On the Edge are On the Up

Well, after months of thinking about it we’ve finally signed the lease on a new workshop. The thought of having so much room is great. In reality we know it’ll end up filled to the brim and we’ll want something bigger, but for now it’s going to be fantastic.

Our workshops at home are crammed to overflowing and even the house has been used as a store room for all our customers’ lovely art, so to ‘get our house back’ is going to be a real boon.

It’s very near to the centre of Market Harborough, so for those customers who like to call on us we’ll no longer need to explain how to find the rural depths of Gumley.

All we’ve got to do now is move an awful lot of equipment, and stock . . . and get the gas connected, and get new phone lines . . . and move all the computers . . . and get a new phone system and . . . get a new phone number and . . . . . . Oh blimey, I better get on with it!

We Finally Did It !

Jules is Pleased

Having said that we were thinking about getting a Computerised Mount Cutter we’ve finally bitten the bullet and have had a nice shiny new machine whirring away in the studio for a couple of months now. Frighteningly (having just looked back at the previous blog) it was April when we were thinking about it and I said something’s got to go. Well something did go – my workbench! So Jules gets a new toy and I get crammed in the corner! Actually it all works quite well, but don’t let on !


Like most new bits of equipment we’ve bought over the years, Jules is adamant she doesn’t need it. Once installed however, woe betides anyone who tries to part her from it.

Jules Fathoming the Software

It’s a fab piece of equipment that saves us a huge amount of time. It arrived in the nick of time to help us through what has been a truly hectic and busy summer period (thank you to our customers who kept us busy). To date we’ve only used it for basic mounts, but it does have a whole host of tricks and features for cutting fantastically creative mount designs with ‘V’ grooves, multi apertures and embossing. So once we’ve had time to play with all these new features we’ll be able to offer even more exciting mounts to our customers.

Time & Size Keep Going

Blimey, where do these weeks go? I promised myself I’d keep our blog up to date, the next thing I know is that March disappeared and April is rapidly slipping away. I’m really glad to say that time is flying because we’re very very busy, so perhaps it’s not so bad that we spend all our time framing and printing rather than scribbling blogs.

Well these frames just keep getting bigger and we thought we ought to record this one. It’s actually for a rather large mirror. It’s always a relief when we get mirrors finished and delivered as handling, storing and transporting huge sheets of toughened mirror-glass is a nightmare. We’re always convinced we’re going to break it – which, of course, we never have!

The Annual Spring Fair Visit

Well, Jules and I ventured off for our annual excursion to the Spring Fair at the NEC. We had already been told that the art & framing section was greatly reduced from previous years and this very much proved to be the case. Some of the major payers in the art and framing world were missing. A sign of the times!

Our main reason for this year’s visit was to have a look at computerised mount cutters . . . . . again! We’ve wanted one of these toys for a few years now, but a lack of space and the rather hefty price tag has always stopped us from taking the plunge. However, Jules is determined we should have one so it’s just a matter of which brand. The thought of a multi-aperture double mount cut in just a few minutes is pure heaven. So watch this space . . . . while I try and find some space. (something’s got to go!)

Harborough Mail Sponsorship

We've arranged with the Harborough Mail to sponsor the ‘Memory Corner’ section of the newspaper. For those who don’t know this little feature in the paper, it’s where they publish some great old photos of Harborough and the surrounding areas.  All being well the good folk of Harborough will see our logo-man dangling his legs at the top of this section each week!  We’re also sponsoring the area on their website where you can order prints of any of the images they have taken or used for the newspaper. http://www.photostoday.co.uk/

I ought also to say a quick thank you to Alastair Campbell of The Ideal Marketing Company http://www.idealmarketingcompany.co.uk/ who helped arrange this for us. A man of many contacts!

On the Edge are blogging!

Well as it's a new year the time has come for me to broadcast my ramblings to the wider world.  As technical Ludites we've resisted all advances in modern technology, but I guess we can't ignore it for ever.  So once again we embark on a learning curve and see if there's just a small amount of room left in our brains to learn something new.  So, watch this space!