Spring into Action!

Well, what a busy start to 2022 it’s been – we can’t quite believe that it’s March already – yet this is our first blog of the year! But you know what they say – time flies when you’re having fun! And we certainly have been busy little bees here behind the scenes, getting both the shops and the website prepared for all our Spring deliveries.

Spring is such an exciting time, isn’t it? The days are starting to stretch, everything begins to brighten up and we've even seen the first few lambs hopping about the fields this week too! So, we’re very pleased to have some new arrivals of our own to show off – and thought we’d take a minute to introduce you to some of them by taking a bit of a virtual tour around the shops!

So, first up let’s take a little look at some of our favourites from the Emma Bridgewater display in No.5:

    

 As always, Emma Bridgewater's Spring Summer Collection doesn't disappoint. Look at those tulip plates, bursting with a riot of colour - and the artichoke large bowl is a gorgeous versatile piece, beautifully decorated inside and out. The beautiful rabbits and kits collection is available in a half pint mug, small mug and the very sweet french bowl.

    

There's half pint mugs a plenty - including poppy, foxglove, strawberry and frog designs. And we're delighted to see the return of the wonderful silver hen on nest egg keeper alongside the rise and shine half pint mug set and three mug teapot. The whole display has brought a very welcome lift to the front of the shop and we should have more arriving in the weeks ahead too!

This is one of the window areas, where we decided to expand on the Gisela Graham spring meadow range which you loved so much last year. 

The ceramics are back but we've also included a lovely textile collection, plus some fabulous faux stems and more of the popular stab stitch throws in different colourways. You can also see the lovely macaron wall clocks from Thomas Kent Clocks in Sloeberry, Pistachio and Pumpkin.

Moving through to our No.11 Shop now, this is the beautiful bluebell collection from Gisela Graham which looks so pretty alongside the dinky DCUK ducks.

There's two designs within the bluebells collection, or you can mix and match the two! The traditional stoneware pieces include bowls, a jug a mug and egg cups - which would make a lovely little Easter gift. And then there's the finer bone china collection which includes jugs, a mug and a ceramic coaster. And we mustn't forget to point out the beautiful blue mini flower branch - the quality of the faux stems that we've got at the moment is amazing. They look great and will far out last the real thing!

And moving on to something truly delightful - this is Dollyhotdogs! Which we’ll take a little time to introduce you to properly seeing as this is a brand new collection for us. Dollyhotdogs is the childhood nickname of artist and illustrator, Michelle who is the creator behind this fantastic collection of home and giftware. Her illustrations are bold and eye-catching and it's no surprise that this little lot has proved very popular in the shop already.

We've only just got everything up online, so you can shop the full range here - there's lots to choose from so do let us know which is your favourite if you can decide! All of the products are designed and produced in the UK and the range includes greetings cards, notebooks, mugs, chopping boards in two sizes, oven gloves, tea towels and cushions.

And lastly but definitely not least we have another brand to introduce you to, which is so new it only just arrived with us this week! If you're on our Mailing List you may well have seen some of this already as we are very, very excited about it! Liga are an Eco Living brand and family business passionate about what they do - drawing inspiration from nature to design eco homewares for everyday living, using only sustainable materials such as ethically sourced cork, recycled EVA plastics and ceramics to create their collections.

This is the Beach Clean Collection - we have tablemats and coasters in square/rectangular or circular designs, plus a lovely little tealight holder. Liga's Beach Clean material is made from natural cork and recycled, food-safe EVA plastics, saved from the oceans. We're so happy with it and so happy to be working with a brand that is so focussed on sustainability and eco - friendly products and practices. 

We also stock their wonderful eco cork and ceramic range which is practical as it is aesthetically pleasing - the matt glazed ceramics are beautifully slick and tactile and the range includes mugs, bowls, teapots and jugs, which all cleverly harness the natural thermal properties of the cork to keep your drinks warmer for longer. You can browse our full Liga collection here.

    

We hope you enjoyed our whistle-stop shop tour of what's new - we're very pleased to tell you that this is just the beginning – there’s lots more newness to come in the next few weeks, so we'll maybe do something like this again in the future for those of you that aren't lucky enough to have Lochgilphead on your doorstep? 

We’re also hopeful that there's lots more lovely bits and pieces for us to discover for the year ahead, as we head along to Scotland’s Trade Fair this weekend. The first show in a long time, so we're very much looking forward to it and will, of course, let you know how we get on!