Round Up & Achievements of 2013

Yikes! It's New Years Eve already! This year has totally flown by. There has been some good times, some very good times some ABSOLUTELY AMAZING TIMES and a few not so good times ... but that's life. You can't appreciate the good without the bad and whilst this year has had a few bumps in the road, we have to admit it's been our best one yet. I had no idea what was in store for us in 2013 and I am totally delighted and very proud of how it all turned out. I thought I would create a little post of our year in highlights... are you ready?

January
Achievements: our stationery was featured on Refinery 29 with Uncovet
Diy's: edible glitter sugar, book clock, how to make freezer paper for t shirt stencils, vintage button earrings
Obsession: Homemade videos like Dance Like Nobody's Watching

February
Achievements: Found out we were a winner of Blog & Buy Sale Award
Diy's: Constellation Cards, mountain jewellery, how to make oil cloth,
Obsession: Dave Grohl on Chelsea Lately,  Cable and Cotton lights in our old studio set up

March
Achievements: First stall outside of Edinburgh, in bonny Glasgow.
Diy's: pastel peppermint creams, teacup pin cushion, his & hers Pacman pillows
Obsession: Wooden brooches! We totally expanded our range of prints, pencils and products and were particularly happy with these as we got so many compliments from them :)

April
Achievements: Became Goodie Goodnesses first featured artists & launched their new monthly subscription boxes - such a huge honour!
Diy's: sequin heart patches, geo jewellery, dye t shirts with bleach, washi tape notebook, washi tape flowers
Obsession: An adventure of a lifetime to Hawaii meant obsessing over hawaiian shirts, learning how to surf and the discovering of the incredible Kate Spade!

May
Achievements: Our hollow book diy got featured on Apartment Therapy, our pom pom diy got published in Homespun Magazine
Diy's: washi tape giftbag + bow, how to make an iPad case, hawaiian shirt cushion, wrist rest mousemat
Obsession: trying to get super organised and get back on track after such an amazing holiday! Discovered of Firmoo glasses and learning the History of Typography

June
Diy's: glitter heels, dip dye ombre, malted chocolate marshmallows, scallop edged drawers (ikea hack),
Obsession: Pocket mirrors! We expanded our range again and have fallen head over heels for these pocket pals :) 'I Love It' by Postino

July
Diy's: how to pack a carry on (flight essentials), cork cloud noticeboard, how to pack for a day at Disney, washi tape stickers, glitter fabric pencil case
Obsession: Packing light, meeting my favourite mermaid (... infact everything Disney!) Visiting NASA and Krustyland,

August
Diy's: paper rosettes, felt cat brooch, diy confetti & envelope template,
Obsession: iPhone cases! We'd been wanting to make these for a while and are SO HAPPY with how great they look :D Facebook - we finally set up a page!

September
Achievements: after being chased by them since January, we finally joined NotOnTheHighstreet.com!
Diy's: geode ring, fabric band aids, washi tape feathers,
Obsession: Comic Con came to Scotland! We went to an awesome Classic Car show, I became obsessed with Vivienne Westwoods new line and cute food photos and we watched Peanuts cover 'Hey Ya' a ridiculous amount of times :)

October
Diy's: hot chocolate shells, polka dot plimsoles, halloween bunting
Obsession: Kitchen accessories by Joules (swoon!) Scary Movies and Edinburgh's new Ghost Bus Tours. We also popped down to London for the NFL game :)

November
Achievements: We created a diy for Vintage Life Magazine and were super proud to have a stall at the incredibly amazing Renegade Craft Fair in London! We also did our first ever Solo Exhibition 'You Want Fries With That' at Sofi's. I can barely put into words how delighted we are about all these wonderful things!
Diy's: pocket mirror case
Obsession: We were massively inspired by our fellow makers at Renegade and began our new obsession with vintage Japanese adverts. We also fell in love with the simplicity of Cintascotch's work and got to interview the adorable Claireabellemakes!

December
Achievements: We became one of Storenvy's first ever Featured Brands, had our brooch featured in Knit Today magazine, created our first ever window display at Sofi's and participated in our second collaboration with Goodie Goodness!
Diy's: giant candy table decorations
Obsession: We got to interview one of my favourite illustrators, Debbie Greenaway and had our first ever christmas on NOTHS.com. It was totally incredible! We also made it to 400 sales in our Etsy shop. What a fabulous year!

We can't believe our eyes at how great our list of achievements is :) I hope next year is as good as the last if not better! Thank you all for your support lovely readers - words cannot describe! We hope the good fortune has been following you too and we wish you all a very merry New Years Eve...

Farewell 2013!

20% Off on Etsy!

Hiya everybody! We hope you've had a wonderful holiday so far. We've been having a bit of an eat-a-thon and a sleep off marathon. I don't think it's possible to get bored of eating leftovers and sleeping in, I think I might try and do more of this in 2014 :D Now we've started to come out of hibernation, I thought it would be nice to do a quick wee sale to get in the spirit of the season... 

Use the code HAPPY2014 to get 20% off your order in our Etsy shop. It's only valid till the early hours of 2nd January and it even includes the items in our lovely new SALE section! 

Fingers crossed we can make it into the New Year by reaching our *400th* sale on Etsy :D 

Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope you all have a cracking day with lots of good food and family merriment :D Roll on the figgy pudding - we'll be partying till 2014! xox

DIY Round Up: Gift Wrapping & Party Inspiration

Whoa! Time flies when you're having fun! We've been busy prepping for the holidays and getting ready for the big party tomorrow, so I thought it would be lovely to do a DIY blog post with a round up of gift wrapping diys and party inspiration for you all. Tis the season to be generous with washi tape after all! Here you'll find some free Christmas gift tags to print out, a diy showing you how to make little gift bags out of wrapping paper, some cute constellation cards and even a little pom pom flower garland amongst others... May your Christmas Eve be craft-tastic and full of merry joy!  

washi tape feathers

Christmas gift tags

how to make a gift bag and washi tape bows

washi tape stickers

pom pom flower garland

constellation cards 

confetti and envelope diy

Hope they come in handy sweeties! 

Happy Making 

xox

UK Last Orders For Christmas!

Ho ho ho! Christmas is super fast approaching and it's full steam ahead here at Vivid HQ. I just thought I would remind all you lovely UK readers that our final orders date for Christmas delivery will be Thursday 19th December as the last recommended postal date by the Royal Mail is the 20th. If you require Next Day Delivery please don't hesitate to get in touch - we'd hate for anyone to be left disappointed this year and will do our best to help you out as quickly as we can :) 

We're down to our last 'I Pugging Love You' mirror and are quickly running out of popular items which has been absolutely incredible - thank you all so much for your support! I can't wait to tally up how much money has been raised for Teenage Cancer Trust from the sale of our Merry Pugging Christmas cards too - I think it's going to be a good holiday all round. Thanks again everyone - we hope your gifts go down spectacularly well!

Featured: Goodie Goodness Monthly Subscription

Today we have a really special feature for you. We're super proud to present Goodie Goodness a spectacular monthly subscription company who sends you incredible surprises through the post instead of dull bills and junk mail. Hooray! What makes this post so special? We're proud to share that we helped launch the company with their *first box* back in April!

Created by the wonderful Sabine De Witt

Here is a video created by the lovely Sabine De Witt, who blogged about her experience of getting our Goodie Goodness box through the post :D 

Each month the Goodness team create a box jam packed full of fun items from some absolutely stunning (ahem) makers and designers. If you love a surprise and like the same things we do, you're going to love what they have in store for you. Going by their previous boxes you'll want to sign up forever! As most of you will know, we adore snail mail (may it live forever!) coupled with a passion for upcoming designers and unique makers this is pretty much the best thing we've seen all year!

Flair Magazine

Being their first box, we're totally thrilled that we got our products shared in so many magazines and blog posts thanks to the Goodie Goodness team. They've certainly come into the subscription world with a real bang - check out all these wonderful magazine clippings!

press clippings

Along side all this, the company has also been studies as a business case and written about by so many  lovely bloggers including:  * YouSeeMegens * YvetBlogt * DailyCappuccino * WorldlyTreasury * SabineDeWitte * DomesticSluttery * Beeldsteil *

WorldlyTreasury

After such an amazing launch we're really pleased to share that Goodie Goodness have gone from strength to strength with an ever growing fan base of subscribers. We're super lucky that we also got the chance to work with them to put together an extra special Christmas box... but we wont be telling you whats in it as we would ruin the surprise!

So, if you're looking for a gift that keeps giving or, like us, you would like to treat yourself to a beautiful surprise sent to you in the post once a month Goodie Goodness is definitely worth the money. You can sign up to try just 1 month or splash out and get several - the beauty of it is that it's totally up to you. I can see it being a really popular gift for Christmas so if you want in for January's box you'd better sign up quick! Some totally wonderful makers have already been featured so we can't wait to see what's in store in the future :D

In three words?

Best. Post. Ever.

We'd like to say a big thank you to Goodie Goodness for supporting us by featuring us as their first box. It's been such an honour! We've also been absolutely mind blown by all the lovely press and posts shared by all you fantastic bloggers out there too; thank you so much! If we've missed you out please share your links in the comments below - we'd love to see what you think :D Whilst you can't order previous boxes from the team, you can still purchase most of our featured goodies in etsy.

Here is to a phenomenal 2014 : may the surprises be with you monthly!

Upcoming Christmas Markets!

This weekend we have TWO upcoming markets! Our first will be on Friday the 13th in Edinburgh with Edinburgh University's Winter Feast. The second we'll be going on an adventure for our first ever market in *Dundee* with Gin In Teacups on Sunday the 15th. We can't wait!

Friday 13th December:

Winter Feast @ Edinburgh University 

New Amphion building

Teviot

From 3pm

There will be a few stalls, live music and some tasty tasty treats to be had at this event. We did it last year and had a total blast :D Such great crack!

Sunday 15th December:
Gin In Teacups
Chamber East,
The Chamber Building, Panmure Street, Dundee
12-5pm

Expect some incredible vintage at this market, as well as some killer jewellery and incredible crafters (...like us!) As I mentioned we've never done a market in Dundee before, but we have worked with Gin in Teacups and they always have a fabulous array of stalls at their markets. Defo worth putting in your diary!


We hope you'll be able to come along lovelies! It's going to be spot on for people looking for some last minute Christmas presents with personality, not to mention it's going to be Christmas-tastic!

Wish us luck - we've got quite the weekend ahead of us ;)

DIY: How To Make Giant Candy Table Decorations

This year I've decided to create some fun new table decorations to brighten up our festive get together. Roll on the giant candy ornaments! If you're on a tight budget and are looking for a playful and bright way to bring a little fun into your home, this is the DIY for you. My favourite thing about these is they're great props, cute tree decorations and they're not too seasonal; they'll be a sure hit for birthdays, easter and high noon tea party celebrations too :D 

To make your own set of these lovely sweetie decorations all you'll need is some cheerful baubles (these cost me only £1 in a local shop for 6!), some clear cellophane as used by local florists some cute string and your favourite pair of scissors...

To begin, trim off the ribbon loops from your baubles - if you're feeling particularly thrifty you can use these remnants for tying later too.

Next, cut out a large rectangular piece of your clear cellophane wrapping. It needs to be long enough to wrap all the way around your bauble and wide enough to leave a few inches excess at the sides.

Making sure your bauble is sitting so the holes are facing the ends, twist both sides of your cellophane wrapping so it's all tucked up inside as shown above.

Next, cut off two little bits of string and tie each side securely closed. You'll need to double knot them so they don't unravel. Once you're happy with your knots, trim off excess string and you're good to go...

How darling!

 *Ta*Da*
What do you think? Given my massive sweet-tooth these are pretty much my idea of heaven. I think they're going to be a great focal point at dinner too!

We hope you have fun making some for your celebrations. With so many beautiful baubles available you'll be able to work them into any colour scheme and any occasion. Sweeeeet!

Happy Making!
xox

Final Christmas Delivery Dates

Just a little reminder of our final Christmas delivery dates for those of you purchasing gifts online for Xmas :) If you're ordering from Canada, France, Greece or Poland you'll need to make your purchase before 10am GMT on Tuesday 10th December to catch us. That's tomorrow so you'll need to get in their fast! 

For America orders will need to be placed by 10am on the 13th, Western Europe by the 14th and finally the UK by the 20th. Orders placed after 10am still have a chance of being dispatched on the same day, but we can't guarantee it!

Final Christmas Delivery Dates:
4th DEC - Asia, Far East (including Japan), New Zealand
5th DEC - Australia
6th DEC - Africa, Caribbean, Central & South America, Middle East 
9th DEC - Cyprus, Eastern Europe
10th DEC - Canada, France, Greece, Poland
13th DEC - USA
14th DEC - Western Europe (excluding France, Greece, Poland)
20th DEC - UK 

If you require special delivery please drop me a note as soon as possible and I would be happy to create a special listing for you with the extra postage. 

As always David and I will do our best to turn around your order as quickly as possible, but please try and make purchases as early as you can.

If you have a special request please let us know and we'll try our best to help you out :D

Thanks peeps! 

Happy Holidays

xox

Featured Illustrator: Debbie Greenaway aka The Imagination Of Ladysnail

Debby Greenaway

Today we're hanging out with one of my absolute favourite illustrators, Debby Greenaway aka The Imagination Of The Ladysnail. I first discovered her work in Ginger Pickles online shop (where we're both stocking products), and couldn't resist picking up a couple of her brooches to add to my collection. Recently I was really lucky to have met her at Renegade Craft Fair earlier in the year - as fate had it, we were actually opposite her :D Needless to say, her lions and robots and hedgehogs were great company! I'm really excited because I find her work super inspiring and I can't wait to ask her what inspires her to create such beautiful characters...

Give us the low down! Tell us a little about who you are and what you make:

Helloooo! My name is Debbie – also known as Deb or Debs. I am an illustrator and printmaker, currently living in Coventry. I work part time in a library. I draw, doodle, paint, crayon and screenprint a lot – making illustrations. prints, cards and badges. I can sometimes be found sewing one off makes. I am trying to sort out my to-do lists and get stuck in to creating little illustrated stories – hopefully making zines, books and series of narrative prints.

 

How do you stay inspired?

I try to stay inspired by picking up a pencil and drawing every day if I can. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. Some days it comes naturally and sometimes i have to force it a little to get going. I find having a the part time day job has helped me stay inspired – it gives me time out and time out from thinking about all things ‘art’. It also lifts the financial stress which is very important. I stay inspired by creating work that keeps me interested – also in the hope that others like my work too.

hello sunshine!

What blogs do you read?

I have to be honest and say that my blog reading has gone down these last few months from what it used to be. I use my twitter or facebook feed as a link to reading people’s blogs! I read ones that are mainly art, craft or illustration based – some with business tips in and some with cats in! I am currently trying to restart my own blog.

Why do you like being a maker in 10 words or less?

Tough question – I have spent a while rewriting this one and its difficult to put it in to words – especially ten or less! I managed 11 words but it sounded wrong so keeping it simple is the key i reckon - I enjoy the fun you can have with a pencil.

keep up to date with Debbie's work here

What's your best piece of advice?

Have fun and enjoy it – keep it simple and work through an idea best you can. Ask for help or advice if you get stuck and don’t be afraid to make mistakes – if you draw something you don’t like – don’t rub it out or rip the page out – leave it there and continue drawing/creating. As one day you will look back and be able to see your progress. Please don’t get too precious over keeping your sketchbook precious.

bird and feather notebook

What question would you most like to be asked?

Please can you draw some lions for this ‘ere picture book?

What's your guilty pleasure? (Chocolate doesn't count :P)

Tea and Hobnob biscuits. Cake – any! Sausages, mash, peas and gravy or Shepard’s Pie!

Website    Blog   Twitter   NOTHS shop    Facebook    Flikr    Pinterest 

Thanks so much for hanging out with us today Deb! I'm terrible for erasing drawings I don't like - and worse so, ripping pages out when I'm really unhappy, but I have to admit you have a really good point. I'm going to try going without my eraser for a bit and see how I get on :) I can't wait till I buy your first picture book - it's going to be sublime! Until then I'm going to write up my wish list from your online shop. It's going to be a good Christmas this year!

We hope you all enjoyed our little feature today - we'd love to hear what you think of Debs words of wisdom :)