Flatrate Mainland UK Postage now just £5.95 @ www.thekraftylady.co.uk

Hail Facebookers, bloggers, Twits & Fans!

I’d like to announce that we have finally caught up with other online stores and are finally able to offer flat rate mainland UK postage at just £5.95. That means you can buy as much, (or as little) as you’d like and the postage cost will always be the same. Much easier!

We’re also opening up more payment options for you, so for those of you who don’t like paying via PayPal, (even though you don’t need an account to make a secure payment), you will be able to choose from a range of payment options such as BACS and Google Checkout, (as well as PayPal). This will *hopefully* be available in the next few weeks. As we use PayPal we are already using a secure payment server, however you’ll notice that as we get new payment options on the checkout we’ll also be getting an SSL certificate (the little padlock that appears beside a secure transaction) to reassure you lovely people that all of the transactions we make are kept totally secure with the new payment options.

We will be updating the website too over the next few months so keep an eye out for a redesign. All the changes will be small but will hopefully make your shopping experience all the better, and will also make the website easier on the eye! As always, we’d love to take your suggestions because it’s your shop. We have learned so much over the past year the shop can only get better and better!

You may also have heard that we will not be taking part in the London Bridges Walk for Kidney Research UK this year. The recession has hit everyone hard, (including us!) so we’ve only managed to raise a feeble £20 even though we have been fundraising since January. Because of this, we have decided that we will donate the money we would have spent on travelling to the kidney walk and buying food in London etc. (about £70) to Kidney Research UK through our sponsorship page, as we feel that the money would be better spent going directly to them rather than being spent on us getting to the walk! You can still help though; you can make a donation at:http://www.kidneyresearchuk.org or through our sponsorship page: http://www.kidneyresearchukevents.org/thekraftylady but please remember we will not be attending the walk so this will be a donation not sponsorship!

Once again we want to thank you for your support and custom – especially this year when we are all trying to save our money for necessities; it’s great to know we’re still wanted! 🙂

Have a great time at any festivals you may be attending, stay safe, and we’ll catch up a bit later on in the Summer!
Rock on!

Viki and Paul

www.thekraftylady.co.uk
www.thekraftylady.com
www.thekraftylady.fr

Fairtrade Fortnight & 10% OFF @ www.thekraftylady.com!

I hope you’re well and are enjoying 2009 so far 🙂 It’s turned out to be quite a busy year for The Krafty Lady – hence the reason we haven’t sent an update out for a while! I’m sitting in my lovely new organised office now, so it’s looking to be a good year! 😀

I just wanted to tell you about Fairtrade Fortnight which is taking place over the next couple of weeks. You can find out about all sorts of cool events going on in your part of the world by logging on to http://www.fairtrade.org.uk and going along to take part. We’re also joining in by offering 10% discount when you spend just £5.00 or more during Fairtrade Fortnight at http://www.thekraftylady.com, http://www.thekraftylady.co.uk, or http://www.thekraftylady.fr . Just type the following code in at the promo code box on checkout and 10% will be magically deducted from the total!

Promo Code: KRAFTYFAIRTRADE

I’m currently listing all sorts of exciting new Fair Trade products, including bags, wallets, hats… and even poi! And you may haave noticed the body jewellery section is looking a bit low – keep checking back over the next couple of weeks for some fantastic new products and ranges! There’s lots to be excited about.

Also please keep an eye out for our ad and promo code in the new Festival Guide which is out in May, and we’ll once again be donning the purple shirts to take part in the London Bridges Walk for Kidney Research UK in July; a 7 mile walk which takes us over the bridges of London – hopefully with better weather this year, although it still didn’t put us off! See our Gallery Page for photos of last year’s event, and if you’re feeling generous please go to: https://www.kidneyresearchukevents.org/profile.aspx?a=1705436132410025504 and sponsor us; the money goes directly to Kidney Research and you can even Gift Aid your donation to make it more worthwhile. We want to thank everyone that sponsored us last year – we raised over £300 for Kidney Research UK, and plan to beat that with £500 this year! 🙂

So that about wraps it all up for now – we’ll be in touch very soon with more updates, but in the meantime thanks for sticking with us and have a fabulous Fairtrade Fortnight!

Viki and Paul

The Krafty Lady January Sale Clearout Thingymabob!

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Yay for 2009! I hope it has been treating you all very well so far…

Secondly, SALE! Yup, we’re having a major clearout at the shop (www.thekraftylady.com www.thekraftylady.co.uk www.thekraftylady.fr) to make some room for the really funky Fair Trade items we’ve been promising to get more of. There’s lots of great bargains to be had, and it must all go so we can get the new bits in – it’s really exciting!

http://www.thekraftylady.co.uk/specials.php

 

The festive season saw most of our cool scarves, hats and gloves sold out; I’ve been searching for more but everyone’s in the same boat – it seems Fair Trade is becoming even more popular which is fantastic! We will be getting new stock very soon, so please keep popping back for more surprises:-)

Enjoy browsing through our sale items or simply having a click about the shop, and we look forward to seeing you in the shop in 2009!

Viki & Paul xxx

VAT Discount @ www.thekraftylady.com

Hello!

I hope you are well. Wow, the 1st of December already – time has really flown by this year! And of course, today the VAT rate has been reduced making shopping a more pleasant experience throughout December! 🙂

At The Krafty Lady we do not meet the VAT threshold, and we pass those huge savings on to all of our customers every day – because we don’t pay VAT, neither do you. But, to keep inline with new lower VAT rate, and because we value all of our customers, we have provided a 2.5% discount code which you can find on the front page of the shop, or at the bottom of this email. You simply type it in to the Promo Code box at checkout and it will automatically be deducted for you!

You can find out more about why we don’t pay VAT on our VAT page, in the right-hand column of our website.

We’ll be in touch again before the festivities begin, but in the meantime have a fantastic December and happy shopping! 🙂

Viki and Paul

PROMO CODE: VATOFF

A Special Discount for 10,000+ Hits!

WOW! I can’t believe that out WordPress blog has now had over 10,000 hits! Thanks so much to everyone who pops by to keep up-to-date with all the news, it’s great to know that there are people listening! 🙂

As a thanks we’ve put together this special 10% discount code just for our blog readers (because you’re all lovely). Just spend £5.00 or more and type the follwing code into the promo box at the checkout and 10% will automatically be deducted from your order until 23/12/08!

PROMO CODE TO TYPE IN AT CHECKOUT:   KRAFTYWORD10

There are some really nice items in the shop at the moment, including our wind-powered cards, new Fairtrade ranges and some beautiful jewellery such as our Tibetan range and our Italian-style glass necklaces. Plus, of course, our awesome body jewellery and ear stretcher range which just keeps getting bigger and bigger (I can’t stop finding cool additons to add to them!). And PLEASE check out the awesome hats!!!!!!!! 😀

And don’t forget if you need any ear stretching advice at all it’s all totally free! Just post a comment on the wordpress blog with your question or email it to: sales@thekraftylady.co.uk and I’ll get back to you asap – if it’s urgent, mark it so, number one!

And in case any of you are interested in anything other than the discount code (  ;-D  ), then here’s an updated list of all the websites you can find us on now!

www.thekraftylady.com – Our main website

www.thekraftylady.co.uk – For the U.K.

www.thekraftylady.fr – For France

www.youtube.com/thekraftylady – Our Youtube Video Channel!

www.myspace.com/thekraftylady – Add us on MySpace for more discount codes and offers

http://thekraftylady.blogspot.com – Check out our blog at Blogspot

https://thekraftylady.wordpress.com – Our most popular blog – WordPress!

http://thekraftylady.ning.com – Our very own social network – find people just like you!

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=107959778257603214112.00000113071ac5bf39ad9 – Check out our ‘Tour of the World’ on Googlemaps; some weird stuff, some cool stuff, and some famous stuff. The world as you’ve never seen it before! (And has already had nearly 3,000 views!)

http://thekraftylady.spaces.live.com/default.aspx – Add us on Windows Live for more promo codes and offers

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/group.php?gid=6972015780&ref=ts – Join our Facebook group (more discount codes!)

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/pages/Ashford-United-Kingdom/The-Krafty-Lady/7171183054?ref=ts – Become a fan on Facebook and we will love you forever. Oh, and more discount codes! ;-D

 

Thanks again guys and girlies – we look forward to seeing you around and about on the internet, hope you’ll come and visit us soon!

 

Until next time…………….

Nope, We HAVEN’T Closed! Back Online This Week! :-)

Hey all!

Hello!

Wow, it seems like ages ago I started doing a complete overhaul of the shop, but it was actually only a week…. 🙂 Anyway, just to keep you lovely wonderful amazing people updated on the situation, we WILL be back online this week.

Basically, we are desperate to sell more Fair Trade items, because everyone seems to love them, we love them, and they’re really cool products; so you’re going to see a lot more of them in the next couple of months.

Our jewellery section is also expanding – the new stock is coming in over the next couple of days and I’m almost wetting my pants I’m so excited! There’s some really nice pieces.

We will, of course, still be doing body jewellery and ear stretchers – in fact, we’re going all-out and expanding the section, so they’ll be a lot more choice, including larger size stretchers, gemstone stretchers and some other cool surprises!

And our Witchcraft/Spiritual section is also expanding – there are some really nice handmade wands going in, plus lots more which I don’t want to reveal because it will ruin the surprise!

We’re also making sure our office is as green as it can be; We’ve got 100% Recycled Jiffy Bags, 100% Recycled Paper (plus we’re now able to recycle all of our old paper, thanks to the recycling Blue Box scheme we’ve just signed up to), energy-saving light bulbs will also be fitted in my shiny new office, which is nearly ready! Yay! And a whole list of other things we’re planning to do.
On this note, if anyone knows where I can get some eco-friendly sellotape, parcel tape and business cards I’d appreciate the heads-up! We’re still looking – I don’t understand why recycled things are so damn expensive, when they’re made from old rubbish! 🙂 I know, I know, it’s the factory process to get the paper back to paper…. but still 🙂

You might notice some other changes, too; but I’m not going to spoil anymore surprises! I’m working hard at the moment to get  the shop back online, and it should be ready by Sunday, so please bear with me – and thanks so much to all of you who have been to the shop and emailed me to let me know it’s offline! 🙂 We will be back and we are still The Krafty Lady, just slightly new and improved! BUT THE SAME GREAT PRICES.

I’ll send out another email once we are open, thanks again for all your support during this mental time!

Viki

Oh! And don’t forget, we’re now available at:

www.thekraftylady.com

as well as

www.thekraftylady.co.uk
&
www.thekraftylady.fr

Just a Quickie…

It’s been a while now since I had a chance to sit down and do a bit of blogging, but it has been a busy old time! Where to start is the question….

Our holiday/research trip in France was a much needed break and also opened our eyes to the World of opportunity that lay ahead. It was lovely to get back and have a fresh view on things, although we’re both still finding it hard to readjust to the British way of rushing around and spending most of your life working hard with nothing to show for it! France is calling us and we have plans to move ourselves (and the business!) over there just as soon as we can.

We’ve also completed our walk for Kidney Research UK which was a fab day – thanks to everyone who sponsored us, we’ve raised £380 so far and still counting! The weather wasn’t on our side that day – you can see pictures of the event on my Facebook page (search; “Viki Collins”) or go to our website gallery at: http://www.thekraftylady.co.uk/pages.php?page=Gallery but it was still great fun and definitely for a good cause!

I know we’ve been talking about it for what seems like an age now (although this year has whizzed by and left us behind somewhat…), there are going to be some drastic changes to the shop over the next few months. My new office will be finished in a matter of weeks, which means we’ll be a lot more organised and able to get tonnes more new and exciting items. I’ve already reduced the price of some of our older stock ready to make way for the new items. We’re going to be stocking a lot more body jewellery, and as much stock as we can will be Fair Trade. ALL of our make-up section will be transformed into a ‘Cruelty-Free’ zone as we’ll only be stocking products in which the ingredients and the final product is not tested on animals. This is a huge change for us but we think it’s an important one. Fingers crossed things will be in place in time for the new year, but as always we’ll keep you posted!

Thanks so much to everyone for your continued support – it’s even more appreciated during these hard times, but we’re determined to make it through and out of the otherside – and we can’t do that without your help, so thank you!

I’ll be back with more updates soon – see you then!

Funny Google…

If you’re ever having a blank moment on the internet, try using Google as your entertainment! 🙂
Type in the following phrases – you have to be on the MAIN Google page everytime you type in a new phrase. Also make sure you include the word “google” if it’s in the phrase (type it as it’s written below), and instead of pressing the Google search button you must click the “I’m feeling lucky” button… Enjoy!

google gothic

google emo

google this

google me

google gulp

elgoog

google cheese

google valentines

google easter egg

google vsd

google 133T

google loco

xx-klingon

google christmas

google chuck norris

google irish                             <or change irish for scottish/welsh etc>

google god

google religion

Lost in the Blinding Whiteness

The whiteness… the endless…ness… Stretching on beyond the huuuuuman imagination. Desolation of the soul. OOOH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!

That pretty much sums up my feelings over the past few weeks. I knew that running a business would be hard work, and I love it – don’t get me wrong! But I am finding it hard to make a choice between working hard and keeping in touch with my friends – something I appear to be pretty crap at recently 😦 So I’ve decided that for the next few weeks I’ll be working one 24 hour day a week so that I can use the quiet of night to reply to all my friends and keep up with what everyone’s been up to!

Apart from feeling a bit low because we’ve both been missing out on some serious ‘friend action’, the shop has been through a lot of changes – all good, we hope! So things on that front are very well indeed. The front page has had a bit of a move around so you’ll notice that certain links are on the other side of the page now! We were getting so many categories that our other pages like our stretching guide and charity page links were disappearing off the bottom of the page so that’s been sorted out now which is great news.

We’ve also had so much new stock into the shop it’s been hard to find the time to list it all! But we got there in the end. There’s some great new ranges – including more surgical steel ear tapers than we’ve ever had before, including spikes in various sizes, claws and some very cool “nail” effect 4mm stretchers!

There’s lots of new sterling silver jewellery, some very cool pewter Gothic pendants, new Gothic armoured rings (which are pretty hardcore!), LOTS more bags including coffin vanity cases, new coffin wallets, Fair Trade bags and wallets….. so quite a lot! In other sections of the shop you’ll find a much wider range of things – our incense and candles section is slowly being added to and we’ll be extending the range in there soon. Also if you’re a bit of a schmoker on the quiet check out the new R2-D2 Bongs! They’re really funky – also got some other great bongs and some awesome little pipes in there. Again we’re expanding our range all of the time – especially aince I’m constantly frustrated that we haven’t got enough stuff 🙂

So it’s a really exciting time for us right now, if a little busy! It’s also really great to see the Facebook groups and fanpages are going up – would love to see some more people at “Ning”; our own social network (http://thekraftylady.ning.com) but it’s so nice to see the huge amount of support we have. Even more so as I haven’t had time to keep in touch with everyone recently, so everyone’s been really patient with me and I really, REALLY appreciate that.

On that note I will be emailing out to our Facebook friends this week to give them our brand new 10% Discount promo code – so if you want to be in on that you need to join our Facebook group – just search for “The Krafty Lady” in the search bar and our group and Fanpage will come up!

That’s about it for now – there’s lots more to write about but I am in such a hurry once again to get some more bits in the shop and have it looking nice! Hope to see you all at Ning and on Facebook, and thanks again for all of the support and kind messages we have had so far!

The Talking Kitty Cat that says “Hello”…

The Talking Kitty Cat that says “Hello”…

 

We found this pretty little cat in our back garden and decided to say hello…. and we got a reply!