Kwilla, Kilkenny.

One of my stockists, the lovely Shannon, owner of Kwilla, based in Kilkenny has had a lovely feature on the Irish fashion website Help My Style.

Link to the article here.

Shannon's shop is full of the latest design led, fashion forward, unique accessories at affordable prices. All of Kwilla's products are exclusive in Kilkenny with most of them handmade in Ireland and the UK. 

I am lucky enough to supply Kwilla with my greeting cards (seen here in the window) they are always so well received. Shannon is really enthusiastic about my designs and is really keen to promote what I do, hence one of my 'Enchanted' cards being featured in the article.
It has some great write ups! Take a look here. You can also find Kwilla on Facebook and Twitter

Print & Pattern blog feature.

Today, I have featured on the wonderful Print & Pattern blogspot. I appeared there last February with some of my Valentine's cards which brought a lot of visitors to my website. I am a huge fan of the blog and visit it every day without fail, I also own both of the books based on the blog.

The past few months have brought lots of exciting news I wanted to share and many new designs and finishes amongst my product ranges, so I contacted the publisher of the blog, and hey presto! I got a lovely write up (below) about my current work for Next and also my own new product designs.

Here is the feature in full on the Print & Pattern blog page.

26 January 2012
CARDS - fay's studio

gloucester based illustrator fay martin was recently commissioned to create card designs for UK retailer next and has been working on her own card designs as well. fay decided to take the plunge and invest in printing her own range complete with embossing and foiling. look out for fay at the spring fair in birmingham next month and find her online here.

 

 

Spring Fair 2012 5th-9th February NEC Birmingham.

I cannot believe that a whole year has passed since the last Spring Fair, but here it is again, and I am very much looking forward to it. So much in fact, I thought I was setting off next weekend to set up, but I'm now feeling slight relief as it will give me more time to prepare.

Last year's show.

The opening date is 5th February and the show stays open until the 9th. It's going to be great to catch up with old friends and to meet customers and potential buyers. I have had a lot of interest already in my new card ranges so I am very excited about their launch at the show. You can visit my full profile here at the Spring Fair website.

At the moment I have 56 brand new designs launching at the show, that's plenty to keep new and old customers very happy. I may even add in more if I find the time, but with orders already coming in before the show even begins, it will be very busy for the next couple of weeks.

The catalogues are all now out in the post (that was a mammoth task) but of you've missed your copy then please do let me know or pop by at the show and pick up your copy. I have so much to share with you and I'm so excited about all of the new ranges. Keep an eye out for 'Sweet Treats', 'Milestones', 'Christmas Crackers', 'Christmas Elegance', 'Ditsy Hearts' and 'Easter' cards all being launched at the show.

Phew! I'm off for a lie down.

Leaflet designs.

Just before every trade show I exhibit at it's important to send out mail about my products to tell customers what is NEW! As this Spring I am launching over 40 new designs I thought these ranges would stand out better on their own leaflet, so I designed a seperate insert to go out to customers and prospective buyers.

If I'm honest I just haven't had the time in the past few months to put together a whole new catalogue with all of the product development I've been doing, but I hope having the new products on an info leaflet will drive traffic to the website, and as buyers usually have a good look at the show they have an idea of what's available to order. I ensure the product codes are all visible on the website, and I am always on hand to help with orders by email or telephone if customers have any questions.

So today I have been folding leaflets and order forms, and stuffing envelopes, I then spent hours buying postage online (I think they look more 'important' with a printed label and barcode), but I have only just scratched the surface of my mailing list. I always send catalogues with great anticipation as you never know who will respond with an order, or who will keep the info at their shop for many months to come then order randomly, that's half the fun when surprise orders come in.

If you would like a copy of the leaflet with trade prices, please get in touch at mail@faysstudio.com.

Foiled!

I am so excited about this blog post, as it shows the final outcome of the foiled ranges I have spent months working on.
I have been tirelessly designing and preparing the designs for print, and today the proofs arrived in the post. I enjoyed a little laughter as I opened the parcel, as it is very surreal to finally see all the hard work in print. I was straight on the email to let the printers know how pleased I am and to go ahead with the large print run!

I then had to ensure the envelopes I chose matched the colours of the cards and, hey presto! All the final elements are on order to put together for February. I cannot wait to see the cards on the stand at the trade show, as they are going to sparkle and shine under the spotlights. 

The photographs don't do much to show off the highlights, you'd have to see them first hand, but hopefully you can see some of the twinkles. Just click on the photo to see an enlarged version.

The Milestones range.

Each 145mm square design is printed on to an FSC certified glistening board, embossed and finished with silver foil. They come wrapped in a biodegradable bag with either a pearlescent white, blue or pink envelope. Each card is blank inside.

The investment has been expensive, and with any embossed and foiled design, you have to be sure that each card will see a return on investment and so I now have to see how well they do. I hope they more than cover their own cost and are very popular, but only time will tell.

The Sweet Treats range.

Each 145mm square design is printed on to an FSC certified matt board, embossed and finished with silver foil. They come wrapped in a biodegradable bag with a hot pink envelope. Each card is blank inside.

I already have some pre-orders waiting to be fulfilled which is a great start!

They will also be available to buy from the website in a few weeks time, once the stock is ready, so keep an eye out for those.

If you too would like to stock these designs please do email over your details and I can send you some more information (mail@faysstudio.com).

Thank you for the photograph!

I was sent this lovely photograph from friends in Bristol who spotted my freelance designs on greeting cards and gift bags in the Next store there.
Here is Katie holding up one of the bags in store. I am yet to see them myself, but it looks lovely in print.

Thank you Katie and Jon!

I will hopefully be adding some more photographs soon!

End of year catch up.

I almost forgot to share with you some photos of my cards ranges in store at Paperchase in the Tottenham Court Road store. I popped in (for a few hours) when up in London for the day and found my little greetings spread across the store in a few locations. I was very happy to see them all there!

All three shelves from the top are my Elegance, Handbags and Gladrags, Graphic and Enchanted ranges.

My jolly snowman and 7 others on the second shelf from my Christmas Crackers range.

The 'On Your Engagement' card (top right).

Freelancing for NEXT

Many months ago now I starting work on four greeting card designs for Next's Spring/Summer 2012 stationery ranges. I haven't been able to reveal anything up until now, but as the cards are now in store to buy I am able to share them with you.

I am so pleased with the final results, and the designers in-house have even matched the collection with some lovely Birthday wrap and have used one of the designs on a gift bag which is so bright, fresh and fun.

I cannot wait to see them in store and get a few photos of them on the spinners glistening with their glitter finish. It is a momentous achievement, and one which I still can't believe I was invited to do. So here they are. Please go out and snap up lots of them, as I would love for them to do well.

 

A section of the gift bag.

Birthday wrap designed in-house to match.