“I love greeting cards. I have my card drawer full of them.

Rather than being bought for specific reasons, I buy cards

when I see ones I like and then select from these to suit the

person. I specifically like the New Yorker designs - they just

don’t date and will always be relevant,” reveals Kirstie Allsopp,

the nation’s favourite ‘crafting mummy’ who also knows a

thing or two about property buying, antiques and now, thanks

to a licensing arrangement with Cardmix, about greeting card

production too.

It is tricky to trace it back

to the defining moment when

Kirstie Allsopp became a

household brand; when her

patchwork personality of no

nonsense advice, stitched

together with a passion for

patterns and crafting, inspired

the modern day generation to

hanker for pastimes of the past.

But having risen to

prominence from TV series

such as Channel 4’s Location

Location, Location (and its off shoot series)

and, most recently through Kirstie’s

Handmade Britain, it seems timely that the

Kirstie Allsopp name is now gracing an

array of products through a licensing

programme that is being managed by

BBC Worldwide.

“My whole trajectory has always

revolved around people’s homes; interiors and design,” says Kirstie,

shying away from using the term ‘career’. “Being involved in these

products now is part of that.”

With her father, Lord Hindlip being a former chairman of

Christie’s, her mother Lady Hindlip, an interior designer, and Laura

Ashley (and Cath Kidston for that matter) sharing the family tree, it is

easy to come to the conclusion that Kirstie’s comfortable

relationship with home interiors is in her genes. And this is

something upon which she built, having worked for designers Nicky

Haslam and Jane Churchill before spending four years as part of the

Country Living magazine team before 13 years ago breaking into

TV as a presenter of the hugely popular

property and craft shows.

She has inspired the nation to blow the cobwebs offtheir sewing baskets and get crafty, she has sharedher house nous on buying property and now hername is adorning a range of licensed products -from greeting cards to bed linen.

PG enjoyed a homespun heart to heart withKirstie Allsopp, as she prepares for her appearance asa keynote speaker at Spring Fair this month.

Allsopp’s FablesAndTruths

Above: Two designs from Cardmix’sKirstie Allsopp range.Left: Happy at home.

Kirstie For Knowledge?Kirstie Allsopp will be visiting the SpringFair on the Monday afternoon of the show (February 4 2013).She will be spending some time on the Cardmix and theBlueprint stands, but she will also be 'taking to the stage' in twoof the show's feature 'theatres'.

When And Where:

12pm - 12.45pm Hall 6/7 - Trends Briefings and Seminar Stage1pm - 2pm Hall 4 L12 - on the Cardmix stand2pm - 2.30pm Hall 4 K38 – on the Blueprint Collections stand3.15pm - 3.45pm Hall 2 - Gift Box Demonstration Area

80 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 81

Face To Face

For Kirstie, the move into

licensed merchandise, first through

giftware for M&S (produced by

Peter Black) then bed linen and

kitchen textiles (both from Ashley

Wilde) and now, launching at

Spring Fair, greeting cards (from

Cardmix), stationery and gifts (from

Blueprint) - and other

collabarations in the pipeline - is

another strand of involvement with the design world.

“I can sell snow to the Eskimos - buying and trading is easy for

me - but until recently I just didn’t have a clue about manufacturing

- how you take snippets of my favourite fabrics and translate them

onto, say greeting cards,” admits Kirstie.

The greeting card and

giftwrap designs from

Cardmix, as well as the other

licensed products, all have

one element in common –

they all are based on patterns.

Kirstie is no ‘solid block

colour woman’ she is a huge

fan of florals, spots, stripes,

tartans - often all together.

“If I can help to do one

things with these products it

will be to share my passion for

patterns!” says Kirstie boldly. Having inspired millions of people to take up crafting and

‘make their own’ through her TV series, does she not feel it is a bit at

odds with persuading people to buy these readymade products

branded with her name?

Compared to some of the accusations that have been

thrown at Kirstie over the years - one of the most outrageous

being that she was responsible for the housing crisis, such

was her influence through Location, Location Location - she

relishes the opportunity to justify the licensing partnerships

she is building.

“It’s great if I can inspire people to have a go at crafts, but

we are all such busy people leading such busy lives that we do

not always have the time to make things from

scratch. As I see it, these are products that

are useful and if they make us feel cheerier

then that surely has to be a good thing.”

Added To The CardmixCardmix’s publishing director Millie Boyd hasbeen in her element delving into KirstieAllsopp’s treasure trove of prints to create astunning collection of 12 greeting cards andgiftwrap, which are being launchedat Spring Fair.Millie believes that one of thereasons Kirstie resonates so stronglywith the British public is that sheinspires people to be creative. “Herideas are accessible to all... you don'tnecessarily need to spend hugeamounts of money to createsomething special, you just need tolet your creative juices flow and beresourceful,” says Millie.

As for translating the essence ofKirstie Allsopp into greeting card designs,Millie reveals that “the overall inspiration for the range is Kirstie’s loveof prints, colour and craft. The overall effect is a crafted range which isnot only on trend, but feminine, fun and colourful.”

Explaining the development process of the collection’s creation,Millie says that the starting point were sheets of Kirstie’s various prints(maybe taken from dresses she owns or home textiles in hercollection) – which range from pretty florals to the more graphic.

“From these we cut-out and crafted objects such as birds,cupcakes, butterflies etc. These paper cut-outs were then placedwithin patterned borders, shaped with pinking shears, which inthemselves are obviously a sewing/craft tool!”

Blueprint On KirstieThe Spring Fair International marks theofficial launch of Blueprint Collections’ rangeof stationery, bags and gift products that areproduced under licence with Kirstie Allsopp.“This is a significant launch for us; one thatbefits the significance of Kirstie as someonewho is known and trusted by and is popularwith a large section of the British public,”commented Helen Webster, marketing director ofBlueprint Collections.

Helen is in no doubt as to whyKirstie is so popular with theBritish public.

“Kirstie’s popularity stemsfrom her no-nonsense and straight-talkingapproach to people, their interests and problems(so unlike many of our politicians and celebrities).Also, the impression you get from Kirstie is that shedoes indeed know what she is talking about or atleast will have an opinion on it; She is a real person.All of this, plus her obvious passion for whatevershe is doing at any given time, is very entertaining

and can be reassuring in our current world.”What’s in the range?: Blueprint’s Kirstie Allsopp range includes

several useful ‘practical but stylish’ items including a set of storageboxes, a magazine rack, a recipe journal, jam jar labels, giftwrap tape,shopping bags and phone and tablet cases as well as stationery itemssuch as notebooks, jotters and a pencil case.

Above: Blueprint’s KirstieAllsopp collection includesstationery items as well asstylish practical productssuch as phone covers andstorage boxes.

Above: Kirstie in ‘hands on’ mode.Left: Kirstie’s love of patterns will be obvious inthe products developed.

Some Kirstie Revelations:What was your recent Christmas buying tactics?“I buy for 74 people at Christmas, so I always adopt a theme. This year [2012]

I went for all scarves, the year before was ceramics.”

What is your favourite era for interiors/design? “It would have to be the Victorian period, but not the ‘dark Victorian side’.

What I love is the combination of the Indian influence that was in

evidence, as well as the tartan mania, the velvets, the lace, the braiding -

and of course so many of the Christmas traditions were during that time.”

Is the homespun theme here to stay?“I think so. People have always been into crafts, but it has been bubbling under

the surface. It is now being acknowledged and has come out of the closet!”

What is something you do every weekend?“Every weekend we tend to go to antique fairs and car boot sales – I bought

11 pictures at one last weekend!”

Above and right: A taster of Cardmix’sKirstie Allsopp card range.

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