Author: Sunflower Design

Dear friends, 

The spring is over for this year and the summer is here. We enjoy the nice and sunny days, before the extreme heat comes as usual in July and August. During the Spring we have had some groups from Holland, Norway, England and Sweden. They came to visit Caminul Felix and did some shopping at Sunflower Design. 

In Sweden, Catarina and Korskyrkan in Mölndal, sold tomatoes and cucumber plants one Saturday in May, and Sunflower Design´s products as well. Many people came and bought plants and our products.  

In this newsletter, the founder of Sunflower Design, Lisa E Hörnberg will share some sentences with you.  

“After almost 30 years since the start of Sunflower Design, I had the pleasure of coming and working with the team for a week. 

My thoughts went back to the day Ana started her first day back home, in her room at Caminul Felix. After that, more people joined the team and we had to look for bigger work places all the time. 

It happened that we had to share our workrooms with mice and cockroaches. 

So, the big miracle for us was when, with support from various private individuals, churches’ and second-hand shops, we were able to inaugurate our fine work premises in Santandrei. Sewing machines, fabric, thread, lace etc. came to us through various transport. Soon a fine business got started and we started making fine things that we could sell. 

Since the start, several of our young people have been involved in the work. Some have since moved out and found other jobs. We hope to welcome a new girl into the team during the summer. 

Today, there is a great team working and filling our Gift Shop with fine products that are sold to visitors at Caminul Felix. Mari, who leads the work at Sunflower, often finds opportunities to sell at markets and other places in Oradea. This means a lot to bring in income for the business. You can also see in our social media and read in the newsletters how Catarina sells in Sweden and receives orders. All of this together is important to get our income for Sunflower. Thank you to all of you who support in so many different ways” 

Lisa E Hörnberg 

After almost 25 years of working in Sunflower Design´s work shop we are in need of renovating some of our rooms. It is primarily our kitchen that needs renovation, such as painting, replacing the stove/oven, fan, and some other things such as repairing cabinets and shelves. 

Our kitchen is an important part of the work where we cook, bake and eat together with the team. We have received an offer from a company for help with renovation with free labor if we cover the material costs. We estimate that with the purchase of materials and a new stove we will need about  2000 EURO.  If you see an opportunity to join in and make a contribution, we would be grateful. Write: “renovation”, on the message. If you would like more information, you are welcome to contact us. 

During the Summer, we will work as usual, and we mix the holiday with work. We look forward to holidays, to meet friends and families. 

We wish you a nice and relaxing summer 

Greetings from the whole team at Sunflower Design 

Dear Friends, 

It is time to send some news again. The new year has started  and we would like to give you some updated information about our team and our plans. We are back to work after some weeks holiday during Christmas and the new year’s celebration. 

The year ended in a different way. Our dear friend and colleague Remus in Sunflower Design, left us after a short illness. We remember with joy how Remus happily arranged our birthday parties. How he stood at the door of Sunflower Design when we had guests and greeted them with a warm Welcome! Remus is and will be missed by us. Now heaven has become richer. 

On November 9^th Catarina went to join an exhibition and workshop for potters and ceramicists in Stockholm. She was invited to sell our special aprons for pottery making. The day became a success, and over 40 aprons were sold. We hope to have many more orders as more people now know about us and we hope to be invited to attend again this year. 

In November and December we sold our products in different places in Sweden and Romania. We are so grateful to all of you who support us in different ways: to invite friends, to buy our products, sponsorship, economic support and prayers. Thank you!  We look forward for a new year and hope to sell well and receive more orders. 

We have started the year filling up our gift shop as we sold well and our stock was beginning to look a bit low.  Aprons, kitchen gloves, potholders, make up bags, bags with cats and dogs, children’s jumpers and baby blankets in fleece were some of the products we had just made. 

Soon it will be March 8^th, the International Women’s Day, and it’s a big celebration in Romania, called Mother’s Day. We hope to have some orders in time for the celebration and to be invited to sell at some local companies. 

When the team meet together to share, there is a recurring theme, of how important Sunflower Design is to them and that it is a nice place to work. Here, it is possible to create and to work practically with our hands and also possible to discuss in a safe environment, different subjects that can affect the team in a variety of ways. 

Greetings from the whole team at Sunflower Design.