
A humorous interlude, at least for the cat-lovers amongst you. It seems that wherever I choose to work, our cat Bert decides to sit.
The strange thing is, he seems to appear from nowhere, on a pile of books or papers, on my laptop, on my lap even…

I’m usually so immersed in work that I don’t notice until it’s too late…

Then he just lies there, looking all cute, and I struggle to move him…at least without giving him some fuss first…which is all he’s really after
Categories: cats · random

I mentioned the other day that we’re exhibiting at Kleine Fabriek in Amsterdam. Well, as the show enters its second day, I thought I’d share an update.
By the way, we did toy with making the trip across but the timing just wasn’t good. Shame, but we’ve left everything in the capable hands of our Dutch rep, Saskia.
We secured late and minimal space but Saskia’s done a fab job. Here’s a peek at our (modestly-sized) display, which has been turning plenty of heads…

We’ve had a stack of enquiries and catalogue requests so the signs are good. At the very least we’ve raised our European profile a bit, which is what we wanted.
The show has another day to run then I’ll post a full update
Categories: news · retail

Our ‘little egg’ print has appeared in a compendium of owl-related kids products in the July issue of Junior magazine…

You should recognise our egg (pumpkin) print in the bottom left-hand corner (click image to zoom). Check out the full range of wall prints in our shop
Categories: media · wall art

We’ve just booked a spot at Kleine Fabriek, a children’s trade fair taking place in Amsterdam this coming Sunday-Monday.
The fair showcases around 400 collections from 24 countries, blending global brands like Guess and Armani with smaller independents like…er…us.

Thanks to our new Dutch rep Saskia from Stones Kids Agency for securing this late (and great value) spot. A fab start to our relationship.
We’ve already been added to the exhibitor list and after some frenzied sample sending and press-pack creation we’re ready to go.
This event should give us some great European exposure
Categories: news · retail · suppliers

Lots of people (in addition to Karen & I) make Olli & Lime tick. They beaver away on our behalf, far from the relative ‘limelight’. Don’t feel bad though, we do pay them! Plus they get the occasional mention here.
Anyway, time to welcome more of the supporting cast in the shape of two (North American) sales agents. These are the people who tirelessly (we hope) sell our products into stores across their respective regions.
The first is Tanya, from Monkey Business in Portland, who is covering Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Amazingly, she secured a big order within her first week, which is very impressive!

We’ve also added a new Canadian rep, Sophie from In Bloom Kids in Vancouver. As she’s only just had samples we’re not expecting any sales just yet! Fingers crossed as always though!
If you’re interested in becoming a sales agent, or if you’d like to stock Olli & Lime, you can email me direct: andy@olliandlime.com
Categories: olli & lime · retail · suppliers

This one kinda speaks for itself…

…only other thing worth mentioning, a couple of items are reduced by 40-50% but you’ll have to be quick. You can see everything on our sale page
Categories: offers · olli & lime

We’re nearing the end of a massive production run that’s been less than smooth, shall we say. One of the bi-products is a long waiting list for our cushions/pillows.

Apologies if you’re on the list. The good news (as I’m sure you’ve guessed) is they’ve arrived. Even better, a new production process has given us the best results yet!

Pictured from the top are the ‘george’ and ‘billie’ designs. You can buy them now from our shop
Categories: cushions · new products · olli & lime · pillows

Some pretty exciting news. I mentioned some time ago that we were appearing in a Rotovision book, Print and Production Finishes for Sustainable Design.
We submitted some text and images then forgot about it. Well, now it’s been printed. Even better than that, we’re on the cover…

(That’s our ‘Carrie’ design second from the left)
I haven’t actually seen the inside yet (I’m hoping it looks OK) but clearly this is good exposure for us.
By the way, thanks to Keith at Mini Moderns (also on the cover) for alerting me to this
Categories: books · media · olli & lime · printing

Making the most of the beautiful weather last weekend, we took short trip to the nearby village of Painswick…

It’s a typical Cotswold village; great views but not much to do, except breathe clean air, enjoy the oddly shaped trees and reflect. Perfect then.

I also tried out my sat nav and (although the route it plotted was slightly ‘creative’) it got us there! This is good news as my sense of direction is questionable at best.
Another bonus was the cheap parking…

It would’ve been even cheaper to park on the road but this was the first spot we came to…and at 10p an hour you just can’t grumble
Categories: gloucestershire · random

No, not me…or Karen! It’s Josh, one of our three distinctly ‘different’ cats. Josh doesn’t do conventional. Case in point, here he is drinking direct from the tap!

Josh likes to play it his way. He does what he wants, when he wants. If he’s in the mood for some fuss though, his affection rivals either of our other two cats.
For the record, anyone who says cats are boring or don’t give you anything back is nuts. Our other two cats prove how ‘unique’ their personalities can be…
Egg (the only girl of the bunch) goes crazy for chocolate! She is also fascinated by any new shoes and bags (honestly) that enter the house. So, I guess she’s conforming to the female stereotype!

Our other boy cat, Bert, thinks he’s a dog. He comes every time you call and follows you (me in particular) around the house, which can get quite annoying!

Bert even plays fetch (seriously). He’ll retrieve pretty much any object he can carry (repeatedly) including sticks…in true doggie fashion!
Hope you enjoyed this furry insight
Categories: cats · home · olli & lime · random