Last month we had a lovely group of ladies attend a class to make a Santa Claus.  We were all very excited about making things for Christmas that it was decided another class was in order.

So, on Saturday 22nd September 2012 at 10am we will be running a class to make Rachael.  Rachael is a cloth doll with a primitive dress. 

We will be adding our own personal bits and pieces to make her look like a Christmas angel.

If you would like to join us, limited numbers left, please give us a call to book your spot.

We can also talk costs, as some ladies are bringing their own fabric, others are wanting a kit made up.

Lunch will be catered for and included in the cost of the class.

OH, and it goes without saying, morning and afternoon tea will also be supplied.

A little bit of a shop makeover

We have been having so much fun in the shop this week. 

These mischievious creatures turned up yesterday and if I give them a chance they will whip up a storm here in the store.

I am forever finding them scattered through the place, hiding in trees, peeking out from behind a display....you just never know where they are going to be.

At the moment there is stock arriving nearly on a daily basis and that means we get the opportunity to fuss around with the trees and playing around with the colours. 

The trees change on a regular basis.

This is one that a couple of elves and I have been working on during this past week. 

A great way to use ribbon .... keep an eye on this tree as it will change....

This is our peacock tree.  Again we are trying to use different things in the tree to give you alternatives to decorating.  Here we grabbed some netting and just flowed it from the top to the bottom.  Keeping the colours simple on this we only used green, peacock blue and purple.  However, there is always a place for some silver and gold somewhere.

This is one of our most popular colour trees. 

It is still a work in progress and will look totally different by the end of today. 

We are mainly using champagne and brown in this tree with a lot of follage.

We are not just about trees though in at The Christmas Beetle, we also love our yummy food.  Here is just a sample of some of our cake stands and resting on top is a cookie jar. 

Red and white are fantastic colours to bring out at any time of the year but with the cute little candies on them these will work up a treat during your Christmas celebrations and the cake will look devine resting on one of these stands.

Looking forward to showing you more photos soon,

Mrs C xxxx











So excited!!!!!

Today we are giving the shop a little makeover.
All of these lovely decorations that arrived last week will be upon display.
I can't wait to show you photos.

For Foodies just like me.

I am getting a little excited, some would say carried away, but I love the smell of things cooking especially cinnamon, all spice, cloves and oranges.

And that is just what is in these little jars.

Spiced oranges all ready to be placed in the pantry for Christmas eating.  These little yummies will be served up with our Christmas Ham this year, glazed with brown sugar and orange juice our hot yummy ham will then be dressed with a couple of slices of these.

I told you - YUMMY!

Rachael Angel Class in September

The ladies from the Jingleberry Class were thrilled to come into our store to do a class, they enjoyed it so much they asked for another on on the 22nd September.

We sat around and perused all of the patterns and it was decided that Rachael - the Woodland Angel from Meme's Quilts would be the next project.

Here is Rachael and these are the colours I will be doing up as the shop sample.  The range is Late Bloomers from Sandy Gervais and we have most of the fabric range in the store.  I have been eyeing off this fabric for a while now just waiting to see what I would make with it, and after seeing Rachael the choice was not too hard.

The girls are going to be really spoilt on this weekend, as we will have bubbles, nibbles, catered lunch and yummy treats with tea and coffee.

Why not think about joining us one weekend?

Our classes are packed full of fun, laughter and Christmas Cheer.

And you never know, there have been times when Santa makes a special trip on the night before to leave a little gift for all class participants.

Many blessings, Mrs Claus

Jingleberry Santa Class

This past weekend we had a fantastic time with 6 gorgeous ladies who came to do a Jingleberry Santa Class with us.

By the end of our weekend most of the Santas had been completed with only a little bit of hand stitching to be done to finish off the set. 

It was a great way to meet new people and sit, sew and just share stories, and boy with there some stories :)

(Here Tanya and Donna are having a good old giggle, this giggle went on for 2 days:) )

The girls had such a fantastic time that another class has already been booked for September to make a Christmas Angel.

Do you have a group of ladies that would love to get together for a day/weekend of sewing fun in our store, or maybe you would like to just come on your own? If so, don't be shy, give us a call and let's set up a time for you to come in and join in the fun.

We DO NOT have a minimum number in our classes, because after thinking about it, if you can only manage to get out of the house on a certain day, then you should be able to get some sewing done if that is what you would like.

SO CALL US.... 02 6023 1200

Our next Block of the Month.

A Christmas Story by Annie Downs is a great book.  It has been around a little while now but there is a quilt in here that is just calling out to us to run as a block of the month.

So I am asking for people to contact us if they wish to register for this club.

We will be starting it in December 2012.  There is a fantastic new range that is going to look fantabulous in this quilt and we just cant wait to get started.

Friends SWAP 2012

Yesterday when I opened the store, the lovely man in the business next door asked “are all these boxes for you? Do you get presents all the time working in this shop?”.  I had to say, unfortunatley no, all of the boxes that arrive are for the store and none are for me personally, but it is like Christmas.  I was then talking with my husband later on in the day and saying, I wish one of these boxes was for me somedays.

NEXT MINUTE – The lovely postie walked through the door with a parcel JUST FOR ME!!!! My swap buddy De’s parcel had arrived. I promised myself I would not open it, I really wanted to wait until De had hers so that we could at least open around the same time.  But I was given permission, THANKFULLY, because the suspense was killing me.  Here are some pictures of the lovely gifts I received.

F – Flowers of Friendship quilt to hang on my wall.
R – A red work stitchery to do.
I – Ipad cover, sorry that is at home keeping my ipad safe…will post that photo tonight.
E – YUMMY Eclairs and embroidery thread.
N – Needle case MADE IN THE SHAPE OF A LADY BEETLE….LOVE LOVE LOVE
D – A gorgesous doilie and some dressed dolly pegs, so darn cute.
S – A knitted scarf, WHICH I wore to work this morning and was complimented on it while doing a spot of grocery shopping.

So now, I wait, I wait with anticipation to see what De thinks of the parcel that is on the way to her. Unfortunately the State of Origin of the Postal Services was won this time by QLD as I received my parcel first…BUT I still win cause I have these gorgeous gifts to play with now and create……I wonder what stitcheries I can come up with?
Thank you to Khris from Sew Prim Khris for organising this.  LOVE LOVE LOVE YOUR WORK!
Mrs C xx

Look what arrived

It seems like a really long time ago that I joined a 'friends' swap. BUT today I received a parcel of goodies in the mail. I am resisting the temptation to open them at the moment as I dont really want to open them till my swap buddy has hers. DE are they there yet??? I hope the NSW posties are as quick as the QLD ones, kind of like a little Aussie Post State of Origin going on here :)

Im so excited about what could be in these little parcels, I have been shaking them, squeezing them and having a good little poke to see if I can guess any....kind of like with the pressies under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning :)

This was my first time at doing something like this, and I can not wait to find another one to join. I just dont know where to start looking BUT I WILL! If any of you ladies out there would like to participate in a Christmas Sway maybe we could run one through The Christmas Beetle? Let me know your thoughts and I will start making plans to get it going. I will be in it so thats 1.

Sneaky Peak

The time is just about here when I will be asking the friendly postman to take my precious parcel to my new friend for our 'friend swap'....BUT I could not help myself and put up another sneaky peaky of one of the gifts. I am, and truly I can not seem to help myself, just a little EXCITED about sending this parcel. I will be spending tonight making some lovely cards, and finding that perfect wrapping paper so I can get it all ready.

This is got to be the best way to send a gift, to a lady I have never met personally, and where we have only had conversations via email. I really hope that this friendship will blossom and grow from this experience and I am now counting down the days till the next one.

Well I hope all of your moments sewing are happy ones, Mrs C xx