Hi everyone and a huge thank you for your continued support of my work 🙏
Craft Happy has grown, year on year, since I became a full-time creator in October 2021, it has weathered periods of economic instability and has continued to attract a steady and faithful following, which has allowed me to grow steadily with it.
New businesses are very vulnerable in their early years, and many fail within the first 3 years, so for me to be thriving generates enormous amounts of pride and a huge sense of accomplishment, all of which is down to YOU.
You may never fully know how much your support means to me and it is something I promise to never take for granted.
What's New in 2024?
2024 has seen huge growth within the online sales side of my business, if I’m honest, the growth has been a little quicker than I planned for and I am now regularly shipping large orders all over the world. Whilst I’m obviously super happy about this, when I planned and booked my Christmas markets (back in January) I didn't have the same volume of orders that I currently do. This means the last 3 months of the year are now most likely going to take up much more of my time than I initially anticipated. I have therefore written this post as a guide to shopping with me this festive season which will, in return, speed up the processing of your order and ensure you receive your item(s) as quickly as possible.
How Can you Help?
Firstly, if you want to buy gifts from me in time for Christmas, the earlier you do this, the absolute better. I hate pressurising anyone into making Christmas purchases in October, I really really do, but the reality is at some point I’m going to run out of capacity. Some items will inevitably go out of stock and I won’t be able to replace them in time, no matter how much I have tried to prepare for this scenario.
The postal system will also be under extra strain, and the number of messages asking where orders are will also go up. The stress of all of that (on you and me) is really eased by ordering early - plus you also get to feel super smug when all of your shopping is done by November!
When a business is operated by 1 person alone, like mine is, there just aren't physically enough hours in the day to get everything done. Order fulfilment, stock replenishment, preparation for markets and customer service all take up huge chunks of time, so spreading this out, even a little bit, makes a massive difference.
Ordering Bespoke Pieces from Me
I also have to make you aware that my deadline for any Christmas bespoke work is currently Friday 15th November – this may change, and I’ll keep you posted if it does, but please keep it in mind for now.
The definition of bespoke work is something I create from scratch when I haven’t made the design before. However, you might want to order something you’ve seen me make before, in which case it's slightly easier. I've listed my most popular designs in both my Etsy shop and my website and these can be ordered directly, right into late December if you really want to risk Royal Mail, without the need to message me and wait for an answer. Personalisation options are also available on some of these when you check out so you only need to get in touch if you can’t find the product that you need.
Where to Find me
Please come and see me at an event if you can – I will have with me pretty much everything that I currently have in stock, prices are a little cheaper than online and it’s a great opportunity to see products up close. Occasionally I might temporarily close my online shops whilst I’m attending a busy market e.g. the Worcester Victorian Fayre, but I will open them again afterwards so do check back. If they are closed permanently it means I’ve run out of stock and/or I’m physically unable to supply items.
Contacting me
I will do my absolute best to answer any direct questions that you have in a timely manner, but I do receive messages on many different platforms (Email, Etsy, website contact form, Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messenger) and it really isn’t always possible. When things get really busy, I will prioritise messages regarding orders that have already been placed as well as any orders that you want to place (up to the 15th November).
Please, if possible, try to email me rather than using social media messaging as it makes things far easier for me to keep track. I will try and monitor my social media channels but that’s usually the first thing that slips when things get super hectic. I get so much on there it becomes overwhelming, and it’s hard to sift through the spam and the genuine messages sometimes; an email has a far greater chance of being seen.
Please always contact me directly if you need a response, rather than commenting on a post because this will most likely be missed. I really only monitor comments on posts to ensure everyone’s behaving as they should within my online community and I don’t regularly check social media other than that (please rest assured that I do read them all eventually though and I do appreciate everyone who comments as it helps with my reach and it's lovely to read).
Your Guide to Shopping with Me
Check Etsy first – it’s by far my busiest platform so all stock is uploaded there before anywhere else. If you’re happy to use Etsy, and have it delivered out to you, then please do that.
If you see it on Etsy but you would like to pick it up yourself, please drop me a message via email before ordering and I will drop it off for you to collect it from Pershore Emporium where you can pay on collection. I can no long have collections from my home due to stipulations within my insurance policy.
If you can’t see it on Etsy then it’s probably bespoke, contact me via email to ask if you can order this directly (again, this service is only available up to 15th November).
If you have a bespoke order for 2025 please either email it to me at hc.crafthappy@gmail.com and I will save it for next year, or wait until the new year when things calm down and send it through to me then. Please don’t use social media to send it to me and don’t, under any circumstances, send it to any of my personal addresses (Facebook, email, text etc) as I really do need to keep the two separate.
Finally thank you for listening. Please be assured that you matter to me, I want to serve you and help you. If I’m taking a little time to come back to you then it is most likely just because I am a bit overwhelmed or I am trying to take a little down time.
Thank you so much, Helen x
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