WE'VE MOVED !!!

In a bid to keep everything in one place, and in the hope that it might be a bit easier to maintain, our blog has now moved onto our website.

You can find all the latest news from Blooming Felt Shedquarters here

We try to update it on a weekly basis, along with our Facebook page, Twitter account and Pinterest account.

Come visit .... we'd love to see you !!

Exciting News !

Remember, ages ago, I said we had some exciting news in the pipeline ??

Well, I can finally reveal what it is !  If you're one of our followers on Facebook or Twitter - you can switch off now because you will have already seen this news when I announced it earlier this week.  BUT, if you don't use either of those things social media type thingy's, then I'm REALLY excited to tell you that Blooming Felt are writing a BOOK !!!

I can't tell you how excited I am !!  I'm stunned that the publishing company that approached us at Ally Pally last year, want to work with us to produce a book stuffed to the gills with projects all designed and made by Blooming Felt !

I am even more stunned to think that in little over a year's time, there will be a book on the shelves of fantastic bookstores such as Waterstones, Foyles (and hopefully, lots of lovely independent bookstores) as well as online through Amazon, with my name on it !  It's bonkers, it really is !!!

We're hopeful that we can combine the launch of the book with next year's Knitting & Stitching Show so that we can sell copies of the book at the show and I might even sign a few !!!  

Form an orderly queue now !!

xx

PS.  We're a bit stuck with choosing a name for the book.  So, if you fancy being in with a chance of winning a signed copy, all you need to do is make some suggestions for the name.  I'll be taking all of the suggestions along to the publishers on the 28th June, and if we pick the name you suggested, you'll be getting a signed copy of our book once it's published next year !!!  Get your thinking caps on and leave your suggestions as a comment to this post please  xx

Friday Freebie !

Just a real quick post as it's half term and I've got 2 little ladies running about, talking in American accents and demanding that I put the Princess & the Frog on !

It's been a long time coming, but I have finally managed to upload a new tutorial to the website.  It's a felt desk tidy / bits & bobs box tutorial and you can download it for FREE from the Blooming Felt website here.

I do apologise the amount of time that it has taken to get a new tutorial up on the site, but I've had a very good reason, I promise !  And I'll be back next week to tell you all about that reason ..

Have a great weekend 

xx

A little bit of this and that ... part 2 !

Following up on last weekend's post about some of the stuff that I got up (that wasn't work related), I thought you might like to see what I've been up to this week !

My children's school will be having a Jubilee Street Party (in the playground) this Friday and all of the children need to dress up as either Kings or Queens or in red, white & blue (as you do !)  The smaller children have been asked to make a crown to wear on the day, and there will be prizes for the best crowns.  Here's our entry ...

How handy that I happen to run a craft supplies business !

I'm thinking that maybe it looks more like a Pope type of hat - but hey, it's the taking part that counts !!

Now - I'm afraid that I can't let this blog post be published with at least some news of what's new on the website !

This week we took delivery of a FAB new range of buttons !  We've got ...

JUMBO buttons - measuring a whopping 83mm 

Cute Scottie Dog buttons

Fun Flower buttons

and

Beautiful Bow buttons !

Also, we've managed to restock the bucket bags that we trialled a little while ago.  Now available in 8 different colours (the same as our purses), they're perfect for embellishing with needle-felted designs, buttons, ribbons, felt flowers and loads of other stuff.

 

Keep enjoying the sunshine peeps !

A little bit of this and that !

Today I thought I'd do a blog post about what I've been up to, rather than boring you all with what's new on the website.  

Don't get me wrong, I love telling you about everything that's going on with Blooming Felt (and I do have some VERY exciting news that I need to tell you about soon), but sometimes it's nice to read about what people get up to outside of the "day job" !

So, this weekend I needed to drop a couple of orders off to local customers (service with a smile and all that!) and on the way back home, decided to pop into a Craft & Antiques Centre in Battlesbridge.  It turned out they had a Vintage & Makers Market on at the same time

 Lots of classic cars were parked up at the back, along with the most fantastic 50's music blaring out of loud speakers - I felt like I'd stepped into the Grease film set !

Whilst in the marquee I spied one of my very lovely customers, Claire of Beautiful Things by Claire Mackaness (that's Claire at the back - Grace is doing her modelling thang at the front!)

So, after having a chat with her and treating ourselves to a couple of her lovely goodies, Grace and I took ourselves off and had a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake .... as you do !

Mr Postman also delivered these 2 books this morning (is it wrong to get totally over-excited about books ?)

If you're a regular reader of this blog you'll know that I'm looking to do up our sitting room this summer, so these books will provide lots of inspiration.  They're what Ally Pally Ali calls "coffee table" books !  Well, seeing as how I don't have a coffee table, they'll be my "bedside table" books instead !!  

So, that was my Saturday.  Sunday news tomorrow !!

Welcome to the Farmyard !

This little piggy went to market ... but got lost along the way.  

He somehow managed to find himself in a little box in Blooming Felt's Shedquarters and is now looking for a new home !

Chick, chick, chick, chick, chicken ... lay a little egg for me !  

This pair have also found their way into our Shedquarters and they too are looking for new homes !!

Come see our little farmyard animals - available to buy in our Craft Kits section (NB.  You'll be buying the kit ... not the finished articles - it's up to you to make them all your own !!)

xx

Postage increases - BOO, HISS !!

Yes folks - it has happened.  Royal  Mail have, as promised, increased their postage costs which does of course, unfortunately mean that online retailers such as me have to also increase our postage costs because if you don't, you lose money (not that I make any money on postage at all), but if you do ... you risk losing customers.

So, after a lot of umming and ahhing I had to take the decision to increase our postage costs in line with Royal Mail's increases.

There is good news though !  We now have a 2-tier band of postage costs.  If your order value is up to £9.99, then you'll still get our low FIRST CLASS postage rate of £2.25.  If your order value comes in between £10 and £49.99, then you'll pay a flat rate of £3.50 for First Class delivery.  And if your order value is £50 and over, you'll get FREE delivery !  And of course, EVERYONE is eligible to get Loyalty Points on all orders placed with us (you just need to make sure you've set up a little account thingy with us).

So maybe it's not so bad after all ?

Right - that's the boring stuff out of the way !  Today at Shedquarters (on top of despatching all of your lovely goodies), we've been thinking about that word that begins with C.

I know, I know, I can hear you shouting now.  But really ... in the crafty world of buttons, ribbons and all things felty, you really do have to start thinking about these things now !!  The other reason we've been thinking about this particular event is because once again, we'll be exhibiting at the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in London in October and all of those lovely customers LOVE to see our  ideas and stuff to make for Christmas !!  (more about Ally Pally in another blog post though)


We think we've pretty much got our ideas sorted out - now we just need to make up some samples and check they're going to actually work, before placing orders with our suppliers for all of the components needed to put into the kits !

Oooh - one other thing I wanted to tell you about .....  Alongside our Facebook and Twitter pages, we have also signed up to "Pinterest".

 If you're unaware of this particular website, it's a sort of giant pinboard where you can "pin" photos of all of your favourite stuff !  It's really good !!  Why not pop along to our page and see what's inspiring us right now ?  www.pinterest.com/bloomingfelt . You can also "pin" any of our products to your own boards direct from our website - just click on the "pin it" button beneath the product descriptions !  This is a great little tool if you want to share your own likes, inspirations, remind yourself of where you've seen stuff.  Go and try out it ... but be warned, it's a bit addictive !!

What news ??

Well hello there lovely people !

I'm so sorry the blog posts have been a bit sparse lately. The Easter holidays meant it was time for my own family holiday to the USA for 3 whole weeks !! We were lucky bunnies and were able to spend the whole of the school holidays with my parents in Florida. Taking the chance to completely relax and not having to keep a constant check on the website, emails etc was a real treat.

Fortunately for me, I have 2 wonderful ladies that work with me and who were able to hold the fort whilst I was away so I knew that Blooming Felt was in safe hands, and I didn't have to worry about a thing.

But now, of course, it's back to normal. Wading through the pile of paperwork along with a VAT return once I got back was no mean feat. And of course, finding that we were low on quite a few of our lovely goodies meant lots of stock re-ordering. Fortunately, most of the out of stock items have now been re-ordered and should be back very soon. So if you're waiting for any of the Woolpets kits keep an eye on our blog / Facebook page / Twitter feed and you'll be one of the first to know when they're back. We'll also be introducing 2 new kits to our little Woolpets menagere !

So, what other news?

Well, whilst I was away, LOTS of new goodies arrived at Shedquarters. Here's a little taster of what we've added to the site over the last week or so ....

They're all now loaded onto the site (see them in the "Just Arrived" section) and are ready to go to new homes.

Sadly, Royal Mail have decided to hike their prices by a considerable amount. Because of this we will, unfortunately, be having to increase our own prices slightly and will let you know the new prices shortly. In the meantime, take advantage of our current low 1ST CLASS postage cost (a number of companies will try to tempt you to them by offering a lower postage rate, but you'll find that it's a 2nd class postage service which can take up to 4 days to get to you, and of course, we all want to receive our goodies asap don't we, so don't bother with offers like that !). Don't forget that if you register with our website, you'll also be eligible to receive Loyalty Points on your purchases with us. These loyalty points can then be used against future orders with us - it's just our little way of saying "thank you for shopping with us".

Other exciting news is that we have, this month, been featured in both Let's Make Cards magazine - we were the Guest Expert for all things FELT related and there is also a fabulous 2 page feature in Simply Homemade magazine showcasing a number of our felt products. We are very pleased to be partnering with Simply Homemade and you'll be seeing quite a few of our products within their pages over the coming months.

So - where have you been featured ? Do please let us know - we'd love to hear about it

xxx

A little bit of Pomp & Ceremony !

If there's one thing we Brits know how to do, it's how to put on a show. And as the eyes of the World will be on us this Summer we need to show them why we're called GREAT Britain !!

From our iconic Guards in their bearskins that can been seen guarding Buckingham Palace

to black cabs, red London buses, our fantastic Union Jack flag

all of these things make us feel proud to be British

and the thousands of visitors to London this summer for both the Jubilee and the Olympics will be wanting to see these icons in all their glory !

Are you ready to celebrate ??

We are !!

Check out our fantastic new Jubilee & Olympics section on the website. It's stuffed FULL with all the supplies you could want to make celebrating this year absolutely fantastic. From red, white & blue goody bags, to Union Jack Ribbons and pompom trim - we've got the lot !

We've also placed all of our usual red, white & blue supplies into this section as well so if you're looking for a red purse to decorate with a blue flower complete with navy & white spotty button in the centre ... you'll find everything you need in one place !

Get crafting now so that you're ahead of the crowds and have your flags, bunting, corsages etc. all ready and waiting for the big events this summer !!

Great Britain needs

YOU

xx

Check ... them ... out !!!

More new goodies ..............

Buttons Galore

Tins of pins !!!

New colourway of Merino Wool - ANIMAL !!!!

and ... perfect for Easter ... a fab new needle felting Easter Bunnies Kit !

If you have trouble with the links not working by clicking on the pictures - you can find all of our new products here

See you soon xx

New Goodies !!!

We've had rather a lot of lovely new products come into the Shedquarters over the last week or so (with more still to come) and I've been busy photographing and getting it all uploaded to the site. Here they all are .......

Cute little ribbon bows - £4 for a mix of 20

Fabric Covered Buttons - £4 for a set of 12 (6 different colourways to choose from)

Mini Felt Rolls - 6 sheets of wool mix felt sheets - available in 5 different colourways - £9.50

Hairbands - sets of 5 - available in either brights or pastels - £5 a set

Rolls of Wonder Under (aka Wunderweb / Vilene / Bondaweb) - 180cm x 43cm rolls

£8.50 a roll

Blimey I've been a busy bunny !!!!

ps. You can see a full list of our latest products here including our new range of Liberty Print bias binding & cover buttons

xx

Bow-peep !

Look what arrived at BF Shedquarters this week ?

Fantastic new ribbon bows, available in 3 different colourways - blues

pinks

and springtime

Priced at just £2.20 for 20 bows - they're all ready and waiting to be snapped up here

We're expecting lots more fantastic new products within the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled !

Oh, and don't forget - we're giving away 10 free loyalty points for every product review you leave on the website (and that gets published)

xx

Planning a romantic meal for Valentine's Day ?

If you are, then why not make it extra special and make your own candle wreath holder, felt heart coasters and felt napkin rings ?

If you fancy giving this a go (it's really, really easy !) then you can download a copy of the Tutorials for FREE from our website !

They're on there NOW !!!

The new website is here !

Hurrah !!!

After a very loooooooooong time, our new website is finally here. Well, I say "new website" - to everyone at Blooming Felt Shedquarters it is a "new website". To our customers, it probably looks exactly the same, but look closely felt fans and you'll see some fantastic new features have appeared !

New features like "Create an Account".

"What will happen if I create an account?" I hear you ask. Well, if you create an account with us then you'll be eligible to receive Loyalty Points on all of your Blooming Felt purchases ! And what do Loyalty Points make? They make a nice little stash of money that can be redeemed against future purchases with us ! It's just our way of saying THANK YOU for shopping with us. We really do appreciate it ! Full details of our Loyalty Scheme can be found here

We'll be giving away BONUS Loyalty Points for different occasions. The first will be to anyone who leaves a Product Review for any of our products, and that we publish. Don't forget though, you need to Create an Account to be eligible for Loyalty Points. We cannot, unfortunately, award Loyalty Points retrospectively. You have been warned !

So, "What else is new?" I hear you cry !

Oh, where to start ?!!!

Create an Account with us and you can set up a "Wish List" of all of your favourite Blooming Felt goodies. Store your favs in your wishlist and then, when it's Christmas or birthday or anniversary, or "I'm having a bad day and need to treat myself" or "I'm sorry I'm such a mean person" time, you can give people the link to our website, along with your email address and they can see exactly what's on your wishlist and then buy it for you !!!!! How cool is that ?!!

And if, for whatever reason, they don't look at your wishlist (some men are like that I know), they can always buy you a GIFT VOUCHER !!!!!!!! Or, you can buy someone else a Gift Voucher if you fancy ! We can email you the voucher for you to print out and give in person to the lucky recipient or, you can have it emailed directly to that lucky person by inputting all of their email details, along with a lovely little note from yourself.

If, heaven forbid, something that you want to buy is out of stock (I know, sometimes it happens) then you can click on the "email me when back in stock" link and that's just what we'll do ! You'll get a jaunty little email from us and then you can go spend your hard-earned pennies on the stuff you've been patiently waiting for, and of course, earn LOYALTY POINTS on it.

Now, at Blooming Felt Shedquarters we luuuuurve Craft Books. The problem we have is that there are so many craft books that we love, we just don't have the space to stock them all. The other thing is that Amazon likes to sell all of our favourite craft books at way below the RRP, and at way below what we would be able to sell them for. So, in order to combine our love of craft books with Amazon's super-cheap prices, we have created a Blooming Felt Bookstore !!

Go to the Craft Books section on our website and you'll see all of the recommendations from the Girls here at Blooming Felt. If you want to buy any of those fantastic recommendations, just add them to your shopping cart. NOTE: These books will be added to your AMAZON shopping cart and not your Blooming Felt shopping cart. You can then purchase and pay for your selected books through Amazon, take advantage of their low prices and, in most cases, free shipping direct from Amazon. The other thing you need to be aware of is that sadly, you cannot collect Loyalty Points on Craft Books purchased through Amazon. I mean, come on ... you're getting cheap prices and free shipping !!

More new features will be added to our site on a fairly regular basis and we'll keep you updated as to when these happen. In the meantime, we hope the new features mentioned above will make shopping with us even more exciting ! There might be a few blips in the system to begin with so please bear with us - we'll be keeping a very close eye on the website for any problems and would appreciate your feedback with regards to any problems you do experience, any also any feedback about how the site looks / feels / works.

And finally, something you might want to double check. If you've got us, or any of our products saved in your favourites or bookmarks, please delete them and resave them from our new website. Even though we look pretty much the same, we aren't ! Behind the scenes, elves have been working away and this means that links that were saved previously ie. before 20th January 2012, won't work. So do please clear your caches, browsers, temporary internet files, favourites & bookmarks, of any links to us and then resave them from the new site.

So, I think we've taken up enough of your time reading this - hopefully you're itching to get onto the new site and see what all the excitement is about.

Off you go then .........

www.bloomingfelt.co.uk