It's been a while

Hello all,

Did I, or did I not tell you that I am useless at keeping up together with things like this? For someone who intended on doing weekly blogs, I have just realised that I've not posted anything here since April!! Where on earth has this year disappeared to? It has seriously flown by!

So anyway, here I am (finally), but I'm not even going to start trying to catch up on what I've missed blogging about since April. The year has been going so well. KLT Charting were very proud to take part in the Summer SAL with 6 other designers. It was the perfect opportunity to showcase our businesses, make new friends and of course, increase our wishlists! In fact, the SAL went so well that we came back to do it again, only this time there were 9 businesses involved, and we were showing off not only designers, but dyers got involved too. The Winter SAL is still on going, so if you haven't already taken a look, the Facebook group can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/428526377336417/ and you'll be able to see work not only from KLT Charting, but also Jodyri Designs, Charting Creations, Paine Free Crafts, Stitchers Anon Cross Stitch Designs, Eclectic Bloke Designs, Shannon Christine Designs, Thread Pickerz and Tilton Crafts. I know... what an amazing selection, right? There really is something for everyone!

As well as working with other designers, I have of course been working on KLT Charting's goodies. The hand dyed fabric side of things has taken off well. We now have a good selection of colours and choices available. I have set a target number and will soon be reaching that target. Once it is reached, I plan on going back and re-evaluating the collection. Those that don't sell, or are particularly difficult to dye will be discontinued and replaced with (hopefully) better colours and styles.

Charting time has been limited lately, but I've been trying to get myself organised so get back on top of things. As well as my own work, I have charts from Chele Cooke, Becky Sheehan and Amy Simmonds sitting in my inbox waiting to be sorted out into charts. As soon as I am back on top of my custom request list, I will get them all up on the website for you to drool over.

As I said, I can't fill you in on ALL the charts I have designed since April, but would like to show you this one which I have charted in memory of those who lost their lives in the terrible terrorist attacks in Paris. However, I was very aware that Paris isn't the only place we need to keep in our thoughts, and as such, I welcome you to change the colours of the candles to anything which suits your purposes. This is 'Pray for the World'

Pray for the World is a copyright free design, meaning you are welcome to stitch it and share it around free of charge. You can find your copy of the chart in the files section of the KLT Charting Facebook group.

For those who are in my facebook group, no doubt I haven't really told you anything you didn't already know, so I should rectify that... time for some exciting news!

The most recent order placed and fulfilled via my website was number 969, so I am super excited to be so close to reaching the 1000 mark! January will see KLT Charting's second birthday and I would absolute love it if we hit the 1000th order before then. I can tell you that the person who places the 1000th order will win a very special prize!

If I manage to organise myself to do another blog before the 1000th order, I will keep you updated as to what number we are at.

In the meantime, don't be afraid to hit the comments section with any thoughts, suggestions or questions - I love to know that people might be reading my ramblings ;)

Until next time (whenever that might be!!), happy stitching!

Kim x

Goals and Targets for 2015

If you regularly follow blogs, no doubt you have seen a lot of these in the last few days. A new year often leads people to re-examine what they want the coming 12 months to hold, and I am no exception. I posted in December about how pleased I was at all I had accomplished in 2014, and to put it quite simply, I want 2015 to be even better! Here are a few of my goals:

In Words Dogs - I don't think this set will ever be complete. Yes, I can do all the dogs that the Kennel Club recognises as breeds, but then there is the American Kennel Club which has more, and then there are all the cross breeds becoming more and more popular - sprockers, labradoodles and so on. But what I would like this set to become is one of the most comprehensive collections available on the web. It goes back to my desire to give customers the charts they can't find anywhere else. So this is one of my aims - more and more In Words Dogs. Even if I only sell one of each of the rarer breeds, that's fine by me if I've made someone happy who can't find their dog anywhere else.

The New Product - Nope, I'm still not going to tell you what this is just yet, but I do plan on spending the first few months of 2015 getting it made, tested and then on the website. And of course once it's up, I will expand it and look into other designs for it. I hope to have it on the site at least in its initial form by the end of March.

Custom Charts - I have a few custom charts that I need to get sorted for people who very kindly agreed to wait until the new year. So if it looks like I'm not doing as much, I really am, it will just be things that aren't going on general release.

Hand Dyed Fabric - I counted up my fabrics today, and I believe I have 46 regular colours available. I am going to come up with a few others and stop I think, for the time being, at 50. January has seen the first limited edition colour, and I will continue to do these each month. Then again, perhaps I'll get swept away by a wave of inspiration and keep going until I hit 75. I guess this one will be a case of wait and see.

Expand Customer Base - This one is obvious really. There are only so many charts the same group of people can stitch, so if I want to grow my business, I have to keep appealing to new people. Some of the cross stitch groups on Facebook have thousands of members in them, and those are the ones I want to reach out to. The likes of 'Crazy about Cross Stitch' group has Designer Tuesday each week, and I have posted a few times, but I want to try and remember to do it more regularly, showing a wider scope of my charts. I also have Instagram and Pinterest accounts. I'm wary of Pinterest because there are so many illegal charts on there, but regularly use Instagram to show chart finishes and fabrics. I am going to try keeping it up to date with my new releases too in the hope of reaching people who are not in my Facebook group.

KLT Monthly Club - I toyed with the idea of having a fabric club as well as the normal monthly club, but for the time being want to concentrate on the lovely club members that I have. I need to think of more ideas of things I can send as the mystery item, and of course should those members want some of the fabric a little cheaper than everyone else, they have their discount code that they can use.

SALs - or Stitch A Longs. I had a customer ask me the other day if there are any SALs planned for 2015, and the answer was quite simply, no, not at the moment, but there will be. There are four weeks left of the Flutterby SAL, and I need to have something else to launch when that is finished. I'm thinking of having a few shorter SALs based on themed quartet pieces. It's a work in progress, but if you like SALs, watch this space!

Website Updates - this is something that is taking quite a high spot on the priority list. I can't spend all year sorting the site out, so want it done as soon as possible really. But with over 400 charts on the site that each need editing one by one, its a very time consuming (and boring!) process. I have something else in my personal life to do which HAS to be done in January, so I think I'll set myself a target of end of February for getting this finished.

I'm sure as the months go by, I will think of more and more things that I want to do, but for now, the general aim is to work on what I've got and make that even better. That being said, I'm not ruling new stuff out. I'm always open to ideas and if there is something in particular that you want to see, then please do get in touch.

Problem is, if I don't get off here and do some work, nothing will get done ;)
Until next time, happy stitching!

Kim xx