Blue Eyed Sun

Blue Eyed Sun - gorgeous greetings cards

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  • Rising Retail: A New Possibility for Retailers

    Rising Retail Event 2019

    Rising Retail is an exciting new networking event for independent retailers to share best practise with one another. The current reality of the high street is a constant onslaught of one thing after another. While there are lots of great examples of retailers who are bucking the trend and continuing to thrive, many more have sold or shut up shop. 

    How It Is

    Right now, the uneven playing field of business rates for bricks and mortar stores versus online marketplaces like Amazon, the lack of parking in some towns, lower footfalls, changing consumer habits, staffing issues and financial challenges are a constant challenge for most independent retailers.

    Many of us are ill-prepared for a looming Hard Brexit and have no idea of how it will affect our businesses. Meanwhile, online sales growth and social media platforms continue to evolve. Many retailers have been left behind with these new technologies. They often don’t understand them, are inadequately prepared and unsure of what they are doing and the effect it is really having on their sales.

    We are all guilty of sticking with what we know, even when it is no longer working in the same way. Trying new things can feel daunting, especially when we don’t really know what we are doing. The answers aren’t always easy to find online and consultancy can cost money that some simply don’t have.

    The Predictable Future

    Without some action being taken, all the above point towards more independents quitting or being forced to close in the coming years.

    The upshot of this is struggle, pain and hardship. Decreased motivation and energy follows and there’s an inevitable negative series of knock on effects on the lives of friends, family and loved ones.

    Moreover, the physical landscape of our high streets will morph into homogeneity and every town will lose its uniqueness. Retailers will also tragically miss out on opportunities that are presenting themselves through the internet, social media, conscious consumerism and early signs of a return to localism.

    Another Possibility

    Imagine the possibility of a vibrant gathering that translates into real footfall and sales for retailers both in store and online in the UK. Picture High Streets coming alive again and transforming into vibrant communities. Envisage happy business owners, motivated staff, engaged customers and inspiring mindsets. Seem like a far fetched fantasy that is unachievable? I believe that there may be a way.

    How?

    I spend a lot of time talking to retailers. I’m obsessed with learning about what challenges they face and what challenges they’ve overcome in their businesses. I love the conversations we have because I learn so much about both my customers and my own business at the same time.

    Even after having run Blue Eyed Sun for so long, there are still business basics that I sometimes miss or forget. There are also new things to learn all the time about technology, the market and our shifting patterns of behaviour.

    For me there’s no better way to learn than from people who are on the ground constantly working with tools and techniques that improve aspects of their lives and businesses; figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

    Together, our shared knowledge is more powerful than anything we can achieve for ourselves. This has led me to seeing this new possibility, a way of taking action in the face of the issues at hand, a way of growing our businesses in any climate. It came from thinking about how we can improve our businesses in achievable, actionable increments. A variety of things one can do to create a series of five percent improvements that have a compounding overall effect.

    Golden Nuggets

    I spend a proportion of my time every year sharpening my saw. It’s no good hacking away at your goal with blunt instrument. You have to work on yourself and on your business if you are to grow. We are creatures of habit and a growth mindset has to become habitual for us if we are to move beyond our current business reality.

    To do this I read books, listen to podcasts, engage on social media, speak with others and attend events. I find events to be most powerful because they create clusters of interactive conversations around a subject area. They prompt discussion and allow for questions and answers that are not the same in any of the other formats. 

    When you go to events you often come away with a single golden nugget that transforms your life or your business. A new insight. A new way of seeing. Some small thing that makes it completely worthwhile attending and has huge leverage for you going forward.

    Rising Retail

    After almost 20 years in this industry I want to give back to the independent retailers that I love so dearly and have been such an important part of my own good fortune. I love bringing people together and I love learning. I am lucky enough to have know many fantastic talented retailers who have inspired me over the years and want to bring them all together to create something really special and valuable for those that attend. 

    So, I am creating an event in October called Rising Retail that will inspire and nurture the creativity of retailers to take their businesses to new levels and reignite the imaginations of the communities that shop with them. An event full of golden nuggets.

    The Format

    The idea is to have 10 speakers over the course of a single day, each speaking for around 15 minutes with time for questions and networking. Each talk will have up to 10 golden nuggets that have contributed to the measurable success the speakers have had in specific areas that other retailers find challenging. They will share actions that you can take to achieve similar results. 

    Actionable outcomes are really important, so that it isn’t just another event that one attends, takes notes at, feels good about and then does nothing with. We want this event to have a profound impact on the business owners that attend it and the communities that they return to afterwards.

    If an event is usually worth it for attendees when they unearth one golden nugget, then having up to 100 key learnings will be a treasure trove for retailers who who join in. Even more valuable will be the conversation that occurs between retailers on the day.

    The networking sections between talks and at lunch will be an opportunity for us to share inspirational stories and develop new ideas. My dream is that we create new ways of tackling some of the seemingly insurmountable challenges. We all have something to learn from each other, we can do more together as a group than as individuals and these parts of the day will, no doubt, turn out to be just as invaluable  as the main talks.

    The Outcome 

    Rising Retail will be an event that will ignite a retailer’s lost spark. It will excite and energise. It will create new possibilities for all of these who attend.

    This project will only be as strong as the retail community members that rise to the challenge and share with one another what works and doesn’t work, what we see as achievable and how to go out and get it. 

    So, what about you?

    Your  Vision

    What do you see as possible for your retail business, your team, your customers and your community? Does any of this resonate with you? Would you like to join me? I’d love to hear your stories and your answers to these questions:

    1. What are the top three challenges you face in your retail business right now?
    2. What challenges you’ve overcome so far that others could learn from?
    3. Who inspires you in retail?
    4. What retail opportunities or trends excite you for the future?

    Thank you for taking the time to read this. If it has at all connected with you then please contact me and share your answers to the questions above and your interest in attending or sharing at Rising Retail. Email me now at jeremy@blueeyedsun.co.uk

    The event will be held on Monday 1st June 2020 at the Shard in London. Book your place here.

    Seven Habits of Highly Effective Retailers

    The Rise of Customer Experience in Retail

    Five Ways to Improve Your Retail Business

  • BambooCup by chic.mic is best in tests by Stiftung Warentest

    BambooCup - Stiftung Warentest

    Stiftung Warentest, an independent German organisation founded in 1964 by the German Parliament, tested 12 bamboo cup brands in August 2019. Of the bamboo cups tested, BambooCup by chic.mic was declared to have the best result.

    BambooCup by chic.mic, was found to be 'without abnormalities' and 'not claiming false facts'. In their words:

    "The Chicmic BambooCup is the only bamboo cup [of the twelve tested]
    that has no pollutant problem and does not raise false hopes."
    - Stiftung Warentest

    Why bamboo?

    Bamboo is fast growing and more sustainable than trees. In the UK we use over 40,000 trees, 10,000 tonnes of crude oil and 1.5 billion litres of water to create create our disposable cups each year. Of the 2.5 billion single-use cups we use each year only a tiny percentage are recycled. If you drink coffee regularly a reusable cup can help reduce waste.

    What are pollutants?

    All bamboo cups are currently bonded with resin composed of formaldehyde and melamine. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment does not see any health concerns when using cups, plates or bowls with melamine resin for hot beverages and food, as long as the legal limit values in the product composition are observed (see www.bfr.bund.de).

    EU Standards 10/2011 and 1935/2004 contain test limits that must be met in order for products like cups, plates and bowls containing these compounds to be certified as safe.  To ensure these values are met, BambooCup is rigorously safety tested by our factory, independently by TÜV Rheinland and randomly by the German government. Tests of BambooCup by chic.mic score up to 75% lower than the maximum safety limits set by the authorities and Stiftung Warentest found  'good pollutant' (2,2) and 'satisfactory declaration' results (3,5) .

    What Can Retailers Do?

    We recommend that retailers check that all reusable cups they sell are independently safety tested and compliant with current legislation and safety standards. It is essential that retailers and their staff are aware of safety concerns and are well informed to be able to answer any customer questions on the reusable cups they stock.

    Chic.mic has created a handy fact sheet to be able to help retailers and their teams do just that.

    Download the Official Statement about BambooCup by chic.mic here.

    See the original publication of the German test results here

    Do feel free to contact us if you have any concerns or require any further information.

  • Fathers Day Cards for 2020 from Blue Eyed Sun

    Bear Hugs Father's Day cards designed by Will Reardon and published by Blue Eyed Sun

    Next Father's Day falls on the Sunday 21st June 2020 and Blue Eyed Sun have three different new ranges to choose from. Be sure to add them to your Spring orders together with your Mother's Day cards, and Valentine's cards. Here's what's new from us for Father's Day 2020...

    Pictured above is our cute new Bear Hugs range designed by our very own Will Reardon. These delightful Fathers Day cards are 150mm x 150mm.

    Gold Standard Father's Day cards

    Above, is a small collection of gold embossed Father's Day 7x5 cards called Gold Standard.

    Below is our Zoom Rockman range of humorous cards. These funny Fathers Day cards are sized 150mm x 150mm.

    Zoom Rockman Father's Day Cards

    Sold in sixes to trade buyers only, all of our new Fathers Day cards for 2020 are barcoded, wrapped with a compostable bag and a red envelope and blank inside. Our Mothers Day cards are all printed on FSC board from sustainable managed forests. Similarly, all of our envelopes are also FSC certified. We have a large selection of Spring seasons designs online in the trade only section of our site.

    To stock these ranges in your shop click here. If you'd like to see them in your local shop please tell them and point them in the direction of  www.blueeyedsun.co.uk or you can recommend a shop to us by clicking here. You can also visit our stockists page to find a store near you that may be selling them.

    Click here to see our 2020 Valentine designs

    See our Mothers Day 2020 designs

  • Top Drawer Autumn 2019 - Essential Information

    Top Drawer Autumn 2019 - Essential Information

    Top Drawer Autumn 2019 features many of Britain's leading design-led greeting card publishers. Here are the essentials you need for this top trade show for retailers:

    For free tickets to the show please click here.

    When is Top Drawer Autumn 2019?

    Top Drawer Autumn runs from Sunday 8th September until Tuesday 10th September from 09:30 - 18:00 at Olympia in London and features a stunning edited showcase of hundreds of suppliers.

    Where to Eat at Top Drawer Autumn 2019

    We've tried lots of different places to eat near Top Drawer Autumn. Here are our favourites:

    5 Great Restaurants near Olympia and 5 Great Restaurants in Earls Court.

    Where to Stay at Top Drawer Autumn 2019

    Olympia is well serviced for hotels and there are good transport links to local London areas.

    Click here for an interactive map of hotels near Olympia

    How to Get to Top Drawer Autumn 2019

    There's an overland train to Olympia Station to Top Drawer Autumn from Shepherd's Bush (central line) or West Brompton (District Line). Click here for the TFL website.

    The Sat Nav post code for Olympia is W14 8UX for drivers. You can park next to the venue. Do book in advance as it is more expensive on the day. Click here to book parking at Olympia.

    What's new from Blue Eyed Sun?

    We have all of our top selling BambooCups, the reusable coffee cups tackling the 2.5 billion wasted single use, plastic lined coffee cups going to landfill each year. We also have our beautiful deluxe bamboo lunch boxes, SlideCup and our baby BambooFriends tableware.

    Blue Eyed Sun also have a gorgeous new everyday greeting card range from Jade Mosinski at Top Drawer Autumn 2019 on stand P31. You can also order any last minute Christmas and see our new Spring Season designs for 2020.

    Click here to see what's new from Blue Eyed Sun

    Read our 12 Top Tips for Trade Show Visitors by clicking here

    To order Blue Eyed Sun's new designs for your shop or request a brochure click here.

    Top Drawer Autumn 2019 - Show Map

  • Mothers Day cards for 2020 from Blue Eyed Sun

    Jade Mosinski Mothers Day cards published by Blue Eyed Sun

    With Mothering Sunday on Sunday 22nd March 2020, it's time for retailers to start thinking about getting their Mothers Day cards and Valentines cards ordered before Christmas. We have three gorgeous new ranges for Mothers Day 2020...

    Pictured above are our beautiful new Mother's Day cards designed by Jade Mosinski. These gorgeous designs are foiled and embossed and the cards are all 160mm square.

    Doodle Girl Mothers Day Cards Published by Blue Eyed Sun

    Above is our cute new Doodle Girl Mother's Day collection based on original artworks by artist Marnie Maurri and hand finished with biodegradable glitter and jewels. Sized 150mm square.

    Below, our gorgeous new Posy range is based on original stitched artworks by Jo Corner. These delightful cards are 160mm square and hand finished with jewels.

    Posy cards published by Blue Eyed Sun

    Sold in sixes to trade buyers only, all of our new Mothers Day cards for 2020 are barcoded, wrapped with a compostable bag and a red envelope and blank inside. Our Mothers Day cards are all printed on FSC board from sustainable managed forests. Similarly, all of our envelopes are also FSC certified. We have a large selection of Spring seasons designs online in the trade only section of our site.

    To stock these ranges in your shop click here. If you'd like to see them in your local shop please tell them and point them in the direction of  www.blueeyedsun.co.uk or you can recommend a shop to us by clicking here. You can also visit our stockists page to find a store near you that may be selling them.

    Click here to see our 2020 Valentine designs

    See our 2020 Father's Day designs

    Scientists prove that cards are good for your Mother

  • Autumn Fair 2019 - Essential Information

    Autumn Fair 2019 - Essential Information

    Everything you need to know about Autumn Fair 2019 trade show, which has moved over to the Atrium side of the NEC with all the show sectors re-edited for easier product sourcing.

    About Autumn Fair 2019

    Autumn Fair 2019 runs for four days from Sunday 1st September to Wednesday 4th September from 09:00 - 18:00 at the NEC in Birmingham. It brings together an inspirational showcase of over 1,000 British and International Exhibitors so it's a great opportunity to stock up on goods for that all important Christmas season and to see what's new for Spring seasons next year.

    To register for the show please click here

    Seminars not to miss

    Going Plastic Free: Just how practical is that? with Jeremy Corner

    Sunday 1st September - 13:30 - 14:00 Inspiring Retail Theatre in Hall 6.

    Where to Stay at Autumn fair 2019

    Accommodation is a lot easier to find at Autumn Fair than Spring Fair and prices tend to be cheaper too. There are now several hotels on the NEC site, including Holiday Inn ExpressThe Hilton MetropoleThe Arden, and a Premier InnClick here for more accommodation options at Autumn Fair.

    Where to Eat at Autumn Fair 2019

    Check out our 5 Great Restaurants near the NEC Birmingham blog post.

    How to get to Autumn Fair 2019

    Travel to the show is easy with excellent rail and motorway links. The NEC post code is B40 1NT (if you use a sat nav). You can park for free in several car parks on site, all of which have free shuttle buses to take you around the complex. Birmingham International Rail Station is a 5 minute walk from the show as is Birmingham International Airport. It is an 80 minute train ride from London Euston Rail Station. You can also click on the map below to plan your journey.

    See Blue Eyed Sun at Autumn Fair

    We've moved to a new stand in Hall 6 on the corner between cards and gifts.

    See our new line of BambooCups, baby tableware and deluxe lunch boxes made from bamboo. With the drive for environmental change these products are flying off retailers' shelves.

    Blue Eyed Sun will be officially launching our beautiful new 2020 Spring Seasons designs along with a preview of our gorgeous new Everyday range by Jade Mosinski and our best selling cards.

    We'd love to see you there, so be sure to stop by and see us on Stand 6A43.

    Can't make the show? Click here to request access all of our designs online.

    Autumn Fair 2019 - Show Map

    View Larger Map

  • Valentines Cards for 2020 from Blue Eyed Sun

    Valentines Cards by Jade Mosinski published by Blue Eyed Sun

    Blue Eyed Sun have launched three new ranges of Valentines Cards for 2020. Valentine's Day falls on Friday 14th February 2020. Designs do sell out, so be sure to get your orders in before Christmas! Here's what's new for Valentine's Day 2020:

    Pictured above is our beautiful new Valentines range designed by Jade Mosinski. These gorgeous new Valentine's Day designs are foiled and embossed and the cards are all 7x5 sized.

    Doodle Girl Valentines Cards published by Blue Eyed Sun

    Above, our whimsical Doodle Girl Valentine's collection is based on original artworks by artist Marnie Maurri and hand finished with biodegradable glitter and jewels. Sized 150mm square.

    Below, our new Poets Corner designed by Jeremy Corner is hand finished with red heart jewels. Sized 7 x 5.

    Poets Corner cards from Blue Eyed Sun

    Sold in sixes to trade buyers only, all of our new ranges of Valentines Day cards for 2020 are barcoded, wrapped with a compostable bag and a red envelope and blank inside. Our Valentines cards are all printed on FSC board from sustainable managed forests. Similarly, all of our envelopes are also FSC certified. We have a large selection of Spring seasons designs online in the trade only section of our site.

    To stock these gorgeous cards in your shop click here. If you'd like to see them in your local shop please tell them and point them towards www.blueeyedsun.co.uk or you can recommend a shop to us by clicking here. You can also visit our stockists page to find a stockist near you.

    See our cards in person at Autumn Fair - Stand 6A43

    Click here to see our Mother's Day 2020 designs

    See our Father's Day 2020 designs

  • Four things I learned at the Landmark Forum

    Four things I learned at the Landmark Forum

    Occasionally, after giving talks on stage, people have asked me if I’ve ever done the Landmark Forum. I had not. My dear friend, Lucy Heavens from Juicy Lucy, had previously recommended the seminar to me as had a couple of other friends.

    I’d made a load of excuses to avoid taking the plunge: I didn’t need to do it because people were kind of already telling me I’d done it. I was above it all. I didn’t have the time. I didn’t want to open stuff up and disrupt my life. It seemed like it might be some kind of cult. They must want something from me. It could be a pyramid scheme. They take advantage of you in some way. I could be damaged by the experience. The list goes on.

    What Is The Forum?

    If you have any loss of power in a relationship or any aspect of your life or if you simply feel like things aren’t working then it can be transformational (and yet it won’t change you). It can open up new possibilities and it’s not new, different or better information. It’s an experience and it’s not the same for everybody who does it. 

    Nobody who recommends the Landmark Forum is paid to recommend it, it’s not a cult nor is it a religion. There is no scam and it’s not a pyramid scheme. You don’t have to change anything about yourself. You don’t even have to stand up at and talk. In fact, you don’t ‘need’ to do it at all. It isn’t going to ‘tell you’ anything.

    Put simply it’s a three and a half day seminar that is essentially an authentic ontological discussion about the nature of being. Of participants surveyed, 94% report that The Landmark Forum made a profound and lasting difference in their lives.

    A Brief History

    Landmark Worldwide that runs the Landmark Forum grew out of the Erhard Seminars Training (EST) developed by Werner Erhard in 1971. Rooted in the Human Potential Movement and the work of philosopher Heidegger, Erhard was also influenced by his studies on Zen Buddhism with Alan Watts. The original seminars were said to be physically and emotionally challenging and lasted 60 hours over two weekends. EST gave way to a gentler, shorter, more accessible course now known as The Forum.

    The Forum

    They say the Forum starts the moment you sign up for it. After I paid my £580, I decided I wanted to start offering business coaching services and, without saying anything to anyone, someone messaged me asking if I could consult for them. The magic had begun.

    The seminars are held near Euston Station in London and our particular training was conducted by a fiery, passionate American woman named Kathy Bosco. I took a deep breath after hearing her accent, decided not to let my preconceptions dictate my experience and set myself the intention to have fun for the three days. 

    Boy did I. I laughed, I cried, it was challenging, exhilarating and eye opening. There are a good number of distinctions that I learned doing it. Here are four of them:

    1. Stories

    We all have stories about everyone and everything in our lives. We do this because we are meaning making machines. ‘He or she did such and such to me and ruined my life’ is an example of a story. Stories are not the problem, living like they are the truth is the problem.

    The distinction is that there are things that actually happened and then there are the stories that we make up about what happened. I realised that I had lots of stories about different people in my life and even about myself. These stories resulted in me pretending with people, when in fact I really felt a different way. The stories were inauthentic and had an impact on the way I behaved in those relationships. They meant that I missed out on seeing people as they really are. 

    As an example, I had story about my mum being judgemental. This led to me not feeling good enough and always trying to please her and others in my life. In turn, this meant that I didn't always pay attention to how I personally felt as I was too focussed on others' happiness.

    During the workshop you are set tasks to call people and write letters dealing with these stories. After calling my mum and others, it was quite profound how quickly I dropped stories I’d been carrying for years and then created new possibilities going forward. I had some of the most authentic conversations I’ve had in my life. The result is that my relationships with everyone have been radically transformed and exciting things have been happening ever since. 

    2. Change

    We spend a lot of our lives trying to change by doing more of the thing we want to change, less of it or something different to it. The trouble with this is when you say you are not going to be X, you are still X because you are living a ‘not X' life. The two are tied to one another. I’m not going to smoke anymore means I am still a smoker because I am living a non-smoking life.

    In other words, your future is always being coloured by the sun glasses of your past. This means you never really escape it and you can end up trapped in your stories, even though you may be aware of them and the fact that they are unwanted. The more you try to change the harder it is to change. Most of us aren’t aware that we are wearing these sunglasses. We think that what we are seeing is reality rather than a perspective. The Forum gives you the opportunity to remove the glasses, to reset completely and open up a new possibility.

    After my dad died in 2000, I decided that I didn't want to be a poor and struggling film maker, so I pushed hard to grow Blue Eyed Sun to become wealthy i.e. 'not-poor.' This has kept me in a paranoid state running the business ever since, because I live in constant fear of becoming poor. The glasses of my past cloud the way I see my future.

    3. Rackets

    The things that are unwanted in our lives that persist are distinguished as ‘rackets’ in the Forum. We all have them, but most of us don’t notice them for what they are. Mine are to do with being right or wrong, not being good enough and feeling judged by others. 

    They clouded my conversations with people, as I unwittingly looked for these rackets all the time. In effect, I wasn’t really listening to anyone as I was always seeking out evidence to support my rackets. We often don’t listen to one another properly, we judge and assess what others say, and the voice in our heads dominates and prevents us from being truly present with each another.

    4. Creating Reality

    Many of us are living in a world of constant assessment rather than actual experience. In effect we are missing out on our lives, because they are governed by our reasons and considerations instead of what we really want.

    Your word, and your relationship with your word, creates your reality. Declaration is the form of language that creates. It’s the foundation of your integrity. Who I am is my word. Both to myself and to others around me. By saying what you want and sticking to your word you create a powerful relationship with yourself and those around you.

    The seminar shows you how to get authentic with yourself and with others. It reminds you to honour the promises and agreements that you make. To honour your word, not your reasons. To honour what you say, not what you think. The power of this integrity is incredible and as the weekend evolves you find yourself creating a new level of being in the world.

    This part has been most interesting for me, because I used to say 'yes' to everything so that I didn't let anyone down and didn't miss out on anything. All part of my little 'people-pleasing' thing. As obvious as it may sound to you, I'm coming to realise that I can't do everything. I need to cut back on my promises and only to commit to what I personally want to be involved with and what I am able to realistically fit into my schedule that doesn't conflict with my higher priorities.

    Life After

    After doing the Landmark Forum I found myself taking full responsibility for my life and no longer blaming anyone else. I began to really listen to others, without adding anything and accepting that things are just they way they are and just the way they aren’t.

    Within Blue Eyed Sun, my experience of our team has been transforming and I’ve had very real, authentic and powerful conversations with them that have created exciting new possibilities.

    In The Forum I created a possibility for myself of ‘love and creative abundance.’ This has created a completely new space for everything I now do. So, I'm no longer looking forward through the glasses of 'not being poor.' Well, I say no longer, it still comes back from time to time, and now I'm more quick to spot what's happening for me and steer my attention to the possibility I have created for myself and any new ones I choose to create.

    As line with my possibility of love and creative abundance, I’ve developed exciting new ranges of Spring designs with three different new artists that we’re launching at Home & Gift and Autumn Fair. I’ve designed two of my own small card ranges called Poet’s Corner and Gold Standard. My #PlasticFreeJuly project on social media became fun and carefree, as I no longer pandered to my rackets of not being good enough or getting it right or wrong. I’m also currently enrolling customers into my bigger vision of reducing single-use coffee cup waste from 2.5 billion cups a year to 1 billion over the next two years, instead of just focussing on my own interests of boosting BambooCup sales. Finally, I've started charging for my business coaching services. After 16 years of helping start-ups at the Ladder Club for free, I think I've earned it. I feel transformed. I’d recommend Landmark to anyone searching for new possibilities.

    How to Do Things That You Don't Feel Like Doing

    How to achieve your goals

    Facing your fears

  • Blue Eyed Sun launches new licensed Doodle Girl greeting cards

    Doodle Girl Cards

    Blue Eyed Sun are launching a gorgeous new range of hand-finished greeting cards under the Doodle Girl brand, which was originally brought to life in a series of books published by Simon & Schuster.

    This delightful, cute new collection is based on original artworks by artist Marnie Maurri, creator of Doodle Girl, and is hand finished with biodegradable glitter and jewels. There are 24 Everyday available to choose from in addition to Seasonal captions  Each card is hand flittered with bio degradable glitter and hand finished with jewels. All cards come with a colour co-ordinated envelope, are 150mm square, ordered in sixes and all paper used is FSC certified. Trade price is £1.35, RRP £3.25.

    Blue Eyed Sun is a previous Henries Award winner in the Best Cute Category and MD Jeremy Corner said “We absolutely love these designs. They each have a story to tell and are fun and very cute."

     A magical brand celebrating the power of imagination through doodling, Doodle Girl was conceived by Marnie Maurri (pictured below with Jeremy Corner, MD of Blue Eyed Sun, at PG Live) alongside accomplished authors Lindsay Taylor & Suzanne Smith.  The brand combines lyrical wording with clever collage, resulting in a colourful, adventure-filled world.

    Illustrator Marnie said “I’m so excited by how Blue Eyed Sun have translated my designs into such a beautiful range.  The fact that it’s manufactured sustainably is the icing on the cake!”  The greetings cards are the first products to be launched in a range of sustainable products licensed by Doodle Girl, which is represented by Nutmeg Licensing.
    Doodle Girl Greeting Cards

  • Taking on the Plastic Free July challenge

    Plastic Free JulyAs part of the #PowerOfOne campaign at Spring Fair this year I committed to taking part in Plastic Free July this year. Since I covered the spread of this grass roots movement for change in my talk on the main stage on the 'Rise of the Ethical Consumer and the Growth in the Green Economy’ and have been curious to try it. 

    What a Waste

    For those of you that aren’t already aware, retail manufacturing (and by implication… retail itself) is the second most polluting industry on the planet. The first being oil (the base product for plastic). The Story of Stuff website has calculated the for every rubbish bin of stuff we throw out, up to seventy equivalent sized bins of waste have been used to produce the stuff that ultimately wound up in that bin. Worse still, 99% of the total material flow feeding our consumer habits is trashed within 6 months. This aside from all of the toxic chemicals used to produce the goods and the toxins released in their destruction at end of life.

    Waste is one thing, but single-use plastic waste is a particularly problematic issue as it takes so long for plastic to break down. Hundreds of years in most cases. In fact, it doesn’t really ever properly break down, it just ends up as smaller pieces of micro-plastic, which when ingested by living creatures like us or those that we eat can lead to a range of health issues which stretch from cancer to genital deformities.

    The majority of us have seen the terrible images of huge amounts of plastic in the ocean. Sea creatures strangled or disabled by plastic on Blue Planet II has had a huge impact on our behaviour, with the majority of us taking action to reduce the plastic waste we put out into the world.

    Change is Happening 

    If you are not convinced this is happening yet, take a look at a few indicators: 

    First there’s the 90% reduction in consumption of single-use plastic bags at supermarket and recent changes in government legislation on straws, cotton buds and stirrers; with more laws inevitably still to come on coffee cups and ultimately plastic bottles. Humans currently waste 100 billion single-use plastic lined coffee cups and 500 billion plastic bottles every year with over 90% not being recycled.

    Secondly, there’s the steep rise in numbers taking part in Veganuary each year, when people choose to go vegan for the month of January. 40% of plastic in the oceans comes from fishing nets and lines, which as you can imagine causes all sorts of horrors for the sea-life that get tangled up in them and die. The documentary Cowspiracy calculates that for every pound of fish caught, upon to 5 pounds of unintended marine species are caught and discarded as by-kill. If you eat fish caught in the wild then you are part of this story I’m afraid. If you don’t there are a host of other health issues with farmed fish, but that’s a discussion for another time.

    Another indicator for me is the growth in numbers of people taking up the Plastic Free July challenge. Now in its eighth year and boasting take up of millions of people in over 192 countries around the world.

    What is Plastic Free July?

    The movement started in 2011 by a small group of Australians who were horrified at the impact humans were having on the oceans surrounding them. The goal of the campaign is to cut single-use plastic waste and to encourage recycling infrastructure. People make their pledge on the website at www.plasticfreejuly.org to reduce their plastic consumption in July.

    How to Join In

    There are three main ways of getting involved in Plastic Free July. For the entire month you can commit to:

    1. Avoid single-use plastic packaging
    2. Target takeaway items (the Top 4: bags, bottles, straws and coffee cups)
    3. Go completely plastic free

    You are able to use reusable products made from plastic. Technically, eating out at restaurants is is not covered. 

    The Challenges

    For those of you who read my column, you’ll know that I do enjoy taking on new challenges, whether it’s running marathons or learning to ride a motorbike and riding across the Gobi desert. 

    I have to be honest, I’m slightly concerned about this one. Using a reusable bag, bottle and coffee cup is easy and has had a big effect on the number of bags, bottles and cups I used to bin each year.

    Despite already making a conscious effort to cut plastic from my life, I still buy certain items each month that are wrapped in single-use plastic. 

    Food and drink is the area I am most concerned about. There is plastic in so many things, even canned drinks are often lined with plastic inside them to prevent them tasting of metal. Something I only recently discovered and never would have thought of. Most bottle tops are also lined with plastic. Tetra pack juice and milk cartons are all lined with plastic and aluminium.

    I don’t tend to buy much processed food, but a lot of what I eat and drink has some single-use plastic. Rice, cucumber, porridge oats, strawberries, raspberries, salad, houmous, rice milk, sandwiches and juice cartons all come bagged in plastic. We eat every day, so tackling this area individually and together will give us our biggest wins. 

    Next there’s toiletries: Shaving gel, shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, cotton buds, toilet paper and the majority of bathroom products come in plastic. Fortunately the micro-beads that used to be in them have now been banned. There’s more in the kitchen too: Washing up liquid, washing powder, sponge, cleaning products, cling film and so on… all plastic.

    New stores have been opening across the country serving the needs that arrive from ditching plastic where products are bought in bulk and consumers can bring their own cartons to stock up on rice, cereals and so on. 

    More Plastic Changes

    Even some of our clothes are made from plastic. Polyester and Nylon are plastics. When we wash a fleece it can shed top to 250,000 pieces of micro-plastic which goes straight down our drains and into the sea. Glitter in make-up is similarly problematic as is any other micro-plastic being washed down our drains, like parts of washing up sponges for example. Cutting back on these products will also help.

    There are also infrastructural changes that need to happen in the UK with regards to recycling and collection of waste. A lot of our waste used to be shipped abroad for other countries to deal with. Recently some of them have even been sending it back to where it came from. We need efficient systems for processing and dealing with our waste. Pushing government on these issues and banning certain products is key for this.

    I also run a business that has sold millions of items wrapped in single-use plastic. Perhaps you do too. Each of our businesses support the income of many people and making drastic change within it is not something we take lightly. Something must be done though. I haven’t taken the pledge on my team’s behalf, although I have decided to take action on  drastically reducing our plastic usage this year. How this will happen, I have yet to figure out, but it will.

    Expectations

    I plan to video my experience of taking part in #PlasticFreeJuly and share my experience on the Stories of my Instagram account @JeremyCorner. 

    What about you? Would you like to change the world? If yes, then take the pledge and give it a go. I’d love to hear from anyone else that is taking part in the challenge so that we can support one another. Even if you don’t do it, I’d love for you to follow my journey so you can see what it’s like.

    We only have one life, we only have one planet for ourselves and our children. Our oceans are the foundation for all life on Earth. We’re poisoning our planet with plastic, livestock farming, toxic chemicals and pollution. We must all take action. If not us, then who?

    I'll be speaking on Going Plastic Free: Just how practical is that? on the Inspiring Retail Stage at 13:30 on Sunday 1st September 2019 in Hall 6 at Autumn Fair in the NEC, Birmingham - Hall 6.

    The Rise of the Ethical Consumer

    How companies can raise environmental awareness

    The war on single-use plastic

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