Top Dogs

Launched at PG Live 'Top Dog' is the brand new range. It features big and bold portraits of some of the most popular dog breeds.

Digitally illustrated and mixed with collage on a crisp clean white background.

Comprising of 12 designs, 150mm square, printed on a lightly textured board and cello wrapped with a brown ribbed envelope. Sold in units of 6. Please contact info@redberryhill.co.uk for more information.

Action Medical Research Christmas Card

Back in February I got a call from Lynn Tait who asked me if I would like to be one of the artists for the Action Medical Research Charity Christmas Cards this year. Of course I jumped at the chance to be involved. 

So I have joined up with 11 other artists all Ladder Club members from around the country to produce a range of Christmas cards where the beneficiary charity, Action Medical Research, receives all of the money. 

Lynn asked us all to design a particular subject and I was asked to do a cycling theme. Here is my card

The cards were formally launched at Progressive Greetings Live in London on 13 May and will be available to buy on the Action Medical Research website later in the year. Designers, printers and even envelope makers have all collaborated and donated their services for free. Last year’s range of ‘real deal’ cards raised £13,000 for the children’s charity.

Image by www.eddiemacdonald.co.uk

Image by Action Medical Research

The ‘real deal’ cards are the brainchild of Lynn Tait. Lynn, a gallery owner in Leigh on Sea, has owned a greeting card business for more than 20 years. A long-standing supporter of the children’s charity, Lynn again this year invited 12 Ladder Club attendees to design and donate an exclusive piece of artwork for the venture. The Ladder Club seminars are crash-courses in greeting card publishing run on a not-for-profit basis by Lynn.

Sherwood Press, The Imaging Centre, Enveco and G F Smith have all agreed to donate their services for free to produce the cards.  

Money raised will help fund medical research into conditions affecting babies and children. Medical research can save and change children’s lives. Yet surprisingly, medical research into conditions that devastate children’s lives is poorly funded.  Action Medical Research is currently supporting work around stillbirth, epilepsy, meningitis, cerebral palsy and brain cancer, as well as some rare and distressing conditions that severely affect children.

There is even a celebrity endorsement! Davina McCall is one of Action Medical Research's most steadfast supporters and here she is with a selection of the cards.

Image by Action Medical Research

PG Live 2014

I cannot believe it has been a year since I did PG Live. Back for a second year I was ready on time and was pretty calm during the set up (except for the driving in London!)

Once again I produced a mock up before I went so once we got there it was just a case of following the plan and my husband quickly had all the shelves up and the stand was ready for the start of the show, thank you Richard!

It was an early start on the Tuesday and when I got to my stand unfortunately some of the signs had fallen and got damaged but once up again you could not notice but it was such a shame.

It was a busy first day and I took a few orders, some of which were from repeat customers which was really nice to know the cards are selling well. I also met several brand new customers plus some export interest which is always exciting and had a photo call for an exciting Christmas card project I have been involved in (more about that in another post)

The new range 'Top dog' got good feedback with a few of the designs being added to the orders.

I also got to meet some Minions (secretly very excited!)

The second day was another photo call for all Ladder Club Members, this is such a great group started by Lynn Tait and helps fellow publishers on their road to success.

Photo by www.eddiemacdonald.co.uk

The rest of the day seemed to go by pretty quick, again I met some lovely new customers and got a lot of positive comments. Then before you knew it we were packing up to go home.

I had some great neighbours too Libby McMullin, I Drew This, Come for a dream, Your Life Tile and Wolf Whistle who were a pleasure to be around. It is such a lovely industry to be a part of.

All in all the show was a success for Red Berry Hill new stockists and some exciting opportunities!

Last but not least I must also give a big thank you to the tea/coffee lady who visited us very half an hour she was so helpful, always had a smile and remembered what you ordered, definitely the star of the show!

Spring Fair Preparations

Preparations are going well for Spring Fair and for once I am ahead of schedule, although now worried I have forgotten something important! It is the first time I have done Spring Fair so I am excited to see how it differs from Top Drawer and PG Live that I did last year. It is a longer show (5 days) so hopefully I will meet plenty of new suppliers.

I decided to do a small scaled mock up of the stand so I can see exactly what it will look like and help me when I am there. I did one last year and it was really helpful when I got to the show to follow.

The brochures also arrived today so I feel like it is all finally coming together!

Spring Fair is at the NEC, Birmingham and is Europe's definitive gift trade fair. It starts on Sunday 2nd February until Thursday 6th February. There is still time to register for free ticket here.

Red Berry Hill will be in Hall 4 Stand 4K24 and I will post a full report of the show when I return.

"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.

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

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.

Metro

Here are a few of the new Metro which were launched at Top Drawer. The range comprises of 12 designs 150mm square. The male market is a difficult one but I really enjoy designing for it so I had a bit of fun playing with quirky topics that I hope will appeal to a variety of male ages with subjects from vintage cameras, man sheds, cycling to trekking and astronomy!

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.

Local News

Just a quick post to show you the great write up I got in the local newspaper this week, loving the title!

Top Drawer 2013 - Part One

So off we headed on Saturday down to Earls Court in London to set up for my very first trade show. We arrived in plenty if time and was faced with this blank canvas, my home for the next three days.

 

Richard was very proud of the first board he put up!

Three hours later and we had created the stand. I was so glad that I made this little mock up before we went, it was great to see it all come to life!

Will be back tomorrow with a full report of the show itself

Card and Gift Blog

Looking forward to Top Drawer this weekend all packed and ready to go. I am nervous and excited all rolled into one!

To top it al I have just had a mention on Card and Gift blog.

This great blog for the industry provides free publicity for designers, makers and independent retailers. I am very grateful to Charlotte for the lovely write up about my very first trade show!

If you are exhibiting I hope you have a great show and if you are visiting Top Drawer you can find me on Stand E25.

I will post a full write up about the show including all the preparation next week

Progressive Greetings

Just a quick post as I was so proud to see my new Metro design in print in the recent edition (Jan) of Progressive Greetings (a trade magazine). It is in the innovation section promoting all new designs that will be at Top Drawer!