tour de Mull!!

It wasn't quite Mark Beaumont but myself and the other (Ken) are just back from 5 days cycling (and camping!) round the Isle of Mull! Here's a few pics from the 'great adventure'.

A quick detour to Duart Castle.

Ken at Lochbuie.

Me having a well earned cuppa after reaching the end of the long rise in Glen More (and the sun came out!).

Leaving Calgary behind.

Ken at the top of the long upwards stretch on the Calgary/Gruline road.

Glorious sunshine overlooking Ulva.

A waterfall!

On the road back from Glengorm to Tobermory.

Some might remember I did a bit of damage to my knee a wee while back (many thanks to Mr MacLean and PRI for sorting me out!) so I've been doing a bit of cycling since to keep things working, hence this trip. I was a bit apprehensive about tackling Mull's long slow (never ending!) hills as I'm more used to undulating Perthshire as far as cycling is concerned. But it was all good in the end and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Single track roads were a bonus as it meant many more opportunities to stop - which I'm all for! Although I spent a large chunk of my childhood on Mull it was great to get round to parts I wasn't at all familiar with. And can I just recommend waterproof socks - I couldn't have done it without you!

sukie

We have new things from Brighton's Sukie! First off are the travel journals which have silkscreen printed covers and inside a mix of lined, plain & squared paper. They also have sewn-in envelopes to hold all the 'stuff' ' you've picked up along the way! Priced £9.50.

Next we have the perfect multi-purpose notebook. One half of it has plain paper, then turn it over and the other half is lined! The covers are silkscreen printed and the paper is recycled (as are all the Sukie notebooks we have). They are £7 each.

Finally, we have 3 more designs of Sukie's screenprinted hankies. They are big enough to use as scarves, or (as I've done in the shop) they can be stretched over a canvas and hung on the wall. They are £8 each.

I made-a-book!

We now have these 'make-a-book' kits by illustrator, book artist & printmaker Alison Hardcastle - so I thought I'd have a go (results below!). Each kit (there are 4 designs) has a screenprinted cover & A4 sheet, a needle & thread, and an instruction sheet. What you end up with is a fabulous little Alison Hardcastle book or notebook.

The technique is really simple but amazingly effective and if you are new to bookbinding I can almost certainly guarantee that once you've made your first book you'll be thinking about making your own from scratch. Perfect introduction for any budding artists or illustrators in the family. Each kit is £8.

lush!!!

Some lovely new cushions from Marie & Maria at Lush Designs. Also we have a new batch of hanging birds in orange, pistachio, pale grey & teal.

The monkey lampshades make a return in a smaller size (17cm x 20cm). And we also have mermaid shades in orange or turquoise to fit your lamp-bases (hurrah!).