After a few days break, we are back open and gearing up for a massive New Year celebration. It is still snowing here (despite this very summery image which helping to warm out toes) yet our doors are still open to all those in Edinburgh over the next week. We are opening each day this week from 11am - 5pm, closed for a rest on New Years day and then back open at 11am - 5pm on the 2nd. For those keen to keep their mits warm by staying inside, our online store is still open and ready for business. Happy New Years!

If you are struggling with those crowds on the high street and sadly can't pop into our bricks and mortar shop, then do not fret. You still have time to order online with The Red Door. Our online shop is open for Christmas present buying until 4pm on Monday the 21st and after that well, Santa is on his way. Seasons Greetings to all.

Its Christmas time and we have white stuff on the ground (well, in places anyway). Time to finish off those last bits of shopping and settle in for some present wrapping, carols and mulled wine.

In order to spread some Christmas cheer, The Red Door and artist Ros Shiers are having a super sale on some of her super sweet prints and totes. The ever popular 'Love' and 'Hate' prints are down to £85 for singles or an amazing £150 for the pair, whilst her totes are flying out the door at £9. First in first served. Merry Christmas

Some new Andy Smith prints in for those last minute Christmas shoppers. Check out 'Pile Up' and 'Typefaces' above. Thanks Andy!

Christmas mince pies bring a smile to our faces at this time of year. Making your own is even more satisfying. Some Christmas cheer coming your way.xxx

A brand spanking new print from Miss Alphabet, Elise Dodds is in store. We are in love with this new 'D' print of hers which hit the shop today and is already getting a lot of well deserved attention. The perfect present for everyone you know.

A little positive thinking for those of you on the Christmas shopping buzz this weekend. The perfect bag by Miso Funky (and available from us) to help you on your merry way.

By the sound of things Seymour (one of our all time favourite artists), has been super busy over the last few months creating some stunning new sculptures. Above are the two most recent pieces which form part of Strychnin Gallery's Xmas-Luau show. All we can say about the Johnny Cash piece is Wow!

As a side project, Seymour has also just launched a range of custom skate decks through the good folk at artsprojekt - these are a pretty amazing Christmas present for that hard to buy for guy, so get shopping online now so one can be under your Chrismas tree. Nice work Seymour.

The Red Door team loves Christmas, so when we came across something as festively gorgeous as this Album cover, our grins went from ear to ear. What better way to introduce you to some good old carols, than a fluffy white cat opening a present. Aaaawwwwhhh! (thanks Julielion)

Some amazing prints from pencil and watercolour pieces by Edinburgh talent Kirsty Whiten are in store right now. These two pieces from her recent Monkey Relic show are our personal favourites. Available for £110 framed or £75 which we think is a steal for some work by Scotland brightest young thing.

We are full Christmas swing at The Red Door with the green and red tissue wrapped gifts flying out the door. Above are some images of our festive windows for this year, including the 'We Wish you a Merry Christmas Decoration' tree full of decorations for you to take home today. Be quick though as they are, as always, very limited. Merry Christmas. xxx

Right about now, we could all do with a bit of soul shopping.... and this Saturday at Christ Church Hall (Holy Corner, Bruntsfield) will the perfect retreat from sometimes soulless High Street.... Check it out between 10 am and 5 pm and remember to bring a tiny, golden £1 coin to support the organisers of this independent festive fair... there is sure to be hundreds of handmade treats to choose from.... and a cheery boost to your Christmas Spirit!

We are big fans of label Lazy Oaf down in London. They create some witty yet still wearable clothing and accessories and have just come out with these sweatshirt beauties! Perfect for that festive partner/friend or just plan old you, these sweatshirts scream "I'm so glad I put this on this morning". Get yours online from Lazy Oaf now.

On this very blustery, cold, dark November day (and lets face it, if you are in Edinburgh, don't bother heading out) these lambs wool scarves from Donna Wilson seem extremely appealing. With these new designs and colours just in, its hard to think of anything else.

Just in are theses amazing eco friendly mobiles from fluffyco who have supplied us with some great mini wallets over the years. They have ventured into some lovely things for your home, including these mobiles which can be yours for £40 each. In store and ready to be taken home today.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Decoration

We love supporting the creations of independent artists and designers and this Christmas is no exception. The festive season is lots of fun at The Red Door, with out customers searching for that something special which they won't find on the high street. We also know that people love a Christmas decoration with a story to adorn their tree and what better decoration to hang than one made with love by hand from an artist!

'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Decoration' is a fun, seasonal project run by the team at The Red Door to bring our customers some independent Christmas cheer. This cheer comes in the form of Christmas decorations handmade by artists which are all for sale.

All the pieces hanging from our tree in the window are for sale from between £1-£25 and can be bought and taken home today, or any other day till Christmas eve. We are also supporting 'The Sick Kids Friends Foundation' this year by donating 10% of all sales to this very worthy charity which helps the lives of thousand of children and their families each year. Time to come along and pick your decoration today. Photos to be posted soon (when the weather lets us get outside to take some photos). Merry Christmas

We have had a lot of boxes arrive this week and one that stood out from the rest was a bundle of goodies from Berlin based label Smil. Creating 'accessories that make you happy', the team from Smil have come up with some wonderful little goodies that would fit perfectly in anyone's Christmas stocking.

Goodbye non-festive windows, see you soon Christmas trees!

Good old Lego for bringing out a working digital camera and mp3 player. This makes Christmas shopping for that hard to buy boy a breeze. Available from Urban Outfitters and other good stocklists.

Love ice cream but after something a little more lasting? Look no further than these great prints from Hello Marine. In store and ready to be taken home today.

I must say that I appreciate a good sarnie - if done right, it can be amazing; done wrong and it can be a soggy mess. Kids can be an even tougher audience when it comes to getting them just right which leads me to introduce funkylunch.com. I was blown over when I first spied these amazing sandwich creations from web designer and sandwich maker Mark who came up with a whole host of incredible sandwich ideas to please his 4 year old sons stubborn taste buds. He managed to win over his son and also his thousands of fans. Some favourite lunches above!

Back in stock are all Gillian Kyle shoppers, totes and teatowels. Available both instore and now online. The perfect Christmas stocking filler.

After flicking through Christmas catalogues and finding this brilliant tricycle, I realised that I would either love to be a kid again or love to have this in an adult size. Complete with streamers and bell, this model would be the perfect gift for any little people you know - that way you can still have a sneaky ride!

It's starting to feel festive here at The Red Door Gallery. New to our ever popular card racks is a variety of quirky, colourful and heartfelt Christmas designs from sunlight on closed lids, John Dilnot and nineteenseventythree.

We are proud as punch here at The Red Door Gallery as one of our wonderful friends Vivien McDermid has won the second annual Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story competition. Congratulations Vivien! 'Paint' is a treat of a tale. Featured in yesterday's Observer magazine the colourful, honest and tender story of motherhood is both beautifully written and illustrated by Vivien. To view Paint in full and to read more about this year's competition and it's well deserved winner go to www.guardian.co.uk/books/comics.

There is always something satisfying about finding an image that makes you feel slightly uneasy. This photo from London based photographer Felicia Honkasalo (via booooooom!) reminds me of the terrifying thriller 'What Lies Beneath' whilst also conjuring up thoughts of serenity and beauty. Oddly lovely!

Some new Eleanor Grosch prints arrived over the last few days including these lovely new designs - which we like very, very much!

The rain is pouring down here on Victoria Street but we have got plenty of great things to cheer up the Grey day. What better way to stay warm this winter and keep a smile upon your face than with one of Donna Wilson's beautifully knitted lambswool scarves wrapped lovingly around!

We seem to have in inundated with boxes of goodies from some wonderful artists over the last few days (back log from the postal strike) so it feels a little like Christmas is starting early this year at The Red Door. One of our favourite arrivals had to be the 4 amazing boxes from Brighton based John Dilnot. We have stocked his cards and screenprints for quite sometime now, but feel super lucky to have a selection of these gorgeous boxes featuring Holyrood Palace and The Isle of Skye to name a few. You really have to pop in to see the beauty of these pieces (which by the way differ slightly from those images above) before they fly out the door. Thanks John.

Ladies and Gentlefolk... Christmas is almost upon us and the good people of Susiemaroon, The Bowery and Wooden Tree have clubbed together to bring us the most exciting shopping and bopping opportunity of the season! Marche Marche will be all your favorite local designers, artists & makers in one room with tasty treats and late night beats it's sure to get your toes tapping. We hope to see you there, we will certainly be there supporting Red Door Favourites Elsie Dodds, The Dandelion Project and of course Susiemaroon herself. So go on... give lovingly made gifts....

Making us smile today is this 'Mr Britain & Monocle' pendant from She Draws. Love it!

Two great new prints in from Scottish artist, screen-printer and designer Chris Macfarlane. Mixing digital imagery and traditional printing on high quality artist paper, Chris celebrates the wonderful eighties mix tape. Long may it live on.

For all those tape lovers here's some wise words from Nick Hornby's wonderful book High Fidelity on making the perfect mix tape.....

"The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't want to blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.........a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do's and don'ts. First of all you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing....."

Go dust that old tape recorder and get mixing! Ahhh....the memories.......

Being Chocolate week and all, we decided to post our two favourite chocolate recipes of the day. Making our tummies rumble this morning are an Italian Trifle and the amazing Hot Chocolate cake with Toffee Sauce. Thanks delicious, you once again, made out mouths water (and its only 9.20am).