Mrs Kipperchops meets Paph The Magic Dragon!

Back in November 2010 I spotted something on Twitter called 'Small Business Sunday' (or SBS for short) on the timeline of Theo Paphitis (businessman and Dragon). Intrigued, I went to see what this was all about. Well it turned out to be an absolute gem of an idea! Theo wanted to help some small business gain some much needed publicity and so SBS was born....

"Each week Theo rewards small businesses that tweet him @TheoPaphitis and describe their business in one tweet including the all-important hashtag #SBS. Only tweets made in the time slot between 5.00 PM and 7.30 PM on Sundays count" (from www.theopaphitissbs.com)

We got our retweet from Theo on 7th November and our timeline went crazy! So many people had already seen this brilliant business idea too and it felt like everyone on Twitter was congratulating us!

Our Facebook entry on November 8th

We continued to follow the progress of Theo's SBS campaign and each Sunday another 6 lucky businesses were picked from the thousands of tweets. The campaign carried on growing and every Sunday buzzed with excitement for small businesses nationwide.

Fast forward to early 2012 and Theo sent a message out to all of the SBS winners...

I remember seeing the announcement...part of me was squealing with delight the other part of me remained sceptical. Would someone like Theo Paphitis really be true to his word and support small businesses at a special event? I have to be honest I thought we would all have to buy tickets and then we'd probably see Theo from a distance. He'd do a talk, thank us all for coming and that would be that.

How wrong I was!!

It's not often you get invited to events like this so we knew we had to be there!

Mr Kipperchops and myself arrived at Edgbaston Cricket ground on the Friday morning and I must admit there was a flutter of excitement in my stomach. It was great to have a day off and spend time doing something completely different with like-minded people. We weren't sure of the itinerary for the day but I think this only added to the excitement!

All of the staff were so friendly and helpful and we were given badges when we registered at the desk. We were shown into a hospitality suite overlooking the cricket ground and were greeted with trays of beer, wine, orange juice and huge tables holding a vast array of tasty looking sandwiches.

The room was full of small business owners (the other SBS winners) and everyone was busily chatting and laughing. We met up with some wonderful people - special mentions for our fellow Notonthehighstreet partners: Jo from 3 Blonde Bears, Kyleigh from Kyleigh's Papercuts (with her lovely framer Wendy) and Gabby from Moobaacluck. 

Kyleigh Scissorhands, Mrs Kipperchops, Mrs Moo and DottySpotty Becky

We also met Tia from Who Ate My Crayons, Amy from Chambers & Beau (who had brought along her equally talented sister Kirsty from Kirsty Elson Designs), Helen from Kindred Rose, Liza from LizaJDesign, Lyndsey from Lyndsey James Photography and Charlie from Cherry Pie Lane.

Helen (Kindred Rose) Lyndsey (Lyndsey James Photography) Kyleigh (Kyleigh's Papercuts

We also finally got to meet the very smiley Becky (and her husband Jeff) from Dots and Spots! I have been tweeting with Becky from the beginning and we have watched each other's businesses grow - it was such a joy to meet her and she's as lovely as she seems online!

Next we were taken through to a conference room with a big screen at the front (we all had lots of fun seeing who could get their tweets on the screen while we waited for Theo to make an appearance!)

Then there he was...an actual Dragon in the room! 

 We had speeches from Kypros (CEO of Ryman's who had sponsored the whole event) and Chris Wheeler from Metal Frog who introduced us to the brilliant new website solely for SBS winners (Chris and his team have done a fantastic job and his speech left many of us teary-eyed!)

Chris and The Metal Frog Studio team

Theo then did a Question & Answer session for 2 and a half hours!!

making a twit of myself!!

We were completely blown away by Theo's genuine interest and enthusiasm for our small businesses. He gave us great advice and was such good fun - nothing seemed to be too much trouble. He had great banter with Kypros and the whole afternoon was so enjoyable...didn't want to go home!

Theo had one more surprise up his sleeve...not only were we all going to get an SBS certifcate we were all going to get an opportunity to have our photos taken with him too! We were totally taken aback - what a fabulous bloke Theo turned out to be...he had to stand and grin for an hour and a half and never once complained! There was even a FREE bar!! He chatted to everyone in turn and seemed genuinely happy to meet us all.

When our turn came around I sneaked a cheeky peck on he cheek to say thank you for such a brilliant day 'Ah Mrs Kipperchops!' he said 'You should go and meet Kypros...we call him Kypper too!'
So not one to miss an opportunity we rushed off to find Kypper, had a photo taken and thanked him for putting on an excellent event..I even kissed the financal manager, I got a bit carried away!!

Kyp and Kipperchops!

We met some more SBS winners before leaving for home..Jo from Red Herring Games along with HG Sherlock and his sidekick Dr Whiting and Sandrine from The Nautical Company. Other lovely tweeters included Jan from Perfect Verse For You, Fiona and daughter Amy from Sparrow Primitives, Sam from Funky Goddess, Susan from Dottie Designs and Ali from My Gorgeous Gifts. So many others I forget but you know who you are and it was wonderful to meet you!!

There are a couple of other very special people I have to mention...namely Shelly (aka Shellibobbins)one of the most positive, supportive, genuinely lovely people I have ever met and her beautiful brave little boy Noah. I welled up when I saw him snoozing peacefully in his pram when Mr Bobbins brought him upstairs to meet Theo. I gave Shelly a huge hug - I was delighted to finally meet her in person (My only regret was that we had to leave for home before I got to have cuddles with Noah...next time Shelly!)

Lovely Shellybobbins

We had a truly amazing day and even before we left at 6pm (it was supposed to finish at 4pm and Theo was still there and still chatting away!) we got yet another surprise...a goody bag from Ryman Stationery which included pens, notebooks, USB sticks ...so generous! I also managed another little chat with Theo to say thank you to him and to Ryman's for putting on the event and he gave me this...

Thanks Theo!

A little thank you...

I love Twitter (mostly because I never shut up!) and I can witter on to my heart's content when I'm at home working alone and it doesn't matter whether anyone is listening or not. I have (virtually) met the most amazing and inspiring people on Twitter and am constantly astounded by the warmth and willingness to help from people who are essentially complete strangers. I know it's cheesy but I tend to think strangers are potentially friends you've yet to meet and this is so true on Twitter.

When I joined I had absolutely no idea where it would lead or who I would meet. I waffled on and slowly started to gain followers. Funny, I thought, they're sticking around too so I carried on waffling some more. I started to meet fantastic people up and down the country and beyond - small business owners, designers, journalists, normal everyday hard working mums and dads, photographers, musicians, editors, bloggers....just lovely interesting chatty people from all walks of life sharing the good the bad and sometimes the very sad. The support is sometimes overwhelming - through difficult times there are always lovely words of comfort and compassion and there is so much love at times of celebration!

some of the cards we received when Charlie was born

It's one of those times that I would like to thank a few of my Twitter friends for as I never had the chance before. Having our 2nd baby boy was a beautiful yet terrifying event and one that I thought may never happen. The months and days leading up to his birth were very difficult for me and peppered with frightening appointments - all of which I had shared with the Twitter community. There were lots of tears and sleepless nights so when he arrived we couldn't wait to share the news. Well apart from the astounding number of congratulatory tweets (thank you for ALL of those, we were truly touched) we also received cards and presents from people we have never met.

Firstly there's Zoe (@zoeanddrew) - lovely, generous, a joy to chat to and one of the most supportive people on Twitter. She also has 5 children, is a freelance writer and blog editor for @lesenfantsparty (an all round wonder woman)
Zoe & family sent a gorgeous card, a card game for big brother Alfie and a beautiful personalised print for Charlie by the very talented @isa_noisette from Noisette kids

Next there's the fabulous, bubbly, Gabs from @MooBaaCluck. An extremely talented illustrator (never gives herself enough credit for her gorgeous work) who sent a lovely bunny baby card, a gorgeous 'little brother' heart for Charlie and a 'big brother' star for Alfie.

Not only this, she also sent us a beautiful new home card and one of her Home Sweet Home teatowels...what a star!

Next, there's the delightful, wonderfully witty Alex and her equally lovely Mum Christine from Ruby & Betty's Attic (@Rubybettboo & @SoShabbyChic) who sent new home and new baby cards and the most beautiful sage green knitted jumper and booties set and again, big brother Alfie wasn't forgotten and got a book as a present too!

Our next thank you has to go to the super talented Becky from DotsandSpots (@dotsandspotsbiz) who works flat out, writes her blog, attends trade fairs, is a mother of 2 lovely kids, and still manages to send out gifts! Our parcel arrived beautifully wrapped in dotsandspots wrapping paper and tags and inside was a gorgeous red gingham teddy bear for Charlie and stickers and tape for Alfie.

(Becky also did the design for our 'We Have Moved' cards last May and they were brilliant!)

Last (but by no means least) there's the brilliant Jane from Snapdragon (@snapdragonjane) who produces the most amazing textile designs and sent Alfie a super poster for his new room (sadly we've not had chance for any decorating yet but it's being saved!!)

We were bowled over by everyone's generosity and as you can see, Charlie was very grateful too...well once he'd had his nap!

Charlie in an outfit knitted by his wonderful Nanny (@winnibriggs)