New original printed silk clutch, silhouette branches
The latest in my collection of Red Ruby Rose originals is printed silk. I'm quite excited about this one (don't I always say that?) as I've been searching for a while for a bespoke silk printing company here in the UK. There are lots of print-on-demand fabric houses around now but not so many who'll offer silk as a textile option as it's tricker to print and needs a different set of dyes to other fabrics.
So, my first test batch arrived today and it's gorgeous - even nicer than I'd hoped and the sandwashed habotai silk feels beautiful. I have twelve other designs that I'll slowly add to the shop over the next few weeks, a mixture of old favourites and some new prints too.
This silk is so great that the thought of a new line of contemporary silk scarves in original prints crossed my mind. That would be fun! When my poor old hands finally declare that enough is enough from all this bag making then it's certainly a thought.
Sandcastle at Red Point, Wester Ross
At the beginning of June I took a little birthday break up to the west coast of Scotland. It's a beautiful place even when it rains but we were lucky enough to have sunny skies and only a few hints of the dreaded midgees that descend in swarms and terrorise hapless visitors.
This time we took a couple of boat trips, both of which were truly memorable. The first was a whale watching trip that departed from Gairloch and took us out to the Northern tip of Skye - worth it just for the scenery let alone the promise of whales, dolphins and other assorted marine life. It was a breathtaking couple of hours and we saw minke whale, porpoise and puffins. Imagine my delight when I read on the BBC that the very same boat, a month later came upon a superpod of around 1,000 short-beaked common dolphin. I think that the boat owner, Nick Davies, must have the best job in the world, at the very least he must have felt like the luckiest man alive that day.
Video by Nick Davies, owner of the Hebridean boat cruise company, aboard Orca 1, surrounded by a superpod of dolphin
Our second boat trip was on the achingly beautiful and rather haunting Loch Maree. There are several isles on the loch upon which we alighted but one in particular, Isle Maree, was really quite spooky. I took some photos of the Victorian money tree but as we went further into the island I had an overwhelming sense that I couldn't take any more photos, especially inside the druid circle. Very odd.
In other news, it's been a busy month in the shop so I haven't had a chance to make or list many new styles but there are some new prints in the pipeline including original prints on silk, can't wait for these, they should be in the shop by mid July.
