New Stuff just in ....

A real quickie because it's New Year's Eve and I've got other stuff to be doing apart from updating the website !!!

Like sausages ? And dogs?? Then you'll love our fab new sausage dog embroidered ribbon - £1.60 a metre. Get it here

PS. All of our embroidered ribbon has now been restocked.

Are you a misfit ? No, of course you're not - but some of our felt is !! We're selling off all of our felt sheets, shapes, string and felt balls that just don't make the grade. But be quick, because when they're gone, they're gone. Find them here

2 new colours of beading elastic have been added to the site - Royal Blue & Purple. They're here

Just before Christmas we had a big felt delivery - it has all now been checked off and loaded onto the website so all of the 10x10 felt sheets are now back in stock, along with the felt string, most of the metre squares and all but 1 colour felt purses.

And that's it for THIS YEAR !!!

Wishing you all a wonderfully felty, buttony, ribbony, creative New Year !

(ps. My New Year's resolution is to learn how to speellll !)

See you in 2012 xx

MERRY CHRISTMAS !

Wishing all of our blog readers, customers, Twitter followers, Facebook fans and felt, button & ribbon addicts everywhere a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

Thank you all for your support throughout 2011 and we look forward to seeing you all in 2012 with lots of exciting news and website updates etc

With love from

The Girls at Blooming Felt xxx

Purple pants ??!!

Yesterday, on our mammoth 7 hour trek back from Cornwall, whilst stuck on that wonderful road to nowhere, the M25, I heard numerous times on the radio news that the most popular colour of knickers for men to purchase the love of their lives this year is PURPLE ! No longer is red popular (thank goodness for that !!)

So, whilst sat in a stationery traffic jam for almost 2 hours, listening to the kids bickering in the back and hubby snoring in the passenger seat, I got to wondering how many purple items we have for sale on the Blooming Felt website. These are the ones I thought of ....

Hundreds of Buttons

Felt Sheets

Felting Wool

Miles of Ribbon

Felt String (ooh - that's a crappy photo !)

Thousands of Felt Balls

Bags & Purses

And then, when I got home and actually typed the word "purple" into the search bar on the website, was stunned when I realised how many more purple things we have for sale !!

Cabochons

Felt pebbles

Felt hearts

Felt flowers (another crappy photo - sorry!)

Felt stars

Cotton Embroidery Threads

Crochet Flowers

Jumbo ric-rac

Ribbon & cord necklaces

And Beading elastic (new on the site today !)

I couldn't believe it !! It has finally dawned on me exactly how many wonderful things we have for sale on our site .... and not just in purple either !!

Actually, I think I'm liking purple ... but I don't think I'm a purple pants kind of gal !!

xx

Look what I got !!

A while back I was very lucky and got a tax rebate !!! Now, as that's not something that happens everyday I decided to treat myself. Normally, when I treat myself I buy new stock lines for the website, but this time I decided to be really selfish and get something just for me !!

I inherited a chair from my Great Aunt a number of years ago and it has sat in the corner of the sitting room with its original cover.

But a week or so ago, it went off to be covered ....... and came back looking like this

How amazing is that ??!!!!! I LOVE my new chair !!

Huge thanks go to Kelly Swallow who created the amazing design. Do check out her website and see all of the wonderful chairs and sofas Kelly has transformed. If you are lucky enough to get a tax rebate, maybe you can treat yourself too !

xx

PS. Last orders on the Blooming Felt website for Christmas delivery - 5pm this Friday 16th December. All orders after that won't be processed until MONDAY 9TH JANUARY 2012

It's a button frenzy !!

Finally, I've managed to get round to listings lots of lovely new buttons that have been sitting in boxes for ages !

All of the buttons can be found on the home page of our site

First up is a Christmas mix of buttons - available in 50g bags

Next we have a new range of the small 1cm buttons - all candy stripes and available in 6 different colourways - red, navy, baby blue, baby pink, hot pink & lemon

Then we've got 3 new "Designer" buttons - all measuring 35mm

If you saw Kirstie's Handmade Britain last week, you will know that she attempted needle felting ! And of course, on our site you will find a huge range of needle felting supplies & accessories. We've been manically busy since Kirstie's show was aired and once again this afternoon once it was repeated. Because of this, we're completely out of stock of our animal needle felting kits but fear not .... we are expecting a delivery later this week of all of the animal kits + a few new animals as well !

We're also expecting a BIG felt delivery later this week so if you're waiting on metre squares, pink & red hearts, ivory felt balls, felt stacks - they'll be here very soon. Keep an eye on the website as we're hoping they'll all be back on the site next weekend.

Want to learn how to make felt ?

Then join us at a number of felting workshops that we're running in conjunction with The Make It Room !

Felting workshops at The Make It Room are run by a lovely neighbour of mine who is an expert felter (as well as being a tutor in a number of other crafty techniques). The Make It Room is situated approximately 1 minute walk from Blooming Felt Shedquarters !

Listed below are the dates that The Make It Room are running the felting workshops. All workshops cost £25 per person and that includes all supplies needed to make the felt, along with refreshments and a finished piece to take home with you.

On a couple of dates, I will be opening the Blooming Felt Studio to anyone attending the workshops and you will be able to come in and buy any supplies you might need (along with any supplies you don't need but feel the need to buy anyway !) to kick start your new found hobby. The workshop dates and the dates when we'll be opening Blooming Felt Shedquarters are noted below :

Wednesday 30th November 10-1pm (BF Studio open after this session), 2-5pm and 6-9pm

Tuesday 6th December 10-1pm (BF Studio open after this session), 2-5pm and 6-9pm

Friday 9th December 2-5pm and 6-9pm

Friday 16th December 10-1pm

Dates for 2012 will be published soon

If you would like to pop over to the Blooming Felt Studio after those sessions indicated above, please let me know (so I can have a tidy up !) and if you would like to book on any of the felting workshops, you can either email me at info @ bloomingfelt.co.uk (remove the spaces) or contact The Make It Room directly on 01245 477152, quoting Blooming Felt.

We look forward to seeing you soon !!

xx

Even more lovely kits !!

After adding the fantastic Christmas kits (courtesy of Bagladee - go check out her site - it's FAB!), I suddenly remembered our own very lovely felt ball & buttons necklace kits that were sat lurking in a basket in the studio!

Life at Blooming Felt has been so darn busy lately that there are rather a lot of things that need doing - stock sitting in boxes waiting to be loaded onto the website, out of stock products that need re-ordering, advertising copy, blog posts, Facebook and Twitter updates, website newsletters, tutorials, getting to grips with the impending VAT issue, blah, blah, blah

So, to make a start on it all I've put our kits onto the website and am telling you about it here ... that's 2 things ticked off my list !!

Our kits make the most perfect stocking fillers for anyone remotely crafty !

All you need is a sharpish needle with a large eye (which funnily enough you can buy here) to complete the project. Available in 4 different colourways and

priced at £7 each, they're an absolute bargain !!

Be quick though because they've been showcased in the latest edition of Sew Hip and are selling ...... fast !!

xx

PS. Don't forget the VAT man wants his cut from 1st November .... stock up before our prices rise (slightly) x

Christmas Kits !!

Just a flying visit to tell you about 3 FAB new craft kits I've just added to the site.

All produced by a fantastic lady who goes by the name of Bagladee - we launched these kits at the Knitting & Stitching Show and they were very popular ! I've got just a few left so have put them on the website.

Choose from a Make your Own Felt Gingerbread Man (he's a very handsome chap !)

Felt Gingerbread House (looks good enough to eat)

and a Felt Christmas Angel (so cute)

All priced at £8.00 each and available here

Be quick - when they're gone ... they're gone

xx

Tincy, wincy, teeny, tiny ....

BUTTONS !

Look at our fab new range of teeny tiny buttons ? Available in 6 different colourways, with each button measuring 7mm and with 62 buttons per bag, that's a whole lot of teeny tinyness going on !

Also just added to the site are Navy felt sheets - both 10x10 inches and metre squares in our 4mm thick range.

(oh dear - that's a boring picture !!)

Limited numbers of the needle felting animal kits are now back on the site - these make fantastic Christmas presents if you're looking for something a little different.

The felt ball and button necklace kits will also be back on the site within the next week or so (again, these make fab Christmas pressies)

Now, listen up lovely people !!! Sadly, craft is not immune to the VAT man. And he's coming :o( He'll be here from 1st November and once he gets here I'm afraid our prices will be going up. We're going to try and absorb as much of the price increase as possible, but prices on some products will be rising. So, if you're thinking of having a bit of a spend up (particularly as it's half term next week and you might be planning on doing something crafty with your little ones), I would advise you to do it now !

Look forward to seeing you soon !

xx

Ally Pally 2011

Helloooooo !!

Well, we finally made it back from Ally Pally. I have to say, we're totally exhausted - the months of preparation before the show, the setting up, the actual show itself, the coming back and putting the studio back together and now the follow-up and processing of website orders that arrived whilst we were away .... has taken its toll. But it has been well worth it !!

We had the most fantastic time - we met so many of our existing customers, which was really lovely and now hopefully, have lots of lovely new customers as well ! I smiled everytime I heard someone say "Oh, Blooming Felt - I've bought from their website lots of times" and when you overhear conversations of people who say "Blooming Felt - they're in my favourites", and when customers actually take the time to come and say to you how much they love the website and that our customer service is great. I could have cried !! It's so lovely to know that people do appreciate all the hard work, time, care and effort we put into our business.

If you came and saw us at the show ... THANK YOU !!! If we didn't have time to chat to you - I'm so sorry. I'm sure you could appreciate how busy we were throughout the whole show. If you couldn't actually get into our stand because of the amount of people, then again, I apologise. Hopefully you will have been given one of our cards and know that you can shop in comfort in your own home !

I believe I gave one of our cards to one lady in particular. She didn't identify herself, but I understand from another stallholder that she is a very important lady in the retail world. If you are that lady and are reading this - I apologise if I didn't get to speak to you. We'd love it if you could get in touch with us and we can hopefully work together.

I also had a very interesting conversation with another lady who I'm hoping to be in touch with sometime next week. This was a very exciting conversation and I apologise to the lady concerned if I just stood there opening and closing my mouth like a goldfish !!! I was a bit overwhelmed with what was being suggested, but again, would love to speak to you and hopefully work with you in the future !

If you couldn't make it to the Show, I hope you've enjoyed the pictures I've put in this post. We were very proud of the way our stand looked and were thrilled with how good our new perspex display unit looked !! It certainly drew in the crowds !

Thank you once again to everyone for your support - we couldn't do it without you.

Normal website service will resume very soon !!!

xxx

Ally Pally Prep

Thank goodness the sun has been shining here. We have spent the last 2 days working solidly - labelling, pricing & packing lots of stock to take to Ally Pally this week.

This is "some" of the stock we'll be taking. The big question now is "will it all fit in the van ?!" Let's hope so otherwise we've had it !!!

Our fantastic new display unit finally arrived last week and after a major panic when it became apparent that the supplier hadn't sent enough connectors to put it all together, we had a dry run and found it's going to take a little bit longer than we anticipated to put it all up ! Good job we did a dry run really - I dread to think what would have happened had we not bothered and then attempted to put it all together at the show, only to find we were missing half of the bits !!

So, tomorrow will be spent finalising all the fine details, picking up the van, sorting out the kids for the next 4 days and briefing hubby on how to be mummy !

I hope some of you can make it to the show - we're on Stand M13 in the Great Hall (just behind the Button Company). You won't miss us .... we're the stand that looks like a sweet shop - jars and jars of felt balls, along with felt purses, felt bags, buttons, ribbons, felting supplies, felt sheets and loads more ! We're likely to be the most colourful stand there !!!

Please don't be fooled by other companies selling similar items - BLOOMING FELT ARE THE ORIGINAL HOME OF THE PICK AND MIX FELT BALL ..... and don't let anyone tell you otherwise !!!

Hope to see you there !!!

Sarah x

Pretty, Pretty

Well, it's Sunday evening again and here I am manically trying to get the new stuff onto the website !

This time we have lots of "pretty" things for you to get your mitts on !

First up - flat pad hairslides. Now, I know we have always done these in the silver, but guess what ? Now you can have them in yellow, pink, red & black as well ! All of these hairslides are exactly the same as the silver ones, but have been painted with lead free paint and look absolutely fantastic with bright coloured buttons and felt balls glued onto them ! Available in sets of 10 or 20.

Next on the pretty list are .......................

RIBBON NECKLACES !!

I had completely forgotten that I'd ordered these so, was super excited when I opened the box and found them. Available in 6 different colourways - red, black, hot pink, lime green, turquoise & purple - these also look extremely pretty threaded with felt balls ! I know because I made one up this afternoon ! Expect it to be on show at Ally Pally !!

And last but not least (for the moment) is a new colourway of felt ball - Duck Egg Blue. Available both plain and beaded. Boooooootiful !!!!

Oh - while I think of it - we'll be closing at 12 noon on Friday this week (30th September) until Wednesday 12th October. So, all orders placed after 12 noon on Friday, won't be processed until Wednesday 12th October. Many apologies for any inconvenience this might cause, but we need to start dismantling the studio and boxing stock up, ready to take to Ally Pally.

If I don't see you before - maybe I'll see you there !!

We're on STAND M13 in the Great Hall. The Show is open from 10am on Thursday 6th October until 5pm on Sunday 9th October.

xx

More new stuff !

Just a real quickie - it's Sunday night, I've been updating the website for the last 2 hours and I need to have my tea !

A few new bits that I've added to the website today ....

Cotton Remnant Ribbon - like the silk sari ribbon that we stock, but cotton ! It's FAB !!!

Polystyrene Cones ! Cover them in felt balls and make a felt ball Christmas Tree !

Limited Edition Colour of 10x10 inch felt sheet - Christmas Red .... while stocks last

I finally managed to get the ivory / white die cut hearts, flowers and circles on the site today as well - many, many apologies for the delay

And one last little treat for you - I've reduced the price of our 100% wool felt bags for a LIMITED TIME - now only £10 each. Grab 'em before they go up again !!

I'm hoping to get the latest newsletter out later this week, so watch your in-boxes !!

xx