Gift Focus - Jan/Feb 2019 (Issue 111)

174 giftfocus MANDARIN ARTS Stand: 4F70 W: mandarinarts.co.uk Pomegranates were traditionally hung in Chinese homes to encourage fertility, and this remains an important tradition in Chinese culture. The vase with the flowering and fruiting branches of the pomegranate tree reflects this old custom. Chinese character “zi,” written in two variants, is a pun for both “seed” and “children.” Alongside deer and cranes, peaches represent longevity for the Chinese. The Eight Immortals were sent by the Emperor to search for the secret of immortality. They set sail from China and are said to have discovered Japan. When they resided in the palace of the Queen Mother of the West, the wife of the Jade Emperor, they took part in a sumptuous banquet called the Feast of the Peaches. The blue and white lamp and lidded pot with the carp and waves design, reminiscent of Hokusai, also recalls the Chinese saying “The carp has leaped through the dragon’s gate,” describing a hard- working person doing well. The Chinese Year of the Pig begins on the 5 th February, 2019, and Mandarin Arts welcomes everyone to its stand to see its interesting lighting, giftware and artefact ranges. ALWAYS SPARKLE Stand: 3L45 W: alwayssparkle.co.uk Always Sparkle is a well-established greetings card brand based in Cheshire. It creates stylish, design-led greetings cards that focus on striking fonts and special finishes to brighten the recipient’s day and spread a little happiness. Always Sparkle’s cards are proudly printed in the UK on FSC- certified boards. The company is exhibiting for the first time this year, and it is launching two brand-new greetings card collections. The first, Made you Smile, features 24 fun and contemporary designs covering birthdays and other special occasions. With an eye-catching iridescent foil border and complementary pastel colours, the designs are perfect for spring and summer. The second collection, Simple As, features 18 bright typographic designs where the words are the focus, creating a simple and stylish greetings card. Take a look at Always Sparkle’s exciting collection of greetings cards in the debut area of the greetings card hall. FASHION X FACTOR LTD Stand: 20G26 W: xfactorwholesale.co.uk Fashion X Factor Ltd is a wholesale company dealing in ethnic/hippy, medieval and gothic clothing and accessories. The company also sources incense, scarves, bags, costume jewellery, brass figures, throws and many giftable items. Established in 2006, Fashion X Factor Ltd has been trading for more than 10 years. DINGBATS NOTEBOOKS Stand: 3J23 W: dingbats-notebooks.com Dingbats is an eco-friendly brand of notebooks developed in a masterful consideration of materials and design. Dingbats are handmade notebooks designed to show personality through minimalistic ornamental motifs and sound environmental credentials, including FSC and vegan certifications. All materials used are degradable, vegan and recyclable. At Spring Fair, Dingbats is presenting its hugely popular Wildlife Collection and its newest Earth Collection. The latter highlights fragile ecosystems from around the globe that are threatened by human activity, with extra features such as key and index pages, numbered pages, location infographic spreads, two bookmarks and more features catered to the Bullet Journaling world. The company’s newly upgraded fountain-pen-friendly paper will also be on the stand, giving buyers the opportunity to try it out for themselves. Most importantly, Dingbats is launching its new partnership with WWF UK. As of 2019, two per cent of the company’s UK revenue will go to WWF UK to support wildlife and environmental conservation. exhibitor profiles