Monday is the day that we clean out our jewellery cabinet; carefully dusting beneath and between an assortment of necklaces, earrings and brooches. What is normally a time-consuming activity today took the better part of the morning, with the arrival last week of two new and exciting collections that are bursting our cabinet to it's shiny rafters: Ooid earrings and Bena brooches.

Hailing from New Zealand, Ooid took it's name from the eponymous small, spheroidal, sedimentary grain - which is, in simpler terms, a small grain of sand, that, in ideal conditions, can grow to very large sizes over time. Certainly Ooid products have an earthly feel to them, with their already successful Sprout canvas bag range and now the addition of Good Bean jewellery. We have in our cabinet a range of earrings in sterling silver and coloured steel exploring the endless possibilities of the organic shapes of beans!

UK label Bena also has a story behind her namesake: a childhood nickname from her mother, meaning the little one. Her glistening brooches adopt an array of forms: from pistols, family shields and the mounted heads of hunted prey - to butterflies, birds and bows. Something for everyone!

Team leader Sarah has just left for an inspiring fun filled week of culture, art, music, history, and of course coffee and bagels in NYC, we miss her already!

Hope you are having a great time, sending you lots of love from camp Red Door.

xxx

Here at the Red Door we have been getting our virtual on and have created a Facebook group so we can keep up to date with all our lovely friends no matter where in the world they may be. Together with our blog, it will be one of the first ways for you to hear of exciting new stock, upcoming exhibitions and, of course, the soon to be grand-opening of our online store.

We'd love you to be our friend, so to join in on the fun please go to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23836901528 and become a member!

Hope to see you in cyberspace soon.

With love from us all at the Red Door Gallery

xx

We are in the middle of stocktaking here at The Red Door, but we managed to get lots done this afternoon which meant it was time for a cup of tea and a good old esty browse. It seems like a lifetime ago I was last drooling over some of the gorgeous products that etsy showcases. I thought it was only fitting that I share with you some of the bits and bobs that caught my attention today. Enjoy x


All items are available from etsy under, descriptions are clockwise from left to right; 'Mint Chocolate Chip Sky' polaroid from Stoopidgerl , page extract from 'Stylish Dress Book' from Pomadour24, 'Chily plus Rita' by MessyFish, 'Hello May' by AshleyG, 'Hand Knitted Healthy Sandwiches' from ChrissyBrown, 'Polar Bear Ride' by Starfunkel, card set from Curtie01, 'Sometimes a Giraffe' by Melabo, 'Woodgrain Coasters' from Avrilloreti, 'Operation Fantomette Book' from YourSecretAdmiral, 'Garden Variety Rabbits' from Abelemporium, and 'Why are you so Naughty Tile' by MisterRob.

Poketo will celebrate the launch of its new space – and a new era - by presenting “First Editions,” a show featuring limited edition letterpress and giclee prints by 25 international artists. This show will showcase the work or artists such as Sarah Utter, Peskimo, Lisa Congdon, Pietari Posti and Andrew Jeffrey Wright to name just a few. Print editions of 50-100 made exclusively for Poketo will be available at the show so those of you lucky enough to be in LA on the 22nd should mark this one in your diary and head down to what will surely be a great opening.

Today we were lucky enough to receive a box of goodies from BENA Clothing, a new label to The Red Door. BENAs emphasis on imagination and collectables comes through strongly in all her pieces. Beautifully made with real attention to detail running along slightly quirky themes, we agree these brooches are definitely something a little bit different.

Yesterday a box of goodies from Norwich based Illustrator Gemma Correll arrived for us all to drool over. Gemma's work is mainly drawing, collage and print based, but she also dabbles with textiles. We stock her hillarious bear zine, stickers, colouring books and badge packs which range from £3-£4. We also love her pimped pumps which she did for Lazy Oaf in London. Gemma has an amazing range of clients under her belt already and is a member of Norwich based crafty crew Fine City Friends. Oh and she also loves flat shoes, milkshakes and kittens.

Badge and book creator Ewan John just emailed to let us know that his badges and pins, which we stock, were featured in last Saturdays Scotsman Magazine 'What to Buy' list. It makes us all hope that spring is almost here.

The reminiscing started sometime last week where hidden in among an endless landscape of inessential gadgets and dispensable contraptions of the electronic variety this little gem appeared, a memory stick tucked neatly away into the plastic shell of the fondly familiar cassette, clever. Complete with cover and insert, the little uniform sheet of paper, with its consistant dimensions, untouched by time bought back recollections of many hours spent laboriously collaging, stenciling, painting and squeezing biro titles into smaller and smaller spaces, in somewhat 'creative' directions as the lines ran out. Helping to recall the track by track listing of the 'holiday mix' the 'best of' and the 'to..... with love' with a bit of visual imput is an always popular, and a personal fave print by Hanna Melin entitled 'Best of' and one of our smart wee JDUCT wallets. This is a salute to the mixtape.

I have just been browsing over Los Angeles based artist Steven Harringtons website. I absolutely love his opening page (see top image) and adore his prints, graphics and book illustration. As well as owning and operating National Forest Design with fellow artist Justin Krietemeyer, he still finds time to work on both commissioned and self-inspired art projects of his own. How one does this I do not know, but hats off to Steven as we think his work is just brilliant!

‘Reared’, as they say, in the fresh green pastures of London, Soop is the genesis of husband and wife design-team Jack & Wai-Lian Scannell. Known for their quirky products for the home and commercial environment, Soop have been kind enough to come up with some goods of a somewhat more portable nature: rings to pretty-up our fingers. Based around the themes of ‘city farms’ and ‘enchanted forests’, the collection is comprised of bright plastic rings sporting everything from squirrels and sheep to pigs and hens. They’re fun, affordable (£6.50) and the freshest things to arrive on our shelves here at the Red Door. Pick your favourite or collect the whole farmyard…

Stuart White popped in this afternoon to drop off some new shoppers produced by Glasgow based shop Hitherto. These superb 'Ahoy Matey' totes are designed by Emily Robertson for Hitherto (which is a brilliant shop that you should all go and check out) and are available now. Another reason to say no to plastic!

Fancy checking out some great bargains this weekend? The Village Fete being held at Old St Paul’s Church Hall here in Edinburgh is the place to go. It’s a chance for local artists and makers to show off their work and for you all to nab some original goodies and listen to some great tunes. Illustrator Lizzie Stewart is responsible for all the goodness that the Village Fete has to offer. If you’re in Edinburgh (or thereabouts) this Saturday 8th March it is highly recommended you head along to see what happening. You might also find some delicious cake too!

Spring is here and the new Kate Sheridan range has just arrived on our doorstep. Not only are we contending with 7 large boxes of gorgeous bags and accessories, but we are all trying to pick which ones we are going to buy. A tough choice.

The Spring/Summer 08 collection is spread over three themes of 'Stripe', 'Flora' and 'Howler' and are a welcome change from the severity of the current 'it' bags by appealing to the customer with love of colour, pattern and good design.

Prices range from £7 through to £78 and we always have very limited stock so you best get your selves in to check them out. xx

The weather has been as temperamental as a teenager here in Edinburgh over the past few days. It just can’t decide what it wants to be: sunny, raining, or tormenting us all with blustery winds. Thankfully we’ve just received some gorgeous new Donna Wilson cushions to help beat those winter blues. Made from 100% lambswool they’re perfect for snuggling up with when you’re forced to stay inside. Donna also creates a range of weird and wonderful woollen creatures that can’t fail to brighten up your day, even when the sun does not.