Craft Focus - Page number 34 - August/September 2021 (Issue 86)

34 All kitted out Derek Cox, Business Owner of Artcuts tells us more about the company’s fun, innovative craft kits Tell us a little bit about the company. Where are you based? When did the company start? Established in 2012, Artcuts are designer- makers of contemporary wooden craft shapes and seasonal decorations with an emphasis on quality and design. Our workshops and design studio are based in Surrey, where we manufacturer all our products for our trade and retail customers. What’s your background and why did you start the company? We started Artcuts because we wanted to provide the craft market with beautiful, well-designed natural wooden shapes of the highest quality. Our family run team all have expertise working in retail along with skillsets in product design and so it was a natural step for us to set up a company for ourselves. How has the company evolved? In 2012, we initially started out as a craft retailer and developed our range of blank wooden products to showcase how quality, natural wood grain can be used in craft. As the business grew, we were regularly approached by retailers to supply our products at trade. We developed ranges for the Christmas decoration sector along with the tourist market. For years, we’ve been supplying Heritage organisations such as the English and Scottish National Trusts with product ranges for their heritage sites. Although our focus has essentially been on our finished decorations, we’ve now developed craft kits for the wider trade market. These kits are suitable for a variety of retailers, from craft shops, stationery shops, Heritage sites and general gift retailers. We have the scale and management structure to produce product in the UK and remain competitive. We offer short lead times and we can produce right up to and through Christmas and other seasonal events. What do you specialise in? Artcuts specialise in creating original and contemporary designed products made from the finest raw materials. Our Birchwood is best in class, sourced from sustainable Finnish forests. We source direct from Japan with our collection of hand silk-screened Chiyogami Papers, which we believe is the best of the best when used for crafting. We also use Liberty of London fabrics for their glorious, detailed prints which harmonise and blend beautifully with our wooden shapes and craft projects. Talk us through the current kits you’re particularly excited about. Do you have a favourite? Our Sheep Kit is one of our favourites. It’s fun, instantly recognisable and easy to make! We strive to design projects that are the perfect balance of fun and innovative, which we showcase in our Sheep Kit. It’s also packaged in a Fairtrade cotton drawstring bag so it’s the ideal gifting solution. The cotton bag also makes it easy to merchandise, the perfect pick-up line! Do your products suit all levels of crafters? Yes. We design all our craft kits so that they can be enjoyed by beginners through to crafters of a higher level. All our kits