Am 1 Dezember werden wir stolz unsere Türen am Steinhausen Weihnachtsmarkt zeigen können. Nicht nur Türen werden zu bestaunen sein, auch unser mit Pilze bewachsener Baumstumpf mit Tür, Fenster und Chimnée wird dabei sein. Schaut mal vorbei!

Wenn ihr nicht warten wollt und jetzt schon eure eigene Türe kaufen wollt, schaut mal im Online Shop vorbei und sucht euch eine (oder zwei!) aus.

Möchtest du auch die Wichteltüren bestaunen? Jetzt kannst du mit Hilfe von dieser Karte (pdf) all Türen suchen und finden.

Bitte geniesst sie sorgfältig, fasst die Türen nicht an und hinterlässt keine Spuren Wir wollen ja nicht, dass die Wichtel merken wie wir sie gefunden haben. Es wäre ja schade, wenn sie wieder verschwinden würden!

Viel Spass!

xx Karin und Stephen

Waldwandernde können an vier verschiedenen Stellen die winzigen Türen entdecken, aber nur, wenn sie gut aufpassen und die Augen offen halten. Es kann schnell passieren, dass man an ihnen vorbei saust und die Wichtelwohnungen ganzheitlich übersieht.
 
Und das wäre sehr schade, denn all vier sind zwar ähnlich aber trotzdem einzigartig und sollten bewundert werden.
 

Fairies can also be spotted in the wild. Steinhausen forest apparently has new residents.
 
As of a few weeks ago, small doors have appeared on several tree stumps in the Steinhausen forest. The fairies have moved in!

Tiny doors can now be discovered by those wandering through the forest in four different places. But they will have to pay attention and keep their eyes open, as they are easy to miss and blend into their environment extremely well.
 
And missing them would be a real shame, because even though they are similar, they are slightly different to each other and worth checking out separately.

In the meantime, we will enjoy them and will observe them while leaving them undisturbed. Others will hopefully do the same.
 
PS – Would you like to hear more about the Forest Fairies? Then follow @imaginationdoors on Instagram.

We have our first stockist!

We are thrilled to announce that Imagination Doors can be bought in Kunsthandwerk, a beautiful shop in Steinhausen that sells a-mazing items. To know that our wee doors are now among their selection, is a great feeling.

Every time I go in there, I find new gems and linger over the items I have already spotted. For example, their amazing book-lights. No, not a light you use to read a book, but a book, that is also a light. A book-light. Or perhaps a light-book?

Either way, check out their page, visit their shop, show them some love.

They have been very encouraging and supportive of us.

xx

We did it!

(and by we, I mean you too! This was a massive collective effort.)

What a ride!

Launching the Kickstarter was one of the bravest things Imagination Doors has done! In addition to reaching our financial goal, here is a list of what else was achieved:

• We made our first video that introduces our doors to the world.
• We built up our Kickstarter campaign which included our story, a video, a GIF and images.
• We were featured in a local paper, both in print and online.
• We contributed to a University marketing blog.
• A local shop filled their shop window with some of Stephens amazing larger pieces.
• The Facebook page got approx 82 more people liking the page, as well as additional Instagram and Twitter followers.
• We inspired 50 of you to pledge money to help.

AND

We generated over 7,009 CHF in pledges! That is huuge!

Of course there was a lot of work behind the scenes, We wrote to four other publications, as well as mummy bloggers and websites. We organised advertising,  gave away doors and designed new ones mid-campaign.

It was a roller-coaster. Sometimes we were on a high and some days we were on a low. But this campaign ended on a massive high!

Our campaign and links were shared by you and many others countless times. We feel truly lucky to have so many people in our lives who support what we do.

So we want to say thank you. Thank you so much. If I could, I would hug you all.

Imagination Doors may be may be small, but we are fierce and creative and we enjoy what we do. Now we will take stock, make a plan and we will keep you informed.

Thank you so much for being part of our journey. xxx

Warm regards,
Karin, Stephen, Anabelle and Kadie

It's been a long hard slog to get this far, but we have almost arrived at the official relaunch of Imagination Doors, Switzerland. Let's look back on what we have had to do, to get to this point.
Keep in mind, when we left Aotearoa New Zealand, we left everything behind. The only thing we brought with us, was our intellectual property, our website and our good ideas.

Workshop: With the help of a local friend, we found a small workshop space. Stephen transformed it from a storage room, to an efficient and tightly organised workshop. It is close by, so he can be there when the kids arrive home from school, and he pops back in the evening when I get back from my day job.

Tools: Sourcing tools turned out to be much harder than expected. Instead of being able to pop down to the local Bunnings or Mitre 10 we had to first learn what the names of the hardware shops were and which ones sold which items. It took months to source and acquire all the necessary tools and machinery. And while we looked into having stuff shipped from New Zealand, the cost of doing so was prohibitive.

Materials: Would you believe finding glitter, in amounts larger than 200g and in a range of colours proved next to impossible? After days and days of research, we decided to ship glitter to Switzerland. Putting in an order for 12 Kilograms of glitter was something I never thought I would get to do! Even finding similar wood to work with was tricky. As a result, Stephen has had to tweak the design of the doors in order to balance effort with efficiency.

The prototypes arrived yesterday. We are thrilled with how they have come out and are delighted to show them to you now. Swirls in the corners and an "ID" on the knob. We have confirmed production and expect more to be arriving soon. Once they get here, doors can finally start leaving the workshop.

Step one: Wait for the final door handles to arrive.
Step two: Set up the online shop and update the website. LAUNCH!!

Simultaneously, we are going to run a Kickstarter to crowdfund customised boxes to ensure our doors arrive at your doorstep safely. This is equal parts scary and exciting! Running the Kickstarter will enable us, for a limited time, to sell doors at prices similar to our original New Zealand prices. After that, they will be set to reflect the increased cost of production.

The day of being able to finally send out doors to their new homes is getting closer and closer. A big thank you to all those people who continue to believe in Imagination Doors and in us.

One New Door
The hints to help you find the new door are as follows:
1. The door ill be near the beach
2. The door will be at the north end of the beach
3. These fairies may have their own boat!
4. Looks like the surfer fairies and the fairies near the old Aunt Daisy's will be getting new neighbors!


Find the door, take a photo of yourself with the door and post it on our Facebook page (or email it to us with permission to upload it) and you're in to win a door of your own as long as we get your photo before 3pm on Saturday the 12th.

If you find (and send us photo evidence as above) of all eight doors you'll get a second entry into the draw!


Seven Existing Fairy Doors
There are seven doors near the Titahi Bay Beach. They are:

1. The Surfer Fairies door, near Vella Street.

2. Remembering Aunt Daisy's Door, near the old coffee shop.

3. The Bench Door. Along the path above the beach.

4. Froglette's Windows. The actual door is missing but her windows remain. (Please don't climb up the bank, it's getting pretty damaged)

5. Tricka's door. Near the Surf Life Save club

6. Arnold Park door. By the playground, also known as Roly-Poly Park

7. The Bridge door. At the southern end of the beach.

Precise map locations and helpful photos can be found on the Imagination Doors Google Map.

Please join us on Saturday, July 12
for another Imagination Doors

Fairy Door Hunt!

Find the new door and be in to win a door of your own!


On Saturday, the 12th of July, a new fairy door will appear in the Titahi Bay beach area. Follow us on Facebook for hints on it's possible location.
www.facebook.com/imaginationfairydoors

If you take a photo of the new door and post it on Facebook, you'll be in the draw to win your very own door! People who find all. Those who find all eight doors get a double entry!*
A map of existing doors can be found here

* To be eligible to win you must upload a photo of the door to the Imagination Doors Facebook page or email it to us with permission for us to post it on our Facebook page. Those who submit photos of all 8 doors in the area will be eligible for a double entry. The winner will be drawn from one of these submissions randomly. The winner will receive a standard door of their choice (up to $42 value). This is not redeemable for cash. Entries must arrive between 8am and 3pm on Saturday July 12th to be eligible. A winner will be announced on the Facebook page by 8pm that night.