Little England Designs - awesome personalised products for family and friends

Monday 1 December 2014

FINALLY!!! ... an update from my trip to LIBERTY London

I headed to Liberty's British Design Open Call in August and joined the queue at 8am which was already snaking around the front of the building. There were hundreds of nervous and excited designers - all hoping to get their products on the shelves ... I met some VERY talented people in the queue and was soon chatting away hearing were they had travelled from and what they were pitching to the buyers. It was great fun and I really enjoyed that part of the day.

If anyone is thinking of going to the next Open Call I would not arrive any later than 8am. After a long 4 hour wait and finally reaching the fourth floor ... the most welcome sight was actually a chair to sit on! It was so busy and there was a great atmosphere (it was buzzing) and I really enjoyed seeing all the runners, TV crews and some famous faces busy doing their thing.

Again everyone was chatting away and some of the designers I was sitting with were very nervous about their 3 minute pitch (some reading notes and generally looking very pale) but I took it all in my stride as having never pitched to buyers I didn't really know what to expect (maybe that was a good thing) ... my main aim of making the trek was to actually get in front of a 'bona fide' buyer. I knew my products were more graphic design rather than Liberty 'arts and crafts' but I wanted a professional buyers opinion on my products.

Once my name was called, I was ferried into another busy room were all the buyers were seated 2 to a table (a bit like a job interview). The two buyers I saw were so friendly and their comments on my cushions were awesome (they loved the quality and finish of the cushions and the word 'excellent' was used in the conversation - YAY!) ... I was well pleased and I came away with some sound advice and very useful information with regard to taking my cushions forward which I intended to implement in the coming weeks.

At the end of a really great (but tiring) day I was a VERY happy bunny indeed!

THANK YOU Team Liberty ... you really did make my day!

Just to give you an idea of the day - over 900 designers/makers queued that day for their 3 minute chance to pitch their products to the buyers and I hear only twelve designers were eventually chosen. WOW!!!

Would I do it again? ... damn right I would :D
www.littleenglandinteriors.com

Thursday 21 August 2014

WOO HOO ... some VERY exciting news!

Little England Interiors is attending LIBERTY'S British Design Open Call event on Saturday 30th August in London.

This fantastic event is designed to discover and support new and established design talent

... you get to present your products to some of the most influential buyers and industry experts in the UK ... and the lucky few selected will see their products on Liberty's shelves.

So as you can imagine we are very pleased to be heading to this awesome event and getting our few minutes to present our cushions.

I'll let you know how I get on!

Thursday 19 June 2014

Essex, England

Hi there, I'm Carole and I set up Little England Interiors last October.

I'm NEW to blogging guys so please bear with me ... I guess I'll be chatting about what I'm up to here at cushion HQ (although I promise I'll try not to bore you) and I'll also pass on any nuggets of information for anyone starting a small business that I have found useful and has helped me along the way.

First things first though ... my small studio is based in the village of Mountnessing in the lovely Essex countryside. I thought I'd include a couple of pics of the surrounding fields and the Post Mill built in 1807 which is just up the road passed the well visited George and Dragon pub.

It's all true that Little England came about by accident, I was originally looking for some colourful, fun, throw cushions to use in a chill out space that I had created for my teenage son. I knew exactly what I wanted (Woo Hoo, Awesome) but just couldn't find what I was looking for .... so in the end I decided to make them myself. I also have a background in typography as I used to layout mags/books in a former life so it was very easy for me to put together those first cushions. What I didn't expect was the feedback I got from family and friends and the subsequent requests that followed ... one thing led to another and here I am today!

I was also very fortunate last October to have the opportunity to launch at PopUp Britain's, PopUp Ashford retail shop in Kent. Check out their website if you are interested in applying http://popupbritain.com/apply#.U6LqHijw6XU I can only say that the experience proved invaluable. One of the best things for me was the support and guidance from the Ashford team and the subsequent opportunities and contacts it gave my business. Their generosity in sharing information was second to none. One of my first customers was the 'fabulous' business expert Alex Polizzi of TV's The Hotel Inspector fame who was at Ashford with Vistaprint for a day of mentoring ... how cool is that!

My advice to anyone who is thinking about starting a small business is just go for it ... it's certainly a journey and I'm definitely still learning but that's all part of the fun.

Signing off for now ... Carole