This is a movie clip for the New Zealand Book Council. I love how the story comes alive and peels off the page. I wonder how long it took the talented book sculptor to create this? It’s just lovely.

Via Ness Donnelly’s blog.

Happy New Year! I hope you had a good holiday. It all goes too quickly doesn’t it. After weeks of planning and shopping and stressing, it’s all over in a few days and then it’s back to work again. For many people today will be the first day back. That’s always a bit depressing; setting the alarm clock, a restless night’s sleep, followed by a rude awakening at stupid o’clock. And then for many people I should think actually getting to work is a bit of a nightmare today, with all that ice around.

Personally, I’m not a fan of New Year. It marks the end of Christmas and January seems such a long and dull month. I always try to plan a few diversions to cheer me up.

1. Tea

Simple I know, but it works for me and I’m not alone. The UK is said to drink 165 million cups of tea a day. A day! From the selection of the leaves (or bags - whichever you prefer) to the ritual of warming the pot, pouring in the water and choosing your favourite tea cup, the whole process is somehow comforting. It’s good for you, it tastes great, what’s not to like?

I discovered the Bellevue Tea Lady via Sian Meades on Twitter and have been following her ever since. Bellevue Tea has a well chosen range of good looking, fine tasting teas, which have been developed by experts. Read their story here. The 5 Teas Gift Set is a good place to start as it includes each of their delicious flavours - Ceylon Black, Earl Grey, Sencha Green, Breakfast and Rooibos Herbal.

Visit the website at www.bellevue-tea.co.uk for more information.

2. Planning a Holiday

We’re no sooner back at work than we’re looking forward to the next break. But having something to look ahead to is a definite boost. Even if it’s just a couple of days at the seaside or a ’staycation’ it’ll break up the monotony of all those weeks of work.

These beautiful photographs by Susannah Conway are sure to inspire you.

3. Learn Something New

I love learning new things. There’s nothing worse than feeling you’re standing still or stagnating. One way of avoiding this to book a course, learn a new skill and expand your knowledge. It needn’t cost the earth. Many universities provide short courses in the evenings that are not too expensive.

For a while now I’ve been intrigued by Susannah Conway’s Unravelling e-courses. They are ‘designed to help you heal the way you see your self and your world, using photography and journalling to access hidden thoughts and dreams, encouraging personal realisations and ultimately acceptance.’ If you’ve ever read Susannah’s blog, Ink on my Fingers, you’ll know what an inspirational photographer and writer she is. And judging from her testimonials this is something that she able to impart to others.

The next enrollment date for Unravelling will be on Saturday February 20th for the Spring class starting March 8th. For more information visit www.susannahconway.com.

Everyone’s different of course and what appeals to me may not necessarily fill you with excitement. What will you be looking forward to this year?

A rather exciting opportunity landed on my desk this afternoon. Two Four Broadcast are in production for a really exciting new BBC1 series. The premise of the series is that a team of top entrepreneurs will give twelve small businesses or individuals the advice and support they need to get their products onto high street shelves. It is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who has a unique product but perhaps has not the necessary resources to turn it into ‘the next big thing’.

The categories they are looking to showcase are home & garden, children & toys, accessories and food & drink. The individuals who are chosen to be on the show will have a brilliant opportunity to take their product from a small scale business to the mass market across the nation.

If this sounds like you, Two Four Broadcast would love to hear your story. Get in touch at newbrands@twofour.co.uk or on 0207 438 1865.

Here it is. As promised. I thought I’d get the ball rolling and post some pictures of my office. It’s based in Heaton Chapel which is just south of Manchester. All of the Vanilla Storm web team are based here.

I moved into this office a few months ago. It’s teeny tiny, more of a large cupboard really but I like it. I’ve added a few pictures and photographs here and there. Oh and an armchair which you can see above. I figured that I spend enough time here I might as well make it comfortable.

The jute bag you can see is from a gorgeous apothecary shop in Haworth, called Rose and Co. The bag holds lots of magazines and work related books and travels back and forth most days, much to my husband’s annoyance. I think you can just about see a coaster on top of the table, which is from the fabulous interiors store Hunky Dory Home.

The armchair and table are both from IKEA.

This is my view.

I added some wrapping paper in between the shelving to brighten them up a little. The card you can see on the left is from Aurora Bloom. Underneath you can see various family photos and the lovely print is called Le the Suspendu by The Nebulous Kingdom.

More shelves with IKEA magazine holders.

You can probably see from the photographs that the wallpaper is woodchip. To brighten it up I added a collage of prints, photos, artwork and other bits and bobs.

1. Cat / Telepgraph pic - Boxbird Gallery
2. Super Bake Girl by A Fanciful Twist
3. Scruffy Moggy by David Oldham aka DJ Spiderman
4. Pic of Richard and Me by Claudine Hellmuth
5. Ballet Shoes - a print out of a photograph from the Scottish Ballet
6. Printed Blue Teapot by Studio Lyon
7. Wintersong by The Hermitage

Well, that’s me. If you have a work space, living room, shop or kitchen that you would like to share please get in touch at info [at] indiequarter dot com. And PS, Monday’s post involves a bath full of marshmallows!

To kick off the New Year, I thought I’d share some of my Christmas gifts. I’ve been very lucky this year and received lots of lovely presents. Here are just a few with an indie / crafty theme.

Beautiful cherry cake tea cosy by my talented sister, Cassie Oldham. Cassie doesn’t have a website as yet but you can direct any enquiries via the blog.

Gorgeous handmade bag by one of my favourite bag designers, Francesca Salvini. Thank you mum.

I’ve wanted to have a go at making my own soap for ages. So thank you to my thoughtful husband for these Soap and Bath Bomb starter kits. You can find them at Fred Aldous.

What was in your stocking?

I was reading Claudine Hellmuth’s blog this morning (Claudine is a talented collage artist and if you haven’t discovered her work yet you should definitely take a look) and came across a post about a new TV site called Scrap in Style.

Scrap in Style is the result of Jeanette’s Herdman’s dream of hosting a TV show and combining this with her passion for scrapbooking. The site features on demand footage of craft demonstrations by numerous talented designers. However, as Jeanette explains on her About page, it’s more than just watching other people craft. It’s part talk show and part reality TV.

In addition to the demonstrations there is also a forum where you can talk to other ‘SISters’ and upload examples of your work. There’s also a featured designer section and an online shop selling craft supplies.

If you’ve got a free 5 minutes or so, check it out at www.scrapinstyletv.com.

A few months ago I had a meeting in Manchester at the unsociable time of 6pm. I arrived early and so decided to kill some time in the Corner House. While I was in there I came across a fantastic publication called Selvedge.

If you haven’t already discovered Selvedge I would recommend taking a look. It covers textiles in every context - fine art, interiors, fashion, travel and shopping. It’s full of useful snippets and well-researched features. For example, my issue (Issue 10, which is a little out of date now) includes an article on the history of the sewing machine and the ‘The Sewing Machine Wars’, a feature on how sewing patterns came about and a wonderful article all about the history of the handbag and how it has changed through the years. Each feature is accompanied by beautiful illustrations and exceptional photography. In fact in terms of layout and design I really haven’t seen anything else like it. It’s worth buying for the design alone.

Selvedge is available from stockists worldwide. It cost £7.50 and is published six times a year. You can also subscribe online .

So, you have a gorgeous range of products ready to sell to discerning customers, you’ve sorted out your brand, you have a website and an online shop. Now all you have to do is let people know you’re there.

We all know how difficult it is getting into the press and getting your products out there. Well today help is at hand because top PR company, Tangerine PR, have generously agreed to share their top ten tips with us. Ready?

1. Consider why you want to do PR. What are your objectives? What do you want to achieve? What do you want to be different?

2. Consider whether you can really do this yourself or if you need external help from a freelance practitioner or consultancy. Will you really be able to dedicate the time? Have you got the expertise? Have you got the budget?

3. Identify your audiences and list them in your PR plan. Who do you want to engage and why?

4. List your key messages. What do you want to say to your key audiences and what do you want them to think about you/your business. Make sure your messages are different and focus on your USPs (unique selling points) not messages all your competition claim too.

5. Consider the routes to reaching your audiences ’ media, direct, associations, events etc. List what they read (if you don’t know then ask them), where are you likely to meet them directly? Where can you get an audience with them?

6. Start to build a relationship with the media your audiences read. Before approaching them, read a number of editions. Learn who writes what within the publication. What columns and articles do they regularly run? Where could you and your business fit? Learn their style. Once your are familiar and can hold a conversation with them, encourage a meet ’ a quick coffee can suffice. When you have a relationship, keep it going. Thank them for writing a good piece, keep them informed but don’t ’badger’.

7. Before starting to write anything (eg a press release) remember PR is not advertising. For the journalist to take your story it needs to be:

a. Something different
b. Newsworthy
c. Topical ’ current issue but not something that’s been done before unless you have a new slant
d. Relevant - of specific interest to their readers (particularly important with regional media)
e. Interesting
f. Ideally have an accompanying visual (eg photograph ’ done professionally not with the office digi camera!)
g. Have ’legs’ ’ something the journalist can add to and will go further

8. If you don’t make it into print straight away, don’t worry. PR takes tenacity and perseverance. If it didn’t work, consider why. Was it too much of an advert? Has the angle/topic already been ’done to death’? Was it not relevant or interesting?

9. Don’t rely just on media relations. Much of PR is exactly that ’public relations’ not ’press relations’. Work with your/your customers’ associations as a way of reaching them. Conferences, speaking opportunities, networking ’ it’s all PR.

10. Have fun! PR should be enjoyable. It should be about engaging people and getting a result. Yes it can be hard work and disheartening at times, but nothing beats the buzz of a great piece of media coverage or that random but crucial meeting!

Tangerine PR

Although only four years old, Tangerine have quickly carved out a strong reputation. They have been voted Number One in the North West and they have also won a European award for European award for People Policies from Manchester Enterprises.

The team is headed by managing director Sandy Lindsay. I’ve seen Sandy speak a few times at various events and she’s truly inspirational.

If you’re looking for a PR company and would like further information go to www.tangerinepr.com. Tangerine PR has a North West base but a national presence.