Mint To Be Stationery

Hectic week again this week as I combine being out and about with shipping the last few Valentine’s Day orders (last shipping day within the UK is tomorrow – Thursday 10th February).

I love February as the temperatures start to creep upwards a little and as we all start to thaw you can almost see the anticipation of warmer spring months around the corner out in the garden. I also love February for its flurry of trade fairs and the hit of new ideas, inspirations and inventions. This year was no exception. I’ve just returned from another great visit to the buzzing and vibrant Spring Fair at Birmingham's NEC. The need for a new pair of feet as I pounded the citrus coloured carpets of the halls (I couldn't find anyone selling feet, although, quite bizarrely, I did find some ears...) has certainly not decreased this time around. Shame I didn't take my pedometer.

Visiting lots of potential suppliers, I was able to ask lots of questions in order to find the missing jigsaw piece and complete the picture for some of my goodies that I hope to share with you later this year. Spring Fair is also really interesting to see some of the upcoming trends as well as it being THE place to be this week to be making new contacts and meeting old contacts. Quite noticeably observable is the impact of the Royal Wedding in April on goods on a number of stands, which can be seen almost everywhere (from cards to Christmas). There are some 2012 London Olympic Games things creeping in now too. The British bandwagon will certainly be picking up the pace as the months go on (I’ve even got some patriotic handmade by me goodies going online in a few weeks). That's not a bad thing at all in one respect, but it'd be even *greater* to see more British themed items actually made in Great Britain. After a good rummage on some stands, sadly this does not always seem to be the case and certainly with production and labour costs being so much cheaper overseas, particularly in India and the Far East, it seemed that most of the British themed goods that were on display at the Fair this year were made and imported into Britain from these countries.

This leads me onto my own products... I go to great lengths and try, wherever possible to source my raw goods from the UK or through UK based suppliers. I certainly use British paper mills and paper merchants, use British made ink and paint and British made pencils, pens and paintbrushes. Of course all of my work is handmade in England by yours truly. However there are sometimes instances where I cannot use raw products that are made in Britain; examples of these are the crème de la crème in cut crystals - Swarovski from Austria, freshwater pearls from China, the finest pressed Czech glass beads and beautiful ribbons that are very often from India, China and Japan and which sadly are virtually impossible to find from British manufacturers these days. (Many of you won’t have seen this side of my work because it tends to be bespoke and in high demand from my existing customers and as such this artwork is not on the web at the moment.)

Of course, I’m typing this post on a keyboard and computer assembled in China, a printer and toner from the same neck o’ th’ woods and software that is bound to be from anywhere but the UK! Recycled materials are another thing again. Take for example my floppy disk notebooks. It is much more difficult to ascertain a country of origin for the manufacture of old, used floppy disks, but all the ones I have used have been rescued from people in the UK about to send them to landfill; obtaining them can be a job in itself at times! There is only so much you can do, but I’m a firm believer in making the effort and doing what little bit you practicably can.

Sadly, I did not see too many companies dealing in recycled goods at Spring Fair; a few or some with small recycled ranges, but not as many as I’d have liked to have seen given the growth in popularity for recycling and ethical choices in our lives. It seems that the cost of recycling to produce "new" items is still prohibitive which is a great shame. Certainly it is a very labour intensive process, but I think (depending upon the processes used) worth it in the long run and if items that have long been discarded can be made into something useful and loved once more, then I’m all for it.

Sorry...



I Love You Man...


...more than words can say!

I like mixing science and art. This week I am continuing my theme of mixing computer science and art in my series of Binary Code art cards. They feature binary code messages on a love theme (don't worry, I've translated them too!) and are hand foiled in gold and holographic red. They also feature some fancy cut work and some recycled floppy disks (the actual floppy bit) which were left overs from making my floppy disk notebooks that feature in my ArtFire and Folksy shops (I waste nothing)! Can you spot where I've used them? No? You need to look a little closer... ;-)

Got it yet?!

I'll be adding to my Binary Code art cards collection over the weeks and months - watch out for the latest additions!

Not only perfect for the special computer-loving person in your life, these make great cards to send to anyone who likes something a little bit different from the norm. Valentine's Day, anniversaries, proposals, weddings, declarations of plain undying love or just days where you have totally and utterly stuffed up and need to bring a smile to their face (as well as say sorry)...

Check them out in my ArtFire or Folksy shops this weekend!

Somewhat delighted and honoured to be included in another collection on ArtFire today! There’s some great stuff featured in the Technology Collection on ArtFire alongside my 3.5” floppy notebook too – check it out!

The doors are open once again - I promise some interesting things lie ahead for Mint To Be in 2011, in what will hopefully be an exciting year.

What does the New Year mean for you? New Year, New You? I found this a particularly interesting read today, particularly as I have migrated from "the other side": Is working with your hands better than just with your head?

As the snow closes in again, the ArtFire & Folksy shops have closed for the holidays and will reopen on 4th Jan 2011. It has been a busy month and an even busier week (and is set to continue, but that's another story I promise...) but all orders have been shipped. I just hope that the postal services are not too delayed with the snow and ice... fingers crossed.

May I thank ALL of you for your support & kind words (very much appreciated) and may I wish you all a very Happy Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy & Healthy New Year! Have fun! :-)

Crazy busy here at the Mint To Be studios in the final run up to Christmas. What did I expect? ;-) I just hope that we get away lightly with the forecast for heavy snow at the back end of this week so that deliveries are not delayed too much. Busy fingers crossed...

Last orders are 4pm, Thursday 16th December in the ArtFire & Folksy shops.

Where is the time going? Head down working & when I put my head above the parapet another couple of weeks have gone by. The past couple of weeks have seen me working on some new designs and finishes. All will be revealed... ;-)