Most people know by now that we are relocating to Cornwall, St Tudy to be precise, and although we are looking forward to living in such a beautiful place, we will be sad to leave our friends behind.

This month has been particularly busy at Gorgeous HQ.  We are providing our partner companies with a more direct way of marketing themselves to the media but without breaking the bank – something we all have to think about in these current climes. 

We are about to launch a new virtual catalogue and have secured a deal with the software company involved to become agents for them.  This way we can offer the same discounted deals to our partner companies.  Not only that but they can share this good fortune with friends and family if they wish. 

We were delighted to share in the ‘My Weekly’ 100th Birthday Celebrations and a myriad of our partner companies’ products were published so congratulations to everyone concerned.My Weekly May 2010

We are also excited to be taking part in a competition for July’s Edition of ‘Your Home’ Magazine as well as having a product feature in ‘Perfect Wedding’ Magazine which shows Gabs Buckingham’s fabulous hand painted wedding hearts.  These can be personalised and make great gifts for special guests as well as a gift for the bride and groom.  Gabs can provide smaller hearts to use as wedding favours. 

Personalised Wedding Heart £11.95

Wedding Heart Favours £5 each

In July we are delighted to be taking part in a competition feature for ‘Hello’ Magazine!!  The theme on this occasion is ‘Babies & Children’ and the following partner companies are taking part: F & P, Snoozetunes, Snoozeshade, The Flower Stork, and UpsonDowns in association with Mark Whitmore who is our official Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous photographer.  The prizes will be a baby shower for 50 guests from F & P, a product gift from The Flower Stork, Beautiful, haunting piano music melodies specially composed for your new baby and placed on a cd from Snoozetunes, a fabulous Snoozeshade from Snoozeshade and a 1m by 1m photographic art image with a mobile photo studio session from Upsondowns and Mark Whitmore.  All in all it is a fantastic prize worth £2000!!!  The coverage space alone is worth £16, 500 so we are very lucky to be given this opportunity.  Thank you to everyone who put their products forward for this competition and as we hope to run a similar one soon, we hope to be able to include everyone at some point.

Our Christmas Brochure is now being planned.  We can hardly believe we are talking about Christmas in May but the early bird catches the worm and all that!!

Our new virtual catalogue will be launched any day now and will be sent out to our database of customers who will be able to view our partner companies products, and take advantage of special discount codes.  It is very user friendly and attractive with lots of features which we can take advantage of such as video, music and narrative.  Thus it makes for a more interactive experience between ourselves and our customers.

As a fledgling ecommerce company we find it as hard as anyone to climb up that old google search ladder.  This is why we are constantly looking for new ways to optimise the website including negotiating some subsidised rates for SEO and keyword copy for our partner companies if they struggle in this area.  We will also be sending out keyword lists to everyone for using in their virtual boutique. 

It’s hard to believe we only launched in January this year and already have 75 partner companies and are showcasing over 12oo products.  It has been a helluva few months with our own media coverage, meeting Mr Peter Jones of Dragons Den fame and more recently Ms Rachel Elnaugh whom Amanda took part in a radio interview with for BBC Radio Derby on the subject of Mumpreneurs.  Two of our talented designers Louise Housley and Mel Anderson also took part. 

Hand Felted Vessel Cover by 'Lambchop Designs'

Amanda attended a Business Start Up Workshop at Leicester University  run by Doug Richards, an ex Dragon, and who she was lucky enough to be able to meet and discuss her business with.

Printed Linen Floral Cushion by 'Red Design'

We are both thrilled and proud to be working with all our partner companies and would like to thank you all for your fantastic patience and for sharing your talents with us.  We promise to give you all the support we can to help you grow your fantastic businesses.

Amanda & Alison

PS Just have to show you a couple of our favourite products for this month!

Candy Heart Cup Cake Wedding Favour Candle by Cracking Creations

Hand Felted Luxury Merino Wool Cuff Bracelet With Vintage Brooch by Lambchop

Stars & Sweets Cupcakes - Yum!! £39 for pack of 12 delivered to your door

We have much to celebrate this month at Gorgeous HQ!   Any excuse for a party but especially so as we are now relocating to Cornwall in June and although we are sad to leave lovely Leicestershire, we are very excited about meeting new Cornish Designers.  After all, Cornwall is a hub for creative designer makers and we intend to try our hand at some new crafts ourselves.We will celebrate in style of course and the celebration must include cakes such as those beautiful and delicious cupcakes hand baked by our fabulous new designer FairlyFairyCakes which are ideal for all special occasions but expecially for weddings.

Fresh As A Daisy! hand baked & scrumptious cupcakes.

Pretty Blue Daisy Cupcakes are ideal for weddings and other special occasions or just because they co-ordinate with your parlour – well a girl has to dream!

More of a chocolate person rather than a cake person?  We have the solution with our mouthwatering hand made chocolates which come in bunches!  Yes, that’s right, you can order a bouquet of chocolates as a gift for someone special – not sure they will last as long as real flowers tho!

Now you can’t say we don’t cover all situations here at Gorgeous HQ because if you can’t choose between cake and chocolate then why not have both?                                  

Heart Shaped Slate by Heartwood, £14.99

Apple Cushion, £22.50 by Heartwood              

Citronella Multi Wick Candle, £22.00 by On A Wick & A Prayer      

Shabby Chic Cottage  Bunting by Mrs JellyBelly,approx 3m,£ 20.00          

Till next time…………Amanda & Alison xx

A Sale Less Ordinary…………..Most ecommerce companies focus directly on product sales.  We don’t.  Why?  Well, if you focus on product sales alone you have to divert your marketing budget for example to:

• Search Engine Optimisation
• Pay Per Click Campaigns
• E- newsletters
• Brochures
• Magazine Advertisements 

While all of the above are important to the success of ecommerce, they are not the only way to the bank as they take a long time to show you the benefits even if you throw £££thousands at them. 

At Gorgeous HQ we do take the sales figures of our partner companies very seriously but we don’t want to rely entirely on SEO or costly Pay Per Click Campaigns which would only focus on high priced items to be worthwhile doing and therefore can exclude the lower priced products made by our designers.  Although these methods of internet marketing have their place, we don’t think this is fair to everyone in Team Gorgeous. 

This is why we are taking a completely different approach to our marketing.  While we are certainly working on standard methods of emarketing, we are mainly concentrating on building relationships with the media.  We want the media to know that if they need high quality product photographs complete with ‘copy’, that they can gain access to quickly and easily then we are the company to come to.

We are our partner companies’ link to the media which does not cost an arm and a leg.  

So How Much Does It Normally Cost To Advertise Or Get A Feature In A Glossy Magazine? 

Most Lifestyle Magazines can cost anything from £150 per month for a small label sized advertisement with no image or details, just name, email address and phone number.  Even your local magazine with limited readership will cost on average £30 per month for a quarter page ad.

We have it from the horse’s mouth that the half page space we have secured in Hello Magazine is worth at least £16,000!!  How did we do it? Ah well that’s a trade secret. 

So why do we need sales?  Obviously our partner companies need to sell their products to earn a living.  We need sales to invest further in our company’s success and our success is our partner companies’ success.  Simple. 

What is the quickest and most successful way to gain sales?  We believe the answer to this is PR and advertising.  One or two high quality images placed in full view of journalists with all the information they need can prove to be very fruitful indeed and when published in a high quality national magazine or newspaper, will ultimately lead to a high level of sales. 

But why?  Because we are showcasing our partner companies products directly to the people who matter most – customers!!  And not just any old customer – we are pitching our partner companies products to their target market by placing them in magazines that their target market customers read and give credibility to.  Credibility is a massive sales tool and the key to great sales success. 

So Who Do We Think We Are?  We are a fledgling company who officially launched in January this year.  Already we have gained coverage in national magazines and newspapers.  This month we are sharing in the 100 year Birthday Celebrations of ‘My Weekly’ magazine which is showcasing several of our partner companies’ products.  We have features this summer in ‘Homes’ Magazine and ‘Hello’ Magazine and are already booked in for Christmas features.  

This success is all in the space of 4 months business and we are determined to build on this by the continuing investment of time and devotion to duty for our partner companies. 

So Why Do We Do It?  We love it, we are passionate about design, we love beautiful products and we love being entrepreneurs.  It’s that simple.  If you enjoy what you do you have much more chance of making a success of it.   We are already planning our Christmas Brochure and ideas for next year.  We want to grow Team Gorgeous but remain relatively small so that we can devote the time needed to nurture our designers and help them grow their businesses. 

So if you think your business is Gorgeous enough to join us, please get in touch!

Amanda & Alison

I love thee like puddings; if thou wert pie I’d eat thee.
John Ray (1627-1705)

Now there’s a chap after my own heart…….pity he is just a few hundred years too old!!

The following extracts have been taken from a 1950’s book ‘The Good Wives Guide’, Author Unknown

Have dinner ready, plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return.  This is a way of letting him know you have been thinking about him and are concerned for his needs. ( Sound like anyone you know Jill?!!)

Prepare yourself.  Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives.  Touch up your make up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking.  He has just been with a lot of work weary people. ( Oh paleeeze!!)

Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first. remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours. ( What ???!!!)

Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction. (yeah right!!)

Durrrrr!!  That’s it, I can’t read any more of this twoddle never mind blog about it!!

Suffice to say that thankfully things have moved on somewhat  so knickers to the 1950’s and let’s shop for the best day of our lives girls!!

Vanessa Necklaca £68 ( Amanda's favourite!) Large Rose Hair Pin - £18.00 A stylish alternative to a Tiara!

Fruity Favours!! £27.50 for 10 & colour co-ordinated too!!

Simply Exquisite Hand Made Wedding Invitations POA

Gorgeously Hand Stitched Wedding Heart, Scented with English Lavender & Complete with Gift Box, £20

Something Blue.....Chocolate Bouquet! Wow!!

Who needs love when you have chocolate!! Chocolate Bouquet £30.95

Gorgeous Congratulations To All You Loved Up Couples Who Are Getting Married This Year!

Alison will agree with me when I say I am obsessed with interior design.  She has even been known to describe my spare room as looking like something from a magazine.  Ah if only!!  My obsession extends to rummaging through charity shops for any jewels of design couture I can find and I happened on a fabulous book by two interior design divas, the curvacious Colin and the juicylicious Justin!!  Here are 6 of their Deadly Design Cocktails, full of intoxicatingly bad taste .  Shake, stir and prepare to gag!!

1.  Walls and timber cladding in any room – retchworthy!!

2.  Pets and Shag Pile = either mow your moggy, shave your carpet or pop your pooch into pop socks.  Surprise, surprise whoopsies and piddles are a smelly issue in long haired carpets!!

3.  Carpet in the bathroom – Mega Yuk!!  Men always sprinkle when they tinkle, its a fact of life!

4.  Tiles and wallpaper – one or the other darlings please!

5.  Horrid orange pine and humanity – why would you ever want to mix the two?

6.  Nylon satin style sheets with nylon quilted bed shams.  Sparks will fly if you team these two up.  Who wants that kind of shock under the duvet!!!

Of course Gorgeous HQ is a haven of chic with each accessory lovingly produced by the members of  Team Gorgeous.  Thus we will save you from the grasps of bad taste with our beautiful accessories and gifts for your home.

Nautical Style Cushions From The Wilde

Union Jack Doggy Door Stopper

Lavender Scented Heart With Bird Applique

Refer to our guide any time you feel alone, frightened or on the point of buying a Barbie toilet-roll holder or a shell covered lamp base.

When kissing good bye to any addiction your resolve will waiver. 

Be strong!!  Be free!! Be Happy!! Be Gorgeous!!

Gorgeous Wishes,  Mwah!! Amanda & Alison xx

*Some written content taken from Colin & Justin’s ‘How Not To Decorate’

Time for another gorgeous blog and yes I am still wittering on about product photography.  The reason for this is simple.   I want our partner companies to succeed with their sales and also want to give them the chance to be published in a national magazine or newspaper.  Of course their success is our success and vice versa.  Take a look at the following very interesting testimonials about our Gorgeous Photographer, Mark Whitmore……….

 TESTIMONIAL ONE

“To be honest, when I discovered the macro icon on my digital camera, I thought I’d cracked the ‘photography thing’.  So when Amanda suggested I would benefit greatly from professional photography, I can honestly say it hadn’t occurred to me before, and it certainly hadn’t occurred to me that I would be in with a chance of seeing one of my designs published in the glossies!

I decided to follow Amanda’s advice and I got in touch with Mark Whitmore.  I figured that over the last few years I must have spent countless hours (and money!) on developing my ideas and perfecting my techniques, and so I ought to be able to justify a little extra investment in my designs by way of enlisting Marks expertise.

But it wasn’t until I received my first batch of pictures for proofing that I realised what a difference it would make.  Mark is clearly very talented at what he does – his attention to detail did not go unnoticed and his endeavours at ensuring that I was ‘1000% satisfied’ with my pictures was greatly appreciated.

Mark made the whole process a very easy and enjoyable one – seeing my jewellery pictured in such a way has given me great confidence to ‘keep going’.  Have a look at a few of my before and after pictures – the results speak for themselves …” Lynne Osborne

Three Wishes Tiara (before)

Three Wishes Tiara (After)

Festival Bracelet (Before)

TESTIMONIAL TWO

I have been making and selling jewellery for some years now had have a successful website up and running.  I wanted to promote my business further so I approached Amanda at Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous.

She loved my items but thought they needed a professional to take some photos to bring my jewellery to life.

 I had numerous 3 way conversations with Amanda and my husband regarding the cost and the whole process and then spent a few weeks trying to sort out photography.  This entailed hours of stress and tears as I struggled to do the photography myself; so much so that I actually decided to call it a day with Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous.  However Amanda convinced me to take the plunge for the last time and I agreed to ask Mark Whitmore to take the photos.   A few days went past and the first jpegs appeared via email.

 I could not believe the fantastic results that Mark had achieved.  Mark is a very talented guy who  excels in his profession and has given me new hope that when –  and I mean when my jewellery appears in a glossy mag –  it will down to my creativity and Mark’s photography.  Attention to detail is his middle name as you can see by the attached photos.  Once when  I remarked on the  special effects, he replied simply “No special effect,  just good old fashioned  water and a dropper !!!. Mark is a star and I personally recommend him and his skills to anyone struggling with product photography.”    Letitia Gibbons      

Serenity Pendant (Before)

Serenity Pendant (After)

Muddy Puddles Bracelet (Before)

Muddy Puddles Bracelet (After)

What we would say to anyone who wants the best chance of press coverage and sales alike is to make sure that your product photography is of the highest quality possible.  Not only does it show true professionalism and attention to details, it is an investment for the future success of your business.  

Till the next time………..Amanda & Alison xx

Directors Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous Ltd

Every January I promise to give up chocolate so start to reduce my intake.  I almost succeed and then along comes the Easter Bunny tempting me with all that lovely chocolate.  Oh how I adore Easter Eggs and I rather ashamedly have been known to eat the childrens’ Easter Eggs.  What a naughty Mummy!!

This Easter you don’t have to give chocolate eggs as gifts although they are rather nice.  Why not go for a healthier and guilt free alternative?  Here are some gorgeous gift suggestions for Easter presents:

Betty the Bunny Day Set & Hat £32, Bunny £12, Cup Cake Dress Set £24.99, Louis the Lion Baby Blanket £24, Boys Personalised Camper Van Cushion £15

For older ‘bunnies’ here are more fabulous gift ideas:

Strawberry Bangle £18, Kiss Felt Art £145, Laptop Sleeves £50, Blue Bunny Easter Card £2.50

Now to wrap it all up and make a big impression we will show you how………………..

All you have to do is wrap a box ( recycle one if you can) in plain or fancy giftwrapping paper and glue a cupcake or other sweet treat postcard or greetings card on the lid.  Place your Easter Gift inside with some co- ordinating tissue paper, add some pretty polka dot ribbon and you have a beautifully giftwrapped gift fit for a prince or princess! If you wish to be really creative you could use some glitter glue to decorate around the edges of the cakes in your postcard as you can see on the one above.  Now your gift box can be used again and again as a pretty and useful storage box for jewellery or other trinkets as desired. 

Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous………………..For A Gift Less Ordinary!

*gift wrapping image from the blog of ‘A Gift Wrapped Life’

Coming soon we will have experience day gifts – the perfect gift to suit anyone as we’ve got everything covered from Driving Day Gifts to Wine Tasting Gifts, from Theatre Breaks through to Pamper Day Gifts. We are also planning experience day gifts for couples so they can enjoy their presents together.

  

Gifts for family, gifts for friends, gifts for lovers, gifts for pets or gifts for others, you are sure to find a special and unforgettable gift with us, all wrapped up and made with love from Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous.

Look out for special offers and discounts soon!!

We are true shopaholics at Gorgeous HQ and we can’t wait to see what you sell!! 

You may have already contacted us or are thinking about taking your products to market.  If so, you have come to the right place to grow your business and showcase your designs.

We are an online contemporary marketplace for Creative Designer Makers and Small Gift Businesses based in the UK.  We provide you with your very own virtual boutique ready to step into and furnish with your beautiful products and help showcase them to the UK Media and the Great British Public.

So why not send us some sample images of your designs and/or products and let’s take it from there?

If your products are Gorgeous enough to be showcased with Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous, you could launch the next step of your business with confidence and style.  Your range will be introduced to our ever increasing customer base and showcased to the UK Media over the next few months, gathering momentum for the Wedding Gift Season and Christmas.

We are committed to supporting our partner companies and work hard to maintain a beautiful, easily managed shop frontage for you and your customers to enjoy.  We will never compromise our standards for the look and warm, welcoming feel of our website. 

So if you think your products are Gorgeous, we would love to see them!!

Please contact us at hello@gwag.uk.com and watch your business grow.

Best Wishes

Amanda & Alison

Founders Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous Ltd

For A Gift Less Ordinary……………………..

Don’t Worry If You Have Left It A Little Late This Mothers Day…….

You still have time to order a beautiful Mothers Day gift from us at Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous, beautifully wrapped and made with love for your gorgeous Mum.  She will never know you almost forgot!! 

Flow Brooches & Corsages by 7071 Design, from £14

Pixie Crystal Earrings£16, White Pixie Pendant, £39, Crystal Hair Pin £6, Yoga Eye Pillow With French Lavender £10, all by Mimi Pearl

Home Sweet Home £14, Love You Mummy £9.00. Curvy Chalkboard £15.50, Love Sign £15.50, all handpainted with love by designer Gabriella Buckingham

Keep Calm & Eat Cake, Love You Fine Art Prints from £22.50, Limited Edition Spotty Plate Print £35, Shabby Chic Hearts Print £17.50, all by Moo Baa Cluck

Apple Shopper Bag £60, Tan Leather Handbag £135, Tan Leather Clutch Bag £95, Croc Print Leather Clutch Bag £60, all by up and coming new designer Charlotte Faye

Scented lovelies from Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous………

Mum You’re A Star Organic Soap Set £17.99 Daisy Organic Soaps £3.50, from The Friendly Soap Company, Soap Dish Gift Set £15 by Penny Dog,  Sea Glass Soaps £8 by All About The Boys

…….And don’t forget the card!!  Last but not least are these gorgeous cards designed by the fabulous and innovative designer, Cowboys & Custard from £3 each

Team Gorgeous Wish Our Mums & Your Mums a Wonderful Mothers Day!! xxx