Gift List // Christmas Goodies

Happy new year! Our poor blog has been so neglected over the festive period. One of these years I'll actually meet my goal of writing 52 posts... maybe it'll even be this year. We're finally getting on top of things after taking a break to recharge after the madness of making all your Christmas orders. Our next trade fair is coming up so we've been busy preparing for that since we got back in the studio. I've managed to squeeze in some time for a quick Christmas goodies round up. These are a few of my favourite wee gifts I was lucky enough to be given, mostly by designer/makers!

1. The sparkliest earrings from Mashugana on Etsy // 2. Pretty pink paper forest jar from PaperPineTree on Etsy // 3. Yummy bath melts from Bomb Cosmetics // 4. Shining Biz 2016 planner from Leonie Dawson (so helpful!) // 5. Super glittery heart hair clips from Buttons and Bows Hair Accessories // 6. Big and bold velvet bow from Crown and Glory // 7. Colourful papercut calendar from By Charlie's Hand on Folksy // 8. Beautiful spectrum necklace by Emily Johnson Glass (which I actually won on Instagram! Emily has 25% off in her shop for January with the code YAY2016)

Lots of lovely shops to look at! I'll leave you with them and hopefully be back with another post soon.

Gift Guide // Gifts for Bakers

It's getting to that time of year again, where it's almost already impossible to avoid Christmas! (Not that I mind, I love all things Christmassy) We're joining in with our cute themed gift guides which you'll find on our blog over the next 8 weeks to help with present ideas. I'm really enjoying creating these; it's all the fun of shopping without spending the money! Today we've curated a pretty selection of gifts for bakers - mostly stocking fillers under £10. If you're a baker and like any of the goodies featured then feel free to share this post so your friends and family get the hints! You'll find info and links to the products below (please note prices don't include P&P). 

1. 1950s Style Apron: Sew Make Me on Etsy £15 // 2. Pack of 3 Natural Handmade Macaron Soaps: Bathroom Bakery on Etsy £5.76 // 3. Mason Cash Hearts Mixing Bowl: Dunelm Mill £13.99 // 4. Mixing Bowl Earrings: JillyJilly £8 // 5. Flour Shaker: Baker and Maker £4.95 // 6. Cupcake Wall Sticker: Not on the High Street £16  // 7. 3 Tier Regency Cake Stand: dotcomgiftshop £9.95 // 8. Rose Double Oven Glove: Not on the High Street £19 // 9. Sprinkles Garland: Heartfelt Handmade on Etsy £15 // 10. Sugar & Spice Candle Tin: Bomb Cosmetics £7.99 // 11. Bake Patterned Mug: JillyJilly £9 // 12. Bake Quote Mug: JillyJilly £9 // 13. Lick the Spoon: The Crafty Giraffe £4.50 // 14. Blue Snowflake Baking Cups: Iced Jems £2.50 // 15. Bake Patterned Notebook: JillyJilly £5.95

If you'd like to see more baking goodies like these you can head over to our Gifts for Bakers Pinterest board. We've also decided as a bonus treat to give you 15% off* our Those Who Bake collection with the code BAKEGIFT at checkout. 

I hope you liked our first gift guide! Which is your favourite item?

*ends Friday 23/10/15 at 11.59pm 

Birthday Goodies

Yankee Candle - Miss Daisy Gifts

Daisy Illustrated Card - Winnie Shek

Floral Bird Trinket Dish - Pebble Aberdeen

Tea Cups and Saucers - Asda

Macarons - Almondine Aberdeen

Afternoon Tea - Miss Daisy Gifts / Red Velvet Cake - Cake Aberdeen

Last month I celebrated my 23rd Birthday and so, because it seems to be the only regular blog feature I can stick to (3rd year running!), here is a peek at some of my lovely presents. I spent my Birthday morning in Falkland with David and Daisy where I was treated to breakfast in bed and a quick afternoon tea at Miss Daisy Gifts before heading up to Aberdeen to spend the weekend with family. I was spoilt with beautiful flowers and cards, red velvet cake from Cake, yummy Almondine macarons (new flavours including salted butter popcorn!) and presents. My main present is train tickets to York which we're going to visit again in April, I can't wait! As well as that I was so lucky to be given:

1. A pink Breville hand blender (perfect for smoothies). 2. A polkadot satchel from LYDC. 3. My favourite ever strawberry Lindt chocolates. 4. Black Plum Blossom Yankee Candle. 5. An amazing illustrated card of Daisy which will be getting framed in the studio by my friend Winnie Shek. 6. Adorable knitted cakes - calorie free! 7. Cute little birdy trinket dish from Pebble. 8. Pink & mint teacups and saucers from Asda. 9. A magical looking vintage pink glass jug which changes colour in the light. 10. Some vouchers and money which I can't wait to treat myself with.

I had such a nice relaxing birthday weekend and it was so nice to catch up and see family properly. Thank you so much for all the birthday gifts, cards and wishes! 

March Places: Pebble

An exciting new gift shop based in Rosemount, Aberdeen opened at the weekend! Since Pebble is my Mum's shop and I've been really involved in the whole process I'm doing my best not to write this as a review since it would be really biased! Instead I'll tell you a bit about the finishing touches, opening weekend and some of my favourite products in the shop. So come on in and have a look around!

The big job last week was arranging all of the stock around the eclectic mix of pastel painted vintage and upcycled displays, this took a few days and we finished with the window display on the Friday which admittedly involved no planning and a bit of panicked throwing together. The vertical Pebble branded bunting seemed like a good idea beforehand but was being assembled right up until the last minute - I think the look was worth it in the end though! Along with those last minute jobs I hadn't actually finished the Bottled Treasures stock until the Friday morning; I was determined to fill the two tiny cube shelves in time for the opening and am glad I did as they have been selling quick and getting lots of compliments (thank you). The little stationery section was my idea, not all of it handmade but I thought arty people like to buy crafty things so I helped choose some cute pens, stamps, deco tapes and sticky notes... and most have sold out already!

I could have featured all of the products in the shop but I've limited myself to 8 so this post didn't get too big:

1. Ecosse Candles: these have been so popular, my favourites are Sweet Pea and Evening Rain (which might have sold out actually) but I'll be waiting for the next delivery to get my own. 2. Collage Etage: gorgeous brooches and embellished heart frames. I've already got a few of these quirky pieces! 3. Bosie Boutique: silver stacking rings, my Mum makes these but they are really beautifully shown off in the illuminated cabinet in gorgeous colour groups. 4. Bellwood Bears & Nikki McWilliams: These bears have the cutest faces, they're just begging to be given a new home. The cushions are catching passer-byes eyes in the window display. I'm a fan already with my lilac party ring cushion being displayed proudly on the sofa at home. 5. Freda Shelton: pretty yet practical socks, I have a pair of the rainbow ones in the middle - so cosy 6. Doodlestuff's Doodlepins: I bought one of these at Christmas and was very excited to find we'd be stocking them in the shop. Such funky colours and creatures. 7. Studio 34: Northern Lights tealight holders, they light up in such a magical way and come in a set of 4 so you don't have the impossible task of choosing! 8. Ginger Pickle: adorable wooden animal earrings, brooches, necklaces and hair slides. These have been really popular already - you can see why!

This has still turned into a bit of a giant post but it's all too exciting! We spent the weekend serving lots of happy customers and hearing wonderfully positive comments about the shop while living on cake, sweets and tea. It's no surprise that I came home and fell asleep at 5pm yesterday - oops...

Finally, I've just published the temporary website for Pebble today. In future the plan is to replace it with an online shop, in the meantime it's just a simple place to have a look around the shop and find out a bit about it. Hope you like it!

www.pebbleshop.co.uk

2014: A Big Scary Year

2014 was always going to be the "big year" in the sense I'd be graduating and leaving home. The reason it's now become scarier than originally thought is that before Christmas I left uni (just my honours year, still have a BA in Visual Communication!). There are lots of reasons for this but some of the more important ones are that I wasn't learning what I wanted, and to learn on top of jumping through marking criteria hoops meant no time for experimenting, real client work or Bottled Treasures. Truth be told, I've felt it's been holding me back and that 4th year just isn't right for what I want to do. After making that decision and telling everyone (no one hates me, it's ok) I've spent the last couple of weeks taking a Christmas break to reflect and plan what I want to achieve myself over the next 6 months of what would have been my last semester.

Now for the fun bit! Instead of resolutions this new year I've written down my personal and career aims, quite simply where I want to be in 6 months time when it'll almost be time for me to get ready to move to our wee cottage in Falkland (Fife). I've got some evening classes booked, design jobs lined up, big plans for Bottled Treasures and ideas for more inspiring social media - including this blog. Sunday is going to be blog day and each month I'm aiming to do 4 posts, one each of the following:

- DIY: craft projects, recpies etc

- WIP: previews, sketchbooks, new designs

- Places: day trips, adventures, holidays

- Wish Lists: gifts, purchases, dreams

Here is the first, apologies for the giant introduction; I wasn't sure how else to explain!
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January: Gift List

Since it's January and Christmas is over I can finally share some of the lovely handmade gifts I bought for others, along with a few of the presents I was given.

1. 365 days of Inspiration. David got me this thoughtful little book, perfect for someone leaving art school who needs to stay inspired... 

2. Sarah Coonan Ceramics: My 100% Handmade secret santa sent me the blue tartan heart brooch, I love it and so did my sister, so it was lucky I was bad and opened my present early enough to order Amy a red one as part of her Christmas. 

3. Whimsical Lush Print: For my brother, it's so tricky buying handmade gifts for boys! 

4. Leah Carroll Laser Cut Brooch: My Mum got me this at a craft fair in Dundee. Love the little bow detail!

 5. Notebook & Craft Tool Holder: David's Mum & Dad made me these adorable personalised gifts. The notebook is currently filled with my big 2014 plans.
6. Crafty Giraffe Paper Cut: We ordered these customised cuts for a few people this Christmas. This one was for David's sister Emma (Fairytale Asylum)

7. Doodlestuff Doodleclips: Fun and funky, these hair clips were a wee stocking filler for my Mum. Jilly who makes them (not me, another Jilly - how unusual!) does lots of fab quirky brooches. 

8. Ceramic Houses by HodgePodge Arts: From my Dad to my Mum with a little help from me. 

9. Velvet ribbon candle: From my secret santa, Ashleigh. I can't remember the scent name but it was something floraly and moss - smells so good and fresh and looks perfect on my desk.

Birthday Goodies

I turned 21 on Wednesday and celebrated by taking a day off! Not the most exciting celebration but exactly what I needed. Lots of tea and cake and catch ups with friends, then out for an Italian with the family. I was thoroughly spoilt by everyone and thought I should share some of my lovely presents!

1. Custom pet portrait brooch by Clorty Cat Crafts from my Mum & Dad. It's amazing! So lifelike and Daisy's expression is captured perfectly 2. Pretty coloured flowers, so bright and cheerful when the weather is so gray. 3. Lots of jumpers - 3 vintage from my Mum & Dad and 1 daisy print jumper dress from my sister. The button lamp in this photo has a blog post of its own which I keep meaning to upload... 4. Handmade glass hanging hearts ornament from David (he got me lots of handmade goodies from Folksy this year - yay!) 5. Swatch watch from Ashleigh, Winnie & Lucy - it's perfect; so cute and practical. 6. Vintage ring from Purple Haze, York (from my Mum & Dad). Love the gothic style and stones.

And a quick thank you for all of my birthday wishes, cards and presents from everyone!