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

Can't believe it's a whole 4 weeks nearly since we exhibited at PULSE London. It was our 2nd year on the bounce and was once again a great show.

We hired a van to get all the products and stand props down from Yorkshire to the big smoke, set off early Saturday morning and arrived in time for a quick lunch and a speedy set up. Now when I say speedy, it was our quickest time of 5 hours! it usually takes a little longer, but the more times you exhibit at a show, the quicker it gets, especially if you plan and prep before hand.

I opted for a similar set up to last year as the designs are quite similar, it's the product that has developed. So I had a feature shelf for the NEW greetings cards with captions, and we featured the kitchen ware in it's own area, making a stand out show of the tea towels in particular!

Overall the footfall seemed down from 2017, but the number of visitors to our stand was great, and the orders we received were healthy. Many buyers tend to go away and come back, sometimes even a year later! Product wise, our kitchenware was very well received, along with art prints and cushions.

Olympia was filled with enormous talent, every year the designer makers get better and I'm so inspired by this wonderful community and so happy to be part of it :) My favourites included the following;

These guys had their brands on point! The completeness of the stand, their strong visual identity, and a classic, timeless product :)