Stained Glass artists Cariad Glass have seen a boost in online sales during lockdown after developing
a fun make at home glass mosaic kit to give crafty customers a creative fix.
The Llandysul business had received a micro loan from the Development Bank of Wales to support
their growth and give them working capital shortly before lockdown was announced.
Husband and wife team Justine and Chris Dodd use traditional methods and techniques to create
bespoke art and glass pieces, specialising in commission and restoration work. They also offer face-
to-face courses at their studio for those who wish to learn more about glass crafts.
Co-owner Justine said: “We realised fairly early on in to the lockdown that we’d need to move
production of our studio. We took home a bench and set up a studio in our log cabin summerhouse
at the bottom of our garden. We had a few commissions to work on, but needed to postpone all of
our classes.”
“Chris was working on a piece that had been pre-ordered for May. I filmed him working so that we
could share this with our customers, many of whom had booked courses with us. That had a good
response and it got us thinking about other things we may be able to offer our customers during
lockdown.”
Keen to offer something to do at home for customers who were missing face-to-face courses, the
pair came up with idea of a small hanging glass mosaic panel that you can make at home. They built
a 20cm by 10cm ready-to-hang frame and cut and leaded glass pieces – the bit that cannot be safely
done in a domestic kitchen. The process of putting together a glass mosaic using domestic
equipment was filmed and they put the video on their Facebook page. They were soon inundated
with requests to buy the £25 kits.
“Our sales of smaller artisan pieces usually comes through galleries and exhibitions which are all on
hold at present. Our website shop, the Stained Glass Emporium has been invaluable – we’ve sold
nearly 200 of these kits since we made that post. There’s been a real appetite for them and people
have loved sharing pictures of their finished creations with us,” added Justine.
“They’ve been so popular that we’ve drafted in our daughter Hattie, who would have been sitting
her A Levels this summer, to take over the boxing and delivery part of the processes. It’s kept us
fresh and busy through the lockdown, keeping creative ideas going is so important for an artisan
businesses like ours. But it’s also been fantastic seeing our customers have fun and learn new
techniques. We love teaching glass making and glass arts and this is a way we’ve been able to carry
on this whilst our studio remains closed to customers.”
The family have recently moved production back from the garden summer house to their studio and
are looking at ways that they can safely re-open to the public when restrictions ease further.
They’ve been supported through lockdown by Development Bank of Wales Portfolio Executive
Donna Williams. She said: “It’s great to see how west Wales businesses are using their ingenuity and
grit to come up with new ways to keep their business going through these uncertain times. Justine,
Chris have been fantastic, offering a new product which has provided a valuable creative and mental
boost to customers.
“Faced with new restrictions and the need to keep their family safe, they moved their operation to
their own home at the peak of the pandemic. Thinking about the needs of their customers first,
many of whom have had face-to-face courses postponed, they developed a fun and flexible new
product. The ‘make your own glass mosaics’ have been selling like hot cakes and have opened up a
new way of doing business for this family team. We’ve been happy to support them and are excited
to see what the future holds as we slowly return to normal.”
Add Comment