I'm Back!

I know, I know its been a while (too long) but since the summer things have been really busy here which is very good but it means I have been neglecting the blog unfortunately!

Things are going well, I now have an agent in the south, and have exported cards to Hong Kong. I am in the middle of designing a brand new range and have just signed up to Spring Fair 2014 too but more on that in the next few weeks

In between I have been doing a few local shows too, one of which was the Christmas Gift and Food Fair in Ely Cathedral the weekend before last for two days.

I had a great spot right under the octagon

This year I decided to add some handmade Christmas cards to the mix just to test out a few designs and they went down really well.

It was a great two days, thank you to all who came to say hello and to my family and friends who helped me too.

Ely Cathedral Flower Festival

Last weekend I was lucky to be a part of the Ely Cathedral Flower Festival.

It was a four day event and I was in the craft marquee. Thankfully the weather was kind to us except for a bit of rain on Saturday.

The Cathedral was transformed with flowers based on the theme "The Creation". One of the highlights being a river of water running through the nave.

There was also a Diamond Jubliee theme too, this coronation throne was amazing.

It all looked wonderful there are some very talented flower arrangers out there.

Over the four days there were 20,000 visitors and I met some really nice people. I really enjoyed it and I could have easily have stayed there another few days. The cards went doen really well and I sold out of a few designs including the cycling and gardening cards which were the best sellers of the show.

Two Today!

Red Berry Hill is two today! Time flies and I cannot believe it have been two years since I left my job to start up on my own.

This year has been a very busy and exciting one with some of the highlights being:

Developing an illustration style and creating three new ranges 'metro', 'marigold' and 'mad about...'

Exhibiting at my very first trade show, Top Drawer in January

Securing orders in shops nationwide

Postcard exhibition in a phone box!

Exhibiting at PG Live in May

Adverts and features in trade and local magazines

Progressive Greetings January 2013

Cambridge Style Magazine June 2013

So it is still onwards and upwards on the same path hoping for more trade orders and maybe some export orders too. I also continue to do all the local fairs and I am getting returning customers.

Thanks again to all my family and friends who continue to support me.

Heres to the next year!

Magazine Interview

A couple of months ago I was interviewed for a local glossy magazine called Cambridge Style. Louise Cummings then wrote a really lovely feature about me and the company and it was this month's edition. I am really pleased with how it looks. You can read the full article by clicking on the link here

"mad about..."

The new male range 'mad about...' is now available for trade and online sales.

Launched at PG Live earlier this month the range consists of 12 designs focusing on mens hobbies from cooking and cricket to surfing and birdwatching. All with birthday captions and bright a quirky illustrations merged with collage.

Each card is 150mm square with a brown craft envelope. Please check the website, www.redberryhill.co.uk  for further information about trade sales or visit the online shop.

PG Live

Tuesday morning came round very quickly and it was a very early start on the 6.21am train bound for Kings Cross thankfully I had coffee at the ready!

I arrived at the Design Centre in Islington at 8am, a bit too early, but I wanted to check that all was well after we set up on Sunday although I did not doubt any of my husband's work for one minute!

The first day went by really quickly and there was a steady flow of people throughout the day. Lunch was fab the people at PG Live put on a great lunch which is free to exhibitors and visitors and it was nice to just have 20mins away from the stand and relax.

Everyone who came onto the stands were very positive and loved the male ranges "Metro" and  the brand new range "Mad about..." which was launched at the show.

Just as I thought things were slowing down a bit at 4.30pm I got my very first order, I was so excited and a bit tongue tied but it all went well and it made a great end to the day along with the free after drinks party also put on by the organisers. As it is so close to Kings Cross I decided to go back home, nothing like your own bed!

An early start again for the second day, I am thankful I do not have to commute anymore! Today I made some great new contacts and all of the new exhibitors around me were so friendly and helpful, it really made the show. I was exhausted by the time I got home but it was brightened up by a card my daughter had made for me showing Mummy at work (I wonder where she gets it from).

All in all it has been another great experience to do the trade show, just have to get to work on all the follow ups now.

PG Live - Setting Up

How quickly the last four weeks have gone and PG Live is almost here. Today we went down to set up for my second trade show of the year. It seemed much less stressful than the first. We arrived at the Business Design Centre in Islington early with no hold ups!

It is a magnificent building, grade II listed, opened in 1862 for holding agricultural shows and converted to its present use in 1986.

We headed to the Springboard section, a special area for small and new card publishers and was presented with the blank canvas, Stand 873.

Two hours later and we were finished, thanks to my husband who did most of the work. I was there to pass tools and hold ladders!

So from Tuesday 14th May for two days this will be my little home. If you are visiting the show please pop by and say hello I am on Stand 873 in the Springboard section on the second floor. 

Mad about...

With less than four weeks to go until PG Live in London I thought I would give you a sneek peek at one of the designs for the new male range I will be launching at the show called "mad about..." The range features a variety of male hobbies including cooking, sport, birdwatching, music and gardening.  I wanted a range which would tackle a slightly different market to the Metro but still with the quirky Red Berry Hill illustration style!

Copyright Red Berry HIll 2013

Happy Easter

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few weeks but it has been busy here getting the new designs ready for PG Live which I booked a few weeks ago. It is at the Islington Design Centre on 14th and 15th May and is the UK's only trade exhibition dedicated to the card industry. I will be launching a brand new male range for the show. I promise a sneek peek after Easter.

Also I have been interviewed for a local magazine Cambridge Style. I am going feature in the June edition so very excited about that.

I hope you all have a great Easter, don't eat too much chocolate and keep warm!

Mother's Day

Just in time for Mother's Day the online shop is open again. So don't forget Sunday 10th March, there is still plenty of time to order your cards.

This year there are three designs from the Marigold range to choose from. Each design is 150mm square, printed on a light textured board with a colour coordinated envelope. They are £2.25 in the shop with FREE postage too!

Domestic Goddess  

Message inside reads: 'Have a wonderful day'

Pink Wellies

Message inside reads: 'Enjoy your special day'

Pamper Time 

Message inside reads: 'Have a wonderful day'

The shop will only have a small amount of stock at the moment mainly the Spring Seasons collection but I am hoping to add all ranges in the future.

Go to shop

Telephone Box Exhibition

Way back in September I was going to have my very own exhibition in The Phonebox Gallery close to where I live. Unfortunately it did not go ahead then but I am pleased to say that it is now back on and yesterday I went to set it all up. It is such a quirky space and I thought it would be a fun thing to do.

As it is a local gallery I decided to use the Ely Cathedral postcards that I produced last summer which have been going down well with at all the local fairs I have done.

The Phonebox gallery set up by curator Nick Edell has been running for over two years and is an innovative scheme to encourage and promote local arts and crafts. You can read the full story along with past exhibitions on the website phoneboxgallery.org

The show is running until the end of February and the Ely Cathedral postcards are all available in the art shop along with other original screenprints of the Cathedral too.

Marigold

Here are a few of the Marigold design that were launched at Top Drawer last month. The range comprises of 12 designs 150mm square. I wanted to create something that would sit along the Metro range using the illustrative style that I seem to found! I liked the idea of a using retro home wares along crafting subjects. A minimal bright colour palette is used throughout with seventies patterning in the backgrounds.

Check out the full range at www.redberryhill.co.uk. If you would like to stock any of the ranges please email sales@redberryhill.co.uk to request a trade brochure and price list.