boo vake on facebook

You can now find us on Facebook amongst other places (eg. on here, on twitter, & even in the shop!), and we would be very happy indeed if you could take a wee peek. Why, you can even like us if you so wish!

hilary grant scarves

We've got some beautiful lambswool scarves in the shop at moment - including these very special ones from Dundee based knitwear designer Hilary Grant. 

 

Each one is knitted by Hilary on a hand-operated domestic knitting machine before being finished by hand.

They come either finished with lambswool pom poms or as continuous circle scarves long enough to be wrapped around your neck up to 3 times - keeping you super snug! 

 images from Hilary Grant

Treat them right and these scarves will last you a lifetime.

circle scarves £46, llama pom £54, pylon pom £58 

For those on our mailing list.....the winner of our gift voucher give-away was Caroline MacKay!

If you would like to be added to our mailing list use our contact form here (putting 'please add me to your mailing-list' in the message box). 

gift vouchers now available...

We're acutely aware that at this time of year some of our customers' partners/friends/families sometimes get a bit confused/overwhelmed/desperate. So to make things that bit easier we now have the option of boo vake gift vouchers available to buy in the shop (or over the phone if you like). At the moment we have them in £25s & £50s but they could be in any amount you fancy, just ask.

A little late I know, but at last a pic of my attempt at a Donna Wilson creature (from her The Knitted Odd Bod Bunch book). My first attempt at knitting since I triumphantly completed a (well loved) Mondrian styley mohair jumper circa 1982, aged around 12 (it would seem I peaked too soon in my knitting career). The needles were finally picked up again with the arrival of a number of small people this last wee while. Bunga Bear has gone to live with young Fynn, and if his parents ever forget his date of birth they will find it clumsily 'tattooed' on his rear end. Now on to trying to knit with four needles. If anyone has any tips they would be gratefully received!    

There is a very good interview with Donna Wilson here where she talks about her exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, her influences, and the growing of her business. Well worth a watch.

We are now open every day until Christmas!! Check out our gift guides on the website!   

festive hours

Mon 10-5

Tues-Fri 10-5.30

Sat 10-5

Sun 12-4

image courtesy of Jane Foster

wine drinkers gather round...

Whether you fancy yourself as a wine buff or, like me, just like drinking the stuff and haven't really a scooby beyond the general (and generally ignored) rule of drinking red with red meat and white with chicken & fish,  then we have THE tea-towel for you!! Following on from showing us the way with seasonal foods, designer Stuart Gardiner has now turned his attention to enhancing our wine/food appreciation!

There's a version for red & white wine lovers, and they are jam-packed with recommendations for which wines go best with which food/dishes/tastes along with other useful pointers, and which combinations you should absolutely avoid! All that and it dries your dishes too!! Would make a perfect present for just about anyone who partakes in the drinking of the old vino (maybe with a bottle wrapped up inside).

  

a guide to pairing red/white wine with food  tea-towel £9.50

some new donna wilson

I've got a bit behind in showing off some of the new things that have been arriving in the shop recently, so to get back in the groove, here are a few of the lovely new things we have in from boo vake favourite Donna Wilson!  

First timers at boo vake are Big Ted (pictured at top), who is a bit of a stunner (& rather large, measuring in at a height of 83cm), gorgeous arm-warmers & mittens, and mixed packs of cards, perfect for sending or for framing. We also have a number of rather stunning baby blankets.

Taking of babies... spurred on by a number of friends having (& about to be having) babies this last wee while I've finally got round to knitting something from Donna's book The Knitted Odd-bod Bunch . First time I've picked up knitting needles since circa 1982 so needless to say 'he' has some imperfections but I'm hoping that might add to the 'charm'!  Will maybe post a pic after said 'odd-bod' is safely in it's new home.

big ted £60, arm-warmers & mittens £38, pk of 5 large cards £12.50 

The shop wil be closed tomorrow (Thurs 6th) as I'll be away at a funeral. Back open as normal on Friday.

dee beale

Often I'm asked how I choose things for the shop. Sometimes it's quite a quick immediate process - I see something I think would fit the shop, I get in touch, and I order straight away. More often than not though I see something I really like (and would fit the shop) but it's just not the right time, I can't give it the space or it's just not what I 'need' at that time. These products /designers/artists/makers then go into my 'wishlist', existing in notebooks, my computer or just in my head, and remain there until an opportunity presents. I have a very big wishlist. And sometimes an opportunity never presents.

Which brings me on to the beautiful original prints we have in now from printmaker Dee Beale. They were indeed a long time in the coming. I bought one as a present for a friend a couple of years ago (the one above infact) and was so impressed that I immediately had Dee on that 'wishlist', but as our space for artwork is so limited in the shop, there she remained until very recently.
So we are very pleased indeed to have Dee's work here in boo vake at last. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do.

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnpartridges (open edition)

red hare (open edition)

winter doves (edition of 100)

snowy owls (edition of 65)

song thrushes (open edition)
original prints by dee beale (approx 10" x 7") £25 - all images courtesy of Dee Beale

the future imagined...

Strejda Ken & teta Arlenka (& their dog) sitting out in the garden beside their stone house, with apple & plum trees for shade and mountains in the background. It is Scotland of course, so it has just rained.
An unexpected delight inside a card from some little friends in the Czech Republic. Thank you Šimon & Adam!! We look forward to living there (and to having a dog)!
(And thanks to parents Magda & Miro too!).

there's been a wedding

Well, we've gone and done it now. And who'd have thought that it would be so pain free and actually quite enjoyable.

Here it all is in pictorial form from young Skye and Fraser. As you can see from Fraser's artists impression we are indeed two bottles of beer (man beer & lady beer). And despite Skye's concerns no monsters did in fact appear (apparently).

taking a wee break (again...I know,sorry!)

Got something which just needs to be done this weekend, so unfortunately we will be taking a little break from this Friday until the end of the month (although hoping still to be open on Saturday 27th....watch this space!).

boo vake

will be CLOSED on

Friday 19th - Wednesday 31st August

*OPEN SAT 27TH 1.30 - 5PM*

ps. will be kicking about on Monday 22nd (although not in shop) but if there is something you really need (birthday/wedding present etc) then email us beforehand & we can be there.

more bonnie bling...

och aye cufflinks

It might be 'a bit wet' here in Perth at the moment but we're not down, oh no indeedy, because we have some new bonnie bling creations to cheer us up!

aww naw cufflinks
och aye earrings

midgies love me badge

selection of necklaces
cufflinks (och aye, aww naw) £15, earrings (och aye) £16, badges (midgies love me, och, blether, peely wally) £10, necklaces (bonnie, blether, stoater, och, peely wally) £15

wonderful orange

Loving the new colours of the latest Creamola Foam design from Gillian Kyle (very boo vake). And, as I was saying to a very lovely customer just minutes ago, the colour orange - not only is it warm & mood-lifting, but goes with just every other colour imaginable (in my mind anyhow). We have these new tea-towels & aprons from Gillian's new organic cotton range in the shop now. The tea-towel also works well stretched over a canvas (like wot we have in our shop window at the moment).

organic cotton creamola foam tea-towel £7.50, organic cotton creamola foam apron £17

people will always need.... trays!

I'm a big fan of trays and a big admirer of the work of British designers Hannah Dipper & Robin Farquar (aka People Will Always Need Plates), and happily these two weaknesses of mine can be well and truly satisfied with the arrival in the shop of PWANP's wonderfully colourful Ecletic Avenue birch wood trays.
As the name suggests, this avenue houses a range of archetypal British homes from various eras, all the way from the Georgian townhouse to the contemporary modular home, & complete with matching modes of transport. The trays are made in Sweden from layers of birch wood (the masters of the wooden tray it would seem), and come in two sizes, large in process blue or 70s green, and the small one in blood orange.
We also have a few PWANP mugs in stock at the moment, and for the young (or not so young) architectural enthusiast, a colouring-in book of British 'architectural masterpieces'.

large eclectic avenue tray £25, small ecletic avenue tray £17.50, mugs £11, colouring books £6

new in.....

We have a new batch of stripey woollen goodies in the shop from Lindsay (aka The Black Rabbit) - including lavender bod keyrings, media mittens (for your phone or ipod), stripey lavender hearts, and Stripey Pipey & Bare Bear (above) in some lovely new colour combinations.

Bear Bare, aswell as being extremely cute, is also baby friendly -meaning one of his close relatives has been pulled & prodded (and other things that you're better off not thinking about by somebody in a white coat) just to prove he's a fit companion for the smallest of the little people.

lavender bod keyrings £5, lavender hearts £5, media mittens £10, stripey pipey £25, bare bear £27

back....with orwell and goode

Well, now been back from our hols for a week and a half now (went to Stockholm & Helsinki but more on that at a later date) - so about time I showed you some of the new things that have been appearing in the shop in the last wee while. First up are some screenprints and tea-towels from design partnership Orwell and Goode (aka Zuzana & Bronagh), who from different parts of the country (one in the Highlands & one in the borders) design & handprint an array of distinctively Scottish homewares.

And here are some of the Orwell and Goode teatowels & screenprints in the shop!

dandy deer teatowels £9, in the woods (with stags) teatowels £9, in the woods screenprints (with stags or hares, light or dark backgrounds) £29

a wee break

We'll be taking a wee break from shop duties next week - so we will be closed on the following shop days......

tues 28th june - closed

wed 29th june - closed

thurs 30th june - closed

fri 1st july - closed

sat 2nd july - closed

....BUT we'll back (all refreshed and raring to go) the following week with a special Monday opening!!!

MONDAY 4TH JULY - OPEN 12-5

a new designer...

New to our shelves at boo vake are a whole range of biscuity treats from Dundee based designer/maker Nikki McWilliams - from biscuit badges, brooches, prints and fabulous screen-printed Tunnocks Caramel Wafer & Teacake cushions!
1

Confession now.... such is my own dread at being without a cuppa I have a bit of a habit of stashing the odd teabag or two in various pockets or bags (which invariably end up as a heap of tea leaves in amongst other pocket debris or falling at my feet when searching for change at a busy checkout) so I for one can see the utter brilliance in encapsulating an actual teabag into a badge and pinning it to yourself! (see below). Well done Nikki!!

As well as her Emergency Tea badges, we also have Caramel Wafer & Teacake badges, wooden Custard Cream & Digestive Biscuit brooches, and a celebratory limited edition screen-print of 'the best of the basic biscuits' - the not to be underestimated Malted Milk!

caramel wafer cushion £39, teacake cushion £28, caramel wafer/teacake badges £2, emergency tea badge £3, custard cream/digestive wooden brooches £8, malted milk limited edition screen-print £12

All images courtesy of Nikki McWilliams

on our walls...

Above (& below) are a few of the new cross-stitch samplers we have here at boo vake from the most wise Miso Funky. All stitched by hand in sunny Glasgow.

a selection of framed Miso Funky samplers

from top: mini hoop samplers £12, gold framed samplers £29, cross-stitch badges £2

triangle tweed pouffe

We love Harris Tweed here at boo vake and we especially love the new Harris Tweed & leather Triangle Tweed Pouffe we now have in the shop by Glasgow designer & upholsterer Eleanor Young (aka Fun Makes Good).

in the shop

On a smaller scale, Eleanor has also sent us some rather lovely leather bird brooches. They come in both gold or silver leather and are mounted on a white Fun Makes Good card.

triangle tweed pouffe £120, leather bird brooches £10

new donna smith notebooks

A new delivery of felt-covered notebooks by Shetland designer/maker Donna Smith are now on our shelves at boo vake.

Beautifully made from pressed felt, with a quality (removable) hard-back notebook cum sketchbook inside. All made by Donna in her home studio on the island of Burra in Shetland.

A5 flowerbud £20, A6 stem £15, A6 bird £15.

24 hrs in kintyre

Took advantage of the lovely weather and went out west at the weekend to the Kintyre Peninsula (around the Tarbert area) - and had a wander along the Crinan Canal in the sun.

Nothing beats the west coast of Scotland when the sun comes out (for me anyhow). Thanks to our very own Wills & Kate for letting us crash their holiday.