Festive Friday!

Had a great #festivefriday today in association with The GCA. Friday November the 27th starts the spread of good will and happiness. Popped in the post greeting card sends that will be received to officially open up December to Christmas! A sparkly snowstorm of festivity to get everyone in the mood.

There isn’t a better way to get things started nice and early and it’s thanks to the efforts of the GCA that Festive Friday has come about.

Christmas is a special time, showing family and friends how much they are loved and cared for. It can also be a season that highness loneliness to those on there own. By being inspired to give a card to someone lets a smile in to melt away any winter blues.

We love the feeling of receiving cards so naturally at Belly Button we’ve fully embraced this tradition.

Lots of Christmas card writing, mixed in with our official christmas light switch on got us fully into the festive spirit!

Rachel had a huge pile of cards ready for the post!

The Christmas lights where switched on and everyone was in the festive spirit!

Even Tom had chosen a card to send!

Happy Festive Friday everybody! All we need to do now is what treats Santa has in stall ;) x 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at The Hollies Farmshop

Popped by The Hollies Farmshop last week to take a peek at their magical 'Christmas Barn' at the Little Budworth store.

Angie and the team were busy filling the shelves with a huge selection of Christmas cards when I arrived. Amongst the Christmas candles, gourmet chocolates, artisan biscuits, fun gifts and sparkling lights they had different areas of Christmas looks. Our favourite was a copper and gold look with a glisten of frosted snow. Robin our North West agent was even there!

We loved the #barn copper light sign behind the counter.

While I was walking around fairy lights were being strung around huge pine branches and twigs. Such a magical atmosphere to get everyone into the spirit.

Vintage santa and snowman baubles where hanging from this tree in traditional red and green for a nostalgic Christmas feel.

After a tour around the farmshop, Christmas marquee, Christmas Barn and luxury holiday lodges I took in the beautiful Cheshire view from their Hollies Cafe.

Thanks to everyone at The Hollies for such a memorable day.

BELLY BUTTON BLING!

Two Henries‬ were picked up last night for Platinum, Best Male Range and Paloma, Best Relations and Occasions range. 

The Henries Awards are the ultimate accolades in greeting card publishing, and each year some 15,000 cards are entered! 

The award categories span the whole spectrum of greeting card publishing, from humour to cute, art to handmade and everything in between. Selected from a strong judging panel, comprising greeting card buyers from leading retailers including Paperchase, Clintons, John Lewis, Tesco, WHSmith, National Trust, Asda, Waterstones, Longacres Garden Centre, Funky Pigeon, M&P Cards, House of Cards, Foyle and a host of independents to arrive at this year’s finalists. We were so excited to been nominated for 5. You can click here to see all the finalists

Held at Lancaster London Hotel and themed around the glitz and glamour of the 1920s it certainly lived up to a GREAT night @PGLiveLondon. Pictured below Rachel Hare and Deborah Wigglesworth. Well done everyone! x

It's nearly time for THE HENRIES!

We are getting our party dresses ready and dusting off our dinner suits ready for the Henries awards on Thursday night! we’re so excited we've been nominated for 5 awards:
Best Christmas Box Or Pack - Paloma from Belly Button Designs
Best Contemporary Trend Range - Darling Denim from Belly Button Design
Best Male Range - Platinum from Belly Button Designs
Best Spring Seasons Range - Platinum Father’s Day from Belly Button Designs
Best Relations And/Or Occasions Range - Paloma from Belly Button Designs

With a retro cool palette of classic blues from Platinum, beautifully foil embossed Paloma hand finished with deluxe crystals or photographic shades of denim as a backdrop to our loose fine black line drawings of the highly fashion conscious collection Darling Denim…at Belly Button we give you so much to choose from!

We wish everyone who has been nominated the best of luck!

Last week we were thinking of you!

The power of a handwritten message has been scientifically proven to make people feel much more special than receiving instant texts, emails or Facebook messages. This is great for increasing self-esteem and cognitive neuroscientist, Dr Lynda Shaw, firmly believes that receiving cards helps stave off feelings of loneliness and isolation and can ward off the early stages of depression. It also feels really good to know you have made someone happy by simply taking time to send a card.

Last week we embraced the emotional power of sending and receiving cards for by getting the belly button team to send a card a day for National Thinking of You week, A GCA initiative. Further information about this nationwide campaign can also be found at www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk

Why not join us and get happy and continue the great incentive of last week. Connect with the people you love just to say hello, make them laugh, wish them better or simply tell them…thinking of you, and send a belly button personalised greeting card from our online shop! www.bellybuttondesigns.com

Belly and Button - feline fans!

We've been notified across the big pond of the atlantic ocean of two of our newest fans - Belly and Button! 

Their owners Charlene and Ryan had been in a card and gift shop and bought one of our cards and seen our company name! They contacted us and sent these cute pictures. Belly is the beige/lilac one and Button is grey. The picture above is at 6 months old, and below they are 3 years old. Absolutely beautiful and so cute!

Just a note...

Summer is coming to a close and that means for some back to school or marking new starts... so make sure you have a beautiful Belly Button notebook at hand to pen all your ideas into! We've a great selection to suit all personalities and occasions from finely illustrated to shimmering metallics.

Traders can contact their local agents to suitably stock up, and our Belly Button shoppers should head down to the high street or their local boutique card and giftware merchant - happy penning x

Summer "pics" of perfect “picks”!

Jess has crafted up the perfect summer “pic” in our Heaton Moor window… 

Our beautifully light and airy Heaton Moor boutique is full of gorgeous gifts and a huge collection of cards. This boutique is situated on the wonderfully vibrant Heaton Moor Road in the heart of the village. Brighten your day and come take a look at what’s on offer in our selected “picks” perfect for picnics and garden parties not to mention the stationery on show!

Cleverly fashioned out of gift wrap is this summer dress...now all we need is some sunny weather to suit!

You can see more of Jess’s talents at www.fibredesigns.com

Heaton Moor Shop - 155 Heaton Moor Road, Heaton Moor, Stockport, SK4 4HY Mon-Sat 10:00am till 6:00pm 

Hooray Henries!

Wow we are so excited here at the Belly Button designs studio. We’ve been nominated for 5 Henries.

Selected from a strong judging panel, comprising greeting card buyers from leading retailers including Paperchase, Clintons, John Lewis, Tesco, WHSmith, National Trust, Asda, Waterstones, Longacres Garden Centre, Funky Pigeon, M&P Cards, House of Cards, Foyle and a host of independents to arrive at this year’s finalists.

Best Christmas Box Or Pack

Paloma from Belly Button Designs

Best Contemporary Trend Range

Darling Denim from Belly Button Design

Best Spring Seasons Range

Platinum Father’s Day from Belly Button Designs

Best Male Range

Platinum from Belly Button Designs

Best Relations And/Or Occasions Range

Paloma from Belly Button Designs

We are all getting excited for the award ceremony . To see the full list of nominated finalists click here.