Halloween Ghost Bus Tour!

Happy Halloween!

Today we're really excited as we get to eat our traditional 'Elvis Sandwich' (that's a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich, a calorific favourite of The King himself), dress up and run riot in the town. Well, not quite a riot as it's a Thursday, but we certainly will be getting in the spirit of things! 

Earlier on we went on one of the Edinburgh Ghost Bus Tours and it was totally amazing - if you're looking for something fun to do tonight before the real ghouls come out, a spooky tour is highly recommended... 

I've done a lot of Mercat ghost tours in Edinburgh - the ones where you wander around the Cowgate and Royal Mile and the ever famous Mary Kings Close tour which are both absolutely amazing and worth doing, but I've never boarded a Routemaster 'funeral bus' for a tour before! There are only two of these busses in the UK - one in plagued Edinburgh, the other in blitzed London and they are the coolest looking busses you'll ever lay eyes on! Both double decker busses are painted matt black and have had their interiors updated to have velvet curtains, table lanterns and booth like seating... doesn't it look fabulous? 

The great thing about this tour is you get on board and are driven around the city. Most ghost tours you need to do by foot which for the less abled can be a little tricky down small alleyways and steep steps. It's approximately an hour indoors - perfect for anything in Scotland! You also find out more stories as the tour heads down towards Holyrood Palace and around Arthurs Seat, where no other tours venture as far. The city looks beautiful from the top deck at night too, though don't get your heart set on sightseeing - it's pretty black here at night!

During your trip your conductor will share lots of stories about the city, many famous tales like that of Burke and Hare and Maggie Dixon, but also a few I doubt you'll have heard yet. Our guide had a wicked seance of humour so it was not only interesting but a good laugh too. The tour climaxes with your very own 'bus seance' which is genuinely a lot of fun! Don't worry, whilst there are a few special effects on the bus, there are no actors who jump out at you or things that grab at you from behind. The only thing that will scare you on this trip is your own imagination!

  

To find out more visit The Ghost Bus Tour company here

What have you got planned for this evening? Movie night in? Trick or Treating? Dooking for apples? Or maybe you're going to go on a ghost hunting adventure of your own? Either way, I hope you have a spooktacular night :D

London Adventure!

Over the weekend we managed to take a lovely little break in London which very much needed! We've been working crazy long hours getting ready for our big Renegade stall and whilst everything is looking great and nearly there, burning the candle at both ends was certainly taking its toll. David managed to get tickets to go see the NFL game at Wembley and I got the chance to go for a lovely wander round my favourite city :)

London is beautiful at this time of year as all the leaves are changing colour and the Christmas decorations are going up  but it's still warm enough to go out without a coat! We took full advantage of the lovely weather (there was meant to be a 'killer storm' but it was blustery at best where we were) and had a lovely walk in the parks and a good explore around Covent Garden and Carnaby Street.

It was really great to get the chance to go down on a mini break before we come back in November for the market as I know we're not going to have any time to go exploring when we're working for the fair. That meant a good excuse to try lots of amazing restaurants and a chance to get a few Christmas gifts in advance. I've got my eye on a lot of things that the other makers are bringing to Renegade so I've been very good at saving up money to blow there too :D

We had a lovely lunch at Pix which is a bit like Yo Sushi as all the food is already made and out for you to grab, but the food is a big mixture of incredible combinations and changes often. It was totally delicious and defo worth visiting if you get the chance! Each item of food has a pick in it which symbolises how much the item cost. You keep them in a jar at your table and total them up at the end to get your bill :) I love a gimmic! We also went to The Diner for milkshakes. I've been a fan of these restaurants since they opened and they're still going strong which is great to see. This month they're doing some tasty themed Halloween specials which are a lot of fun and made me very happy!

I think my favourite thing we did over the weekend was eat donuts in the park. You can wine and dine me, but it's the simple things that count ;) It was really nice and peaceful which is exactly what we needed before our final push. Being back home now I'm feeling pretty refreshed and raring to go. I've got my to do list all written up and a couple more new things in the pipeline already which I'm really looking forward to sharing in the very near future :D I'm planning to do a big blog post on our market prep so you can see what we've been upto behind the scenes.

If you're planning a trip to London on the 9th and 10th November make sure to pop in and say hello! David and I are both going to be there and we'd love to meet you :)

Renegade Craft Fair
Truman Brewery,Brick Lane, London

read more about the event here

Keep your eye on our etsy and our Not On The Highstreet stores for our new products - I'll be uploading them as soon as I can so if you can't make the event you wont miss out :)

If you've already got plans to come to the show or have any tips or advice for the event we'd love to hear from you :) We've never taken our stock on such a big adventure before and we've never done a two day event before so we're not sure what to expect... I bet it's going to be epically good though :D

Halloween DIY's & Inspiration

Are you ready for Halloween yet? Today I thought I would recap a few of our favourite diy projects incase you need any last minute inspiration for your trick or treat parties or need some ideas for how to accessories for the holiday at work :) We have plenty more tutorials such as t-shirt printing, dying with bleach and how to use things like gold leaf in our DIY vault so be sure to have a rummage if you're looking for more craft-tastic inspiration! 

Don't forget we've also shared a free printable ghost bunting template that you can customise and a list of our top 5 favourite scary movies... Everything you need for a spooktacular weekend!

how to make a hollow 'secret stash' book

free halloween trick or treat boxes (Frankenstine and his Mrs!)

how to make a felt sugar scull brooch

how to make cinder toffee candy

how to make edible 'glitter sugar'

Happy Making!

Help Please! Wooden Or Painted?

Hello lovelies!

David and I have been having a discussion at Vivid HQ about weather or not to paint our new banner brooches and were wondering if you could help? We're going to be taking these down to the Renegade market in November and can't decide which we like better. I like the 'au naturale' look, but the painted ones do stand out better... 

Which do you prefer?

Your thoughts and help would be very much appreciated :D
Thanks in advance!
xox

DIY: Halloween Ghost Bunting with FREE PRINT OUT!

BOO! Did I surprise you? No? Well maybe our new tutorial will! This weeks DIY is a really cute and simple way to perk up your home for Halloween without breaking the budget. Print out your very own FREE Ghost Bunting template and get your crayons out... These are the perfect way to entertain your little boys and ghouls (girls!) as they can colour in each one and design a set especially for your party. How bewitching! 

All you'll need is some scissors, a needle and thread (I used orange embroidery thread) and a print out of our little ghosts on some white card. Oh! And don't forget your crayons :)

Download the template by clicking the link below:

DIY Halloween Ghost Bunting Template

All you need to do is print, trim and hang!

I've drawn you 3 different ghosts to play with and there are 9 to a sheet, so you can just print as few or as many as you need. You'll see that there is also 2 little circles on each one to show you the best place to thread them too. Perfect!

As you can see, Tina (our painting in the hallway), is delighted with her new halloween decorations. I've left the crayons out incase she feels like a spot of colouring in too... You never know what might happen!

Happy Making
xox

TRICK OR TREAT! 50% off and holiday update...

Trick or treat! To celebrate Halloween in our Etsy shop, we've discounted our  'Fangs very much' keepsake card and hauntingly beautiful anatomy of the heart brooch by 50%! How spooktacular!

These will be half price until midnight on Sunday the 3rd November... ooOOOoooh!

Now that you know what you're treat is, I guess there needs to be a trick? Fortunately for you we're fresh out of TP, but we are going to be taking a couple of days off! 

We're going to be *closing our shop* from Friday the 25th October till Monday the 28th, so if you're ordering be sure to make your purchase before Thursday 24th for delivery before we're away. Orders placed after then will be dispatched on Tuesday....

Top 5 Scary Movies

As many of you will know, I'm a massive fan of Halloween. It's not big in Scotland like it is in America, but that doesn't stop me from getting in the spirit of things. This week I thought I would share a few blog posts to get you in the mood for the greatest holiday of the year (...bar Christmas! Equals at best :P) Today I'm going to share our favourite Scary Movies. David and I watch a crazy amount of these - I particularly love being scared witless and have done for as long as I can remember so I think it's fair to say we've sat through enough to know which ones will be spot on for hallows eve. I'm not going to mess you about with totally obscure stuff (that's no fun for anyone), I thought I would just show you some absolute classics that'll have you sat on the end of your seats. So, without further adieu, here are our

Top 5 Scary Movies

The Shining
Jack Nicholson's face alone is enough to keep me awake at night! This film is a total classic and one you should be ashamed of if you've not seen it. Jack takes his family to a massive hotel in the middle of nowhere to get some peace to write his new book and make some money as they'll be the only one's there maintaing it out of season. Being a creative person who works alone a lot of the time, I fear for the day I type the sentence "all work and no play makes Vicky a..." erm... you know what I'm saying!
This film actually had a documentary made about it too called Room 237 where they look into the cryptic meanings behind the film. It's amazing.

Psycho
No, not the remake with Vince Vaughan (seriously, Vince Vaughn!!) But the original film made by movie legend Alfred Hitchcock in 1960. This was the first horror film I ever watched and loved. I found out about it when I was about 12 and my Mum told me the story. She said it kept her awake for days and she couldn't take a shower in a hotel for a really long time. She grew up in a hotel, so you can imagine how gross that could have been! This is the story about a creepy guy who runs a motel in the middle of nowhere (mandatory it seems!) and seems to have a challenging relationship with his mother. Well, you could say challenging... Anyhow, this is one of the first ever films made where the lead character dies within the first 30 minutes of a film. Sorry for the spoiler! Totally worth the fact though :) Oh! And it's Jamie Lee Curtis's mum!

*Could move onto Halloween for smooth link but decide to pick a better movie*
(Sorry Jamie!)

Friday 13th
Again, the original, not the remake. In all honesty you wont find me enjoying many remakes - you just can't beat the originals! 90% of the time the remake is total tosh and just a quick way for the film industry to rinse you of money. ANYHOW, this film only has one scary bit in it (if you ask me! I don't frighten that easily.) I found the rest of it absolutely hysterical as it's very VERY 1980s. A bunch of teens including Kevin Bacon (!) are attempting to open an abandoned (ahem) kids camp and it all gets a bit out of hand when a certain someone comes back to haunt them. It's a slasher, but worth the banter.

Paranormal Activity (1-3, 4 was crap.)
You know, I really wasn't keen on watching new horror movies as I kinda feel like they milk the jumps too much. Having been recommended this series by a fellow scary film nut, David and I were intrigued. Don't get me wrong, there are a few cheap thrills in these, but it's totally worth the watch. I didn't watch them in order and they were still great, so don't let sequence put you off. It's one of the very few supernatural films I actually enjoyed - I like a classic killer story - but beware, you're going to want to put a camera in your bedroom after you watch this. Or totally never do that EVER. Is ignorance bliss? You'll start questioning that after these flicks.

Ok, the last spot, and this is tricky because there are so many good films I'd like to include in this blog post! I'm going to go with is *drum roll please*

Rosemary's Baby
I really love this movie. Mia Farrow plays Rosemary, who's just moved into a new apartment with her actor husband and the neighbours are 'a little full on'. It's simple but really tense and defo makes you question that random cupboard you have in the hallway by the end of it! I'm certain the makers of Paranormal Activity must have loved it too because there is quite a connection going on. I dread the day they try to remake it -- seemingly it's only a matter of time!

So, if you're looking to have a movie night this Halloween or even just get in the mood in the run up to the big day, I hope you've found a little inspiration from our top 5 list :) There are soooo many more amazing horror films that I'd love to add to this list.... Maybe there will be a sequel... Top 5 Scary Movies Part 2! We'll you can't end a post on horror movies without leaving the door open for a follow up, now can you?

Happy Fright Night!

Web Down!

Noooo! Unfortunately our Internet has gone down at Vivid HQ :( We actually had power out too, but fortunately that's back! So a bit of remote interaction for us, stealing wifi where we can and all that. It's really weird being offline but its been great as its given me lots of time to paint up our new brooches!
Hopefully we'll be up and running again shortly, but we're still sending out orders in the meantime so don't fret if you've made a purchase. Blogging and tweeting may be a little sporadic but it's business as usual for our Etsy & Not On The Highstreet shops :)
Thanks for being patient lovelies!
xox

Oh Snap!

This week has been jam packed and super busy! It's been great, but I've not had a huge amount of time to go out and play! I'm hoping to have ticked off a few more big things from my 'to do' list tomorrow so I can return to some normal working hours... but we'll see! Here are a few things that have made me stupidly happy whilst working my little butt off. Simple pleasures people!

a treat for my kitchen!

hot fudge sunday pop tarts (!!!)

new business cards have landed :D

remnants from our new wooden brooches!

FYI, these are now available in our online shop :) yay!

DIY: Hand Painted Polka Dot Plimsoles!

Cute shoes! That's exactly what I was going for when I started making these little polka dot plimsoles :) I've been looking for some cute dotty shoes for a while now, but the only ones I could find had rather small dots that were pretty regimented. I like my polka dots like confetti! Roll on the hand painted plimsoles DIY!

Obviously, the first thing you're going to need for this project is some plimsoles. Don't these make you think of gym shoes at school? That's why they need customised!

For this tutorial I'm using some of this textile medium. It's really great stuff that's worth investing in as you can mix it with any colour of acrylic paint and make fabric paint. Mix the medium with your favourite colour 50:50 and you're all set! I'm mixing mine with white paint and I'm going to use the eraser on a pencil for the perfect sized dots. Anything round will make this job a little easier for you...

All you need to do is dip the end of the eraser into your fresh batch of fabric paint and start stamping. It's super fast and fuss free!

Once you've polka-dotted all over the place, it's nice to add a little accent to finish it off. I've mixed up a spot of red paint and have used a fine brush to add in a cute little heart. I'm putting one on the front here and one on the heel of the other shoe. Sweet, huh! The easiest way to paint a heart is to start with a V and fill it in.

These bad boys need to dry thoroughly before we go any further. Leave them over night if you can -- or at least a few hours till the paint has all sunk into the canvas.

When they're properly dry, you'll need to set the fabric paint. Check the instructions on your textile medium on how to do this. For mine I need to set the paint by ironing it. That's right, I ironed my shoes! (ticking off of bucket list) I'd advise placing a tea towel over the top of the shoes before ironing them, just to make sure it runs over smoothly. It'll only need a few seconds to heat them and I did this by holding the shoes from the inside. Just make sure you don't iron the soles or they might melt!

*Ta*Da*

Now they are ready to wear out! Aren't they great? I'd quite like to make a white version with multi coloured confetti dots, but white plimsoles don't last but 2 seconds in Scotland! hee hee

Happy Making lovelies!

xox

Product Peeks & Shop Updates!

Hello lovelies!
This week has been super crazy busy. We've been prepping for our market in Glasgow this Sunday and have been working on a whole host of new goodies for our online shops and to take to Renegade in November. Unfortunately that has meant that I've not been able to play on the blog as much, but hopefully after Sunday things will calm down a little. Fingers crossed that is! Anyhoo, I thought I would share a little peek at what we've been working on in the meantime...

We've got a new range of wooden brooches which is itching to make it's way online! Are you 'crafty' 'brilliant' or 'tea-total'? You'll want to keep your eye out for our new banner brooches then :D We've also got an extra special set of hand painted brooches on their way too. What do you think?

I've also been working away at a few new keepsake cards to add to our collection! I'm looking forward to taking these to the stall on Sunday to see people's reactions :D

wish books

We've just launched our illustrated 'WishBook' Moleskine notebooks on Etsy - you might recognise the design from our giveaway a couple of months ago. We've tweaked it a little and are really happy with the new lettering on the cover. Fingers crossed these will be popular gifts for Christmas!

naughty & nice pencils

Speaking of, we've also launched new 'Naughty' and 'Nice' pencil sets! I'm totally in love with these right now :B We can also now accept credit cards and Etsy gift cards in our little Etsy boutique too, which means you can give someone an Etsy gift card and they can spend it in whichever shop they fancy - including ours of course!

pug christmas cards

Last (but certainly not least!), our little pug dog Christmas cards are back in stock and this year we are really proud to share that we will be donating 10% from the profits of every pack sold to Teenage Cancer Trust 

renegade craft fair, london

So much going on, huh! It's been a lot of fun so far and I can't wait to see what happens over the next few weeks. I'll be keeping you all updated as best as I can - hopefully we'll have a lovely tutorial for you in the next few days.  We'd love to hear what you think of our new products in the meantime - your help and advice for our market prep would be super appreciated too :)