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Flatön 060710
Businessperson of the Year on Orust is on Flatön!
At its meeting on 29 June 2006, the Orust Municipal Council proposed that Katinka Bille Lindahl, who runs Lifestone should be selected as Businessperson of the Year 2005.
Its reasons were as follows.
”The 2005 businessperson of the year has made an impression on the business life of Orust, both metaphorically and literally. Katinka Bille Lindahl started Lifestone in 1996, with the unique idea of offering impressions/castings of children’s hands and feet. Since the start, Katinka has worked in an intensive, committed manner to establish her company and, at the present time, LifeStone has nine employees.
“The concept has been developed and proud dog owners can now also obtain a paw print from their favourite dog. The company is well known in both Sweden and Norway and it is also becoming increasingly well established in other parts of the world. It is an excellent advertisement for both Orust and Flatön. What is more, the company is also working in a target-oriented manner to use the internet as a marketing channel and a tool in its administrative work.”
The association known as Businesspeople on Orust choose the Businessperson of the Year, based on the proposal put forward by the municipal council. I am naturally incredibly proud and delighted to have been chosen! LifeStone produces individual castings of babies’ hands and feet and our concept is based on two equally important parts. The first is the imprint system. The parent makes an imprint of the baby’s hand or foot in the peace and quiet of his/her home, using our special imprint kit, which is then posted to us. This imprint kit can be ordered via the web or by phone. The other part is the casting. Our glass castings are totally unique. However, we also have models in bronze and cast stone. The casting is returned to the customer by post.
If you have any questions, the easiest way to contact me is on my mobile phone, +46 734 456595. |
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Our customers make us happy every day!
We have the most enjoyable job in the world! We make castings of small babies’ feet and hands. Every day, the country postman comes to us with new imprint kits and new orders. It is like Christmas Eve every time we open them!
What is more, we have the world’s most wonderful working environment. Our studio is located on the island of Flatön in Bohuslän off the west coast of Sweden. You can only reach the island by boat or cable ferry. During the summer, we have time to take a quick swim in the sea during our lunch break! No other company anywhere in the world can make castings from babies’ imprints in Swedish crystal.
We also have models in solid bronze.
It is the casting that costs a great deal of money and many customers have requested something slightly less expensive – preferably something that can also be used. So we have now developed a new product called LyckoLådan (HappyBox) (registered trademark).
In its lid, there is room for nine Liljeholmen (famous Swedish brand) Christmas candles, while the box is ideal for storing all those wonderful baby mementoes – dummies/pacifiers, the first sock, the ID wristband from the maternity unit and so on. On the box, you can specify either an imprint of your baby’s hand or foot or just an engraving. With an imprint, the box costs SEK 865. With an engraving its costs SEK 595. This does not include the cost of the imprint kit or postage and packaging.
As we are all mothers and are well aware of the cost of having a family, we are keen to ensure that our customers are satisfied with their purchases. We therefore have a 60-day return policy for our castings. Anyone who is dissatisfied will be reimbursed without discussion. We offer this, in spite of the fact that the Swedish legislation governing the right to reverse a purchase does not actually apply to our castings, as they are individual orders. Do take a look at our website, which includes a visitors’ book with entries dating back several years.
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Baby imprints creating work in the archipelago!
Dear reader,
I would like to tell you about my company, which has developed from a crazy idea that came to me 10 years ago into a flourishing small company with a turnover of almost SEK 7 million. What is more, it provides work for some 10 women on an island in the Bohuslän archipelago that can only be reached by ferry!
I came up with the idea one day when I picked up my teenage son from the dentist. He held out a plaster cast of his teeth and said, “Keep this as a memento of me, mum!”. I still have it in the ”LifeStone museum”. The incident set my brain working. I could not get the idea of a special baby memento that I wished I had, preferably a small foot made of crystal, out of my mind.
However, no one, apart from my husband, believed in the concept, so it took me a very long time to build up the company. My husband had to support the family on his own for many years, before the company could afford to pay me a salary. It took me several years to resolve the technical problems, together with a small glassworks in Småland (where we have also managed to create or at least retain jobs!). Our method is a well-kept secret and our castings are totally unique. No one anywhere in the world can reproduce them!
Best wishes,
Katinka Bille Lindahl
P.S. I am the one with the dog on my lap in the brochure.
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