Happy New Year!

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers, followers and customers the very best of health and prosperity for the coming year.

Throughout the month of January, all orders will be given an automatic 5% discount at the checkout. Further, if you enter the promotional code JB10-09-B you will receive an additional 5%. While you're browsing, have a look at the Christmas section where prices have been reduced across the range and you may just find a few somethings to put away for next year's cards.

See you all in 2009!

Christmas Gift - Week 3

This weeks free gift is being announced early to allow anyone interested in buying a kit to do so before last posting. Kits to make 2 wallets cost 99p and can be found at www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk. Hope you all like it.

Revised Posting Date

It was reported on the news this morning that there's a possibility of a postal strike on Friday so I have changed my last order date to Thursday 18th December.

Christmas Gift - Week 2

This week my free gift with orders was a Victorian Christmas Card. This tri-fold card is kept together with the ribbon tied at the side and is quite flexible in it's usage. Kits to make 3 cards can be bought from http://www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk/ and as promised all orders will receive a free handmade gift from me. This weeks gift has been changed and will be showcased tomorrow to allow for anyone who might want to order a kit.

Christmas Gift - Week 1

Last weeks free gift was this great little tree hanger (complete with a chocolate coin inside!)

If you'd like some for your own trees I am selling kits to make six (chocolates not included) for £1.25 on my website. They're easy to make and a great project to do with the children.

Orders are still getting a free gift but it is a different one now.

Christmas Giveaway

As an early Christmas present I am running a special offer for the festive period. Any orders placed between now and 19th December in my shop will receive a free gift. The gift will change each Monday and is handmade by me!

Orders placed by 12th December can be guaranteed delivery before Christmas (assuming the postal system doesn't lose them!). This date is to cover large items needing the Standard Parcels Service. I will continue to post first class (subject to weight limitations) until 19th December.

Also, why not take a look at the Trimcraft Advent Calendar which gives a new project to try each day.

Another week closer...

... to Christmas. This week we have been busy fulfilling orders for the craft kits we're stocking. I've got some new stock in from DCWV, namely the Far East range and the Pocket Full Of Posies. Both have papers, ribbons and chipboard embellishments to compliment each other.

On a personal note, one of my customers/followers 'tagged' me. If your interested in my 7 random facts they can be found on my other blog .

Christmas Orders

I've had a lot of 'word of mouth' orders for my Children's Craft Kits which is wonderful. I've also got some Sequin Magic Kits and Scrapito Card Kits, all of which are reasonably priced to do for stocking fillers. I think I'll keep a few back to put in my eldest son's stocking (maybe the Boing, Boing Balls).

My other blog

This blog is mainly to keep people informed about news from my online shop. I thought my readers may also like to know that I keep another blog over at Trimcraft. Trimcraft is a great crafter's site for blogging, chatting, displaying your work, swapping ideas, etc. It's also great for finding out about new products coming to the market. Why not take a look.

Magic Motifs from Glue Dots

I've always stocked Glue Dots products, finding them to be good value and popular products. I've just got the full range of Magic Motifs in and they can be found here. For those of you not familiar with them, Magic motifs are double-sided adhesive images which can be added to a project ready to glitter. They can also be covered with foil, flock, micro beads, coloured sand and so much more. For a demonstration of using Magic Motifs, take a look here.

I also have Magic Dust in stock (also from Glue Dots) which is a very fine glitter and goes well with the Magic Motifs.

Hope you like the new stuff.

First Order

Today I received my first genuine order (not one of our test orders or relatives buying supplies) a full bona fide order. At last, I'm off and running. Here's to many more!!!

I'm listing new stock all the time and have plans for new introductions very soon. There'll be more Craft Kits, a new Laura Ashley Range and soon I hope to branch out into a wider scrapbooking range, cutting/embossing dies and I really like the Tim Holtz ink ranges.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know and I'll add them to my wish list for future growth.

Children's Craft Kits

I've just got in some great Children's Kits. I'm sure they'll make great Christmas presents. They range from First Knitting through Jewellery Making to Bouncy Ball Making. They have a recommended age of 5+. Why not take a look at them now -

http://www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk/Catalogue.aspx?DepartmentId=9&CategoryID=45&Idx=8

Problem with Paypal

I've just found out that there was a problem with my site accepting payments. Thankfully, this has been fixed and now works correctly. I apologise to anyone who has experienced this and hope you come back ang give it another try.

Hot Off The Press

In my shop I've got some new HOTP booklets for cardmaking and scrapbooking. I think HOTP produce really inspirational products and are generally good value. Take a look here - http://www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk/Catalogue.aspx?DepartmentId=4&CategoryID=44&Idx=3

Payment Options

Currently I am only accepting Paypal payments. This will shortly expand to include a payment by post option. What I'm wondering is whether or not Paypal is generally accepted as a standard method of payment or are there those of you out there who just don't like it?

New Stock

This week I've got some new stock in from Zutter. They make these great little machines that will cut through and bind a wide variety of materials to make personalised journals, calendars, scrapbooks, etc. Weighing in at only 3lb they are also extremely portable. Click here to purchase one now - http://www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductID=472.

For more ideas on how to use it have a look here - http://www.binditall.co.uk/video.php

No Shoppers yet

Well, I'm constantly adding new stock and my husband is adding new features to my site, but as yet no shoppers. Google have now found my homepage www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk which I'm sure will help.

I'll have to start a program of advertising to get more people aware of it.

Google has indexed my site!

Wow, I can't believe it. Google has now indexed some of my pages from my website. At long last if you type in Donnas Den of Crafts it comes up with something instead of blank. The real address is http://www.donnasdenofcrafts.co.uk/ for anyone who's interested and I stock a wide range of Cardmaking and Scrapbooking products.



I'm going to use this blog to detail the highs and lows of my fledgling business. I'll aim to write something every couple of days but we'll see. I also have a blog on the Trimcraft Crafters Site which is http://www.trimcraft.co.uk/blog/donnamarie1970/.



That's it for now. See you in a couple of days.