28 A splash of colour Simon Kendall-Stokes Co-Owner of Pearlywinks Craft Supplies talks to Craft Focus about the company’s plans to develop the trade side of the business! Tell us a little bit about the company. Where are you based? When did the company start? Pearlywinks, owned by myself and my sister Donna, was opened as a company in April 2018. We manufacture all of our sprays and pastes ourselves and use a UK-based company to manufacture all of our stamps and stencils. Since July 2018 we’ve been on The Craft Store (formally Hochanda) at least once every month. When we first started, we only had four pearl sprays, three ink sprays and two designer pads. By the time our third birthday came around we had just over 100 and now we have more than 170 different colours across our ranges along with texture pastes in a variety of colours, pearly pastes, over 35 stamp sets, and stencils. On 1st August, 2020 we opened the doors of our very own shop which is based in Radcliffe, a small town in Manchester. In April 2021, we launched our Stamp a Ring, this is massively popular and we sold well over 1,400 in the first few months. December 2021 saw the launch of our Precision Stencil Pro range a brandnew concept that we’re very proud of. Not only are they fun to use but they’re amazing value for money. How has the company evolved? Pearlywinks has grown at a very comfortable rate and our range has grown dramatically in a short period. We started with only seven sprays manufacturing them in our living room and have had to move the business several times as we kept outgrowing the premises. Finally, in July 2021, we found the perfect place for Pearlywinks, not only do we have a shop where we’re able to meet people and show how our products work but there’s plenty of space for storage as well as two rooms to make our products up. What do you specialise in? We’ve always specialised in ink sprays and colour. We have branched out into other areas but inks will always be our passion. Talk us through the current products you’re particularly excited about. Do you have a favourite? I have to say, I love all of our products but for me personally there are two products that excite me and that’s because they’re so much fun and our newest creations. Firstly, the Stamp a Ring, it still amazes me that I’m still finding more and more ways of using it − not to mention the perfect ring I can create using my mini stamps. Secondly, our Precision Stencil Pro range has to be the top spot for me. It was a concept that Donna and I came up with following the launch of the hugely popular Stamp a Ring. Donna and I both love to stencil so we thought of a way of combining the two and we came up with the design of our first Precision Stencil. “We’ve always specialised in ink sprays and colour. We’ve branched out into other areas but inks will always be our passion.”
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