Happy Valentine's OR Love Yourself Day!

So, I'm not quite sure what camp I fall into when thinking about Valentine's Day. I love the soppy idea of sending romantic gifts to loved ones - I received the nicest card from my sister yesterday which completely made my day! 

Why not use a commercial day to make someone in your life feel extra special? Yeah OK why should we require a specified day to be nice...but it can't hurt, right? What about the couples who have been married for years? Even after 25 years of marriage my romantic Dad has a stunning bouquet delivered to my Mum every year without fail. They go out for a meal or my Mum cooks something special and they have a night to themselves - how could I begrudge anyone that? It's nice to be nice - end of!

As fateful luck would have it I personally seem to be single most Valentine's Days, now that I'm in my mid-twenties this kind of remark is heard more frequently: "have you not found a man yet?", "any news on your love-life?" and "perhaps you should smile more often" - cheers pals! It's comments like these that make it increasingly easy to start "hating" Valentine's Day. It can make any person feel pressured when the dreaded February 14th approaches - suddenly those men/ladies you avoid at all costs seem a lot more appealing - quick, find someone else to pair with! Otherwise you stand to admit to yourself that you're a failure in the romance department and this one little day will make you feel exceptionally lonely - oh great! Especially when you were quite happy being single until this day crept up.

I have therefore come up with my new method - turn a doomed-to-be-a-singleton Valentine's Day into a romantic day for (who better?) myself. My original plan was to try and sleep through it but that's simply not practical. Therefore my last few Valentine's Days have been spent with only the best of friends, wine, Disney movies and (fantastic) food - it helps that my best friend is a chef. Love and laughter all round. This year I'm going to spend the day engrossed in a bit of retail therapy - I've not been shopping since before Christmas and I've been saving the pennies. So what if I don't have someone to buy me the perfect choccies, flowers...or Alpaca Fur Slipper Boots to keep me warm at night - they're so cushioned it's almost as good as a foot rub! I have a bank card don't I? Plus I know the perfect items to make me happy - someone else would only get the wrong colour or size! Plus I think I'm great! I deserve it - Happy Love Yourself Day to ME!!

With that in mind here's a coupon to get £10 off any order on our website of £35 or more - 'VAL10'. Happy Valentine's OR Love-Yourself Day Everyone!!

It's beginning to feel a lot like....

"Tis the season", "deck the halls", "jingle jingle", "Merry what-nots"...Yes we all know it's round the corner and everyone seems to be in one of two camps;

In the first camp we have the 'Bah Humbugs'; brimming with frosty "I cannot be bothereds", going on about Christmas being too expensive; a clever con brought about by retailers and department stores desperate to get the unwilling victims to part with their hard earned buck. 

And in camp number two we have the Pine tree loving, mulled wine brewing,  present wrapping, turkey basting, chestnut roasting,  cash blowing believers. Those who never tire of leaving a carrot out for Rudolph and maybe even a mince pie out for the big guy. 

Now if you are unfortunate enough to be nearer to camp one then you have to endure the sickly sweet attitudes of the rest of us but, trust me, this is the one time where "if you can't beat em, join em" really does pay off! 

Who doesn't love a roaring fire on a cold winters night, someone to snuggle up to (in my case it's the smelly dog rather than a handsome someone but he's fluffy at least!), hanging the stockings and making an old auntie's day by sending a card? If you're not the biggest fan of this time of year there are plenty of things you can do to try and get with the festive spirit, who knows by the end of it you may just forget you were ever in camp "bah humbug".

1. Cheesy movies. That's right, "It's a Wonderful Life", "Love Actually", "The Holiday", "The Santa Clause", "Elf" and "All I Want For Christmas" are just a few examples of some of the good 'uns. There is no better way to get yourself submerged in the cheer. 
2. It's all about the kids! Even if you don't love Christmas with every fibre of your being those little ones do and it really is fun jumping on the band wagon. Write letter's to Santa with them, read 'T'was The Night Before Christmas', make mince pies and whenever they start acting up the simple phrase "sack of coal" seems to work like a charm! 
3. He's making a list. And so should you! There's nothing worse than the guilty feeling in the pit of your stomach when you forget a special someone from your Christmas gift list so start nice and early! Maybe even get a couple of extra generic gifts (i.e. The Bodyshop Giftsets or a foodie hamper) just incase you get an unexpected gift from an over-generous someone you weren't expecting anything from. This way you won't get caught out and gift-giving makes you feel good - stuff the expense!
4. Get crafty! Ok, so you're not into sewing and maybe you're a little old for paper chains but maybe cooking's your thing so get a few mates over for mulled wine, mince pies, beers and a cocktail or two. Impress your neighbours with a beautiful handmade wreath - there are loads of how-tos online and you'll get so much more satisfaction than if you bought one. Simply stick some holly branches in vases or perhaps go for a real tree this year and make some decorations - they don't need to look like you made them yourself (again some excellent how-tos online) and if you've got kids this could be something they really get some pride from. There's something so satisfying about seeing your house decked out and glittering. Once you've made all that effort, finished, put the kettle on and taken a minute to admire your handiwork you'll (probably) agree. And for Pete's sake, Ok, yes, big deal, the tree drops needles (you own a hoover don't you!?) but the awesome smell that engulfs your home is priceless, bite the bullet, nothing beats a real tree!
5. The joy of helping others. Yeah, yeah so it's corny and we're all busy and have our own lives and blah blah blah but would it really kill us, all of us, to do just one nice little thing? Good will to all men and all that? It doesn't have to be big or involve a long-term commitment, help out at a shelter or soup-kitchen one evening, visit your neighbour in hospital, bring a hot dinner to the wee old lady down the road, take a couple of mince pies to the guy at your local club who lost his wife this year, raise some money within the workplace for a good cause or, if you really are so short on time that none of the above could be squeezed in, donate some money to a charity. After all, isn't this what Christmas is really all about?
6. Happy Families. Now I know that people say that family arguments are common at Christmas, kids hyped up on sugar, in-laws outstaying their welcome, certain someone's not pulling their weight and come the big day everyone's exhausted! So yeah emotions are running high and you could just think of somewhere else you'd love to shove that turkey baster but...(and it's a big but)...this is your family, they're the only family you've got. You didn't choose them and you can't change them so wouldn't it be nice if, for one day, and one day only, you simply all got along? In my house Christmas is the one day of the year where everyone is nice to each other and we all get along, no exceptions; everyone's more helpful, more polite and remembers that crucial point that is when to shut up and say nothing at all rather than that snide remark. It's simply nice to remember just once a year how lucky we are to have each other, lets face it, we could do worse, right?!
7. What a Feast! If you love only one thing about this time of year it has to be the food. You can't help it, your body simply craves comfort at this chilly season and what better way to tell yourself "I love you" than with a glass of Mulled Wine...no? Turkey Dinner with all the trimmings; Roast Potatoes and Stuffing? Christmas Pudding? Roast Duck? Cinnamon Latte? Mince Pie? Tin of Quality Street? Chestnuts?...oh lets face it, there's something for everyone and it's no wonder we all end up a little...errr jollier, than we were in the summer. Don't worry, you'll soon work off those extra pounds with your shiny new gym membership in January but for now sit back, relax, and enjoy, YUM!!
8. Dancing Queen. How many parties have you been invited to this year? Or maybe you're throwing one yourself? Who doesn't love an excuse to surround themselves with friends and loved ones and dress up? Yes ok there might be the obligatory work's night out but oh come on, what the heck, it's only once a year, and who knows, that nice guy from the department downstairs might be at the office party...don't forget your mistletoe.
9. Forgiveness. So maybe the reason why you're not feeling so festive is that you've not had the greatest of years. It's coming to the end of another 365 days and you're beginning to reflect; perhaps you've lost touch with someone you miss, had a falling out with a friend or separated from family or spouse. Whether you want to try and fix the horrible (possibly painful) mess or you would simply like to smooth things over so they're not so uncomfortable in the future you happen to be approaching the one time of year where you can make amends for most things. If you can't make peace at Christmas then when can you?
10. If, after all my ramblings, you still are left feeling high and dry, I have one last suggestion to get you in the mood. Christmas Fairs are thee most fantastic buzz for Christmas lovers. Whether you're looking for some Christmas decorations for your home, gift ideas or some foodie inspiration to make your Christmas dinner table truly sparkle then these Fairs are your gold dust! Ticket prices vary depending on the size and scale of the fair so if you're looking for something small and local then maybe something in your town hall or church will suffice but if something bigger is your cup of tea then possibly one of the fairs below? Samantha Holmes will be attending both of these Christmas Fairs and I can safely say I cannot wait to start my Christmas buzz - incase you hadn't noticed - I'm a believer! 

Hopetoun House, South Queensferry, Edinburgh, Scotland

15th - 17th November

Country Living, SECC, Glasgow, Scotland

21st - 24th November

A Facebook Post

So Facebook announced earlier this week that they are no longer insisting that people do competitions through an official (and most often expensive) app. That now means that we can 'officially' do Facebook competitions on our pages - phew!

Facebook's changed a lot over most recent years and there's no doubt, it most certainly has made it a great deal more difficult and costly for businesses to promote their brand and products or services. Did you know that, even by 'liking' a Facebook Page, you will still only see a fraction of posts that page will publish? Facebook does this deliberately to try and encourage the page owner to 'Promote' or rather, pay for their post to be seen. But easing up on their rules about competitions should make it slightly less difficult to promote our brand!

Well in light of this we have launched our biggest competition to date: Guess Our Best Seller For Autumn/Winter 2013?!

Simply go onto the Samantha Holmes Facebook Page. 'Like' our page and then 'like' and 'Share' the competition (the one with this image). Once you have done this you can comment on the picture stating the letter of the product you think will be our best selling and why you think so. It's that simple! If you are correct you will be entered into a draw to win that product. The winner will be announced 10th January 2014. Well we won't know what's sold best over the Christmas period until then will we?

It's always exciting when we get a big delivery from Peru - lots of new, shiny products. One of the lovely things about our collections is that no two handmade items are exactly the same, especially the furry products, so opening those boxes is always fun to do. Over 10 years in this business and it's still a little bit like Christmas!

So that's the first of our Peru stock deliveries to fulfil our Autumn/Winter Trade orders, plenty more things still to come but it's always exciting when the hype begins in July/August. All new products for this Autumn/Winter will be available to purchase from our website (www.samanthaholmes.com) shortly but in the mean time please make plenty of 'Ooooooo's' and 'Ahhhhhhh's' at our beautiful 'Fur Hot Water Bottle Cover' that we had exclusively made in Taupe for our Swedish distributer, Werannas...it's so gorgeous that we might just have to get some more in - I'm in love!

Shiny and New!

There's cause for much excitement today in the Samantha Holmes office - we're delighted to announce that yesterday evening our brand-new, shiny, all-singing-and-dancing website went live!

Some browsers may not have updated yet and may still be showing our old website. pressing the 'control (Ctrl)' button and 'F5' button together can fix this but not in every case.

Old Website:

New Website:

The new website features many new bits and pieces such as links to all our social media pages and of course the blog which will be kept up-to-date from here on in! 

The product pages now have a much larger selection of images which are able to be zoomed in on - this should make seeing the detail and type of knit incredibly simple.

The Trade side of the website (the side used for shops/businesses placing bulky orders) has been completely re-designed. This now looks very similar to the public side of the website. It's now easy to view collections/ ranges and all images (with zoom) are now available for them as well - well it's only fair!

Of course, like with all new websites, we are expecting there to be a couple of hiccups in the first few weeks after launch. We are currently still working on a number of known things but if you have any problems using this site we would really like to know about it. 

Any thoughts and comments are always welcome!

Happy Shopping!

Oops, forgot to mention the rooms featured below are in Meg Ryan's House in Martha's Vineyard.  Nice taste, Meg!  Where are you these days?

We are very excited about working with our new friend Riikka Hytonen Werannas Warehouse in Stockholm who has an inspiring feel-good website.  She has great style and a wonderful eye for presentation.  Inspired by rustic loft interiors, old and new, ethnic classics and of course anything original knitted from alpaca, Riikka also keeps an entertaining blog Werannas Blog.