Royal Mail and their wonderful price hike!

Just a quick one while I dash in and dash out, just to say that I have decided that instead of trying to work out all the price increases being imposed by Royal Mail (strangling small businesses!). I will now be offering free delivery on everything. It took some deliberating, umming and ahhhing, but finally decided that I love what I do and I do it because I love it and I hope people love my bags too. The UK's economic state is not great and for the time being I am going to swallow the cost of postage. 

 

So what you see on my website is what you will pay, nothing more! And I will throw gift wrapping in there too :)

Oooh and the pretty photo above is of some new design cosmetic pouches which will be available next week.

Mini's

I just had to post another photo of the new Mini clutches. With a 6" frame they sit perfect in the palm of your hand, they are talker than the larger clutch and are so roomy inside. This is my favourite fabric at the moment. Trying to get my little mits on some more so that I can make myself a Saddle bag. Hopefully they will be added to the website this weekend.

BCTF 2012

Sorry for the delay in posting photos of BCTF, we've had no Internet since we returned. Very frustrating indeed. Anyway, we had a fab 3 days in Harrogate, the show was surprisingly busy. A lot of us designer/makers were expecting things to be a little quieter this year due to the depressing state of our economy at the moment. But in fact it was quite the opposite, there were lots of visitors, a large amount of these being buyers and a positive review of the high standard of crafts at this years show.

We tweaked the stand this year, keeping the fireplace (which again for the 3rd time travelled with us strapped to the roof of my little Ford Fiesta....hilarious sight to see) and the side cabinets but painting them a demure grey and changed the antlers to frames. My very talented other half came up with the idea of decals and little hooks which made the bags look like they were floating in the frames. He's a little diamond, bless him :)

New to my collection this year was the introduction of these Bridal bags, a large version for a bride or matron of honour/head bridesmaid and a little purse for little bridesmaids. These can be ordered in any colour duchess satin to match a wedding theme. However I did take an order for a set in black satin for evening bags so they are very versatile.

I also revamped he design of the cosmetic pouches, they now have a sweet little bow adorned with a button, which means they can now be machine washed at 30 degrees, something that was asked for by a previous customer. With this redesign there is more of a cohesion with the entire collection now.

It was so lovely to catch up with everyone, including getting the chance to meet my new Twitter friends in the flesh. As always BCTF is always a friendly show, everyone offers support and encouragement to each other, its like a huge crafty family.

I was sad to pack up, which included ripping of the decals of the frames and throwing them in the bin :( they were worth it though, very effective in bringing a little drama to my stand.

I now have a busy month ahead of fulfilling orders and following up new contacts.

Day 1 & 2

Day 2 over, another good day with lots of visitors. 2 New shops to stock. A long side the Bridal range on my stand I also have these cute new design purses.

Will be adding these to the websie once I return from the show.

We've arrived

At long last we're settled in at the hotel after quite a long day. The stand is all set up with just the bags to add in the morning. I've already managed to catch up with a few familiar faces and plan on having a good old mooch around first thing in the morning.

In addition to lots of new clutches I will be showcasing these gorgeous bags for my new Bridal range, available will be a large clutch, a mini clutch (not pictured) and this gorgeous little purse, perfect for little bridesmaids.

Now its time for a good meal (from the pub next door) a couple of well earned drinks then an early'ish night ready for the first day of the show tomorrow. If you're coming along to BCTF please come by stand 249 and say Hello. I will try and post some pictures of my stand tomorrow.

M.I.A

Missing in action.....nope I'm still here.

And at last I am done, 27 bags all finished and ready to be packed up to travel to The British Craft Trade Fair. This time last year I was still frantically sewing away thinking I'd never be finished. This year everything is streamlined down. 2 versions of clutch bag, new purses, new cosmetic pouches, saddle bags and a new bridal range.

The trade fair will also bring in some new changes to Bagladee, which will be added to the website once I am back and unpacked. Lots of news to come.....Stay tuned :D

Meeting Theo Paphitis - SBS Winners Event

Yes this is me with the very lovely Mr.P! I am a huge fan of Dragons Den (especially Mr.P) but not once since making my very first bag did I ever think I would be stood within 20ft of Theo let alone posing for a photo holding my #SBS Winners certificate. If you didn't know, back in August I entered Small Business Sunday run by Theo on Twitter and won.

So on Friday we travelled up to Birmingham to attend the very first #SBS Winners Meeting. As soon as we pulled into the car park at Edgebaston Stadium I spotted Theo's Maybach!! The Chrome Mobile as he has aptly named it. Couldn't resist having my photo taken beside it :)

Walking in I wasn't sure what to expect but knew that there were a couple of people whom I'd met on Twitter but not in the flesh. So as we all mingled in the conference room we played the 'read the name badge' game.

Luckily enough we were stood just by the door (C and I, or Mr.Bagladee as he is slowly being referred to now) and as Theo walked through into the conference hall he stopped briefly to chat to a couple of people. One of them being me :D I introduced myself as Bagladee who made the 'Theo' Gingerbread men and straight away he said 'Oh yes, they were delicious' we both chuckled and he thanked me, said his girls loved them, that they had them on the tree and they are now safely packed away for next Christmas. He shook my hand and then shook C's too (which he was sooo chuffed about).

In the conference hall Theo gave the most inspirational and extremely warm and funny talk. He is such a genuine down to earth man. He talked about how and when SBS started and how surprised he was that it has grown to what it has now become. Theo then with the help of Chris Wheeler (also an SBS Winner) unveiled the Official SBS Website and what it will do for past present and future Winners. The whole point of SBS which Theo pointed out was not to 'endorse' our businesses but to give us all a platform to shine, the rest of the hard work is up to us. And rightly so! After that he took a Q&A session which was very entertaining and very insightful, some swearing included which made us all belly laugh. He even asked our opinions of SBS and the new website and what we would like to see from it all. At the end Theo received a standing ovation.

I'm sure I speak for all the winners when I say we thank him (and his team) from the bottom of our hearts for giving his time and dedication to SBS and the very special event he held for us all. He has created a commiunity of small business that will go on to support each other. The whole event was sponsored by Ryman's the Stationers and we even got a little goody bag when we left.

After the seminar we were each given the opportunity to have our Official photo taken with Theo holding our Winners Certificates (top photo). He was very charming and funny. 

I am going to treasure my photo and certificate for a very long time. I'm a small independent designer/maker who works hard and this moment so far has to be the highlight. It will be very exciting to see what will happen next for SBS Winners. So if you have a small business and haven't entered Theo's Small Business Sunday what are you waiting for!!! Get to it!!! You could be at the next meeting!!

Thank you Theo!!!