Journal

It was great to be back at designjunction during the London Design Festival for our third year - this time in it's new home at the recently revamped King's Cross. 

We're excited to be exhibiting at designjunction for the third time this september. This year designjunction has moved to a permanent new home at Kings Cross and we'll be there for the duration of the show at Stand 53 launching our brand new collection to the trade and public! There's new prints, new products (including fabrics by the metre!) and a few special limited edition pieces that will be on sale...here's a sneak peek for now...

Panel is an independent curatorial practice led by Catriona Duffy and Lucy McEachan from Glasgow whose work I have admired for a long time. They create exciting, ambitious and diverse projects that promote design such as Scotland Can Make It! 2012 and The Inventors of Tradition (which are two of my favourites). So I am delighted to share that myself, artist Bernie Reid and fashion researcher Mairi MacKenzie are working with them on an exhibition this summer called Seine Net Queens for Timespan in Helmsdale.

Thank you to everyone for all your support in the Etsy UK Awards! The winners were announced on Monday here and I was surprised and delighted to be voted the Regional Winner for best maker in Scotland! There were eight scottish makers in the final sixty, many of whom I know make incredible work, so I am truly flattered to be given this title.

I'm just back in the studio after a short break and getting my head around the news that I have made it to the finals of this year's Etsy UK Awards. There is an INCREDIBLE prize up for grabs that could really make a huge difference to my business...

Back in January this year we launched our new Disruption collection at Maison & Objet in Paris. 

With a fresh colour palette of blues, pinks and greens, this new series of designs is a continuation of our interest in 'Nature's Camouflage' (see our Eyespot print launched last september for the first design in this series).

2016 began with a busy January to get us out of our holiday mode and back in the studio at full speed! We took part in our first overseas trade show with BEDG at Maison & Objet in Paris last month and it was a great experience. We met some incredible buyers and press, plus we were lucky to be surrounded by some of the finest companies from the UK who were also exhibiting their wares with BEDG.

As well as new products, a new year also means new plans and new tweaks. As a result we have had to revisit some of our existing prices due to several significant increases in overheads and suppliers prices in the last six months. Many of our products have remained at the same price for the last couple of years, but it's not possible for us to maintain the quality and integrity of our products without increasing some of our prices slightly.

If shopping online isn't your thing then we'd love to welcome you along to any of the events we're attending over the next three weeks where we'll be selling our wares in person...

Why not shop our £20 and under section to find the perfect stocking filler for him or her? With purses, notebooks, napkins, make up bags and more to choose from, there's a variety of colourful treats to brighten up anyone's stocking this year!

Two of our favourite colours....pink & red! Together or separate, we've always loved them.

Myself and Hilary Grant recently took a trip together and spent a lot of time discussing Black Friday...this is a refined version of our thoughts and conversation on that trip:

"This year a few of us small business owners have decided to opt out of the Black Friday promotion or have decided to scale back their discount offering..."