Holchester Designs

Holchester Designs UK Based Surface Pattern & Graphic Designer. Enquiries welcome.

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Blog:: www.holchester.com/blog

It's Flower Show season and whilst we can't all be as green fingered as the show gardeners or the stall holders, it is a...
20/05/2026

It's Flower Show season and whilst we can't all be as green fingered as the show gardeners or the stall holders, it is at least possible to have some low maintenance flowers around us that we can enjoy year-round. And without the sneezes too!

Flowers were in my first stationery collection which I relaunched back in Covid-y 2020, and I go back to drawing them pretty regularly, which is why there's such a range. In fact every size of notebook and notepad has a floral option, although they've all been drawn in slightly different ways for a bit of variety.

What are we cooking this weekend? We're having a family film night tomorrow, then I reckon on Sunday we'll give a Chicke...
24/04/2026

What are we cooking this weekend? We're having a family film night tomorrow, then I reckon on Sunday we'll give a Chicken Kiev pasta bake a go - a new recipe from that has been copied straight into my Recipe Notebook (although I'm using the original sample and it's now not as pristine as this one 😂)

Have a wonderful weekend whatever you're up to!

🌳🌍Earth Day 2026 - Our Power, Our Planet 🌍🌳It is a global day and truly international, but it goes beyond one day. Smal...
22/04/2026

🌳🌍Earth Day 2026 - Our Power, Our Planet
🌍🌳

It is a global day and truly international, but it goes beyond one day. Small contributions, consistently do add up and that's exactly why I partnered with Ecologi - so my customers and I can keep doing exactly that.

But that doesn't mean the day goes unacknowledged, so for today any orders placed through the website will plant 2 trees rather than one.

There's no minimum spend, it doesn't cost you any extra but as a small business who strives to do what they can this is a great and sustainable way for my business to be a part of something bigger. And for you to contribute too whilst getting some lush new stationery!

Happy Stationery Shopping!

16/04/2026

I’m ridiculous. Well, my scepticism was ridiculous. I didn’t believe people when they said how much having your photo taken professionally could uplevel your business. Or change how you see yourself, and your business. But they were right. (Smug gits).

I knew this year I needed to upgrade my imagery, not for the individual product photos but generally across my website and marketing. I need to be in them more - own the fact I’m the one-woman band behind Holchester Designs - and especially show that it’s my artwork on everything and I do genuinely use my own products (because that’s why I’ve designed them).

Meeting was perfectly timed and as a local photographer and business she understood exactly what I was after and had so many ideas of how to get them it was amazing. Not to mention her beautiful was the perfect venue.

Looking at my gallery I really do see a ‘business me’ I hadn’t really seen before and it’s a joy to use the images. So yes, the smug sids were right and I’m now 100% on their team. (Which reminds me I have a festive shoot to organise!)

15/04/2026

I’m Rachel, a colour loving artist and pattern designer with my own brand of sustainable stationery and I design pattern-filled practical stationery for wonderful people like you!

Like notepads that aren’t frivolous but are actually just a small act of creativity - and self-care - to enjoy when you’re writing your shopping list or planning your day.

So if beautiful, planet-friendly and practical things are what you love to surround yourself with, then give me a follow and come see what I’m all about.

It's also shelf-care. (*Insert sigh at the ridiculous pun but it made me giggle so I'm fine with that)But my main point ...
15/04/2026

It's also shelf-care. (*Insert sigh at the ridiculous pun but it made me giggle so I'm fine with that)

But my main point is valid - no matter how dull or routine or 'everyday' what you're doing is, it's not frivolous to want to do it on something that makes you smile, makes those moments feel a little more intentional and which makes you feel proud of surrounding yourself with beautiful things.

I saw a post about using Instagram like we used to, like the true millennial that I am. So that's exactly what I'm doin...
14/04/2026

I saw a post about using Instagram like we used to, like the true millennial that I am. So that's exactly what I'm doing.

Here are some photos I took because the flowers looked stunning and I was feeling inspired. No hooks to catch your attention, no extra off-on-a-tangent caption and no calls to action.

And also, no unnecessary vintage-camera filter or colour editing.

I hope you enjoy the Tulips!

Photos taken by me at the beautiful
in Warwickshire.

03/04/2026

Happy Easter/Spring/Chocolate Day/4-day weekend to you!! Signing off for a few days of peace and chaos (I know you know what I mean 😂) - see you soon!

01/04/2026

This is perhaps a bit overloaded with mini eggs and hot cross buns given Easter is early in the month. But it’s also prob more accurate this way 🤣 With about 2 weeks in the kitchen office with the school holidays my laptop an iPad are being carried lots, and im trying to meal plan even more than usual to cover off the endless snack requests.

Anything interesting on your desks this month to see you through?!

AI is a hot topic. And by 'hot' I mean it's absolutely bloody everywhere, whether we know it or not, and there are so m...
30/03/2026

AI is a hot topic. And by 'hot' I mean it's absolutely bloody everywhere, whether we know it or not, and there are so many conversations about it that it's inescapable.

So apologies I'm adding to the noise, but don't worry - this is a one-and-done post. Sort of.

I know where I stand on things at this point in time, but I also know that there's lots I can learn and that things will continue to change at a pace. So this isn't a set-in-stone opinion either, but I did think it was important to put 'on the record' somewhere where I do stand on it both to give reassurance and keep the conversation open with you all too.

Feel free to leave your comments, and feel free to ignore it entirely.

I did just, however, want to give a quick thanks to Aime .cotton who was the original influence for the post and the format of it. She very kindly said I could be influenced by her, and if you are looking to write yourself some form or post or policy about where AI fits in your small business I would absolutely recommend giving theirs a read.

https://holchester.com/blogs/blog/holchester-designs-and-how-i-use-artificial-intelligence

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