Hi All,
You might have noticed that earlier this month Wren & Rye collaborated with another independent northern maker, One Mama One Shed, to bring your pooches the “Dogs Dinner” set.
Needless to say, we’re absolutely delighted with the finished product!
As part of the collaboration, we were featured on the “One Mama, One Shed load of Inspiration” blog, and taking part in that post left me feeling rather inspired. So I thought I would use this opportunity - and shot of mega-enthusiasm - to introduce the Wren & Rye monthly round up!
I am hoping this will be a good way of giving myself some space and reflecting on the highs and lows of the past month, away from the daily pressures of running a business and trying to share interesting nuggets with you all on Instagram (or not so interesting as is sometimes the case 🙈).
And, who knows, it might even be enjoyable to read… Maybe!
So, without further ado, here goes…
Reading… after finishing “Her” (read more about that here) I haven’t really had time to start anything else, which is a bit depressing, but at least I’ve been able to dip in and out of the latest Happy Newspaper! Oh and I’ve been reading back through my Creatival notes… So many useful snippets of info!
Listening to… whatever my boyfriend has been inflicting upon me this month. Currently it’s a weird mash of hip-hop and whiney, old Bright Eyes tracks. To each their own I guess.
Watching… I’ve watched some of the Bake-off, but currently not up-to-date. I’ve watched half of the second season of Big Little Lies, but Sky has deleted the rest of the recordings, I’ve given up on Sabrina on Netflix and I STILL haven’t watched Stranger Things 3. I really need to re-assess my priorities!!
For fun… after all the travel I’ve done over the past month for Wren & Rye, I’ve become partial to a Metro Sudoko and Crossword.… and I may or may not be getting one on the daily dog walk - just for fun… No travel required lol - am I getting old?
Making… all things Halloween and our exciting new AW19 collection!
Attending… I have got to say this month has been pretty jam packed, it feels as though I’ve barely been home! The month kicked off with Creatival Manchester. It did NOT disappoint (where do I sign up for next year already?!?… Seriously). I then headed to more than my fair share of trade shows (as a visitor, just for research), starting with the AMAZING Top Drawer - where I managed to catch-up with Stacey from Darwin & Gray, Laura from Peg and Board and got to meet Therese from Small Business Collaborative IRL. Pets @ Glee was next up at the NEC Birmingham, where I chatted to the lovely people behind the Pet Food Brand Scrumbles and got the joy of meeting the fantastic people behind Tigger Towers! My last show of the month was PATs at Telford International Centre, a trade show for EVERYTHING pet.
Alongside the trade shows, I had a long but fantastic trip down to Derby for the “To Market” workshop held by Stacey from Darwin & Gray, Deb from Fabulous Places and Lauren Barber - Brand Photographer. I also went to The Etsy Summit (whilst ill, so sorry if I infected anybody :some-form-of-emoji:) where I heard talks from Nicola (@fernandesmakes) and Katya (@easyinstamcr) about community - which was definitely a talk I NEEDED - head over to our stories highlights to see more from that amazing day. And last but certainly not least, the month was rounded off at Barkers Brunch, selling Wren & Rye wares at Jessie Heywoods Remarkable Gin & Food Emporium as part of the fabulous Pug Party and Dachshund Diner, put on by Laura… I was in my element! It was so lovely to see so many beautiful little doggies playing and strutting their stuff in Wren & Rye pieces!
Planning… a “new” website. Not the major upgrade of last time, but some nice tweaks to our current design to make it even easier for you all to shop and find what you are after, especially coming up to the festive season. Some SUPER exciting gift boxes for your special little pooches are also in the planning stages. Our mini Christmas Collection is now underway too and the excitement. Is. UNREAL. I’ve already got some mulled wine and matchmakers in for the night of that launch, no joke!.. Oh, and how could I forget, a lot of time has been spent planning and designing our wholesale catalogs this month… It’s taking longer than we (the royal we) first thought, but a lot of research and effort has gone into the whole process and I’m super excited about how it’s turning out.
Loving… our GingerFizz BowDangles. ALL stock of these is VERY limited right now (thank you all so much!), it’s a favourite over here too!
I’m also loving Tuilbee’s dreamy soft furnishings in ALL the colours. They are simply stunning! She has just released some amazing new pieces too… Head over to her website here to check them out, you won’t regret it!
What October holds… NEW STOCK, Halloween, new website, the announcement of our Festive Markets and a preview of our Christmas Collection… When in October are all these are happening? I am not quite sure… How will they will all happen in October? I cannot be certain… But that hasn’t stopped me before, so watch this space!
*Just a note, I don’t control or have any influence over whether Halloween happens or not, or even when it happens. So that will still be on the 31st of October, don’t worry lol.
Wren & Rye’s Treat, Toy or Trick of the Month… Wren is still all about Baby Bear and her American football from PAH (see previous blog post here), she’s not a toy destroyer so her toys last an age lol. She still has her puppy toys! Rye & Maize are LOVING their new Scrumbles Gnashers Daily Dental treats!
September Lowlight:
Inheriting the the cold from hell from my boyfriend. 10 days, still got it. Cheers.
Top 5 things this September:
1. Our BowDangles being featured in the “Pets Corner” of The Cheshire Magazine.
2. Managing to launch an amazing collaboration with another indie Manchester Maker: One Mama One Shed.
3. Smashing the AW19 photoshoot!
4. The Doggy Special of Cheshire Life magazine giving Wren & Rye a mention!!!
5. Attending all the inspirational events and being surrounded by amazing people bossing their small businesses.
And I am going to add a sneaky number 6…
6. Completing ALL three of the Metro sudokus (easy, medium AND hard) without any assistance from the boyfriend.
Mic Drop.
…
(Hopefully meet me back here this time next month to read about our October round up - providing I haven’t worked myself into a frenzy)
…
(I took the edge off the mic drop didn’t I?)
Ash - Wren & Rye xx