what katie did next...

The new Website: www.whatkatiedidnext.co.uk we're moving, well, the blog is anyway, and a big Thank you to @bwebsites!

Well, the day I've been working towards for some time is finally near, tomorrow the new website will be up and running from around Midday!!

Anyone who has ever been involved with planning, designing and creating a website will know how much work goes into one, I had absolutely no idea prior to this project! An amazing amount of hard work has been put in by Zoe, Chris and Su from BWebsites who have all done such a fantastic job for What Katie did next... as I knew they would!

Zoe has been behind the project from the beginning, despite being heavily pregnant when we started, and giving birth to baby Abbie half way through. She has been amazing, at the end of the phone / email / Twitter whenever I needed! They have all been so patient with me, even when at times I'm sure they wanted to tear their hair out at some of my wishes. The website address is:

www.whatkatiedidnext.co.uk

So, from tomorrow, around Midday, the new address for this blog will be:

http://www.whatkatiedidnext.co.uk/blog/ 

(you can click on this to go straight there).

You'll be able to 'follow' my blog, so every time I post you will be notified, just click on the tab on the right of the page that says 'follow' with an arrow pointing at an orange and white image.

You will also be able to Tweet and promote each post on Facebook if you particularly like it!

Thank you for reading my blog, it is so lovely to hear from you and know I have the support of so many, and I look forward to seeing you 'over there!' When I started this blog way back in January, I had no idea how far it would come in such a short time!

 

 

One for the Boys!!

Having two young boys, I'm very conscious of the fact that there are so many pretty and lovely things to buy for girls, but boys can and often do get overlooked! Perhaps it's because they aren't really bothered by things in the same way as girls, or maybe it's because the designers don't really understand the wants and needs of boys.

One thing that has really upset me over the years (and I know I'm not the only one) with having two boys is the way that girls often have items with wording such as 'little princess' whereas boys are often given the option of 'little monster' or 'cheeky monkey'! I will not buy slogan clothing for my boys anyway, but I am appalled that the designers think of boys as naughty / cheeky.  

I am not a fan of stereotyping, I like people to be different, and comfortable with this. My eldest son loved Pink for such a long time, everything had to be pink; that was... until he went to school. Then he realised that boys couldn't love pink (according to his school friends) so now, he loves Red. I think it's a shame.

So, in order to redress the balance between girls and boys I made this...

 

Well, in a way I have redressed the balance in being able to buy for boys, but I had to give in a little to stereotyping when it came to the theme... my eldest has been pestering me for this in his room, despite the fact they already have two between them. I wanted to make something positive about boys because I think they're fabulous!! but, I may be a littled biased!

 

Have a great day!

Bestsellers from the Craft Fair... can you guess?

I thought I'd tell you which of my items were my bestsellers at Festival of Crafts last weekend... can you guess??

I had an inkling they would be, I love them and love making them...

 

Above and below are a few that have been placed into piles before I make them into...

 

...

 
Compact mirrors!

When I was designing and making them I was excited, I knew they were lovely (not least because I wanted them all myself!). They are made on a background of vintage French linen, it's been used and feels and looks absolutely gorgeous.The appliques are liberty prints, of various designs, oh I do love liberty prints, don't you?

So, these were the bestsellers, and do you want to know the bestselling packaging for them?

 
The boxes! Closely followed by...

 
The fabric bag!

So thank you to everyone who contributed, and funnily enough they were the winners of the poll I did on here / Facebook and Twitter, so I knew to buy extra for the Fair.

Have a great day!

Success at the Festival of Crafts show!

As you know, I have been frantically getting myself and the What Katie did next... stand ready for the Festival of Crafts show at Farnham Maltings this weekend. I came up with an idea a few weeks ago to make the stand different, and I have painstakingly put it together all by myself! When I put the stand up on Friday evening, I was so proud as all the planning came together...

 

I took a few photo's at this stage, it wasn't quite finished, I'd forgotten to bring a few bits and bob's, (but remembered them Saturday morning!)

I built the backing boards, putting the hinges on myself! I'm sure my husband thought I was quite mad when I told him my intentions to build the stand, but as I explained to him, I wanted my customers to see what the pictures look like when they're hanging on the wall.

I was going to keep the background white (I have white walls in every room) but I decided that many potential customers may have colours or patterns (or both) on their walls, and they may like to see what the pictures look like with a patterned and / or coloured background. So I ordered, and used, an enormous amount of Cole & Sons, Osborne and Little, and Cath Kidston wallpaper samples, choosing What Katie did next... brand colours, and styles I felt fitted my work and the tastes of my customers.

 

As you can imagine, I planned the stand two or three times at home, to make sure I was maximising the potential of my space.

The suitcases you can see here are just three that I have been collecting for a number of years, in fact since my early teens. I have them in all sorts of shapes and sizes, some more battered and bruised than others.

 

This one however, has a special place in my heart. It was my husband's grandfather's college case, he used it for carrying his books back and forth. On the top of the case it has his initials stamped onto it, and inside you can see the marvellous detailed pockets, these are leather too! My lovely mother-in-law saw that I had a collection of cases a few years ago and gave it to me, and I was so glad this weekend to make good use of it, the badges are displayed perfectly in it aren't they?

I had a wonderful but very tiring two days, I met a number of lovely people who have been reading my blog whom I haven't had the opportunity to speak to before, and some brilliant creative people. Lots of people signed up to receive my newsletter, and asked about me doing workshops and short courses. A lot of the other exhibitors I met were so helpful, especially when they knew it was my first big craft fair, offering pearls of wisdom and helpful hints.

And, to top it all, I had fantastic feedback about my work, and my sales surpassed my expectations quite dramatically, so overall a great success!

Have a great day!

 

I'd like your opinions please...

Firstly, I would like to start off with a great big Thank You to all the people who follow this blog, it has become apparent to me over the last few weeks how many people pop-on to see how What Katie did next... is doing - Great news!

I've been working on a range of badges and mirrors using gorgeous fabrics from Liberty's. I'm very happy with the badge packaging, so I have been spending a little time trying to source packaging for the mirrors.

I have come up with a few ideas, and I would really value your opinions on this as I have a really big craft fair coming up and I need to make sure I have enough of the most popular.

Option 1:

This is the one that is most like the packaging for the badges, however, is quite time consuming as I need to design, print and package, but fairly inexpensive. It has more details on the back, including the website.

 

Option 2:

This is an easy option as I can place a sticker on the back, and the mirrors fit quite tightly into these, so I think they would be very well protected. This option is fairly inexpensive.

 

Option 3:

This is another easy option as I can place a business card inside, however it is more expensive, but I think I would be able to absorb the cost in the price, but is it worth it?

 

Option 4:

This is another easy one for me, as I can simply place a business card inside. It is more expensive, and I would need to charge £1 to cover the box and the extra postage, so, would you pay the extra?

 

If you can imagine yourself as the purchaser and if you received it as a gift, which would be your fabourite/s? It's really easy to comment on the blog (follow the instructions below) or you can email me or send a message through Facebook "what katie did next..." or Twitter "KatieLevett"!

T