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:

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

I'm Back!

Due to a crazy few weeks with my RUBYrecycled cards, I have been away from the computer and spending my time making tonnes of new cards for upcoming fairs and events.

I'm going to get back to blogging regularly again this week but would love to request something from my readers...I'm beginning a business programme in my local area (run by the Prince's Trust) and would love to get some market research done about, well, my market. So...please take a few minutes to answer my little survey. There's only 10 simple questions and it will help in my business programme:

Click Here to Answer

New Cards!

I've been making lots of cards in preparation for the Made by Artisans Craft Fair in November and for Halloween which is just around the corner. I'd like to share with you some of the new Ruby Recycled card designs, including my new Halloween designs and some cards created following a special request for piglets! The card featuring the line of piglets following the mummy pig has even made it to the Etsy 'Gifts for Mom' Gift Guide, which I'm thrilled about!

I've recently launched my new UK website at http://www.rubywrenboutique.co.uk/. I ship worldwide but wanted a shop that listed prices in Great British Pounds, seeing as I am having to sell in US Dollars while on Etsy.com. For Blog, Twitter and Facebook friends, I'm offering 25% off my cards at http://www.rubywrenboutique.co.uk/ - just put in the promotional code 'TWEET' when you checkout.