design and we will be on hand to help you, should you need it. The time is 2 'til 4, it costs £7.50 + the cost of the beads (all findings are included in the cost). See you there!

Then we are back to routine - ProMarker Club on the first Saturday, Jo Sonjas second Saturday etc.

You must look out for the ProMarker challenge cards that the Ladies have made (Joanna will be putting them on the blog this weekend). The Ladies have come up trumps and made some stunning cards. Please make sure you put in a vote!! Check out http://www.flutterbycraftsberkshire.blogspot.com/ or look at them in the shop.

What else? Ah, 2 things - if you are up in Edinburgh next week come and visit me at the Corn Exchange for the Art Stamp Show (I understand that the Newbury tickets will be in the shop sometime in the next week) and also watch out for exciting news about our on-line shop. More about that in the next newsletter.

Have a good weekend and I will see you in the shop.

With best wishes

Lynn & the Girls.

PS - told you it was a quick one!!!!

Saturday, 29th May

If you are interested in Jewellery and Beading, why not come and join Ruth this Saturday, 29th May at our Jewellery Drop In session and see what she has in store for you to make!!

Click on the poster below for more details.

Stair Step Card

Here is a lovely Stair Step card made by Nicky.

If you would like learn more about papercrafting techniques why not check out the latest classes in our Workshop Listings or take a look at our Workshop Calendar and treat yourself to a class.

Beaded Tiara

If you came to the Crafter's Car Boot Sale on Saturday you would have seen Lynn walking around with this Tiara on her head (check out the photos on older post).

We all know she is the Queen of Flutterby Crafts but I think she is preparing for the wedding season. Don't you think this would be stunning for a bride and her bridesmaids, change the colours of the beads to match the dress and I can already hear the organ playing the Wedding March!

If you would like to have a go at making this Tiara or one in a colour of your choice just give Lynn a call on 01635 860900, pop into the shop or e-mail her on lynn@flutterbycrafts.co.uk

Crafters Car Boot Sale

Customers busy, busy buying more crafting supplies!

Some very kind customers donated their crafting stash to raise funds for Cancer Research. Doesn't Anne look the part!

Here is Maria showing us all the amazing things you can decorate with Napkins. She came last year to a Jo Sonja workshop at Flutterby Crafts and she is now officially addicted to Napkins!

Well the sun shone - something that does not usually happen when Flutterby Crafts has an event!!!

It was a great day. A bit cold at times, but we buttoned up our jackets and enjoyed the fact that the sun was shining.

We had 12 car boots open (not bad for our first one!) and lots of people came out to see us. Maria, Fiona, Pam and Peter were showing off their crafts - lovely work and the others were clearing out some of their old stash.

We had some really tasty cakes and biscuits brought in by Pauline, Susan and Joanna (I fear I put on a few pounds yesterday, despite all the running around!)

Baby Freja was there enjoying a cuddle from Grandma and anybody else that could get their hands on her - I enjoyed a cuddle or two.

Joanna was with us in the morning as our official photographer, so hopefully we will have some good photos on the blog during the week.

(Lynn doesn't know that I have sneaked these photos into her blog entry.....I may be in trouble with Lynn and Nicky with this photo! - Joanna)

Look at the lady who made this event a success in her TIARA!

And the grand result was that we raised a wonderful £313.51 for Cancer Research. Thank you all very much for your donations and your efforts.

I am going to go make a cup of tea now and put my feet up for a while in readiness for spending a pleasant Sunday pottering in the garden.

Have a good day, Ladies and pat yourselves on the back.

Lynn

Newsletter 14th May 2010

Hi Everybody

I hope you are sitting down - because I have some news!! I have just checked the weather and it is (supposedly) going to be good tomorrow - sunny, no wind, no rain!

Now, those of you that have been with us for some years will know that this is not usually the case when we hold an event. We usually have wind, rain, hailstorms, flooding, you name it - maybe it is because we are not having the tents up, who knows.

Anyway, just in case you are out of the loop and do not know what I am talking about - this weekend is our CRAFTERS CAR BOOT SALE raising funds for CANCER RESEARCH.

Loads of people have booked car boot space (remember, car booters, to bring your table). Some are selling unwanted stash, some are selling finished crafts - so there will be plenty to choose from. We have had a lot of stuff donated from people who have goodies to get rid of but do not want to have a table - so we will be running that table and all money taken will be going directly to fund raising.

We have had offers of cakes & biscuits so, as I am leaving Grant and Philip at home, there will be sweet treats to buy & try.

Ladies, if anybody has offered to make cakes or give us a hand and I have not been back to you - I do apologise but, please, yes - any cakes and any help with tin rattling and selling on our stall, is very gratefully accepted.

And it will be a good day with lots of laughter, lots of fun and lots of money going to a very good cause.

Then, when that is finished, Nicky will be holding the first of her monthly Rubber Stampers Club - does your fun never end?

Last week we had the first of the Jo Sonja's workshops, check out the blog to see the results - great fun was had by all.

Well, there you go - only a quick one.

We will see you all tomorrow - no excuses, come see what is going on and help us support Cancer Research.

With best wishes

Lynn and the Girls.

Crafter's Car Boot Sale

Have you got lots of crafting goodies you never use? Do you need to have a clear out of your crafting stuff to make room for more goodies? Well why don't you book a table top for £5.00 and sell your bits and pieces at the Flutterby Crafter's Car Boot Sale on Saturday, 15th May.

Click on poster below for details.

Or you could come along and buy crafter's unwanted goodies at bargain prices from the Crafter's Table Tops held in the Flutterby Crafts car park.

On the other hand if you do not have enough crafting material to have a table top why not donate to Cancer Relief your spare crafting material. Have a quick sort out, pop it in a bag or box and hand it into Lynn.

There will be tea and cakes plus other stalls.

Come along and raise money for Cancer Relief and meet fellow crafters.

If the sun is shining it's going to be a great day.

See you all on Saturday!

Jo Sonja Craft Club - look!

Look what we made at the 1st of the Jo Sonja Craft Clubs held last Saturday. We all had such FUN! Lynn showed us how to decorate canvass bags and pumps.

Here we are concentrating on applying the base paint and napkins to our projects.

And, here are our lovely canvass shoes and canvass bags. We all chose different napkins and we all agreed how stunning they turned out!

I think Lynn may have a few people hooked and I can't wait for the next Jo Sonja Craft Club next month when we will be decorating glass bowls.

If you want to join in , hurry up and book your place because I can see this is going to be a very popular monthly workshop.

Saturday, 8th May - Jo Sonja Workshop

Just to remind you that Lynn is going to show you how to decorate canvas pumps this Saturday. This is the first of the New Jo Sonja Workshops which will be held on the 2nd Saturday of each month and is sure to be very popular.

Aren't they gorgeous.......hurry up and book your place now by clicking on the poster below to enlarge details.

NB : Lynn I might gate crash this class if my daughter's tennis tournament is rained off as I would love to know how you make these stunning pumps!

Crafy Bitz papers in stock

Lynn has some new 12 x 12 papers by Crafty Bitz that have just arrived. They are lovely and here below is a card that Nicky has made for the shop.

The girls in the shop have lots and lots of card samples on display handing up from the beams to give you inspiration and technique ideas for your craft making. So if you are stuck for card ideas come down to Flutterby Crafts and take a look at the cards on display. This is a great alternative to brousing through a magazine for ideas and you may even be offered cup of tea at the same time.

What more could a girl want!

Newsletter - 29th April 2010

Hi Everybody

Wow, what a noisy start to the morning we had! Now, this is going to be a bit of a story - so it might be worth making a cup of tea before you start reading!

It all started about six weeks ago when a Mummy Duck and Daddy Duck landed on our pond, at the bottom of the garden, having decided it was the ideal place to make sweet music. A few flustered feathers, a bit of quacking later and Mummy Duck makes a nest. A short while after that she lays 10 eggs and settles down for 21 days of quiet contemplation while she incubates her little babies. All say 'ahhh'!

So, now let us jump forward 3 weeks to last Friday. There I was, getting ready to play proud grandparent to a beautiful little lady who was due to arrive at lunch time, deciding to take a break from the chores I went for a little walk down to the pond and guess what is squeaking away on the nest? You got it, 10 little bundles of fluff. Another 'ahhh' due now.

What a lovely weekend it was. Not only was I able to enjoy the pleasures of spending a weekend of fun with Helen and Jet (daughter & granddaughter) but we also had fun watching Mumma Duck raising her 10 little bundles of fluff. What a great Mum but, my goodness me, what a noisy Mum. Whenever her babies strayed, or someone went too near them, she quacked her socks off - and how loudly she can quack!

Anyway, so now I go back to the events of this morning. I woke up this morning, looked out of the window down to the pond to see Mummy Duck, while the little bundles of fluff wandered around the grass pecking away. We sat and had our morning cup of tea before getting ready to take the dogs out for a walk. By the time we were ready to go, Mummy Duck was on one side of our garden boundary wall and the babies were on the other side. Mumma had decided it was time to take her babies to the Canal!

We have no idea how she got the babies over that wall, but manage it she did - one minute they were on opposite sides of the wall making one hell of a noise quacking away, the next they are all together and she was continuing on her quest to take them to the Kennet and Avon.

We are hoping, so much, that they made it safely through their journey. We will watch out for them tomorrow morning, when we walk the dogs.

Now, provided they made it to the canal safely, there is only one bad thing that happened this weekend - and I will have Joanna kicking me for missing the opportunity (sorry, Joanna!) but not one of us had a camera that was working! Der! Photo opportunity of the year missed! I cannot believe it. I promise I will do better next year.

So there you go, what an exciting weekend. And talking of exciting, I hope everybody has got back safely from their Easter holiday breaks. Isn't it amazing the chaos one little volcano can cause? The number of people, that I know, that were affected by the airport closures and that are still being affected.

Anyway, I suppose you would all rather hear about what is happening in the shop, rather than the miscellaneous ramblings of a mad woman. Well, this weekend is not only a Bank Holiday (grotty weather forecast, no change there!) but it is also ProMarker weekend.

Having covered Monochromatic in her tutorial last month, I think Nicky is doing Sepia this month - but don't quote me on that. I am sure she will come up with something stunning, she usually does.

Then the following Saturday, the 8th, is the first Jo Sonja's Workshop. And the first class will be decorating shoes, great fun. There will be a lot of very cool canvass pumps being worn this summer. Now, this class is booking very fast and there were on a couple of spaces left last time I looked, so if you are interested call now!

I hope you have all put the 15th May on your calendars! This is the Crafters Car Boot sale. This will be fun. Remember this will be a great place to clear out some of your unwanted stash, but it will also be a good place to showcase some of your crafts. The event will be getting advertised around the area & on the local radio so, hopefully, we will have a lot of people coming to find finished crafts as well as crafters looking for a bargain!

All money raised from the pitches and entrance will be going to Cancer Research - a wonderful cause and one that is very dear to the hearts of many of our customers.

Remember, if you do not want to have your own table but you would like to donate some stuff to be sold for the Cancer Research - let us have it, we will have a table that is just donated goodies with all proceeds going to the cause.

We will also have the tea/coffee urn out on display - might even put some water in it, you never know!! There have been offers of some cakes for us to sell and if you have offered but I have not got back to you, I do apologise. Yes, please, can we have some cakes. Anything that will boost the funds.

So come, even if only for a short while, and have some fun on the 15th May 10 'til 2pm.

Then on that same afternoon, at 2pm, it is the first meeting of the monthly Rubber Stamping Club with Nicky. This will be the perfect place to meet other ladies who love a bit of rubber - or acrylic! Nicky will be giving a short tutorial and then you will be able to play for a bit. Great fun and perfect for all levels of stamper, from beginners to advanced.

Wow! So much happening over the next few weeks. And, remember, we have still got the launch of the Jewellery Drop-in sessions on the last Saturday of the month. Does your fun never end?

After all that excitement I think I had better go and make MYSELF a cup of tea.

I hope the weekend is not going to be as miserable as the forecasters say but, if it is, just think about the fact that it could be three days of crafting - without feeling guilty about abandoning the garden!

On that happy note I will leave you all and see you in the shop sometime over the next week or so.

Happy crafting.

Lynn and the Girls.