What I wore... to the Post Office!

Whoa! It's been a long week of making up Valentines Day orders at Vivid HQ which has been totally spectacular, but it's left me with no time to organise a date for ourselves! There has been several visits to the post office and to various places across town to garner supplies which has been nice, but it's been absolutely freeeeeezing. I was going to do a new dressy 'what I wore" outfit post for you, but it would have been a bit of a lie! This week I've either been sitting about in jeans or rushing off to drop off orders... needless to say, my outdoor get up is much more interesting than my indoor one! Heehee

I'm usually the worst person ever at buying warm clothes. I hate it with a passion - thick layers on a short person is just not flattering. This is the first time in my life I've ever felt like "Ok, I give up, hand me that sweater and a coat that covers my butt" ... it has just been TOO cold; I don't know, maybe I'm getting old. So this year, for the first time ever, I invested in a 'proper coat'... I'd be lying if I told you I didn't fall in love with it after the first outing. For as much as it is a 'proper coat' it's styled on a biker jacket. Awesome, right? The best thing about it is that it's long, but it's two toned - I feel like I'm wearing a coat-skirt and not getting drowned out by 'sensible coat', you know? It's actually from Next (I think they're gone now...) though I did see several other *slightly more expensive* versions of the same thing in a lot of other shops. It was the cheapest - and the cutest. Worth the investment!

Owning a grey coat is amazing because you can pair it up with pretty much any colours you fancy and it won't clash. Last year I mentioned that I wanted to get a white tartan scarf, which has pretty much been my scarf staple since it was acquired. What can I say - I'm a true Scottish bird! Living in the capital city means that you can pick these up really cheap (to me, £7 is cheap for a wool scarf!) if you go to the tourist shops. It has been the only time I have ever been to one in my home town - and it will probably be the last time unless I loose this scarf.

My shoes are REAL bowling shoes! I got them resoled *I did try going out with the leather soles, but taking them out in rain and on concrete it was possibly my worst idea ever* and they have to be the most comfortable shoes I own. How did I get them? .............. I'm going to let you decide ;)

Whilst I do love a good hat, recently I've been wearing these ear muffs which were a gift from David's mum at Christmas. They are great if you don't want to ruin your hair but you do want to keep warm. Plus they make me feel like a Muppet -- and I'm ok with that :D

And last, but not least, my favourite gloves. These are my "Shady Lady" gloves from Kate Spade. Who knew mittens could be bad ass?!!

So, it turns out that making the sensible decision on outdoors clothing wasn't as painful as I initially thought. Yesterday morning the woman at the post office told me she loved it when I came in because I always looked so happy ... I'm starting to think it's because I was the only one who listened to their mother and dressed for the weather!

Snail Mail Trade - Calling For Applicants!

Hello lovelies!

If you've been following us on twitter, you might have noticed quite a few tweets going out about swapping post. This year I've decided that snail mail is going to be higher on my list of priorities and I've been participating in a few of trades with strangers from the UK and America... It's been a huge amount of fun thus far - not only to you get to find fun things to send and get some fun surprises in the post, but you also get the chance to meet people from all over and make some lovely new friends!

Sounds pretty good, huh!

So, after  tweeting to ask if anyone else is interested in doing a swap and getting a great response, I've decided to create a *Snail Mail Trade* project of our own. Hooray!

How It Works

Interested in swapping post?
This project is open to people based in the UK and USA... if you're in another country and are interested, please let me know by commenting below - should enough people want to get involved we might be able to hit your country too... I can't make any promises yet, but you never know!

If you're interested in getting involved, please place a comment with your email address on this post by the 16th February.

I will email everyone after the closing date to check you're still wanting to be involved - it's OK if you change your mind, but it's NOT OK to flake - if you get involved please follow through, this project is all about good karma!

If you're participating, I will need your name, your postal address and any links to your blogs or pinterest account etc. This information will only be shared with who you are partnered with - under no circumstances will it be shared with anyone else (by agreeing to participate, you agree to this rule too - no sharing peoples info, it's mean!)

How does it work?
The deadline date for sending your items to your partner will be the 2nd March. That will give you 2 weeks to shop, wrap and send your package of happiness. Depending on the response to this blog post, I might push back the date a little, but I will keep you updated with the deadline when I email you individually.

There will be a £10 budget (or if enough of our lovely American friends get involved a $16 budget; same difference) to spend on your snail mail project. Over spending is fine as long as you do not expect the same in return. Please do not spend less - we'd like to keep it as fair as possible!

You cannot include the price of postage in the budget. This is to cover surprises only :D

Your partner may be in the same country as you ... but they might not be. I will try my best to organise it so no one is stuck with a hefty postage bill! Your partner will be paired with you at random - it might not be who you're sending your post to (it depends how many people want to get involved). If there is a random number of people involved, I will trade more than once - no one shall be left behind!

*SUGGESTIONS* perhaps you would rather swap with a partner in another country? Should enough people apply, I will be asking what you all think. I know this means it'll cost more to send, but it will mean surprises from somewhere new!

What to send?
This is a surprise project so you can send pretty much anything! Once you have your partners information, you'll be able to stalk visit their blogs and pinterest accounts to discover more about them and what they love the most :) The aim is to tailor your package to their interests and hobbies etc.

Please do not send any used items, any dirty items or any items that may get stopped by the postage system (UK see here) For instance, no liquids - there is special rules about nail varnish etc so please do not send any as it might not get through. Gifts from Poundland / dollar stores are discouraged - it's better to get 3 great things than 10 not so great things, you know?!

Possible sends could be: washi tape, stickers, notecards, lip balm, brooches, necklaces, something handmade, tote bags, cute socks, sprinkles, sanrio toys, sweets / candy, stationery... Please add any suggestions into your comments below :D

Please include a handwritten note to your partner too - it can be as long or as short as you like, but remember to say that you're swapping from the **Vivid Please Snail Mail Trade** so your partner know's that it's from you! You're also encouraged to dress up your package with doodles and stickers etc. The brighter the better!

Dont fret! I will ask you if you have any allergies or really dislike anything when you confirm you're getting involved in the project to make sure you don't get something that you can't play with. This information will only be passed onto your partner.

...And Then?
Once you've made up your package and posted it out, please email me to let me know you've done your bit... then wait for your surprise to arrive!
Once you get your package, email me to let me know. . . We'll be keeping this project anonymous but perhaps you can all take a picture of what you got and I'll do a big blog post to show off everyones trades (no one will be named, it'll just be an inspiration board for the next *snail mail trade* round 2!)

The idea is to send items you'd like to receive...

Please treat your partner as you wish to be treated!

Unfortunately I will not be able to police this project - I will be checking in and sending out reminders, but I cannot be held responsible for people who flake or packages that get lost. This project is all about good karma and random acts of kindness :) 

Ok, I know that's a lot of information to get us started, but I just wanted to make sure everyone knew the sort of thing that they were signing up to... It's not all set in stone yet - if anyone has any comments or suggestions please let me know! Hopefully some of you would like to get involved and get this project off the ground... if all goes to plan, this will happen more than once :D

Want in? Comment below with your email address by the *16th February*

Feel free to pin, blog and share the link to this blog post - the more people getting involved, the more fun it will be :D

.... Watch this space!

Oh Snap! A catch up on our week...

This week I've been working on some new prints and stationery, which I'm getting really excited about! Since I've been working on my 'illustration a day' resolution it's been really great at opening up new ideas and slightly different ways of working which is really fun. It's quite challenging to think something up each day, but it's definitely made me do a lot more research and  more 'creative hunting' which is only a great thing. I'm having more success with that than taking a photo each day - I missed one out on Thursday and was super gutted about it. I'm going to persevere though - I've still taken a crazy amount of photographs in comparison to what I usually do :)

David and I also went through to Glasgow this week which was really lovely. I studied at Glasgow School Of Art so it's like a home away from home for me - we don't normally get the chance to discover new places (I love my old haunts!), but this time we decided to go on and adventure. We sat and drew in The Black Sparrow which has mostly booth seating (I LOVE a booth!) and is really chilled out and relaxing during the day. Sometimes the best thing to do is to go somewhere quiet and draw anything and everything.

We also had dinner in my favouritest new place, The Tiki Bar & Kitsch Inn Being obsessed with anything tiki and kitsch, this place was naturally high on my to do list as soon as I discovered it existed. Their menu is all Thai food, which is my favourite type of food... for me, this place truly is heaven (outside of Hawaii of course!) I had the tofu and veg red curry and it was honestly the best thing I've eaten this year. I was not surprised to hear that they'd won awards for their food after tasting it, and will definately be working my way through their menu now (surprisingly it's pretty affordable!).Seriously good. Plus their interiors in the restaurant upstairs is super rich and classic 60's, it's like stepping back in time :D I hope the next time I go back it's quiet so I can photograph the heck out of it! 

They also have a really excellent drinks menu and serve your pina colada in a pineapple mug... You wouldn't believe how much joy this brings me! There's even a cocktail made in honour of Scarlett Johansson - they filmed a little bit of one of her movies in here called Under The Skin (it's about an alien in Scotland and it looks pretty dark!) which is a really great Fun Fact. 

So, if you're ever going to Glasgow for the day, you'll know where you can find us!

The only bad thing about a trip to Glasgow is the trip back home, though it's nice to come back with a little inspiration and some new drawings. I'm planning to do more trips through this year to find more new amazing places to go. Hopefully I'll find some more fun places in Edinburgh too, though it's much harder to go on an adventure in your stomping grounds. 

If you know any amazing secret places worth visiting we'd love to hear about them!

New Products! Cockatiel, Confetti & Bunny iPhone Cases & Love Hate Pencils!

cockatiel iPhone case

Tweet tweet! Check out our brand new phone cases! We've had 3 new iPhone covers swoop into the shop this week. Available for both the 4/4s and 5/5s, our latest editions include are pretty in pink cockatiels, bounding bunnies and a sprinkling of confetti... Aren't they sweet?

confetti iPhone case

The only problem with launching these new prints has been that I've been struggling to pick which one I love the most. Guess I'm just going to have to rotate them throughout the week! With 6 designs available they're almost like my 'day's in the week' pants. Sunday's will be anyones game! 

bunny iPhone case

On top of our new designs, we also have more donut iPhone 4 cases back in stock as well as our chevron, kitty, watermelon and 'I Pugging Love You' pocket mirrors. These have all been so popular over the holidays we're delighted to have them back in time for Valentines Day :D

Last, but certainly not least, we also have a new set of engraved pencils in the shop especially designed for February 14th; our LOVE HATE pencils! I've been having a lot of fun with these over the weekend and can't wait to hear what you think. They're a little bit tongue in cheek, but so are the best things in life :D

Want more? Why not take a little look in our accessories section to see what special offer we have in store for Valentines Day... I'll be updating you all about that one later on in the month :)

We'd love to hear which your favourite is and what you'd love to get for Valentines... it's only a few weeks away already!

Oh Snap! A catch up on our week...

Can you believe we're half way through January already? Time has flown by crazy fast! I'm slowly getting back into things but I'd be lying if I said I was finding it easy to pick up where I left off. It seems like the Christmas rush was a million years ago, doesn't it? 

Last night we took down our our exhibition in Sofis bar which whilst we were sad to see it go we are super excited to see what comes in next. I never expected the show to be such a great success and we're both totally thrilled with how many prints we sold. I know I keep saying it, but we're so thankful for everyone who came down and showed their support, you're amazing! The upside is that our giant glasses are back, pride of place in Vivid HQ. They're possibly the greatest thing I own - I love that they get to go on tour! hee hee 

Being stuck in the house and in bed so much has totally made me pine for my travels! Being a total hoarder I have kept memory boxes full of ticket stubs and little tokens that I've picked up during my adventures which I find are really great to look back through for inspiration and a little pick me up. Today I had a sudden urge to look through all my Graceland memorabilia; I'm such a big Elvis nut and did the VIP tour when I went and it was totally brilliant.  I was super lucky to get to stay at the Heartbreak Hotel which genuinely is at the end of Lonely Street and it's got to have the best branding I've ever seen. I have very fond memories of swimming in their heart-shaped pool! I seriously hope I get to go back again one day, Memphis is one heck of a place :D

Reminiscing aside, so far my goals have been coming along well - I'm particularly enjoying my illustration a day project! I've been working on a few new print / card ideas which haven't been turning out how I've hoped, so it's been lovely to have a totally brainless side project to indulge in and distract me from feeling so frustrated with my fuzzy head. Whilst that side of things haven't been so successful, we do have something very exciting coming into the shop in the next couple of days :D Keep your eye out! And although I've not managed to get in a car yet, but I have started prepping for the theory test by seeing how much I remember through those mock tests. Turns out I know quite a lot which is nice! I need to brush up on little things like stopping distances and the anatomy of the car. Both topics I seem to find really hard to memorise! I found a free Theory Test app for the iPhone if anyone fancies having a go - there's surprisingly quite a few different ones available, so once I've done this a few times I'll probably swap to get some different test questions. It's a good way to keep myself entertained on the bus ;) 

I hope you're all making some headway with your new tasks and resolutions too!

Getting Back On Track!

I'm finally starting to feel a little bit better this year - I'm still struggling to hear properly but I've finally made it out of my bed and I'm looking forward to getting back into work, though I'm going to try and ease myself back into it slowly. In my last blog post I mentioned I was thinking about new years resolutions and goal setting for this year and I am so totally thrilled with the advice you lovely peeps have shared that I thought I would pass it on!

The Greatest Wealth Is Health ~ Virgil

If you treat your body like crap, you're going to feel crap. I've just stocked up on vitamins (I'm terrible for not taking them, my dad always goes on about it!) and have decided that taking care of myself and trying to keep on top of taking supplements really needs to be much higher up on my to do list. With November and December being such busy months for us I totally slipped on my general health. It's super easy to burn the candle at both ends and not give yourself time to recover. Being so sick now has had quite the effect on getting back into the swing of things and getting stuck in. Once I've gotten rid of this I have no intentions of running myself into the ground again!

There Is No Diet What Will Do What Eating Healthy Does.

And on that note, I've been making a lot of bad choices in my diet recently - I have definitely overindulged over the holidays! I don't believe in going on actual diets because I think that you only crave the bad stuff more when you say 'no' to it, which tends to lead into a binge and bad emotions... well that's how I work at any rate! If you want my opinion, don't cut out 'bad' food, just eat it in moderation. As soon as you say no to yourself you're going to obsess over it and that's when things get tricky. Keep an eye on your calorie count - you will be amazed what you'll learn and you'll probably find it often puts you off making the wrong choices. 

Being able to keep on top of a good diet since I've been sick has been remarkably tricky as I've not been able to cook. Fortunately the wonderful Kim of A Blackbirds Epiphany blogged about a company called ilumi that makes healthy ready meals that don't contain any milk, gluten or nuts. She was even kind enough to share a link that contained £10 off a £25 order. I don't usually go for things like these as they're often quite expensive and I can be a fussy eater, but with the discount (and it was free shipping) and having a quick look at the menu it seemed like the perfect way to eat better and feel better without the hassle of trying to cook myself! My box of treats has just arrived and for £15 I've got around 12 meals covered. I'm looking forward to trying them out and letting you know how I get on with them :) Thanks Kim! It's going to be a really helpful way to get myself back on track with portion size and better options. I'm looking forward to hitting the kitchen as soon as I've stopped sniffling!

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'Im Possible' ~ Audrey Hepburn

Finally, I mentioned that I've been struggling with setting goals for the year and finding a way to keep them. Kim wrote an amazing comment on the previous post sharing her tips on how to set a big goal and how to break it down into several smaller and more manageable goals that can be achieved monthly. It's simple, but it's totally spot on! 

Then, incredibly, the lovely Helen of Jolly Good shared this amazing link to a free practical kit and diary to help keep track of your main goals and mini goals which was created by Do What You Love. As you can see from the first picture in this post, it looks pretty sweet and it's jam packed full of helpful ways to work out what it is that you want and how to break it down into manageable chunks. I've printed mines out and started working my way through what it is I want to achieve and how it is I'm going to do it. I have to admit, I'm a little overwhelmed, but I think that's from being under the weather. Having something solid to look at is going to be really helpful to keep track of what I'm doing and how I'm going to do it :) Thanks so much for sharing this Helen - you're a total star!

Once I'm a little more organised I'm going to post up on how I got on with last years goals and what I'm hoping to achieve next. I know that one or two things will be carried over, but I'm kinda looking forward to upping my game to tick them off this year :) 

What's on your list for goals in 2014?

Happy Grogmanay! (And short film of how we created our new window display for 2014!)

HAPPY GROGMANAY EVERYONE! For those of you who are unaware of the Scottish term 'hogmanay', we're wishing you all a very Happy New Year! As you can see from our latest short film, we've been ringing in 2014 in style by creating a new sailor themed window display for Sofi's bar. What do you think?

Vivid Please Mini Film: Creating Our Grogmanay Window Display

It's been so lovely to be asked to create another artwork for the bar - it seems our Christmas pug window went down super well even though it was our first ever attempt illustrating on glass. We're absolutely thrilled to bits!

Now we've got the hang of this working backwards on a massive scale malarky, we were able to create a more complex artwork to cover the 3 windows as we knew just how much we had to prepare for. Even though there is a lot more work in this window, it probably took just about the same amount of time as the first. It's totally amazing how much you learn after your first attempt - this time things went much more smoothly!

Sofi's Bar hosted a fancy dress theme night on New Years Eve called 'Hello Sailor'. When they told us the theme and asked if we could come up with something to fit in with the celebration our minds went into overdrive - who doesn't want to be a pirate for the day?! With that in mind I put on my favourite Elvis Hawaiian shirt and sailor slacks to get in the spirit of things. I would have worn an eye patch too, but I didn't want to mess up my drawing ;)

Shiver Me Timbers!

David's steady hands worked wonders on our boat illustration (which you might recognise it from our notebook and ship in a bottle brooch!), whilst I outlined a lot of the fiddly text and crashing waves. I actually illustrated the bottle of grog for a personal project - it's funny how all these things can come together like it was meant to be! It fits in so perfectly :)

We lucked in once again with the weather too - both times we've worked on these windows Scotland managed to bring us some sunshine meaning we managed to get the job done a little faster and bagged ourselves some beautiful photographs thanks to the wonderful light.

Ahoy!

The waves pattern is a first for us and definately something I'd like to use in the future. There is something quite therapeutic about the receptiveness, which is not something I ever thought I would hear myself say!

Our exhibition is still hanging up inside, but we'll be taking it down in the next two weeks. It's been such an amazing run and we've been very fortunate in selling a lot of our prints from the show! It'll be sad to take it all down, but I can't wait to see what Sofi's will be getting in next :)

We're so pleased to be able to start this year with such a fun blog post! Fingers crossed it's a sign for good things to come... A big thank you to everyone for all you incredible support; I know I say it often, but we really couldn't do it without you!

We wish you all a smooth sea and treasure filled New Year matey's! .
..And remember, dead men tell no tales...
xox

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!