I ‘m sure you are all settling back into the routine of work and school as we are, the holidays always seem to fly by.

We have been very busy over the Christmas period. Les and I have designed five new Snuggle Feet shoes…these include a gorgeous puppy shoe for a girl and a brand new car design for the boys. Watch this space as there will be a sneak preview very soon.

We are also very pleased to add a couple of new stockists to our ever increasing list! Bebe Jour in Hastings old town is an independent boutique; they are stocking a small range of Snuggle Feet shoes. Green Baby in Islington is stocking a wide range of designs and we also welcome Greenwich baby who carry a large variety of Snuggle Feet styles and sizes.

We love to hear from our customers, you can join us on Face Book and Twitter where you can keep up to date with all our latest news.

So here it is! Just in time for winter.

We know that many of our customers buy Snuggle Feet as gifts for a new baby or birthdays so we have designed a gift set which is a perfect present for these occasions!

Our gift set will comprise of a gorgeous pair of Snuggle Feet shoes and a baby vest with a complimenting design presented in a gift box. The gift sets will be available in size 6-12 months.

We will also be introducing our own brand casting kits, Snuggle Collection kits are a great way of capturing an impression of a baby’s foot while it is still so tiny!

Watch this space!

The first place I alway go to is http://www.alibaba.com/ This a comprehensive website with links to manufacturers all over the world.  I can guarantee that you can find a factory that makes  just about everything here!

The next thing to decide is if your product is a completely new idea or is it something that is already in production, as this will make a difference to the type of factory you would approach.

The best thing to do is email the factories you have found, ask them if your product is something they could produce. Also a very important question is their ‘MQO’ this is the Minimum Quantity Order, it can be hard to find a factory with a low MQO but often a factory will add a small percentage to the price if you need a smaller order. It is always worth asking!

The process can take a long time, as well as the time difference there is also the language barrier. I have always found my contacts to speak/write excellent English but there is always a chance of mistakes. Keep language simple and try not to use slang words of phrases that a contact may not understand. I often use a photograph of a picture/drawing to show exactly what I mean.

I have always enjoyed doing business with Chinese suppliers as their professionalism and work ethics are fantastic. I hope to continue this in the future!

In fact we have a few new products arriving in the next month for both Snuggle Feet and our baby gift site http://www.abcbabygifts.co.uk/

So, watch this space!!

I gave her my opinion, as a mother. I think it is best, if possible, to let your child move around with bare feet when indoors. That said allot of people are concerned about splinters from wooden floors or other possible hazards, in that case Soft leather shoes like Snuggle Feet will help to protect little feet but still allow the room for the toes to spread out and for baby to learn to use their feet correctly. When out doors, say in the garden the our shoes are the perfect protection, still giving feet the flexibility to move freely.

Having been a customer of the most well known Children’s shoe shop and having bought my three boy’s school shoes from them, I do feel their focus has shifted over the last year to a much heavier sales patter.
I have managed to speak to someone who works for this company as a team supervisor and was shocked to hear of the immense pressure the sales teams are put under. I know that this is a business, but some of the tactics used are very hard selling. The supervisor I spoke to told me of the weekly sales targets they have to meet, the cross selling they have to push the customer into buying, the re booking of fitting appointments and the fact they are only allowed to show the customer a half a size bigger shoe for their child so they are forced to return in the quickest possible time.

For me, soft leather shoes are the next best thing to bare feet. Ankles really do not need to be supported at such and age and the thicker rubber soles of some cruising shoes can make it difficult for babies just on their feet to really feel what is happening under them.

So, I would love to know what your feeling are on this subject. What shoes do you buy for your child and why?

Les jetted off to China to attend one of the largest trade shows in the world, with a stop in Hong Kong first. It was an important trip for us as we wanted to meet our new suppliers and visit factories that may be supplying us in the future. Les made allot of new contacts and met some fantastic suppliers.

I must admit I was a little jealous that I wasn’t able to go with him, but someone needed to stay at home and look after the three boys as well as the business!

So, we have a few new products coming soon to Snuggle Feet. The first is a gift set, this will contain one of our best selling Snuggle Feet baby shoes paired with a matching embroidered baby gro. We know from experience that allot of our customers not only buy Snuggle Feet for their own children, but also as gifts for other new parents, we think the gift set will be a popular addition!

One of the other new products we will be adding to the site is a Snuggle Collection baby imprint tin, this is a really fun and safe way to create a lasting keepsake, I had one for the boy’s and I love looking back and not quite believing how small their feet once were!!

Finally, we are very excited to have Isa Noisette working on our behalf to raise the profile of Snuggle Feet, thanks Isa!

Snuggle Legs are fabulous baby and toddler leg warmers; we designed these in response to our customer demands. They can be used in many different ways and are a perfect partner to our soft leather baby shoes. Snuggle Legs can be worn instead of tights, under skirts or shorts so still keeping legs warm and protected whilst making nappy changes much easier.

Also, coming soon are a few new designs! We have ducks, rockets and a new trainer design for girls, plus a few more too.

We already know how many of you buy Snuggle feet as gifts for a new baby or a birthday, so, again in response to you, our customers we will be bringing gift sets to the Snuggle Feet web site, we will tell you more about this soon!

I listened to what our baby shoe customers were saying, they were buying our baby shoes and then going elsewhere to buy their leg warmers…This was not good for business so I decided to find out about manufacturing our own brand of baby leg warmers, with the contacts I already had it was pretty straight forward and a few weeks after the initial idea, here they are!

Our Snuggle Legs are suitable for babies and children, they are soft and have allot of stretch in them. They can be worn in the winter or summer and protect baby’s knees when starting to crawl and cruise.

On girls, they can be worn instead of tights…making nappy changing much easier! Our fabulous designs for boys are ideal for wearing with shorts or an all in one.