Here in Northamptonshire, we’re quite proud to be the home of the British F1 Grand Prix and this past weekend, I was lucky enough to attend. It was such a fantastic weekend and despite not having a British win, I think our boys at McLaren did quite well!

With Vettel on pole, I expected him to recreate last years Silverstone win where he and Webber were 1st and 2nd. However, for those of you who watched the race will know what an amazing race it was, with Vettel ending up last at one point in the race and Webber taking 1st place. I’m so proud of Jenson who went from 14th on the grid to finishing in 4th place. The atomosphere was amazing – 115,000 people were in attendance, with the majority of the croud cheering for Lewis and Jenson.

I know a lot of you are F1 Fans so thought I’d post a few pictures from the weekend, taken from Pits Straight and Woodcote.

Hamilton along Pits Straight on Saturday morning during practice:

Jenson passing the pits on Saturday during Qualifying:

Webber during Friday Practice:

The amazing Red Arrows:

The Drivers’ Parade on Sunday:

Podium – Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg:

A little off-topic compared to the usual handmade-related postings but I just had to share photos of our newest little friends. A few weeks ago, we went for a Sunday-afternoon walk around a local, remote lake and were very excited to spot a mother swan sitting on her nest by the side of the lake. At one point. she stood up to adjust the twigs she was sitting on and we caught a glimpse of a group of eggs.

We’ve been visiting the lake often over the last few weeks to watch the babies and it’s been lovely to see the two parents and their three baby cygnets grow up over the weeks. We call them ‘our swan babies’ as we’ve been watching them since they were hatched.

Here are a few photos I took at the end of May when the babies were out swimming on the lake with the parents, shot with a long lens so not to disturb them. They are adorable, as are the ducklings that are also growing up on the lake – quite cheeky and full of energy. I really would love one for my bathtub!!

I’m so excited to share with you my latest handmade purchase – my new laptop case from Toggle!

I recently purchase a Dell Mini 1012 Netbook, especially so I can keep on top of work while away from the Ruby Studio. I’m over the moon with my new laptop purchase and would fully recommend the Dell Mini 1012 to anyone looking for a portable machine. With it being a machine I intend to use on the go, I knew I wanted to get a case to protect the glossy finish from scratches and scuffs. I love supporting handmade businesses, like ourselves, and as a fan of Toggle, I knew I had to order one of their cases as soon as I got the opportunity.

I chose a lovely polka dot case, which Gemma of Toggle kindly made to order to fit my small netbook. Not only was it made to order especially, it was delivered super-fast and wrapped beautifully! I love receiving parcels like this!

The case fits perfectly and the colour of the pink polka dots on the fabric and the lining match perfectly with the pink of the laptop. I love my new case! Check out the Toggle website to get one of your own!

I thought I’d share with you something which we discovered by accident. Last week, my Mum received an email from the Wild Flower Turf company – meant for someone with a similar email address to hers – advertising their floral turf.

But, it was quite nice that she received this email by mistake, because we got introduced to this really lovely concept. The photos on their website showing the turf in full bloom are stunning! We’ve always loved the ‘country garden’ look and we’ve tried to create that in our garden with plants and seeds.

This turf has many advantages over regular turf – it’s lower maintainence as it needs only one cut per year, is specially formulated to have equal parts grass and flowers to create a stunning flowering garden, and the different flowers bloom at different times of the year giving you new flowers continually. My favourite thing about it (apart from that it looks beautiful) is that it attracts lots of wildlife and insects. Our garden has always been a ‘wild’ garden – attracting a wide range of animals, birds and insects, so this Wild Flower Turf is something that I’m really drawn to.

I wonder if anywhere in our garden could benefit from some new turf…

Check out their website at www.wildflowerturf.co.uk.

This week will be an exciting week for Ruby Wren Designs! We will be appearing in print for the first time – the notonthehighstreet.com Summer 2010 Catalogue! We’re so excited here at Ruby HQ!

Our first appearance features our handcut Father’s Day ‘Dad’ and ‘Daddy’ Cards! These are new for Spring/Summer 2010 and are feature our new handcut text effect. They’re quite painstaking to cut out so customers can be assured that they are giving something unique, which time has been spent making and a lot of love has been put into it. Unfortunately, this means a lot of work for Ruby Wren but we think it’s worthwhile!

You can see our cards in the ‘Finishing Touches’ section of the catalogue (page 39) next to the ordering instructions. Our friends at Coulson Macleod are also featured and you can check out their beautiful typography artwork on page 20.

Those clever people at NOTHS have also set up a virtual catalogue so you can view all those beautiful pages online here. To order your copy of the catalogue, which we fully recommend (full of gorgeous photos of gorgeous products!), please go to the order form here.

A little warning…receiving the catalogue and viewing all those goodies can have a negetive effect on your bank account

I know that a lot of my blog readers and twitter followers are Etsians or Folksy-folk, so bringing some business-related topics into my blog seems like quite a good idea. I’ve enjoyed learning a lot from the Etsy Storque and other sources over the past few years and hope to be able to share some of my experiences, both good and bad, with readers.

When people start off on the handmade marketplaces we all love, starting a business may be both the first thing, and last thing, on your mind. When I started my jewellery shop in 2008, I really did begin by accident. It seems, in my experience, the things that fall together or happen by accident are usually the best kind of things. It was months before I had my first jewellery sale and to be honest, when it happened, I’d forgotten all about my Etsy shop until I received the transaction email. Over the next year, I sold quite a few pieces of jewellery and became much more involved in the Etsy community. The Quit Your Day Job articles always gave me hope that my little hobby could grow into much more. While I was hopeful that it could become a business opportunity, I also always thought “it could never happen to me”.

Two years later and I’ve swapped the beads for recycled card and spend my days running Ruby Wren Designs, a greeting and gift business. This all started with my Etsy shop and it went from a hobby to a business very quickly. If you’re reading this as an Etsy seller, the chances are you are in the same situation I was in last year, dreaming of launching a business from my hobby, or where I am now, running a business that developed from that hobby on Etsy. The Etsy marketplace (and others, such as Folksy) is often the place where businesses begin by accident. It allows you to sell things you make as a hobby and if you have a good product, you can be running your own one-person business before you even know it!

If this is the case, be prepared! As soon as I started making regular sales on Etsy, I registered for a Business Bank Account. This is important if you’re really considering your Etsy shop as a business. It’s also very important if you’re looking for any funding, be it loans or grants as many organisations will only give a business loan or grant to someone with proof of having a business account set up to receive it. Having a seperate bank account will really help you focus and see what’s going on with your Etsy/Folksy shop more clearly. A seperate bank account will allow you to see where your money is coming in from and where your money is going. If you’re using your own personal or family bank account to pay your Etsy bills, buy supplies, etc. you won’t be able to determine how much you’re spending in certain areas and it will make planning and budgeting much harder. If your revenue is coming into your personal bank account, then it’s likely to disappear into your existing money or income, making it harder to reinvest into your business or determine if you’re making a profit.

I found once I set up my business bank account I could see exactly what I was earning from each of the places where I was actively selling and know what was really working for Ruby Wren. I could also see my profit clearly and know it’s there waiting for me when I next need to order supplies or invest in advertising. I think most business banking accounts will give you your own business Debit Card for you and any employees, making it much easier to purchase supplies or pay business bills. Having all this happening in a seperate account meant it was much easier to know what was going on with my money.

In the early days, I was using my own money to purchase supplies and invest in opportunities. This made my personal finances a nightmare as all my money was being spent on “boring” things like glue, card, office furniture and it was a real struggle to know what I had left for myself each month. Now, I have two seperate accounts – personal and business. Inconveniently, with two seperate banks, which makes transfering money between to two a new nightmare, but still better than before! Having a business account means I have funds available to me to invest in my business that came from my business. There are things I’d like to expand into and opportunities I’d like to take advantage of over the short and mid-term of my business, such as advertising in certain publications and attendance at trade fairs. Having a seperate “Ruby Wren” account will allow me to keep investment money aside and use it when I feel I need to, rather than borrowing from my personal account. Of course, when running a business, even if an Etsy shop, it’s important to remember to pay yourself a wage when you are able to.

If you are considering a Business Bank Account, take advantage of ‘Free Banking’ offers and read the terms carefully. With business accounts, many banks charge a monthly fee so look out for these! Many of the better options for us small business owners are those who advertise “Free Banking for Life”, as those who appear to do Free Banking only do not charge for the first year or two depending on which bank you choose. The banks which are completely free will usually make a big statement about this, so they’re not hard to spot. It’s very important to read what is included in your ‘Free Banking’ account as even the lifetime free banking will have limits on how many cheques you can cash or direct debits per month and they will charge you a fee if you go over this.

Ruby Wren is currently banking with an Abbey Business Account (now Santander). Despite waiting a very long time (about 2 months!) for the bank accounts to be set up, they’ve been a very good choice and their call centre customer service is great. We have free business banking for life, with monthly limits like I mentioned previously, but have never had a problem with charges or going beyond those limits. We have two linked accounts – a current account and a savings account, allowing me to put aside money into a savings account for that dreaded tax return. We also requested a cheque book – despite cheques becoming more and more obsolete, a cheque book might come in handy for paying for any craft fairs we might book. I’ve also heard that the Co-Op Bank is also a very good option for their Business Bank Account.

It may seem like a daunting task but if you want your hobby to be more than just that, it’s important to set up a business account as early as you can. It’s also important to keep your receipts and a record of what your income and expenses for both the taxman and your own analysis. Once you have a business bank account, you’ll find it easier to focus on what you may need to buy for your business and feel a sense of acomplishment as you see your profit growing. I, myself, feel that setting up my Ruby Wren account was one of the main things that signified the change from a hobby to a business and changed how I viewed what was going on with my venture.

Good Luck!

It feels like ages since I last blogged! For a long time in March, due to personal reasons, I was inactive on Twitter, Facebook, Blogging etc. I won’t go into reasons why, but to have a break was really good and I took time to refocus priorities and regroup ideas. Ruby Wren had a busy time with Mother’s Day and then Easter Cards, and I’m proud to think that lots of lovely people were given a special Ruby Wren card by one of my wonderful customers – it means a lot to think that someone chose a Ruby Card to give at Mother’s Day.

It’s been almost a year since Ruby Wren Designs made our very first card! What started out as a hobby in April of 2009 has grown beyond what I could ever imagine. What a year!! Our Etsy account was registered on 21st April 2009, but it wasn’t until September 2009 when we considered making a business from it, followed shortly after by joining the Prince’s Trust Business Programme and registering as a notonthehighstreet.com partner, all before Christmas 2009.

We’ve also made lots of friends in the last year – Wall Envy Art, Coulson Macleod, Edwina Simone, Polkadots and Blooms, Storeyshop, AnnaRK, Chain of Daisies, Who Ate My Crayons, ToggleUK, SheDraws…and MANY more! All of you Tweeters, fellow NOTHS Partners, Folksy-folk, Etsians – you’re all a wonderful provider of support and company as we all try to grow our small businesses! I remember being told that starting and running your own small business is a very lonely ‘career’, but I’ve found it not to be the case. The handmade community is a lovely one, full of friendly and helpful people. I wonder if other businesses find themselves to feel the same, or whether we just happen to be like-minded people that have come together. Either way, I’m very happy.

At the weekend, our neighbours gathered to celebrate an local ocassion of great importance to us – the start of a permit parking in our very congested area. We had a lovely night and I felt very proud when the subject of my business popped up in conversation. I don’t often get the chance to talk about Ruby Wren – so it surprised me quite a bit when I realised how proud I was when I said “I’m running my own business”. Over the weekend, I also got the opportunity to fill in the Small Business survey being run by those lovely notonthehighstreet.com staff. As I filled it in, it was another moment when I realised that yes, I am running my own business, and things that didn’t used to affect me now do.

As a small business, I do agree that there’s not enough help for us – the bigger the business, it seems, the more they can demand and the better their benefits. How are we, who are just starting out, mostly working in our own homes as “kitchen table businesses”, supposed to grow our businesses when bigger corporations take advantage of us? For example, over the past few years, I’ve had a PO Box from Royal Mail. I went for the most basic, cheapest option – having a PO Box and collecting the mail from it myself. This has slowly gone up a few pounds each year and last year I paid £62.85, which I felt wasn’t unreasonable. I’m not a fan of Royal Mail at all – our postmen are always brilliant, but the corporation itself has a terrible public image when it comes to reliability and I’ve often waited 3-4 weeks for first class mail posted from the UK, to me, in the UK. Imagine my surprise when I got my invoice for the 2010 PO Box payment. From £62.85 in 2009, to £95 in 2010. It makes me wonder what they have done to deserve an extra 50% increase? I imagine that any big business with a PO Box wouldn’t think twice about paying their Royal Mail invoice. But, me as a small business, thinks it’s an outrage that they demand so much. Maybe Royal Mail are just aware that the majority of people with a PO Box are those without a corporate headquarters – ie., us small businesses, working from our homes, and they are taking advantage of that fact. People in that situation have no choice but to pay the huge increase – or publish their home address online for the world to see. Sneaky tactics I’m sure, Royal Mail!

So, all in all, I think that things should be better for small businesses. The small business should pay lower rates, get better discounts, have better opportunities than we do already. The smaller the business, the more help I think should be available for us. If a small business is taken advantage of in regard to bully tactics and pricing, how will they become big businesses? This is all new to me and maybe things are available that I’ve not found out about, but that Royal Mail invoice has really made me mad and is just another example of how these big faceless corporations get away with whatever they want. It reminds me of the times I’ve read about our highstreet shops ripping off designs by independent artists – I won’t name names, but we all know who they are – those huge businesses that copy designs, patterns and drawings they’ve found from artists on Etsy and replicate them for themselves. How are we supposed to compete with that, without the fancy legal team and millions of pounds that they do?

The notonthehighstreet.com survey about small businesses really got me thinking. There are things that are out of our control – such as what help is available from the Government, bully tactics by the large corporations. But, at the end of the day, what we put into our business is up to us. With the right product and hard work, lots of small business have grown and overcome hurdles that face them. Afterall, it’s likely that a big business was once a small business!

I’ve been browsing Etsy a lot recently, particularly for jewellery as I feel I am in drastic need of some new pretty things from Etsy. I randomly stumbled across QuercusSilver when I thought her Etsy avatar was rather funky and was very happy to discover that her shop was as bright and lovely as her profile picture. I like to share interesting things I find with my followers and friends on Twitter and as soon as I tweeted the link to Quercus Silver’s shop, I had others telling me that they also loved her shop and products too – the lovely Deepa of Lazy Giraffe who had her Wedding ring made by Quercus, and my crafty friend Abbi of Edwina.Simone who loves her Quercus resin bangles.

The resin bangles and ‘Hewn’ rings are my favourites from Su’s shop – I love the carved faceted surfaces and bright, bold colours! They make me crave jelly sweets – they do look rather edible. Definitely lots of products added to my favourites here! And, I love discovering UK sellers on Etsy – it’s great that more British designers are joining Etsy and it definitely helps the planet to shop local!

Check out Su’s shop on Etsy: QuercusSilver or her homepage.