business advice - Craft Focus Magazine

Issue 25 June/July 2011 

www.craftfocus.com 

 


ALL THE LATEST IDEAS, 

NEW PRODUCTS AND 

HOT TRENDS FOR: 

• Beautiful beading 

• Creative card making 

• Crafts for kids 

• Successful stamping 

E-commerce 

How to ensure 

online sales 

MAGAZINE 

Expert business advice 

• Advice on dealing with the 

new retirement laws 

• How to raise money 

from your home 

• Insurance matters 

MAKING 

PR WORK 

FOR YOU 

WIN: 

£500 of goodies 

from Beads 

Unlimited 

PLUS 

latest product launches, news round up, 

show reviews, your questions answered and more

June/July 2011 Issue 25 

Managing Editor 

Louise Prance 

+44 (0) 1376 535 611 

Editor 

Wendy Gardiner 

+44 (0) 2392 261 338 

editor@craftfocus.com 

Sales Manager 

Mark White 

+44 (0)1376 535 606 

markw@craftfocus.com 

Sales Executive 

Tracy Voice 

+44 (0)1376 535 618 

tracyv@craftfocus.com 

Design Manager 

Vicky O’Connor 

Deputy Design Manager 

Sarah Barnes 

Senior Designer 

Sophie Handley 

Graphic Designers 

Laura Perry, Steve Mckea, 

Hayley Kilminster, Leanne Walsh 

+44 (0)1376 535 616 

artwork@kdmediapublishing.com 

Web Development Manager 

Stuart Weatherley 

Subscriptions 

Alice Henson, Tammy Wright 

+44 (0)1376 514 000 

KD Media Publishing Limited 

Broseley House 

Newlands Drive 

Witham, Essex, CM8 2UL, UK 


Front Cover image: 

Bird boxes kit by Buttonbag 

ISSN 1758-0900 

Craft Focus is solely owned, published and 

designed by KD Media Publishing Limited. 

Whilst every effort was made to ensure the 

information in this magazine was correct at the 

time of going to press, the publishers cannot 

accept legal responsibility for any errors or 

omissions, nor can they accept responsibility of 

the standing of advertisers nor by the editorial 

contributions. The views expressed do not 

necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Craft 

Focus is published six times a year. Subscription 

rates for overseas readers are £75 per annum 

(incl. p+p), Cheques should be made out to 

KD Media Publishing Limited and sent to 

Craft Focus, Broseley House, Newlands Drive, 

Witham, Essex, CM8 2UL, United Kingdom. 

Craft Focus magazine is proud to be 

associated with and supporters of: 

contents 

regulars 

editor’s letter 5 

A round up of what’s in this issue 

news round up 7 

Reporting news and events that are happening 

now 

brand spanking new 17 

The latest product launches 

win 41 

beads and beyond competition – win over 

£500 worth of goodies from Beads Unlimited 

project – heartfelt charms 64 

La Fourmi have provided two simple, quick 

to make projects that are fashionable and easy 

to teach 

bookshelf 66 

A whole host of new books have recently been 

published. Wendy Gardiner provides an at-aglance 

overview of what’s available 

q&a – to tweet or not to tweet 87 

Expert Clare Rayner, answers queries on the 

effectiveness of twitter and facebook for 

business owners 

subscription offer 95 

Register for your regular copy of Craft Focus 

next issue 96 

A preview of what’s in store for August/ 

September issue – published on 8 July 

features 

beautiful beading 31 

We look at trends, hot new products and providing 

tips on making beading a profi table part of your 

business 

successful stamping 43 

This market continues to thrive with lots of 

inspirational new products being introduced to keep 

the creative juices fl owing 

creative cardmaking 50 

Business is booming for card makers. We present 

lots of the new products, tools and equipment for 

the best handcrafted cards 

crafts for kids 57 

Get them while they’re young and you’ve got 

crafting customers for years! We look at products 

and test kits aimed at creative children 

focus on 

57 

a cut above 38 

Fiskars recently celebrated the 44 th anniversary 

of their classic orange handled scissors. Wendy 

Gardiner took a look behind the scenes 

a success in stamping 46 

Having taken over craft shop Stampers Grove, 

James and Emma Dennison soon launched their 

own range of rubber stamps and so Crafty Stamps 

was born 

a flair for fabric 54 

Robert Moyle took the plunge and bought well 

known fabric company Carrington Fleet Textiles and 

has achieved record sales recently 

ethically sourced fabrics 72 

Phil Wheeler explains how and why he sources and 

sells ethically correct fabrics 

64 

up and coming – bags so easy 98 

Hamble & Jemima are Liz and Emma, busy working 

mums who love gorgeous fabrics and feel there is a 

place in society for lovingly handmade items 

craftfocus 3

usiness advice and guidance 

rewarding relationships 69 

The second instalment of the series by Clive Harper of Yankee Candle 

explaining how public relations can create instant rewards 

72 

make pr work for you 70 

Sending news into a magazine or newspaper is the best way to get free 

editorial. Wendy Gardiner provides the steps to get good coverage 

how effective are your staff? 75 

With the abolition of the default retirement age, measuring the 

effectiveness of staff is more important than ever. Nick Waller provides 

some advice and tips 

insurance matters 79 

Nick McFarlane provides expert advice on all your insurance related 

queries 

retirement at any age 80 

Just what are the implications for employers of the abolition of the 

default retirement age? David Regan provides some answers and useful 

suggestions 

five ways to stop shopping cart abandonmen 87 

Chris Barling advises on how to avoid abandonment before an online 

purchase is completed 

business link – a helping hand 88 

Whatever your business issue, save time and effort by making Business 

Link your first port of call 

word on the web – a basic guide to 91 

website terminology 

Bob Scott provides a simple guide to what you need to know to ensure 

website success. 

raising money from your home 93 

We look at some of the available schemes to unlock some of your capital 

if on retirement you are going to be ‘asset rich and cash poor’ 

shows 

show reviews, news and events 26 

We preview the CHA show and Home and Gift fair and have news of 

more shows to come 

dates for your diary 28 

An at-a-glance listing of forthcoming trade and consumer shows 

4 craftfocus

– the craft magazine 

available exclusively 

through craft stores! 

As part of our drive to support local 

craft stores Creative Cardmaking has 

launched a monthly nationwide 

competition where consumers and 

retailers alike will win prizes. 

Creative Cardmaking readers will 

use the high-quality papers that come 

free with the magazine every issue to 

enter a cardmaking competition. The 

winner will receive a great prize, 

including an interview in Creative 

Cardmaking, and the winning craft 

shop will receive a credit to its 

Practical Publishing account. 

We’ve summer hols and 

kids to cater for! 

Welcome to another busy issue, packed to the 

gunnels with news, views, product information 

and advice from business experts. Our special 

features this time include possibly the noisiest 

and messiest of them all, crafts for kids! We 

tasked a group of creative youngsters to put 

some craft kits to the test and they did so with 

gusto! Their results are in our Craft for Kids 

feature. 

Our other specials might not have been such 

noisy affairs, but they still provide some interesting views and trend 

predictions from experts as well as news of tempting products to help 

source supplies in card-making, stamping and beading. 

We also have an array of articles to help you run your business 

successfully or plan your retirement with confidence! Clare Rayner 

answers questions on tweeting and how it affects business (tweeting is 

possibly the fastest growing online activity). Staying online, Chris Barling 

shares his tips on preventing on-line customers from abandoning your 

site before they complete their purchase and Bob Scott provides a basic 

guide to website terminology. We also have some advice on making PR 

work for you and from Nick Waller, tips on how to measure the sales 

performance of sales staff. 

In show news we preview the forthcoming CHA Summer 

Conference, Autumn Fair and Home & Gift Fair as well as providing 

news of some of the must-visit consumer exhibitions. 

Finally our news round up is a pot pourri of pieces from around the 

industry ranging from new products to new ventures and new magazines 

whilst in Brand Spanking New we’ve turned the spotlight on a selection 

of the latest products available now. 

Until next issue… 

To find out more about stocking 

Creative Cardmaking, the competition 

and how your craft store can get 

involved with the magazine contact 

Specialist Retail Account Manager, 

Chris Cooke, on 0844 826 0611 or 

chris.cooke@practicalpublishing.co.uk 

Wendy Gardiner 

Editor 

PS: Don’t forget to send in your news, views and suggestions. Next 

issue we are featuring Crochet, Christmas Crafts, Craft Tools, Embossing, 

Woodturning and Digital Craft workshops. 

craftfocus 5

news 

news round-up 

Wendy Gardiner gathers and reports on the news and events from around the industry 

Easy website design 

A new and affordable website design tool for small businesses has just been launched by Serif. “WebPlus 

X5 is the complete website designer and provides everything a business needs to get online without costly 

designer fees,” said Gary Bates, MD at Serif. The program has been designed for small to medium businesses, 

organisations, clubs and individuals who want to make and publish their own websites but do not have any 

HTML or web design experience. Its drag-and-drop facility enables individuals to easily and quickly create 

attractive, engaging and professional sites with e-commerce and interactivity. Users can customise everything 

including site structure, colours, page layout, logos, graphics and text. “WebPlus X5 also has great support for 

interactive features such as forms, Flash® photo galleries, podcasts, YouTube videos, blogs, forums, RSS feeds 

and online booking. New features include a button studio for making high-quality custom buttons and navbar 

designs for achieving a totally custom website,” said Gary. WebPlus X5 is compatible with Windows 7/Vista/XP 

and retails at £81.69 (inc. VAT). It is available directly from Serif at www.serif.com and includes a free six month 

‘silver’ hosting package with sub-domain web address. 

Adword advertising 

Google AdWords is a cost effective, efficient way for 

businesses of all sizes to advertise online by delivering 

relevant ads when users search for specific products and 

services on Google properties and/or the Google Display 

Network. With Google AdWords, advertisers can find 

new customers online and better connect with them 

at the precise moment they are searching for specific 

products and services on their desktop or mobile devices. 

Working out how to use AdWords is now a little easier. 

ReachLocal, a leader in local online marketing solutions for 

small to medium sized business is now in partnership with 

Google and said that in order to “accelerate the delivery of 

Google’s AdWords advertising program to local businesses 

internationally we’ve combined our feet-on-the-street sales 

model and SMB-focused search engine marketing platform 

with Google’s existing worldwide AdWord marketing 

and partnership support organisations.” The partnership 

is designed to drive both growth in existing markets and 

expansion into new international markets over the next 

three years. ReachLocal already has a presence in four 

international markets, including Canada, Australia, the United 

Kingdom and Germany. “Since 2004, ReachLocal and Google 

have worked together to drive the adoption of Google 

AdWords to SMBs in both domestic and international 

markets,” said Todd Rowe, Google’s Head of Global Channel 

Sales. “We believe this partnership will give SMBs around the 

world an additional opportunity to use Google AdWords 

to drive awareness and new business. Our partners are 

carefully vetted for their ability to effectively serve SMBs. 

Further information from T: 001 818 936 9908, 

www.reachlocal.com. 

New website launched 

Rockliffe House launched www.rockliffe-house.com to provide a place where 

everyone can browse and purchase crystals, pearls, diamantes,fabrics, feathers, 

tools, millinery supplies and much more. “Since the launch of Rockliffe House 

at the end of 2010, there has been a buzz among the crafting industry as 

designer-makers realise they have a new portal through which they can 

buy everything they need at great prices with no minimum order,” said 

Richard Designs. Rockliffe House has been formed by leading bridal wear 

designer and manufacturer Richard Designs who uses these components 

on a daily basis. Their 25 years of experience means crafters can trust in 

their recommendations. “We sell to both trade and consumers. Our pricing 

structure means that the more you buy the less you pay per item, meaning 

that trade customers can get large discounts on their orders. Rockliffe 

House is not just a web-based company and many trade customers use the 

website to see which products are available and then will call us to make the 

order,” said Richard. The product range includes Swarovski Elements, Preciosa 

crystals, filigree pieces, cultured pearls, jewellery findings, millinery supplies 

and tools that designer-makers need to complete their work. “On top of this, 

Rockliffe House has designed some of its own components that you won’t 

find elsewhere,” added Richard. Further info T: +44 (0) 845 456 7897, 

E:info@rockliffe-house.com, www.rockcliffe-house.com. 

craftfocus 7

news round-up 

IN BRIEF... 

Artesano Yarns sponsor student 

Artesano Yarns have recently decided to sponsor 

an outstanding student, Georgie Troon, who 

is in her third and final year of Textile and 

Surface Design BA (Hons) Degree at Bucks New 

University, focusing on knitted textiles. She is 

using both Artesano and Manos yarns for the 

final knitted pieces and has also got the support of 

the Ercol furniture company. The collection will 

include both fashion and interior pieces and will 

be shown at the International Textiles Design show 

Indigo in Paris and at New Designers in London. 

Further info www.artesanoyarns.co.uk. 

Hook 1, Pass it On 

The Crafts Council and UK Hand-knitting Association initiative Craft Club has just 

launched its second scheme Hook 1 Pass it On after a successful first year of activity. 

There are now over 300 Craft Clubs currently teaching young people craft skills across 

the UK and the aim is to double this number by 2012. When Knit 1 Pass it On was 

initially launched, over 140 volunteers attended specialist training sessions in order to 

learn how to pass on their skills to others and there are now over 1700 volunteers 

nationwide. These include parents, members of local WI groups and lots of enthusiastic 

crafters who wanted to share their passion for craft. Linda Barker, TV personality and 

Crafts Council champion said, “I can remember my mum teaching my siblings and I craft 

skills as a child and I immediately fell in love with making. It is a great gift to pass on 

skills that remain with you for life. I am so pleased that Craft Club is reaching so many 

children across the UK.” Hook 1 Pass it On will teach young people how to crochet and 

will run alongside Knit 1 Pass it On that was launched last year. 

A sharing alternative 

StaffShare is a simple but revolutionary idea which offers an alternative to 

redundancy. It is a new on-line ‘skill exchange’ secondment service which enables 

organisations to retain skills by ‘hiring out’ staff to other organisations on a 

temporary basis, and sharing the costs. StaffShare is literally an internet marketplace 

for employers to upload and share employee profiles and CVs, including their skills 

and expected costs. It facilitates ‘on-line introductions’ between employers wanting 

valuable skills with those employers trying to cut costs by finding temporary or 

even permanent new roles for their under-utilised employees. David Lennan, 

former Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce and founding 

Director of StaffShare, said: “There are practical alternatives. StaffShare delivers 

immediate cost savings yet crucially retains the skill and experience for later – 

perhaps after a period of weeks, months, 12 months or more.” 

Further info www.staffshare.com. 

Young Entrepreneur of the Year 

Nomination 

Deramores’ co-founder, 29-year-old Oliver 

Mustoe-Playfair, has been nominated for the 

coveted Young Entrepreneur of the Year award at 

the 2011 Kent Excellence in Business Awards. Since 

going live just eight months ago, Kent-based online 

retailer of knitting supplies, Deramores, is now 

the biggest retailer of its kind in the UK. Set up by 

web developers turned entrepreneurs, Oliver and 

Steve Hollis, also 29, Deramores already employs 

16 members of staff and has an annual turnover 

in excess of £2 million. They have just launched 

a new online store, a cross stitch superstore called 

Wickfords. A third is in the pipeline and they 

aim to have a total of five brands serving the craft 

markets by the end of 2011. 

8 craftfocus

news round-up 

New magazine a success 

MollieMakes, the latest magazine launch from Future is a craft and lifestyle title 

aimed at a young generation of crafters who are part of a vast online community 

connected through websites and blogs. The new 100-page magazine will provide 

readers with contemporary projects in a beautiful and inspiring environment. 

With the tagline of ‘Living & Loving Handmade’, “MollieMakes is a magazine which 

celebrates craft as a part of life. It curates the best contemporary craft content 

from around the world into a beautiful, collectable, unique and totally irresistible 

magazine based around the premise that if a thing is worth making, it’s worth making 

beautifully,” said Janet Meadowcroft, Editor-in-Chief. The fi rst issue of Mollie Makes hit 

the newsstands on 12th May 2011 priced at £4.99 and included a covermounted felt 

kit to make a smart-phone case. It is also available via the Zinio platform for tablets 

and iPads. Further info www.molliemakes.com. 

David and Goliath 

Specialist Midlands publisher, How2crafts, was recently 

shortlisted for a FutureBook Award alongside 

multinational publishing houses Harper Collins, Random 

House and Oxford University Press. “Whilst we didn’t 

win, we are still proud of our achievements” said John 

Morse-Brown, founder of How2crafts. “The panel of 

judges were interested in How2Crafts because of 

the way their books are interactive. After reading the 

how-to guides, craft-makers are encouraged to upload 

images of their designs along with any tips that they 

have discovered to the how2crafts website. The print 

runs of the books are purposefully kept short so that 

readers’ images and suggestions can be included as 

an appendix, complementing the books’ instructions 

and giving inspiration to future readers. So the books 

effectively ‘grow’ as more and more readers respond. “We 

are passionate about crafts and understand that digital 

technologies create new opportunities for makers to 

network with others who share their enthusiasm. Written 

by experts in their fi eld, our books combine high quality 

instruction together with visual inspiration contributed by 

our community of readers and makers,” said John. Further 

info T: +44 (0) 121 212 9857, www.how3crafts.com. 

Boost for community owned shops 

The future of community shops throughout the country received a huge boost with the announcement that they have signed a deal to use Ethecol 

Merchant Services. The Plunkett 255 Community Shop Network expects to save in the region of £1,300 per year for each shop by employing 

Ethecol’s card processing services. The new service will also provide new opportunities for small traders. 

Ethecol is the brain child of social entrepreneur Robert Ashton and credit card specialist Peter King. It is a social enterprise company which process 

credit and debit cards at greatly reduced rates for community concerns and small traders. Ethecol Merchant Services use charity organisations to 

introduce their supporter base to the service and pay a commission in the region of £250 per year to the charity making the introduction. “Ethecol 

works with a bank that is keen to build up a market share and to be competitive. We are a social enterprise and so we are happy to earn a salary 

and we are not trying to become fi lthy rich. Also because the charities we support make the introductions we don’t have to invest in an expensive 

sales force,” explained Robert Ashton, who is the author of the best selling business guide How to be a Social Entrepreneur. Ethecol began trading 

in March and the Plunkett Foundation’s network is its fi rst large scale customer but several more are in the pipeline. “A viable card service is 

imperative for community shops because people spend more when paying by card, people walk out of shops that don’t accept cards and cheques 

are hard work and they may soon disappear.” Further info www.ethecol.com. 

10 craftfocus

advertising feature 

edding 

more than just a number 

When it comes to the wording, edding pens & markers help to get your message across with 

style and panache. 

Card-making is a popular and creative 

craft and can be as simple as combining a 

treasured photograph with a few well-chosen 

words, requiring only a few basic materials 

and no special skills, something most people 

can attempt easily. Photographs add a very 

personal touch and these days it is easy to 

copy precious family photographs using a 

photocopier or computer printer. So whatever 

special family occasion you want to celebrate 

– a birthday, anniversary, engagement or 

wedding, perhaps – making your own cards 

and accessories makes it extra special. Susie 

Johns, an artist, writer and author of a number 

of craft books including The Alphabet Book, 

Photo Craft and Crafts with Kids, guides you 

through a few simple techniques and describes 

her favourite edding pens and markers. 

The italic lettering on these cards was 

done using the red and brown edding 

1255 calligraphy pens, while for the list 

of food on the menu, the red edding 751 

paint marker was used. 

"The edding 1255 calligraphy pens are a 

good place to start: they come in a pack 

of three with different stroke widths. For 

card-making, the smallest, with its 2mm tip, is 

useful for most handwriting styles while the 

other two – 3.5mm and 5mm – are perfect 

for larger, bolder letters and numerals. I’ve 

used the set of three pens in steel blue to 

fit in with a blue and lilac colour scheme 

for a wedding, including an engagement 

announcement, wedding invitation and place 

cards for the wedding reception. These pens 

are available in a choice of five colours and 

the dark brown versions help to create the 

right vintage effect for a set of anniversary 

cards and labels, while the crimson lake 

pens were my choice for a set of cards for 

a birthday picnic." The pens are filled with 

a water-based, permanent, pigment ink 

which flows really well, is very lightfast and, 

surprisingly, does not bleed through even the 

thinnest paper. They work on a wide variety of 

materials including glass, plastic and metal, as 

well as on matt and glossy paper and card. 

"For a number of years, I have been a fan 

of the edding 751 paint marker: the bullet 

tip is firm and the ink flow is smooth and 

will write on all kinds of surfaces, including 

glossy photographs," said Susie. The edding 

paint marker range includes the 750, 753, 

780 and the new edding 755 calligraphy paint 

marker, which she has used to add lettering 

and numbers to a painted wooden letter 

and to recycled badges (painted with enamel 

paints) as part of a set of stationery for a 

21st birthday party. The new edding 1455 

calligraphy markers also proved very useful 

here not only for the informal lettering but 

also for the illustration on the menu card. In 

fact, even though these are called ‘calligraphy’ 

markers, their variable tip width makes them 

ideal for drawing and, like the edding 1255 

calligraphy pens, they also come in the same 

uniformed five ink colours. 

"Anyone wanting to try these ideas, doesn't 

have to be an expert calligrapher to get good 

results. I would advise anyone who is nervous 

about their handwriting to practice by tracing 

lettering first," added Susie. The companies 

online Calligraphy Training Course – at 

www.edding-creative.com – has plenty of 

tips on using the range of calligraphy pens, 

including samples of lettering; try printing 

these on to paper and going over the letters, 

or sketch out your chosen lettering in pencil 

first, then erase the pencil lines afterwards. C 

The set of three edding 1255 calligraphy 

pens and the edding 1455 calligraphy 

marker in black are perfect for a variety 

of casual lettering on the greetings 

cards and menu, while the edding 755 

calligraphy paint marker in white is great 

for writing on painted surfaces. 

For more information and details, please call 

edding on T: 01727 846 688, 

E: info@edding.co.uk or visit our website 

www.edding-creative.com 

craftfocus 11

news round-up 

IN BRIEF... 

Ban on romance! 

One in twenty employees have had office romances 

banned by their boss, according to a recent 

survey conducted by office design company Maris 

Interiors. However, quite often these relationships 

have proved to be more than a fumble in the 

stationery cupboard, as 22 percent said that a 

long term relationship developed at work. Human 

Resources Partner at Maris Interiors, Claire Walker 

warns however that bosses might be on dodgy 

legal ground by banning relationships at work. 

“The Human Rights Act 1998 gives everyone the 

right to a private life. As long as there has been no 

misconduct, such as sharing of confidential data, 

employees shouldn’t feel worried about their jobs.” 

Off the wall 

The opportunity to make your own wall art 

is now available to every photography enthusiast. “One of the art market’s biggest 

hits in print presentation of recent years has been the ‘gallery wrap’, a 3D, frame-free 

presentation that perfectly complements the modern home,” explained Innova Art 

who has just launched the JetMaster Display System. With it customers can make their 

own ‘gallery wraps’ by printing digital images then pressing them onto the pre-cut, self 

adhesive JetMaster base to create eye-catching décor in minutes. 

Further info T: +44 (0)1206 571 775, www.innovaart.com 

New e-marketplace platform 

The launch of blucirclegalleria.com, a brand new e-marketplace platform, has been 

specifically designed to help small businesses sell online without having their own 

website. This new concept brings together the products of designers, craftspeople 

and small businesses onto a well marketed, one-stop website that promises high 

traffic from both female and male customers of all ages. The website will feature a 

wide and varied product mix to include giftware, childrenswear, toys, cosmetics and 

fragrances, home and garden, decoration and accessories and clothing. Producers 

creating items in any of these categories are able to display their products on the 

site for a small upload fee of just 20p per item for a three month listing. Users 

have a limit of 50 products and then pay a commission to the site for each order 

generated. (For an initial three month period during the site entry into the market 

businesses can upload all products for free and so only pay a commission when 

products are sold.) 

The new site has been set up by owner and director Nicholas Rabicano. Having 

worked with a number of SMEs he became aware of the fact that there are very 

few cost-effective marketing opportunities for small businesses. Rabicano says 

“blucirclegalleria.comis aimed at customers who shop online, with an emphasis 

on unique, high quality and well designed products at fair prices. We are sure that 

browsing through this new site will be as much fun as reading an interior or fashion 

magazine.” Further info www.blucirclegalleria.com. 

Silver, sea and cakes 

Beads Unlimited continue to celebrate their 

25th anniversary with a year full of fundraising 

activities for the RNLI. They are asking readers 

and customers to help them reach their formidable 

£10,000 target by hosting tea parties. It needn’t be 

anything lavish. A Victoria Sponge between friends 

is fine, with a donation made for each slice. “Over 

£400 has been raised from cake sales so far! At 

the end of 2011, the tea party that makes the most 

money will receive a gift voucher to the value of 10 

percent of their money raised. If you would like to 

hold an event, please order a tea party starter pack 

by sending an email entitled ‘Sea and Cakes’ to 

creative@beadsunlimited.co.uk. 

12 craftfocus

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and Looms 

www.viridianyarn.com | viridianltd@gmail.com 

tel: 0117 300 5244

news 

Britain is well-packaged 

Fil Adams-Mercer, founder of Parcel2Go, 

an online parcel delivery firm, says 

business is growing because of the way 

we now shop. “Until fairly recently post 

office mailbags were mainly filled with 

letters. Nowadays with 30 percent of 

retail sales happening on the internet, 

parcels are the priority,” says Mr Adams- 

Mercer. In addition the increase in the 

use of smartphones and mobile tablets 

like iPads has caused a shift in the postal 

market – email and social networking is 

replacing letters while burgeoning online 

shopping has put a flood of parcels in 

circulation. 

Parcel2Go in partnership with courier 

companies like Fed Ex, DHL and City 

Link, currently serve more than a million 

users in the UK and send more than two 

million parcels each year. Further info 

www.parcel2go.com. 

Free programme for start-up and small businesses 

The new and improved Supply National SME Engagement Programme recently 

launched by business intelligence experts BiP Solutions as a free service, will provide the 

business intelligence and information needed to compete in the current public sector 

procurement marketplace. “At a time when cost saving is a key focus for businesses, the 

supply programme offers a range of free services that will enable companies to improve 

market presence and achieve business growth. It will help them become ready to tender, 

with free access to public sector contract opportunities, events, news and resources all 

relevant to their sector,” said BiP CEO Ron Burgess. Designed specifically for start-up and 

small businesses, the programme can be broken down into three main areas: contract 

opportunities, events and news and resources. For more information T: +44 (0) 141 270 

7681. Businesses can access the programme at: www.supplytender.co.uk 

Cloud computing 

We’ve all heard of the term cloud computing and many techies will say it is essential 

nowadays, but, Daniel Barnett, WORKetc founder, warns that it can cause problems. 

“A small business will probably go with a popular SaaS solution such as Salesforce, 

Basecamp, or a Microsoft product. They realise the power of these applications and 

start picking up more software for their CRM, projects, and other aspects. Before 

they know it, they’re dealing with a list of applications that don’t integrate properly, 

they’re over their heads in monthly subscription costs, and operations aren’t any 

more efficient.” Daniel is a strong advocate for integrated solutions, and created his 

own software, a SaaS application called WORKetc, after becoming frustrated with 

integration issues. The idea behind WORKetc is to take all features that these multiple 

applications offer and cleanly combine them into one robust, deeply integrated 

solution. This effectively bypasses the integration costs many businesses find 

themselves having to pay when going with multiple applications. Further info 

T: 001 949 470 1430, E: support@worketc.com, www.WORKetc.com 

IN BRIEF... 

New trade schemes to promote yarn 

Colinette Yarns is launching two new trade schemes 

in time for the all-important Autumn/Winter 

season - a first-ever premium stockist scheme and 

a Colinette Capsule Collection starter pack for 

newcomers. “With our 126-shade strong colour 

palette, dyed using a closely-guarded secret process, 

These two schemes offer a way forward for all 

knitting yarn retailers, whether on the high street or 

web retailers. Further info T: +44(0)1938 811 898. 

Art on the PC 

ArtRage for iPad lets you become a mobile digital 

artist, providing the experience of actually ‘painting’ 

digitally on a computer canvas. “An ArtRageenabled 

iPad, tablet, or touch-screen laptop allows 

artists of all levels to take their computer everywhere 

they go to be ready to spontaneously unleash 

their creativity on the spot,” said Ambient Design. 

ArtRage for iPad will be available at a discounted 

rate of only $2.99 (normally $6.99) at the Apple 

iTunes Store. The desktop versions with more 

features, priced at $40 and $80 for ArtRage 3 Studio 

and ArtRage 3 Studio Pro respectively, are available 

for download at www.artrage.com. 

Creativity club 

The docrafts.com team have created something 

really special for those who want access to 

exclusivity in the world of craft. Boasting more 

than 250,000 members, the docrafts Creativity 

Club began last year, providing a wealth of 

inspiration online, charging just £2.50 a month. 

Members are given access to unique project ideas, 

downloads, news, prize draws, reduced P&P, 

newsletters and more. Club members also have 

exclusive access to their very own TV channel 

and crafty chat forum. Creativity TV is presented 

by crafting experts in a beautiful studio, offering 

step by step tutorials in a variety of different crafts. 

There are currently over 60 episodes available to 

watch and review online. 

craftfocus 15

Your Professional 

Designer & Manufacturer 

of Craft DIY Heating 

Tools & Appliances! 

♥ Rhinestone Hotfix Applicator 

♥ Mini Craft Iron 

♥ Ribbon Iron 

♥ Embossing Heating Guns 

♥ Glue Guns 

♥ 100% Patented Creative Products! 

♥ ♥ 

♥ 

Contact: 

Tel: 0086-592-5425497 

info@hotfixworks.com 

www.hotfixapplicators.com 

Garden Flowers 

Taken from original paintings by Lesley Teare. 

Designs are 26 cm square on 14 hpi white Aida 

and use full cross stitches and beads. 

Purple Poppy XGF1 

Hydrangea XGF2 

Peony XGF3 

Anemone XGF4 

Bothy Threads, 19 The Avenue, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9AA 

01638 665149 info@bothythreads.com 

Bothy Threads

and spanking new 

new products 

What’s new, what’s hot and what’s must-have. We take a look at some of the latest 

products available 

Artcoe 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 

Specifi cation: 

Retailer Benefi ts: 

Speedball Pink Soap 

T: +44 (0) 845 300 7750, www.artcoe.com 

From £4.99 (excluding VAT) 

Available in two sizes, 4oz or 8oz, Speedball Pink Soap is ideal for oils, acrylics and watercolour paints. With its 

new and improved formula it has a pleasant aroma and contains a conditioner that doesn’t leave a greasy after 

feel. It also doesn’t contain any chlorides, alkalis, phosphates, solvents or alcohol. 

All orders over £50 will be carriage paid and delivered within 48 hours from receipt of order, subject to stock 

availability. Artcoe are the sole UK distributors for Pink Soap and there is no minimum order quantity so retailers 

can order in either single or multiple units. 

Beads Unlimited 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 



Glass bead chips 

www.beadsunlimited.co.uk 

From 3p each 

This brand range of glass bead chips is available in seven delicious colours. These 

lovely little beads are all irregular shapes and range between approximately 8 to 

10mm across and 2 to 4mm thick. 

They can be used on a mix and match necklace with bigger statement beads for a 

fi gure enhancing effect! These glass bead chips are just 3p each with big discounts for 

small wholesale quantities. 

Bothy Threads 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 



Other Information: 

New range of garden fl owers 

T : +44 (0)1638 665 149, E: info@bothythreads.com, www.bothythreads.com 

TBC 

The kits are produced in colour themed groups and this set consists of Purple Poppy, Hydrangea, 

Peony and Anemone. They are all worked on 14 hpi white Zweigart Aida and are 26 by 26 cm. 

The vibrant colours and crystal beads add a contemporary touch to a traditional theme. Using 

only full cross stitch and optional French knots, they make straight forward but absorbing projects 

suitable for all skill levels 

This new range of garden fl owers is inspired by the paintings of our designer, Lesley Teare. They have been transplanted into kits to 

capture the essence of her Suffolk cottage garden. 

Ellison Europe Ltd 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Sizzix Big Shot Starter Kit 

T: +44 (0)844 499 8181 (within UK), +44 (0) 845 345 2277 (outside 

UK), E: europecustomerservices@ellison.com, www.sizzix.co.uk 

RRP £99.99 

The Big Shot starter kit is ideal for every crafter, from the novice to 

the expert. Included is the Big Shot machine with a pair of standard 

cutting pads, Solo Platform and Shim, Bigz Die, 2 Sizzlits Dies, Textured 

Impressions Embossing Folder, instructional DVD and pack of assorted 

cardstock. 

The Big Shot machine is easy to use and has many applications including 

papercrafting, home décor and much more. 

A great introduction to die cutting and embossing, and the perfect base 

from which to build a crafting collection. 

craftfocus 17


Creative Expressions 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 

Specification: 

Retailer Benefits: 


Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Inks, Dazzle Paints and Chalk Mists 

T: +44 (0)1536 481 778, www.creative-expressions.uk.com 

From RRP £2.50 for paints and £9.99 for inks 

Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Inks are water based, available in seven vibrant colours and contain quality pearlescent mica pigment. Each 

vial has an integrated extra-fine brush. Dazzle Paints are water based acrylic paints in 12 vibrant colours, each containing a contrasting 

shade of iridescent mica pigment for a striking two-tone effect. Chalk Mists are misters with chalk based inks available in six glowing pastel 

shades, each with a fine spray nozzle. 

Both the Drawing Inks and Dazzle Paints feature an air-lock cap to prevent spillage should they be knocked over. The Chalk Mists work 

well together with masks and stencils to produce silhouette designs. 

The Dazzle Paint range also includes matte glacier white and jet black shades which don’t contain mica. Other new releases from the 

Cosmic Shimmer range include six new shades of Shimmer Mists and Pearlescent PVA glues. 

Learning Resoures 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 



Smencils® & Smens® 

Chris Beardmore, Retail Sales Manager, T: +44(0)845 241 0484, E: sales@learning-resources. 

co.uk, www.LearningResources.co.uk 

Smencils 10 pack - £9.95 tub of 50 - £50. Smens 10 pack - £19.95, box of 50 - £99.50 

(Trade prices available on request) 

Smencils and Smens are made from 100% recycled newspaper. Smencils are available in 

both graphite and coloured pencil whilst Smens are scented black biro pens. Both are 

guaranteed to hold their scent for two years when stored in their biodegradable plastic 

freshness tubes. 

Smencils and Smemns come in packs of 10 or buckets of 50 and are each available in ten 

tempting scents. 

Stitchtastic 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Personalised Number Plate Design 

T: +44 (0)114 2353958, www.stitchtastic.com 

£4.15 trade, RRP of £9.95 

Each kit includes the background design chart, a full alphabet and number range, DMC threads and Zweigart aida. The finished design is 

11” wide by 3” high. 

This new modern style, ‘GB’ number plate design allows stitchers the freedom to include any name they choose. “It continues our 

commitment to provide designs for all, including those difficult to buy for boys, dads, uncles and granddads,” said Sarah, Stitchtastic’s chief 

designer. 

“We’ve been encouraging stitchers to try something a bit different since 2006, and this design is a great entry-level product which is easily 

personalised.” added Sarah. It is ideal for novice stitchers as well as those with more experience. 

Mulberry Silks 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 



deColourant, deColourant Mist and deColourant Plus 

T: +44 (0) 1603 815 109, E: deColourant@MulberrySilks.co.uk, www.mulberrysilks.co.uk 

RRP £14.99 each 

The deColourant products remove colour from natural fibre fabrics and paper. Regular 

deColourant is available in 8oz, 1 gallon, and 5 gallon sizes whilst the Mist is available in a 4oz 

pump bottle. The deColourant Plus comes in 60 brilliant colours and is available in 2.50oz 

jars, 3-colour 2.5oz assortment packs, economical 8oz jars and larger sizes for professional 

use. When you add heat deColourant Plus is activated. At the same time that it removes the 

underlying colour, it adds your desired Plus colour. 

Very easy to use, apply deColourant with rubber stamping, brushing, stencilling or screen 

printing, heat it and the colour is removed. The Mist works fantastically when sprayed over a 

stencil or found object. Use it as a background or by itself for a mottled look. 

18 craftfocus


Sew Over It 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 



Other information: 

Sewing pattern - skirts (three types - straight skirt, full 

T: + 44 (0)207 3260376, E: lisa@sewoverit.co.uk, 

www.sewoverit.co.uk 

£6 each wholesale 

Dressmaking pattern sizes 8-18. Easy to follow instructions including 

separate zip guide leafl et on how to insert zips. 

This is a new range of patterns designed by a UK sewing expert. 

These skirts are stylish - 50s inspired - high waisted. The instructions 

are detailed and easy to follow. 

Flo-jo Boutique 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Fancy Pants Knicker Making Kits 

T: +44 (0)117 955 2454, E: erikapeto@googlemail.com, 

www.fl o-joboutique.co.uk 

£12.50 + P&P 

Knicker making kits in fi ve different designs with regularly changing stock. 

The Flo-Jo kits appeal to many markets from the gifts to teens to crafts. 

They look great and are easy to follow kits. They have a long shelf life and 

do not take up much shelf space (can be hung too) 

Fans of the Flo-Jo Boutique include Lilly Allen and Pussy Parlure 

Gilliangladrags 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Craft kits for Kids 

Gillian Harris, T: +44 (0)1306 898 144, E: gill@gilliangladrag.co.uk 

RRP from £12.75 to £41 

Kits include simple instructions for making characters such as ‘Colonel Nocturnal Owl’ and ‘Monstrous 

Maurice’. They are an easy introduction to the world of felting. 

Bright, fun packaging makes these kits eye-catching. They also have a humourous side and are for 

children aged 5+. 

Also available from Gilliangladrags are the ‘Basic Feltmaking Kit’ (rrp £26.95) which contains a bamboo 

rolling mat and netting and a ‘Mini Bamboo Kit’ (rrp £5.95) which is suitable for all the smaller kits. 

Kreinik 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Candy Glazss metallic threads 

T: 001 800 537 2166, E: info@kreinik.com, www.kreinikmall.com 

TBA 

This set of metallic yarns offers a subtle shimmer reminiscent of gum 

drops, rock candy and frosted fruit slices. Yarns are blended together 

to create the designs. Colours include sugar plum, cotton candy, 

orange sherbet and lollipop lemon in thread sizes 4, 8, 12 and 

16 braids. 

These yummy sounding threads can be used in cross stitch, 

needlepoint, quilting and jewellery crafts. 

There are nine shades in this range, inspired by the delicate crystal 

colours of the German and Polish glass Christmas decorations. 

20 craftfocus

Eco-Fi: High quality 

polyester fi bre made 

from 100% post-consumer 

recycled plastic bottles 

used in the manufacturing 

process of Kunin Craft Felt. 

For further information about Kunin Craft Felt 

please contact 

Fashion Futures Limited, Units 1 and 2 Mace Industrial 

Estate, Ashford, Kent TN24 8EP. 

fashion.futures@btconnect.com 

Tel +44 (0) 1233 625227. Fax +44 (0) 1233 612352


DMC Creative World 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Boofl e Crochet Pack 

T: +44 (0)116 275 4000, E: sales@dmccreative.co.uk, www.dmccreative.co.uk 

Trade £8.00 per pack, RRP £15.99 

Each pack contains: 2 balls of DMC Petra Crochet thread Size 3, 1 skein of DMC Pearl 

Cotton thread Size 3, a crochet hook, a button and full instructions all stored in a clear 

bag. (stuffi ng is not included) 

Boofl e is a well-known character available in gift shops which means he already has a wide 

appeal. The design uses the Amigurumi method of crocheting which is fashionable and easy 

to do providing consumers with a satisfying and quick to complete project. 

DMC thread provides a quality fi nish with a defi ned stitch for a perfect result. 

Leuchtturm1917 UK 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




New thread-bound notebooks 

T: +44 (0) 1379 586 734, E: carolynne@leuchtturm1917.co.uk 

RRP £7.99 - £19.99 depending on size and cover. 

The thread-bound notebooks have numbered pages, a table of contents and an 

expandable pocket at the back. Pages come plain, ruled, dotted or squared and there are 

several perforated pages at the back of every notebook that are easy to tear out. 

These are superior notebooks that open fl at, have a page marker and elastic fastener. 

There is a choice of 80g or 100g acid-free paper. 

The Leuchtturm1917 range includes notebooks, diaries, planners, reporter notepads, guest 

books, jotters, folders, portfolios, binders and private archive system. 

Four Trading 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Fashion Angels Fashion Design Sketch Portfolio 

T: +44 (0)151 494 3821, www.fourtrading.eu 

TBC 

This portfolio includes seven removable plastic stencils with 100+ fashion and accessory 

shapes to help create designs on the pre-printed drawing sheets spiral bound in a book. 

The portfolio kits are beautifully packaged with an eye-catching and distinctive pink and 

black colourscheme. 

This is just one of nine Design Sketch Portfolios available from Four Trading. Also available 

is a Love to Shop StickerZine Collectible Album and Love to Shop StitckerZine sticker pack of 28 additional stickers. 

Spotted Cow Creation 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Silk Daisy Chain hair accessories 

E: info@spottedcowcreations.co.uk, www.spottedcowcreations.co.uk 

Trade from £2.59 + vat 

Available in a range of gift boxes and bags, the silk daisy chains all have silk petal 

daisies and soft yarn stems. All boxes contain ribbon for joining and instructions. 

Pillow boxes, with large or small daisies, include 20 daisies, full length when joined of 

30”. The 3” square boxes have 40 small daisies. Full length when joined is 60”. 

These delicate daisies are perfect for completing a ‘festival look’ and also make a 

great gift – they were shortlisted for The Giftware Association’s Gift of the Year 2010. 

There is also a Wedding Collection of Daisy Garlands available with small or large 

daisies and small organza bags containing 12 daisies. 

22 craftfocus

Pretty eco friendly packaging, easy to carry out and re-usable 

Tigerlily Makes fabulous felt-making kits available for wholesale 

t: 0845 543 9046 e: info@tigerlilymakes.co.uk 

www.tigerlilymakes.co.uk 

© Lisa Marie Olson Tigerlily Makes 2011 all rights reserved


Letraset 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 



Safmat Self-Adhesive Printing Film 

T+44 (0)1233 624 421, www.letraset.com/craft 

£6.69 ex VAT 

Transparent and acid-free for archival longevity, this printing fi lm can be used on inkjet and laser 

printers. Each pack contains 10 A4 sheets. It’s a great way to get printed designs onto materials 

that won’t go through a printer, eg heavyweight card, acetate, large 3D objects. 

Ideal for use on paper and card - just print, cut out and stick. Perfect for arts and crafts, 

scrapbooking, design work, packaging mock-ups, etc. 

Tigerlily Makes - The Felt-making Boutique 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Lily’s Allsorts 

Lisa Marie Olson T: +44 (0) 845 543 9046, E: info@tigerlilymakes.co.uk, 

www.tigerlilymakes.co.uk 

RRP 14.50 

Merino wool tops ribbon, lace panel and full colour instructions 

Very pretty, easy to hang packaging, very easy to follow instructions with lots of 

supporting photos, fabulous fi nished product aimed at children of 8+. An after care 

and advice service is available. 

Tigerlily Makes will be launching more kits over the coming months 

Craft Creations 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Die-Cut Decoupage 

T: +44 (0) 1992 781 900 E: enquiries@craftcreations.com, www.craftcreations.com 

RRP from 75p each, £3.75 for 5 and £7.11 for 10. 

A range of brand new designs to suit a variety of different occasions including old favourite 

‘bride and groom modifi ed in a choice of white or vintage colours. Sheets are A4, 150gsm 

acid and lignin free paper. All are pre-cut, with designs held in place by small uncut areas. All 

have extra elements such as panels, tags and borders. 

All sheets are supplied unpackaged so can be mixed and matched to suit your customers. Co-ordinating creative borders, images, 

cards and papers are also available. 

Creative papers are also available in sample packs of 20 assorted 4 x 12” strips. These strips are perfect for borders and more. 

Janome UK Limited 

Product: 

Contact: 

Price: 




Janome TXL607 sewing machine 

T: 0161 666 6011, www.janome.co.uk 

RRP £499 

The Janome TXL607 is a fully computerised sewing machine with over 400 stitches 

including alphabet and seven automatic one-step buttonholes It also has memory 

facilities, an LCD screen and keypad for easy navigation. 

Designed in the easily recognisable new livery colours, features such as auto needle 

threader, max speed control slider and stop/start button make it easy to use for 

everyone. 

The Janome TXL607 is the latest addition to Janome’s mid range of sewing machines. 

It is an ideal machine for beginners and experts alike who want to expand their 

sewing repertoire. 

24 craftfocus

show news and reviews 

Wendy Gardiner provides previews and news of forthcoming shows including CHA Summer show, 

Home and Gift and Autumn Fairs 

CHA SUMMER SHOW 

Dates: 19-21 July 2011 (pre-conference 

sessions from 18 th ) 

Venue: Donald E Stephens Convention 

Centre in Rosemont, Illinois. 

Web: www.chashow.org 

CHA SUMMER CONFERENCE AND 

TRADE SHOW 

Exhibitors and visitors alike are looking forward 

to CHA’s summer show. Last year it hosted 

4,790 trade show attendees, an increase of 

16.7 percent in the number of total attendees 

and a 38 percent increase in total buyers over 

the previous year. “Buyers came from all over 

the USA, as well as 11 percent coming from 

39 international countries including United 

Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Brazil, Netherlands, 

and Japan. There were 738 total retail 

companies that attended the Summer Show 

demonstrating that retailers are attending and 

sending more buyers to the must-attend craft 

and hobby industry trade event of the season” 

explained the CHA. 

Mixing it up 

The theme of this year’s show focuses on craft 

fusion – the selling power of mixed media. 

Mixed media is combining different craft 

materials in innovative and non-traditional 

26 craftfocus 

ways, resulting in intriguing art, unique gifts, 

spectacular fashion and other handicrafts. The 

often dramatic effects achieved are being called 

‘Craft Fusion’. “Mixed media is an opportunity 

for the industry to collaborate on creative 

products, projects, cross-promotion and crosssales,” 

explained Steve Berger, President and 

CEO, CHA. “We’re also adding three exciting 

pavilions to the show floor, providing even 

greater exhibitor and attendee opportunities 

to experience the power of craft fusion and 

mixed media.” The new pavilions will focus on 

three areas: new exhibitors, needlecrafts and 

jewellery and beading. 

Education programme 

To help exhibitors get the most from the 

shows, the CHA has a new online resource 

centre for trade show exhibitors. The new 

Exhibitor Success & ROI Centre programme 

was created in conjunction with Competitive 

Edge, a leading trade show consultancy, to 

quickly and easily provide users with free 

tools and information on trade show-centric 

information. “Succeeding at trade shows today 

requires a lot more than just showing-up and 

hoping things work out,” said President of 

Competitive Edge Jefferson Davis. “Exhibitors 

have to be a lot more strategic to get results.” 

The ESRC is available at www.craftandhobby. 

org/ESRC. 

HOME & GIFT 

Dates: 17-20 July 2011 

Venue: Harrogate 

Web: www.homeandgift.co.uk 

HOME & GIFT 

Perfectly timed for Christmas ordering, Home 

& Gift is set to deliver the largest gathering of 

brands and designers of any UK trade event 

this summer. 900 exhibitors will be offering 

visitors the chance to preview hundreds of 

the newest lines in gifts, home, jewellery and 

fashion, greeting cards and stationery. There 

is a special ‘intro north’ area which will house 

a host of exhibitors new to the trade show 

circuit and a men’s gift area, new to Home 

& Gift this year, which will be in the Majestic 

Hotel. Featuring well-known brands such as 

Zippo, this bespoke area will make it easier 

for buyers to find products to suit traditionally 

tricky customers. A comprehensive seminar 

programme at the show also provides visitors 

free business advice and there will be plenty 

of opportunities to network at social events 

around the show. 

Home & Gift provides the opportunity to 

buy for the Christmas market 

AUTUMN FAIR 

INTERNATIONAL 

Dates: 4 – 7 September 2011 

Venue: NEC, Birmingham 

Web: www.autumnfair.com 

AUTUMN FAIR INTERNATIONAL 

As mentioned last issue, this year a brand 

new hobby and craft show sector has been 

introduced into Autumn Fair International. 

“The sector will be located in a dedicated 800 

sq m zone in hall five, where it is positioned 

alongside toys and gadgets on the one side 

and general gifts on the other, maximising the

show news and events 

cross-over buying opportunities offered by the 

season’s premier retail buying event,” explained 

organisers Emap Connect. Visitors will discover 

a wide range of products in this craft-focused 

area, ranging from artists’ materials and card 

making kits to needlepoint, scrap booking, tools 

and accessories. Exhibitors already signed 

up include Dremel, Keepsake Card Craft, 

The Glitter Girls, Craft Fairy, China Butterfly, 

Krasnaya Nesting Dolls and Viridian. 

Emap Connect has enlisted leading hobby 

and craft press to help promote the new 

sector, including our very own Craft Focus 

magazine and German trade title HobbyArt. 

Sector marketing initiatives will include the 

creation of a craft demo area, where TV 

personalities will be enlisted to present some 

of the ingenious new products developed by 

exhibitors. “Autumn Fair International is the 

festive season’s largest home and gift event. 

A total of 500,000 products and 50,000 

new launches will be demonstrated by 1500 

exhibiting suppliers,” said Emap. 

AUTUMN TRADE SHOW 

KREAVAK 

Dates: 4 - 5 September 2011 

Venue: Rijnhal Arnhem 

Opening times: 9.30am – 5.00pm 

Web: www.asws.nl 

AUTUMN TRADE SHOW KREAVAK 

Organisers of Autumn Fair KreavaK say 

“Various of exhibitors from European 

countries covering a whole range of products 

are a real hook for visitors to this event.” 

Known as the most colourful fair in Europe, 

this is a trade event for patchwork and 

quilting, jewellery, fashion fabrics, knitting and 

crochet, embroidery, craft and needlework, 

haberdashery, hobby, sewing machines, etc. 

Exhibitors come from all across Europe, with 

representatives from the United Kingdom, 

the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, 

Switzerland, Austria and Denmark as well as 

Russia and the Ukraine. Refreshments are 

readily available and free tea and coffee are 

provided by organisers ASWS. “ 

Autumn KreavaK promises a European event 

PERTH SHOW 

Dates: 11-12 September 2011 

Venue: Dewar’s Conference Centre, Perth 

PERTH SHOW 

Organised by Yvonne Jackson with the help of 

her brother Gavin, this trade show has a whole 

host of exhibitors including Solo Crafts, House 

of Handicraft, Classic Embroidery, Sehlbach & 

Whiting and Groves. Visitors will be able to 

see and buy the latest products in stamping, 

embroidery, crafts, haberdashery cross stitch 

and more. For more information: Yvonne 

Jackson, T: +44(0)777 087 0093, or 

+44 (0131 447 2066, E: y.jackson@tiscali.co.uk 

CONSUMER SHOWS 

Festival of Quilts 

The Festival of Quilts is at the NEC, 

Birmingham from 11-14 August 2011. 

Organisers Twisted Thread promise that 

“quilts will be on display in their thousands 

providing a stunning spectacle and will come in 

many guises from both competition entrants 

and professional artists such as Pia Welsch, 

Yoshiko Katagiri, Barbara Weeks and many 

more.” Over the last eight years the Festival 

of Quilts has earned a reputation for being 

the largest and most inspiring quilting event 

in Europe. Last year 34,000 people travelled 

from over 54 countries around the globe to 

attend. “For 2011 the shopping opportunities 

will be immense with over 300 companies 

selling a great variety of patchwork and quilting 

supplies,” said MD Andrew Salmon. The show 

will also offer vast numbers of workshops and 

lectures aimed at both the beginner and the 

expert exploring new territory from talented 

and respected artists and teachers. For further 

information, T: +44 (0)20 8692 2299 or visit: 

www.twistedthread.com. 

Lots of inspirational displays await visitors to the 

Festival of Quilts 

Power of Making 

This Autumn, the V&A and Crafts Council 

will celebrate the role of making in our lives 

by presenting an eclectic selection of over 

100 exquisitely crafted objects. The exhibition 

opens on 6 September 2011 and will run until 

2 January 2012. Exhibits range from a life-size 

crochet bear to a ceramic eye patch, a fine 

metal flute to dry stone walling. “Power of 

Making will be a cabinet of curiosities showing 

works by both amateurs and leading makers 

from around the world to present a snapshot 

of making in our time,” said the V&A. 

craftfocus 27

show news and reviews 

SHOW REVIEWS 

H&H Cologne 

Held from 8-10 April 2011, the H+H 

Cologne show was a great success with an 

increase in the number of exhibitors and 

visitors. At the show 263 exhibitors from 31 

countries presented the largest product range 

worldwide to the national and international 

specialised trade which was made up of about 

11,000 trade visitors (a 10 percent increase 

on last year). H+H Cologne provided an 

attractive supporting programme including the 

great trend fashion show, a large workshop 

programme and special shows from artists 

and institutions. “All relevant indicators show 

a positive trend. This is true for the number 

of exhibitors and visitors as well as the mood 

in the industry. With this result, the seamless 

change from the guest event to trade fair 

ensures that H+H Cologne absolutely is 

confirmed”, says Jan Pothof, General Manager 

of Koelnmesse Ausstellungen GmbH. 

The trade fair result turned out to be 

equally positive in nearly all segments. “The 

customers are interested in new things, are 

enthusiastic about trendy creative ideas and 

keen on realising them at the point of sale,” 

said Hedi Ehlen Chairwoman of the Initiative 

Handarbeit e. V. Trade Fair Board and Director 

of Prym Consumer GmbH. Achim Hamann, 

Director of Schoeller Süssen GmbH, added: 

“Considering the positive industry situation, 

the trade is innovative, motivated and all in all 

more progressive compared to previous years. 

It has experienced the trend; knitting is up to 

date and now requires new techniques and 

concepts. We are very pleased 

as well as Half Moon Bay for a ration book 

box file and Notable designs for Ciak Duo 

notebook. 

British Craft Trade Fair 

Held in Harrogate in April, organisers have 

reported a sales boom at the British Craft 

Trade Fair. Jessica Sherriff of Jessica Jewellery 

Design had her most successful exhibition to 

date, with trade sales up by 20 percent on 

last year. Her eye catching jewellery stood out 

to buyers and she received orders from both 

existing and brand new stockists from various 

parts of the Uk. Jessica said “I am thrilled with 

the positive increase in sales. Buyers see that 

my work is not only different but good quality 

and want to bring that to their customers.” 

Jessica launched a new range of ‘stained glass’ 

jewellery at British Craft Trade Fair 

SHOW ORGANISER CONTACTS 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 

We’ve got an at-a-glance listing of the major 

trade and consumer shows around the world 

over the next few months 

JUNE 

12 – Papercrafts, Taunton (organisers: 

Sincerely-Yours) 

JULY 

13-17 – Larmer Tree Festival (organisers: 

Larmer Tree Festival) 

17-20 – Home & Gift, Harrogate (organisers: 

Clarion Events) 

19-21 – CHA, Rosemount, Illinois (organisers: 

CHA) 

AUGUST 

10-14 – Festival of Quilts, NEC 

(organisers: Twisted Thread) 

SEPTEMBER 

1-3 The Stitch & Creative Crafts Show, 

Manchester (organisers: Trident Exhibitions) 

4-5 – Fair Kraevak, Arnhem, Netherlands 

(organisers: ASWS) 

4-7 – Autumn Fair, NEC 

(organisers: Emap Connect) 

11-12 – Perth Show 

(organiser: Yvonne Jackson) 

16-18 – The Stitch & Creative Crafts Show, 

Sandown Park 

(organisers: Trident Exhibitions) 

22-25 – Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts, 

Exeter (organisers: ICHF) 

Some dates may be subject to change. Please 

check with the show organisers before 

planning your visit. 

The Stationery Show 

The Stationery Show is the UK’s only 

dedicated stationery exhibition for trade 

buyers and took place at the Business Design 

Centre in London in April. A well attended 

show culminated in the inaugural Stationery 

Awards, judged and presented by a team of 

leading buyers from the National Trust, Bentalls, 

Postmark, Ryman’s and Paperchase. Winners 

included Leuchtturm1917 for their notebook 

pen loop, Monte Verde for a one-touch stylus 

pen and GF Smith for Inspire Me Papers 

ASWS – www.asws.nl 

CHA – www.craftandhobby.org 

Clarion Events – Home & Gift, www.homeandgift.co.uk 

Emap Connect – Autumn Fair visitors T: +44 (0)8445 888 071, www.autumnfair.com 

Express Services, T: +44 (0)1536 481 778, www.bssbs.co.uk 

ICHF, T: +44 (0)1425 277 988, www.ichf.co.uk 

Koelnmesse Ausstellungen GMbH, www.hh-cologne.com, T: +49 221 821 2458 

Larmer Tree Festival, T: +44 (0)1725 552 300, E: info@larmertreefestival.co.uk 

Perth Show – T: +44(0)777 087 0093, or +44 (0131 447 2066, y.jackson@tiscali.co.uk 

Sincerely Yours – T: + 44(0) 1634 686 823, www.sincerely-yours.co.uk 

Trident Exhibitions, www.sccshows.co.uk , T: +44 (0)1822 614 671 

Twisted Thread – E : jan@twistedthread.com, wwwmasseriadellazingara.com 

28 craftfocus

UNIFORM 

MEMORIES 

Scrapbook family history 

Scrapbook great days out 

Scrapbook cadet days past and present 

With our specially designed scrapbooking papers and 

co-ordinated embellishments you can create great 

memories of those days out at the ‘war and peace show’ 

and those get togethers with fellow ‘re-enactment’ friends. 

11 TH & 12 TH September 2011 

Dewars Centre, Perth 

Workshops and demonstrations throughout the day. 

For show details please contact Yvonne on 07770 870093 

These papers can be used for making 

cards for the forces, or for boys 

parties… the possibilities are endless... 

These designs are being added to 

as we write with vintage forces and 

fire police and ambulance. 

Please contact Eve on the 

following for more information 

Tel: 01273 813396 

uniformmemories@hotmail.co.uk 

See us at the ‘war and peace show’ 

or visit our website to see details 

of our suppliers and the craft 

shows that we will be attending 

3 Manor Close, Ringmer, Lewes, 

East Sussex, BN8 5PA 

This is a Trade only show - proof of trading will be required by new visitors for entry

26-28 CAMBRIDGE HEATH ROAD, WHITECHAPEL, LONDON E1 5QH 

Tel: 0207 7919766 / 0207 7902233 

Email: terisa@londontrimmings.co.uk 

enquiries@londontrimmings.co.uk 

 

 

• Feathers 

• Sequin Braids 

• Buckles 

• Buttons 

• Embellishments 

• Wool 

• Zips 

• Threads 

• Knitting Accessories 

• Ribbons 

• Diamante Buckles 

• Haberdashery 

• Flowers 

• Bows 

• Dress Net 

• Handbag Accessories 

• Scissors 

• Elastic 

• Colour Dye 

• Snap Fasteners 

• Cotton Webbing 

• Lace 

• Cord 

• Labels 

• Bias Bindings 

• Insertion Piping 

• Eyelets 

• Interlining/Wadding 

• Toy Filling 

• Trouser Patches 

• Jeans Buttons & Rivets 

• Shoulder Pads 

• Embroidery Accessories 

• Hook & Loop 

• Covered Buttons 

• Curtain Accessories 

• Toggles 

• Hangers 

• Garment Cover Bags 

An exciting new British company with a fabulous range of cling 

stamps, manufactured in the UK to a very high standard

feature 

beautiful beading 

Beads can be used in all sorts of craft projects, from the 

obvious jewellery to cross-stitch, embroidery and card making. 

We look at new trends and new products 

Photo: Beads and Beyond Magazine 

Copper and Antiqued Copper chain 

and fi ndings are hot news this year 

Beads are big news this year. Back in the 1960s, both men and women wore them, and now 

the retro look is back in fashion – this time with a 21 st century twist Peak Dale Products told 

us. “Steam Punk is the latest look – a quirky, yet appealing mix of antique-look, brass coloured 

jewellery and decorative items with a feminine touch, such as fl owers and ribbons. Think Victorian 

meets modern day.” 

Michelle Powell, editor of Beads & Beyond magazine, suggest that you try and choose an area 

of beading that suits your store. If you have a large customer base which enjoys rubber stamping, 

maybe try mixed media jewellery and stock pendant blanks, resin and funky ball style chain. If 

you have a fabric store, consider introducing a felted bead section and a good range of wooden 

blank beads that can be fabric covered. If your customer base enjoy cross stitch, them maybe the 

intricate nature of seed beading will be a good place to start, so stock seed beads, needles, Delica 

beads and Nymo thread. 

STEAM PUNK IS HOT 

“This year Beads Unlimited are celebrating 25 years in business and are still on a 

strong upward curve,” said owner Geoff Ellis. He has just been on a trip to China 

with chief buyer and designer Gemma Gray, to source a whole host of new and 

exciting beads to add to the Beads Unlimited stock-pile of goodies. They predict 

trends for this season include antique gold chain and fi ndings which are hot, hot hot 

in the world of beading and a key tone in Steam Punk style. “Happily, these muted 

metal tones look fabulous with honeysuckle, Pantone’s colour for 2011. Honeysuckle 

is a striking reddish pink that complements almost all skin tones. The wide appeal 

of this colour makes it a number one consideration for retailers large and small,” 

Geoff said. 

“Chain maille is also a big design feature this year. With 

a little practice, the basic methods can be mastered to 

produce stunning creations. It’s just one of the techniques 

you can learn at Beads Unlimited’s beading classes 

held at their retail outlet, The Brighton Bead Shop,” 

added Geoff. To further help their trade customers, 

Beads Unlimited has recently launched a trade website 

on which customers can get credit terms, discounted 

prices, free post and packing, a dedicated retailers’ 

advisor and many other benefi ts. For details visit: www. 

beadsunlimited.co.uk. 

craftfocus 31

eautiful beading 

FLOWER 

POWER 

“The only tools required by a beginner is a 

basic tool kit containing a selection of pliers 

along with beading needles” 

BEADWORK 

Beadwork is beautiful because it is so easy and so glamorous. It also 

enables beading to be used in a different area of crafting – stitching. 

“You can stitch each bead on with a simple half cross stitch, so the 

technique is a breeze,” explained expert bead worker Eliza McClelland. 

“The fun comes in that you can use so many different shades and get 

huge depth of colour and it is still quick – as all the beads are stitched 

on with one thread instead of all that starting up, fi nishing off, counting 

or leaving gaps that happens when working with yarns. Or you can 

pile lots of beads on and get fab, scrunchy textures – all with the one 

stitch,” she added. 

In spring and summer, 

fl owers are always 

popular. La Fourmi 

therefore fi nd that 

anything with a fl oral 

base is popular at this 

time of year and even 

more so this year. 

“We refl ect the natural 

fl owers about us, drop 

our winter gear and look 

for fresh fl ower designs. 

Each year the fl owers 

change and may be stylised, 

or components mixed 

with other beads, wires and 

materials,” they explained. 

As metal is particularly popular, they have put together a concept of 

fl owers and metal fi ligree components. “You simply start with a large 

fi ligree, add a medium one, add a fl ower or two and stack them on a 

head pin, and it’s done. The compositions are endless and can then be 

mounted into jewellery,” said La Fourmi. 

The metal fl owers and fi ligrees are now available in pinks, blues, 

black, white and silver. “Roses are also in abundance, we have them 

in metal but also lovely little resin ones that you can stick on to 

anything,” they added. They also have some uneven resin discs that 

also stack into fl owers, for a more modern stylised look. Further 

details: E:info@cordslafourmi.com, W: www.cordslafourmi.com. 

BRIGHT, BOLD COLOURS 

New products from Creative Beadcraft include these striped resin beads, available in fi ve shapes and perfect for wearing with this season’s 

bright block colours. Prices start from 50p each or £1 for ten 12mm balls. Their range of metal beads and pendants has also been expanded. “The 

new big metal fl ower and butterfl y pendants are ideal for summer. Or try the extended range of copper coated beads and pendants. These are 

acrylic with a quality metal plating so that they look like metal but without the weight,” explained Creative Beadcraft. 

Further info: T: + 44 (0)1494 786 924, E: beads@creativebeadcraft.co.uk, W: www.creativebeadcraft.co.uk. 

32 craftfocus


TOOLS OF THE TRADE 

BRIGHT LIGHTING 

Specialist pliers 

Those who are into beading will also need various tools 

with which to create their pieces. Recognising the similarities 

between the intricate work of doctors and dentists and that 

of jewellery makers and craft workers, Mr Murray Burfi tt, 

MD of Burfi tt Medical, has transformed specialist medical 

instrument into “the most effective equipment for craft work 

and hobbyists.” The latest addition to the Burfi tt range is the 

new and exciting bow or circlip plier. “It’s an ideal tool for 

opening up or keeping apart links,” said Murray. It works in 

reverse from normal pliers that close shut when squeezed 

together and features long, high precision tips with three 

gripping slots on each jaw, a thinner nose piece for access to 

tight areas and ergonomic, anti-slip PVC handles. The bailing 

plier is another new addition to the range. “There are many 

tools you can use to coil wire and make consistent sized loops. 

The bail forming pliers are yet another option which can help 

you make connectors, clasps, ear wires and jump rings. These 

pliers make two different sizes of rings - 9 mm and 7 mm. For 

further information: www.burfi tt.com.au. 

HOT TRENDS IN 

JEWELLERY MAKING 

We can all see what trends are in when they hit the high 

street, and of course, what celebrities are wearing can often 

infl uence trends. However, the real trick is to predict what is 

going to be hot and in fashion. We’ve already heard of Steam 

Punk, but in addition, Michelle Powell, editor of Beads and 

Beyond magazine suggests other trends worth watching. (see 

overleaf) 

Lighting is very important when working on fi ne beading projects. Daylight, the 

leading specialist lighting designer, has recently unveiled its most powerful art 

(beading and jewellery making) lamp to date. “The Triple Bright Light delivers an 

incredible 250w, brighter and whiter than any other lamp and is the brightest 

lamp in Daylight’s comprehensive range of lighting options” explained Daylight. 

The brilliance of the light and intelligent design makes it ideal for use in creative 

environments that require optimum lighting. It enables users to continue crafting 

into the evenings, when natural light fades etc. “The fl exibility of the light source 

positioning is a key feature of this innovative lamp. The shade can be adjusted to 

every required angle and is well suited for illuminating wide work areas where 

plenty of shadow-free light is needed. The Triple Bright Light has a high quality 

metal arm with internal springs, a strong metal lamp stem and clamp making 

it robust and durable. The rrp is £124.99 and it is available from Spring 2011. 

Further details: T: +44 (0)20 8964 1200, W: www.daylightcompany.com. 

WEAVING 

Peak Dale Products has just 

produced The Ultimate Loom, a 

tabletop loom that allows you to 

face the work so you don’t have 

to bend over. This is far better for 

posture and enables users to work 

for longer periods without suffering 

back or neck problems. The 

Ultimate Loom is wider than most, 

so work can be up to 15 cm wide. 

It’s perfect for making beautiful 

beaded bags, chokers or bracelets. 

“Everything is included to get keen crafters started in this simple, but rewarding, 

hobby. “The kit retails at £18.99 – and once your customers have bought it, they 

will keep coming back to you for more beads,” said Peak Dale Products. Further 

info T: +44 (0)1298 78447, W: www.peakdaleproducts.co.uk. 

34 craftfocus


VINTAGE 

As with most other lifestyle areas the credit crunch has generated a 

huge trend for all things vintage and in jewellery making that means 

upcycling! Michelle Powell said, “Vintage pieces and old jewellery are 

being snapped up at car boot sales and charity stores to be pulled apart 

to recreate something modern but with a real feel of nostalgia. Pearls, 

antiques fi ndings and diamante brooches all work well for this look”. 

“Venetian style seed bead and wire fl owers are also gaining popularity, 

again for their vintage feel. Nude shades and necklaces featuring multiple 

blooms are very chic and easy to make with a little practice, plenty of 

wire and seed beads!” added Michelle. 

COPPER 

Copper is also big news, partly as the price of precious metals is 

currently so high that many jewellers have turned to copper as a slightly 

more affordable alternative. 

WATCHES 

Add a watch face charm to your 

jewellery to create a practical 

and in vogue accessory 

Stitch or wire seed beads in nude 

shades for an on-trend look. 

Pocket watches are also having a revival, this time as components of long 

bohemian style necklaces or as a quirky element on a charm bracelet, 

along with a selection of kitsch or cutesy owls and birds! 




Appeal to card crafters 

by using pretty patterned 

papers to create jewellery 

STOCKING BEADING SUPPLIES 

Michelle has some tips on selling beads. “If you’re considering introducing 

a beading section to your store, make sure you have an eye-catching 

display of beads and a selection of the essential fi ndings and tools along 

with plenty of design inspiration!” She explained that beginners will tend 

to be attracted to sparkly colourful beads and those that offer great 

value, so they can make several pieces of jewellery for just a few pounds. 

Look out for glass beads and strings of crystals that really will draw 

attention, Temporary strung beads are so appealing as they already look 

like jewellery and so it’s easy for a beginner to visualise the fi nished item, 

and no crafter can resist a beautiful sparkly array of different colours to 

choose from! 

Creative Beadcraft agreed that “A selection of fashion items and 

eye-catching pendants is a great way of re-vitalising your staple range,” A 

few simple pieces of jewellery in a prominent place are a great way of 

showing customers how they can put a look together. “Big bold pieces 

are currently very popular, for example using semi-precious stones. 

Alternatively, go for the ethnic look by using lots of seed beads to create 

long stranded necklaces. Stock up on bright colours such as red, orange 

and fuchsia for sizzling summer appeal,” they added. 

Peak Dale Products also feel retailers should always have plenty of 

the basics in stock, Beaders will always need thread, seed beads, spacers 

etc., but shops should stock big statement beads more sparingly. They are 

very fashion-led, and if you buy too many, you could be left with a lot on 

your hands when the trend suddenly changes. It’s much better to stock 

little and often, introducing new beads every time you order. 

The fi nal word goes to Michelle Powell “Whatever you choose to 

stock, the golden rule is to inspire your customers with plenty of design 

inspiration, actual fi nished samples are perfect and the more you have 

the more your tills will ring. If you don’t have time to make samples, 

make sure you stock a good selection of beading books and magazines, 

such as Beads & Beyond so that your customers can still be inspired to 

create!” C 

36 craftfocus

www.beadtimewholesale.co.uk 

We are dedicated to supplying the retailer and web companies with a truly 

gorgeous range of findings, and now we can supply you with gorgeous beads! 

NEW RANGE - Steampunk findings now available 

For a catalogue contact 

Bead Time Ltd 

Unit 16 Shepperton Business Park 

Govett Avenue 

Shepperton 

Middlesex 

TW17 8BA 

Tel: 01932 506362 / 506596

a cut above 

Fiskars recently celebrated the 44 th anniversary of their 

classic orange handled scissors. Wendy Gardiner took a look 

behind the scenes to find out more about the company and 

how these scissors are made 

In the 19 th century a tailor would spend 

the equivalent of a month’s earnings on a 

professional-grade pair of scissors. 

The first Fiskars scissors were tailor’s scissors, 

made in 1830 and soon joined by lamp 

scissors, sack scissors, linen, paper and even 

cigarette scissors (although Fiskars company 

started back in 1649). As wrought iron didn’t 

make a particularly comfortable grip, the 

tailoring shears from the 19 th century were 

made with a cast brass grip, joined to the cast 

iron blades. 

The ‘Classic’ range with their distinctive 

plastic orange handles were first produced in 

1967 when Fiskars were the first to use the 

new plastic technology and a special grinding 

technique for serial production. Large series 

of blades could be ground with great precision 

and the handles moulded with pressure onto 

the blades. The classic orange colour was 

chosen almost by coincidence. Some orange 

plastic had been left in the moulding machine 

producing the first model scissors. These were 

presented to the marketing team along with 

other colour choices and the orange colour 

won the vote and so began their distinctive 

claim to fame. Now it is an official trademark 

in Finland, giving Fiskars the exclusive right 

to use the orange colour in scissors. Fiskars 

have produced over 900 million scissors 

since 1967 and today, the orange colour is an 

important element of the Fiskars brand. 

The use of tools doesn’t change, 

the development is to make tools 

easier to use, lighter and more 

durable 

From design to development 

Throughout the years the scissors have been 

modernised many times. They have become 

more ergonomic and the manufacturing 

technique has been developed further. It can 

take a minimum of seven months from initial 

idea to production. Once decided upon, the 

new design is made into a nylon prototype to 

gauge sizing, cutting motion and shaping. 

The testing department tests the 

original design, makes the prototypes 

and checks end products. Quality 

is checked throughout the 

production process to ensure 

that the idea and product 

work correctly. Test results help with product 

development and mean that designers can 

refine or change any elements that aren’t 

working. For the gardening tools, the testers 

quite literally don rubber boots and go to the 

nearby forest and try them! Dressmaking 

scissors are of course tried on fabric. 

Important tests are carried out to determine 

maximum stress – the scissors are placed in 

a machine that simulates repeated cutting 

and fatigue – to find out whether any 

components deteriorate with repeated use 

and wear and how long they will continue to 

work efficiently. 

Fiskars’ orange handled scissors 

are known throughout the world 

38 craftfocus

focus on 

THE PRODUCTION PROCESS 

The blades are cut from 

stainless steel belts of flat steel 

Stamping/blanking - Once the design has 

1 been approved and finalised it moves to 

the first manufacturing process – Stamping or 

Blanking. 

The blades are made from stainless steel 

belts of flat steel, bought from Sweden for 

over 40 years. Blanking tools are used to cut 

the steel and the warehouse is stacked with 

blanking tools to make all the different types 

of scissors. The blanking tools stamp out the 

blades in a unique way, in a propeller (curved) 

shape. First the hole for the screw is stamped 

out, and then the blade shape. They can stamp 

approx 3000 blades per hour. 

Heat treatment – All blades are heat 

2 treated at 1500C then air cooled and 

annealed (toughened) in an oven at 210C to 

get to the required toughness. 

Grinding - The grinding process is carried 

3 out at a constant temperature of 21-22C. 

The grinding machines are used to grind 

small manicure scissors right up to the axes 

produced by Fiskars. All sides of a blade are 

ground and there are five different grinding 

operations per blade. Between 1-2000 blades 

are ground every hour. The machines have 

an aluminium oxide grinding wheel, whilst 

pressing and cutting is done with a small 

diamond. Fiskars also have some robotic 

machines, on one the blade is ground whilst 

another robotic machine sharpens them. 

After the blades are ground they are washed 

by hand to remove the dust. The air and liquid 

used in the grinding machines is all filtered 

and recycled, and then the ground particles 

are dried, pressed into small cubes and sent to 

a steel factory to be melted down and made 

into steel again. 

Making handles and attaching them 

4 The handles are made from hundreds and 

thousands of orange polymede beads. These 

are fed into a hopper and heated to 270C and 

then injected into the mould (into which the 

previously ground blades have been laid). 

They come out as two halves that have to be 

joined with a rivet by hand. The rivet at the 

top of the blades is left a little loose in order to 

create the lovely snip sound as you cut. Each 

operator will finish approximately 2500 pairs 

of scissors in eight hours. 

Polymede beads are used to cast 

the distinctive orange handles 

The handles are moulded onto 

the ground blades in pairs 

The final step in the production is to hand test by 

cutting fabric with each and every pair 

5Testing them 

The last process is to oil and polish, 

tighten the screw and test the scissors on 

fabric. If necessary the cutting can still be 

adjusted at this stage by tightening the rivet or 

by trimming the blades. 

The Fiskars Corporation now has a turnover 

of £500 million. They are well known not only 

for their range of scissors, but also Fiskar and 

Sankey gardening tools. C 

Further information 

T: +44 (0)115 927 7335, www.fiskars.com 

craftfocus 39

Win 

competition 

★ 

★ 

beads and more! 

We’ve got a fabulous point of sale spinner fi lled with beads and fi ndings 

worth over £500 from Beads Unlimited to be won 

★ 

Beads Unlimited make business a pleasure 

by supplying quality products at competitive 

prices topped off with friendly, effi cient 

service. This year they celebrate 25 successful 

years in business. Beads Unlimited keep it 

simple with neat point of sale display spinners 

fi lled with their well known and well loved 

brand of packeted beads and fi ndings. As seen 

in top craft stores up and down the country, 

these enticing items are also available to the 

independent retailer. 

The fl ow packing is easy on the eye, 

showing the customer exactly what they’re 

buying. This makes selling simple and reordering 

a doddle. The counter standing 

display holds 80 different lines, and starting 

at just £1.99 RRP they are priced with quick 

turnover in mind. Retailers can opt for a 

standard selection of proven top sellers or a 

bespoke collection to suit their own market. 

The prize is over £500 worth of Beads 

Unlimited goodies, including the counter-top 

spinner plus £100 credit to restock. 

HOW TO ENTER 

To enter the competition, simply visit 

www.craftfocus.com, fi ll in your details 

and answer the following question by 

30 th July 2011. 

Q: What birthday is Beads Unlimited 

celebrating in 2011? C 

★★ 

Competition sponsored by Beads Unlimited. 

For more information, T: +44 (0)1273 740 777 

or visit www.beadsunlimited.co.uk. 

Terms and Conditions 

1. Competitions are not open to employees of KD Media Publishing Ltd (or 

their immediate families). 

2. Entrants must be a member of the trade and over the age of 18. 

3. The competition closing date is subject to change without notice. 

4. The winner will be notifi ed in writing. 

5. The Editor’s decision is fi nal and no correspondence can be entered into. 

6. The prize is not transferable and has no monetary value. 

7. The closing date is 30 th July 2011. 

8. No purchase necessary and there is no charge to enter via the website at 

www.craftfocus.com. 

craftfocus 41

stamping 

successful 

stamping 

This market continues to thrive with 

lots of inspirational new products 

being introduced to keep the creative 

juices fl owing 

Stamping has come a long way from cut potatoes and 

paints! Now you can get creative with rubber, clear 

and roller stamps, using a variety of mediums including 

inks, chalks, paints and more. There are websites with 

tutorials, showing how to create crisp images time and 

again. We spoke to a few of the specialists in stamping 

to fi nd out what they feel the current trends are and 

what keen stampers are looking for. 

DISMOUNT AND SOAR! 

Stamp Addicts have found that the biggest trend in stamping for them has been 

the conversion from wood mounted stamps to unmounted. “We still sell lots of 

our top brands like DeNami, JudiKins and Stamps by Judith and all these are wood 

mounted only, but now we are manufacturing our own unmounted rubber stamps. 

We have found these are hugely popular,” they explained. Currently Stamp Addict’s 

best selling stamps are their unmounted ones featuring scenery, a tractor and gypsy 

caravans. During the last few years there has been a big trend towards handmade 

gifts and customers often show us gifts they have stamped for friends and family like 

notebooks and keepsake folders. “The best thing about stamping is that it covers so 

many genres from scenery and transport to cute fairies and whimsical creatures - 

there is something for everyone” said Stamp Addict. 

Further information T: +44 (0)1234 855 833, www.stampaddicts.com. 

CUTE AND GIRLIE 

Stamping can be used on cards, scrapbooking pages, 

giftwrap, picture frames and more. Pixie Cottage stamps 

by Michelle Scrap have a cute range of Alisa Ramirez 

designs in red rubber mounted on cling foam backing. 

They are ready to use with an acrylic block and work 

beautifully singually or in groups. “This stamp shown 

here is from The Pixie Cottage Alisa Ramirez collection. 

The card was designed by Janiel Corley,” said Michelle. 

Pixie Cottage stamps are sold singularly and the 

wholesale prices start at US dollars 4.85. 

Further information T: 001 330 412-6264, 

E: thepixiecottage@aol.com, www.michellesscrap.com. 

Crafty Stamps are also in the process of switching their stamps over from woodmounted 

to being packed individually, inset and mounted with Klingon. “We are in the 

process of sorting out our packaging, pricing etc and hope to be in a position to push 

this forward very shortly,” they explained. The Crafty Stamp product range consists 

of a collection of Celtic, Scottish, Wedding and Romance rubber stamps – available as 

wood mounted or non-mounted. For further info T: +44 (0) 131 221 9440, 

E: enquiries@stampersgrove.co.uk, www.craftystamps.com. 

The best thing about stamping is that 

it covers so many genres from scenery and 

transport to cute fairies and whimsical creatures 

- there is something for everyone. 

craftfocus 43

successful 

stamping 

A CLEAR WINNER 

Woodware is a British owned family business. Over the years 

the number of companies it distributes for has expanded and 

now stretches around the world. It distributes Stampendous 

cling rubber stamps, Perfectly Clear, and Magenta rubber and 

polymer stamps. “We stock Dreamweaver Stencils, pastes 

and powders as well as USArtQuest’s range of products 

for mixed media work,” they explained. The range includes 

rubber stamps, clear polymer self cling stamps, metal stencils, 

an extensive range of craft punches, good quality ‘tools of 

the trade’, card and card blanks, sticky stuff, ribbon, Peel Off’s, 

embellishments etc. Clear Magic Singles were introduced for 

the Christmas market last year and proved so popular with 

both shops and stampers that more have been rustled up for 

the latest release. With giant ice creams and a cup cake for the 

foodies, the stamps are great for both cards and scrapbook 

pages. 

“Florals and home decor are really strong trends this 

year. Stamps give the opportunity to create home decor 

accessories such as cushions, to complement and revamp 

larger home items that are perhaps a little tired but still have 

some life in them,” said Woodware. The wonderful array of 

fl orals in both the Stampendous range of Jumbo Cling Rubber 

stamps and Woodware Clear Magic Singles open up this 

market without excluding the card maker. “Jane and Fran’s 

attention to detail in the drawing of the stamps and the use 

of Chalk Yinks ink pads broaden the sales potential of these 

products” they added. Further info, T: +44 (0)1756 700024, 

E: sales@woodware.co.uk, www.woodware.co.uk. 

SEALED WITH SATISFACTION 

As well as using rubber stamps, stampers also like to fi nish their projects with 

many other elements, from ribbons, trims and photographs to a decorative 

seal according to the Manuscript Pen Company. “Decorative sealing is an 

exciting new craft offering endless opportunities to embellish, decorate and 

personalise gifts, cards, scrapbooks and all manner of handmade creations,” 

they explained. The decorative seal provides a 21 st century take on an old 

tradition. “Decorative sealing has been extremely well received by the crafting 

public, drawing audiences at several trade and retail shows,” Manuscript Pen 

Company told us. They offer a complete range of wax and seal products 

including glittery ‘extras’ and a comprehensive ‘How to’ booklet. Their 

brochure can be downloaded from their website. 

Further info: T: +44(0) 1746 861236, www.calligraphy.co.uk. 

GOOD PENMANSHIP 

ProMarkers have quickly become the staple colouring medium in many stampers’ craft boxes 

claim Letraset. “They go down evenly and consistently, making it easy to achieve a professional 

colour fi nish” they said. ProMarkers are available in a range of clearly targeted sets taking the 

hard work out of choosing and recommending colours to your customers. The ProMarker 

Rubber Stamping sets contain colours carefully chosen for stamping projects by a top craft 

designer and ProMarker Blending Sets are perfect for customers who love the blending 

capabilities of these markers. “It’s important to remember that ProMarkers are alcohol based and 

will bleed if used with other solvent based products, so be sure to use a water-based ink pad” 

Letraset advise. ProMarkers are also ideal for adding colour to digital stamps and designs which are extremely popular with tech-savvy crafters. 

Most ink-jet inks are water based and so won’t smudge with ProMarker, just allow time for the printer ink to dry before colouring. Further 

information T: +44 (0) 123 362 4421 or E: enquiries@letraset.com. 

44 craftfocus

We are an Edinburgh based rubber stamp company 

who deal directly with retailers. 

The Exclusive Teresa Collins Stampmaker Kit 

This AMAZING kit, which contains beautiful Teresa Collins designs, 

allows you to make your own custom design clear polymer Stamps, 

Embossing dies & Stencils in just 5 minutes! 

Winner of the SMAC Innovation d’Or 2011! 

We have just revamped our Celtic, Scottish & Wedding selection 

of rubber stamps. These are nicely packaged and mounted 

for use with acrylic blocks. 

FREE delivery for orders over £50.00 (net of VAT). 

Information Contact: info@photocentric.co.uk or visit www.imagepacstampmaker.com 

Photocentric Ltd +44 (0)1733 349 937 

Photocentric also make beautifully clear Custom Design photo polymer stamps 

from your exclusive designs. 

We make for Designers and Companies both large & small. Premium quality 

product at competitive prices with short lead time – made in the UK. Why not add 

Clear Stamps to your product range to increase your sales. 

NEW for 2011! Embossing Sheets – your custom design as finely detailed 

Embossing Sheets – can be used with all of the quality Rolling machines! 

Contact: sales@photocentric.co.uk 

You can view our range of products on our website 

www.craftystamps.com 

Tel/Fax: 0131 221 9440 

enquiries@craftystamps.com 

Crafty Stamps, 92 Grove Street, Edinburgh, EH3 8AP

a success in stamping 

Having taken over craft shop Stampers Grove, James and Emma Dennison soon launched 

their own range of rubber stamps and now run both retail and trade businesses side by side 

What made you decide to venture into you 

rubber stamp business Crafty Stamps? 

My wife, Emma and I, took over a well 

established craft shop, Stampers Grove in 

Edinburgh, about 2 ½ years ago. About a 

year ago, after our “initiation” into the world 

of rubber stamping and crafting and listening 

to feedback from our customers at Stampers 

Grove, we thought the time had come for us 

to set up our own range of rubber stamps 

selling to other retailers. We decided to do 

so under what we thought was a catchy and 

relevant name ‘Crafty Stamps’. 

What was your background prior to this 

business? 

Our background is somewhat different to what 

we are doing now. Previously I had spent most 

of my working life in central Scotland in the 

world of finance. My last such job took me to 

Birmingham, which was a blessing as I met my 

wife Emma there. After a couple of years in 

Birmingham we both decided to take a new 

direction and set up in business together in 

Edinburgh, where we opened and ran a café 

for over six years. This was great, however we’d 

be lying if we said the early starts weren’t a bit 

difficult (4.30am regularly!). 

Emma was always a keen card maker, and 

we had been regular customers of Stampers 

Grove. When the shop became available we 

jumped at the chance of taking it on. For a 

while we had the two businesses which was 

a bit of a handful! Adding to the workload (in 

a good way!) we also had our lovely daughter 

Iris. We soon realised that the rubber stamp 

and craft business was more in line with our 

current interests and was offering us a more 

suitable work/life balance. So last September 

we sold the café to concentrate our efforts 

on our new businesses, Stampers Grove and 

Crafty Stamps. And so began the next chapter! 

“Another benefit of running our 

retail shop Stampers Grove is that 

it’s a great way of helping to keep 

our nose close to the ground in 

terms of customer habits and 

opinions.” 

Are most of Crafty Stamps customers web 

based or bricks and mortar retailers? 

It’s still early days with Crafty Stamps, but we 

find that most of our customers have existing 

shops, so bricks and mortar if you like, although 

in keeping with business trends most also have 

some web presence. 

46 craftfocus 

Are there any important lessons that you 

have learned that you can share with CF 

readers? 

Lots! Particularly that you never stop learning! 

It’s obvious but you can’t lose sight of it. The

focus on 

market is constantly changing and highly 

competitive so it is important to be aware 

of trends. An example in the case of Crafty 

Stamps is our recent decision to remove 

the wood from our wood-mounted rubber 

stamps. We love the quality you can still get 

from the rubber we used but have decided 

to package these up differently and sell these 

mounted with Kling-on rather than on the 

wooden block. We are very happy with the 

packaging and presentation of these (another 

important lesson if you are putting together 

your own products for sale) and the feedback 

we’ve had on this has been great. 

Another benefit of running our retail shop 

Stampers Grove is that it’s a great way of 

helping to keep our nose close to the ground 

in terms of customer habits and opinions. We 

love all the free advice and consultation that 

our customers are happy to dish out! 

Also as a new kid on the block it is 

important to respect the fact that you have to 

earn the right to be considered as a potential 

supplier. After all, for many people it’s one 

extra thing on their desk, which is unlikely to 

hold the same level of importance to them as 

to you. You have to convince them otherwise. 

It’s important to try and connect with 

your potential customer and convince them 

(sincerely) that what you have to offer is worth 

a look. And if you are lucky enough to receive 

their custom, look after them if you want them 

to come back. 

What do you think is your unique selling 

point with Crafty Stamps? 

We are a small family run business and are 

passionate about every aspect of offering 

a quality product and service to our trade 

customers, and in turn their customers. Crafty 

Stamps is our ‘baby’ (our other one) and as 

such, customers come to realise that when 

dealing with Emma or myself that we have 

a common sense, no nonsense approach to 

business. I’m not saying we are a 24-hour 

operation, but the nine to five rules don’t apply 

to us. All of that is easy to say, but I know not 

everyone does it. We are consumers as well 

after all! 

What are your best selling lines? 

Overall at the moment our Scottish Stamps 

are the most popular, in particular the 

Greyfriars Bobby, Bagpipers and Nessie Stamps. 

How do you select the products you want to 

stock in your craft shop, Stampers Grove? 

I would have to say we choose by quality and 

value for money. We like to think we have an 

eye for good quality products. We never lose 

sight as to what the retail price is as if it’s too 

expensive, you’re not going to sell it, resulting 

in bad cash-flows, tying up shelf space and bad 

customer perception. 

It is important to have a good balance 

of products and lots that are new. Many 

customers want the latest designs so it’s 

important to keep things fresh and current 

and with this business, the usual seasonal 

rules faced by other businesses are brought 

forward. You have be about four months ahead 

of schedule and if you’re selling to a trade 

customer, add another two months to that! 

Do you offer workshops/courses? 

We run regular workshops in our craft shop, 

Stampers Grove, but do not currently do any 

for Crafty Stamps, although this may change in 

the future. 

What plans do you have for the future? 

Having just revamped the way we package 

and sell our rubber stamps with Crafty Stamps, 

(mounted on Kling-on rather than being 

wood-mounted) we are also currently in 

discussions with an artist and expect to have 

some great new stamps in the near future. 

The only clue is they are very different to our 

existing ranges. Watch this space! C 


Contact James or Emma Dennison 

T: +44 (0)131 221 9440 

E: enquiries@craftystamps.com 

www.craftystamps.com & 

www.stampersgrove.co.uk 

Crafty Stamps, 92 Grove Street, Edinburgh 

EH3 8AP 

craftfocus 47

creative card making 

Business is booming for card makers. We spoke to several card-making 

experts who share news of products, tools and equipment need to make 

the best handcrafted cards 

Bumper kits 

China Butterfl y feel that 

bumper card-making kits 

are very important into 

today’s market. “We feel 

that these kits are becoming 

increasingly important to 

both new card makers and 

experienced card makers 

alike as people are looking 

for value for money and 

when you have a kit you 

know everything is going to 

work together and no bits will be left out or mismatched,” 

said Sarah Gee of China Butterfl y. Not surprisingly therefore, 

some of their newest products are bumper card making 

kits which include everything needed to make at least 20 

cards. There are three themed kits, ‘Something for the girls’, 

‘Something for the boys’ and ‘Animal lovers’. All contain 

20 card blanks and envelopes in various sizes plus doublesided 

tape, foam pads, glitter glue and brush, gems/pearls 

papercraft and decoupage sheets, toppers and sentiments. 

The kit also comes with an ideas sheet with 20 card makes, 

all possible with the supplies included. “The great thing 

about our bumper kits is that they represent really great 

value for money. With an RRP of just £16 each kit makes at 

least 20 cards, absolutely everything is included right down 

to the adhesives and the ideas sheet if you are stuck for 

inspiration,” added Sarah. “We also feel that customers 

are becoming more aware of supporting UK designers 

and manufactures, and are buying local. All our papercraft 

sheet and kits are designed, printed and packed in the 

UK and this has proved to be a good selling point for our 

customers,” she said. Further info T: 01704 831709, E: info@ 

chinabutterfl y.co.uk, www.chinabutterfl y.co.uk. 

Getting started 

Introducing beginners to the craft 

and providing complete kits 

are also priorities for Sizzix. 

To cater for this market, 

they have introduced the 

Big Shot Starter Kit, “the 

must have tool for anyone 

starting out in card making, or moving from one craft discipline to another,” 

they explained. In the beginning of 2011 there have been several breakthrough 

trends in card making, but one of the most interesting has been the move 

towards more sophisticated techniques involving mixed media and vintage 

materials. We see a lot of cards featuring lace and scalloped effects, chipboard 

and fabric, as well the traditional paper and cardstock. “The Sizzix Starter kit is 

perfect for this kind of card making as the Big Shot machine will cut through 

all of these materials and much more. Included in the set are a Bigz Die, two 

Sizzlits Dies and an embossing folder, giving the consumer all they need to get 

started with their chosen craft, be that papercrafting, home décor or clothing 

embellishment,” said Sizzix.Further info www.sizzix.co.uk. 

New license agreement 

Well known craft supplier docrafts prides itself on 

providing an abundance of inspiration, tips, techniques 

and know-how, covering a wide range of crafts, to 

enthusiasts all across the world. From the 1st May 

they also have an exclusive license with Carte Blanche 

Greetings Ltd for a paper craft range called Me to You. 

“This new license means one of the most recognised 

greeting card brands is made available to the growing 

UK crafting community,” they explained. The Me to You 

collection is an all-occasion Especially for You collection 

which features the Tatty Teddy brand and includes 

exclusive wood mounted rubber stamps, coordinated 

printed papers and decoupage packs as well as a 

selection of embellishments to accent and enhance 

any project. Becks Fagg, Head of Product at docrafts, 

commented “We are thrilled to be working with the 

delightfully charming Tatty Teddy brand. Our designers 

have been excitedly working to create a comprehensive 

paper craft range which includes many techniques, and 

for the fi rst time provide crafters with a fully coordinated 

collection.” Later this year docrafts will be adding more 

well known brands to this collection, such as Tatty Teddy’s 

Little Blue Friends. Further info T: +44 (0)1202 811 000, E: pr@docrafts.com. 

50 craftfocus

xxxxxx cardmaking xxxx 

Amazing designs from USA 

Scrapbooker LLC distribute many different well know 

brands, offering their customers a vast choice of styles and 

products.. “We are delighted to be introducing a new range 

from USA supplier Nikki Sivils, who deal in card making and 

scrapbooking designs and produce some amazing products 

that have to be seen to be believed” they enthused. 

Another of their newest US suppliers is Lawn Fawn, who 

have launched a range of high quality acrylic stamps in many 

designs perfect for card making. “The third piece of exciting 

news is the exciting spring collections from BoBunny. The 

Barefoot and Bliss collection and the Zoology collection 

offer inspiration products to take card-making to a new 

level” they said. As well as various collections from a wide 

range of designers and suppliers, Scrapbooker LLC also 

offer simple textured cardstock paper in 86 different colours 

which are great for co-ordinating with prints and stamping. 

Further details: www.scrapbookingonline.co.uk. 

Painted silk cards 

Handmade cards are often so beautifully 

made they are worthy of framing, 

particularly when they include handpainted 

silk designs such as those available from 

Mulberry Silks. Known for their range of 

pre-gutta outlined silk designs on scarves 

they have launched three Arty’s cards to paint sets using the 

same methods. In each kit there are three different designs 

gutta outlined on Habotai 8 silk, three card blanks 

and three envelopes. The outlined 

designs mean that even people who 

have never tried silk painting can 

complete these cards with confi dence” 

said Mulberry Silks. “These Cards are 

unique and personal, showing the 

person you are giving it to, that you 

really care. It’s a card that will be 

kept rather than thrown away or 

recycled and can even be framed 

and displayed long after the special 

occasion is over” they added. 

Priced £5.50 the kits are available 

from Mulberry Silks. Further info 

T: +44 (0)1603 815109, 

E: deColourantTradeEnquiry@MulberrySilks.co.uk. 

Easy does it 

New from WorldWin Papers are CropMates and CutMates, aimed at making paper 

crafting easier. CutMates are a new cardstock engineered for superior die cutting in 

electronic and manual machines that cut cleanly and easily fi rst time. They have a lightly 

textured fi nish on one side with smooth reverse and are available in 26 colours, in 

25 or 250 sheet packs sized 12 x 12. CropMates are pre-cut circular and rectangular 

cardstock frames and mates designed to help crafters create focal points and layer 

design elements in the pages. They are available in 15 colours in smooth and textured 

surfaces in pre-cut shapes including 4 inch circle mats, 8 inch circle frames with 3.5 x 5.5 

inch opening plus 4.5 x 6.5 inch rectangular mats and 5 x 7 inch frames with 3 x 5 inch 

opening. For more details contact T: 001 888 843 6455, www.thepapermill.com. 

craftfocus 51

creative card making 

Useful contacts 

B-C-E 

Card-Making, Paper Crafts, Rubber Stamps, 

Craft Kits, Scrap Booking 

+44 (0)1427 810 301, 

jon.sutton@b-craft-e.co.uk, 

www.b-c-e.co.uk 

Card Creations Plus 

Paper Crafts, Craft Materials 

+44 (0)1564 772 784, 

paperselect@blueyonder.co.uk, 

www.cardcreationsplus.co.uk 

Craft Creations 

Card Making, Scrapbooking, Papercrafts 

and Embellishments 

+44 (0) 1992 781900, 

www.craftcreations.com 

Crafters Companion 

Card Making, Stationery Products, Craft 

Accessories, Paper Crafts, Rubber Stamps, 

+44 (0)1388 663 251, 

info@crafterscompanion.co.uk, 

www.crafterscompanion.co.uk 

FocusCraft 

Craft Kits, Craft Accessories, Card Making, 

Needlecraft 

+44 (0)1743 465 788 

craftstock@yahoo.co.uk, 

www.craftstock.co.uk 

Inspire me Papers 

Card Making, Paper Crafts 

+44 (0) 845 120 0155 

www.inspiremepapers.co.uk 

Katy Sue Designs / Flower Soft 

Card Making 

+44 (0) 1914 274571, 

www.katysuedesigns.com 

Ladybug 

Card Making 

+44 (0)141 644 5399, 

ladybugcraftsink@aol.com, 

www.ladybugcraftsinkblogspot.com 

Past Time Quilling 

Paper Crafts, Craft Kits 

+44 (0)1332 840 582, 

info@pasttimesquilling.com, 

www.pasttimesquilling.com 

Pinflair 

Embellishments, Scrap Booking, Craft 

Materials 

+44 (0)1992 582 712, 

enquiries@pinfl air.co.uk, 

www.pinfl air.co.uk 

All on film 

Lots of different materials can be used 

in card-making, including trimmings, 

buttons, beads and different types of paper 

stock. Grafi x’s contribution is a new range 

of Funky Film which adds a pop of dazzling 

colour to cards, scrapbook pages and other 

papercrafts. These adhesive backed sheets of 

holographic fi lm are perfect for any project theme. 

Just cut, peel and stick for eye catching designs. Great 

with die cuts, punches and decorative scissors. “There 

are 20 acid-free styles to choose from in three sizes – 6 x 

8 inch, 9 x 12 inch and 12 inch square,” said Grafi x. Further 

info E: info@grafi xarts.com, www.grafi xarts.com. 

Upcycling with style 

Restyling and reusing are very popular crafting 

concepts at the moment, including in card making. 

Using punches is a good way to get great value by 

using left over paper that has been bought for a 

project and this is a good marketing tool for selling 

punches. Woodware are very excited about the 

new Crafty Edger that has been selling very well. 

“When demonstrating to end users and even when 

you hand it over for them to try out, the reaction 

is always the same; people are amazed at how easy 

it is to use, consistently producing perfect results. By using the Crafty Edger 

you can punch out a series of 2 x 1 inch (5 x 2.5cm) patterns easily creating a 

continuous decorative border,” said Woodware. The starter set comes with a 

very useful ribbon cassette that is pretty on its own or with ribbon threaded 

through. Nine additional cassettes are available and three of the cassettes 

have corner punches to complement them. Further info +44 (0)1756 700 

024, E: sales@woodware.co.uk, www.woodware.co.uk 

Here come the girls 

Dempsey Crafts have introduced more 

than 60 craft kits since Debbie and Ian 

Dempsey started the business. “We work 

closely with a number of craft designers, 

who have developed numerous craft kits and 

who have published many books on craft,” 

explained Debbie. Like all their craft kits, their 

card-making kits are designed, developed and 

manufactured in the UK and include comprehensive instructions. The Adult Craft 

range was developed to offer starter kits for people to try a new craft. “The kits are packaged 

attractively, featuring modern colours, and clear photographs of the items to be completed. 

Making them ideal gift purchases. The RRP ranges from £10 up to £23.95. “The Children’s Craft 

range was developed to offer children and parents inspiration for creativity with strong, modern 

designs,” said Debbie. The kits are packaged in a modern long handled plastic bag, which can 

be used to keep all the materials together and are priced RRP from £9.95. Further info T: +44 

(0)1869 337 948, E: info@dempseydesigns.co.uk, www.dempseydesigns.com. 

52 craftfocus

Dufex 

Butterflies 

New for Spring, Dufex Limited has launched 

four exquisite A4 die-cut butterfly sheets. 

These beautifully engraved butterflies catch the light and have 

a colourful iridescence just like the real thing! 

They can be used as decoupage for cards or to embellish gift 

or favour boxes, candles and scrapbook pages. The foil Dufex 

material can be manipulated so the wings can be layered and 

angled to create truly three dimensional butterflies. 

For more information or to request a catalogue 

call 01462 410070 

email enquiries@dufexcrafts.com 

or visit www.dufexcrafts.com

Robert Moyle – MD of 

Carrington Fleet Textiles 

a flair for fabric 

Robert Moyle took the plunge and bought well known fabric company 

Carrington Fleet Textiles and has achieved record sales recently, despite 

the recession! 

What made you decide to venture into the 

fabric business? 

When I left my previous position four years 

ago I knew I wanted to be my own boss and 

have my own business. Carrington Fleet and 

the previous owner were both well known to 

me and when the business became available 

the fit seemed a good one. I knew that the 

dress fabric wholesaling sector had been in 

steady decline but my research told me the 

bottom had probably been hit and that for a 

well run, innovative business there would be a 

bright future so I took the plunge. So far I have 

been proven right in that demand is strong and 

we have just had a record period of sales. 

Why did you decide to take on the John 

Kaldor Retail range? 

I have known John Kaldor fabrics for many 

years and Carrington Fleet similarly had an 

established relationship with them over many 

years. I had always admired their ability to 

design the right print at the right time and in 

fabrics of the highest quality. During 2009 we 

developed our relationship with John Kaldor 

by carrying out the storage and distribution of 

their stock ranges and a year later we reached 

an agreement with John Kaldor to acquire 

the sales and distribution rights of their retail 

range. The John Kaldor range has proven 

a complementary addition to our existing 

Carrington Fleet offer in that, to a large extent, 

they share customers but the fabrics do 

not compete. 

When was the business started? 

Carrington Fleet was incorporated in 1972 so 

we are coming up to our 40 th birthday next 

year. Initially Carrington Fleet specialised in 

knitted fabrics during the crimplene boom and 

then went through several changes during the 

1980s and ‘90s before becoming specialists in 

bridal and fashion fabrics. 

What was your background prior to this 


After leaving university I worked as a 

management trainee for Dorma who at the 

time were market leaders in home furnishings 

and still conducted all their production in the 

UK. This gave me an invaluable background 

in management and textiles in general. I then 

moved onto work in my then family business 

Simon Jersey, specialists in corporate clothing. 

My roles there as procurement director 

included fabric buying, global manufacturing 

sourcing, stock control and overseeing quality 

and garment technology. My family sold the 

business in 2003 and I subsequently left several 

years later when I acquired Carrington Fleet. 

I think it is important to always try 

to lead, be your own person and 

don’t copy what others have done. 

Above all, excellent and consistent 

customer service is key, easy to say 

but difficult to achieve. 

What is your typical customer? 

The majority of our customers are either 

fabric retailers or manufacturers - all trade 

customers. We do have an e-commerce 

website but this contributes a relatively small, 

although growing portion, of our total turnover. 

What are the specialist brands you distribute? 

Carrington Fleet, John Kaldor and we also 

have a prom dress ready-made range called 

Reckless Promwear. 

54 craftfocus 

You mentioned a recent growth in sales, to 

what do you attribute that success? 

We always aim to be innovative in our ranges, 

the way we source fabrics, in gaining new

Carrington Fleet are well known for bridal and special occasion fabrics 

focus on 

French crepe (2330 navy) Bellamy (2518, pink/purple) Bari Burgandy 

customers and conducting business. I think it is 

important also to always try to lead, be your 

own person and don’t copy what others have 

done. Above all, we strive to ensure excellent 

and consistent customer service which we 

think is key - easy to say, but difficult to achieve. 

We think our unique selling points are our 

emphasis on the customer, the uniqueness 

of our designs, good stock availability and the 

willingness to try something new. 

How do you select the products you want 

to stock? 

We listen to what our customers are telling us, 

we visit the international fabric shows, we keep 

a wary eye on fashion and we always try to 

select products that make a statement. We go 

through an exhaustive process of short-listing 

products, considering them then re-considering 

them until we are happy with our selection. 

We have a huge and growing library of 

potential fabrics we always revisit too - what 

may have been unsuitable a few seasons ago 

could be perfect now. 

What do you think are the most important 

trends for this season? 

Obviously the royal wedding and Kate 

Middleton in particular will have an enormous 

influence on trends for the coming season. 

The dress has particular influence in terms 

of lace and lace embellishment, which had 

been a strong trend in any case, but we can 

expect this to be further reinforced not just 

for bridal but fashion in general. We are also 

seeing a strong movement towards blue tones 

whether it be royal blue, navy or indigo, also 

raspberry reds and of course pale ivory shades 

in particular porcelain. 

More broadly we can expect the cost 

of fabrics to the consumer to rise over the 

coming months. So far the consumer has been 

largely insulated from commodity price hikes 

but this will not last as the input costs on for 

example cottons and silks have doubled over 

the past 12 months. As a longer trend we are 

also seeing garment costs from the Far East 

rising leading increasing numbers to at least 

reconsider manufacturing again either here or 

in Europe. 

What plans do you have for the future? 

We want to continue developing and investing 

in our ranges for both Carrington Fleet and 

John Kaldor along proven lines. We have 

specific plans to further develop our export 

markets. Above all though we want to keep 

asking and listening to our customers and give 

them what they want. C 


Robert Moyle, Carrington Bride, 

T: +44(0)1204 692 223 

E: Robert@carringtonbride.co.uk 

www.carringtonbride.co.uk 

craftfocus 55

Presents a One-Stop Shop for all your Quilling needs

crafts for kids 

Get them while they’re young and you’ve got crafting 

customers for years! We look at products and test kits 

aimed at creative children 

kids crafts 

These diverse products have all been designed with kids in mind and range from traditional 

cross stitch or sewing packs to some funky and fashionable ideas like recycled paper crafting, 

friendship bracelets and creating a white board for the bedroom. We’ve found products to 

suit girls and boys, that they can make on their own or with a little help. 

Far from cross 

Heritage Crafts Junior series has been designed to 

introduce children of seven years and upwards to counted 

cross stitch. The kits contain Zweigart 11 count Aida fabric, 

full colour chart, DMC stranded cottons and a needle. 

Practice material and thread are also included. Their 

Minikits are ideal for beginners or for cards and coasters. 

These counted cross stitch designs contain only whole 

stitches and can easily be stitched in an afternoon. The kits 

contain Zweigart fabric, DMC stranded cottons, a needle, 

and clear charts and instructions. We particularly loved the 

Junior Dolphin kit and the Meerkats and Bay Pony Minikits. For further information, 

T: +44(0)1889 575 328, E: enquiries@hcrafts.com, www.hcrafts.com. 

All buttoned up 

Beautiful packaged and with over 30 different kits, 

there is something for everyone among the Buttonbag 

collection. “Our kits are mainly for children, but we also 

have some aimed at teenagers and adults,” explained 

Sarah Marks. The kits are sold online from their website 

or via retail outlets. “We introduce new kits every 

season, either a completely new design or new fabrics 

in best selling kits such as the Love Hearts sewing kit” 

she added. Everything needed is included. Sewing kits 

have needles, sticking kits have glue. “Our craft kits are 

the perfect way to introduce children to sewing and the thrill and satisfaction of making their 

own toys, jewellery and accessories.” Not all Buttonbag kits involve sewing - there's plenty 

of cutting and gluing to get stuck into. “Christmas is our busiest time as our kits make perfect 

gifts, and we also have a new range of Christmas craft kits for children and adults”. These 

include an advent calendar, tree decorations, sew your own stocking or their ever popular 

Nativity peg doll kit. Further information: T: +44 (0)208 525 1640, E: studio@buttonbag. 

co.uk, www.buttonbag.co.uk. 

Scary spiders! 

Hot glue guns are fun to use, so Antex Craft have produced 

one with children in mind. The Krazy Meltz kit includes a 7w, 

6V cordless glue gun,10 coloured, 10 glow in the dark and 3 

general purpose glue sticks, 2 brooch backs, a magnetic strip 

for a fridge magnet and some baking parchment. On the box 

back are instructions for use and lots of ideas including how-to 

make fl owers, scary spiders and bugs! Further info 

T: +(0)1822 617598, E: sales@antex.co.uk, www.antexcraft.com. 

Sweet dreams 

Babydreamcatcher.com is a new British company, 

offering traditional a Native American craft in 

the form of a dreamcatcher. Dreamcatchers 

are a wooden or metal hoop, decorated with a 

complicated web of cord or sinew with beads 

and feathers. They were traditionally hung on the 

cradleboards of new-born babies to protect them 

from bad dreams whilst they slept and to entertain 

them when they were awake. Business owner and 

designer, Gaynor Marshall said “Babydreamcatcher. 

com offers the opportunity to hand-make a unique 

and very personal gift for baby that may very well 

become an heirloom of the future.” 

Although dreamcatchers were originally created 

as traditional gifts for new babies, the popularity of 

the hand-crafted items has grown and they are now 

regarded as the perfect gifts for those hard to buy 

for friends and relatives. Prices range from £8.99 

to £16. For more info: E: babydreamcatcher@gmail. 

com; www.babydreamcatcher.com. 

Three into one will go 

Paintable nesting dolls are the perfect craft 

projects for all ages. Krasnaya Nesting Dolls 

have a selection of kits, each of which includes 

the nesting dolls or animals with drawn outlines, 

paints and paint brush. They also offer a 

Christmas pack with tree, Santa and snowman 

to paint and a Crafta Pals set to design and 

create your own nesting trio. Further info 

T: +44 (0) 1246 208 482, E: sales@krasnaya. 

co.uk, www.krasnaya.co.uk. 

 

craftfocus 57


 

Best friends 

DMC have introduced a selection of prism thread packs for 

all types of art and craft projects ranging from friendship 

bracelets and hair braiding to card making, scrapbooking, 

and sewing. There are packs available with simple creative 

design booklets and also a Prism Bobbin box to store 

all that is needed to create many colourful and fun craft 

projects. With the summer holidays just around the corner 

these value thread packs are perfect to occupy creative 

minds. Further info: T: +44(0) 116 275 4000, 

www.dmccreative.co.uk. 

Make it yours 

Following closely on from the success of the Truly Ethical 

craft kits Best Years have launched some new fair trade 

boxed craft kits. Retailing from £6.50 these kits are all 

presented in a gift box. Not only are all the components 

ethically sourced but the kits are designed so that both the 

box and the instruction leaflet are used in the construction. 

The collection ranges from flower pictures (complete with 

frame), space centre, theatre and an aquarium to finger 

puppets, magnets and bracelets. All the components of 

the kits have been sourced from fair-trade and workers 

co-operatives. “Although the credentials of the kits are 

great the kits have got a lot more going for them than their 

ethics,” said Gaynor of Best Years. 

Further info from T: +44 (0)1327 262 189, 

E: Gaynor@bestyears.co.uk, www.bestyears.co.uk. 

58 craftfocus 

 

Paper crafts 

Children love paper! No 

matter how old, children 

of all ages, unleash their 

creative spirit whenever there is paper 

to be scribbled on, folded up or even cut up into a million pieces. With 

this in mind, Elco launched their Creative Kids range of stationery earlier this 

year. The Creative Kids range of stationery consists of an A4 pad, drawing roll 

and coloured letters and numbers which can be adhered to paper to create 

a masterpiece. The Elco brand is the largest in the Swiss market for envelopes 

and stationery and was created in 2007, through the merger of two longestablished 

companies, Seetal Schaller AG and Elco Papier AG. Elco products 

can be viewed at www.stonemarketing.com. 

Pebble painting and 

decoupage 

Of the many craft kits and products 

available from Country Love Crafts, 

the DecoArt Patio Paint is a firm 

favourite for kids who love to paint. 

It can be used to decorate pebbles, 

terracotta pots, masonry wood and 

more. The paints are permanent, 

durable colours which are non-toxic, 

so safely handled by children and 

are weather and scuff resistant. Also 

available and a huge hit with children 

(see our tried and tested page) 

is their Decopatch kit. With these 

children can cover papier mache 

kittens with Decopatch paper using 

the five sheets, brush and pot of glue 

provided in the kit. Further info 

E: jennyh@countylovecrafts.co.uk, 

www.countrylovecrafts.com. 

A stitch in time 

Jolly Red have a whole range of fabulous cross 

stitch kits aimed at young stitchers from age seven. 

The designs are enchantingly simple, and fabulous 

first projects to build up confidence before trying 

something larger. They also make really special 

christening gifts, and can be stitched over a 

weekend. Each design is printed in full colour and 

stitched on 10 holes per inch canvas. In addition, 

each of the starter needlepoint kits is packed in 

a stunning tube-handled card carrier bag, perfect 

for keeping all the pieces together in one place. The kits 

contain whole skeins of Anchor tapestry wool, needle, instructions, printed 

canvas, and alphabet for an optional name panel beneath the design. 

Further info, T: +44 (0) 1460 281111, www.jollyred.co.uk.

Gorgeous kits to stitch at any time of year 

Tapestry kits for all levels of ability 

Easy to follow designs with colour printed canvas 

Tel: 01460 281111 info@jollyred.co.uk 

www.jollyred.co.uk


 

Delightfully smelly! 

Smencils, distributed by Learning Resources offer delicious 

smells as you write! Made form 100 per cent recycled paper, 

they are infused with scents such as watermelon, cotton candy 

and cinnamon. A 10-pack is available in zipped-top pencil case. 

Further info, T: +44 (0)1553 819330, E: smencils@learningresources.co.uk. 

Hot stitching 

Colonial Patterns Inc produce traditional 

Aunt Martha’s iron-on patterns which 

are used to transfer designs onto cloth 

providing an outline to stitch around. 

Their new Iron-on designs are aimed at 

younger stitchers and come with a colour 

guide to help decide which colours to 

embroider plus basic stitch instructions 

to get started. The Stitcher’s Revolution 

patterns, with rrp of US dollars $2.99 

are available from USA based Colonial 

Patterns, T: +001 816 471 3313, 

www.colonialpatterns.com. 

Attractive walls 

Liven up a plain wall in a child’s room 

by creating a magnetic wall using Rustoleum 

Magnetic primer. Just three thin 

coats, covered with regular emulsion 

will provide the magnetism needed. 

Then with a simple selection of 

magnetic letters, numbers and games, 

children will have great fun playing 

and learning. Another suggestion from Rust-oleum is to create a whiteboard 

(dry-wipe board) using their Dry Erase paint. It is also the perfect surface 

for projectors and can be used on walls, doors, toy chests, easels, and craft 

projects. Application is easy, it can be used on most interior surfaces and you 

can customise your dry erase area into any unique shaped desired. Further 

info T: +44 (0)191 410 6611, www.rustoleumspraypaint.com. 

Come fly with me 

A Flowtee is a paper basket that can be 

coloured in, put together and attached to 

a helium balloon - to make the balloon 

magically hover or float around the room - 

much more fun than just going up! Proving 

a big hit for birthday parties or entertaining 

kids, Flowtees can be custom printed too with 

a design of your choice. Available to retailers 

at a 50 per cent discount on the rrp in boxes 

of 5, 10 or 25 for further info, T: +44 (0) 345 

539 3349 or visit: www.flowtees.co.uk and 

click on the resellers option. 

Flower power 

“Our focus is on 

fair-trade craft kits for 

children although we’ve 

found our Flowers craft kit has a universal appeal, 

we have also added four new fair-trade craft kits to the range, 

all packaged in brown recyclable boxes. The packaging and 

the instructions are used in creating the finished projects so 

there is no waste,” said Anna Smith of Truly Ethical. The RRP 

for each is £10. Further info T: +44 (0)7948 343653, 

www.trulyethical.co.uk. 

Shape shifting 

New from Efco is a range of products for casting and mould 

making. Their Relief Reliefco 250 is an excellent value plaster of 

Paris for all craft and hobby uses. Its fine grain makes it perfect 

for pouring and casting. Papiermaché is an inexpensive modelling 

medium made from natural, untreated materials whilst Keramiplast 

is an air drying modelling clay, available in terra-cotta and white. 

No firing is required and once dry, it’s heat resistant and virtually 

indistinguishable from ‘proper’ clay. They also have an Easyform 

mould making material which is quick and easy to use to make 

your own moulds, for instance from reliefs, fossils etc. Finally, Efco’s 

Silicone Mould Putty provides a really easy way to make a mould! 

Equal amounts of the white and yellow putty are kneaded until 

the two colours are completely intermixed; then it is just shaped 

round the object to be moulded. 

For drawing and painting on fabric, Efco have Cottonpaint, 

which is washable at 40 degrees and Textile Markers, felt tip pens 

for drawing and colouring on cottons that can be washed up to 

60 degrees. Finally, their selection of Moasic tiles, fix, pliers and 

polystyrene shapes add another craft option although they do 

advise that children are supervised when using the glass tiles. For 

futher info, T: 00 49 634 999 340 E: info@efco.de, www.efco.de. 

60 craftfocus

tried and tested – kits for kids 

Our team of young testers all thoroughly enjoyed making their kits. We share the results below 

NAME: Esmee Richardson, age 14 

KIT : Lovehearts - Buttonbag 

DESCRIPTION: The box makes the kit look very 

eco-friendly. It is sturdy and really useful to hold 

all the bits of my work in progress. The pictures 

on the front were clear. They showed me what 

to expect and gave me ideas on which colours 

looked good together. They also showed that 

big stitching can look great. It was very easy to make these and there 

was plenty of material in a wide variety of patterns, textures and 

colours and loads of pretty thread too. The needles were good quality. 

Instructions were crystal clear. Mum not required! 

FAVOURITE PART OF 

THE KIT: I loved the 

freedom of being 

able to create my 

own design, match up 

favourite colours and 

choose any stitching I liked. I 

felt this was my own project, 

not just something from a 

kit which looked the same 

as everyone elses. 

Score out of 10: 

10/10 - brilliant! 

NAME: Hannah 

Rudd, age 8 

KIT: Daisy Farm Kit - 

Krafty Hands 

DESCRIPTION: The 

kit was packaged 

simply, but it certainly 

was good enough for 

a gift. I wanted to give 

the disc to my friend 

who came for tea! All 

that was needed was 

included in the kit 

and the print quality 

of the items was 

fantastic. Instructions 

were clear, although 

for a few sections I did need to ask for mum's help. 

FAVOURITE PART OF THE KIT: Making the gift tags was my 

favourite section, these can be used for a lots of different things. 

SCORE OUT OF 10: 10/10 - this is something I have never 

done before and whilst mum and I go into lots of different craft 

shops we are yet to find anything like this. 

NAME: Kezia Richardson, age 10 

KIT : Wooden Dreamcatcher Kit - 

Babydreamcatcher.com 

DESCRIPTION: The packaging was really sturdy, 

big enough to keep all my bits in as I was making 

my dreamcatcher. It was in as good condition at 

the end as when I started. 

I quickly got to the really good bit where I 

could thread beads and feathers on to it. The 

knotting was a bit tricky at first and I should have cut the twine so 

it didn’t twist but it was really easy once I got the hang of it. I loved 

sticking the feathers through the beads with glue. I also like that there 

is a lot of twine and loads of beads left 

over so I can make another one. 

It was all pretty straightforward once 

I understood that there were few ‘rules’ 

and I could do whatever I liked. I like 

that no-one else will have one the 

same as mine. 

FAVOURITE PART OF THE KIT: 

It’s just so pretty and looks like it 

took me ages to complete when 

in fact it was easy and quick. 

Score out 

of 10: 10/10 - 

I really enjoyed 

making this 

NAME: Paige Leggett, 

age 14 

KIT : DecoArt Framed 

Stencils - County Love 

Crafts 

DESCRIPTION: The 

package of the stencils 

and paints looked very 

appealing and looked like 

it would make a nice gift. 

However the brushes 

needed for this kit did 

not come with it and I 

only had a small paint 

brush which wasn’t really 

suitable for the stencilling but I still managed to give it a go. 

The instructions were easy to follow and helped me when I got 

confused or wasn’t sure what to do next. 

FAVOURITE PART OF THE KIT: I liked mixing the colours to 

help create a ‘themed’ frame which would appeal to different 

people. 

SCORE OUT OF 10: 7/10 as it was fun to do and kept me 

entertained. It was also a great way to be creative. 

62 craftfocus

kids crafts 

NAME: Esmee Richardson, age 14 

KIT: DecoPatch – Country Love Crafts 

DESCRIPTION: I have never seen anything like this before so it was a completely 

new experience. I loved that I could turn the box into a pretty dressing table 

accessory by decorating it. The manufacturers had obviously thought this through 

because the instructions were wrapped around the box rather than stuck on the 

front. 

It was really simple to make and it looks so good. All my family wanted to have a 

go. There were loads of designs to choose from, my cat could have been tabby, black, 

ginger or stripy. It was brilliant. I am going to use the leftovers to decorate other 

things. Tons of glue and a brush too which was great. 

Considering I have never seen this before, the instructions were spot on and I 

did not need any help from anyone (Mum got involved because she wanted to not 

because she was required). 

FAVOURITE PART OF THE KIT: The choices of paper, the fact I could do a bit and 

go back to it later, the fact I can decorate the box too. It was brilliant. 


10/10 absolutely 

NAME: Dylan Leggett, age 9 

KIT: Painta Pets - Krasnaya Nesting Dolls 

DESCRIPTION: The package was very nice, I would 

be very happy to have this as a gift. Everything that I 

needed was in the box. However I thought it would 

be nice to have 

the penguins 

all different so I 

also used some of my own paints 

as well. The instructions were easy 

to read 

SCORE OUT OF 10: 8/10 the 

eyes were a bit fiddly for me 

(so I painted the eyes on myself). 

NAME: Charlie Gardiner, age 12 

KIT: Krazy Meltz - Antex Craft 

DESCRIPTION: The box the kit 

comes in lists everything that is 

included on the front and then 

instructions on using the glue gun 

on the back with some good ideas. 

I could have made all sorts of bugs 

and flowers! I liked the glow in the dark glue sticks as I made 

little spiders and webs to go in my room and my friend’s room. 

FAVOURITE PART OF THE KIT: You can use the gun without 

burning yourself which was good. 

SCORE OUT OF 10: 9/10 – I loved it, but you do need to buy 

4 AA batteries before you can start. 

NAME: Kezia Richardson, age10 

KIT: Owl House Family - 

Buttonbag 

DESCRIPTION: The best thing 

about the packaging is I can display 

my owls in it afterwards as there is a 

secret pop out hole in the back. I did all 

the cutting out and most of the stitching 

by myself but needed a bit of help at the 

end because I didn't know how to stitch 


8/10 – I love my 

finished owls. 

up the bottom invisibly. I think I was a bit heavy handed when drawing 

my owl shapes on to the material because the ink went through on 

to the good side. It did not matter, but next time I would just pin the 

template to the material and cut it out. The instructions were clear 

and easy to follow. 

FAVOURITE PART OF THE KIT: Stuffing the owls and making them 

big and fat. There was enough of everything to make another owl. 

NAME: Harriet Sheppard, age 8 

KIT: Gardener Bear - Jolly Red 

DESCRIPTION: The kit was very well 

packaged, very well presented and a 

good idea for a gift. It had everything 

required to complete it (apart from 

things you always have around the house 

such as scissors etc) and plenty of wool. 

I did need quite a lot of help with the 

instructions as I didn’t find them easy to 

understand so some parts were difficult for me. My mum gave 

me a hand and we had fun making it together. I would like to try 

doing another one. 

FAVOURITE PART OF THE KIT: I loved watching the bear come 

to life. 

SCORE OUT OF 10: 9 out of 10 because I loved making it even 

though it needed a lot of patience. C 

craftfocus 63

PROJECT 

heart felt charms! 

La Fourmi have provided two simple, quick to make projects that 

are fashionable and easy to teach 

PINK HEART KEY RING 

Materials: 

• 1 metal heart pendant (KGM249) 

• 2 metal fl ower bead cap 

(KGM226) 

• 1 Heart key ring (JUD303-N) 

• 1 Pearl pink paper eco bead 

22mm (PBL003-PK) 

• 1 Flat round 25mm satin hot pink 

(KHY496-PK) 

• 2 Eye pins 4 cm silver (JUD150/A) 

• Jump rings 8mm silver (JUD168/A) 

• Fuchsia organza ribbon 12mm 

(FYG106) 

• Jewellery pliers (CIM006) 

Made from a totally biodegradable eco bead, this keyring is quickly put 

together and both useful and decorative. We use the new heart shaped split 

key ring for this project. 

Materials: 

• Black 4mm PVC tubing (FGT010-NR) 

• 8 x 4mm Rubber stop rings (FPB100-R) 

• Assorted black charm cats (KUD074) 

• 4 Metal teddy 13mm antique silver (KGM177) 

• 1 Silver Magnetic clasp oval hole 4mm(JKU003-AR) 

• 3 Jump rings 8mm silver (JUD168/A) 

• Jewellery pliers (CIM006) 

RUBBER BRACELET WITH CAT CHARMS 

1 2 

Open the eye of the eye pin with 

jewellery pliers. Hang the heart 

pendant onto it and close the eye. 

3 4 

String the flat round bead on the 

second eye pin. Cut the second eye pin 

shorter and make a loop at the end. 

String the two bead caps on the eye 

pin with the eco bead in between 

and then attach the other eye pin at 

the end. 

Use a jump ring to attach the key ring 

to your creation. Make a bow with the 

organza ribbon between the two beads. 

Super quick and easy to assemble, set off black cat charms 

on a trendy rubber bracelet. 

1 

3 

Attach the jump rings to the cat charms with the 

help of the jewellery pliers. 

2 

Wrap the rubber tube 

around your wrist and 

cut to length. String the 

rubber rings, beads and 

charms on the rubber 

tube equally spaced. 

Push the ends of the rubber tubing into the clasps; 

check the length of the bracelet before sticking. 


La Fourmi 

T: 00 32 2687 7629, E : info@cordslafourmi.com 

www.cordslafourmi.com 

64 craftfocus

CRAFTS 

bookshelf 

Wendy Gardiner provides a comprehensive 

listing of the many and varied new titles 

available now, all packed with projects and 

techniques to get your customers trying out 

new crafts 

A Green Guide to Country Crafts 

Nicola Gouldsmith and Jacqueline 

Mann 

Published by: Cico books, rrp 

£16.99 hb 

ISBN: 978-1-907563-17-1 

This beautifully illustrated 

book includes 35 step by step 

projects covering weaving, 

dyeing, soap-making, patchwork, 

candle-making and more all 

with an emphasis on recycling 

and reusing materials. 

KNIT AND CROCHET 

Cute Creatures to 

Knit and Crochet 

Published by: Search Press, 

rrp £10.99 

ISBN: 978-1-84448-607-6 

Create a whole menagerie 

of creatures from cute 

and cuddly cats to weird 

and wacky elephants and 

Martian dogs. There are 35 

fun and easy projects with 

clear basic techniques and 

step by step instructions 

Knitted Egg Cosies – 

20 to Make 

Susie Johns 

Published by: Search Press, rrp 

£4.99 

ISBN: 978-1-84448-634-2 

Another of the 20 to Make 

books, this has 20 fabulous egg 

cosies to knit with ideas for 

many more and easy patterns 

to follow. 

Making Handmade 

Books 

Alisa Golden 

Published by: Lark Books 

(via GMC Publications) rrp 

£14.99 pb 

ISBN: 978-1-600595-87-5 

With just a few supplies, 

using fun techniques, you 

can create unique books 

by following the step-bystep 

instructions and clear 

diagrams in this book. Ideas include X-book with pockets, 

concertina with tabs, accordion book, simple pop-up card, 

Origami wallet and altered books and hidden objects. 

200 Braids to Loop, 

Knot, Weave and 

Twist 

Jacqui Carey 


£9.99 pb 

ISBN: 978-1-84448-652-6 

Choose from over 200 designs 

and give a customised fi nishing 

touch to clothing, soft furnishings, 

accessories or greet cards. 

Experiment with texture and colour. The main directory is a 

sumptuous collection of designs, and each braid features close up 

photography and step by step instructions. 

66 craftfocus

QUILTING AND SEWING 

The Sewing Machine Accessory Bible 

Wendy Gardiner & Lorna Knight 

Published by: Search Press, rrp £12.99 pb 

ISBN: 978-1-84448-687-8 

Whether you are a beginner or have been 

sewing for years, this book is packed with 

all the information you need to get the 

most out of your sewing machine, simply 

by changing the feet! It has everything you 

need to know about feet attachments 

plus ideas on different techniques. 

Included is a buying guide for sewing 

machines, embellishers and overlockers 

as well as troubleshooting tips. 

Bunting and Pendants – 

20 to Make 

Kate Haxell 

Published by: Search Press, rrp £4.99 

pb 

ISBN: 978-1-84448-698-4 

The latest in their 20 To Make series, 

this small book packs 20 fantastic 

designs inside, all with patterns to 

make bunting for every occasion. 

JEWELLERY 

Wire Art Jewellery 

Sharilyn Miller 

Published by: Interweave Com 

(distributed by Search Press) 

ISBN: 978-1-59668-408-9 

Discover all you need to 

know to start creating 

distinctive and stunning wire 

art jewellery following the 16 

projects included in this allin-one 

guide. Also included is 

an instructional DVD. 

bookshelf 

Handbook of Quilting 

and Patchwork Stitches 

By Nikki Tinkler 


£9.99 pb 

ISBN: 978-1-84448-679-3 

This practical guide explains al the 

stitches you need to make any 

type of quilt, from plain-wadded 

quilting to Trapunto and crazy 

patchwork. More than 200 stitches 

and designs are featured for both 

hand and machine sewing including 

more complicated techniques such as 

couching and appliqué. 

Cross Stitch Flowers and Cross 

Stitch Herbs, Fruit and Flowers 

Sophie Helene 

Published by: Search Press, rrp £7.99 each pb 

ISBN: 978-1-84448-680-9 and 978-1- 

84448-681-6 

These two books may be little, but both 

are packed with a number of cross stitch 

designs. The Flower book has over 400 

motifs whilst the Herb book has 50 pretty 

designs, all with easy-to-follow charts and a 

section on techniques and materials. 

Metalwork Jewellery 

Linda Peterson 

Published by: Cico Books, rrp 

£12.99 pb 

ISBN: 978-1-907-563-33-1 

Inside are 35 fabulous designs, 

inspired by the steampunk 

movement combine the 

past Victoriana with futurist 

technology. Learn to transform 

watch parts, washers, nuts 

and bolts into contemporary 

pieces following step by step 

photograph. 

Contacts 

Anova Books, T: +44(0)20 7605 1466, www.anovabooks.com 

Cico Books, T: +44 (0) 1256 302699, www.cicobooks.co.uk 

GMC Publications, T: +44(0)1273 488 005, www. 

thegmcgroup,com 

How2crafts, T: +44(0)121 212 9857, www.how2crafts.com 

Quarto Group (incorporating Creative Publishing 

International), T: +44 (0)20 7284 7197 

Search Press, T: +44 (0)1892 510 850, E: sales@searchpress. 

com, www.searchpress.com 

Stash Books, via Roundhouse Group, T: +44(0)1273 603 717, 

E: alan@roundhousegroup.co.uk, www.roundhousegroup.co.uk 

craftfocus 67

marketing 

rewarding relationships 

In the first instalment of this marketing series, Clive Harper, managing 

director of Yankee Candle® Europe explained the importance of 

effective communication. Here he details the next step - public relations, 

a vital part of a marketing strategy, which can create instant rewards 

Public relations (PR) is a hugely important 

part of a marketing strategy which is 

often mistaken as a separate entity. The 

two techniques should go hand-in-hand, 

working together to effectively project your 

company forward and support its growth. 

The reason PR can be so effective is 

because in today’s society it can reap 

instant rewards and, just like marketing, can 

be as complex or simple as you require 

depending on experience and budget. 

In essence, PR is about communicating 

what’s important and exciting about 

your business to potential and existing 

customers. The main method is traditional 

printed media, but as social habits change 

other mediums are beginning to open up 

such as the internet, blogging and video 

review websites. 

PR involves communicating with 

journalists who write features and put 

together shopping pages. It is these 

journalists who write about new products 

and news stories, so they are always on the 

look-out for what’s new and exciting. To get 

editorial coverage is a matter of giving the 

journalist a new and exciting product or 

news story so they can feature it. 

The first step is to think about what you 

want to communicate to your customers. 

There are two main types of ‘stories’ which 

the press are interested in and you need 

to make sure you are targeting the correct 

publications with each one: 

News Stories 

Local and regional newspapers are always 

looking for news stories and interesting 

community articles. A good news story 

could be about a new shop opening, 

a loyalty evening which their readers 

might be interested in attending, or a 

collaboration with a local charity. 

Local radio stations are also interested in 

news stories and also people to interview - 

you could offer your advice on what will be 

the top selling ranges to buy for Valentine’s 

Day or which product listeners should look 

out for as this year’s must-have gift. 

The best way to communicate with the 

local press is to pick up the phone, you can 

find the names of journalists in the actual 

publication and often the phone number. 

Remember to keep the conversation factual 

and to give as much information as you can. 

Product Stories 

Many local newspapers also have a glossy 

supplement. There are also many free 

magazines available in most towns and cities 

and each of these will feature shopping 

pages for that season’s must-have products. 

Pick a product in your shop which you think 

will suit the readers of the magazine and 

email a picture to the journalist alongside 

a short description, the price and your 

stockist details. Remember these pages are 

often themed around trends and seasons 

so you could even call the journalist who 

compiles the shopping page to find out the 

theme for the next issue. 

If you have a website this opens up many 

more publications that you can target. You 

can contact national glossy magazines with 

products but make sure you consider their 

lead times. A monthly glossy magazine is 

likely to work six months in advance, so 

in January you should be targeting these 

magazines with a products for summer. By 

the time you get to July the press will be 

working on Christmas! 

This product information can also be 

sent to lifestyle websites and bloggers. The 

contact details for the correct person will 

be on their website or blog and they will 

encourage new product information to be 

sent to them. 

“In essence, PR is about 

communicating what’s important 

and exciting about your business to 

potential and existing customers.” 

When communicating with the press 

it’s important to ensure you are targeting 

the correct contact. Ideally, you should 

have a look through the publication before 

targeting them: find the page you think your 

product will suit and see if the journalist 

is credited on it. If not, there is often a 

contact page at the front or back of the 

magazine which will list the lifestyle, interior 

or shopping journalist., 

Finally, consider the results one good 

piece of press coverage can achieve. Each 

publication has a circulation often in the 

thousands. With coverage in one magazine, 

newspaper or website you can achieve an 

increase in visitors to your website or shop 

and therefore an increase in sales. C 


For further information on Yankee Candle ® 

and advice about marketing telephone 

+44 (0)1454 454 500 or visit the website 

www.yankeecandle.co.uk. 

craftfocus 69

make pr work for you 

Sending news into a magazine or newspaper is the best way to get free 

editorial. Wendy Gardiner provides the steps to get good coverage 

WHAT IS NEWS? 

Getting a story into a magazine, newspaper, on 

radio or TV does not have to cost you money, 

but it will cost time and effort. Editorial is not 

paid for, but has to be newsworthy. Editorial 

has credibility because it appears to be an 

independent endorsement by a journalist. 

However, you cannot expect to see proofs 

before print or have what you send in 

used verbatim. 

In order for a news release to have a chance 

of being picked up by editors, it is necessary to 

have some news to tell. Rarely will information 

about new products be considered 

newsworthy (unless you are responding to 

a request for new product information). But 

there are ways to add a news slant. 

Get behind something local – a charity 

drive or fund raising event such as ‘make a 

quilt/soft toy’ for your local hospital or hospice. 

Be seen to be involved in your community 

and support local organisations, charities and 

events. Perhaps even start your own. 

Create newsy stories - 100 new sewing 

machines sold this month, 30 metres of fabric 

sold in one hour; youngest customer is just 

six years old, oldest customer, aged 97 makes 

longest scarf. 

Use seasonal project ideas - Mad March 

Makes, Top in 10 Minutes for summer, Crafts 

for Christmas; Winter Fleece in under an hour; 

Crafty Projects for Tots. 

Run a competition, invite the local paper 

to participate and have special categories for 

readers of the paper or youngsters. Invite the 

editor to judge. It’s a good idea to include 

something of benefit to the community in the 

competition. 

Use courses you run as a news story 

- promote visiting tutors, emphasise the 

achievement of students; organise and 

promote workshops for children during half 

terms and holidays. 

Have a ‘Hall of Fame’. Invite customers 

to enter their latest project and send an 

announcement to the media. Use a wall to 

display best pieces and upload pictures to 

your Facebook page or website and tweet 

about them! 

Have ‘club days’ ‘troubleshooting 

afternoons’ or ‘Question Time’ - specific 

times when customers can come and share 

their crafting tips, problems, get advice, try a 

technique etc. 

Conduct surveys among your customers and 

send in the results. 

WRITING THE NEWS RELEASE 

Having decided on the story, the next step 

is to write the news release following a few 

simple rules. Always write in good plain English, 

without too many superlatives. Assume they 

might pick up the piece and print it as it 

is – if it is full of how you are the best, most 

marvellous etc, it can’t be used as is. 

1. Include the five Ws in the first paragraph 

- WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHO and WHY. 

The easiest way to ensure you have all the 

pertinent info up front is to list the five Ws, 

and put the info relevant to each next to it. 

Keep it brief and to the point. 

2. Include a quote from yourself or an expert 

3. Add an attention grabbing headline. 

4. Keep the news to one side of A4 paper. 

Only include company background info in later 

paragraphs. (NB: many editors will only read 

and/or use the first paragraph.) 

5. Include a high resolution image, saved at 

300dpi as a JPEG (that is one taken at ‘best 

quality’ and as a large file on a digital camera). 

6. Provide contact details at the end so 

that you can be easily contacted for more 

information if it is required. 

AVOID PR PITFALLS 

Don’t think like an advertiser! When writing 

a news story, avoid company logos, puffed-up 

claims or over-the-top quotes such as ‘the best 

there is’. Leave them for the ads. Tone down 

and be realistic. 

Remember that many magazines will be 

working 3-4 months ahead of publication 

so send in Spring stories late December, or 

Autumn news at the beginning of Summer! 

Keep your media contact list current. Check 

publication websites or hard copies of relevant 

magazines/newspapers and radio stations. 

C 

70 craftfocus

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ethically sourced fabrics 

We all know about the horrible working conditions many people endure in third world 

countries so we feel it is important to think green By Phil Wheeler 

We are a family-run fabric business in Mid 

Wales and from there we run a shop and 

website supplying organic and Fairtrade cotton, 

colour grown cotton and bamboo, linen and 

silk fabrics to designers, shops and outlets 

throughout the UK and Europe. In order to do 

this, we work with growers, spinners, weavers 

and women’s cooperatives, herbal dyers, colour 

growers and designers in India and China. 

We are close to and have been involved with 

CAT, (Centre for Alternative Technology), who 

are the primary leaders in ecological thinking in 

the UK. I think it was the connection with CAT 

that was the primary factor in us searching out 

organic cotton. 

We started selling cloth for crafts, fashion 

and furnishing on a market stall 30 years ago. 

At the time there were fi ve stalls selling fabric 

and business was very good for all of us. 

Our four children all helped with the market 

stall giving them useful experience such as 

to acquire customer patience, service, and 

business skills, as well as how to cope with 

being cold, desperate for the loo, and tired 

whilst still having a sense of humour at the end 

of a long day! 

As the popularity of the markets began to 

fade, my wife Ann decided it was a good time 

to open a shop and so we opened Fabrics Ltd 

in Machynlleth. The shop is now run by our son 

Sam and sells huge range of unusual and varied 

cloth from patchwork to felt and haberdashery, 

designer curtain fabrics to fashion cloths. 

Ethical cotton 

Being in this environment, in this green valley 

and close to CAT we started looking at how 

the cotton fabric in our shop was produced 

and we were astonished to see what damage 

was caused to people and ecology. Millions of 

families farm cotton and 20,000 people die 

directly each year from the effects of toxic 

spraying of cotton and millions have their 

72 craftfocus 

“We saw on our visit that 

the small step of choosing 

organic and fair trade cotton, 

and choosing to connect 

with rather than exploit the 

people, can and does make 

a difference to the lives of 

many families” 

lives affected or seriously shortened (WHO). 

Worldwide about 25 per cent of pesticide 

spray is used on cotton, but agriculturally 

it accounts for only about 4 per cent of 

land use. The sprays used are often banned in 

the EU and are similar to the nerve gases used 

in WW1. 

Fabric Ltd sells lots of cotton based products 

On a trip to Kerala, India, Nancy Wheeler 

meets with a group of fashion students 

and so we had the dilemma of knowing we 

were damaging the people who produced 

the cotton for our fabrics. Now we are trying 

to promote organic cotton as an alternative 

and customers online and in the shop are 

increasingly turning to organic cotton. 

We make and import over one hundred 

plain and patterned organic and fair-trade 

cottons for clothing, furnishing and bedding as 

well as our own organic cotton towels. Most 

of the fabrics are made on hand looms and 

have the irregular texture and charm of silk. 

Many have the words ’organic cotton’ on the 

selvedge so that customers will perceive the 

difference and sometimes use the wording as 

decoration. We import colour grown cotton 

that is grown in shades of ochre and green and 

therefore requires no dyeing and herbal dyed 

cottons which are dyed with medicinal herbs 

and roots. We have bamboo fabrics, jerseys,

focus on 

Fairtrade fabrics provide much valuable 

and sustainable work for artists, craft 

workers and tailors 

muslins, corduroy and velvet, denim and voile 

and handloom fabrics for craft and patchwork. 

The demand has been enormous and 

we now export all over the world and have 

distributors in Germany, France and Spain. 

Our main problem has been getting enough 

stock. A lot of our cloth is made by hand 

on small looms and so we can’t just order a 

1000 metres and expect it to arrive the next 

week. It can take a year to develop and weave 

and we are only just receiving fabrics that we 

ordered a year ago. We also need to help 

people realise that the cost of organic is very 

similar to ordinary cotton, we do not charge 

exploitative prices. 

In January we visited Genesh our main 

weaving master in India. We visited the 

loomworkers, the dyehouse, the spinners 

and enjoyed wonderful hospitality in Kerela, 

Western India. Ann ate a record 30 curries in 

ten days! 

We work with a cooperative of ladies 

“Wordwide about 25 per 

cent of pesticide spray is used 

on cotton, but agriculturally 

it accounts for only about 

4 per cent of land use. The 

sprays used are often banned 

in the EU and are similar to the 

nerve gases used in WWI” 

from Genesh who are being helped by 

the government in Kerela to set up a joint 

enterprise. By supplying them with work we 

can develop their business and their skills so 

that they can achieve a better life by their 

efforts. They earn only £2 a day, and whilst the 

cost of living is low, this is still a tiny sum to live 

on. We saw on our visit that the small step of 

choosing organic and fair trade cotton, and 

choosing to connect with rather than exploit 

the people, can and does make a difference to 

the lives of many families. 

The future 

The main thrust of our business is still to 

encourage organic growing. Cotton can be 

grown in a safe way that benefi ts third world 

families by allowing them to grow in rotation 

safely and economically. The system allows 

them to grow food and other cash crops, keep 

animals and bees and then at the end of the 

process they get a higher premium for their 

cotton, they employ more people and are 

not harmed by the process. Organic growing 

also brings benefi ts to ourselves as there are 

no harmful residues in the cloth and we get 

a good warm feeling knowing that we are 

making the world a little fairer. 

We cannot continue to rely on oil based 

fertilizers and sprays, and we cannot continue 

killing people because we want cheap cloth. C 

Fabric Ltd work with spinners and 

weavers to ensure fair conditions 

Phil Wheeler enjoyed meeting weaver in 

Kerela 


Contact Phil and Ann Wheeler at 

Organic Textile Company, 12 Heol Penrallt 

Machynlleth, Powys, SY20 8AL 

T: +44 (0)753 010 0785 or 

+44 (0)1654 700 094 

E: phil@organiccotton.biz. 

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usiness advice 

how effective are your staff? 

With the abolition of the default retirement age, measuring the effectiveness of your sales 

staff is more important than ever. Nick Waller owner of Driving Performance Ltd provides 

some advice and tips 

magine for a moment 

that you’re the coach of 

your favourite football 

team. Your team is vying 

for a spot in the final and 

you must decide which 

of your players will start 

in this very important 

game and which will spend it on the bench 

as substitutes. How are you going to make 

that decision? The answer should be obvious, 

whether you follow football or not. You need 

to analyse the effectiveness of each player. 

Naturally, you want to start the one who has 

done the best job for you thus far. Fortunately, 

you have plenty of statistics available to be 

able to make such a decision. In order to 

judge the effectiveness of each player you’ll 

need to look at statistics such as of the total 

number of passes they made, how many made 

it to the intended receiver, how many were 

intercepted by the other team, how many 

resulted in a goal, etc. 

Now, let’s get back to reality. You’re 

responsible for the effectiveness of your sales 

staff. Imagine you have decided to refit the 

entire store. During the refitting, expected 

to last at least three months, the store will 

remain open but will not require as many 

salespeople as you currently have. Who do 

you keep and who do you let go? 

Do you have the information you need to 

measure the effectiveness of your salespeople? 

A valuable technique you can implement 

immediately is tracking the “conversion 

rate” of your sales staff. On the ground level 

the information you get by tracking each 

salesperson’s conversion rate will enable you 

to measure the effectiveness of each customer 

contact. In other words, out of every ten 

customer demonstrations, how many sales 

did each salesperson make? 

Implementing a system for tracking 

conversion rates is relatively simple. Each 

salesperson should have their own conversion 

rate card. To track their effectiveness, 

every customer demonstration gets 

recorded as either a “walk” or a “win.” For 

example, on Saturday Joe had 20 customer 

demonstrations, four of which resulted in 

a sale. 

To calculate his conversion rate, you 

divide the total number of sales (four) by 

the total number of demonstrations (20). 

Joe’s conversion rate for Saturday is therefore 

20% or two sales out of every 10 customer 

demonstrations. Bear in mind that the 

actual number of customers you see has no 

relationship to your conversion rate. If Joe 

had made one sale out of five demonstrations, 

his conversion rate would still be 20%. 

Implementing the Conversion Rate System 

It’s very important that you have a clear 

definition of what constitutes a “customer 

demonstration”. Some business owners and 

managers count any customer who walks 

through the door as an opportunity to 

make a sale. Others prefer to only count the 

customers to whom salespeople are actually 

able to get to the demonstration. A word 

of caution is needed here. It’s possible that 

one salesperson could fail to get into the 

demonstration to a customer where another 

salesperson may have succeeded. Think about 

which method will work best in your store. 

The criteria you choose is not that critical. 

What is critical, is being consistent and using 

the same criteria all the time. Remember, you 

can only get accurate information if you keep 

accurate records. 

To implement the tracking of conversion 

rates, you can easily make up a supply of 

conversion rate cards onto ordinary three 

x five index cards. Your volume of business 

will dictate how frequently you should 

calculate your conversion rate. For most retail 

stores, it’s best to work it out daily. If you see 

relatively few customers each day, you can 

keep it on a weekly basis. The salespeople 

must be trusted to keep true records of their 

own conversion rates. 

“The rule to remember when 

selling is: First sell everyone 

something, then sell them more.” 

craftfocus 75

how effective are your staff? 

Using the Statistics 

One of the greatest things about using numbers, is that they allow no room for opinion, simply 

facts. On the surface, judging you sales staff by their conversion rate may appear to be relatively 

straight forward. But in reality, conversion rates will tell you much more than just how many 

people out of ten your salespeople are selling to. 

Using our two salespeople, Joe and Jane, look at Figure A and let’s analyse their conversion 

rate figures: 

Figure A: 

Weekly Conversion Rate 

Joe 

Jane 

Monday 30% 70% 

Tuesday 10% 80% 

Wednesday 40% 50% 

Thursday 20% 90% 

Friday 10% 60% 

Saturday 30% 80% 

Sunday 40% 70% 

Gross Sales £2,000 £2,000 

Both Joe and Jane each had £2,000 in gross 

sales for the week. On this basis it may seem 

that they are comparable salespeople. In 

reality, they are really quite different and 

each must take different steps to improve 

their performance. 

Based on Joe’s low daily conversion rates 

you may conclude that he either sells more 

items per sale than Jane, or he sells higher 

ticket items. In this case, the way for Joe 

to increase his gross sales is to sell to more 

people. You see that once Joe establishes a 

relationship with a customer, the customer is 

likely to spend quite a bit of money. You could 

conclude that in order for Joe to get into more 

conversations with customers, he needs to 

work on his communication skills along with 

his opening and probing techniques. 

Jane’s high conversion rate tells us that she 

is already selling something nearly every time 

she makes a demonstration. Advising her to 

approach more customers would be useless. 

What Jane needs to do is to sell more to each 

customer. To accomplish this Jane should 

be encouraged to demonstrate higher ticket 

items, as well as attempting more accessory 

and add-on sales. Very different advice for two 

salespeople selling the same weekly volume 

isn’t it? 

Neither Joe or Jane should be considered 

poor salespeople. But, if you had to model 

your staff after just one, you’d be far better 

off with Jane-clones than Joe-clones. Why? 

Jane has a much larger customer base than 

Joe. Generally, repeat customers buy more 

than new ones and can bring in more 

referral business. This makes Jane’s potential 

for making more sales greater. The rule 

to remember here is: First sell everyone 

something, then sell them more. 

As you can see, besides knowing how 

many customers your salespeople are selling 

to, conversion rates also tell you how they 

are selling. So, if you had to make a decision 

on who to keep and who to let go in your 

store, conversion rates give you a quantitative 

number on which to base your decision. 

Who are your salespeople most like, Joe or 

Jane? Don’t guess as you might be in for a big 

surprise. Take responsibility and track their 

conversion rates for a month. It will make 

your job as the ‘coach’ of your sales staff 

much easier. C 


Nick Waller, Owner of Driving 

Performance Ltd, specialists in improving 

sales and service performance. Nick can be 

contacted on T: +44 (0) 1892 524 824 or 

+44 (0)7811 251 367, 

E: nick@driving-performance.co.uk, 

www.driving-performance.co.uk 

76 craftfocus

o 31 Commercial Road 

Edmonton, London N18 1TP 

Tel: 0208 884 0999 

Fax: 0208 884 4666 

Email: mcourtsltd@btconnect.com 

Website: www.mcourts.co.uk 

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orders over £50.00, with this ad from 

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See our huge range including 

Beads, Trimmings, Lace, Buttons, Ribbon, 

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and much, much more.

insurance 

Neil McFarlane, sales and 

marketing director, of 

T.H. March & Co Limited 

insurance solutions 

Craft Focus readers put their insurance queries, concerns and questions to 

leading brokers T.H. March 

health & safety 

We’re only a small business so we don’t need 

to worry about Health & Safety - that’s only 

for large businesses isn’t it? 

Neil says: The issue and display of a Health 

& Safety policy is a legal requirement for all 

businesses that employ five or more staff. 

Even if your business employs less staff, 

having a Health & Safety policy in place will 

demonstrate to your staff and insurers that you 

take health and safety seriously and that you 

are running a properly managed organisation. 

You may even obtain premium discounts for 

having such a policy in place. 

It is also worth noting that Health & Safety 

regulations will now also apply to home 

workers – if you employ staff who operate 

from their homes you, as their employer, must 

carry out a Health & Safety assessment of risk 

to health at their ‘home office’ environment. 

buildings cover 

I need to insure my business premises. All I 

need to provide to my insurance advisor is 

the market value of the building isn't it? 

Neil says: In a word, no! Correctly arranged 

insurance protection for your buildings should 

be arranged on the current rebuilding value, 

not the market value. The sum insured for 

buildings cover under a commercial policy 

is based on the full rebuilding cost of the 

premises rather than the market value. There is 

no relationship between the two. 

It is also important to review the rebuilding 

value on a regular basis to take into account 

inflation and any improvements made to the 

building. Many insurers provide for an ‘index 

linking’ provision within their policies; the sum 

insured is increased on a yearly basis to help 

take into account rises in inflation. But it is 

important that this figure is correct to start 

with and still regularly reviewed. 

To obtain a rebuilding value, contact your 

local qualified chartered surveyor. By arranging 

your policy on the correct basis, you will be 

saving a considerable amount of premium in 

most cases. If your building is listed however, 

the rebuilding value may well be more than the 

market value. 

lost keys 

What happens if I lose the keys to my 

premises? 

Neil says: Don’t rely on a coded key return 

service. If you lose the keys to your premises, 

change the locks or get new cylinders or 

levers - immediately. Many criminals may not 

use them straight away and may even return 

them to you - after having taken a copy! Most 

insurance policies will have cover for loss of 

keys, subject to any policy excess. 

employment dispute 

What should I do if I have an employment 

dispute and relevant legal expenses cover? 

Neil says: Always seek guidance from the 

insurers legal helpline before taking any action 

regarding the employee. If you fail to do so, or 

ignore the advise you are given, most insurers 

will not support you through any subsequent 

claim. 

computer backups 

Where should I store my computer backup 

records? 

Neil says: Always remove computer backups 

from the premises, or place them in a fire safe 

specifically designed for computer media. If 

removing confidential data from the premises, 

particularly any sensitive data such as lists of 

customers, encrypt the data. 

damage disruption 

How should I estimate the indemnity period 

under my business interruption insurance? 

Neil says: Many underestimate their indemnity 

period, that is the period during which your 

turnover is affected as a result of insured 

damage. Finding alternative premises, or 

demolition, planning and rebuilding as a 

result of major damage may take longer than 

expected. Even when you are back in business 

and trading, it may take longer to recover your 

turnover than you think. 

prompt action 

What should I do to minimise the effect of a 

burst pipe? 

Neil says: First of all, locate where the 

stopcock(s) are situated, in order that you can 

turn off the water supply to your premises. 

Also know how to turn off the electricity and 

any boiler. Once turned off, drain pipes and 

tanks by opening taps. Many insurers will have 

details of approved contractors to call in such 

circumstances. If not, find someone locally who 

you can call in an emergency. Either way - keep 

their details in an easy to find place ! 

Neil will be tackling more of your insurancerelated 

queries in future issues of Craft Focus. 

If you have a question you would like answered 

email thmarch@publicasity.co.uk. C 


T.H. March is a well-established family 

business founded in 1887. With offices in 

London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, 

Sevenoaks and Yelverton near Plymouth, 

the company has departments covering 

household, motor, travel, commercial and 

scheme insurance. To find out more visit 

www.thmarch.co.uk. 

craftfocus 79

etirement at any age 

Just what are the implications for employers of the abolition of the default 

retirement age? David Regan provides the answers with useful suggestions on 

making it work for you 

The question of how to deal with older 

members of staff, particularly those who 

have worked for a business for a long time, 

is a difficult one for managers. At present, 

employers must follow a fairly strict retirement 

process which penalises them for failing to 

comply, but which does allow them to choose 

to retire an employee without the employee 

having any say in the matter. With effect from 

6 April 2011, this process will begin to fall 

away and, from 1 October 2011, it will be age 

discrimination to dismiss someone by reason 

of retirement. 

What this mean for employers 

Notices of intended retirement can now only 

be issued for employees who are 65 or over 

(or will attain the company’s default retirement 

age, if different from 65) on or before 30 

September 2011 and the notice of intended 

retirement date for that employee must have 

been issued no later than 5 April 2011. The 

notice given can be up to 12 months, so can 

take effect up to 5 April 2012. 

Alternatives to the default 

retirement age 

1. Speak to the employee ‘off the record’ - 

Whilst this option is tempting, trying to speak 

with an employee ‘off the record’ is fraught 

with difficulty. In brief, simply saying “this 

conversation is ‘off the record’, or ‘without 

prejudice’, does not mean that the employee 

cannot use the conversation against the 

employer. Therefore an employee could argue 

that these discussions are an attempt to force 

them out on the grounds of their age, and 

consequently sue for age discrimination. 

2. Speak to the employee ‘on the record’ 

- The best time to do this is during annual 

appraisals, or at regular meetings. Indeed, it may 

make sense for employers to discuss future 

plans with all employees at appraisal time, as 

this will give the employer a better idea of 

who is looking for advancement, who is happy 

within their role, who is considering retiring, 

and plan accordingly. 

3. Keep a close eye on performance - Many 

employers are concerned that the change in 

law means that they will be stuck with staff 

members who cannot perform and who 

cannot be retired. This is not the case. In 

fact, under the new law, employers will have 

to keep a closer eye on who is performing 

well, and manage all employees’ performance 

equally, regardless of age or length of service. 

4. Set a corporate ‘normal retiring age’ - 

Contrary to popular belief, employers will 

still be able to set a ‘normal retiring age’ 

for employees. Although this will be age 

discrimination, this will be justifiable if the 

decision can be shown to be a proportionate 

means of achieving a legitimate aim. 

Difficulties that may arise 

Succession planning 

The most obvious difficulty for employers 

will be that there is no longer a ready-made 

timetable for retirement, meaning the path to 

senior positions could be blocked. Employers 

may also feel unable to ask when an employee 

is intending to retire, leading to ‘shock’ 

retirements that leave the employer without a 

proven successor. 

Employee relations 

Employers may also find it difficult to start 

discussions about retirement with employees 

as detailed above. Even if they do, many 

employees may not take kindly to the idea that 

80 craftfocus


they should retire if they are not ready to do 

so. In addition, under the ‘old’ law, employees 

have often been allowed to continue to 

retirement with managers overlooking 

lapses in judgment or incremental changes in 

performance which can be attributed to an 

employee’s age. 

Understanding ‘legitimate aim’ 

Cases under the ‘old law’ have found legitimate 

aims to be workforce planning, enabling 

recruitment and retention of younger 

employees, avoiding adverse impact on 

pensions and benefits, ensuring continued 

competence, and having an age balanced 

workforce ensuring job opportunities amongst 

the generations. However, employers will need 

to be careful when implementing a normal 

retirement age and will need to show that they 

have balanced the employee’s rights and dignity 

against the needs of the business. 

Flexible working 

In practice some employers may be happy 

to allow an employee to continue working as 

long as they choose, and many employees will 

most likely want to at least reduce their hours, 

if not finish working completely, as they age. It 

is important to note that the abolition of the 

default retirement age has no effect upon the 

flexible working law which is currently in place, 

and employers will not be under a duty to 

allow older employees to work reduced hours 

unless they are eligible for flexible working in 

the usual way. 

Performance management 

In addition to the employee relations issues 

highlighted above, managers must ensure 

that performance management processes are 

implemented fairly across the entire range of 

employees in order to avoid any accusations 

of age bias, or trying to force out the older 

members of staff. In addition, managers will 

need to watch for age related disabilities and, 

if any disability is found, will need to consider 

whether or not any reasonable adjustments 

may need to be made in relation to the 

employee and their employment. 

Exceptions to the new law 

There are two exceptions to the abolition of 

the default retirement age: 

1. It does not affect occupational pension 

schemes and the setting of a “normal 

retirement age” for the purposes of 

occupational pension schemes. 

2. Employers may withdraw benefits for 

employees at or over the age of 65 (with the 

age at which withdrawal will be legal rising 

in accordance with the state pension age). 

This exemption deals with a key concern of 

employers, namely that the rising costs of 

benefits and insurance for employees over the 

state pension age could make the provision of 

these benefits prohibitively expensive. 

The most obvious difficulty for 

employers will be that there is no 

longer a ready-made timetable 

for retirement, meaning the 

path to senior positions could 

be blocked. 

Conclusion 

The abolition of the default retirement age 

has the potential to have a large impact on 

businesses, as staff may choose to remain in 

their position longer, hindering succession 

planning, and employers and managers will 

be forced in many cases to invoke disciplinary 

procedures to manage the performance of 

longstanding employees, with a subsequent 

negative effect on morale. 

However, where there is clear ongoing 

dialogue between managers and staff, and all 

parties are open to sensible communication, 

there is no reason why employees continuing 

to work past the current default retirement 

age should prove to be a problem. Indeed, 

managers may find that retaining the services 

of a valued, longstanding employee for a 

reduced number of hours during the working 

week may allow more junior members of staff 

to learn from someone who would otherwise 

previously have retired and to gradually take 

over their role as they ease towards the date 

at which they intend to retire. 

In addition, employers are still free to 

choose to set a retiring age for their business, 

provided that they are able to justify this. C 


David Regan is a solicitor in the 

Employment Team at Mundays Solicitors, 

a leading regional practice which provides 

quality advice to corporate and private 

clients. 

craftfocus 81

q&a special 

to tweet or not to tweet 

This month industry expert Clare Rayner, answers queries on the effectiveness of twitter and 

facebook for business owners 

QTwitter first and foremost is a social media tool 

– the clue is in the description – social. It is not 

Adirectly a business tool and thus for businesses 

to use it successfully they need to be mindful 

of a few things. 

1. Who do you want to read/see your 

messages and why? (therefore what should 

your messages include?) 

2. Who do you want to be speaking to and 

why? 

3. What is your policy regarding customer 

complaints/negative opinion? 

When you set up a twitter account you can 

follow other accounts that interest you (which 

you can find by searching on twitter) and you 

will become followed as a result of the content 

you share. This is why it is important to firstly 

think about what you will be saying. 

Once you’ve got the basics clear, and have 

begun to “test the water” so to speak, 

(following some people, sharing some content, 

getting followed) you will be in a better 

position to think about the next steps or how 

to leverage twitter. 

A business can leverage twitter in many 

ways. 

You can seek to find businesses who have 

a common customer base to yours. You can 

begin conversations with them to share ideas 

and opportunities – possibly to cross promote/ 

refer each other. 

You can “listen” to what is being said that 

is relevant to you, your competition, your 

industry – chipping in when you feel it is 

appropriate. 

You can engage loyal customers – speak 

to them about your service, why they like 

you, what you can do better. By having a 

“personality” and by being open and genuine 

I've obviously heard of Twitter, but is it really 

a useful business tool? 

you will potentially increase loyalty. Your 

customers are likely to then recommend you 

to their twitter followers 

You can add a “feed” (see twitterfeed.com as 

an example) to provide an automated sharing 

of news / blogs / features that are relevant to 

your industry and interests – thus you can be 

tweeting and sharing when you are not even 

logged in yourself! 

Q 

A 

How often should I post on Twitter? 

Twitter is very much a right-now sort of tool – 

people dip in and out of it. They also have lists 

to follow tweets of their favourite tweeters. 

One thing is sure though many thousands of 

tweets will have been made within the space of 

only a couple of hours. 

If someone mentions you in their 

tweet, it may be positive, a referral 

or a complaint – definitely worth 

checking in all cases. 

As a general rule I would suggest you ensure 

that you are tweeting regularly during every day. 

This can be done with tools such as twitterfeed. 

com as well as by scheduled tweets. 

I would recommend setting up alerts so that 

you can respond immediately if: 

someone tweets @ you (this is a “mention” and 

means your twitter ID has been included in a 

tweet by another person) someone RTs you 

(this is a retweet, meaning someone has shared 

a tweet you made with their following), or your 

business name is mentioned in the text of a 

tweet 

It is good practice to thank/acknowledge 

a tweeter if they do share your content by a 

retweet. If someone mentions you it may be 

a positive, a referral or a complaint,definitely 

worth checking in all cases. If your business 

name is mentioned then someone, somewhere 

has something to say about you – you should 

know about this and be ready to reply. 

If you have a question about any aspect of your business, simply write to: 

Q&A Special, Craft Focus Magazine, Broseley House, Newlands Drive, Witham, Essex CM8 2UL. 

Alternatively, send your queries to editor@craftfocus.com. 

craftfocus 83

to tweet or not to tweet 

Q 

A 

How does retweeting work? 

Put simply it is like forwarding an email – 

someone likes your content and wishes to 

share it with all their followers. Retweet/RT is 

a GOOD thing for your twitter identity. Your 

message is being amplified by those who are 

reading it. The more RTs you get, the more 

you are reaching new listeners and you will 

potentially increase your followers. 

You can also RT someone else’s content, 

again a good thing to do (especially if their 

tweet reinforces your own message). An 

added bonus is that you’ll not only be sharing 

more good content with your followers, you 

may well be engaging the originator of the 

tweet in a conversation with you because as I 

mentioned earlier, it’s good practice to thank 

someone for an RT. 

Q 

A 

Can you prepost to drip feed Tweets 

throughout the day to save time? (I've heard 

of hoot tube or something) 

You can schedule tweets and one tool which 

I use for this is called Hootsuite. The basic 

hootsuite user account is free. Hootsuite is a 

browser based tool that actually enables you 

to see up to five social media accounts in one 

snap-shot. You can not only see Twitter but also 

Facebook and Linkedin, if you use these tools. 

Hootsuite enables you to prepare tweets 

(or status updates in other media) to be sent 

out at a pre-defined time. This means that 

you can prepare content to be tweeted while 

you are away from a PC. This ensures you are 

sharing, promoting and visible on twitter even 

at times when you can’t be online! 

Image courtesy of 

Gail D’almaine 

84 craftfocus 

Q 

A 

If I have a personal facebook account but 

want to set up a business one, how can I stop 

anyone accessing my personal account? 

Facebook recommends that an individual has 

a personal account – it is a very personal form 

of social media and is aimed more at friends 

than businesses. 

If businesses want to have a presence on 

facebook the recommended approach is to 

set up a facebook page for the business, your 

personal account would be the administrator 

for that page. Both your personal account and 

the business page can have different visibility 

settings so there should be nothing to worry 

about on that front. 

Your blog, tweets and other media can be 

fed through to either your personal account 

or your business page, or both – as you wish. 

Clare Rayner, the Retail Champion, has regularly made guest 

appearances on BBC radio, TV and has contributed to various retailfocused 

articles and opinion pieces. Clare shares her expertise in 

developing strategies with retailers of all sizes to increase profit, 

customer base, revenue streams and channels to market. Clare is 

also owner/director of several businesses servicing the retail sector 

including Retail Acumen, The Retail Conference and e-mphasis 

Internet Marketing. 

There are applications to enable this. 

You can invite your customers to “like” your 

facebook page. This means that they will 

receive notifications from the business page 

in their news feed in the same way they can 

see status updates from their friends. Just 

because they like your business page does not 

automatically give them visibility or access to 

your personal account and you still have full 

control over that. 

I hope the answers above are helpful. Of 

course this just scratches the surface of a very 

wide area! Social media can be a fantastically 

powerful tool for retailers and consumer 

brands – enabling them to engage with the 

customer in a “place” where the customer 

feels “at home”. Careful consideration should 

always be made though. Remember that 

your customer is on social media primarily to 

be social and interact with friends therefore 

your tone should be moderated accordingly. 

Businesses which overtly promote themselves 

via social media will not do as well in the 

long run as those who leverage these tools 

to deepen their relationships with their loyal 

customers, turning them into advocates. C


five steps to stop 

shopping cart abandonment 

It’s long been clear that setting up an online craft shop can both help find new customers 

and provide an additional service to existing ones. The trick is to avoid abandonment before 

purchase explains Chris Barling, CEO of ecommerce and EPOS supplier, Actinic 

One of the banes of an 

e-commerce store owner’s 

life is the discovery that many 

more items are placed into 

the online shopping cart than 

are actually bought. This goes 

under the term ‘shopping 

cart abandonment’, and it can seem that an 

enormous amount of potential business is 

being lost. 

Before we look into addressing the issue, it is 

important to understand that potential buyers 

place products into the cart for a variety 

of reasons. They might just be comparing 

costs, or it could be someone examining the 

competition. Customers could be checking 

your site before ordering by phone. Looking 

through your online store is like browsing a 

physical shop. Not everyone is a real prospect. 

Having said that, a proportion of the 

abandoned carts represent buyers who were 

real prospects and then gave up. So in this 

article I have listed some points to consider in 

addressing this issue. They are mostly fairly easy 

to implement, and they could have a dramatic 

impact on your store sales. 

1. Ensure buyers can trust your site. 

Some people get nervous when they shop 

online. You can address this by prominently 

displaying contact details, including a phone 

number and address along with a picture 

of your shop, if you have one. Cover your 

guarantee and returns policy and make a point 

that under the Distance Selling Regulations 

consumers have the unconditional right to 

return goods. 

Be very clear about the cost of shipping too. 

The more up front you are, the more people 

will trust you. 

“With times being hard, and the 

particular danger surrounding 

more discretionary items like craft 

products, an online presence is 

critical” 

2. Get the technology right. Ensure that your 

e-commerce system allows shoppers to keep 

their cart contents between sessions. In other 

words, if their browser crashes, or they get a 

phone call when they are shopping on your 

site, you don’t want them to find that their 

work has gone up in smoke when they return. 

Your e-commerce solution should also pass 

you details of customers that completed the 

checkout except for payment. Contacting them 

to offer help will definitely increase your sales. 

3. Don’t irritate the customer. Try to make 

your site as easy as possible to use with clear 

icons for checkout and don’t force customers 

to create accounts. I find it amazing just how 

bad some sites are in this area, and I’ve often 

abandoned orders through irritation. 

4. Give your customer choice. If your customer 

wishes to order by phone, let them. Also, try to 

provide for different payment methods. At the 

minimum you should accept credit and debit 

cards and PayPal. New methods like PayOffline 

(where people can pay at a shop near them) 

may also increase your conversion rate. 

5. Always measure. Use Google Analytics or a 

similar package to see how people are using 

your site. Analyse the information to find the 

problems and fix them. There have been cases 

of orders doubling from making minor changes 

to the site. Try things, then measure them and 

adjust. Nothing beats that approach. 

I hope these tips can help to maximise the 

return from your online store. We all need all 

of the help that we can get. C 


Chris Barling is CEO of Actinic 

(www.actinic.co.uk) which specialises in 

helping start-ups and SMEs sell online 

with its e-commerce software and EPOS 

systems. He has recently published ‘Selling 

Successfully Online – over 300 top tips for 

running an ecommerce website’. Available 

on Amazon for £7.99 or download the free 

e-book at www.actinic.co.uk/top-tips. 

craftfocus 87

usiness link – 

a helping hand 

Every business has its share of issues that cost them time and money. Here, a team of 

business link advisers share their thoughts on how to tackle the problems, while not being 

afraid to ask for help 

All business owners, whether they are just 

starting out or have been trading for some 

time, can benefit from some external help 

from time to time. 

The independent retail sector in particular 

is facing a challenging time with chains and 

online retailers taking a larger slice of the 

pie. Finding out how to ‘punch above your 

weight’ and attract and retain customers is 

key to your success. However, to keep ahead 

of the competition and remain profitable you 

need to make time to work on your business 

rather than just in your business. This is where 

Business Link can help. 

You may have heard that Business Link is 

changing – and that after November 2011 

the regional service will be streamlined into 

a national telephone enquiry and web-based 

service. Until the end of November though, 

you can still benefit from the full range of 

Business Link services including one-to-one 

advice from a Business Link adviser either 

face-to-face or by phone and email. 

A helping hand 

For a small business, the cost of paying for 

advice from a consultant can be off-putting – 

and it is sometimes difficult to know how to 

find someone who can meet your needs. A 

face-to-face meeting or telephone session with 

a Business Link adviser will give you access 

to free, independent and impartial advice 

and your adviser will point you in the right 

direction if you need specialist help. 

Business Link advisers provide an external 

perspective, giving you a sounding board for 

your ideas and plans. Many of them have run 

their own small businesses so they understand 

the pressures and constraints of working for 

yourself. Business Link advisors work with 

hundreds of very different organisations, giving 

them unique insight into what works and how 

to get results by focusing on the key issues. 

If you need further help with a particular 

aspect of your business, such as IT, website 

development, marketing or finance, the 

advisers can also help you find assistance. 

“No question is too trivial or 

too complex for Business Link 

advisers who are experienced 

professionals with expertise in a 

wide range of areas and sectors.” 

Information service 

Small business owners are the ultimate multitaskers. 

If this is you, you’ll know that this 

means having to be an expert, not just about 

your own product or service, but in every 

area of the business. From finance to managing 

staff and keeping up with IT, you need to keep 

up to date with the rules and regulations. 

No-one can be totally proficient in all 

these areas and this is where Business Link’s 

information service can help. A quick call to 

the information service will put you through 

to an experienced adviser who will be able to 

deal with your enquiry. As well as answering 

your business questions and providing advice, 

the information service can direct you to 

other agencies and support organisations if 

necessary. For example, Trading Standards 

covers all the trading regulations covering your 

sector, or if you need legal advice, Business 

Link can help you find a solicitor through 

their supplier database. You may even qualify 

for a free 30-minute legal consultation from 

a member of the Lawyers for your Business 

network. You can find details on the Law 

Society website. 

The information team can deal with any 

business questions and issues covering a 

vast range of topics from business planning, 

sales and marketing and cash flow, to credit 

reports, help with accessing finance, patent 

and trademark services and information on 

trading abroad. No question is too trivial or 

too complex, our advisers are experienced 

professionals, with expertise in a wide range 

of areas and sectors. A range of other services 

are also available, from bespoke research 

to support in developing overseas markets, 

benchmarking and producing mailing lists. 

Online services 

Don’t forget that the Business Link website 

has a wealth of information on everything you 

need to know about running your business. 

The website also has templates for business 

plans and other essential documents as well 

as up-to-the-minute information on the latest 

regulations and issues affecting businesses. For 

example, did you know that the Government 

is phasing out the default retirement age? 

(See retirement at any age, page 80), or that 

you can now incorporate a private limited 

company online? Or that HMRC runs free 

Business Advice open days to help you 

understand tax issues? Check the website to 

keep up to date with the latest issues. 

As well as finding the answers to your 

business questions the website features many 

interactive tools which cover every aspect 

of running your business. They are quick and 

easy to use and will give you clear guidelines 

on what you need to do to achieve your 

objectives. Whether you want to plan your 

finances or marketing, find out how to employ 

and manage staff, use IT and e-commerce 

more effectively or manage health and safety 

at work, there is a tool to take you through 

the process and give you a plan of action. 

88 craftfocus

usiness advice link 

The Information and Intelligence Team at Business Link East of England: 

Back Row: Kantilal Patel; Bob Hinchcliffe; Richard Swift; Andrew Cook 

Middle Row: Lauren Dovey; Sanjay Majmudar; Kevin Smith; Tony Barritt 

Front Row: Heather Elliott; Andree Hava; Andrew Downes 

A definitive guide to the areas in which Business Link offer help 

Starting Up 

Included are the basics of starting a new 

company plus how to budget finances, what 

are the financial and legal requirements plus 

tips on conducting research and preparing a 

business plan. There are also case studies and 

advice on getting a business mentor. 

Finance and Grants 

Watch on line videos about financing your 

business, read articles on finance options 

and prepare to raise finance. There are also 

guidelines on managing finance and what to 

do when in financial difficulty. 

Tax, payroll and company information 

This section provides lots of advice on tax, 

from self assessment to vat and business rates, 

tax reliefs and allowances plus industry-specific 

taxes. Payroll explains PAYE and expenses and 

benefits employees can claim whilst the HM 

Revenue section includes everything about 

dealing with HM Revenue and Customs. Here 

you can also search for company names and 

find out about Companies House returns and 

accounts. 

Employment and Skills 

Not only can you find out about taking on 

and managing staff, there are tips on resolving 

problems and dealing with retirement, 

redundancy and dismissal. 

Workplace Health and Safety 

Health and Safety can be a minefield. This 

section provides simple information about 

what you need to do, how to write an H&S 

policy for your business plus protecting your 

business and indeed, getting insurance. 

Environment and Efficiency 

This section is about environmental 

compliance and responsibility with ideas on 

improving your environmental performance, 

reducing carbon emissions saving money and 

resources. It also has a Climate Change Tool to 

help you get your business ready for climate 

change impacts. 

Premises and Property 

Popular sections of this particular area are 

fire safety and risk assessment, how to chose 

the right premises for your business, disabled 

facilities grant and an overview of the planning 

system with a direct portal to applying for 

planning permission online. 

Create, Innovate and Protect 

Particularly useful for designs, this area covers 

protecting your intellectual property, research 

and development and information on how to 

develop new products and services. 

IT and E-commerce 

As well as the basic information and advice 

on introducing IT to your business, there are 

spotlighted tips on working ‘in the cloud’ – so 

you can find out how cloud computing can 

help your business, and how to manage an IT 

incident. 

Sales and Marketing 

Marketing is an area often left to the last 

minute, so here the useful guides on how 

to write a marketing plan are very useful. 

As is the advice on advertising, branding and 

online marketing including how to ensure 

your business is complying with the law when 

selling to customers. 

International Trade 

Very useful if you trade with overseas 

companies, this section has tips on importing 

and exporting basics, sanctions, embargoes 

and restrictions, tax implications and customs 

procedures and regulations. 

Grow your Business 

As well as lots of advice and tips to read, 

there are online options such as creating an 

action plan to successfully grow your business, 

or use Business Link’s interactive tool to find 

out who your most valuable customers are, or 

access your business performance. 

Buy or Sell a Business 

Most popular are the articles on buying an 

existing business and an overview on selling 

or closing your business. There is also advice 

on understanding contracts and responsibilities 

to employees. C 


Business Link Information Service 

T: +44 (0)845 600 9006 or visit the 

website www.businesslink.gov.uk. 

Trading Standards www. 

everythingregulation.org.uk 

Law Society website: www.lawsociety.org.uk 

craftfocus 89


word on the web - a basic guide 

to website terminology 

Bob Scott of Loud-n-Clear.com provides a simple guide to what you need to know to 

ensure a successful website. 

In the fi rst of our series on terminology, 

we’ll deal with the terms that get used when 

discussing your website requirements with 

website developers and hosting companies. 

In the next article, we’ll look at some of the 

technical terms for the building blocks of a 

website. 

Backend 

Put simply, the backend of a website is the 

database, software and various services that 

should be invisible to the user. If the 

backend processing is all working fi ne then 

the users should be able to browse, shop, 

pay for, track and receive their purchases 

whilst remaining blissfully unaware of what is 

happening behind the scenes. 

CMS 

This stands for Content Management System, 

the interface that allows the easy maintenance 

of a website, usually in terms of updating 

content such as news items, changing prices 

and adding (or removing) products. 

Domain Names 

The snappy .com or .co.uk in your website 

address, such as craft-fair.co.uk or craftfocus. 

com, is the domain name. There are many 

types of domain name, some of them 

restricted to particular types of organisation 

(eg .ac.uk for academic institutions, .gov.uk for 

government bodies etc). Domain registrations 

come with an expiry date, typically 2 years 

after fi rst registration for .co.uk domains and 

1 year for .com, although many registration 

services will bill and renew automatically unless 

instructed otherwise. The most important ones 

from a UK business viewpoint are the .com 

and .co.uk domains – these are readily available 

to anyone that wants one, as long as no-one 

else has got there fi rst… 

To get a domain you need to register it 

through a domain registration service, or ask 

your website developer to do so on your 

behalf. If someone else is registering a domain 

for you it is worth making sure that they 

register it in your name as that makes any 

future transfer (or sale) of the domain more 

straightforward. 

If your preferred domain name has already 

been registered by someone else you can 

always offer to buy it, as there is a thriving 

market in domains. Domain prices are 

infl uenced by factors such as how long a 

domain has been registered, whether there 

is a website associated with the domain 

and how specifi c the name is (for examples, 

bloggsphones.co.uk would be worth less than 

mobilephones.co.uk). 

If you feel that someone has registered a 

domain that is directly related to your trading 

name (known as squatting) there is a process 

for resolving the situation but it’s a good idea 

to seek specialist advice. 

The most important domain names 

from a UK business viewpoint are 

the .com and .co.uk domains – 

readily available as long as no-one 

else has got there fi rst… 

Dynamic Website 

Most basic web pages are “static” which means 

that they are the same for every user and the 

pages are stored on the server the 

way they will appear to users. With dynamic 

web pages each user sees a page that is 

generated on the fl y as they request it. 

This means that the content and layout are 

independent of each other with the content 

being drawn from a database. This is ideal for 

websites which will need updating regularly 

(such as e-commerce sites) as only the 

database will need changing rather than every 

page featuring the changed information. It’s 

also a very useful solution for large websites 

such as directories, as it allows them to store 

a few page layouts and then fi ll them from the 

database rather than having to have hundreds 

(or even thousands) of pages on the server. 

Hosting 

Put simply, the hosting of a website involves 

providing space on a server and keeping that 

server connected to the Internet. The amount 

of space a site needs on the server and how 

much Internet traffi c the site attracts have 

a major infl uence on how much hosting will 

cost. Other factors affecting hosting include 

the software requirements of the website: 

Does it need a database or specialist software 

requirements such as Coldfusion, PHP or Java? 

Companies providing hosting need to 

provide a resilient service so will have to 

consider issues such as auxiliary power 

supplies, data backups, software and server 

maintenance. 

Server 

This is the actual, physical computer that serves 

(hence the name) the web pages, image fi les 

etc to any users that request them. When 

you’re browsing a website the whole process 

should be completely invisible to you, but an 

unreliable or overloaded server will soon make 

itself apparent. 

The next article will look at the components 

of a website, covering HTML, databases, 

software, Google Analytics and more. C 


Loud-n-Clear.com runs the Internet Craft Fair 

and specialises in websites for craft companies 

Contact details: www.loud-n-clear.com 

enquiries@loud-n-clear.com 

craftfocus 91


raising money on 

your home – equity release 

Last month we looked at budgeting for your retirement. 

This month we look at some of the available schemes to 

unlock some of your capital if on retirement you are going to 

be ‘asset rich and cash poor’ 

The problem for many retired people is that 

they are ‘asset rich, cash poor’, with most of 

their money being tied up in their property. As 

a result, many retired owner-occupiers struggle 

to make ends meet on reduced incomes. One 

way round the dilemma is to sell up and move 

somewhere smaller in order to provide extra 

income. For those who prefer to stay put, 

however, there are schemes that enable people 

to unlock capital without having to move. 

Although house prices have fallen 

considerably in recent years, they have begun 

to rally a little and now might be a good time 

to consider equity release. This is a way of 

releasing money from the value of your home 

without actually having to move. It comes in 

two forms: 

Either a type of mortgage where you pay 

no interest on the loan until you die (a lifetime 

mortgage); at this point the property is sold to 

pay off the debt. 

Or, you sell a proportion of the property 

to a company to release a lump sum. This is 

known as a home reversion scheme. 

While each has its attractions, neither 

scheme is without its drawbacks, so it 

is essential to make sure that you fully 

understand all the financial implications – 

including how the plan may affect your estate 

– before entering into any agreement. 

A crucial point to check is that any plan you 

are considering carries an absolute guarantee 

of you being able to remain in your home for 

as long as you need or want to do so. In the 

past, many elderly people tragically lost their 

homes as a result of ill-advised and dangerous 

schemes. Today it is extremely unlikely that you 

would be offered a high-risk plan, because in 

October 2004 all lifetime mortgages and home 

income plans came under the regulation of 

the FSA. Where your home is concerned you 

simply cannot afford to take any chances. 

Since April 2007, reversion schemes have 

also come under the regulation of the FSA. 

The important thing with equity release is 

to make sure your family knows all about your 

plans. Since the loan, plus any interest, is paid 

off when you have died, not letting your family 

know about the equity release scheme could 

mean they have a shock at a time when they 

are least able to cope with it. 

If you are interested in getting an equity 

release product, you need to take advice. Make 

sure you use one of the companies under 

the Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) scheme, 

as these companies sign up to a charter 

guaranteeing that you will not be forced to 

leave your home at any stage, and the value 

of the loan will never be more than what the 

property is worth. For further information see 

website: www.ship-ltd.org. 

Home reversion schemes 

A home reversion scheme is designed for 

home owners who wish to release the 

maximum amount of equity within their 

property. Unlike an equity release lifetime 

mortgage scheme, where you retain full 

ownership of your property using a home 

reversion plan, you sell some or all of your 

property to the plan provider. 

Home reversion schemes allow home 

owners to release a lump sum from their 

property; there is no interest and no concerns 

over future house prices. The amount of equity 

you can release under a home reversion plan 

will depend on your age and the value of 

your property. 

With a home reversion scheme, you sell all 

or part of your property to the plan provider. 

It is the home reversion scheme provider that 

takes the risk on future house prices. If you 

sell 30 per cent of your property to the home 

reversion plan provider, the home reversion 

plan provider will be entitled to 30 per cent of 

the sale price when your property is eventually 

craftfocus 93

aising money on 

your home – equity release 

sold. If you sell 100 per cent of your property 

to the home reversion scheme provider, the 

home reversion plan provider will be entitled 

to 100 per cent of the sale price when your 

property is eventually sold. You will not be 

charged any rent, but you will be responsible 

for maintaining the property and paying for any 

repairs that are required. 

Usually the set-up costs are fairly low. 

However, the downside is that the money you 

receive from the sale will be substantially less 

than the current market value of your home. 

The price paid will refl ect the fact that it could 

be a great many years before the reversion 

company can realize its investment. The longer 

you live, the more value you will get from the 

scheme. If your life expectancy is not that great, 

a particular point to query is whether there 

are any benefi t guarantees in the event of 

early death. 

Lifetime mortgages 

A lifetime mortgage is the other type of 

equity release scheme (sometimes known as 

‘roll-up loans’). With a lifetime mortgage you 

continue to own your home and any growth 

in that property value is yours. Unlike a normal 

mortgage the interest is added to the amount 

you have borrowed therefore the debt rises 

over time. It is this roll-up of interest that 

makes a lifetime mortgage attractive to retired 

people, as there are no monthly repayments 

to make. 

There are now options available where 

some or all of the interest can be paid, thus 

providing more choice. Some schemes have 

a drawdown facility where you take just the 

amount you need now and have the facility 

to draw down further sums from your 

lifetime mortgage over the following years. 

This can mean signifi cant savings in interest. 

If you want the option to repay your lifetime 

mortgage you can. If you want to ‘ring-fence’ 

some of your property’s value to guarantee an 

inheritance, you can. 

While attractive in that clients can spend 

the money safe in the knowledge that they 

will not have to make any repayments, the 

disadvantage is that compound interest can 

very quickly mount up, leaving little or nothing 

for their heirs to inherit. To reduce the risk, 

particular points to check are, fi rst, that the 

interest is fi xed rather than variable and, 

even more important, that the plan includes 

a guarantee that there is no danger to your 

estate of negative equity. Lifetime mortgages 

are offered by SHIP members, listed below. 

Home income plans 

Home income plans work on the basis of 

a mortgage arrangement whereby the loan 

is used to purchase an annuity to provide 

a guaranteed income for life. The mortgage 

interest is fi xed and is deducted from the 

annuity payment before you receive your 

share. While popular at one time, such plans 

have largely fallen out of favour owing to 

the abolition of mortgage interest relief and 

worsening annuity rates. Few people would 

derive much value and they should really 

be considered only by those well into their 

mid-80s. 

Final thoughts 

Cashing in on the value of your home while 

continuing to live there for the remainder of 

your life has attractive advantages, especially if 

the priority is to generate additional income 

or to provide you with a lump sum. However, 

expert advice is essential and you should also 

consult an independent fi nancial adviser (IFA) 

with expertise in equity release schemes. 

A welcome safeguard is that the Financial 

Services Authority, which regulates lifetime 

mortgages, extended its powers to include 

home reversion schemes from April 2007. C 

Reader Offer – 

Craft Focus readers can buy The Good non- 

Retirement Guide 2011 at a special 15% 

discount (thus £16.15). 

To order call +44 (0) 1903 828503 quoting 

FK0411. Closing date 8 July 2011. 

Contacts for information on the 

various schemes 

For further information on home reversion 

schemes, see websites: 

www.homereversionschemes.co.uk, 

www.ship-ltd.org or 

www.sixtyplusonline.co.uk. There is also an 

FSA fact sheet on equity release schemes 

available from www.fsa.gov.uk. SHIP 

members are: 

Aviva Equity Release UK T: + 44(0) 845 

302 0111, www.aviva.co.uk 

Bridgewater Equity Release, 

T: + 44 (0) 845 140 5060, 

www.bridgewaterequityrelease.co.uk 

Hodge Lifetime, T: +44 (0) 800 731 4076, 

www.hodgelifetime.com 

Home & Capital, T: +44 (0) 1234 321 091, 

www.homeandcapital.co.uk 

Just Retirement Limited, T: +44 (0) 1737 

233 296, www.justretirement.com 

LV=, T: +44 (0) 870 609 0616, 

www.lv.com 

More 2 Life, T: +44 (0) 8454 150 150, 

www.more2life.co.uk 

New Life Mortgages Ltd, T: +44 (0)121 

712 3800, www.newlifemortgages.co.uk 

Stonehaven, T: +44 (0) 800 068 0212, 

www.stonehaven-uk.com 


Our advice on Equity Release is from The 

Good non-Retirement Guide 2011 from 

publishers Kogan Page, rrp £18.99 (ISBN 

978-0-7494-6244-4). It is packed with the 

latest information on all sorts of matters 

relating to life after work and hundreds of 

useful contact numbers and 

websites making it essential 

reading for all those looking 

forward to making the best 

of their retirement. For 

more information 

visit the website: 

www.koganpage.com. 

94 giftfocus craftfocus

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craftfocus 95

next issue… 

Previews of upcoming shows, 

including Autumn Fair 

Crochet – a fashion revival 

Christmas crafts – 

planning ahead 

Look ahead to a rosy 

Autumn 

Special features on: 

• Digital craft workshops 

• Embossing 

• Christmas Crafts 

• Crochet 

• Crafting tools 

• Woodturning 

All the best business advice: 

• Feeling the pinch – to webstore 

or not 

• Q&A – our own expert retailer 

champion, Clare Rayner, provides 

the answers 

Issue 26 

August/September 2011 

Editorial deadline: 28 th June 

Advertising deadline: 15 th July 

Available from: 8 th July 

Digital craft workshops 

– the way ahead? 

Plus 

• News Round Up – all the latest industry, 

business and crafting news 

• E-commerce – managing your reputation online 

96 craftfocus

ags so easy 

Hamble & Jemima are Liz and Emma, both busy working mums 

who love gorgeous fabrics, striking designs and feel there is a 

real place in society for lovingly, handmade items 

What inspired you to start your 


We love beautiful handmade things and 

fabulous fabric and felt ‘Why buy something 

that has been made with no thought behind it 

when you can make a unique piece that you 

have crafted yourself.’ and so decided to do 

something about it! 

What products do you offer? 

Hamble & Jemima produce and supply inspired 

sewing kits. We use beautiful fabrics and easyto-follow 

designs so you can create classic and 

professional finished pieces. Everything you 

need is supplied in a box making them perfect 

for beginners and irresistible for those with 

more experience. We also supply gorgeous 

and unusual sewing accessories on our website. 

Which are your best selling products? 

Our three-way sling sac (a bag that can be 

worn three ways) and our phone case kits, 

are really popular, as I think they appeal to a 

younger crafting audience that are currently 

not particularly well catered for. There are lots 

of children’s craft kits on the market, but not 

much for fashion conscious teens or yummy 

mummies that want a great looking finished 

item but don’t have the hours to spend making 

a complicated design. 

In your opinion, what is the next best 

thing in handbags? 

Our brand new handbag kits of course! In 

particular, our favourite is the gorgeous vintage 

inspired English Rose design (shown here) 

which is reversible so can be immediately 

transformed into a vibrant red dotty number. 

We also love handmade corsages, Tilda fabrics 

and bunting. 

What means do you use to promote 

your business? 

We promote to both consumers and the 

trade, mainly via online opportunities with 

like-minded businesses. We did our first trade 

show in February which was really successful 

and gained us a great variety of trade outlets 

across the country and even in Europe. We 

mainly promote our trade business through 

word of mouth, social media, e-newsletters and 

free promotion from the craft media. 

How do you feel the market is at the 

moment? 

The feedback we receive is great and everyone 

who works within the craft industry is so 

confident and positive that it is hard to believe 

that there is a recession going on. Crafters are 

definitely passionate! I think this current culture 

of ‘make do and mend’ is working in our favour, 

as sewing is a really popular pastime and our 

kits are perfect for it as they contain everything 

you need and consumers do not require a 

huge store cupboard full of crafty supplies in 

order to complete our projects. 

What are your future plans? 

We would like to grow our brand and our 

range. We are working on more kits within 

our home range, constantly on the lookout 

for great new fabrics and always testing 

new design ideas. We’d love to run some 

workshops and become involved with the 

social side of stitching/crafting. C 

Personally speaking 

Now for a bit of ‘flesh’ on the bones of 

Hamble & Jemima 

Favourite colour – anything bright and 

clashing! 

Favourite fruit – cherries 

Favourite tipple – mojito (perfect after 7pm 

when the kids go to bed!) 

Favourite type of food – Thai 

Favourite soap opera – Eastenders (but if I’m 

at home during the day – Neighbours!) 

X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing – Strictly 

(but X Factor for the auditions) 

How do you unwind in the evening – Mojitos! 

Best moment in your life – having children! 

Worst moment in your life – having children! 

(We have 5 young ones between us!) 

Must-read book – anything by Dan Brown 

and 101 Ways to Sew a Metre by David & 

Charles (of course!) 


Hamble & Jemima 

T: +44 (0)1803 406 815 / 

+44 (0)7786 948 007 

E: info@hambleandjemima.co.uk 

W: www.hambleandjemima.co.uk 

98 craftfocus

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