Who we are...


Janet Granger Designs is a company run by just two of us - Janet and Chris Granger. We live in a small village in Staffordshire, in the beautiful Peak District.

We set up the business in January 1996 and began selling miniature embroidery kits to make items for twelfth scale dollshouses. This business takes up virtually all our time, as anyone who has been self-employed will know, but when we get a few moments off, we do have some other interests. Here's a bit more about us:
JANET : I've had an interest in embroidery since the age of twelve, and was designing at fourteen. I had two exhibitions of needlework while still at school, which I left at sixteen. I worked in public libraries for seventeen years, then left to concentrate on marketing my range of miniature needlepoint carpet kits for collectors' doll's houses. My first book, "Miniature Needlepoint Carpets", featured 25 designs from this range, and was published by the Guild of Master Craftsmen. The second book, "Cross Stitch Kitchen Projects", was for full-size cross-stitch designs. Both books are now out of print.

The business soon expanded to include all kinds of miniature embroidery kit (footstools, firescreens, bellpulls, and so on), so that now we consider ourselves to be the leading UK miniature embroidery kit supplier.

In 2002, I completed an Open University degree course in Social Science, specialising in Social Policy, obtaining First Class Honours - so now I am a Bachelor of Science as well as an embroidery designer (!). Since completing the degree, and therefore having a lot more free time, I have rekindled my interest in dressmaking, and now try to make as many of my clothes as possible (the theory is that it's cheaper than buying shop-bought clothes, but you should see the fabric stash I've got!). My other passion is gardening, and as well as maintaining our cottage garden (with dozens of containers), we are trying to create a vegetable garden from an overgrown field at the moment - it's a slow process, but it's coming on slowly!


CHRIS: I met Janet in 1991 and soon found that the doll's house 'bug' had 'bitten' me, too! I was once a science graduate (a very long time ago!) and I used to teach at a local school. I left teaching in the Spring of 1999 so that I could work full-time with Janet, providing some technical input into the partnership. I'm keen on website design and computers generally, so a lot of my time is spent playing ('working', Janet calls it) at the PC, often 'surfing' online or reading about IT developments. The many tasks that a computer can assist with in a small business are usually tackled by me - but the designing is definitely Janet's special domain! I, too, like creating things in the garden (mainly a shed and a conservatory). I'm also fairly musical, and play the guitar and cornet occasionally (not so often, these days!). So - we make needlepoint kits and post them to people all day - and to stop us getting bored, we've started a second business, selling shoes online (at www.small-shoes.co.uk ).

We love walking and cycling, which is particularly good as we live in such a lovely part of the country.
We are both vegetarians, and are interested in alternative medicine and slower-paced lifestyles - we believe that you should enjoy the work you do, and that people should not be defined simply by their job title. We try to live simply, and take time to experience the important things in life.

Dances Of Universal Peace

Recently, we have discovered one of the best-kept secrets of life - the Dances Of Universal Peace ! These are held at venues around the UK, and people who are in the know travel for miles to get to them.

What are they? You'd have to come and try them yourself - it's almost impossible to convey how good they make you feel, just with words. Suffice to say, if you try them once and would like dancing simple, gentle dances while singing sacred phrases, which are taken from all cultures around the world, and are looking for a way to get a deeper, more spiritual experience of life, in the company of people whom you will come to like so much that you want to hug them ( - after dancing for just one day!) - you will be 'hooked' !

Here's a taster, on YouTube - but it's nothing like as good as being there for real:



Find out more about the Dances here: About the Dances