Every cloud has a silver lining...

I'm very proud to share this bit of news with you.  I am now a member of ACID, which is great news not just for me as an illustrator and designer - but also for all my lovely loyal customers who's logos and branding I have produced over the past couple of years.

For those of you who are not aware of who they are - ACID (Anti Copying In Design) are a membership trade organisation, committed to encouraging respect for intellectual property...and as such they are intent on stamping out intellectual property rights abuses by offering practical support for their members.  

Here's their website: http://www.acid.uk.com

I'd been considering joining ACID for some time now, but it has to be said, it was always fairly low down on my long list of 'to dos'.  That was until last week when I was alerted to the fact that someone had copied not only chunks of content from my websites (such as all my branding packages, Ts and Cs even the 'about me' section).. but also parts of some of my new designs for Christmas cards and worst of all, some of the branding I had designed for another small business ...so it wasn't just affecting my business.  After a bit of to and fro with messages to the plagiarist, the copied website and facebook page seem to have gone and all is well again (I hope!).

However, as you can imagine this is when ACID membership became a priority for me.  I'm so pleased about joining as it gives me peace of mind and also enables me to better help, support and protect those  who have trusted me to develop their brand identities because it gives me access to the legal back up I'd need.  So as they say, every cloud really does have a silver lining.

I would really like to say a big THANK YOU to the lovely lady who follows my facebook page and who alerted me to the problem in the first place - I am truly grateful to you...please know that the message you worried about sending to me has led to a very positive outcome!

May all our weeks be filled with positive outcomes :)

Best wishes

Angie

Christmas Photo Shoot

Hello, I know I said I probably wouldn't get much chance to blog here for a while, but I simply had to share these images with you and tell you all about them as I'm so delighted with them I could burst with joy! :)...

...Now that my portfolio of new greeting cards and gift wrap designs is steadily starting to grow, I knew I needed to find a good photographer, ideally local to me - who could work with me to deliver perfectly styled images and hopefully help take my designs to the next level.

Also, I'd  reached that point most small business owners get to when you realise you just can't build a successful future without adopting a strong support team around you, as it's simply impossible to do absolutely everything yourself and still do it well!...

...As luck would have it, by asking around I discovered the most amazing pair of photographers in the neighbouring village.  Kate and Alex photography usually specialise in gorgeous wedding and child portrait photography, but there was something about the way they styled their images that caught my imagination.  These ladies have a keen eye for something a little bit different, but always exceptionally beautiful!....

...The only snag I could see was that they freely admitted they had never done product photography before.  I on the other hand, have lots of experience assisting and managing product photography shoots from my years spent in ad agencies so was at the ready to share advice and tips...Not that they really needed much of that as they were completely up for the challenge so I had every faith that they would come up with the goods...and oh boy, did they deliver! :)  

You can read on their blog here all about that challenge and how it went for them: 

http://www.kateandalexphotography.co.uk/blog/2012/11/Branching-out-to-product-photography-and-styling

..This post is just really to say a big thank you to Kate and Alex - I have lots more new products to launch in the new year, so this is just the start of us working together :)

I also want to thank Marna at Little A Designs for all the gorgeous ribbons you see adorning all my parcels - I love pretty ribbons on parcels - after all, it's the finishing touches that make all the difference!

Have a great week

Angie x

Fa La La, Fa La La...May the Christmas Shopping commence!!

 

Remember, Remember the 5th November...not just because of Guy Fawkes, but also because that is when Angie last did a blog post!!

I have a feeling I may not get much of a chance to do many between now and 2013 so let's make this one 'Merry & Bright!' and may the festive chaos begin!!

The next few weeks for me will be filled with Christmas shopping (I've got my eye on plenty of handmade lovelies!).  I'll also be juggling a very full order book ...if you are on my waiting list, the heads up is: I'm full for this year and it looks like January is taken care of too so those on my list are looking at Feb 2013 onwards and I'll be booking those in, in January (I just thought I ought to get that out of the way up front!).

There is also quite a 'fair' bit of work to do for those lovely people over at The Heart of a Garden to take to Spring Fair International at Birmingham's NEC, 3-7 Feb 2013.  As I will have lots of new designs on their stand, I will be escaping for a day that week to have a very good look around - so expect a full Spring Fair review from me on this blog in February!

Meanwhile, have you seen my new Christmas card designs for 2012 in their full glory?...No?

...well here they are...

...There are 6 designs in total and all are available from my website, Etsy and Folksy shops as either packs of 12 (2 of each design) or packs of 6 (1 of each design)....

I'm not sure whether to list them individually too?... I really would welcome any feedback on that...

The cards are 15cm x 15cm and printed onto FSC, 280gsm card with white envelopes and are blank inside with plenty of space to write a full Christmas catch up note...

There will also be gift wrap coming to my online shops soon - those are in the process 

of being photographed nicely... 

...when you order a multi-pack of Christmas cards, I parcel them up nicely with bakers twine and attach one of these lovely matching tags...

...for the best offer on these Christmas cards, my website is the place to go.  My site is all paypal verified 

and secure - and because I'm not having to pay all sorts of sellers fees, I'm able to pass that little saving on to you and offer the price with postage included....

AND FINALLY!...just in case you didn't see my facebook page post last week...I am absolutely over the moon and thrilled to bits to be in Somerset Life magazine this month as their featured artist!

This month's issue is all about my home town, Bridgwater and it's magnificent, annual Guy Fawkes Carnival.  

Of course, our family all went and saw the carnival light up the streets of our town on Saturday night.  As always it just seems to get better every year.  It is not an exaggeration to say that some of the carts are full West End productions on wheels - completely amazing and very, very inspiring!!  The highlight for me was seeing how the carnival inspires my children just like it did for me when I watched it when I was their ages

...and look what that has led to!

 Have a great week! :)