There's an app for that!

I have just realised something... I am RUBBISH at keeping this blog up to date! I think about it from time to time, and then something else crops up and I don't get round to a new entry... and then a week has gone by, and soon a month. Can you believe we are already in March?!? This year is simply flying by! I still have a to-do list as long as my arm, but wanted to take time out today and write. So here we are! The question is always the same though... what to write about?

I'm an incredibly disorganised person, and by that I mean if it's not on my to-do list, it doesn't get done. I found a fab app for my phone a couple of months ago which I now use for organising EVERYTHING - from the kids, to the housework, to work - if it's not on my list, it doesn't get done! So I thought, Kim, you idiot, add the blog to your app! And I have, so I hope you'll be seeing me on here a bit more regularly - if the phone tells me to do it haha.

My last blog was in January where I outlined what I wanted to get done, and I have been successful with some of that. I have been continuing to update the website, and have done a few more of the In Words Dogs. The new product however, is still a non-starter. There is a very good reason for this, but at the moment I can't tell you what it is - if I tell you the reason, you might guess the new product, and we can't be having that, can we ;) haha.

I have however, had a different new product. After examining my options, I decided to start making my own fobs and froggers rather than using a third party. With a choice of beads and charms, there is now the option to 'build your own' on the website. All the details can be found HERE.

I've also been working my socks off on custom charts. People in my facebook group may think I've not been releasing much lately, but that's just because I've been doing other things that don't get released. Trust me, I've been very busy.

I have had these releases though which I thought you might want to see:

St Patrick's Day Presley Penguin, which is March's Presley instalment. I aim to release a new one using this guy each month. I'll let you into a secret... April's Presley is already done, and I can't wait for you all to see him!

Each month KLT Charting supports a charity which is selected by a member of our Facebook group. March's charity is for Alzheimer's Disease, so have done this chart. Half of all the money made from this chart will be donated, along with the sales of any of the other KLT Charting charity charts.

I also have 2 new Tribal charts which I am longing to show you, but can't just yet. One is the Monthly Club chart, so will not go on general release until April, and the other is the chart I have given to those who completed the Flutterby SAL. Although the SAL is over, I want to wait a little while before releasing the reward chart to make it more exclusive for those who earned it.

I think that's all for now. I'll try not to leave it so long, so make sure to check back with us soon. I may even run a little blog giveaway ;)

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