.
Introducing my fabulous Featured Supplier and creator of divine stationery, Vicky Trainor Stationery! Check back here later today for the chance to win some amazing Vicky Trainor Stationery goodies!
.
.
Miss Fondant Collection from the Rose Collection
.
.
How did Vicky Trainor Stationery begin? What is your story?
.
Once upon a time back in the mid 1990’s (sounds such a long time ago) I was a designer/maker of greeting cards, artworks as well as doing the odd freelance design work to large stores such as John Lewis, M&S, Liberty of London, Heals, as well as many lifestyle and gift shops around the country. Then, without searching for Mr Right, he turned up. I met Mr Hunter one August evening, we soon kissed and said ‘I do’ and, before we could slow down time, became a family of four. My little business was packed away in a suitcase for a short time to enjoy being a Mum and also while I worked out how I could master the art of running a business with a young family (maintaining a certain level of sanity throughout). Fast forward a couple of years to the day I re-opened the suitcase and decided that I wanted to do something a little different than before. So I made notes and scribbles, sketched and painted and started to develop the collection to be what it has grown into now – vintage inspired floral stationery. And basically, that is what I have been doing for the last 5 years, working here in my studio, being creative every day, each day being a little different to the last and having a ball.
.
.
Reception table signs from The Vintage Collection
.
.
What is your most popular design and why?
.
The most popular are The Rose Collections; English, Vintage and Miss Fondant. They can be delicate and understated or bright and flirty. If a client is willing to experiment I will entice them into mixing the colour palettes (and at times the collections). Vanilla with Charcoal, French Blue and Red, Cotton and Faded Teal, Blackcurrant with Hot Pink: the combinations of designs and colour is endless. Magazines and blogs have posted articles on ‘the eclectic’ for quite some time now. Finally, there is a general feeling of unlimited freedom, to be creative and play with themes, colour, textures, introducing found objects, personal items, exploring the idea of ‘styling’ instead of a formal ‘arrangement’. There are vintage hire companies available as well as stylists and planners to help you but there is also lots of fun to be had by rummaging around car boot sales, charity shops and auction rooms. We can be as creative with stationery in exactly the same way that you can mix crockery, vases and vessels, bird cages and typewriters. Menus in Rose, place cards in Blossom and an embroidered table number from the Vintage Drawer Collection……
.
.
The Vintage Rose Collection in blackcurrant
.
. 
The Rose Collection English Vintage and Miss Fondant Mood Board for Brides Up North
.
.
Which is your favourite design in your collection and why?
.
It has to be the new Vintage Drawer Collection, all made from vintage and retro linens and haberdashery items. I am really excited about how it has already been received by magazines and the queens of blog-land while it has been in its early design stages. After 5 years of working with card and paper it feels a little indulgent to put time aside to sit in the sewing corner and appliqué flowers, embroider, stitch and bead.
This collection also comes in the form of favours, gifts and home products such as lavender pillows, gift boxes, sewing cases and sweet ‘love quote’ bookmarks. So you don’t have to order this collection for every stationery product. You could have the invitations from our printed range and then some stationery items from the Vintage Drawer or buy your loved ones one of our little gifts as a thank you. We have also produced reception signs – ‘naughty but nice’, ‘please help yourself’, ‘sew in love’ and many more. Little decorated room signs have also been created – so if you want to bring a little of the home-made to your abode you may want to take a peak from ‘boudoir’ to ‘kitchen’, ‘the love room’ to ‘the studio’. Or how about a ‘do not disturb sign’ for your place of sanctuary.
.
.
Door signs for the home from The Vintage Drawer Collection
.
.
Flat panel place cards from The Vintage Drawer Collection
.
.
If I was to choose from the printed collection it would have to be The Fauna Collection, I just love how you can experiment with the colour within this collection. It fits perfectly against stronger blooms within your reception styling with its leaf based print.
.
.
The Fauna Collection – Amelie Rose
.
.
The Fauna Collection
.
.
Are you married yourself?
.
It will be our tenth wedding anniversary this year. We had a budget of £4000 and 80 day guests and 160 for the evening, so the idea of canapés and cocktails was a little out of reach. We just wanted to have a party and celebrate. So we married at the local register office at 3pm and hired an old nightclub for the late afternoon and evening, a fabulous band and an old fashioned DJ. We had such a good time and watching Jamie’s 80 year old Aunt po-going to The Jam will be one treasured memory.
.
Ten years later, if we had the chance to do it all again, I would hire the local village hall and ask everyone to bring a little token of home-baking, flowers from the garden and use our caravan as a refreshments bar, and have little pieces of the Vintage Drawer Collection here and there. The following day we would rent a slate covered cottage in the middle of Langdale in the Lake District and hide away for 7 days, no emails, no Twitter, no printer, and enjoy the peace, the quiet, long walks, good food, Cumberland ale, sun and blue skies…I’m a girl who likes the simple things in life.
.
.
Table number ties for vases – The Vintage Drawer Collection
.
.
Which celebrity would you most like to design invitations for and why? What style would you go for?
.
Lately, I have become a little bit obsessed with Helena Bonham Carter. It wasn’t intentional, I think it was after a succession of Alice in Wonderland, Toast, Enid, Sweeney Todd and A Room With A View all within a fortnight of each other and The King’s Speech is planned for our next ‘Date Night’. So with regards to the design (and if Helena and Tim ever decide to tie the knot), what would I choose? I think I would have to layer and mix the Cartmel and Camelia Collection until it was a wonderful hotchpotch of colour and pattern, beautiful and interestingly styled and then sit back totally and visually exhausted.
.
.
Image via Jolly People
.
.
Cartmel and Camelia mixed
.
.
Cartmel and Camelia mixed
.
.
Which of your designs would you choose for Kate Middleton? Or alternatively, what would you design for her?
.
The French Corsage Collection would probably be my choice – using a combination of the linen tones with contrasting taupe and chalk. Or maybe the Peonie Collection, duck egg blues and vintage tones of pink.
.
.
The French Corsage Collection
.
.
The Peonie Collection
.
.
Is this your dream job? If you didn’t do this, what would be your alternative career?
.
At present this is my dream job, although the hours are very long, I consider myself to be very lucky to be busy doing what I love and every day is interesting and an absolute joy. If I could re-study in something new I would become a landscape gardener or possibly a presenter of Gardener’s World but only if Monty Don would come back and co-present with me (it’s a cords and compost thing)…
.
.
Describe a typical working day in the life of Vicky…
.
Every day is very different from the next but here is what I did today as an example:
.
I got up very early, up at 5.30 am (6 is a lie in) so I can have an hour in the studio to look at emails that have come through the evening and plan my day while the house is still quiet. I love lists. I cannot function on a daily basis without lists. I then stop to wake the girls and make the family breakfast then the school run. My working day is in sections:
.
9.00 am – 12.00 noon
*set the printers to finish the remainder of this weeks orders.
*Read and answered emails that came through since 7 this morning. (although this is an on-going job through out the day).
*Made the thread wraps for the sewing cases.
*Posted on the studio blog.
*Drank far too much black coffee.
*Scanned the latest Wedding & Country Living magazines to feed the soul.
*Cut the order on the ‘making table’ (every product is hand cut).
*Stopped for Soup and took my youngest to nursery.
.
12.30 – 2.45 pm
*Continued working on the sewing cases.
*Worked on the pages of the new ‘Vintage Drawer’ web site.
.
2.45 – 5.30 pm(ish)
*School run, collected, fed and watered the kids. For one whole hour I was a domestic goddess trying to maintain a layer of organisation to the house…
.
6.00 – 9.30 pm – the night shift
*Listed the sample requests in the sample diary that had come through today.
*Answered emails that had come through.
*Continued to work on web site and tried not to be distracted by popping over to see what my favourite bloggers had been up to! I’m not very disciplined in the evening.
*Telephoned a client for a quick chat.
.
9.30pm
*Cursed as I realised that I had missed half of Mary Portas’s new series, thank goodness for Channel 4+1 and chilled Pinot Grigio…
.
.
Vintage Love Quote from The Vintage Collection
.
.
Can you give us an idea on price?
.
Prices vary on choice and preference. Price lists are available and are sent out with all of our sample request packs but to give you an idea:
.
Printed Range:
Invitations are from £2.25
Place cards are from £1.10
Order of service are from £3.80
Table Numbers are from £2.25
.
.
Place card from the Miss Fondant Collection in citrus and rosehip from the Rose Collection
.
.
The Vintage Drawer Collection:
Invitations are £9.00 with decorated presentation box
Place Names, flat and tied are £4.00 each
Lavender Pillows are £9.00 each with a decorated presentation box
Reception signs from £8.00
Door signs from £8.00
.
.
Table numbers – The Vintage Drawer Collection
.
.
Can you do a discount for Brides Up North readers?
.
We would like to offer a 10% discount to Brides Up North readers on all orders of £200 or more from the Printed Collections (all stationery products) and new The Vintage Drawer Collection (on reception stationery and gift/favour products only) received no later than the 28th February 2011. Please quote Brides Up North when placing your order.
.
.
Can you create bespoke designs?
.
We love to hear ideas. We can re-colour any of the designs and play around with the scale and layout if required. There is an initial charge of £10-£25 for this, depending on the extent of the work required but this is refunded on orders over £250.
.
.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
.
Inspiration comes from many sources, latest fashion and interior trends, books, a Sunday stroll (I always have my camera with me), vintage finds, days out, our caravan holidays, blogs, lifestyle magazines, my garden…the list is exhaustingly endless.
.
.
Tell us a bit about your plans for your new collection?
.
This new Vintage Drawer Collection is for the vintage loving bride who is searching for something very different, a slice of individuality, a new twist to the ‘make do and mend’ trend that has been with us for a couple of seasons. Each piece is loved and made by hand and therefore each item will be different in its detail. We already have products that will be available to be purchased from the launch date of the 31st January.
.
Invitations, save the date, menus, place names are made to order as these require specific, personal information.
.
.
.
Invitations from The Vintage Drawer Collection
.
.
.
Table numbers, reception signs, lavender pillows, vintage bookmarks and sewing cases are currently made and available to buy from brochure sheets that we can email through to enquirers.
.
.
Lavender pillows from The Vintage Drawer Collection
.
.
Don’t forget we have our new ‘house signs’ for your little abode if you would like to purchase a little piece of the collection today. We always let our blog readers see new designs first so there are plenty of images already posted.
.
.
How can Brides Up North readers get in touch with you?
.
Lots of ways!! You can email me direct with any questions at info@vickytrainor.co.uk. We have our printed collections web site over at www.vickytrainor.co.uk.
.
The vintage drawer web site will be launched on the 31st January and will be announced over at our main studio blog and on Twitter.
.
We have two blogs:
.
The first is our main studio blog and is full of news, current happenings in the studio, things we love and think may inspire you: www.vickytrainor.blogspot.com
.
The second is about the day to day running of the making and packing tables in the studio, from sampling, to orders, to sample packs. We don’t get chance to photograph everything we do but we try and show a good variation of what is currently being produced week to week: www.studiosnippets.blogspot.com
.
Or you can telephone 01642 491087 for a chat about any of your ideas.
.
.
.
.
Anything else that we should know?
.
Become a follower of the main studio blog as we have the odd giveaway and discounts – so it is always worth watching….
.
.
Check back later today for a Vicky Trainor Stationery GIVEAWAY!
.
.
Vicky Trainor Stationery is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier
Contact Brides Up North to submit your business as a Featured Supplier
.
.
