Screen Printing Supplies at Fibrecrafts

The range of screen printing supplies have been increased to include the Selectasine screen printing system.

This system is simple, economic and flexible in use. It produces a soft finish and has outstanding fastness on fabric. Although designed for screen printing, it can also be brushed, sprayed and blocked. This self-mix premium ink is ideal for use in schools and colleges where budget is a factor and also for experienced printers who will enjoy the flexibility of the system, find out more...!

Star of the Show

Monty Don presents a new BBC 2 series 'Mastercrafts', celebrating the nation's craftsmanship and the recent renaissance in traditional crafts. The series kicks off on 12th February 2010 at 9pm and amongst the 6 episodes can be seen Margo Selby, Weaver and Woven Textile Designer.

Margo contacted us to see if we could get hold of three 8 shaft Schacht Mighty Wolf looms for use in the filming. We were able to oblige and look forward to seeing the episode in which they are featured.

Take a look at these special looms at www.fibrecrafts.com

New Navigation

When was the last time you popped in to Fibrecrafts? We've now added new navigation and categorised your favourite products under their relevant crafts. It would be great to know what you think!

Deliveries

The snow's still thick on the ground but most of the George Weil team are back at work.

We're happy to say that your parcels are being dispatched to the postman and courier. We don't have much control over what happens next but as long as the weather continues to improve, there should no longer be any delays.

Please contact us if you have not received your goods within 14 days. Tel: 01483 565800 or email: esales@georgeweil.com


Like the snowmen? Take a look at our page in the Resource file to find out more about how they were made...

In the Thick of It

It's our turn to be in the thick of it! Travel conditions make it impossible for us to be fully manned but the stalwarts here are dedicated to providing a service whatever the weather.

Our skeleton staff are working on your orders and will endeavour to entice Royal Mail to pick them up as soon as possible.

We're so sorry that we can't live up to our normal level of next day delivery but we're determined that you'll have your goods as soon as the snow and ice will allow.

Art Clay Silver Conference in Jersey

The Art Clay Silver Guild held their conference in Jersey this year. We went over for several reasons -

We wanted to present a 1.5g of AIDA art clay gold paste to the first prize winner of the raffle. Everyone at the conference was a more than competent artist craftsman using art clay silver; they deserve a piece of luxury!

More importantly we wanted to meet our customers to say thank you for all their support and encouragement - our new website and the ability to take your shopping basket across all our sister sites is clearly proving a great success with them.

And most important, there are two new products on their way from AIDA. We needed to find out more about them from the manufacturers and see if they are products that will get your artistic juices flowing!

The first product is copper, easy to use. It can be worked on its own or joined with Art Clay Silver. It is kiln fired first, then a silver clay rivet formed to join it to the silver and fired again. The artist will need to own a kiln, then pickle the fired piece and finish it off with an acrylic lacquer. It will be a valuable material for creating small sculptures and games pieces.

The second new product is an Art Clay Silver, called Lite, which gives your greater volume at a lower price. Otherwise it looks and works just like Art Clay Silver. The finished product is 93% silver rather than the 99.9% of Art Clay Silver, which in itself may not be very important, but needs to be quite solid for rings and fine jewellery. We think that it would be wonderful for making larger decorative pieces for the table, and serious silver 'bling' which does not weigh the wearer down!

These two new products are not going to be available for some time yet, but post ideas and thoughts about them here.

The George Weil Group of Companies

www.fibrecrafts.com www.papershed.com www.polymerclaypit.co.uk

Now you can 'hop and shop' between any of the 3 web sites from the George Weil Group, taking your shopping bag with you before proceeding to the one secure payment area!

Wander through the choice of silver clays at the Polymer Clay Pit, hop across to Fibrecrafts to discover the super soft, brightly coloured wool tops or take a side-step into the hand made paper delights of the Papershed.

If you have invested in a George Weil Society Membership (find out more...), you will also be able to take your savings across the 3 sites and enjoy the benefits of free carriage and 10% discount.

P.S. Look out for the new mail order catalogue 'The Art of Texture & Colour' arriving soon!

Polymer Clay Pit - web site Revamp!

Have you visited the newly 'revamped' web site at Polymer Clay Pit?

We're very pleased to present to you a shop full of different types of polymer clay, including Sculpey, Fimo and Kato, a choice of Art Clay Silver clays, plus a vast array of modelling tools to help you get the best from the materials offered.

If you would like to learn about the techniques you can visit the brand new Resource File or browse the books and magazines on sale in the Book Shop. Our image shows millefiori beads made from polymer clay

Institute of European Design

We often get positive feedback about our service and we're very grateful that so many of you make the effort to contact us and thank us. This email was sent from the Institute of European Design and we feature it here with two of the photographs that accompanied it.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you and everyone at Fibrecrafts.com for your help and participation in my Fibre Materials seminar at the Institute of European Design. Thank you so much for the rush service, It was spectacular. The quality of the goods was also excellent and lead to some great projects. Your professionalism and personal attention speak well not only of your business, but of your country. Expect another order from the IED soon, as they have asked me to do the same seminar in Rome.

My heartfelt thanks,
Troy Robert Nachtigall

News in Brief

Here is a quick catch up on the latest news from Fibrecrafts.

Despite the perceived doom and gloom of the current financial climate, Fibrecrafts continues to grow from strength to strength. The problems of slow page load on the web site have now been eradicated and we apologise for any delays you may have experienced. Shopping online can be frustrating at the best of times and we hope you haven't been put off (go on, have another go...)

We're also delighted to report that sales have increased on last years figures - confirmation of a stable future for both the customers and employees of the business.

The learning curve for the Polymer Clay Pit was relatively steep but we've reached the peak now and things are starting to level out!

We've used and explored the products, tweaked the web site (click here for Polymer Clay Pit web site) and designed a new catalogue (hopefully available in the next 4-6 weeks).

The polymer clays are so versatile. Once baked, they set into a hard plastic which is suitable for buttons, toggles and beads. The clay is so easy to manipulate and can be used for making dolls and dolls house miniatures, models, boxes, frames and more.

If you would like to receive our regular email news letter, which includes news and special offers, please click on the link to the right.

New Year, New Beginnings

We're nearly two weeks into the new year and have only just got round to wishing you a happy one - HAPPY NEW YEAR! We've been very busy here learning all about a new product range.

We hope this is a positive piece of business news during this glum climate, George Weil & Sons Ltd (which is the parent company of Fibrecrafts and Papershed) is now the proud owner of the Polymer Clay and Silver Pit. You can see the products by visiting the web site and we're currently working on a paper catalogue which we hope to have available by April.

The polymer clays are much like a smooth, but superior, plasticine. They can be worked into detailed models, colourful beads, unique buttons, dolls and more. Once oven baked, the clay becomes hard, strong and durable. The exciting and precious Art Clay Silver clay can be fired with a blow torch or on a gas hob. It can be used to make unique pure silver items such as jewellery, beads and more.

FIBRECRAFTS Catalogue 2009

We're proud to announce the publication of the 27th FIBRECRAFTS mail order catalogue!


You can order a copy from the web site or you can download pdf sections of the catalogue from here.

The Big Heave-Ho! (or the FIBRECRAFTS Picnic)

What a great time we had at the FIBRECRAFTS annual Summer Munch. Plied with food and drink and moments of sunshine, it didn't take long for us to relax and let our hair down.

Little did we know that we were being primed for labour.

'Umm, you wouldn't mind just giving me a hand with the mower?' Ian asked sheepishly.

A regular occurrence on Ian and Susan's homestead is the ditching of the mower. Of course the many hands made light work and we had it on level ground in no time at all.

Thanks Ian for the entertainment!

Not just a Washboard...

We're so pleased with this new product that we've even put our name on it!

The washboard will make light work of the felting process. As you rub the wool on the board the ribbed surface accelerates the fulling and the curved grooves allow the soapy water to drain away.

You can also use the washboard to felt sections of knitting. Isolate an area by tying a screwed up plastic bag into it and rub the 'ball' up and down the board. The stitches will begin to shrink together creating dimples in the knitting.

The washboard is also great for getting grime out of shirt cuffs and collars and others have been known to use it as a musical instrument (send us your skiffle pics today)!

Click here to find out more about Feltmaking...

Supplies Visit!

We welcomed Managing Director Richard Ashford and Sales Manager Kate Sherrat during their visit from Ashford, New Zealand in April. The team here at Fibrecrafts enjoyed putting the names to faces before our visitors, along with David Herring (Ashford UK), were taken for a tour of the warehouse by our Managing Director, Ian Bowers.



Photographed here by Richard; David, Ian and Kate are about to take a look at the Ashford spinning and weaving products stored in the warehouse, having just seen the range of equipment on display in our showroom.

Happy Retirement Howard

Howard left us on Tuesday and I forgot to bring the camera to 'tea and cake'! Nonetheless, the cake was lovely as usual (thanks Sylvia) and we enjoyed a pleasant break wishing Howard well for the future.

Howard, we hope you find time to indulge yourself at the bowls club and with your art group.

Wishing you every happiness in your retirement, from the Team at Fibrecrafts.

Are you an Intrepid Explorer?

FIBRECRAFTS have launched a selection of Explorer Packs designed to encourage the cautious, excite the creative and provoke the imaginative.

Each pack contains the main items needed to explore the craft by which it is named. The Knit & Crochet Explorer Pack includes a chunky crochet hook, four types of yarns and a FREE set of handmade Surina Knitting Needles. We've even included basic instructions to get you started!

The 3 other Explorer packs, which include Feltmaking, Weaving and Silk Painting can also be found in the Special Offers section of the site. Each of them contains a FREE gift - worth at least £3.30 - and all the ingredients to get you started.

Many Hands Make Light Work

- if only we had them!

Here at FIBRECRAFTS we do not, under any circumstances, begrudge our colleagues their well earned holiday. But Jo we miss you so!

Our small team is suffering the impact of Jo's need for relaxation and sunshine and here we are running to chase our tails. Our priority is customer service and we WILL try to get your orders to you as soon as possible. We are sorry but the usual, efficient next day delivery is likely to be the day after!

Please bear with us for just one more week...

MORE NEWS..................................................................

Not only is Jo absent but we've also learnt of Howard's decision to now take his retirement. Howard has worked for FIBRECRAFTS for 7 years (almost to the day!) and he will be greatly missed.

Howard will be with us for a little while yet and we'll post pics of his farewell cake and tea party when we have it. Take care Howard and thank you for your service (we're sure to bump into you sometime in the shop that gives out those bright orange plastic bags!).

Bag Free Britain?

You may have noticed that we're offering a canvas shopping bag in the Special Offers section of our web site. I hope this blog will urge you to consider buying one or a reusable one like it.

As you are aware, plastic carrier bags are getting a lot of negative press at the moment. There are calls, from the environmentally conscious of us, that these bags should be banned.

Here are just a few good reasons why I think shoppers should leave their carriers at the till:

When I looked out of the window after all that wind this week, I expected to see leaves and branches blown across the garden and maybe the odd cracked fence panel. Instead, there were two torn carrier bags and a crisp packet.

On the way to work I noticed a familiar bright orange plastic bag stuck up in a tree - further along the road I noticed another!

Driving home, I witnessed the near disaster of a motorcyclist swerving to avoid an air born carrier bag (not orange this time!) fully inflated and swirling erratically across the road.

Allison Farlow
Graphics & Marketing, FIBRECRAFTS

Here's One for the Album!

The Surrey Business Awards have kindly sent us a photo of Ian and Jo receiving a certificate confirming FIBRECRAFTS place as a finalist for the Small Business Award.


Jo first began working for Fibrecrafts as a picker and packer. Nine years on, she is now Sales Manager and responsible for the smooth running of the sales department and dispatch. Thanks to Jo, the team runs like clock-work to deliver your orders within 24 hours.

And the Winner IS...

Not us, on this occassion!

The Small Business Award has eluded us but the team here at FIBRECRAFTS are still very proud to have been amongst the four finalists.

Our Managing Director, Ian Bowers, and Sales Manager, Jo Barrell, enjoyed a pleasant evening amongst 'the cream of the business community' at Sandown Park in Esher.

Congratulations to the 34 finalists from all of the categories. We look forward to meeting again!

Spot the Difference?

We hope you like the new look of the Fibrecrafts website. The design is in transition and we hope you'll be patient with us while we weed out any problems that still remain.

Please post your feedback and comments on this blog as it will help us to provide our best service to you.

Pics and Cake

Here is a photograph we had taken today in readiness for the Surrey Business Awards!


We are almost complete except for Howard who wasn't working today (click here to meet the team and to see Howard's pic). The photograph includes (back row) Allison, Susan, Ruth, Jo, Julie, Ian, (front row) Sharon, Dave and Sylvia.

Sylvia retired two years ago after working for Fibrecrafts for more than 15 years. She still maintains a welcome link by performing the role of 'House Mother' which involves providing us with essential supplies.

Sylvia also keeps a close eye on the Birthday Diary which triggers the delights of tea-time chocolate cake. Todays tea-time chocolate cake was eagerly received by Ian who is celebrating his 21st birthday today - for the 45th time!

NEWS: Surrey Business Award Finalist

Great news for FIBRECRAFTS! The shortlist has been shortened and the finalists announced - George Weil & Sons Ltd have made it to the last four contenders for the Small Business Award!

FIBRECRAFTS is the mail order division of George Weil & Sons Ltd and it is the hard work, commitment and imagination of the small team here that has led to this success.

The winners of the Surrey Business Awards will be announced in February 2008 and we're waiting with baited breath for the results. Wish us luck!

NEWS: We've only done it again!

The team here at FIBRECRAFTS are delighted with the news that the business has been shortlisted for yet another award!

The Surrey Business Awards have decided that FIBRECRAFTS has the credentials of a successful small business. The Small Business Award category, for which we have been entered, is for businesses of 25 employees or less (we fall into less, operating with just 3 full-time and 6 part-time).

The general day to day running, and as important, long term management decisions will all be taken into account when deciding their winner. Watch this space!

What Postal Strike?

As a small business that relies heavily on the Royal Mail, the team at FIBRECRAFTS have been determined not to be beaten by the recent strikes.

Of course it has had an effect, not all of our customers have received their goods as quickly as we would like. We endeavour to fulfill orders and dispatch on the same day that they're placed - providing our customers with a fast and efficient service.

Some of our customers have opted to pay a little extra and used our courier service. This has guaranteed delivery by the next working day. Nonetheless, nothing does compare to the British institution of the Royal Mail and we're glad to hear that they've decided against any further action - at least for today!

FIBRECRAFTS Catalogue 2008

It's here! The 26th FIBRECRAFTS mail order catalogue containing page after page of textile crafts materials and equipment.


There are lots of new products including the Bubble Jet Set 2000, Ashford & Louet Spinning Wheels, block printing inks, handmade papers and papermaking materials as well as new fibres and yarns...

You'll need to take a look inside to see what else is new. If you would like to order a copy, please click here

NEWS: BT officially becomes a swear word!

We've been without internet access for 2 weeks here at FIBRECRAFTS. Up until three years ago we didn't even have an internet connection and email was still a novelty - a great surprise to us therefore that its been so difficult to cope without.

Ian's been dragging the server back and forth to download and upload emails, so we've never been more than a day behind - but, oh the frustration. Poor Ian (our MD).

You've been able to see the web site, it has stayed open for business but the Team here at FIBRECRAFTS have had an extremely perplexing two weeks. We haven't even been able to update the site until today or start getting it ready to coincide with the 2008 FIBRECRAFTS catalogue launch...

Technophobes we concur!

It's Our Turn!

It wasn't until we were at the mercy of torrential rain this morning, that we began to understand what some of you have been experiencing with the flooding across Britain.

It's quite amusing to look out the door here and see our temporary lake, but just a short while ago the water was lapping at the warehouse door threatening to creep in across the floor and damage fixtures and stock. We began to realise that if the rain didn't stop, there wouldn't be much we could do.

We're counting our blessings and hope we're not jinxing our luck - the rain has stopped and the water recedes...

Getting stuck in at Fibrecrafts

Hey, I’m Sam and I’ve just finished my GCSE’s. I’ve been at Fibrecrafts for almost a week now doing work experience with them.

I’ve found it different to how I thought it’d be, I imagined an office full of grumpy employees with a new kid to baby sit. Instead I’ve entered a massive world of colour and texture, with a continual flow of tea. Everybody’s been friendly, Dave in the packaging room, a jolly bloke, never afraid to have a chat. Susan and Ian supervising and giving jobs, even if they are a bit dull, such as straightening books on a shelf. The warehouse gives smells that you might find in an Indian market, reeking of different scents from the natural dyes and bursting from the silks and wools.


I sketched out the initial design on Microsoft word which included much of the wording taken forward to the final design.

The design has been taken further by Allison, using an extremely complex computer design program, which had a manual half a metre thick. After the work on trying to get star shapes on the back, it was looking pretty good and even Susan described it as “sexy”. I enjoyed learning how much effort goes into even a smallish card like the one I contributed to.

A Duck's Tale

We've had some very exciting visitors today. Apart from our usual welcome customers, a family of ducks have popped by!

When asked if there was anything in particular she would like to see from the showroom, Mother duck politely quacked that she was just looking.

Later she was overheard to say that she rather fancied having a go at silk painting and possibly feltmaking...

NEWS: New Faces

Welcome to Sharon who has come to join the sales team at FIBRECRAFTS. There's nothing like being thrown in at the deep end and poor Sharon has joined us at a particularly busy time - our April free gift offer having proved very popular!

Sharon attended Godalming College and has an A level in Textiles as well as AS levels in Photography and Media. She is keen to become familiar with our products and can't wait to take some of them home to see what she can do with them.

In the meantime, Sharon is up to her ears in fibres, natural dyes and mordants - helping Julie to pick your orders and learn all about the business at grass roots. We're sure you will all join us in wishing Sharon luck with her new job

NEWS: FIBRECRAFTS Wins ECMOD Mail Order Business Award

Allison, Jennie Bond and Ian

Last night Ian Bowers, MD of FIBRECRAFTS and Allison Farlow, our designer, were at the annual award dinner of the European Conference of Mail Order Distributors (ECMOD) - sounds exciting doesn't it? We had entered the Fibrecrafts business for an award as a mail order business in the category 'Home Based Hobbies & Pursuits'.

The assessment is based on the catalogue, e-commerce web site, customer support and business development in the year. The event was in the Natural History Museum in London along with all the dinosaurs, and 500 others from the mail-order industry. We were rather chuffed to have been short-listed along with John Lewis Direct (a huge chain of classy and effective UK department stores and a mega web site, rated 8th of the national leaders) and the leading Irish mail-order business selling nice 'tat'!

The first surprise was to find that we were seated on the top table with the organisers and the celebrity, Jennie Bond - obviously this was a consolation prize for effort. However WE WON and we're delighted to share our news with you.

Thank you to all our customers and friends who have supported us for these 25 years. Now, to find the next mountain to climb!

Central Hall at the Natural History Museum where the event was held

FIBRECRAFTS - under attack

Monday 5 February 2007 will be remembered at FIBRECRAFTS for some time to come.

We opened up, as usual, and as a part of our normal routine, checked the emails for orders from the web site. On the previous evening 16 identical orders had been placed by an individual with the name of ‘Sad’. After a few more minutes we realised that a file on the site which held some credit card details had been completely wiped.

More research, particularly using a free Google tool, told us that over a period of 2 hours the site had been attacked from a computer in Hanoi, Vietnam. The technique used is known as ‘SQL injection’. This attempts to trick the web site into giving away its structure so that, through a series of intelligent guesses, the data can be extracted.

All the key data on the site is, of course encrypted, using strong processes which we understand should take 30 years to crack. The evidence on the site suggested that the attacker had only been able to delete a data file. However we thought that the responsible way to handle this was to email everyone whose data could have ever been on the site. We told them of the attack and that our estimate of their credit card data being accessed was a ‘moderate’ risk.

We immediately closed down the web site and over the following days worked to harden it to ensure that no more damage could be done and we will remain ever vigilant of future attacks.

The site was re-opened on Thursday 8th February. On the following Sunday the site was attacked again, again from Hanoi, with two individuals working simultaneously. However this time the attack lasted only six minutes and there was no damage. Again we emailed all those who had registered on the site saying that we believed that this re-attack suggested that no data had been extracted.

There have been two lessons from this for us; never to assume that a site is safe and therefore to make sure that no valuable data is held there, ever. Secondly, just how cheered we were by the very many positive responses to our emails thanking us for the warning, and assuring us that they admired us for being prepared to admit that the attacks had happened.

Over the past two weeks orders through the site have continued to flow in at an ever increasing rate.

NEWS: FIBRECRAFTS shortlisted for ECMOD award

FIBRECRAFTS have been short listed for the 2007 ECMOD Awards for mail-order businesses, alongside industry giants John Lewis Direct and 4giftsdirect.com. The major elements sought by the Judges were the quality of the Catalogue and web-site, customer support policy and the business strategy.

This picture of the FIBRECRAFTS Team and a press release were featured in the Surrey Advertiser on 16th February 2007. Well done to (left to right) Jo, Ian, Dave, Allison (the designer), Julie, Coralie and Susan. Also to Ruth, Howard and Rosina (not pictured)