"Living and working as I do, within sight of the Lake District I have been
inspired to transform the landscapes and landmarks into cross stitch kits and charts which are available on the web site or by mail order.
"I use my Nikon camera to take the photographs and then transfer them into cross stitch. The process make a perfect photographic representation as long as you get the colours right – sometimes when you buy a kit, the mixture of colours may look slightly odd but as the cross stitch develops, the colours start to blend and on completion the whole thing can look very realistic. Customers who purchase a full kit receive a colour picture of what the cross stitch will look like when completed, a piece of material the size they require, pre-sorted threads, information and instruction sheet, a black and white large print symbol chart on A4 and of course the needle.
“Customers can email or post to me a photograph they want converting into cross stitch and I can compile the kit or chart for them – the better quality the picture, the better the result.”
David Prentice of Distinctly Cumbrian said: “Distinctly Cumbrian is pleased to support this interesting use of technology with a grant for her website.
“Victoria tours Cumbria with her partner by motorbike, photographing landmarks and landscapes and converts the images on her computer into cross stitch patterns. She provides hours of fun for the needlecraft enthusiast. With the ecommerce facility the worldwide market should open up for her.”
As well as promoting the county’s countryside, Victoria is also aiming to help local charities with her unique Cumbrian cross-stitch designs.
“I started what is called 'Photo Charting' as a hobby more than six years ago. My first photo cross-stitch was of my cat, Shanti. Since then I’ve photo charted a wide range of subjects, everything from pets and grandchildren to motorbikes and tattoes. Through the website I have been able to promote my Lake District scenes, including Ullswater and Haweswater and Penrith Clock Tower which have proved very popular.
“I am planning to donate part of the profits from this range to the Great North Air Ambulance which plays a vital role to locals and tourists alike in this area. I will also be donating money to a local animal rescue charity, Eden Animal Rescue, from my own range of animal orientated charts and kits.
“My business and the new website provide the needlecraft community in this area with the same quality items they have become used to. I would like to thank those loyal customers who have supported my new business and hope they will find the new website, which I have been able to develop through a grant from Distinctly Cumbrian, useful. I would like to thank David Prentice from Distinctly Cumbrian for his help and support.
“Needlecraft is a very tactile sort of thing. People want to feel and see the threads for themselves, but the website enables me to give potential customers an insight into what I can provide and regular customers a means of re-ordering and keeping up to date with new lines. The virtual shop give my customers an even better service. My web designer Vertebrate who are based in Askham, have created a user friendly, clean, tidy site that conveys my business perfectly and is the ideal way of promoting new craft lines I hope to introduce shortly. “Any question I had, web advice and design advice was always available from Vertebrate - at all times – the site would not be what it is without their advice on what will work and what won’t. I have very little understanding of how the internet actually works so their advice has been invaluable and I’d like to say ‘Thank You’ to them for their continuing help.
“I plan to stock as wide a variety of quality items as is possible - from the usual DMC and Anchorl to the more unusual Pinn company range as well as other quality ranges from OOE, Simply Scissors, Twilleys, Framecraft and others.
“All items I stock are quality and although I will not have stitched everything, I will at least be able to say that I have tried a sample from each company I stock. I can also guarantee that I only stock items that I would be happy to receive as gifts myself or to have in my home.”
Everything You Needle is now live at www.everythingyouneedle.co.uk
Notes
Distinctly Cumbrian was established in 2001 to regenerate and strengthen the rural economy of Cumbria by supporting the production, distribution and marketing of local produce. The organisation is funded by the North West Development Agency and managed by the Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency.
The ICT team is led by David Prentice with Julie Reeves and John Chambers. It has worked with about 80 local businesses on their web sites and e-commerce systems, providing grants for up to 50% of costs and brokering contacts with local web designers.
Victoria Ruthven-Mayes is available for interview.
For further information, please contact
Karen Morley-Chesworth David Prentice
Bigstorymedia.com
Distinctly Cumbrian
01768 889142 01768 891555
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