Christmas Competition
Hello and a Merry Christmas to you all!
We are almost at the finishing line for 2012 and I thought what better way to say thank you to all my customers old and new than to run a little give away.
I am offering a prize of
x1 Butter dish
x2 Mugs (straight or tapered shape)
x1 Milk jug
Collectively worth over £75! They will all be made in a pattern of your choice.
All you need to do is join my mailing list by entering your email into the box on the bottom right hand corner of my homepage. I will pick a winner on the 31st of December who will be notified by email.
All of my newsletter customers only receive a few emails a year (I hate being bombarded myself by others so I tend to only write if I have a discount or show tickets to offer you!) There will be a special discount for all of my mailing list as a thank you for entering valid from 1st Jan for 6 months.
I hope you will enter and good luck with your entry! Thanks so much for supporting me, it has meant a lot this year.
Jules
Holidays are coming...
So… what a year it is shaping up to be! I wanted to write a good old catch up as I fear I have neglected my blog recently. To be honest I was never good at writing a diary! But there is lots to tell and so here goes…
Recently I launched the Christmas collection, improved lighter and funkier baubles, new shapes for decorations, cards, gift wrap and finally matching tags! It was with great trepidation that I decided to take it all to the wonderful Stowe School for their Christmas fair a couple of weeks ago. There were some fabulous festive goodies and I admit I almost bought up the entire wreath stand (I am a sucker for ribbon and berries!) The customers were great and the gift wrap was admired but the star of the show was the decorations. However, I am pleased to say that at the Country Living fair in Islington London last week we almost sold out of 3 Kings gift wrap! I was so very happy as this was a gamble, I love their part of the nativity story and hoped you all did too! It did mean we were folding and making tags until midnight most days of the fair… but it is pretty rewarding to think of all those presents being wrapped in my paper! One of the best parts of my job!
The fair was a great chance to show of the entire collection for the first time. On display everything from the butterflies to magnets and all in between. The customers were so friendly and I had so many encouraging comments so thanks to all who took the time to stop and chat! It was great to pack up at the end and realise how many pieces had been sold to such great customers.
I have also started a competition that runs until Christmas! A huge give away of a butter dish, milk jug and two mugs in a pattern of your choice. All you need to do is enter your email on my homepage and sign up to my mailing list. I am also taking snazzy little postcards to all of my shows over Christmas so do enter your details on one if you pop over to say hi! I will be drawing a winner on the 31st December.
More markets and shows to come over the next few weeks so I hope you might keep me company and give me some feedback on my new work. Notably I am in Winchester on the 1st and 2nd December and the RHS garden heaven that is Wisley next week!
Right, I should crack on with some more of your orders, I love being a Christmas elf! I will be writing about the new Bath Artisan Market soon (I promise!) so keep your eyes peeled!
God Save the Queen!
Hello hello… well it is the big build up time for the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee here in Britain and I thought it would be best to celebrate in the way we know best - with a cup of TEA!
This is my Jubilee mug which features my twist on our Royal crest and bunting, various crowns, flags and, of course, a secret corgi inside on the base. As usual it will be £17 (no silly inflated prices) but will be a limited edition. The mugs will not be available after this year and will only be sold through a few selected stockists and outlets from May.
Available here on my site from today woo hoo!
It's a wrap! ... New for Spring!
I am really excited to introduce a new range of gift wrap! There are x4 designs, all available via the gift wrap link on the collections page. Two of the designs (British Birds and Seed Pods) are a glimpse at new ranges, these will be available on my ceramic tableware from the Summer.
Their actual size is: 50cm x 70cm and they are printed on a high quality (90gsm) paper in Bristol. The printers are FSC & PEFC certified & use chemical free CTP.
£1.50 for x1 sheet or
£3.60 for x3 sheets
Packed neatly in a hard backed envelope folded or rolled (for a small additional cost) you can be sure it will arrive safely at your door, simply choose your preferred delivery option at the checkout.
Also coming soon is a rather lovely version of the new seed pods on tea towels, this is my first foray into textile printing and I can not wait to see the finished product when it arrives in two weeks!
That’s all for now folks but watch this space…
Say Cheese
It is January and that means doing all the little jobs that have fallen by the wayside and tucking myself away to do some new drawings for the Spring… basically I am hibernating! So to make myself feel very proactive and to get myself ready for a fresh year I decided to treat myself to a lovely photoshoot with Image Outlet.
I admit I was nervous, frankly I had never handed over my product to being photographed by strangers and those who know me can confirm that I am a bit of a perfectionist. Emma who is one of the photographers was marvellous, always available on email to answer all my questions, keen to source props and get the set up to my spec and vision. The work was packed up in three very large boxes and I headed in the opposite direction for a shot break in Southern Ireland. Holding my breath I was so excited to return to contact sheets full of bright and colourful photos! This one above is typical of the lifestyle shots that will appear on Not On The Highstreet, Lasso The Moon and From The Wilde to name but three. There are also some lovely white background shots for my own site and for publication.
The props were perfect, special white white eggs for my egg cups and vintage novels to sit my mugs on. It was really quite an experience to see the products looking so at home amongst this beautiful setting. Ryan who is the other half of Image Outlet has been a great editor and helped get the brightness and colours just right. I am so pleased that I have taken the plunge! All that is left to do is upload a CD full of the images on to all these lovely sites… better get the kettle on then!
For further examples of Emma and Ryan’s work at Image Outlet visit
(Revisions to the majority of online stockists shall be made by Friday 10th February.)
A bit of a footnote here… keep checking back for information on the progression of my new collections, current ideas include lurchers, british birds, a revised seed pod selection and not to mention farm mini mugs for small people.
A very Merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year
Hello everyone!
Well… the presents have been opened and I may have finally found myself sick of mice piece (or maybe I just need to wait 24hours before another one), who knows, Christmas is over and we are in the limbo that is post ‘The big day’ and before ‘Auld Lang Syne!’
Thanks to all of my lovely customers and stockists we had the GREATEST Christmas ever and I am so thankful to you all! I have had a rest and shall be putting some energy into some lovely things in January. First up is the photo shoot of my work using some people who have amazing props and even better eye for detail. I can not wait to unveil what they have got up to with all of my tableware at the end of the month!
Secondly there will be some new online shops opening up displaying my wares including www.bouf.com ,a rather lovely feast for the eyes. Other lovely online stockists who have been so wonderfully loyal shall get a bit of a face lift when the new imagery arrives… so hopefully a fuller range will be more widely available soon. Further local stockists are planned and I am going to try and supply some lovely independent shops by March. Once again, I can see boxes as a vision before my eyes!
The events calendar shall be updated soon, so due to the success of Country Living I hope to make an appearance at the Christmas show once again and I have LOVED all of the local support at beautiful fairs such as Frome Artisan Market. So… watch this space!
Mini Jugs will make an appearance once more in late February, for all of those who have been so patient with me, thankyou. There are no further shapes planned as I have been taking into account some lovely feedback and I think it is time to crack on with some new designs. The flamingos flew at Christmas and so I think it is time to get on with some drawing. I have some lurchers in mind but any suggestions would be recommended. Do pop over to my Facebook page and put in your two pennies worth! It would be greatly appreciated and who knows… you may be the proud owner of one of the first from the production line as a thank you!
Finally, I will be hoping to add further lines and enlarge the jewellery collection. I have had such a wonderful response from the new online shop that I reckon I shall need to spend a few hours here and there uploading new necklaces and frames of butterflies.
I would like to say once again a Happy New Year, personally I really can not wait!
Jxx
Our Country Living Christmas Fair
Wow what a week! A truly steep learning curve as Julia Davey Ceramics took its first steps towards those big events that I had always dreamt of. And was it worth it? Absolutely!
The porters were marvellous as we set up on Tuesday, to be honest I was unsure the piles of boxes would even fit in the stand… but we set about putting what had been numbers and drawings on paper for months into action. It was a long day of screwing, hammering, taping and pricing but it finally looked like a proper shop as the organisers closed the doors and we were ready for the Wednesday opening. The crowds came thick and fast as the days passed and there were lovely customers (and stall holders) to chat away to. It was amazing to get instant feed back on the stock that Charlotte Macey Textiles and myself had worked so hard to create in time. It was great to see the Somerset crew - Jan from Chi Chi Moi who is a knitting queen and Rose Cottage Boxes (I have a race car box from this clever lady) were lovely to pop over and give us top tips.
www.chichimoi.co.uk
www.rosecottageboxes.com
Lots of tea, chatting, standing and the odd purchase later Charlotte and I realised that it was Sunday and time to put all those boxes back in the car again. Thanks so much if you came along and said hello. We had a great time and look forward to coming back… just not too sure if it will be in Spring or at Christmas mind you!
Please come and join us when we are next selling together at ‘Christmas at The Orangery’ (which is held at the Clifton Club, 22 The Mall, Clifton, Bristol) on the 26th November. To be honest you would be saving me from myself, if I can get all of you lovely people to come and buy Charlotte’s stockings and tea towels my purse and bank manager would certainly appreciate it :)
Is it too early to talk about the 25th December...
I apologise for the image, it is just that I can not quite believe I am getting excited about the month of December already! This is one of the decorations that will be available from the site as from October. I shall create a whole section on the ‘Collections’ page dedicated to decorations and Christmas cards at this time.
I have been really busy gearing up for the season ahead. The biggest change is the site becoming fully e-commerce! You can now buy goods directly from me so I can now offer the largest collection of my work online. This was to ensure I have even better contact with my customers and I hope you like the changes that have been made. Please continue to email me if you find an item out of stock or unavailable, as ever it is a work in progress to upload everything. If you haven’t already done so please sign up for the newsletter on my homepage to ensure you receive discounts and offers, I only get around to sending these things sporadically so I promise no bombarding to your inbox!
There are lots of events happening soon and I am pleased to announce the Open Studio event on the 24th-25th September with an evening viewing on the 23rd at 6-9pm. This is a chance to meet my customers and show off the collection alongside newest additions. I will be offering a range of seconds and old stock at 50% or more discount and there is a 10% discount off any purchase if you become a friend of Bath Artists Studios. Over 60 artists work at the studios so it is well worth a visit. Please see the events page for a link to find out more.
My range will be extended in the coming month. I have ordered lots of new printed cards for the Country Living Fair and these will also be available on the website as soon as they are delivered. Look out for tea towels in 2012!
Finally I am so very pleased that there will be a photo shoot for my work booked in January. This means that the images will be clearer and shall indicate a use for the product. There will be over 50 products available on the tableware pages once this is complete so I shall keep you posted on this!
I hope you had a lovely holiday wherever you spent it, let’s hope for an Indian Summer in September!
Julia
The busiest month of the year!
I know I have been a little quiet this month, I only wish that I have had a spare second to write and tell you all my news! So, like an over excited toddler, I intend on filling you in with all the events and news I have at lightening speed…
A great exhibition is being held at my new stockist The Harley Gallery (and I promise I am not just saying this because I happen to be in it) titled ‘Made For Each Other.’ As you know from the post man recently it is wedding season and all those invites have been arriving which means one thing - a lovely outfit to wear and… The Gift. The Harley Gallery have decided to make an exhibition of craft and fine art which takes the stress out of finding a wedding present. In their own words:
‘This collection of beautiful and unusual ideas for your wedding will showcase the best in handmade jewellery, gifts and those all important finishing touches, perfect for the bride, groom, and the whole wedding party. Visit our tranquil Craft Shop for an alternative to the high street.’
… Plus the cafe is AMAZING! I recommend the coffee and goats cheese tart. You can buy it next door in the farmers shop!
I have had some more fun events this month with the Potters Market in Exeter Quay and H@ndmade at Winchester Guildhall. Both showcased my new ranges and the flamingo proved very popular indeed. I promise these will be online soon!
Other new stockists this month include:
www.retroroost.co.uk opening on July 20th
Mulberry Tree Gallery
57 High Street, Swanage, Dorset, BH19 2LT
www.mulberrytreegallery.co.uk
from the end of July
and
The Mill Loft Gallery
The Olde Mill, Coast Road, Bardsea, Ulverston, Cumbria LA12 9RB
again from the end of July.
As you may have noticed my online links from the collection pages to my Folksy shop is proving a little difficult for some customers, and hard for me to maintain so hopefully I shall be announcing maintenance on my site in August. I intend on making the site fully e-commerce before October! Yippeee! As you can imagine this will be a monstrous task, the full range has not been photographed yet but I hope that there will be 4 times as many products on the site by Christmas… just in time!
Please bear with me and if you are annoyed that something may be out of stock please email me at mail@juliadavey.com with your request, I can normally make it within a week!
COMING SOON:
Discounts for mailing list clients so do sign up on my homepage if you have not done so already!
A lurcher range for all you greyhound, whippet, bedlington and deer hound fans!
Christmas goodies - baubles, decorations, cards and other bits and bobs…
but first I am off on a Summer holiday. Taking inspiration for new ranges from the lovely island of Tresco in the Scilly Isles which I have been luck enough to visit since I was about 6 years old.
"Buy, buy, buy, sell, sell, sell"
Apologies for such a lack of posts, I have been a bit of a stranger but now, having lived in the fast lane for a week I have lots to tell. So without further ado…
The first stop on on my mini tour of the South was Henley Upon Thames. It was a hot, Summery day when I dropped off my work at Studio 17 for their open studios. The house was being transformed into a showcase complete with gallery picture rails, beautifully clear shelving ready and waiting for my ceramics and colourful signs that had been put up all over the town directing people up the hill. There was no time to spare as I let Pam Hayes unpack my stupidly large box of wares and set off back to the west country. I was on a mission having to to drop off some large pieces in Barnstaple before weaving my way through the foot hills of Exmoor and down to the Penwith coastline.
Maggie (my 1yr old mutt) was so excited to be back in Cornwall and greatly enjoyed the pit stops we made to top up the galleries (including new stockist ‘Avalon Art’ at Marazion.) There was always time for a quick walk across a moor or skirting sandy beaches and sniffing funny rock pools. Sadly she managed to lose her ball amongst the huge potato plants in Madron near Penzance… despite a lot of sniffing we declared it a lost cause and headed back up the hill. Luckily there was a rather lovely mossy stick which made for a good sub.
A very tired pair we decided to make a move back to Bath on Sunday before the Fretherne Plant Fair on Monday. The weather had dramatically changed to torrential rain and I was a little apprehensive as I made my way along slippery roads near Gloucester. Luckily there was a warm(ish) and dry(!!!) poly tunnel for us to use as craft stall holders (phew) and I spent the day sketching whilst watching trollies piled high with plants rolling past.
It seemed surreal when I dropped off work at the Bath & West show on tuesday with pink arms from working all day in the sunshine. I had a little look around at some of the stalls but could not believe the vast area the show covers. It made me feel very small, and quite uneducated about farming. I decided to leave the Somerset Guild of Craftsmen to sell solo and the next few days were a blur of painting work and glazing so that I can deliver to the Down To Earth Gallery next week. After waiting so patiently I have been making a wide range of patterns and shapes for the gallery and can not wait to send off their big box.
Finally, today was the day of Frome Artisan Market. It was back to the torrential rain of Monday and a very brave Mrs Davey and her daughter (me) apprehensively drove through flash flooding to reach a very quiet Frome. However, after a quick setup of a wonderful gazebo… and a bit of wind… the stalls stayed dry for a few precious hours as lots of lovely people came to support us. It was great to get some lovely comments on the new dinky toys and flamingo ranges from existing customers and chat to some new people. I really enjoyed the morning and it was made even better by a lovely pair of designers who huddled with us under the gazebo to sell their lovely textiles. If you have a moment do check out their fabulous blog which links you through to their etsy site
http://robinandmould.blogspot.com/
I have to admit I gave in rather early and treated myself to a lovely fox cushion… It had been a busy week - a girl needs a treat once in a while, and a little head rest!
P.S If anyone would like an invite to my next event ‘Handmade in Britain’ at Bath Assembly Rooms (17th-19th June) then do email me with your address - mail@juliadavey.com … hopefully see a few of you there!