Monday 22 April 2013

The results are in....

Hi guys and gals,

Well after running my very first online survey for two weeks I now have the results.  Rather than boring you with endless stats have pulled together an infographic.....


These are the highlights, but once I have figured out a way to add a pdf file to my blog with all the results I will add more in depth information for those that want it. 

So, what does this mean for Water Lily Wishes?  Well it was good to see that our pricing and focus on the type of cards was right, however what did surprise me was that none of those responding, bought their cards online and very few bought them at craft or farmers markets.  These are the two arenas that Water Lily Wishes cards are sold, so it's certainly triggered some thinking! 

Watch this space for some new ideas and the look and feel of our "brand" will be changing slightly too. 

Until next time...

Amanda xx

Monday 15 April 2013

Buy Handmade Gifts..... for the garden

Good morning everyone!

How exciting, it looks like spring is finally gracing us with it's presence!  I can imagine people were flocking to their gardens and parks so I decided that I would start the handmade gift series again with a garden inspiration.

Please note that I have not included the postage prices on these and where I have linked to Etsy stores the prices are approximate given from their currency converter! 



The birds and the bees, wild thyme

 A beautiful bird box and bee hotel available from Wudwerx
 £34.95
 
Picture courtesy of Wudwerx's folksy store.


Malaysian oak planter (reclaimed)
 
 Unique oak planter available from Arte Provera Crafts
£23

Picture courtesy of Arte Provera Craft's folksy store


Ceramic vegetable markers

A great way to keep track of your vegetable plot with these cute markers available from Juliet Reeves Designs
£9.99

Picture courtesy of Juliet Reeves Designs' folksy store


Night gardening lanterns

Solar powered hanging lanterns available from Treasure Again
£22

Picture courtesy of Treasure Again's Etsy store


Garden dibber

As a non gardener I had never come across one of these before, but I am informed that they are great for planting seeds and bulbs.  This one is available from Crochettess
£10

Picture courtesy of Crochettess' Etsy store


Vintage boot scraper

You certainly wouldn't mind muddy boots if you could clean them on this pretty scraper, available from Reudes Trouvailles 
£56.95

Picture courtesy of Reudes Trouvailles' Etsy store


Gardening kit

This is a cute little kit with all you need to start growing plants available from Roses and Raspberries
£10.69

Picture courtesy of Roses and Raspberries' Etsy store


A garden metal bird called Bob

This would be a cute addition to any garden post and is available from Down to Earth
£19.95

Picture courtesy of Down To Earth's Folksy store


Wine bottle garden planter

A great way to showcase plants available from Bottle Gardens
£13

Picture courtesy of Bottle Gardens' Etsy store


Ceramic wind chimes

Listen to the therapeutic sound of wind chimes hanging from a tree in your garden, available from Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics
£26

Picture courtesy of Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics' Folksy store

Well I hope you've liked my little selection!  Enjoy the sunshine and here's hoping it lasts.

Until next time
 Amanda xx

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Water Lily Wishes - refresh, rebrand and research!

Good morning!

So there are lots going on in the background world of Water Lily Wishes at the moment, I have started a quest to refresh and rebrand the business after a few months off with other commitments.  The creative mojo is back!

We've (myself and the other half) started by going through all of the designs and really going through what works and what doesn't.  Whilst I love all thedesigns the creative range is going to become more consistent and as a result means there will be a fantastic summer end of range sale!  More details on this to follow.

One of the other passions in my life is photography and I have to admit, I was a bit unhappy with the photographs I had of my cards, so I am slowly taking new photos to really showcase the designs.  These are being added to our Folksy shop and Facebook page as they're taken and resized.


Vintage Sewing - £3.00 available in our Folksy store


The next big thing for this refresh is to really understand why people (you!) buy cards, where do you get them, how much do you spend?  So I've put together a really short survey to try and capture all that.  This is where I need you, please go and take part in our survey by clicking here

Thank you - it's really important to me to become more business savy and design cards not only that I love but that other people do too! 


Jungle Fun "one" - £2.25 from our Folksy shop


The final thing that will be getting a refresh is the blog, I feel bad that it's been neglected for such a long time, my new job took some adjusting to but I'm now back in the swing of things and have been taking photos of various crafts I've done.  Look out for new tutorials.

And last but by no means least.....  Pinterest! I have fallen in love with pinterest and have been pinning to my hearts content, please stop by and if you like what you see follow the boards!  If you're not a member of Pinterest you can view my boards and pins through the facebook page.

So, as you can see, lots of change and I wouldn't be able to do any of this without the support of H2B (wedding is creeping up on us now!!). 

Until next time
Amanda xx