New Beginnings, New Blog!

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year! Wishing you all the best for 2010!

Ruby Wren Design's Blog is now relocating to our brand new website at: http://www.rubywren.com/blog/

If you have any bookmarks to this page or are a follower, please make a note of our new blog address! I hope to be able to update the new blog with news, new product previews and lots of lovely finds from around the web!

Thanks for all your support in 2009 and I look forward to sharing my updates on my new blog!
x

The snowy adventures of little Carra Cat

We don't get snow very often in the UK, so when we do, the whole country comes to a stand still! Luckily I work from home, so I can enjoy the snow without having to worry about braving the roads.

My three cats were very excited to see snow this morning and once it had stopped snowing, we opened the door for them. The 'Princess' took one look and decided it was warmer and cosier inside, despite her being a Russian Blue, adapted for cold weather.

The little tortie thought long and hard about going out and after much debate and 'cat-acrobatics' to get out in the garden without touching the snow, decided she'd stay inside too.

Of course, Carra, the ginger tom loves being outside and wasn't going to let a little snow get in his way! After his little investigation of the snow, he was soon whimpering at the door to get back inside to his food and bed:

Competition!

The Ruby Website and Blog will be getting a complete change shortly, allowing for some great new things! In the meantime, we're making our Christmas competition open to all!

From now until 20th December, send an email to ruby@rubywren.com to be included in our Christmas prize draw. The winner will receive a pack of our eco-friendly greeting cards, worth £20.

Your details will only be kept for the prize draw, unlike previously mentioned where you had to subscribe to our mailing list to enter. Due to changes with the website, all you need to do is send a quick email to ruby@rubywren.com to enter yourself in the draw!

Good Luck! x

Ruby's Christmas Pledge!

My family and I are avid supporters of the RSPCA and recently received a letter in the post asking us to donate to their Big Christmas Feed. Last January, we adopted three very ill and very sad little cats, who had spent Christmas at our local RSPCA animal shelter. When we collected our new cats to take them to their new home, they admitted that they were surprised they surived.

The RSPCA do wonderful work and rely totally on donations. This Christmas they are campaigning for the public to help provide meals for animals, dontating money for "meal tickets".

From all of Ruby's sales from now until Christmas, I'll be saving money from card sales and dontating in December to the RSPCA's Big Feed. Ruby Wren tries to be as ethical as possible with our material choices and packaging, and this Christmas we hope to provide some abandoned animals with some Christmas Dinner!

All purchases, be it from Etsy, Folksy, NOTHS or even in person, will have money donated from the profits. Read more about the RSPCA's Big Christmas Feed at: RSPCA

Luckily, our three rescued cats have grown into heathly, happy little monsters, shadows of their former selves:

Shop of the Week - Jo Heckett

After a week of neglecting my blog due to my Prince's Trust workshop week (which was brilliant!!) I'm back to blogging!

The Shop of the Week feature is always my favourite and with Christmas coming up I've been adding tonnes of new favourites on Etsy to my 'hearted' shops and items. One of my all time favourites is Jo Heckett. I discovered her shop on Etsy over the summer and keep checking back because I love her porcelain items so much! If money was no object, everyone on my Christmas list would be getting their name in porcelain.

Not only has Jo got the cutest items, but she herself is lovely! You can find her on Etsy at http://www.joheckett.etsy.com/ and NOTHS at www.notonthehighstreet.com/joheckett.

Her facebook page is one of the best I've seen from a handmade seller, with lots of behind the scenes photos and plenty of updates! It's one of my favourites: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jo-Heckett/123346152940

Treasury!

I love getting a Treasury over on Etsy...I had one all prepared last time and my internet (which I'd been having such trouble with last week) disconnected just as the Treasury was due to open! Luckily I got one today, yay! Following my Colour Scheme Finds, I decided to elaborate on the brown coffee colours I found last week.

Check it out at: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=85809

News from Ruby!

Following the feedback and comments I've been given from Etsy members and customers, I've decided to expand my little business and have signed up for the Prince's Trust Business Programme. The Prince's Trust, for anyone who doesn't know, is a charity in the UK run to help young people, with Prince Charles as the head of the organisation. The Business Programme is run to help get people aged 18-30 succeeding in running their own businesses.

I applied in Septemeber and was invited to an introduction session a few days later to talk about the Business Programme and what is involved. I begin a 4 day workshop on Monday, where I will get advice on bookeeping, legalities for small businesses, marketing etc. After this week, I'll be required to put my business plan before the Prince's Trust's panel, Dragons Den-Style and I'll get one-on-one sessions with a business mentor for the next few years.

I've heard such good things about the programme and hope to keep you updated via my blog.

In other Ruby related news, I've just listed some of my first Christmas Cards! It's getting to that time of year again! With the worldwide shipping I offer, I decided to get in early with the Christmas Card listing to give everyone enough time to get their cards before Christmas. I've got lots made up ready for the Made by Artisans Craft Fair and hope to get more listed on Etsy shortly!

Click Here for New Christmas Cards