More beach finds and fun with my camera this weekend. This time, feathers.

Storm clouds over Big Sand Beach near Gairloch with the snowy Torridons in the background



We've battened down the hatches this week after a so called 'weather bomb' hit the west coast of Scotland, causing high winds and unusually high waves. It was a good test of our house (and nerves). Now the snow is settled on the mountains on Torridon and on Skye and when the rainclouds part it looks beautiful.

I've always loved beach-combing and now the sea is on my doorstep I have to be more discerning or the house will soon fill with shiny briny things. What beautiful objects though.... each beach seems to have its own distinct varieties of shell and there is even one with thousands of coral fragments washed up along the shore. (I hope this is through natural erosion and tidal storms rather than deep-sea trawler dredging).

Two days after my previous post (a rather shameful eight months ago), my boyfriend and I had one of those eureka moments. He was recovering from a rather nasty and unexpected hip fracture after a bicycle accident on black ice and I no doubt had a little cabin-fever from a dreary wet winter in the city punctuated by the constant demands of a large Victorian house that needed money spending on it yesterday.

We spent the day in Monmouthshire meeting up with family and as the sun shone down on the gorgeous wooded valleys and rivers we both looked at each other and declared that it was time to move. At that stage we didn't have a precise location in mind but it was a powerful and determined decision.

The next day we phoned the Estate agents and by June the house was scrubbed up and ready for its potential new owner. It sold within a week.

In truth we knew where we would end up. We met in Scotland, his family are still there and it was time to return.

There were fact-finding missions to be had, houses to be viewed (or built) and then by a series of happy chances we ended up looking round our perfect house by the sea on a sunny August afternoon. The Scottish weather gods were being mischievous with us for they knew we would be seduced by the shimmering blue sea and towering golden mountains. I'd already seen the house online but was in no way prepared for the reality of the views or quality of the build.

On a handshake it seemed the house was ours and after a smooth legal transfer we moved in two weeks ago. Even the 650 mile drive with Paddy pug was OK and the removals van arrived two days later to sunny skies and a flat calm sea. In November! Whatever next.

The weather has continued to to be far too kind to us. It is breaking us in gently with fiery sunrises and dramatic sunsets, aqua blue seas and golden beaches with seals and otter and the promise of dolphin pods around the next bay. We know it is preparing us for the Winter reality of Atlantic storms and sideways rain, of short days and long nights. We are new and green, we will soak it all up.

My new studio is up and running, I feel productive and inspired and cannot wait to create new work.

Here's Farrah Singer carrying my blue butterfly bag on her way to the Oscars earlier this month. Doesn't she look fabulous in that chartreuse yellow dress. Her husband, Eric Warren Singer, was nominated for best screenplay for 'American Hustle'.

This photo came to me via Jessica at Ivy & Aster in New York, who recently did a Spring/Summer photo shoot in Manchester with the brilliant photographer Rosie Hardy.

Stunning results, and I'm so delighted to be included, here is my Forest Lights clutch.

Here's a limited edition (of two) new shoulder/larger clutch bags. Featuring a jewel-like print of tropical birds on both sides, with an aqua background and olive/gold silk lining. Nifty chain handle that tucks down when not in use.

Hibiscus print clutch bag, Red Ruby Rose on Etsy

This week Lillyella is hosting a giveaway over on her blog to win an $85 voucher for the clutch of your choice. Yay! Perfect for a Christmas present or treat for yourself. Which one would you choose? Giveaway runs until 6th November.

I'm so pleased that Nicole of Lillyella is blogging again, and if you get a moment, go check out her fabulous Etsy shop. Love this beauty:

Lillyella's secret garden brass locket on Etsy

A few new designs just listed on my Etsy shop, these are all one-offs or last ones!

Blue suede medium clutch with drop-down chain handle

Pebble grey leather medium clutch bag with drop-down chain handle

Retro sunflower print medium clutch bag with drop-down chain handle

Red pods embroidered clutch bag

Black pods clutch bag

Plum scrolls embroidered silk clutch bag

I was doing some file tidying earlier as my now Jurassic Mac is slowing up (hang in there old gal!) and I stumbled across this image from a customer who bought my gold peacock clutch for her wedding a few years back. Isn't it lovely? I do appreciate it when I get sent photos, and this one's a jewel! Do you have a photo of your Red Ruby Rose bag you'd like to share? I'd love to see, please send me.

I've been working on some new designs, including leather and some new original silk designs. First up, box clutches, which took a bit of experimenting to perfect and take several fiddly stages to complete.

This dusky pink leather is a gorgeous colour. The thickness of the leather is critical with this style - too thin and the hide can tear when it is hand-stretched over the shell, too thick and there's just not enough clearance for the shell to slot into the frame. This particular leather was just on the cusp of being too thick and did feel a little like wrestling an octopus into a string bag at the final stage but I'm so happy with the final result. Because leather is so naturally pliable and flexible it's lovely to get the curves around the shell without any chunky creases or folds.


Note the side gussets - it would be simpler not to include them from a construction perspective but with this style it would be easy for the bag contents to spill out when opened so this stops any unwanted fallout! The lining is a cotton fabric inspired by an English block-print from 1797, reprinted by the V&A museum from their collections.

Next up, a new frame style consisting of two separate pieces joined by a simple drop down clasp.

This style bridges the gap between a wallet and clutch, As a wallet it is slim enough to slip into a larger bag, with three internal pockets for cards, cash and documents. As a stand alone bag it can fit a smart phone and is substantial enough to be a clutch.



Considering the simplicity of the style it still takes me quite a while to make, because of the separate components involved and also because it's a new process for me.

Moving onto work in progress, one process I'm still trying to fathom and master is printing onto leather. Back at college I silkscreened single colours onto leather and suede which can be very effective but these days I want to create full colour photographic images. It's a dark art - those who have cracked it are very secretive about their methods and it's a minefield of blind alleys; heat transfer, dye sublimation or direct print, and then the process of treating the leather itself so it accepts the print and then holds onto it. Also, with leather being such a variable natural substrate it's not as straightforward or reliable as cotton and silk.

A couple of years ago I outsourced my leather printing to a company in the USA and the results were beautiful but the high cost of print and shipping made it commercially unviable, so I continue in my quest to produce something myself. This butterfly clutch is the closest I've got so far:

 Here are four new designs hot off the workbench. All are based around my original photography and printed onto cotton.

Yellow fiat Car, silk-lined clutch purse by Red Ruby Rose

 Love these old Fiat 500s, this one was parked up next to a Vespa on an Italian side street... fits so neatly on the clutch shape too :)

Cinque Terre, silk-lined clutch purse by Red Ruby Rose

 Here's a close-up of houses in one of the Cinque Terre towns in Italy, clinging to the cliffs with the waves crashing beneath. Such a beautiful region... wanted to capture the higgledy-piggledy nature of the buildings.


Wood circles, silk-lined clutch purse by Red Ruby Rose

 Geometric tree circles, photo of wood rings in yellow and violet tones

Green ferns, silk-lined clutch purse by Red Ruby Rose

 Finally, lush green woodland ferns against a dark green/grey background.

Peony and Butterfly clutch by Red Ruby Rose

There are a few more days to run on the Spring giveaway on the lovely UK based wedding blog Under The Vintage Veil. For the chance to win your choice of clutch simply pop over to find out more. Good luck!

Sadly, Barker my lovely ginger chicken has squarked her last squark. She was a fine pet chicken, her and Corbett (who died 6 months ago) liked nothing more than dustbathing in the yard and tapping on the back door for tasty treats. They would follow me round the garden if I was pottering about, on the off chance that I'd dig up a juicy worm for them. A fine life!