girlwithbeads chosen for Royal Academy's RAted range!

Well 2015 has started on high for girlwithbeads as my work is featured in the new Royal Academy RAted range!!

RAted is the Royal Academy’s showcase for emerging British design talent, with hand-picked items from up-and-coming designer-makers.

Emily Rubner, from the Royal Academy, explains "In 2014, we asked the brightest UK-based design talents to submit their most distinctive products to be selected for the inaugural RAted “Open Call” range. We were looking for the finest quality, and; originality in; form and function. The RA’s award-winning retail team whittled down nearly 300 applicants to a group of 34, who presented their products to us at an Open Call at the RA in September 2014. We were extremely impressed with the quality and variety of original designs and the high standard of the submissions. Our team had difficulty selecting the very best, but we’re delighted to reveal the first 2015 RAted range."

Source: http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/rated-new-designers-2015

Four of my designs will be available for sale from the Royal Academy Shop from 26th January. See for yourself here: http://shop.royalacademy.org.uk/girl-with-beads

How My Flat Cap Bags Became Famous!

You might have spotted me & my Flat Cap Bags on BBC1 show The Apprentice in November last year.

I was invited to present my Flat Cap Bags - pitched as city-meets-country fashion - to the teams for selection for a sales task at a country fair - The Royal Bath and West Show in Somerset. And to my delight they were selected!!

You can see for yourself how the teams got on here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04sybzd/the-apprentice-series-10-8-country-show

I had been sworn to secrecy about the show for months and its so exciting to finally be able to tell everyone now. The feedback so far has been great and its amazing to have so many people talking about my design!

Me & my husband also went to watch the filming of The Apprentice: You're Fired! which included Dara O'Briain putting a Flat Cap Bag on his head - brilliant!

Read more about my experience on The Apprentice in this piece I wrote for the Folksy Blog!