Snapdragon's garden

Thank you Thursday

I've been reading Tara Hunt's Book The Power of Social Networking and the final chapter really chimed with how I have been feeling about the business and how I feel that there are more things we can do.

The point of Snapdragon is that we make things that make people happy - and that is particularly true of our personalised things -

We have countless emails about how giving something we have made with a personal message has made the recipient cry (in a good way) - a wonderful way to show what you really think of someone, without having to drop aesthetic standards.

Now I like to think of Snapdragon as being a generous business - every week we give away samples and extras on our Facebook page - but what Tara asks is "How can you help your customers be generous?".  And, as I say, that chimed.

So we are launching Thank you Thursdays.  The deal is that each Thursday we shall give away either a mirror or a mug - personalised with a message - for someone to say thank you.

I am going to do it on my Facebook site rather than here (and I know that will make some people groan) but it is so much faster an interaction and easier to keep track of.

I am going to be posting the status at 10 each Thursday and someone will be picked at random at 7.30.  We will then make it and dispatch on the Monday. With a thank you card.

Difficult decisions

We realised last week that we were getting low on our camper van tea towels so contacted the printers for a reprint.

The price had gone up.  Again.

And when we sat down with a calculator to do the sums it appeared that at the new price we would be actually making a loss.

So we are faced with a choice.

1. Put the price up - but would anyone really pay £12 for a tea towel, linen union or no?

2. Print on a cheaper tea towel and keep the price the same.

3. (and this is what I have had to do at the moment) take them off sale

There isn't the option of shopping about as the screens are with the existing printer and they cost a lot to set up and get the colours correct.

So - there you are - our sunniest product is discontinued on the sunniest day!

 

Quilts - the Loch Lomond Quilt show

I love quilts - I have drawers full of precious old ones and a number on show that kind people have given or made for me.  Yet it is a craft I have yet to try myself and I am in awe of people who do it.

So on Saturday I headed off to the Loch Lomond Quilt Show - it is a multi layered, multi venue show ranging from antique turkey red quilts through modern interpretations of traditional whitework techniques to abstract works on felt and beads.  Something for everyone.

Most of the venues were churches in Alexandra, Dumbarton and Renton and the quilts and quilted hangings looked amazing amid the stained glass and carved oak.

Though the dark atmosphere and lack of a tripod means that these photos are a bit less sharp than I would have liked.

What amazed me though was that - amid all the hundreds of beautifully quilted pieces there were three large quilts that set my heart alight, that had me bustling across aisles to get a better look.

and all turned out to be by the same artist - Rosie Furlong

Different venues, different colour schemes, different trechniques but the same exuberance.

Amazing work that lit up my Saturday afternoon.

How to make a table decoration - newsletter link.

This week's newsletter has a "how to" tutorial on making one of these table decorations

It is very straightforward and if you fancy having a go you can sign up here

http://snapdragongarden.co.uk/index.html

Cobbler's niece

It is a sad thing that since I began sewing for a living I have found less and less time to sew for myself, for friends and for family.

Once I head up to the house of an evening I rarely venture back down to sew for pleasure.  I am much more likely to be working on a needlepoint or some knitting.

This weekend however I decided to make a present for my youngest niece's 1st birthday which is next week.

I settled on a playmat with a road and fields - partly because I think its really useful and fun - partly because this is the first time I had quilted anything and I wanted lots going on to hide the flaws.

First I appliqued the top with a cord road and linen fields and river - with a few embroidered fish swimming about.

Then I sandwiched in some wadding and a plain red linen back and basically drew with my freehand needle to keep it all together.

 and give it some texture.  I fashioned some bias binding out of more of the red linen and edged the whole thing neatly.

ready for the wooden animals which arrived today.

So now I have 3 whole days to play with it myself before handing it over  . . .