We are thrilled to announce a wonderful addition to the world of blogs. The one and only Seymour has extended his website to include a blog - which means we can all be kept up to date with everything that goes on in the world of Seymour and his colourful characters. Check it out now!

We will be posting a few bits of news about Seymour over the next few weeks, but in the mean time, above is a sneak peak at his brand new print entitled Cabaret Baby which was created as a tour poster for a new Stephen Deazley's production. Limited prints (an edition of just 10) will be out shortly. Watch this space.

Gift Guide - £10 and Under

With the first of December looming we are launching the first of many gift guides. Todays guide is for goodies £10 and under. These are all perfect for secret santas, stocking fillers and bargain hunters!

From left to right, top to bottom: Hug Card £4, Ooid Totes £9 each, Make-a-City London £3, Kate Sheridan Key Ring £5, Gemma Correll Badge Pack £4, Vintage Purse £10, Non-Planner diary £10, Bug Button £1, Soop ring £6.50, Flatpets Puppy £10, Matchstick Garden £1.50 each, Vintage Purse £10, Flatpets Kitten £10, With Love Badge £1.50, Coral Button £1, Important Notebook £6, Soop ring £6, Flower decoration £6. Happy Shopping!

I am a total sucker for beautiful packaging and seem to have a basket at home filled with labels from various things I have collected over the years. Whilst checking out notcot today, I came across these great absinthe bottles from French company Pandor who create one of the very few absinthes to be made by traditional hand-crafted methods. We think these new bottles are just stunning!

With Christmas just one month away (yes, its true) many of us have begun the fun, stressful, joyous or plain horrifying task of Christmas shopping. To keep things interesting, fresh and of course Independent, shopping at The Red Door should be high on everyones list (well, we think so anyway).

To help with those difficult decisions, we have put together a series of gift guides which we will be posting over the coming weeks. Guides include 'Under £10, £20 and £50 as well as guides to prints, accessories and those difficult to buy for guys. So, keep popping back and we shall solve all those present buying woes.

I have just fallen in love with these great Head Hoodies made by a one coffee loving, headhood devoted individual based in Brooklyn, NYC. Each hood is meticulously designed and handprinted and is therefore something truely unique. A great Christmas pressie for that hard to buy for guy, gal or even baby so time to get shopping!

Kate Sheridan's autumn/winter collection is flying out The Red Door like hotcakes. We love her new colours and cant seem to keep our eyes off her gorgeous laptop bag (centre). So, if you are keen to get your mits on a piece from her new range, then best get buying - either instore or online. The talented Kate Sheridan has done it again!

Our postie has been busy bringing us parcels all week which included some brand new goodies which made us smile instantly. Above are a selection of prints, brooches and drawings from the lovely Fun is Cool (aka Sarah McNeil) and below are a selection of prints by the talented Justin Richel. All pieces are limited and at bargin prices so time to come by and snap them up. Mmmm those cakes look good enough to eat!

Glasgow based illustrator Eilidh Weir popped in yesterday to drop off some of her brand spanking new 2009 Topless Birds Calenders. These beauties use word play with the combination of paintings of glamour models and birds to mock the ideology that a woman’s beauty corresponds directly with the size of her breasts. She placed these pseudo-sexual images in the context of a calendar to mimic those that can be found pinned up in garages, builder’s yard offices or teenage boys’ bedrooms, but gave it an overall feminine design to confuse the viewer more about the intended audience and message. At just £12, we think this calender with a difference is a bargin. Thanks Eilidh.

An email first thing this morning from Gemma Correll alerted me to this great postcard book brought to us by the all female collective 'Girls Who Draw'. This group of international illustrators create a diverse range of work including slick digital graphics, quirky hand drawn characters and humerous sequential imagery. Available through their website and various fairs around London, this would be a great stocking filler!

A wee while back, in Issue 9 of Scottish art magazine MAP, I stumbled across the drawings of Glaswegian artist Stuart Murray. Having long lost the magazine and forgotten his name, I spent months searching the internet fruitlessly trying to find more of his work. Today, I gave in to the fact that my memory has failed me, and gave MAP a call to hunt him down. Murray's drawings are acute social observations of various Scottish 'characters'. Simple line drawings accompanied by text, his work portrays, with tongue-in-cheek affection, the many faces of the people you may meet in any Scottish pub, or down any Scottish close, or even in any ordinary Scottish office. His books are available at his website, where you are also lucky enough to have a sneak peak through their pages: http://www.stuartmurray.co.uk/page1.html

Yesterday a customer informed me about a little treasure of a design website called notcot.org, after she saw that we stocked soop rings that had been featured on that blog. Teeming with the latest in design, fashion, architecture and conceptual ideas, our lovely customer described it as 'addictive' and I can now see why. Hours of aesthetic amusement ahead.

After a quick scout around on the Guardian website this morning I found a delightful series of images of everyday life in the United Kingdom by Magnum photographer Martin Parr. Capturing everything from fish and chip shops to dog-grooming parlours and hens nights, Parr certainly has an eye for portraying, with affection, the idiosyncracies of British life. Here are his shots of Edinburgh... a full slideshow of 40 of his works can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture.

Britannia at Ocean Terminal, Leith


Scotmid supermarket, Leith


The Leith Rules Golf Society


Edinburgh Castle

My mind boggles at the amount of talent these two gifted jewellers have. The pure craftsmanship of Monika Krol (above) and Matthew Moerman (below) is exceptional; transforming each piece into a miniature sculpture. These two are seriously good at coming up with original ideas and then transporting them to a whole other level of intricacy and detail. All I can say is WOW!