Thursday, November 09, 2006

Spice


The house smells wonderful - it is complete chaos with half finished stock, boxes and wired cones lying in heaps in every room - but it SMELLS great.
The reason is these little spiced bags - they are filled with a mixture of wheat, cinnamon, cloves, juniper berries, bay leaves, orange peel and coriander seed - all are organic and together they smell like the essence of Christmas curled up in front of a cosy fire. I am very very pleased with them.
I have found that creating a brand image for a small business is very difficult - there just isn't the money available for printed boxes or fancy tags. Some businesses like Lisa's at http://www.primrosehillinteriors.co.uk do it very well by concentrating on making a small number of different products very well - she is known as the Doorstop Lady for good reason, people recognise her work immediately.
As I do different things at different times of the year, because I use vintage and very expensive fabrics which I get in very small yardages - and because I seem to get bored very quickly - I worry that people don't recognise that the textiles and the flowers and the Christmas decorations are all "SNAPDRAGON".
This year I am trying to do it with colour - everything on my stall is sage green and red with silver and grey and Katie and I spent last night (in between parents evening and panto runs) printing up tags to put on the spice pillows - they have our details on the back and just "Spice" on the front. Almost immediately they seemed more shoppy!

1 comment:

Laura said...

Jane,
I have seen and smelt these wonderful little bags, and they are fantastic.
I have to say I think your stuff is easily recognisable, the quality and style stand out there, head and shoulders above many!
I wish I had your presentation skills.
L~x