Newsletter - Nov 2010

Hi Everybody

I hope you are all very well.

I am sorry that I have not been sending newsletters out as regularly as I should. I have been so busy trying to organise so many things and there are still a lot of things that I keep forgetting to do. Ho, hum. I will catch up soon.

Anyway, I have just been sitting here decorating a bauble with some beads (I know, I should have been sending out logos for ads & sorting out the new website etc, but.....) and I thought 'better whip out a quick newsletter' to let you all know about these beaded baubles. If you have been into the bead shop recently you will have seen some samples of them.

Ruth designed the pattern, she is a Christmas Star, and tonight (Tuesday, 30th November) she will be teaching how to make them. So if you are not doing anything and you fancy having a go, come and join us up in the workshop - 6.30 'til 8.30 - it is £12.50 and includes all beads, baubles and pattern. They are easy peasy but so effective. I am sure Joanna will have a picture on the blog very soon.

The other thing that is happening this week is the arrival of two new things. Firstly we are about to become FIMO stockists - Fimo beads here I come!!

Secondly (and you are going to love this) we are going to receive our first order of Efcolour Enameling system - I cannot wait to get my hands on this!! This is a 'cold' enameling system (which means you do not have to spend a fortune on a kiln) and is great fun. I have had great fun playing with it already.

Does your fun never end?

And to introduce these two products we are going to have a Mince pie & Hot Punch Day on Saturday 11th December, when we will have demonstrations going with the Fimo and the Enamelling. How great will that be?

Both these products are great fun and both can be used for all the crafts that we cover - jewellery making, card making and scrapbooking (and gift making for this Christmas). So everybody is welcome to come and see what it is all about (who know, this could answer the Christmas Fairies prayers!)

Also, watch out for news coming up about the Jo Sonja's New Vintage Collection background colours - I will tell you more in my next newsletter which will be out before the week is out.

So there you are, just a quick one. Time for my bed now. Hopefully we will not be too snowed in and we will see you at the beading class tonight and on the 11th!!

Have a good day. With regards

Lynn & Girls

Decorate your tree with ornaments!

It's official.........today I have seen the 1st Christmas tree up, lights on, but no decorations hung yet!!! Maybe I should tell them where to go for Christmas Ornaments...........that is Flutterby Crafts.


We have a wide range of Kaisercraft wooden shapes in stock at the moment. Above is one of the undecorated ornament shapes ready to be decorated using Jo Sonja paints. They can be covered in paper or napkins too!


Lynn has decorated this ornament using paints, napkins, gems, ribbon and beads.

If you would like advice on how to decorate your Kaisercraft wooden shapes why not speak to Lynn when you visit the shop and she will who will point you in the right direction.

Painted glasses

These beautiful glasses and tumblers were painted by one of our Jo Sonja Creative tutors using Jo Sonja paints.

Be warned they are all stunning........

Don't forget, Flutterby Crafts are the UK Distributor of Jo Sonja acrylic paints and mediums. If you have chance to come into the shop, have a chat with Lynn who runs our Jo Sonja workshops and she can give you lots of advice on decorating your projects with these truly wonderful acrylic paints.

Decoupage using ribbon

Lynn has made this card decoupaging ribbon with a Poinsettia design onto the square shaped topper.

These new photo corners have just arrived together with lots of glitter card, ribbon, and Christmas peel offs.

Prince William and Kate

Just heard the news.....Congratulations to Prince William and Kate. What wonderful news and what a wonderful morale boost. We wish them all lots of best wishes and hope that they have a lovely wedding & a great life together. It is a moment to celebrate something good.

Lynn x

Painted vase and new flowers in stock

Lynn has decorated this vase using Jo Sonja paints and mediums. If you would like to have a go at a similar project why not come to one of the Saturday or midweek Jo Sonja workshops (click here for workshop brochure).

Here is a close up of these gorgeous netted Ponsettia's that have just arrived! The vase would make a lovely Christmas gift, so if you have some time free and need some Christmas gift ideas why not join Lynn at the....

Jo Sonja midweek Club
Wednesday, 17th November
12.30 'til 2.30 pm

To book yourself a place on tomorrow's Jo Sonja midweek Club, just give us a call on telephone number, 01635 860900.

This afternoon was manic but fun!!

Shhh!! I am hi-jacking the blog, but I just had to let you all know what fun we had this afternoon.

It was the Jo Sonja's class and we playing with napkin art on glass bowls & vases, candles, wooden boxes, canvass bags - you name it, we did it.

We painted, we crackled, we had a great time.

Thank you, Maria, for all your help and inspiration. Thank you, Ladies, for your laughter and enjoyment. See you all next month.

Lynn xx

Adorable gift boxes

We have these ribbed kraft gift/favour boxes that come flat packed ready for you to put your special gift or favours inside. All you then need to do is fold the boxes and add your embellishments.

Catherine has made these boxes decorating them perfectly with ribbons, flowers and embellishments found here at our on-line shop (take a look in the wedding section too).

The boxes found here come in all sorts of different sizes which are a perfect accompaniment for your handmade jewellery Christmas gifts and wedding favours.

Jo Sonja and Serviettes!

Lynn has been decorating flower pots again using Jo Sonja paints and serviettes.

As Flutterby Crafts are the UK Distributor of Jo Sonja paints and mediums we have a large collection in stock together with serviettes (at our bricks and mortar shop). We also have serviettes and Jo Sonja paints at our on-line shop if you are unable to call in.

Jo Sonja Saturday Craft Club

Saturday, 13th November

2.00 'til 4.00 pm

Jo Sonja midweek Club

Wednesday, 17th November
12.30 'til 2.30 pm

If you wish to learn how to decorate these flower pots why not book onto one of our Jo Sonja workshops and make some lovely Christmas gifts (more detail here).

Die cut ornament boxes

Nicky has made some lovely ornament/gift/favour boxes which come flat packed, printed and die cut in different designs exclusive to Flutterby Crafts.

Add a few embellishments and they will look as stunning as these......

Ornament #1

Ornament #2

Ornament #3

Ornament #4

Why don't you let us know
which is your favourite ornament ......#1,#2,#3 or #4?

Woodware Christmas stamps

Have you seen these new Woodware Christmas Tree stamp sets which are now in stock?

Woodware Patchwork Christmas Tree Stamp Set

Woodware Tipsy Christmas Tree Stamp set

With this card Nicky has coloured the trees from the Patchwork set using her ProMarkers which are available at our shop or online.


This is a close up showing one of the border and corner Martha Stewart punches with glossy accents used on the tree.

Here Nicky has paper pieced another Xmas Tree from the same set using the Karrs speciality paper pad. She has stamped the greeting and the bows....what a versatile set!

And finally, this card uses the adorable Tipsy Tree from the other Woodware stamp set with the same speciality papers which has also been paper pieced.

We have lots of Christmas papers and pads including Karrs embellishments here for you to see in our Christmas category on-line.

Is this enough to inspire you to start making your Christmas cards!

Wild Rose Studio - New Fairy stamps...

Here are the gorgeous Fairy stamps and Wedding stamps that have been designed by Dulcie Jackson and are in STOCK NOW!

These stamps are great to use with your ProMarkers and I am sure you will have a chance to play with them at the next ProMarker Club on Saturday, 6th November (click here for details).

However, if you are unable to come into the shop you can always order them through our on-line shop here.

Jo Sonja Club - Wednesday

This glass dish would make a beautiful Christmas gift. It is soooo easy to decorate especially once you have been to one of our Jo Sonja Workshops and Lynn has demonstrated this wonderful craft!

We have monthly Jo Sonja Workshops, the next one being on the 13th November and a mid week Jo Sonja Workshop, scheduled for this Wednesday, 3rd November (click here for Jo Sonja Workshop details).

So rather that just admire.......why not book yourself into a workshop and make some lovely Christmas gifts for your friends.

Newsletter - Nov 2010

Good Morning, Everyone

I hope that you are noticing that it is NOT the middle of the night. I am actually typing this while I have my first cup of tea of the day!!

I am sitting in bed at my Mum & Dads house. I was at my last show of the year the weekend (hooray!) and because the venue was halfway between home & the parents, I thought I would come over to see them. What a wonderful daughter I am, allowing them to give me a bed for the night!

Actually, Mum is not too well at the moment. She has had a nasty reaction to the flu jab which has left her with a bad dose of flu. Poor the Mummy. I did not make her wait on me too much last night! She is on the mend now, though.

Anyway, there are two reasons that I am writing to you all this morning, so I will get on with it.

The first one is very exciting. Today is the launch day of the new Wild Rose Studio stamps (just in time for ProMarker Saturday next weekend!!) AND we have got them in the shop!!

Unfortunately, though, because I am in Essex and the shop is shut today you cannot get your mits on them until tomorrow. Not fair! But, Catherine has put a sneak preview of them on one of our facebook pages:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/themulberry-bush/128263370536574

so you can order them from her, or you can drop me an email (lynn@flutterbycrafts.co.uk) and I will put them by for you, or you can pop into the shop tomorrow.

How exciting is that?!?

The other thing that I wanted to mention is the coach trip next weekend, to the NEC. When I left on Friday there was still some seats available for the trip.

I will be sorting out the advanced tickets tomorrow, so if you still want to come and have not booked yet, you have until mid-afternoon tomorrow to sort it out.

The details are:

The trip is to the Hobbycraft & Arts show at the NEC, ticket to include entry to the Crafts at Christmas show. We leave the Flutterby car park on the 7th November at 8.30am (next Sunday), to get to the NEC for 10ish. We leave the NEC at 4pm to get back for 6ish.

The cost is £25 per adult, £24 per concession and £17.50 per under 16's. This includes the entrance ticket.

Anybody wanting to book onto the coach after Tuesday mid-afternoon will have to arrange their own advance ticket or pay on the door.

So there you go. That is what I wanted to say.

After next weekend life should (I say 'should'!) slow down a pace for me. No more weekends away working for a couple of months, at least. And I will get back on track with the newsletters and such like. It has been a busy few months.

I will get to spend some time with my very long suffering hubby and my dogs - especially the puppy!! He is growing somewhat, without me being there to keep him in check. So I think there is some serious training about to start!!

I will also get some photos of him up on the website and the blog.

Talking of website, we are about to change ours to make it bigger and better. I will be looking for input from you all. Start photographing your favourite pieces that you have made. We will be having a customer corner with a monthly competition!! Watch this space for more news about that.

Also, I am going to change the newsletter system because I know that a lot of you are not getting this regularly. Hopefully the change will sort that out.

In the meantime have a good week. Take a look at the Wild Rose stamps. Come with us to the NEC for a day out. But, most important of all, take time out to relax and craft.

See you all soon.

Lynn and the Girls.

Anyone planning a wedding?

If you design wedding stationery or are planning to make your own wedding stationery for the "Big Day" you may be interested in these gorgeous embossed Wedding Invitations that have just arrived.

We also have some flat backed pearl flowers........

......and flat backed heart embellishments which are perfect for wedding invitations, place cards and favour boxes (also available at our on-line shop).

If you are planning a wedding why not come and chat to our Wedding Co-ordinator (Catherine) who will give you lots of tips on designing your wedding stationery.

Friday morning workshop with Nicky

Just to let you know, that due to popular demand, Nicky will again be making the lovely Index Booklet that was shown on an earlier post (click here for details).

So, if you are interested in joining Nicky and the other ladies on Friday, 29th October, 10.30-12.30, why not call us on telephone number, 01635 860900, and book yourself a place onto her workshop.

Wild Rose Studio

Shhhhhhhh................this is a secret.

I have just ordered the brand new Wild Rose Studio releases........they are gorgeous......cute little fairies.....and there is a Bridegroom to go with the Bride.

Hopefully they will be in by the weekend.

See you all then.

Lynn x

Lots of new beads!

Lynn and Ruth have been very busy in the Bead Shop rearranging the displays after the arrival of yummy beading stock! Oh yes, not forgetting Grant (Lynn's other half) who has replaced the shop door, clever man!

Here are a few things to take a look at:-

Lots of glass beads in brown, green, black and red.

Also, lots of silver shaped chains.

Silver angel wings, snowflakes also spacers and connectors.

Adorable wire hearts.

Glass beads in new colours.

Large glass pearls in delicious colours which come in smaller sizes too!

Stardust beads which come in lots of different colours.

Lynn apologies for anyone who came into the Bead Shop last week and found it in turmoil due to the arrival of boxes of new stock!

Well you will be pleased to hear that it's now all sorted, with everything in it's right place, so why not pop over to the shop and take a look.

Rubber Stamps Club - 23 October

Just a reminder that our Rubber Stamp Club is on tomorrow. So if you are new to crafting or want to become more confident using your rubber stamps, why not come along and join Nicky who will be teaching you different techniques.

Rubber Stamp Club
Saturday, 23rd October
2.00 - 4.00pm
(Click on image above for further details)

If you would like to book your place just give us a call on 01635 860900, pop into the shop or e-mail lynn@flutterbycrafts.co.uk

Newsletter - Oct 2010

Hello Ladies

I am sorry that I have been very quiet just lately and not sent out any newsletters. Between running around taking the paints to shows up and down the country, preparing for the Christmas Craft Retreat and trying to train a Labrador puppy life has been pretty hectic. Still, won't be long, all my trips will be over and I can get back to normal routine. Watch out then, I will have lots to tell you.

In the meantime, I just had to get this quick newsletter out to give you the details for the up and coming coach trip to the NEC Hobbycrafts & Crafts at Christmas Show.

The trip will be on the Sunday 7th November, departing Flutterby Crafts at 8.30 am (or sooner if everybody arrives on time!!) arriving at the show shortly around 10 - 10.30am and we will leave the NEC at 4pm to arrive back here around 6pm.

The cost of the trip is £25 per adult, £24 per concession and £17.50 for under 16's.

If anybody is interested in going to the Cake show that is on at the same time, please let me know.

To book your place, please pop into the shop or give us a call on 01635 860900. Payment will be taken at the time of booking.

To my knowledge we already have 20 places taken on the coach, which only leaves 29 - so please book soonest.

That's all for the moment - except for one thing. I have been having a lot of complaints that a lot of you are not receiving your emails. I do apologise for this. It is something to do with the service that I use and the number of email addresses that this goes out to. We are looking into it and will be changing the service very soon, so you should all soon be experiencing my midnight ramblings.

Have a great evening/day.

See you all soon.

Lynn and the Girls xx

ps, I bet you did not believe me when I said it would be a quick one!!!!

The Final Chapter at Crafts Retreats!

Sorry for the separate blog posts regarding the "crafting experience" that was had at the Christmas Crafts Retreat" but Blogger wouldn't let me post sooooo many photos in one post! I just wanted you all to get a feel for the FAB time everyone had with the workshops that were organised by Lynn, Tracy and Nicky.

Now, here is a taster of Nicky and Tracy's workshops........

Here are some stunning gift card wallets using items
from the goodie bags.

A quick break for lunch which was beautifully
presented by the Regency Park Hotel.

All quiet at Nicky's workshop table as everyone gets out
their Woodware cutters and prepares items for their project.

Here is the lovely envelope photo album which could be used for recipe's,
notes, photos etc.

This is what's inside....wouldn't it make a lovely memento of Christmas?

A couple of frames that were made in Tracy's workshop, these were a big hit and the frames sold out in the shop as a result!!

But, of course Lynn has more on order!

Admiring the snowman spinner that was made in Tracy's final workshop.

Lynn gets the prize for the messiest workshop table!

Lynn, Tracy and Nicky are joined in a "Group Hug" photo
and would like to thank all the lovely ladies who came
to the Christmas Crafts Retreat. It was a most enjoyable weekend of
crafting....THANK YOU.