Rosie & Radish's Photoshoot

A BIG thank you to Michelle Mercer for our gorgeous new product photos. Here's a few of our favourites from the shoot…

All of these designs (and many more!) are now available to buy in our newly spruced up Etsy shop here.

We hope you like them.

Helen & Amy

x

A Top Time At Top Drawer...

It took months of planning, 2 days to set up but after 3 days of trade show craziness, Top Drawer Spring was all over.

Well, what can I say about Rosie & Radish's first Top Drawer experience?! It was hectic, exhausting and so much fun. We loved it!

Freezing at a ridiculously early hour at Central Station!

Despite a very early start at the freezing cold Central Station in Newcastle, we arrived at the London Olympia full of beans and couldn't wait to put our grand plan for our 3m x 1m stand in action.  Even a ripped leather jacket, paint splattered brogues and 2 emergency trips to a paint and DIY shop couldn't keep us down and soon our little stand started to take shape…

A casualty of the show - Helen's beloved leather jacket didn't make it back home in one piece :(

The spirit level was put to good use!

Even though we are relative newcomers to the greetings industry, we are still taken aback by how friendly everyone is and we were very lucky to be placed in the middle of some super talented and lovely folk. There was Yasmin from YTR Designs, Jessica Hogarth, Dandelion, Lucky Lychee, Noi Publishing and Kimono Rabbit.

An arty panoramic shot to show our stand.

First day of the actual show - very excited!

Once the doors opened it, the hours flew by and it was brilliant to meet lots of new stockists aswell as catching up with existing stockists and familiar faces. Our new ranges 'Loud Mouse' and 'Scruff' went down a storm and the 'Daydreamer Numbers' and new additions to the 'Scribbles' range proved popular too. Here's the bestsellers...

If you didn't make it to the show but would like a copy of our new catalogue then just get in touch and we will post one out so you don't miss out ;)

2 days to put up and 2 mints to take down.

It was all too much for little Radish - he slept all they way back to Newcastle!

Helen
x

Well hello there stranger!

So that was a bit of a gap in between posts wasn't it? It's just as well this blog lives in cyber space otherwise it would be covered in some serious dust!

There has been a LOT happening in the world of Rosie and Radish over the last few months. I thought it might be helpful to do a speedy little recap ;) Right, deep breath and here we go...

A zillion new card ideas that have resulted in 2 brand new ranges and expansions on the existing Numbers, Scribbles and Daydreamer ranges.

One new flat for Amy Clarke, complete with a gorgeous new studio room and the biggest iMac I have ever laid eyes on.

Lots of excitement, planning and only a teeny bit of panicking about our first time exhibiting at Top Drawer (5 weeks to go eeeek!)

We hit the local press! Even our little crocheted mascot got in on the action.

I (Helen) have completed part A of the Lilla Rogers ''Make Art That Sells' course - an intense but amazing 5 week experience in which I found myself drawing peacocks, beetroots, giraffes, flowers and tortoises…random but extremely fun.

And, now we are officially in the festive month it is safe to reveal that we put a lot of thought into designing an official Rosie and Radish Christmas card that hopefully all of our lovely shops and friends will love.

So there's a quick summary of what we have been up to. Phew! Stay tuned for more shenanigans from Rosie and Radish HQ very soon ;)

Helen

x 

VIDEO: Behind The Scenes With Rosie & Radish

Rosie & Radish VIDEO: Helen Drawing Rosie

Radish's first venture into the world of film went very well but Rosie felt a little bit left out so, you guessed it, here's Rosie's debut ;)

Helen

x

Sneaky Peek: 'Daydreamer' Designs...

Okay, so we might have been just a teeny bit giddy in the last post about the up and coming Progressive Greetings show but reality has now well and truly sunk in...

Panic? Us two? Never!

(Well maybe just a tiny bit - ahem).

So we have been pretty quiet on here of late and the reason behind that is the fact that we have been busy working up our three lovely ranges.

Right from the very start of our Rosie and Radish adventure Amy and I have been really keen to work up a range that allows us to embrace our love of vintage print, whimsical illustration, pastel shades, ditsy florals, and swirly typefaces. Our 'Daydreamer' designs have been created with all of that in mind...

We hope you like them!

The Ladder Club

So the wedding went off with a bang. Helen looked beautiful, and myself and the Graphics Girls helped the happy couple celebrate with a drunken knees up to remember. I think I've just about recovered!

Anyway, I'll let Helen fill you in about her big day. For whilst she was busy sunning herself on honeymoon in the sun drenched, picturesque hills of Sicily, I had important Rosie and Radish business to attend to … in Southend.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. To some that may seem like I got the bum deal. But what do you know? I bet you couldn't find 65 greeting card enthusiasts and industry experts with a burning passion for pretty bits of folded paper in Sicily. Nope. I knew where it was at. The Ladder Club Seminar! I was even greeted with some lovely Southend sun on my arrival :-)

The Ladder Club was held at The Cliffs Pavilion in Southend

The Ladder Club is an annual two day event held in Southend, designed to help designers and illustrators (like ourselves) learn everything they need to know about entering the world of greeting card publishing. The first day is dedicated to us newbies, and the second day is for those with a bit more industry experience. Set up by Lynn Tait of the Lynn Tait Gallery 14 years ago, The Ladder Club has grown from strength to strength and has helped many greeting card publishers on their road to success.

The day was jam packed with speakers and suppliers offering advice on all aspects of the industry. After a brief introduction from Sharon from the Greeting Card Association and Warren and Jakki from Progressive Greetings Magazine the fun and games began.

First up were Claire and Karen from Papersalad. They graduated from The Ladder Club nine years ago and have never looked back. As two friends who met at art college, and have now set up a successful business together their story really resonates with ours - They were truly inspirational. They told us of the highs and lows of running your own greeting card business and showed us how determination and hard work really can pay off.

Jeremy From Blue Eyed Sun was next. Jeremy was a great speaker and spent a lot of time talking about marketing, production and financial planning, before scaring the living daylights out of us all and warning us of 'The Valley of Death'. Yeah, thanks Jeremy! Joking aside, Jeremy gave a very honest insight into the world of publishing and provided us with some invaluable financial projections and models that we can use.

The Valley of Death

We heard about Litho (Simon and Nicky from Sherwood Press) and digital printing (Bob from The Imaging Centre) and we were also told how envelopes were made by the lovely Julie from Enveco.

Now I thought I was passionate about all things paper related. That was until Mark from GF Smith took to the stage and showed us what it was really like to have an obsession with the white stuff. This is a man who knows his Callisto Soft White from his Callisto Pearl. The world of paper really is our oyster with this guy as a contact.

Next up Simon, Operations Director from PG Live (a greeting card trade show) made us realise that taking our cards to a trade show is definitely the way the forward. It really is the best way to get our work out there and attract buyers and agents. Which brings me nicely onto our last speaker of the day, a sales agent Ian. Ian told us what to look out for when finding agents to sell our cards, and how getting the right agents can make or break your card sales.

My head was well and truly spinning by the time I boarded the train back up to Newcastle. Armed with my Ladder Club goodie bag (which can only be described as a bag of paper porn) my business partner in crime, fresh from her honeymoon, met me off the train and we retired to the pub. We spent the next few hours eating fish finger sandwiches and going through my pages and pages and pages of Ladder Club notes. With so much information to take in and digest I think I can safely say we both left the pub a bit shell shocked.

Paper HEAVEN

A few weeks on we have finally managed to get our head around it all. We are back on track, and more determined than ever to get our Rosie and Radish greeting cards into shops nationwide. The Ladder Club really has given us the push we needed. With lots of hard work ahead, we are aiming to exhibit at our first trade show next year so we had better get cracking. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the seminar, but I made some lovely new friends and it clarified that greeting card publishing is definitely the friendly, creative industry that Rosie and Radish want to be part of. We love it!

Amy Xx

Wedding Bells!

Apologies for being rather quiet over the past few weeks but we have been terribly busy. Not only have we been adding prints to our website and creating some new card designs, but we have also had birthdays to celebrate, hen weekends to attend and most excitingly - a wedding to plan! Or should I say, Helen has had a wedding to plan!

This week marks Helen's last week as Miss Turner before she ties the knot with the lovely Luke on Saturday. We are soooo excited!!!

And we certainly haven't let Helen's departure from her Miss Turner status go unnoticed. A few weeks ago we spent the weekend in Harrogate celebrating her last few weeks of freedom. And boy did we celebrate in style. A weekend of fizz, fairground rides, dancing, exceptional tambourine playing, mask wearing and dressing Helen up as a fabulous artists colourful paint palette was enjoyed by all! Finished off nicely with a lovely relaxing morning at the Turkish Baths. It was perfect, and with a few of us misplacing our Helen masks, the legend of the 'Paint Palette Bride To Be' will be living on in Harrogate for weeks to come!

Lots of Helen's and her colourful Hens!

After our weekend away it was back to work with our cute little duo and time for us to upload our prints onto our online shop. With 12 to choose from there really is a print for everyone. They are now available to buy from our website so go and check them out NOW!

We also came home to find a lovely review of our website from Moon fruit. We think they like it as much as we do! Read what they wrote about us here.

In between all the work, preparations and mayhem Helen managed to sneak in her birthday, for which Rosie and Radish baked her a delicious cake! Yum!

With only a few days to go until Helen gets married, she has put down her magic drawing pen and is taking a well deserved break to enjoy her wedding and honeymoon. But fear not, I will be here to hold the fort and we have plenty lined up to keep you entertained, including some new cards and a few new characters!

But for now I just want to wish Helen and Luke all the happiness in the world for their future together as Mr & Mrs Heath. I hope you have the most wonderful wedding day on Saturday. I can't wait!

Lots of love,

Amy Xx