Xmas Brucy Bonus...

Hi All, look at me blogging more than twice a year - life must be getting easier.

I'm telling y'all about my spesh 'Brucy Bonus Xmas Bonanza'. I've still got tons of Christmas stock (I ordered WAY too many!) so I'm putting it on special offer for any Xmas early birds.

You can now buy 12 of my luxury, glossy, thick (no it's not a hair advert) Xmas cards for...

ONLY £8!! ...Ta da!

They retail individually for £2.20 each in the shops so it's a HUGE saving of £18.40. I'm trying to clear some stock ready for new designs that will be out soon (well, just as soon as I sit my bottom down to design them!)

Each of the six designs is also available individually for just £1 also from folksy.

Click on the cards to take you to my li'l ol' Folksy shop.....

Hip snaps from my hipstamatic...

This is officially my first blog from my iPhone. I've been getting to grips with it for the last month and we've been through a lot together. I spent the first week guilt wracked at such an extravagance. The second week was getting used to the keyboard, imagine a cow trying to type with it's udders and you'd get the picture! Week 3 I really started to comprehend how amazingly useful and indespensible my new friend was and now i'm really having fun.

I'm not going to be a phone bore but some apps are fab, others are totally pointless.
Here are 5 apps I will NEVER need:

1. Gun builder(?!)
2. Spirit level (just incase i need to know whether i'm lying down or standing up).
3. Compass (a must when orienteering my way to asda)
4. Stocks ftse index update. Those of us in the design industry aren't famed for our wealth!
5. Facebook. Call me old fashioned but I've never done social networking sites. I love REAL people in the flesh!

On a better note, I found this great hipstamatic camera app which turns your phone into a camera that takes pics that look like those from the 70's. Any old snap takes on retro value, it's fab! Here are some pics of my adorable mutt and a vid of what it can do.

I'm feeling creative

Maybe it's the spring sunshine (and the fact that I'm running short of time before baby arrives!) but my feverish brain has been spinning with lots of creative thoughts.

I couldn't sleep last night as my design cogs whirred and clicked with new ideas. I sold out of my birdy design some time back (sob! - my fave design) so I want to create some more designs that are blank for any occasion.

I'm going to start designing next week. God I love that bit - can't wait. I've also got to think of a way to produce new products that don't break the bank. These print runs are my biggest bank breaking expense and i always have more than i need. Hmmm a little lateral thinking is in order me thinks, time to get my biz thinking hat on as well.

The Magpies Daughter is getting hitched!

My lovely crafter friend Rachel (aka The Magpies Daughter) is getting married this weekend. I wanted to wish her all the best for a lovely future together with her husband to be Ian.

The weather is supposed to be beautiful so the birds will be singing and the sun shining for you.

In the meantime, here are some examples from the clever chick's collection. The links take you to her blog as she's shut up shop until April 20th to be in wedded bliss!

My fave holiday shop...

I just adore The Deco Shop in Machynthleth, near Aberdyfy. It's just full of everything gorgeous you could ever possibly want to buy. It's such a visual treat. I just love the juxtaposition of gorgeous homewares, pattern, colour and texture - take a peek for yourself and make sure you go there if you're ever in that neck of the woods.

I'm totally stealing the painted pink cabinet idea for my new studio!

My plan for a desk

I love this painted filing cabinet idea. There's a brilliant Dead Peoples Junk Store just down the road. No it's not actually called that but that's basically what it's full of. There are some old school filing cabinets, I figured if I brought 2 and got something like a high gloss white Ikea Pax wardrobe door to use as a desk top, I might just have an original and very useful desk.

Spring Greens..

I found a whole cluster of gorgeous spring green prints from various artists on folksy. I love these nordic hares by Dee Beale, visit her blog it's lovely.



I also like these 2 prints from Sparklehen, another busy mum who used to be a graphic designer but now sells on line. check out her folksy shop for lots of goodies.

Big Brunch

I dropped off the kids and headed into the N. Quarter with 'im indoors for a spot of brunch at Teacup. After polishing off a massive poached eggs on toast we wandered off for a mooch. I always come back really fired up creatively (maybe it was the eggs!) from the N. Quarter. It has such a charm, rough round the edges and such a cool indi scene. We did galleries, some shopping then Magma which I LOVE.

You could call it a day date but I'd say it was strictly research of course!

Blog Update and Amazon a Go-Go....

You may have noticed that my blog has had a bit of a revamp. You can now shop from Amazon by clicking on the left. I have a blog search feature at the bottom of the page so you can find articles on my blog more easily on subjects that you're interested in.

I also have these 'quick shop' buttons so you can buy cards for upcoming events like Mothers Day and Easter.

Ooooooh I love having a tidy up and a sort out!

A return to the blogosphere...

Hello my very neglected readers (if you're still out there?). This post marks a return to my very sad and sorry blog that I've been neglecting whilst baking bigger business pies.

Here are some of my new designs, there's 18 in total. I'll be uploading them all on my folksy site soon. The good news is you'll be able to buy Design Rocks! cards on Amazon. Yes, I've been invited to sell with Amazon, so we'll see how that goes. There also other interesting developments afoot, so I'll keep you posted on how they turn out.

I feel like I've been in a washing machine for 2 months with such a massive workload (and massive bump, only 3 and a half months to go until baby no 3 arrives!). It's great but I'm glad to finally be able to do fun stuff again like reading, blogging and visiting galleries. I'm also really looking forward to meeting up with my lovely crafters and designers this weekend at the Craft Centre on Tib St for hot muffins and tea and a mooch round the N Quarter.




There's a fab conceptual wallpaper exhibition on at the Whitworth called 'Walls Are Talking'. Go and see it it's brilliant, there's everything from Warhol to Sindy to bloodsplats and barbed wire wallpaper.


Finally I leave you with Lola's Room, adorable photography by a gal with a great eye for colour and composition. I think her snaps would make great greetings cards actually. You can buy her pics from her folksy shop.

off to London Town...

This Sunday will be my recce for TOP DRAWER! It's the autumn show on at the mo. I need to get a feel for my competitors, the set up, market, etc before I exhibit myself in Jan.

I love day trips to London, apart from getting lost, sweaty & slightly claustrophobic on the tube and so on. When I was a wee nipper of a designer, many moons ago, I remember being reduced to tears of exasperation trying to find some random location in central Londres. I sat on my porfolio and heartily cried somewhere in Hackney.

Now I'm a true city girl, it's a total treat for my senses and always gives me a design buzz.

Will have a market/trend report for you on Monday (written on the train with a long coffee and lots of pics, I'll also be sketching and scribbling!)

I know it's barely September...

...but us card designers do our Xmas selling as early as June! It's hard to think about Christmas designs when you're sunning yourself with a long cocktail.

I sold my Xmas cards as singles last year, I thought I'd offer them as a pack this year - here's the new packaging.

The packs and singles will be on sale in my shops from this evening if you want to have a little shop. I'll also be doing mini stationary sets which will make nice stocking fillers or mini gifts for friends. I'll keep you posted!

Back to school - YAY!

I've got that back to school feeling - yay! After getting my head around the end of summer, I can't wait to get stuck into designing ranges, business, selling & growth for my little business. My new mantra: Create, enjoy, have fun & sell!

I have some new stationery (any excuse) my pens and pencils, a tidy(ish) desk and my new shoes - I'm ready to roll and all excited about preparing for Top Drawer London in January.

My exercise books sell really well but I just found this french exercise book complete with exercises inside from Etsy shop Petit Vintage. She has gorgeous Gallic goodies so have a nose if you get chance.

I feel a little autumn shop coming on...

Rather than grumbling about my canceled camping trip this weekend (rain stopped play), I decided to enjoy the autumnal weather by going for a country walk and a big pub lunch. It's blinking freezing!!! But the upside is, I don't have to wait for the first leaf to fall before I hit the shops.

I'm already sporting a cute pair of grey slouchy ankle boots instead of my standard issue gladiators. I've planned a few autumn outfits and some disco eyelashes to help me grieve over the loss of summer.

I love the changing of the seasons - I get a massive design hit from all the new patterns and textures in both the shops and great outdoors. I've been designing my new collection so I'm like a sponge at the moment. I'm thinking about checks, autumn colours, berries, tweed, preppy styles and I love this red satchel. I organised a jumble sale a couple of weekends ago and amongst my vintage bargains (first picks) I got an old leather satchel - it's so cool!

I brought a pair of leopard print tights this week and they now feature on one of my new card designs! Well, that's my excuse for buying them - hmmmm, I wonder if that makes them tax deductible??

A little gift to you all...

Hmm, I've had such a nice day I'm feeling in a generous mood! Here's a little book label for you to print and keep, if you print them 8 up they'll fit snugly on a sheet of A4. Either print them on to a sticky label sheet or just plain paper and stick them on with good old pritt stick.

Now you can get busy with a cute book labeling project and pretend you're back at school.

Enjoy, but remember people: this is for personal use only....and have a good weekend. Yay!

Happy Harrogate!

My God, people in the greetings card industry are SO lovely. I went to check out Harrogate Home and Gift to get an idea of trade fair set ups and a fresh feel for the market, before I take the plunge in Jan at Top Drawer. I chatted to a few of my competitors and I couldn't believe how friendly they were.

My two best show pals were: Iain from Hello! Lucky, here's their stuff. I've always loved the Letterpress stylie and these guys are definately one of the best so there was much scribbling and chin stroking whilst talking to my mini mentor Iain.

My other mini mentor/verbal sponsor is the lovely Alison from Aliroo. Not only is she always so generous with her time and knowledge, she does all this with a 10 week old baby in tow!

I think what I like the most is that these great people have the same outlook as me. I love helping people and sharing what I've learnt, I'm not guarded or defensive (or naive!). Supporting people on the way up is a two way street.

I believe there's a market out there big enough to support all these diverse companies so the best thing we can do is to support each other to make British design the strongest in the global marketplace. And I believe it is. Right. I'll get down off my soap box now.

My heart beats faster...

...when I see a gorgeous colour combo like this. Where's my sketchbook - I feel a design coming on.