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APC December 2021 newsletter – read on for special offer!

The APC team have all been keeping pretty busy here since re-opening in April post-lockdown, so excuse the lack of newsletters! Our store was redecorated inside and out during the various periods of closure, and now our stock has never looked so appealing, pretty much stacked to the ceiling everywhere you look….so do come in to be inspired!
We have a new apprentice, Kim, who you will currently find serving in the shop, but who will also be learning seamstressing and I.T. tasks in due course. We are also looking into the Kickstart programme to give a young person a six month placement.

Not ones to rest on our laurels, we have again won the 2021/22 Prestige Award for LIFESTYLE SHOP OF THE YEAR – NORTHUMBERLAND – NORTH ENGLAND and have also heard that we are the BEST CLOTHING ALTERATIONS BUSINESS – NORTHUMBERLAND in the Small Business Awards 2021

Charity

Our chosen charity this year is the Amble R.N.L.I. We held a raffle in August for Ronnie the RNLI panda, and raised over £114. Ronnie’s pics taken at the lifeboat station were great fun and really helped to get people behind the fundraising, which culminated with the draw being held at a stall the lifeboat supporters ran at Morrisons, on what would usually have been their major event of the year. This is the second year we’ve supported the RNLI, as we couldn’t really do much to help last year.

We are still contributing something from sales of Mouse and Ted Med kits / patterns, and the money is now going to the Drywater KIN project for the Amble foodbank.

New Products

We always have new products arriving at Amble Pin Cushion, some of our most recent arrivals are our new Macramé kits and Macrame supplies including; cord, frames, wooden beads, rings and project books. Another craft we now stock supplies and kits for is punch needle, we currently have needles, hoops and various punch needle kits in stock.

We now stock a wide range of products from local artist Wendy Avery-Stuckey in our shop. We currently have in stock her range of colouring books for Amble, Warkworth and Alnmouth, colour your own Christmas baubles and colour your own Christmas cards, Northumbrian notecard packs and blank cards featuring beautiful artwork of Amble harbour and Warkworth castle.

We have expanded our range of Elaine Munn knitting patterns and now stock a various characters from Harry Potter, click here to browse our range.

We now have our own range of ripple crochet blanket kits, featured in Simply Crochet, and a pastel version of our popular beach hut crochet blanket, featured in Mollie Makes. Click here to view our crochet blanket kits

We have expanded our range of cross stitch kits, along with a wide range DMC kits and of course our very own Northumbria Knit and Stitch kits, we now stock some kits from Anchor, Crafty Kit Company and Trimits, see our entire range here.

A new supplier we are excited to be stocking is Emma Ball. We stock a range of gift-ware including knitting and tote bags, drawstring and zipped pouches, various sized tins, glasses cases stationery and stitch markers for knitting and crochet.. We particularly love their Sheep in Sweaters and Puffins in Pullovers designs, shown below. Click here to see our range.

We have expanded our range of embroidery-fabrics and now have a good selection of various counts and colours of Aida both on the bolt by the quarter metre, and in pre-cut packs, all displayed clearly on our new stand, along with our other embroidery products, shown below. Arriving soon are all the new colours of DMC stranded cotton, on their own mini-stand.

We have a selection of printed Panama cushion panels to decorate with mixed media, embroidery, felt pens etc. and plenty of books for a range of different crafts.

Norma is hoping to improve the millinery offering on our website whilst she is off over the next few weeks. We offer vouchers for millinery courses and custom-made hats and fascinators. The three fascinator courses we run can be for a fun “hen day,” or your community group e.g. women’s institute or sewing group, at premises arranged by the client.

Norma has an article featured in the current edition of Your North East Wedding magazine, click here to read it.

Courses

We are unable to provide any courses for the time being due to social distancing issues in the craft room, but we’re looking at re-starting in February. If there are particular classes or tutors you would like, please use our contact form

We can provide courses for community groups and private individuals at their premises, provided all Covid safety procedures are followed.

Projects and Special Commissions

We love a special project to put our skills to the test! Here are some of our favourites since the last newsletter.

Wedding dress from customers design idea in duchess satin and lace
Collaboration with Chinese designer over a tulle wedding dress inspired by a viral social media post during lockdown
Graduation teddy bear
Memory cushion from a cardigan
Vintage 3pc suit re-fitted to customer’s own design ideas
Cushion covers from customer’s own fabric
Lining for a knitted 60s style suit
Bow tie from the belt of a customer’s dress so she and her partner’s wedding outfits could match
Miracles performed on several wedding outfits, bridesmaid dresses and wedding dresses, some at very short notice!

Before

After

Promotions and Special Events

Special offer! 10% off online orders (which can be “click and collect” if you’re local) placed between January 11^th – 25^th using code APC002

From 4th to 6th January we will offer 10% off Christmas stock in store i.e. anything specifically for Christmas (so this doesn’t cover e.g. blender fabrics) – a great chance to be ready to start your 2022 Christmas craft projects in good time.

Keep an eye on the Facebook page for anything else!

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