Shop Independent - Small Business Christmas Gift guide

Shopping with independent businesses brings joy, creativity and uniqueness that you just don’t find with bigger brands.

We’ve put together a small gift guide, including this years most popular goods from Ruth Holly and some of our other favourite designer makers.

Hopefully you will find some inspiration and choose to champion small business again this year.

Thank you. x

Stylish Handmade Christmas Stocking £26.95

Starting us off with the super special completely unique Christmas stockings, that have been sustainably made using offcuts of our textile favourites. A pre-Christmas gift that keeps on giving every year!

2022 Abstract Art A3 Wall Calendar £16.95

A great gift to keep you organised the whole year through, you can even cut out and frame each print to keep!

Cedar | Yule - Large Essential Oil Candle, £30

We love Cedar candles, and this one is just so Christmassy! A cosy lush gift for special friends and family members.

Duo of Travel Bags, Golden Ochre with Charcoal Grey, £45.95

So bright and cheerful! Really bringing joy and creativity to everyday life. These zip bags are the perfect size to fit in your handbag, or to store your travel-sized essentials.

AMATI SMALL EARRINGS SILVER, £70

Made with such care and consideration, these earrings from ANUKA are ethical, sustainable and handmade in the UK.

Organic Textures Wall Art Print, £30

Add colour and texture to someones life by gifting them a piece of art! A beautiful harmony of subtle tones, bold pattern and striking texture, make this art print truly unique.

Set of Four Pink and Blue Rectangle Placemats, £44.95

A forever favourite, these pretty pastel placemats are timeless. Creating a beautiful dining experience for whoever shall receive them!

Decorative Home Accessories by Ruth Holly

A selection of decorative home and garden accessories, featuring abstract art patterns and textures, by Ruth Holly.

Introducing The Nomad Splash serving platter/ chopping board, £24.95

A visually striking sustainably sourced eucalyptus chopping board/serving platter, featuring our popular Nomad Splash print, in charcoal greys and baked yellow ochres tones. A great addition to any kitchen, the eye-catching, statement print makes it perfect to be on permanent display.

Use as a chopping board, a bread or cheese board, or perhaps a serving platter for all your favourite nibbles.

Style it with The Nomad Texture table runner, £54.95

Striking table decor with extra wow factor! Our 100% cotton table runner is digitally printed using reactive inks, ensuring rich & vibrant colours. It's wide hem detail is hand finished in the UK.

Set the table with these stunning black bowls from Nordic Nest from £9 and this sea grass bowl from Green Tulip £6.

Finally welcoming guests? Use Nomad Splash coasters £5

Scatter these around to protect your surfaces and add a pop of colour to your home.

Why shop small, and how to support independent businesses during lockdown.

Wow! - the last few weeks and months have been incredible. The power of the people is starting to really shift, and the support for small independent businesses is becoming stronger every year. It’s no secret, this year has been one of the toughest yet for small business, including at Ruth Holly, but with the support of lovely loyal customers and the flurry of likeminded conscious consumers, we’re thriving!

Shopping small and choosing independents means you are choosing to think outside the box, you are thoughtfully curating your life, consciously picking goods that will mean something to you and to your loved ones. It’s true, it takes a little more time, but with anything that takes time, the results are a whole lot sweeter.

But how do I shop small and support independent if I can’t go outside? Our all important high street is of course, one of the first places to visit when wanting to support independents. Our local greengrocer, butcher, gift shop, all rely on us to bring them custom. Walking to purchase locally with a stretch of the legs and some fresh air, not only does you good, but helps our communities thrive. However, during lockdown, we really have been limited about where we can physically visit, making it all too easy to jump onto Amazon and other large retailers.

There are loads of online platforms now who support small independents; makers markets and small business finders, all it takes is a little time and goodwill to search the web, and you’ll be sure to find a hidden gem! There are a few links in my blog from last year.

We do also understand as independents, that sometimes our goods are possibly not in your budget, and thats fine! You can still support by not spending a penny, simply by engaging with us on social media, good old fashioned word of mouth, and leaving reviews.

You can follow Ruth Holly on Instagram and Facebook, or please review on Google here.

Small Business, Big Difference. #SmallBizSatUK

Top 3 Sustainable Small Businesses

An ever more pressing concern, how long will our planet continue to withstand the detrimental effects humans are having on the natural world?

As a creative wholly inspired by our natural world, it is imperative my values are mirrored in my goods and services. Known for making decisions using my heart, I continue to practice responsible sourcing, sustainability and eco-awareness where possible. Sourcing and selling with integrity.

I learn from other businesses larger than mine, and practise what i preach by making the majority of my purchases from thoughtful, sustainable businesses.

Alongside Ruth Holly of course, here’s a brief run down of some of my favourites, happy browsing!

Zero Waste Club

The Future Kept

The Kind Store

Living Off The Land

THE SIMPLER THE LIFE, THE GREATER THE BLESSINGS.

In these challenging times, I have turned to the simple things in life. Finding joy from small pleasures and priceless pursuits, spending more time in nature, and looking at ways to protect our environment, doing my very small bit to contribute where I can.

Not entirely selfless though! - these changes are benefitting me, and will hopefully continue to in the coming years. I have stopped eating meat, travel far less (including car travel), tend to my garden more, protect insects and wildlife where I can, and am generally more conscious, and live life a little slower.

Taking a step further than I am able to right now, are my lovely friends Rachel and Nick. Once Halifax dwellers like myself (in fact I met them as they bought my old house!), they uprooted from Yorkshire back in 2019 and are now the proud owners of a beautiful property, with outbuildings and farm land, in Dunbar, Scotland.

Rachel and Nick always aspired to live off the land, and live a sustainable life away from the rat race. In June 2019 they made decision to set up small-holding and Nick swiftly started looking for properties. By August they had made offer on Beltonford Villa, and got keys end of September!

I was lucky enough to join them for a day and had a full tour of the property, including polytunnel and 40 tree orchard! We had a beach walk, I picked veg for our dinner and I left feeling happy and content, and100% more wholesome than when I arrived.

I asked Rachel for a little break down of events as she really has made it look super easy - especially with 2 little ones under 5!

Here’s her timeline…

• we moved in September 2019

• we spent the Winter sorting out the house, and repairing, securing fencing & borders etc.

• in February 2020 we put up poly tunnel and the first animals arrived… six hens and two piglets!

• March saw us planting the 40 tree orchard – apples, plums, pears! We planted fruit bushes gooseberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant, loganberry, blackberry, raspberry and 300 hedging plants for wildlife corridor along property boundary.

• Late March we sowed seeds in the poly tunnel and dug the field in preparation for the veggie patch.

• In April the lambs arrived! (Pet lambs from a friend’s sheep farm) – Timmy, Jimmy and Hope.

• This Summer was sowing more seeds! maintenance weeding, harvesting, digging and potting up in the polytunnel.

• More recently we have been picking apples, freezing blackberries and other fruits & making jams and chutneys etc!

I can honestly say, this is the way forward.

If we can somehow embrace digital world, but loosen the grip it seems to have on all our lives, and move towards whats real and raw and good, them I’m pretty sure civilisation would be happier and healthier.

I asked Rachel to share her pro’s and con’s - and it’s clear she agrees.

PROS

• watching the kids pick and eat veg straight from the plant (peas/ strawberries/ berries are their favourites!)

• giving the kids the opportunity to help feed and clean out the animals

• 100% home-grown meals – no nasties!

• Spending more time outside and noticing the seasons

CONS

• we haven’t found any yet!!

GIVE INDEPENDENT AND SHOP SMALL THIS CHRISTMAS

Black Friday, Cyber Monday - Take it back Tuesday!

This time of year is a crazy one for many folk, the pressure to create a perfect ‘all singing all dancing Christmas’ can often force you to make quick, unconscious decisions in attempt to get a ‘good deal’. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the whirlwind frenzy of consumerism, feeding into our ‘not enough’ human failings, driving us to buy quick, buy more and buy cheap, because “you deserve it!”

No. Think again. What you deserve is far more than that, you deserve peace and joy, the traditional blessing of Christmas.

In this short blog post I hope to make it easier for you to access relevant information on the topic, and to help you make informed, and conscious shopping decisions going forward.

Slow down for just a minute, zone out of the hype, turn off the TV and the radio shouting at you to buy and just find that inner magic inside you, what are you grateful for this season?

What you and your loved one’s really deserve, is a healthy, magical, thoughtful Christmas, one that is considered and curated with attention and care. Find unique products that aren’t seen in every retailer in the UK, uncover unusual hidden gems that make the receiver feel like they have something truly special.

Independent designers and makers put their heart and soul into their goods. We won’t settle until we have created something we are proud of, we don’t just churn things out. We won’t inflate margins in order to make it look like we’re than cutting the costs dramatically, our prices are true and honest all year round. We design to express, and that expression is something you can’t buy anywhere else, guaranteed.

Here are a few links I have found on the topic, that are a joy to read…

The Independent on “How to Shop Better this Christmas”

The Guardian on “How to have a green Christmas”

To find unique gifts and support small, you can use the following website links, my round up of fave goods from these sites are below.

urbanmakers.co.uk

etsy.com

notonthehighstreet.com

folksy.com

pedddle.com

I can’t put it better than 91 magazine, their ethos mirrors mine, this article is well worth a read…

91magazine.co.uk/blog/2019/11/25/slow-living-at-christmas

… and they have great sections dedicated to independents on their blog;

91magazine.co.uk/blog/category/Shopkeeper+Spotlight

91magazine.co.uk/blog/category/Meet+the+Maker

You can also keep an eye on my social media accounts, which will feature markets and fairs I attend all year round.

Wishing you a peaceful and conscious pre-festive period.

Ruth Holly xx

SUPPLIER VISIT

Hello and Happy New Year! Hope you all had a peaceful Christmas and rested well.

It’s January and with that come all the pressures of a new year - new you! I have started the year writing a ‘done’ list rather than a ‘to do’, this allows me to feel satisfied with what I’ve achieved and accomplished throughout 2018 rather than filling me with dread about what needs to be done in 2019. That said, there is always the promise of new adventures, new treasures to be found and more wonderful connections to be made.

Speaking of connections, last week I visited my fabric supplier, a company in Cheshire where I get all my designs printed. I email these guys regularly and rarely get to see them so it was great to put faces to names and re-connect.

The afternoon started with a catch up and discussion about new developments, costings and problem solving. Mum came along too to meet everyone, we enjoyed a cup of tea and a brainstorm.

We then had a tour around the factory, I got to see the machines where my designs are printed, the cutting room, the sewing department (where each item is machine sewn by hand!) It was a really inspiring afternoon and was great to get involved and really see how and where my products are made.

I had a chat with the daughter of the business about environmental issues and how the company are doing all they can at the time to reduce impact. There was water recycling from the dying process, cardboard and fabric core recycling, along with the fact that everything is done under one roof, reducing the need for transporting the goods by van, ship, plane. They even carry heavy rolls of fabric across the car park by hand each day!

Below you can view some photos of the day, if you have any questions about the process or anything else to do with how your wonderful goods are designed and produced then please do get in touch. hello@ruthholly.co.uk

SUSTAINABLE GIFTING

I have done the majority of my Christmas shopping online this year. I am continually aware of shopping small and shopping independent, but equally I’m more and more interested in sustainable, responsible companies who put thought and care into their process, as well as their finished product.

As promised, here’s a peek (without giving too much away for xmas!) at my top 6 responsible businesses. I hope this helps you in time for your Christmas gifts, but if not, maybe it will encourage you in 2019 to really think about where your purchases are made, how they are made and most importantly why.

Thanks for reading. x