Spotlight on “Solutions for making the most of your Fund Raising Activities"...
The Fat-Chilli presentation at the Mermaid Conference Centre, London EC4 on 29th September 2008, organised by the Charity Buying Group, was a resounding success.
Our presentation provided advice on how to harness the creative fundraising projects offered though Fat-Chilli to increase your fund raising revenue. We also provided an exclusive preview of the new and exciting project solutions we have planned for 2009.
Thank you to all the organisations that expressed an interest in Fat-Chilli, we will be in touch with you very shortly to follow up.
If you were unable to attend the event and would like to receive further details please call us on 0845 058 3907.
Fat-Chilli cards are kind to the environment - with no compromise on quality...
The lovely Fat-Chilli greetings cards are all made from FSC certified paperboard, which means the supply chain for the paper pulp used in the card has been inspected by an independent body (the FSC) and it is guaranteed that none of the earth’s natural forest resources were damaged to create the paper board used in the Fat-Chilli card production.
There is no discernable difference in quality between non certified board and certified board. The main difference is that certified board is more expensive than cheaper varieties of non certified board, and this is because the supply chain for the board is independently evaluated and certified.
The board used in the Fat-Chilli board is made from 80% recycled wood pulp, and 20% sustainable forest sourced wood pulp. Sustainable forests offer ‘tree farm’ environments where ongoing planting takes place to manage the forests to make sure that stocks are always replenished.
Leading high street shops and paper manufacturers are currently moving over to FSC certified products, and we believe it is only a matter of time before this becomes a legislative requirement.
We have also taken steps to ensure the materials used in our packaging are as environmentally friendly as possible, and we are continuing to make adjustments to improve this aspect. For more details on the materials used in our products please see our environmental page.
Visit the FSC website for more information.
New appointment! Introducing Danielle Lewis, as Creative Marketing Executive...
Fat-Chilli is delighted to announce a new appointment to the team! Danielle Lewis joins us this month as Creative Marketing Executive. Danielle originally trained in art and design and is embarking on a further university course in September 2008 in order to further develop her photography skills.
Danielle will undertake a wide range of activities with Fat-Chilli, including the development of our creative
‘Get-Arty!’ brand. She will also be getting involved in some new project marketing initiatives we have planned in coming months for 2008/2009.
In her spare time Danielle enjoys photography, art and design, cinema and last but not least - holidaying (she is taking 3 of those in 2008 – lucky thing!).
We also have two new staff joining us in September to help on the production side of things, check out our blog again soon for further details!
We are pleased to announce the winner of the summer 2008 competition about The Queen...
Firstly, Fat-Chilli would like to thank every child that entered the summer competition to design a birthday card for The Queen, and also the teaching staff for their hard work in facilitating the entries.
See the winning designs, the two runners up, and some of our favourites.
The winning artwork is by Elizabeth Myers, a pupil at The Abbey School, Reading.
For more information about the school visit: The Abbey School Website
The two runners up are Pheobe Anderson and Sylvie Philips, pupils at Putney High School, London.
For more information about the school visit: Putney High School Website
The winning card and runners up cards were sent to Buckingham Palace in time for The Queen’s official birthday on 17 June. The winning card contained a personalised message from the competition winner and was sent in a golden envelope, and the runners up cards were blank inside and were sent in white envelopes.
A lady-in-waiting at Buckingham Palace subsequently (and unexpectedly) telephoned Fat-Chilli to say Her Majesty thought the cards were lovely, and has also sent a letter of thanks to Fat-Chilli, the winner, and the two runner’s up!
What a thrill! The two runner’s up are featured in the photograph below with the cards they won in the competition and the letter’s from Buckingham Palace.
Well done to all three of our competition winners! We are certain you will all go far with your future art and design work!!
Several local papers have said they will feature the story on The Queen’s birthday on the 17 June – so watch out for this!
And here are some little known facts about The Queen...
The Queen has received over 3 million items of correspondence during her reign!
The Queen speaks fluent French and often uses the language for state visits, and she does not require an interpreter.
During her reign The Queen has received many unusual gifts including live animals (some of which have been placed in the care of London Zoo), plus pineapples, eggs, a box of snail shells, a grove of maple trees, and 7kg of prawns!
The Queen’s real birthday is 21 April, but it is celebrated officially on
17 June. So check out the Royal websites below for more inspiration for the ‘design a birthday card for The Queen competition’!
Source: Celebrating The Queen’s 80th Birthday (www.royalinsight.gov.uk/output/Page4817.asp)
Also see: The Official Website to the British Monarchy (www.royal.gov.uk)
Ann Crawford, Designer and Art & Crafts Teacher
talks to us about shrink plastic and marbelling ...
Designer and art and crafts teacher Ann Crawford kindly produced a lovely kit card as one of the ‘goodies’ that went to the winner of our summer competition.
Ann formerly ran her own pottery design business which she then passed onto her son. Since then Ann has taught art and crafts in a school in Halifax, Yorkshire, and she shares with us below the two activities her group of children enjoy most during lessons.
"The children absolutely love creating marbling designs using water and ink, and they get very excited about working on shrink plastic projects. I have put together an overview of each of these techniques for Fat-Chilli that other schools and nurseries may be interested to try with their groups".
Creating designs using marbling (PDF)
Creating jewellery and other novelty items with shrink plastic (PDF)
The British greetings card industry is the most successful in the world producing over 2.87 billion greetings cards – for the ‘greeting card hungry public’ each year!
On average, the number of greetings cards sent per person
per year is 55.
And 85% of all cards purchased are bought by women!
Source: Greetings Card Association (www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk/home/)
The first Christmas card...
The commercial Christmas card as we know it today was invented in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole, the chief organiser of the Great Exhibition, pioneer of the penny post, and founder of the Victoria & Albert Museum. One of
Sir Henry’s first Christmas cards, sent to his Grandmother, recently
sold at auction for a whopping £22,500. (So hang onto your
Fat-Chilli cards – they may be worth something in a few years!!!).
Source: Greetings Card Association (www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk/home/)
More about the first Christmas card...
In the early 19th century it was common practise to hand write seasonal messages on calling cards or in letters. In 1843, in order to save having to hand-write dozens of Christmas messages, Sir Henry Cole had his friend, John Calcott Horsley design and print a batch of cards. The words printed on the card were ‘A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’ – much the same is still found in cards today. Visit the Victoria and Albert Museum website on the link below and see the card designed by John Calcott Horsley for yourself.
Source: The Victoria & Albert Museum (www.vam.ac.uk)
