Introducing; Ulster Weavers

It has been far too long since I had a new and exciting brand on my Introducing pages, and I am excited to get back into the swing of things thanks to Ulster Weavers. When an email arrived linking to their latest collaboration with Clarissa Hulse, I was immediately drawn to the prints and colours incorporated and I just had to share some top picks from the site. Based in Northern Ireland, and having been on the go since 1880, the company history lies in spinning, weaving and bleaching the linen which Ulster has become famous for. Since then they have taken these skills and expertise to create expansive kitchen textile lines that are absolutely beautiful. Their quality is not to be messed with either considering they hold a royal warrant for supplying kitchen textiles to Queen Elizabeth since 1995- that is quite the claim to fame!

The ranges reach far from the kitchen nowadays and include home accessories like throws and coasters right the way to bags such as the stunning toiletry bags I received to try out. I am such a big oilcloth fan for any item as I am essentially one messy pup especially when it comes to my make up, so this duo of bags are ideal for me! Clarissa Hulse has used a stunning botanical print and utilized it in 3 bold colourways that I struggled to choose between. The bags are in a small cosmetic bag and a larger wash bag and they make a beautiful set that will with stand a lot of carrying around.

There are so many pretty collections on the site but one of the first items that has stolen my heart is the layered leave tote in the darker colours  I don't want to sound dramatic but  I am deeply in love!! I am cursing my maternity leave spending ban right now, but this has moved right to the top of the dream list. Also I can't be the only one who swoons at a decent tea towel and how gorgeous are the Clarissa Hulse set? Look at that hot pink!!

There is pretty much something for everyone from adorable cat/dog and elephant prints to rich morrocan tile patterns and even stunningly bold Designers Guild floral prints that are right up my street. Throw in the seasalt stripes collection and this insanely cute elephant childs apron, and I am pretty much Ulster Weavers biggest fan right now!!

Well worth checking out their vast range of wares for Christmas shopping this year, you wont be disappointed.

Introducing; the Trtl Napscarf

Everyone at my work is used to me having all sorts delivered to the office, not a week goes by there isn't something unusual looking arriving at my desk that invites lots of questions from my colleagues. Nothing has ever piqued as much interest however as my latest purchase, the TRTL ( pronounced Turtle) travel pillow. The team at TRTL have actually been on my radar for some time as they have appeared on a BBC documentary on the amazing entrepreneurship centre Espark located right here in Glasgow and not only that but they have appeared on one of my fave programmes- Dragon's Den!

napping in extreme comfort

Why all this attention you are wondering?? well the clever cookies have only gone and completely redesigned the travel pillow and my god have they done a good job. I have so many memories of sharing around the silly little blow up pillow with my brothers when we were going on long distance journeys when we were younger, and even when I did get a shot it never failed to be super uncomfortable anyway or just slowly start to deflate!!

As a grown up I never even thought to try and use one- the idea of actually blowing one up
 seemed too embarrassing and the filled cushion style ones just took up too much space to cart about. Without one the next obvious option was....Ally, and essentially using the poor boy as a travel pillow who gets the pleasure of me clambering all over him to try and get comfy in the hope of catching a few zzzz's when we are going adventuring. With so many cheaper airlines now charging to even get to sit next to each other I had been once again scuppered however as utilising a stranger for a pillow just seemed a  step too far. Funnily enough the night before my TRTL actually arrived, Ally returned from a short flight for work and he laughed as he got in the door as not just one but both of the strangers he was sat between had promptly fallen asleep on his shoulder. NIGHTMARE.

You can imagine his excitement then when I produced the ultimate in travel luxury, the Trtl nap scarf. Designed with a love of travelling and a sense of adventure in mind, the scarf has been designed by a duo of mechanical engineers who wanted to make a more comfortable experience and boy have they got that right. This little beauty just wraps around your neck and provides a perfect little napping 'ledge' for you to rest your head on. The strengthened ribs provide the head and neck support while the super soft fleece provide serious comfort. Being able  to have the scarf element over your mouth while napping is handy addition and the perfect for any droolers ( sorry!) or wide mouth snoozers out there! What a joy for all the poor strangers that have had to witness my sleeping face in the past....

 Ally ripped it out my hands and promptly fell asleep which was a massive thumbs up from him. My colleagues all gave it the once over too and it was a resounding success for them with 4 orders going in right away for Christmas presents for people. It has been pure TRTL madness since it arrived!
I coincidentally booked flights to NY for my birthday next year just a couple of days after finding the  pillow ( I blame this spontaneous expense on them!) and I can tragically admit I am looking forward to such a long flight just so I can put this little beauty to good use.

only £20?? WHAT A BARGAIN!

You can order the pillow direct from the website ( with free delivery) or they are also available on Amazon priced a super reasonable £19.95. Join the TRTL revolution today and travel in comfort for evermore. It is available in black, grey, red and a super cute coral version too.

Sleep well and Dream Big indeed.

Reuse, Recycle and Upcycle

In my last post I filled you in on my exciting morning at the Ideal Home Show at the SECC. Aside from exploring the amazing array of vendors, we had actually been invited along to learn a little more about how to reuse and recycle items to bring a new lease of life to our homes. We were treated to a talk from the gorgeous Emily Rose who you will remember I was lucky enough to learn all about upcycling with in the past, and a personal walk-through by the lovely designer, John Amabile's show-rooms at the event,  by the man himself. If this wasn't enough we got to get to chat to the amazing team at Revolve who are part of Zero Waste Scotland and what they have set out to do is definitely something close to my heart. For those who follow me on Instagram and twitter- I am a huge fan of second-hand anything, the contents of my wardrobe to the majority of the furniture in my home have all come from charity shops and its something I promote whenever possible. People can still be a bit funny at the idea of  getting something that is not brand new and that is why Revolve are working to add a standard of quality to lots of places selling second hand goods in Scotland. They want to make it more inviting, easier and safer for people to purchase used goods, and if you spot their logo you know you are buying from somewhere that sells good products and are committed to quality and customer service. They are working hard to try and make second hand the first choice and I absolutely love what they are doing, Along with Emily and John, the Revolve team talked us through just how easy it can be to upcycle old pieces with furniture paint and stencils etc and it was amazing to see how different a piece can look after a little TLC that doesn't require any amazing skills just a bit of enthusiasm. John and Emily were in agreement that a lick of paint, replacing handles and using fun fabrics with colour can turn things around really quickly and encourage you to be really creative with your style. For my adventures in re working pieces, I find that using something older makes me less 'precious' about trying my hand with it- nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that jazz means I have definitely been bolder in giving things a go and it really has made the opportunities endless.

John showed us through his show-rooms at the event which were great for getting inspiration for how you could mix new pieces with older upcycled pieces, they had even put together my favourite room of the show entirely from second hand items and I thought it looked absolutely fantastic. They looked like the kind of pieces you might spend a fortune on in Urban Outfitters but were actually just cheaper IKEA numbers with a couple of adjustments, or a chair that a shop was literally throwing out that was given a little love and totally transformed. There is something so inspiring in people getting behind the recycling mindset, I can't wait to get my hands on a project soon and inject some new life into my flat.