Craft Focus - October/November 2020 (Issue 81)

40 Let it snow Keri Ackling CEO of Snow Windows discusses how the company began, their important charity work and how this year more than ever, you should celebrate Christmas and decorate those windows in style Tell us a bit about Snow Windows. Snow Windows was created by Tom Baker (my fiancé) and myself. It all began back in 2008 when Tom created a scene on our back window using a can of snow spray and a dry paint brush one Christmas night to surprise me! The result was amazing! Then year after year friends would pop over to see what he had created on the window the following years! In 2015 we returned to the UK after moving our young family out to Australia for a couple of years! We decided to start Snow Windows as a business. We had no idea that the demand would be so high. Tom’s creations were so popular and news spread far and wide – even the Empire State Building enquired about getting one! Tom found it very difficult to keep up with demand so designed a sticker range for the following year – they looked just like his Snow Windows. The following years, he designed a DIY stencil set so people could create their own snow windows – they were rigorously tested on our seven and nine year-olds as we felt if they could use the stencils successfully anyone could, they had so much and have taken the stencils into school to show their teachers and friends. Who uses your products? The Christmas stencil set has been so popular. As it’s reusable, there’s no limited to the size of display you can create, so lots of independent shops stock our stencils to sell to their clients but also use a set of stencils to decorate their own shop front windows. The stencils are also a great family activity and very easy to use and remove so children love to use them. Basingstoke Town Centre are using our bespoke size stickers to decorate 59 shops in the town centre – giving a really magical Christmas feel. How had the company evolved over the years? The company has evolved massively since it started, we were a small local business decorating local shops and homes at first. The following year we were booked by Jamie Oliver for his home and set design; Chris Moyles; and we were asked to appear on Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas by Kirstie Allsopp who asked for her home to be created straight after our appearance. Last year we decorated Harvey Nichols windows which had always been a dream of mine. The media loved the results and enjoyed writing positive happy visual stories during the Christmas months. Last year, we appeared on the ITV evening news in the UK and other news stations around the world as far as Australia and New Zealand. Your window effects can be used for Halloween, what other themes have you experimented with? Because of the bespoke element of Tom’s hand designed windows, we’ve been able to use the effects for so many things, product launches, baby announcements, proposals, weddings, parties! We also have the Halloween stencil range which has been very popular this year. Talk us through your current collections. What are you most excited about this year? We currently have the Christmas Stencil set available and we’re so excited to add an expansion pack this year that works with the original range. The expansion pack has been created with our client’s requests in mind, there will be an addition train stencil and a church stencil. We’re also launching a brand-new Christmas reusable window sticker this year, we feel it’s a great reflection of such a tough year but how we’ve all as a nation focused positively with hope. How important will window displays be this year? We were very encouraged when we watched the Christmasworld web seminar at the end of July. Here’s a transcript: “ No matter what happens, Christmas will take place and certainly provide a traditional place of retreat”, Julia Uherek, group show director consumer goods, Messe Frankfurt, emphasises, bringing into focus the positive perspectives for all manufacturers and retailers who are concerned with Christmas-related products and services. Christmasworld exhibitor Helmut Schmidt echoes her words: “Christmas is celebrated within the family. Nothing will change in that respect. Christmas has survived a number of crises. This year, however, with the pandemic and restricted travel possibilities, we have a situation that’s never been experienced before. I’m sure though that the resurgent