I can not thank you enough. The package arrived today with the items that I ordered from you.  The package was in great shape (having traveled almost 9,000 miles [over 14,000 kilometres) and the items were exactly what I was looking for!  I also have to tell you that you are just a delight to have met and talked to (both on-line and over the phone) and you were unbelievably helpful in making sure I ordered and received exactly what I was looking for.  You were also extremely helpful in working with me to determine the appropriate method of shipping.

In today’s world, as one searches on-line for an item it is extremely difficult to know who you are dealing with and whether or not the person and company are honest and responsible and whether or not the product will be of high quality and whether or not it will even come as promised.  However, you (and Gorgeous Creatures) are a company that exemplifies how businesses can and should operate and deal with customers.  You are helping to define what customer service should be. I look forward to recommending you to all of my friends and, in fact, I am looking forward to figuring out what else I can order from you, as I do look forward to the possibility of working with you again.

Kirsty – you are wonderful!!

Regards, Marc – Connecticut – USA

Rule A) All furniture on the rug.

If the room is very large and open plan, perhaps a joint lounge, dining room and kitchen area then try using the rug to map out specific spaces within the larger space. For example define the living room seating area with a large rug that can fit the grouping of all your sofas, arm chairs and the coffee table with at least a 50cm border behind all the main furniture so that the rug has “breathing space” within the space. This works really nicely if there is a fireplace on one of the walls defining this space. However if you live in a warehouse type home this lounge space may well be right in the middle of this large room and away from any walls or windows. I love the idea of a winter lounge and summer lounge setting. Perhaps the fireplace is the winter focus and windows to a garden is the summer focus. A rug can look wonderful under a dining table but remember that you need at least 70 centimetre clearance from the table edge to the edge of the rug so that the table and chairs look balanced and there is room for people to pull out a chair to sit on without it falling off the rug. Two different large rugs with two groups of furniture in the same space can work very well if done right. The rugs do not need to match.

Rule B) All furniture off the rug.

If the living room is on the medium to small side then you can make the room feel larger by having all the seating like sofas and armchairs off the rug so the rug creates a reverse border framing the inside of the furniture grouping. The only piece of furniture allowed on the rug when you use this rule is a coffee table. It is important that the rug is the right size and proportion to your sofas. Generally a little larger than the furniture footprint looks about right.

Rule C) Furniture half on and half off the rug.

This rule needs to be used with caution. I really does depends on the type of seated furniture you own so whatever feels visually right will be the right answer in this situation. I tend to like a rug exactly half way under a sofa, not almost all the way under or only a few centimetres under because that looks silly and out of balance.

Rule D) Cowhide rugs break all the rules

It is true! Because cowhide rugs are a curvy organic shape they really don’t comply with the standard rug rules. I’ve found that a cowhide rug will visually take up more space than they physically cover, so you will not need a cowhide rug as large as the rectangle or square rug that you are replacing. What I think happens is that our brain fills in the gaps between the wavy edges and the overall impression is that a cowhide rugs fills a space better. Try to position a cowhide rug on a 45 degree angle to furniture – this works much better than trying to line a cowhide rug up with the straight edge of a sofa. A cowhide rug on an angle will lead people into the seating arrangement and feel more inviting. It is perfectly acceptable for some of the cowhide rug to be under some of the furniture. When it comes to coffee tables a cowhide rug doesn’t even need to be directly under your coffee table, it is OK for only some of the rug to touch and anchor the coffee table. Be brave, have fun and experiment.

by Kirsty Mason from Gorgeous Creatures. This article is copyrighted ©2011 and can not be reproduced in any way without permission of the author. Especially by the writers from www.ehow.com who have copied other articles of mine and called it their own.

We recently re-covered these gorgeous bars stools with chocolate brown and white calfskins. They look great with the dark oak wood and hairy calfskin contrasting well.

We have sourced the manufacturer of these actual bar stools and hope to add them to the website as a product early next year.

We have lots of great ideas for you, your friends or family. Who do you know that would love to receive a surprise gift from Gorgeous Creatures?

Give a cowhide rug:- Why not surprise your partner with a beautiful quality cowhide rug. This makes a wonderful joint gift for the whole family to enjoy. We have a new shipment that has just arrived of the very best quality cowhide rugs available in New Zealand and over 70 hides in stock right now.

Give a calfskin rug:- mini rugs for the hallway, entranceway or a child’s bedroom. My mum uses a calfskin under the TV hanging down in front of the TV cabinet and it looks great! Also drape calf skins over a chair or sofa.

Give calfskin baby booties:- So cute! For the little people in your life, warm and cosy calfskin outer with sheepskin lining, calfskin baby booties come in black & white, chocolate brown & white or tan & white in a variety of sizes from 6 months old to 24 months old.

Give sheepskin baby booties:- Mini slippers for little feet. Made from New Zealand sheepskin they are fully lined with soft fluffy wool.

Give possum merino knitwear:- Great for overseas family and friends or give possum merino knitwear accessories like scarves, beanies, socks and gloves at Christmas time to people who love to ski and snowboard. And for the kids there is a great set for both boys and girls.

Where to start? As any New Zealander will tell you, possum are an invasive introduced species that has bred out of control and is the single largest cause of destruction to our native bush, bird and insect life.

They say there are about seventy to eighty million possums in New Zealand but the truth is that know body really knows how many there are. What I can tell you is that even though possums seem to be everywhere, even in our own back yard, the trappers need to go deep into rugged terrain, into the remote forest regions, often by helicopter to get to where the best possums really are.

Natural dark reddish brown New Zealand possum

So if there are so many possums why are the skins so expensive? Well there are quite a few reasons actually. Let’s tackle them one at a time.

Think about the logistics of dropping men into the bush by helicopter for a week at a time, with all their camping gear, food and equipment. It takes a tough bloke to do a job like that. The prime furs can only be collected at certain times of the year; you need to avoid the moulting season and also the mating season. The weather in New Zealand is as unpredictable and can make these flights dangerous and unpredictable.

The single biggest change to the industry in the last five years or so is the growing market for the plucked possum fur fibre (fluff). This year (2011) the price for plucked fur fluff per kilo reached an all time high. The possum fluff is mixed with merino wool to make beautiful possum merino knitwear clothing and accessories.

I have heard that China is buying as much fur fluff as they can lay their hands on by the container load. This is creating a high demand for this unique New Zealand only product. For many years we resisted selling to China, but it only took one person to give in and say yes and start to sell to the much larger market and then the rest of the tanneries/trappers had to follow or go broke.

I think it is sad that New Zealand is selling the fluff off-shore at all; possum products and possum merino wool products where the one truly unique product that no other country could make. The cost of New Zealand manufactured knitwear is increasing because of the increased cost of the possum fur fluff, and soon we will see China trying to sell it back to us as finished goods.

Two unidentified men with a substantial opposum catch. Date approx 1930.

So now back to our original question about the cost of the possum fur blankets and throws. What all that means is that the tanneries have to pay the trappers an even higher per skin price to make them bring the prime winter fur skins out of the bush at all. Otherwise all the trappers only collect the fur fluff because it is easier to deal with; lighter and they can get a great price per kilo. We have experienced two major price increases this year due to these factors.

To make matters worse the whole process of tanning leather with fur on is messy, time consuming and labour intensive taking a minimum of two weeks from start to finish and including a lot of manual hands-on work that can not be done well by a machine. As a side note, recently there was also a worldwide spike in the cost of the tanning chemicals. I’m not sure why but I know that this has also affected my international leather tannery suppliers for the cowhide rugs and other leather items results in price increases overall.

So at the end of the day the cost of possum fur throws and blankets will continue to increase as the worldwide market demand for the fur fluff increases. So if like some of my recent customers you have been thinking about buying yourself a gorgeous possum fur sofa throw or bed blanket and have been putting it off, do not hesitate, order it today because who knows what the price will look like tomorrow!

by Kirsty Mason from Gorgeous Creatures. This article is copyrighted ©2011 and can not be reproduced in any way without permission of the author. Especially by the writers from www.ehow.com who have copied other articles of mine and called it their own.

It is a rug made from pieces of cowhide sewn together with either straight or zigzag stitch and backed with a non-slip padded rug backing. Once upon a time the only designs that where available used simple squares sewn together, and this is still a popular look, however now there is so much more than can be done with the design of a cowhide stitched rug.

Black stitched cowhide rug from Gorgeous Creatures

Some of my favourite designs use smaller rectangles laid up like brick-work or shapes that look like marble or wood paving. Strips of cowhide sewn together also look amazing, especially in pale beige and cream colours. And smaller 5cm squares look incredible using similar shades of all the same colour like shades of grey or shades of brown.

A cowhide stitched rug is a way of injecting some cowhide into your interior without having the natural cowhide shape. They are also great when a natural cowhide would not be big enough like under a large dining table or in a large lounge. Some people simply prefer the straight edge lines of a cowhide stitched rug as apposed to the natural curvy form of a natural shaped cowhide.

We have uploaded some photos to our photo gallery and samples will be in our showroom for viewing from the end of April onwards. New Zealand and Australian customers please contact us if you would like a quote for a cowhide stitched rug from Gorgeous Creatures.

Coffee & Coconut Truffles

Makes about 30 truffles

Truffle

¾ cup of desiccated coconut

1 dessert spoon instant coffee

115gms butter

1 ½ cups icing sugar

¾ cup rolled oats

1 tea-spoon rum & butter essence

Toppings

Dark chocolate buttons melted (for coating truffles later) or use milk or white chocolate if preferred

1 large table spoon Kremelta (vegetable shortening – to go with chocolate)

Glazed cherries cut in half (for coating later)

Method

Cream the butter & sugar using an electric beater until pale. Add the rest of the truffle ingredients (except chocolate, Kremelta & cherries). Mix together well. Using wet hands roll into balls about the size of a marble. Put onto grease-proof paper and refrigerate until firm.

Melt the chocolate & Kremelta in a double boiler pot over a low heat. Dip each truffle ball (hardened in fridge first) into warm chocolate and then put back onto the grease-proof paper tray. I find it easiest to drop each truffle ball into the chocolate one at a time and fish them out straight away with a teaspoon. Put a half glazed cherry on top for decoration.

Refrigerate until the chocolate hardens. Store in an airtight container in the fridge but I promise they won’t last long; your family and friends will eat them all!!! For fun you can substitute the instant coffee for peppermint essence and have after dinner truffles!

More large chocolate and white and black and white calf skins are also in the showroom now and make great Christmas gifts. We have a new calf skin supplier so keep an eye out for some unusual coloured calf skins going online in the next week.

Kirsty and Anil got engaged in Paris!

Kirsty Mason and Anil Dumasia get engaged in Paris

The most exciting thing to happen on the trip to Paris was that Kirsty Mason and Anil Dumasia got engaged.

Anil asked Kirsty to marry him near the Tuileries Garden, sitting on a footbridge over the river Seine as the sun set. What a magical moment.

Kirsty’s trip to London and Paris was a fantastic whirlwind. She ticked a lot of things off her bucket list including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Modern, Windsor Castle, Warwick Castle, St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abby, The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Versailles and Notre Dame to name just a few stunning attractions. It was very hot in both England and France.

Cowhide rugs

We have just received a new cowhide shipment full of lovely black and white, chocolate brown and white and natural warm black cowhide rugs. There are a variety of sizes from quite small to nice and large. They will be uploaded to the new website as soon as possible but get in fast to have first pick of the new rugs. If you have been waiting for a particular colour please let me know and I can include your request in my next shipment.

Calf skins

Large New Zealand calf skins with longer hair have just arrived. This includes some rare black and white calf skins. In New Zealand most dairy cows are now a cross breed between Fresians and Jerseys. This is why so many of our dairy calves are chocolate brown and white, not black and white.