Tired but happy!!

Life is starting to get back to normal after a hectic week at the Country Living Fair. It was our most successful show to date - mainly down to the new British Collection. (Thanks Lindsey for doing the designs!)
We had so many positive comments ; "so much nicer than Cath Kidston", (my fav!),  "lovely to see something fresh", "so nice to see such soft colours".....it was a huge boost to my confidence, and it wasn't just comments, the sales reflected the feedback as well. For the first time ever we have sold out of two lines; ironing board covers and peg bags. Repeat orders are already underway, but as a evangelic non ironer, I was amazed at peoples response to the ironing board. (By the way Garden Trading I think you owe me some commission - I could have sold 25 of your boards last week!).
It is a hard and tiring week, from dragging all your stock and props up two flights, to keeping your legs crossed waiting for an opportune moment to dash to the loo!
It was touch and go when we were loading up as to whether we would have to jettison some of our props, as despite having empty bags, in the rush to load the car it didn't all quite fit in the way it had when we loaded it at home! Resulting in me having to sit with the stool around my head, two bags under my feet and one on my lap - really pleased when it took ages getting out of town due to some major football match.
As always after such a hectic week, as soon as you stop your body says it needs a rest - so I am currently sneezing and sniffling at my desk! Needless to say the dog has left the room in protest to avoid the germs!
Very annoyed as I haven't had the energy to train with Sharon at BFFA this week, so missing my weekly aggression vent as well as gossip catch up!They are about to launch their new look and revamp the dojo which will look fantastic!

The only down side to being self employed is there is no one to do your work whilst you are away - although I have to admit my husband did a sterling job last week sending out orders whilst I was away, and I've not had any complaints so they must have been ok!!!

But we still have over 50 swatch cards to send out, newsletter to finish, and the horrible accounts so I'd better get on with it!

Spring Has Sprung!

It's lovely sitting in the office first thing in the morning - the sun streams through the windows, and Edgehill Escarpment shimmers in the background. Outside in the garden the first of the bulbs are peeping through, and with lighter nights it will soon be t shirt weather!
Even the bulldog has taken to sauntering around the garden more, sniffing the air - as opposed to the dash across the lawn and jog back when it's cold.

We are mainly preparing for the Country Living show this week - packing up boxes and suitcases - preparing labels, and swatch cards, and bubble wrapping props. As ever the age old question is just how much stock should we take, especially with the new additions.
A lot depends on how much we can physically stuff into the car!

I'm also catching up with Rachel Spivey this week - officially to finally drop off her long overdue stock of the new Polka Dot range - part payment for her fab photos. Unofficially because she is taking me to a new haberdashery shop that has opened in Leamington Spa - we both have big dreams of making lots of new clothes and tarting up old ones, but at the moment neither of us have got much further than talking about it! I tend to spend my evenings sewing Lavender Hearts are sticking fabric into swatch cards. Apparently the shop is stuffed with beautiful ribbons and fabric, but knowing I've got a busy few weeks ahead I must be strong and not buy too many new projects!
 

New Range finally launched!

I'm guessing you are all really fed up with hearing about our new ranges by now! But like any proud mum, after months of planning, nearly missing deadlines and errant deliveries, (more about that later), our chic new British collection finally went live on the site this week. 

All seemed ok, the first order was almost immediate, and everything seemed normal, until the lovely Nicola from Daisy Green tried to place an order for her mam for Mothers Day. She tried, and tried, and the computer kept saying no! In a mild panic I rang Philippe, from Blue Earth Solutions, but we could not see what was wrong. He could place an order ok, but I couldn't - after a few hours of trying different browsers, and even computers, my Cluedo skills came to the fore, and by a process of elimination, and step by step analysis I found the rogue element. A small little ;  - yes just a semi colon. In computer speak apparently in the wrong place its akin to a formula when typed into a sentence. Phillippe quickly removed the offending dots, and we were back on track! 

Thankfully Nicola was patient, and willing to try again - it worked, and it was resolved just in time as another two orders came through just an hour later! 

Once again, it was times like this when you realise that you really are on your own, working from home, with no help desk to call upon. But also once again, thanks to a strong network of friends / contacts,  there are ways to resolve things. 

Being a planner, I like things to run on time, and be under control, so the fact that the lorry carrying the stock had a broken axle and was being fixed somewhere in the South of France on Wednesday did nothing to soothe my frazzled nerves - luckily all has been resolved and the shipment is back on track! 

Fortunately I had requested several samples initially, so I was able to fulfil the initial orders. 

With only two weeks now before The Country Living Show, there is still lots to sort out - and as always trying to plan what stock to take and guess at likely sales levels is no easy task!

We are going to do a miniature version of the stand we had at the NEC - it had a great reaction, and showed off the new ranges brilliantly. We still have a few tickets left for the show - so if you are interested drop a note to our customer service email, with your name and address and we will get them in the post to you.