Sketches and Snippets 31st January 22
Hello! Late again, mainly due to overthinking…but look, here’s a silly pink cat!
Hope you’ve emerged from Storms Malik and Corrie unscathed. A couple of slates have come unattached from the roof and a tree came down in the local park but otherwise, everything is fine.
January
Can you believe January is finally over? I submitted my tax self-assessment on Friday afternoon and immediately felt a weight lift from my shoulders! It's taken up a ridiculous amount of my time because I canceled an online bookkeeping subscription and have been adding all the facts and figures from the last couple of tax years to spreadsheets retrospectively, fighting with excel every step of the way!
I hated it right up until I managed to print out a nice neat list of all the transactions. It looked so orderly and gave me an immense feeling of accomplishment I wasn’t expecting. I’m so glad to have figured out how to do it all eventually, with a little help from friends and my sister, and of course, I wouldn’t have got there without the aid of Google and Youtube! It’s probably something your average 10-year-old can do these days but it still felt gratifying nonetheless.
February
So what now? Back to the fun stuff, that’s what! The sewing machine will be seeing some action since a customer has asked for a replacement bunny brooch, which has gone missing after many years good service. This has happened a few times over the years and it’s always lovely to hear the stories…not the going missing part - the well-loved and well-worn part. They’re not something I generally make anymore but if I’m making one I might as well make a few for the shop since spring will be here soon (I hope) and they make lovely gifts at Easter.
Delivery News
After careful consideration, I’ve made a few changes to my Delivery Policy.
Previously, my UK delivery was free…well, it was included in the product price but as postage prices have risen it’s made pricing tricky, so I’ve introduced a low flat rate cost of £3.75 on all orders. If you spend £50 or more the delivery is free. The good news is that this has enabled me to lower some of my prices. To soften the blow further I’ve created a discount code for you, which runs until next Monday. Use FREEPOST at checkout on orders of £5 or more and delivery will be free!
The other news is that, at least for now, I’m no longer shipping orders internationally. This has been a very difficult decision to make because although I don’t send a lot of orders overseas I do have some very lovely, loyal customers who I hate to let down. Sadly, this whole Brexit fiasco has meant an added layer of red tape for sending parcels abroad. Codes based on item construction, materials by percentage, and country of origin have to be added to parcels for inspection at customs. This is fine if everything you send is identical but more of a problem when you make a wide range of art/craft items, which could fit into a number of categories. The time it takes to figure it all out is making it unworkable for my business.
Hopefully, this won’t be permanent, but for the moment I really want to thank all my international customers for your support. It’s meant so much!
Take care until next week, Julia x