The breast form stock situation has been going on longer than I wanted it to, so I just want to update you all about where I am at.

I decided a couple of months ago to make some changes to my breast forms shapes, and to increase the thickness of the back on the breast forms in order to help with using the tape with them.  I thought this would be like one of my normal tweaks, but it turns out I was wrong!  This is what has happened

  I looked at customer feedback for the shapes and did some slightly edited designs.

  I brought in more boobylicious tape, and the feedback was great.  Quite a few customers said that a thicker breast form back would really help when removing the tape.  This makes absolute sense, and with the extra pressure put on the back of the breast forms, make them stronger too. 

  I chatted to my factory and we started working on the new designs.  It all seemed to be going really well!

 Once the moulds for the breast forms were made, we found out that the thicker back was not possible with the kind of machinery the factory has.  By this stage, I was really determined that this is the best way forward for my breast forms.  I've tried working hard with the factory to make it work, but it has failed.

 Undeterred, I have chatted to one of my other factories which make my smaller breast enhancers, and they felt ready to take this step with me, which is very exiting!  They share my vision and have the machinery needed to make it a reality, so we just needed to make the moulds.  We made a prototype and it was fabulous!

  The moulds have now all been designed for all the styles now, apart from teardrop 2.

Finally, we are getting there! 

Production is now beginning on teardrop style 1, pear, round and triangle.  These will be made first, and sent out asap.  

The final design and moulds will begin soon for teardrop style 2.  These will then be made ASAP and in my store as soon as I can get them in there.

In the meantime, I have some breast forms still left, and some sample runs from my departed from factory, so I will get those up in the store for you at some great prices :) 

I will keep you updated as it progresses.

UPDATE - 6/9/19

The pear and triangle shapes are now in stock!

A friend of mine told me to listen to this, and I'm glad I did.  It's such an eye opener about the attitudes that some women used to have, and how attitudes about women have changed.  

I thought she was wonderful as she had such conviction in her thoughts.  She was born in 1901, in a time very different to now, had a privileged upbringing and that clearly shaped her views. She went on to have the most amazing novel-writing career, writing one a week, and wrote a total of 723 in her lifetime, which is just phenomenal.  My favourite part though was when she said that she had a very poor upbringing, with only 2 servants! 

She left the most amazing legacy and she was fascinating to listen to. I didn't agree with most of her views, but it was so interesting to hear her perspective on why she felt women's lib is terrible and how a woman should please her husband.  If you want to hear her interview on "In The Psychiatrists Chair" you can here, for as long as the BBC allow.  It's worth it!

First of all, I've been so happy with hearing how well you've got on with my boobylicous tape, so thank you for all the emails that have helped me see that it was worth the effort of introducing this tape :)   It is such a hard balance with tape, with creating the right ratio of stick to not causing discomfort or problems when removing tape.  I will never get that balance right for all people, as everyone has different skin types etc and I'd rather be cautious, but your emails show me that the tape has been really helpful to many people and has really opened up the ability to wear less supportive bras and to go bra-less in many cases. I hope I've got a great balance, and the feedback has been really positive so I am so pleased.

You may have also noticed that I've grown the range of tapes that I have, thanks to your feedback. I was approached by many customers asking for a sheet that is bigger, so that it can be cut down exactly to size or trimmed around a smaller breast form or enhancer for the perfect fit.   As a result, I introduced my A6 size sheet.  For those of you not so familiar with the paper size concept, it's a postcard size of 10cm by 15cm.  

I also introduced the strips in normal and wider size of 2.5cm.  I love to give you flexibility and choice, as it seems that some customers prefer to use one wider strip rather than 2 thinner ones for some bras/enhancers and this ultimately offers better value.  Some enhancers are too small for the wider tape and only need the one narrow strip, so by offering both you can choose exactly what you'd like.  

I've also got the discs in 8cm and 11cm sizes, which are perfect for the different size breast forms.

The next step is for me to see if I can get it to release better from the clear backing side, as I know that some of you do struggle to get that side off.  I will be working with the factory to see if they can make the tape release easier for you when I do my next big production run of the tape.

Whilst writing this, I've also thought of another thing that might help you...the introduction of a sample pack.  If you are going to use the tape then it can be tough to know which would be best I should imagine, especially now I have so much choice with 2 sizes of strips, 2 of discs and the sheet.  I know some of you use a combination for the bigger breast forms, so offering a selection pack with a few of each type would perhaps be useful.  I'll put together some packs with some of each in, so you can try the different types rather than having to commit straight away to one type of boobylicious tape.  I'll get on to working out the best numbers of each for the pack and the price and pop it in the store asap!

I read about Theresa Kachindamoto this week and I just had to share some of her story here in case you haven't heard of her.

Theresa is a Malawi Chief nicknamed "The Terminator" for her annulment of around 1000 child marriages since she became Chief of her tribe.  Not only has she done that, but she has also sent as many of those girls, and sometimes boys, as possible back to school. 

In a country with high rates of child marriage, Theresa has done an amazing job of protecting girls from early marriages and the huge risks that come with child pregnancy.  

When asked about the annulments,Theresa has famously said:

“When girls are educated, everything is possible.”

It's not been an easy road for her of course, with opposition from male chiefs and parents who benefit from arranged, child and forced marriages, but she has fought them with courage and kindness. Recently, in February 2017, the country took a major step to end child marriage by adopting a constitutional amendment that raises the minimum age of marriage from 15 to 18 years, for both girls and boys. 

I'm happy to see that has received global recognition for her work and has been visited by Emma Watson, the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, generating more support for her work and more financial aid to ensure girls can remain in school rather than be forced into marriage.  

I'm sure you will agree, what a woman!

You can read more about her here and here.

It's been a tough 10 months for me.  I've been physically unwell with nausea, vomiting and tummy pain mixed with headaches, on-and-off since June, and it's really taken its toll.  Getting so run down, for this unknown reason, kicks off my lupus and my mental health took a nose dive.  I was spending chunks of the day in bed and this was happening many days in the week at the rough points.  

Then we finally found out I have stripped the lining in my stomach and developed ulcers in my digestive system, probably caused by my steroids and things I take for lupus. Not good, but great to know what had kept flaring up and making me feel so rubbish.

So, now I am getting physically much better (with yet another medication) and trying to lower my lupus medication so that it helps me but doesn't cause all this to happen again.  I am still finding it hard, but I am certainly feeling a lot more positive. I was wondering a little while ago what I can do to help myself more, as self-compassion is something I am very bad at.  I'm a real do-er, so I get frustrated when I get knocked for six on a poor health day and I'm not very good at stopping.  The fact I had so many bouts, meant my mental health and ability to keep positive and keep going, went out the window.  With more energy now, I can work on that even more, so I decided to subscribe to two delivery boxes with my mental health in mind.  Like everyone, I am not keen on just getting bills, so I thought I'd try something nicer arriving on my doormat.

The first to arrive was my Buddy Box, from the Blurt Foundation.  

At £21.50 it is pricey, but that's because there is so much in it.  You can always go for the Buddy Box lite at £12 if it's too much for you to afford.  What I did like, is that a one-off box is the same price as the monthly subscription, so you can feel happy about trying it out or treat yourself every 2 months etc. if that's better for you.

I tell you what though, it's an absolutely lovely box.  As the foundation say themselves, 

The contents of the BuddyBox vary from month to month and remain a closely guarded secret. (The surprise is very much part of the experience.) All the items included in the box are intended to make you feel good: helping you de-stress, find calm, feel pampered, relax, get creative, or simply have fun.

It was exactly what I wanted and it is beautifully done. It's a social enterprise, so profits are channelled back into helping those with depression, and the foundation is also there for you should you need them.  So, with at least 5 top-quality items in the box, and knowing that you are doing good with the profit money, it's a real boost.  

I got the box that we are all "Winging It", so it has a fab bird theme.  I received some  a lovely Gull Notebook, a winging it card, a sew your own bird pencil topper, a wooden badge saying "Kindness Matters", some lovely tea bags and some very expensive rose facial oil for my skin.

It's all just so lovely and my cat thought so too.  If you fancy receiving a box of surprise gifts, to remind yourself to sit down and take some time out/that you are not alone/to get you trying something new, give them a go.  You can also visit their website for some fantastic resources if you are suffering with depression.

https://www.blurtitout.org/resources/

Hi lovelies.

Just to let you know that I am making website changes, including my template/design.

I am trying to find a solution that works well on mobiles, tablets and desktops, and it's quite hard to make sure it displays well on all three!  

Hopefully, you love the new design and as I tweak it, it will be more intuiative for the way you'd like to use the site. 

If you have any problems with the site, or notice any links that are being silly and not directing you to the right place, please do let me know by emailing [email protected] or using my contact form.

I'm trialing a live chat!  

I've always wondered about them, but have never been able to find one that I could customise, but now I have at last.

I run the business on my own, with some packaging help from my Mum and Dad now that they have retired, so I can't always be available to chat, but I will have it on as often as I can.  If I am doing a quick job that takes me away from my computer for up to 10 minutes, ,I will pop it on that I am 'away'. If I am doing something that takes a little longer, like getting orders ready or cataloging in a delivery, I shall pop it to invisible and you can just send me a message.  That way, you can decide if it is worth checking back for me if you have a quick question.  

Hopefully it will be on plenty so that I can help many of you quicker than if you were waiting for an email.  

Let's give it a try to see how we get on.  To chat to me, you just need to click the "Let's Chat" icon down on the bottom right.

This is typically my quieter time of year, after the busy Summer period, and just before the party season starts.  I use the time to do my account and the other things that have been pushed to the side during the busy time.  

I also do one ALMIGHTLY stock check, and I like to put a little   on.  Sales of each style and colour go up and down due to lots of factors, but when I've done my big stock check and I know which I've got plenty of, I like to put them on sale for you. There is a mixture of breast enhancers, breast forms, tape and nipple covers in the sale. 

Hopefully this gives you some brightness in these dark days!

This time around, I've put them all in one sale category as well, so you can see exactly what is on sale.

You may also notice that it is a strange amount to be on sale by, 11%.  This is because this year is my 11th running my lovely little shop full time. Yay!  What better way to both remember that and celebrate, than with an 11% sale. 

I'm a blogging machine at the moment!

I just thought I'd let you know about my recent exchange with The Dating Show live, so you can learn more about my values and goals as a company,

I received this email from them:

Hello there,

I am trying to reach out to see if our upcoming event is of interest to you? 

Exclusively featuring First Dates who will be running a Cafe over the two days, 24th/25th November 2018, we are the largest and first of this size in the world when it comes to dating events, at an expected footfall of 10'000 singles hoping to meet and mingle over the two days at the Birmingham NEC. 

We have the fantastic Hilton Hotels,Hasbro Games, Capital Radio, Love Hearts, Mr Tinder (the most right swiped guy in the UK!),Melinda Messenger, and a lot of unique businesses from a hemp company, to up and coming makeup brands etc on board, we are keen to ensure there is also not numerous stands exhibiting similar products or services to each other. 


We also have a couple of big dating/relationship/fashion/lifestyle bloggers, authors also are involved, which is fantastic in terms of promotion through social media!

Please do get back to me if you wished to have a chat about the event and it possibly being of a good fit for you and Jo Thornton?

www.thedatingshowlive.com

Best Wishes,

It sounds like fun doesn't it, and great for people who want to get out there and meet new people.  I'm certainly very intrigued by Mr Tinder.  Does he just go on non-stop dates?! 

Still, it's not the right fit for me and what I am trying to achieve for my little shop.  This was my reply:

They are the first draft and I hope to shoot some new video footage for them, but you can see all my new breast enhancer videos now on my You Tube channel.

I'll also add them to their respective product pages in my shop.  

I hope they help, but as always, if you have any questions just send me an email or message.

xxx