30 The feeling of home Susan Ryder, Managing Director of Heritage Crafts discusses the company’s gorgeously British designs and why we can’t get enough of them! Tell us a little bit about the company. Where are you based? When did the company start? The company started in 1987 and is based near Rugeley in Staffordshire. What’s your background and why did you start the company? I worked as a primary school teacher for many years, specialising in music and English. When I had the opportunity to retire, I turned my hobby of counted cross stitch into a business. How has the company evolved? In the late ’80s cross stitch was becoming very popular and we were lucky enough to grow with it. I’d been producing my own designs for a while and it was lovely to be able to spend most of my time designing. We started by selling our kits at local shops and at craft fairs all over the country. I gave talks, demonstrations and workshops and it was very rewarding to see how much people enjoyed cross stitch and how therapeutic they found it. We next exhibited at trade shows in the UK and America, started working with other artists and designers and the business grew quite rapidly. Our kits were in most cross stitch shops in the country and we worked with distributors in other countries. It was a very exciting time! What do you specialise in? We’re very much a British company. My first designs were of British buildings such as cathedrals, cottages, castles, and later maps of the British counties, and this British theme still continues. We have lovely country scenes, landscapes and shoreline designs as well as British animals and evocative scenes from the past. Talk us through the current products you’re particularly excited about. Do you have a favourite? We’ve just launched eight new designs. I love John Clayton’s Summer Cottage, which depicts a beautiful English cottage and garden, and Karen Carter’s three seaside designs are full of colour and detail. Nigel Artingstall’s Hedgehogs in Spring is very attractive and Peter Underhill’s The Pessimist reflects his sense of humour. Our range of Silhouettes has been around for many years and it’s nice to see two new designs in this series. At the moment I’m enjoying working with Peter Underhill on our Golden Years designs. These feature a couple who are enjoying their golden years with their dog, and they’re proving to be very popular.
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