- A Day in the Life -
Janet Felix of Cinnamon Stitching
Janet Felix’s creativity and eye for beauty speaks for itself. I was immediately drawn to her use of bold color palettes and adorable animal designs throughout her selection of embroidery kits. Janet’s designs could inspire anyone to pick up a needle and thread and figure out how to craft these little beauties into life.
Janet shares some of her story, as well as details regarding her gorgeous, quaint homeplace in Sussex, England where all of the designing takes place.
in Janet's words...
WHERE I LIVE ashurst wood, west Sussex, england
I live in the middle of nowhere, about a mile outside of a small village called Ashurst Wood, in West Sussex. Ashurst Wood is a very friendly village with a great community feel. We have two pubs, a village shop and a hairdresser. That’s about it.
It’s a very curious village, in that it straddles two counties and if I walk about 500 yards from my house, I move from West Sussex to East Sussex. If I drive about 5 miles I can also go in to two other counties – Surrey and Kent,
Arhurst Wood is also situated just outside of Ashdown Forest, home to Winnie the Pooh and Christoper Robin!
On quiet days I can post my orders in the local post box and as I live down a public bridleway, I really enjoy my walk there and back. It only takes about 20 minutes, but it is some nice reflective time with nothing to do apart from put one foot in front of the other.
I live in a very rural (some might say isolated) old woodsman’s cottage that has been significantly extended over the years. I am surrounded by trees and only have two neighbours.
We have a big garden, so when Cinnamon Stitching started growing, I was in the lovely position of being able to build a big studio in the garden which is where I work these days.
Outside my windows I see trees and my garden. We also live near a racing stables, so I quite often see their horses being walked up and down the bridleway and it is a popular dog walking route so I get to see and chat to lots of other dogs and their owners.
A Typical Workday for Janet
WAKE UP
8 to 9 am
My day starts with a cup of tea in bed, which my husband brings to me. When we first started living together, I told him that my Dad had always taken a cup of tea to my Mum in bed. It turned out, that he only did this at the weekend, but my husband had been trained by the time he found this out!!
I have one pet, Barney (my cocker spaniel), I am so lucky to have the beautiful Barney in my life. He is blue roan show Cocker Spaniel and is the love of my life (don’t tell my husband!!). He is the first dog I have ever had and getting him was the best thing I ever did. He always comes and joins me in bed while I drink my tea, so this is a lovely relaxed start to the day.
Breakfast is almost always granola and skimmed milk, but I do enjoy buttered toast as a change, or a fruit smoothie and buttered crumpet at the weekend,
START WORK
9 AM
I’m not good at getting up in the morning, so my day usually starts about 9:00. My commute takes about 30 seconds from the back door to my studio in the garden!
I’ll take my breakfast and my second cup of tea with me and the first thing I will do is check for any messages or emails that have come in overnight. If they can be responded to immediately I will do so, otherwise they get marked for follow-up later in the day. I also check for new orders that have come in and need dealing with.
Next, I turn to my to-do list. I’ve been a Project Manager for many years in the past, so I can’t live without a plan and these days my to-do list forms part of this. Every Monday morning I review the previous week’s tasks for anything that needs to be carried forward and then add to this with everything I want / need to achieve in the coming week. It rarely stays unchanged and part of reviewing it each day means lots of new tasks get added or re-prioritized.
Packaging up orders and getting them sent out is always my most important job and I tend to do this three times a week, although in the run up to Christmas I often will be sending out orders every day!
I make all my own kits, so this takes up a lot of my time. Winding bobbins, cutting fabric and assembling all the components probably takes up more than half of my time, but it’s always a positive thing to see how much has been made at the end of the day or week.
As well as all of this I have to keep a close eye on my own stock of components and make sure that I order replacements in good time to ensure I don’t run out of anything important.
As well as this, there is accounting, social media and everything that a small business owner needs to do.
SHOP CINNAMON STITCHING
LUNCH
12:30 to 2:00 Pm
What motivates you to keep working in the afternoon?
DINNER
7:30 to 8:00 Pm
We eat later than we should, but that comes from years of having to go out to work and not getting back until late. We always have a meat-free Monday, so it will be something vegetarian on Monday and then fish or meat most other days. I tend to go for pasta dishes when I’m not feeling inspired, but we try not to use convenience foods too much.
what is your favorite part of your job?
It’s definitely the creating new designs and stitching them up. I really love picking the thread colours, there’s over 450 standard colours in the DMC range, plus special threads like variegated and metallic, so there is so much to choose from. I also love reading my fabulous reviews and knowing how much people have enjoyed my kits. I got a Thank You card from one grateful customer recently which was wonderful!
to where did you last travel?
I always visit my 95 year old mum once a week. She still lives in the family house, so its nice to go back and see her as she’s still so well and active. In terms of holiday travel… guess what, everything revolves around being able to take Barney!! So in June we travelled to Devon where there are some wonderful dog friendly beaches.