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Country Heart is a true cottage industry
based at Plum Tree Cottage on the English/Welsh border in the
heart of England's few remaining ancient forests.
Founded in 2000 by textile designer Sian
Longstaff and graphic designer Philip Newbert. Sian and Philip
have over 20 years experience designing fabrics, homewares and
decorative products for industry here and abroad, for names such
as Mary Quant, Liberty and Coloroll and high street stores such
as Debenhams , Marks and Spencer and BHS as well as clients in
America, Japan and Europe. Country Heart was created from a desire
to do something different, free from the constraints of an increasingly
trend oriented industry and have more control over our designs
from conception to production. The idea was born to combine a
love of the countryside and all our decorative and design skills
to generate a new business designing and producing our own range
of country style gifts and decorations. With the wonderful technology
of the world wide web mail order seemed the obvious way to reach
our customers together with a twice yearly catalogue both designed
and produced by us.
Drawing inspiration from the surrounding
countryside as well as country art from around the world the
Country Heart range is designed and handmade in the Country Heart
studio and workshop. Also included in the collection are designs
by named craftspeople specially selected for their individuality,
good design and country style. The collection comprises the Wooden
Decoration range and the hand stitched and embroidered Fabric
Collections. Our popular Personalised Range is designed to produce
something unique to mark those very special occasions, each one
hand made with care. All our frames are hand made and painted
and finished by us in specially chosen colours to enhance our
pictures.
The Country Heart web site is designed
and maintained exclusively by Country Heart and is constantly
being updated and improved to make it easy to use and navigate.
New designs are added throughout the year as they become available.
A monthly e-newsletter service
runs from the site, this keeps customers informed of new designs
special offers, competitions and treats. This is a popular service
which is free to receive and easy to unsubscribe from.
Approximately twice a year Country Heart
produces a catalogue. One features our everyday range of gifts
and decorations including the personalised range and the second
is sent out in September and features our extremely popular and
sought after Christmas decorations.
95% of our materials are sourced in the
UK, locally where possible. We do import a few fabrics and embellishments
from America where needed to create that special country look.
All our packaging is re-cycled using materials gleaned from local
businesses. The only exception being bubble wrap for which we
have not been able to find a suitable alternative which will
ensure our pictures and more delicate items reach our customers
safely.
Mindful of our customers privacy and aware
of the growing mountain of junk mail it is the Country Heart
policy not to pass any customer information to third parties
thus ensuring that our customers are not bombarded with unwanted
mail.
We are always happy to receive suggestions
for improvements to the site or perhaps for products which you
would like to see added to our collections. |
