July 2010

Dear Stitcher,

Greetings from sunny Somerset. At this time of year many of us - myself included - are thinking about holidays. If you're going to have some spare time on holiday, why not put an unfinished tapestry into your suitcase and get that last bit done, or maybe take a little project away with you to stitch for a birthday or special event later in the year.

I know it seems like ages away now, but our deadline for Christmas making up is the end of October so please do send your finished work in to us as early as you can. We have on average a dozen tapestries every week to be made up, but last week we had 17 so things are already hotting up!

Kit Book 14 + web info

If you are on our mailing list, I do hope that you have received your copy of Kit Book 14. There are lots of new designs including a Chicken Teacosy, more A-Z Animals, more starter kits, an Old English Hen to go with Old English Cockerel, a new cats design...and I can't think what else. If you order online a copy of Kit Book 14 will be sent out automatically with your order, and thereafter you'll be kept informed of any new designs.

I hope that those of you who are regular visitors to our website will notice that we have made some big changes. It's a lot easier to navigate now, and having a form you can fill in with queries has certainly gone down well - we are getting lots of messages! All in all, I hope visiting us is a pleasant experience, do let us know - we appreciate all feedback.

All this progress has inspired me to open a 'Twitter' account as I've heard such great things about it so if you too are a twitterer, you will find me at http://twitter.com, my name on twitter is @mrsjollyred. If you pop in there every now and then you will get a real idea of what's going on here, I update it most days. If for any reason I don't show up on a twitter user search, you can go to Google and type in '@mrsjollyred Twitter' - that works! By the way, if I update twitter quite frequently it's beause the office phone is next to that computer so it's easy to click in to twitter and send a tweet after talking to a customer.

Overseas Orders

We are receiving so many orders from all over the world, it never ceases to amaze me. Top kit destinations at the moment are Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Ireland and Denmark. On some days nearly all of our needlepoint and cross stitch kits are going out to exotic locations - well, they seem exotic to us! If you are an overseas customer, you can order your Jolly Red kits by telephone, internet, or over the phone - or you can fill in the form on our website and we'll tel you if we have a stockist near you. If you are in the UK on holiday and want to choose your next projects in a shop rather than online, don't forget  that Jolly Red kits are stocked in all John Lewis branches, as well as in Liberty, London. We also supply to retailers in other parts of the UK, so if you need to know if there is a Jolly Red stockist where you're staying, do get in touch.

Mailing List

If you want to add your name and address to our UK mailing list, please send an email with your details to info@jollyred.co.uk  or fill in the form on our contact page. We will send you a Kit Book, and then maybe the occasional Newsletter, but won't pester you beyond that, and we certainly won't pass on your details to anyone else.

A copy of the current Kit Book will be enclosed with all first orders - UK and overseas-  and if you have let us know your email address you will be updated in a friendly way re general news & new designs. If you can, do try to get used to looking online at our site as that's where some of the new designs make their first appearance. We also delete items online when they have run out and been discontinued, so that's the place to check first (or call us) if you want to make sure your favourite kit is still available.

If you see a design that you like, try not to think about it for several years before taking the plunge and treating yourself, just be brave and go for it as we do have to discontinue designs occasionally! I know that many people find this upsetting, but we like to keep things looking fresh and introduce new designs quite frequently so you aren't stitching the same thing over and over again.

Ordering Online - Your Email Address or Phone Number

Please do include one of the above contacts if you order online as it can be very handy if we need to contact you about your order. I must stress that we don't pass on your details to anyone else - ever!

Making up Service

Our skilled ladies can turn your finished work - however wonky! - into a masterpiece, so do have a peep the Making Up page for more information and prices.

PLEASE INCLUDE PAYMENT WITH YOUR WORK WHEN YOU SEND IT IN FOR MAKING UP! There seems to be a trend for customers to ask us to call 'to discuss payment'...we really don't have the time to do this. Just pop a cheque in with your tapestry, or if you prefer, call us on our new number 01460 281111 with credit card details. We will only process your card when we are despatching your completed tapestry.

Exhibitions

We can't do them any more, sorry! No time, and any time we do have should be spent designing. Or having a little break, there's a nice idea.

A Big Thank you..

.. to you all for your continued support for and appreciation of Jolly Red, not only with your orders but also with your emails, letters and phonecalls too. We are so lucky to have customers who communicate so freely with us - thank you, we appreciate all of your comments, and even design suggestions...

As always, we look forward to hearing from you - and to seeing you if you are in Somerset. Visitors are always welcome at our workshop. You can come and see where the kits get put together in our lovely wool room, marvel at the cottons wonderful colours of the stranded cottons on cone, and last but not least you can stroke Flik, the friendliest Jack Russell  in the county. Please do call first if you can as sometimes we are very busy and you might not be able to get in for piles of boxes!

Kelly

Kelly Fletcher

Designer, Jolly Red