Journal

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..."

Christmas is fast approaching! So, to make things a little easier for you, here's our last order dates to guarantee delivery in time for Christmas:

Last week we were lucky enough to be selected as one of thirty British companies to travel to Tokyo to take part in the UKTI Fashion & Lifestyle Mission held at the British Embassy. Having never been to Tokyo before, or Japan even, this was an opportunity that we couldn't quite believe was happening.

Earlier in the year we were asked to create some merchandise for the Glasgow based band Belle & Sebastian (you can read more about this exciting commission here) and one of the products we developed was a rucksack. Initially myself and Fi (their lovely merch manager) chatted about doing a special duffel as we're both big duffel bag fans, but I'd been thinking about creating a rucksack for a while and thought this was maybe a fun way to develop the product...

We're delighted to be taking part in the Scotland Re:Designed Interiors Showcase this week alongside many other great scottish companies such as Fun Makes Good, Dana Finnigan and Morag Macpherson.

Tampere is the nearest large town to Arteles and also home to Muumilaakso - Moomin Valley, a museum dedicated to the works of Tove Jansson. Although small in size, it didn't disappoint as her drawings are incredible and my personal highlight of the exhibition. No photos are allowed in the museum, so there was only opportunity to snap my souvenirs and happy face outside the entrance...



Week three of my Finnish adventure actually began in the beautiful capital of Estonia, Tallinn. It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss as it's so near to Helsinki by boat, so I took the short ferry ride over and wasn't disappointed. I have never seen so many incredible doors...

Although technically part of my month at Arteles, I thought my visit to Marimekko's factory and headquarters in Helsinki deserved it's very own blog post as it was such an inspiring trip.

As a lover of collecting things for inspiration, I decided to take time out the studio this week and take in the local delights of Hämeenkyrö, the nearest town to Arteles with a selection of secondhand shops and flea markets. I wasn't disappointed and managed to find a selection of blue objects (I'm aways drawn to blues) that included these amazing patterned Arabia cups...

I'm really lucky to be spending August here at the Arteles Centre (pictured above) in rural Finland on a residency alongside seven other artists from all over the world. The last few months have been particularly hectic, so I feel very privileged to be able to take time out from my regular studio activity and think about new work and process recent things.