Top Drawer, autumn 2014

We're packing our bags and heading off to London this September, for the Top Drawer trade show at Olympia exhibition centre. You'll find us on stand N37.

Sarah Andreacchio, and Muxxi have both created new everyday, and Christmas ranges for us, which will be launched at the show.

Opening times
Sunday 14 Sept - Tuesday 16 Sept: 9.30am - 6.00pm

Introducing... Laurent Moreau

The author and illustrator of several children's books, Laurent Moreau lives and works in Strasbourg, France, having moved there to study at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs. The images for these six cards, are all taken from his most recent book Après, published by Hélium éditions, Paris.

His fresh and modern images are full of decorative plants and animals, which he says emanates from growing up in the countryside, among fields and trees - "I love nature, it makes me feel good, laying in the grass, looking closely at the leaf of a tree, a pebble..."

Eschewing the use of a computer, Laurent creates his artwork almost entirely by hand, enjoying the tactility of paper, the smell of the ink, and the textures of his materials. His passion for traditional printing techniques such as engraving, and silkscreen, inspires use of a limited range of colours - "I’m not so at ease with the computer, so I draw with pencils, paint with gouache, I cut and paste… I change techniques. I like being spontaneous, the gesture, the line, little dots…" 

His artistic influences include BlexBolex, Sophie Dutertre, Jochen Gerner, Atak, Olle Eksell, and Saul Steinberg. Aside from drawing, Laurent dabbles in Polaroid photography, enjoys gardening, cooking, and plays in a rock band with friends.

The 4 x 6" cards are printed on premium textured card, and come with coordinating coloured envelopes. Available now, you can see the full range online here

Imitation is NOT the sincerest form of flattery.

We have some rather disappointing news to share with you, and we're writing this in support of one of the designers we've worked with, Eloise Renouf.

Eloise recently came across some new spring/summer season products on sale in Debenhams department store, with pattern designs that bear more than a passing resemblance to her own work, which is sold on Etsy.

This is one of the pattern designs by Eloise, used on our giftwrap and notebooks.

And these are some of the kitchenware items produced by Debenhams.

Eloise has taken this matter up with Debenhams, but their response has been very dismissive. She posted on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/eloiserenoufdesign;

I've been speaking with the head of buying for home wares. They have actually admitted buying my work for "inspiration". The wrapping paper has been gracing their office. They have simply "drawn inspiration" from "a variety of sources" and so their design is "original".

We're a teeny tiny company, and value the talent of the artists we work with, by paying them a licence fee for their designs. If we can manage to find the money within our limited budget, then surely larger companies could easily do so, rather than using someone in-house to create an imitation.

This is a widespread problem for many small businesses/artists. Other people we've worked with, such as Gemma Correll, and Tatty Devine, have been victim to even more blatant copying of their designs.

So we want to help name-and-shame those responsible for this kind of behaviour, in an effort to perhaps persuade them to change their ways. As well as raising public awareness of this issue, so that they can make their own judgement over where they choose to shop.

UPDATE, 5th March 2014:

Post by Eloise Renouf Design.

Introducing... Vikki Chu

New for Spring 2014, is a collection of eight greeting cards featuring the delicate watercolour lettering, floral patterns, and wild animals of Vikki Chu. The 4 x 6" cards are printed on premium textured card, and come with coordinating coloured envelopes.

Vikki Chu is a freelance illustrator and pattern designer from Richmond, Virginia, now based in New York. Whilst Vikki enjoys experimenting with new techniques, and uses Photoshop for post-processing, she regards freehand drawing as the most important and enjoyable part of the illustration process.

"I usually use either a Rapidograph pen or a mechanical pencil. When starting an illustration, I like to dive straight into the drawing and build from there. My sketches are very loose, which I like, because it keeps me engaged in the drawing process. When sketching from life, I carry a refillable brush pen filled with an ink/water mix for washes. Watercolors are also great and I have been using them more frequently."

Available now, you can see her full range online here

Introducing... Muxxi

Our new range of cards this summer has been designed by Norma de León, an illustrator from Guatemala City, who works under the name Muxxi.
There are eight greeting cards in the range, which are printed in the UK using vegetable based inks on card produced from sustainable managed forests, whilst the accompanying gift wrap is made from 100% recycled paper.

From digital illustrations to murals, Muxxi's work centers around surrealistic dream worlds filled with mysterious, sweet and colourful creatures. She explains  “I always had attraction for the surreal; movies, pictures, animations etc. My characters are a mix of all those things inside my mind. I love patterns, organic shapes, something abstract and harmonic at the same time. Above all, I like the spontaneity in what I do, and thinking of something lovely and cute.”

Muxxi has exhibited her art around the world, in Germany, Canada and the UK. She also has appeared in numerous publications including Computer Arts, and the Pictoplasma Character Compendium. For more about the artist, visit www.muxxi.me

You can see our full range online here

Second anniversary 20% discount offer

To celebrate 2 years successful trading, we're offering our followers a 20% discount on everything in our online store for the next two weeks.

Just enter the coupon code 2YEARS when prompted during the checkout process.
There's 20% off wholesale orders for new and existing stockists too, contact us for details.

Valid until 14th July.
NB: Make sure you type the code in UPPERCASE

best wishes,
Betty & Dupree

Sarah Andreacchio

Our final new range for this spring is a vibrant series of  'Animal Habitat' cards by Sarah Andreacchio

Currently living in Rouen, France, Sarah's designs are full of joyful animals and plants. She experiments with various techniques including gouache, papercut collages, and computer based illustration. These are brought to life with unusual palette choices and large blocks of colour, producing beautifully simple, exuberant results.

Sarah also writes a blog called ‘My Vintage Avenue‘ devoted to children's book illustration of the 1950s, which is where we first encountered her. The work of artists from that era such as Abner Graboff, Stig Lindberg, Miroslav Sasek and many others have all influenced her style.

If you are interested in seeing more of Sarah's work, and to buy prints or original artwork by Sarah, head on over to her website: cargocollective.com/sarahandreacchio

Alyssa Nassner

Our second new range for this season, is by Alyssa Nassner

A surface designer and illustrator from Baltimore, Alyssa's illustration style is inspired by vintage botanical prints, science, nature, and hand rendered typography. Alyssa strives to keep her work playful and fun, aiming to brighten someone's day, by adding a bit of colour to their home.

Alyssa is an active contributor to the worldwide illustation community online, co-running the collaborative blog 'Ten Paces and Draw'. As a career that often results in working alone from home, or spending late nights in a studio, the project encourages artists to share and interact, creating new work in the process.

To celebrate the launch, Alyssa is offering a special discount on purchases of prints from her online store.
For more details visit: http://www.alyssanassner.com/betty-dupree/ 

Osian Efnisien

We are launching three new card ranges for Spring 2013.
First up, and appropriately enough for St David's Day, we have eight cards by Welsh artist Osian Efnisien.

Brought up in the isolated mountains of Snowdonia, North Wales, Osian would spend the dark winter months indoors watching cartoons, playing Super Mario Cart, and drawing.

Influenced by the 'Superflat' culture of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, his work has progressed from street art ad campaigns for fictitious brands, to solo gallery shows exploring two dimensional character variations, and geometric patterns.

Osian's work featured in the latest Pictoplasma Book, and he will be speaking at the Pictoplasma Character Conference in Berlin this April, alongside Jon Burgerman, and Feltmistress.

Here he is being interviewed about his practice, for a Welsh news channel.

If however, you're not fluent in Welsh, you can find out more by visiting Osian's website: cargocollective.com/motatomi

Blog and Buy Sale: lucky dip giveaway

We're running a giveaway with the lovely folk at Blogandbuysale. There are four packs of our Christmas cards up for grabs, and it's super easy to enter, just lucky dip. Entries are open until 12th December, 9pm.
See link below for full details... good luck

http://www.blogandbuysale.com/2012/12/lucky-dip-giveaway-betty-dupree-christmas-cards/

Christmas gift guide 2012

Most of the artists we've worked with have their own online shops, or have produced exclusive items for other stores. Here's our top ten pick of their wares, which we think would make fantastic gifts.

1. Tom Frost 'Waves Will Rise' screenprint £145
http://theboyfrost.bigcartel.com/

2. My Two Toms 'Who We Are...' LP £10
http://stitchstitchrecords.co.uk/stitches/who-we-were-and-what-we-meant-by-it/

3. Ben Newman 'Bento Bestiary' book, published by Nobrow £12
http://www.nobrow.net/2774

4. Nicholas Frith 'Red Deer' screenprint £18
http://www.etsy.com/shop/nicholasjohnfrith

5. Leah Duncan 2013 calendar US$32
http://www.etsy.com/shop/leahduncan

6. Marcus Oakley 'London' poster from Human Empire 12 Euro
http://www.humanempireshop.com/Poster/Plakate/Artprints/marcus-oakley-london-poster/

7. Gemma Correll t-shirt from Buy Olympia US$20
http://www.buyolympia.com/q/Item=gemma-correll-just-pour-the-coffee-in-shirt

8. Lizzy Stewart 'Toska' self published zine £6.50
http://www.bettyanddupree.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=41&product_id=168

9. Bjorn R Lie 'Log Cabins' giclee print £75
http://bjornlieillustration.bigcartel.com/

10. Eloise Renouf 'Trees' tea towel £10.95
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EloiseRenouf

End of season sale

We're having and end of season clearance, with 30% off all textiles;
scarves, tea-towels and cushion covers.

So, why not treat yourself to a little something, or buy early for Christmas!
Very limited quantities available, see them here

Featured: Design Marchand blog

Very pleased to see several of our gift wrap designs featured on the Design Marchand blog, alongside some delightful handprinted work too...

Our first anniversary

We're celebrating one year of trading today. It's gone incedibly quickly, and we've exceeded a lot of the goals we set ourselves. A big thank you to all the wonderful artists we've had the pleasure of working with, and of course to our customers and stockists. Lastly, our thanks to all the journalists, bloggers and Pinterest users who have featured our products, as well as our followers on Twitter and Facebook.

We've got lots more new products to launch in the coming months, and today is also the official launch of our new Eloise Renouf wrapping paper.

Eloise Renouf giveaway

To mark the launch of our new notebooks designed by Eloise Renouf, we're giving a pair of them away.

If you're already a fan of our products, then it's safe to assume that like us, you have a love of paper goods and pattern design. These combine beautifully in the form of 'endpapers', the lining found on the inside of hardback books. Often overlooked, they display an attention to detail, that we have embraced in producing our own books (although, as ours are paperback books, they're not strictly endpapers, but do give a similar visual effect).

We want to celebrate this under appreciated element of design, so are asking you to raid your bookshelves and send us a scan/photo of your favourite endpapers. We'll be posting the submissions onto Pinterest for all to see.

The endpaper design we judge to be the best, will win a pair of Elosie Renouf notebooks, a copy of Uppercase magazine #13 (which featured Eloise's artwork on the cover), and a selection of our greeting cards.

There will also be a second prize of a pair of notebooks, for the design which receives the most likes and repins on Pinterest.

How to submit an entry:

Tweet your image to @Betty_Dupree

or

post it onto our facebook wall; https://www.facebook.com/bettyanddupree.co.uk

Please credit the Title & Author of the book, and if possible the illustrator and year of publication.

We know that won't all fit in the space of a Tweet, but get in what detail you can. Alternatively, post the image to your own blog, and Tweet us a link to it.

Terms & Conditions

1. You may submit a maximum of 3 images per person.

2. If more than one person submits the same image, the first instance will take precedence.

3. Play fair - submit original images, not something you found via google.

4. Deadline for submissions is 12 noon on Saturday 16th June (British time).

5. The judges decision is final.

introducing... Eloise Renouf

Here's a preview of our new notebooks designed by Nottingham based illustrator and designer Eloise Renouf, which will be launched next month.

Eloise draws upon inspiration from nature and mid-century design, and re-interprets these with additional modern influences and her own personal perspective. The notebooks have a mix of plain, lined and squared pages, with spot illustrations thoughout. We will also be producing an accompanying range of wrapping paper.

There's a profile of Eloise in the current issue of Uppercase Magazine, who selected her work for their cover. http://www.uppercasegallery.ca/uppercase-journal/2012/3/27/cover-artist-eloise-renouf.html

We'll be running a competition to give away pairs of notebooks very shortly. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to find out when.

Blogged: Atticus and Finch

Atticus Finch was the name of the lawyer in To Kill A Mockingbird, as played by Gregory Peck in the film adaptation. Atticus and Finch is an interiors and design blog by Emily Bludden who kindly wrote about us and Leah Duncan recently: http://atticusandfinch.co.uk/2012/04/you-me-betty-and-dupree/

Print and Pattern

The launch of our Leah Duncan gift wrap in January featured on the Print and Pattern blog

Architektur und Wohnen

we're a little late picking up on this one, but think it's still noteworthy.

German style magazine Architektur und Wohnen picked one of our Lizzy Stewart cards to feature in their Christmas issue, alongside pieces from Rob Ryan and Rifle Paper Co.

Leah Duncan greeting cards

To accompany her popular patterned gift wrap, we now have 12 Leah Duncan illustrated greeting cards available.


You can see the full range here