On Monday I took a rare trip to Edinburgh and apart from fighting through the festival crowds I managed to get round a number of great small and independent outlets of which there are loads in our capital city. Those familiar with Edinburgh will spot that (apart from one) these are all within the locality of the Grassmarket and this is mostly because I have almost no sense of direction (having orientated Edinburgh round the wrong way for years!) and, in the absence of being able to see the sea or any other water feature, too much directional information to deal with makes my head spin and results in meltdown (this also happens in department stores and shopping centres). Anyway I was pleased to have got from Waverley Station to along Princess St (for the
west end craft fair), quick stop off at Habitat, then upto and down Victoria St to the Grassmarket, and I was particularly pleased to find Broughton St was roughly where I thought it might be. Result.
Clockwise from top left are
Iconic (favourite for vintage & retro bits & bobs),
Analogue (on recommendation from customer - fabulous & perfectly formed art & design bookshop & gallery - might just be new favourite shop),
The Red Door Gallery (mecca for affordable artwork & lovely things),
Concrete Wardrobe (designer run contemporary space championing Scottish design),
Armstrongs (vintage clothing emporium),
Owl & Lion Gallery (lovely print applied to textiles, notebooks & cards),
Godiva (handmade independent fashion & vintage clothing), and lastly
Blackcherry (cafe with extremely tasty baguettes and great pot of tea!).
ps. if you're in Edinburgh and you fancy a decent pint then the
Beehive Inn (also on the Grassmarket) has been taking ludicrous amounts of ale from the Inveralmond Brewery (brewed by my lovely man!). I'm sure there might just be some left.
Some of the goodies in that afore-mentioned parcel from illustrator Beth Morrison. Above her screen-printed hello bags (in a very lovely shade of turquoise).
Some really rather fab brooches made from Beth's illustrations. You can choose from tortoise boy, jacket man, girl with duck, chap in underpants and many many more.
We also have some of Beth's larger hanging wall pieces which I'll post when I've get some pictures.
Packages and parcels arrive in all shapes and sizes to the shop. This one arrived yesterday from illustrator Beth Morrison. More on the contents soon!
Just in....a new batch of vibrant felt jewellery by Edinburgh designer Lynsey Walters. Some new designs like the folk stem & jolly pigeon pins (above), hulahoop & mod bracelets (below), and some old favourites such as her gorgeous little lovebird pins and 80's leaf bracelets.
More cards in the shop from the lovely Kate Holliday from Edinburgh based Sunlight on Closed Lids.
Yesterday these fabulous Lisa Jones tea-towels arrived at boo vake. They are printed on fairtrade organic cotton and come packaged in a cute little cardboard tube. In two designs - town & night owls - and £10 each.
Also a new selection of Lisa's hand-printed cards are now in stock (a few of which are pictured above). 
Clockwise from top left are Iconic (favourite for vintage & retro bits & bobs), Analogue (on recommendation from customer - fabulous & perfectly formed art & design bookshop & gallery - might just be new favourite shop), The Red Door Gallery (mecca for affordable artwork & lovely things), Concrete Wardrobe (designer run contemporary space championing Scottish design), Armstrongs (vintage clothing emporium), Owl & Lion Gallery (lovely print applied to textiles, notebooks & cards), Godiva (handmade independent fashion & vintage clothing), and lastly Blackcherry (cafe with extremely tasty baguettes and great pot of tea!).
