We've Moved!

After I started blogging back in 2009 I've enjoyed a good three years posting my updates with blogger.  However, today I'm really excited about launching my brand new website- and with that will also come a brand new blog!

The very talented Kim Lawler (owner at Finest Imaginary, and web developer extraordinaire) has been working her socks off to build me a beautiful new internet home- and now that it's done- I can't wait to move in!

You can find my lovely new site at my original address: www.nikkimcwilliams.com.  From now on I'll be blogging from my new abode- so be sure to add the new address to your Google Reader/RSS Feed/Blog Lovin'.

You can still read all of your old favourite posts right here- or even better- come and find them in their new home at www.nikkimcwilliams.com/blog! I'd love to here what you think, so don't forget to leave me a comment...the new blog need christening!

See you there!

Nikki.x

New Postage Prices- 2012

A few weeks ago- Royal Mail announced their annual price increase on postage.  The day that the news was announced, my Twitter feed was ablaze with stunned small business owners- and rightly so: with postage prices increasing by between 30% and 39%.

The unfortunate reality of this is that many of the postage prices in my shop are going to have to increase- however, I am relieved to say that it won't be by as much as 30%.  The service which I use most frequently (Royal Mail Packets, for sending individual cushion orders) has only increased very slightly for the average weight I send- so in the case of individual cushions- the P&P on these will only see a small increase.

P&P on smaller items (for example brooches and prints) will sadly have slightly higher % price increase than that of the cushion P&P- with the price on large letter stamps jumping from 75p - 90p.

New postage prices will take effect in all of my online outlets, including Big Cartel, Etsy & Folksy from the 30th of April 2012. 

Apologies for such a gloomy post- I promise I'll have some good news in my next blog article!

Instagram-a-go-go

Ok- so I'll be the first to admit it has been AGES since I last blogged. March disappeared beneath my feet, but here's some instagram snaps of the last few week's highlights and happenings.

Top to bottom, left to right:

1: My Caramel Wafer cushions got a mention in May's British Vogue!

2: A bizarre mix of summer & winter weather in Dundee led to some confused looking outfits...

3: ...Even the ladybirds were huddling together to conserve heat!

4: Been doing LOADS of travelling around. I couldn't count the hours I've spend on trains/buses/cards recently.

5: Helped the other half move into his new studio at WASPS, Dundee. It's looking GREAT!

6: Shopping for chairs, Chair City, Dundee.

7: A pic of my Frightened Rabbit inspired rainbow Snake got retweeted by the band themselves!

8: I rediscovered my love of Babycham on Easter sunday. It really is "The Happiest Drink in the World"!

My Malted Milk cushion was spotted on the sofa of trendy-lady Alexa Chung (pictured above with Tennesse Thomas of The Like) . Thanks again to Sarah at Magasin for pointing me towards Alexa's instagram stream!

I've got some exciting things to share with you soon- but until then, I'll leave you with some rainbow snake draught excluder inspired tunes to keep you going :)

P.S- Hello to all of the new Instagram for Android users! You add my by searching for my username: nikkimcwilliams

Jamie Oliver Mag- Bake Your Own Biscuits

If you're a fan of home-baking, cooking or (like me) eating delicious food then I strongly suggest purchasing the current Jamie (Oliver) magazine! I was so excited to hear that the issue was going to feature lots of DIY biscuit recipes- and also that they would be featuring some of my biscuit cushions, in tribute!

I have to admit- while I enjoy watching Jamie's 30 Minute Meals (30 minutes is my approximate time ration for dinner-time at the moment!) I'd never before bought a copy of the magazine...and I am so impressed! The current issue (Mar/Apr) is full of loads delicious and achievable Greek inspired recipes- which my Cypriot granny would approve of as well as the aforementioned DIY biscuits. There's recipes for baking your own Custard Creams- Bourbons and even Jaffa Cakes (genius!)- which I will definitely be putting to the test at some point soon. You can even find out how to make your own Jammy Dodger biscuits here (and take a look at my Jammy cushions here!)

Jamie Magazine are currently giving away 2 of my cushions- so buy a copy of the magazine or head over to the website to enter the competition today!

We Have a Winner!

Thanks to everybody who entered my blog competition over the last few weeks. There was an amazing response- but there can only be one winner...

So, congratulations: Georgia Coote!

It's a beautiful sunny day here in Dundee- and I've just had my favourite Sunday breakfast: pancakes, bacon & syrup. I hope everyone's having a lovely weekend!

Greetings and Salutations!

I had a little batch of these cards printed a while ago and thought that with Mother's day just around the corner it would be the perfect opportunity to add them to my online shop.

A colour variation of a digital print which I currently sell- this card is professionally printed onto a nice heavy 350gsm satin finish card. It's blank inside- so could be perfect if you have a cake-loving Mum this coming mothering Sunday (18th of March, folks!)

Cards are priced at £2.00 and are available to order now from my online shop!

21st Century Design Lecture at DJCAD

A little while ago the lovely Kate Pickering got in touch with me to ask me to be part of the 21st Designer lecture program at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. Being on the other side of the lecture theatre during my studies at DJCAD from 2003 - 2008 I was really excited to go back and give it a go!

I spoke to 2nd year Design students about my journey since leaving art school, my business and the joys of twitter!

I got some lovely tweets from students attending my talk as well as a few blog posts later on in the day that I've linked to below. Thanks so much to Kate Pickering and Jonathan Baldwin for having me along- and also for inviting me to stay to talk to 4th year textiles students in the afternoon with Angharad McLaren.

Thanks to all of the students who blogged about my talk (If I've missed anyone, drop me a line with your link) Thanks also to Kate for taking the photo above!

Chloe Henderson

Helen Witham

Alison Best

Shonagh Gardiner

Sheila Roussel

Craig Gilroy

Tarka Heath

Rebecca Black

Laura Speirs

Errin Miller

Wing Lam Chan

Brian Davidson

Kristen Neillie

There's still a week left to enter my competition- so make sure you get your comments in before the 9th of March for your chance to win!

Win a Perfect Tea-Time!

It's competition time! I've joined forces with the good people at Cafédirect to bring you a truly excellent prize. Cafédirect have very kindly provided me with a hamper full of drinkable Fairtrade goodies for my blog readers to win, including: São Tomé Hot Chocolate, Hand-picked Tea, Classic Medium Roast instant coffee, Rich Roast ground coffee, a crisp Fairtrade tea towel and a shiny new mug to drink it all from! I'll be honest- when the box arrived, I was very tempted to drink it all myself!

And if all that wasn't enough to make for some top teatimes- I'm adding a few of my designs to the prize pack too. I'm giving away a large-size A Cup of Tea Solves Everything print, a limited edition Bourbon keyring (not available to buy- anywhere!) and one of my new Jam Heart biscuit cushions for you to cuddle up with!

Visit Cafédirect online for more about their fine Fairtrade hot drinks and for an extra chance to win some biscuit cushions & drinkable goodies!

HOW TO ENTER:

Just make sure you follow my blog and leave a comment on the post below saying why you'd like to win. I'll pick a winner at random on Friday the 9th of March at 9pm GMT**

Good luck everyone!

**Please note- due to the size & weight of the prize, this competition is only open to UK residents.

Cats & Cushions do Facebook

I had a great response to the pictures I posted of my mum's cat, Alfie and my Nice biscuit cushions last week. I've had folks send me pictures of their cats with Biscuit Cushions they've bought from my shop (Thanks to Alex and Charlie at Snowdon Design and Craft for their picture above!) so I decided it would be a nice idea to have somewhere to share all of the Cats and Cushions pictures I had...and so the Cats and Cushions facebook album was born!

If you have any pictures of your kitty and one of my cushions- I'd love to see them! You can email them to me or even post them on my facebook wall- and I'll pop them into the Cats and Cushions album for all to see.

Hope everyone's having a great week so far- I've got a totally fab competition (I would LOVE to keep these prizes!) to announce tomorrow- so pop back to find out what it's all about!

It's Party Time- New Biscuit Cushions!

Last week saw the arrival of my new Jammy Heart biscuit cushions- and that was exciting enough. However- I have to say that as a long-time appreciator of kid's party food I am so, SO excited to be posting pictures of my newest Iced Ring cushions!

I love the bright pink and soft pastel colours of the icing- and when they're all together they take me back to all of the fun wee parties our parents threw for us when we were little. We always had a home-baked cake (my Dad is quite a talent in the Birthday-cake department) and plates of sausage rolls, chocolate Krispie cakes (for which I'm now developing a mega craving) marshmallow top hats and of course a selection of celebration-worthy biscuits.

My new Iced Ring cushions are available to buy now either individually or as a set (save £4.00 on all three) in my online shop right now!

Cushions & Cats

Other than biscuits and cushions- my other love in this world has got to be cats. This is my mum's cat, Alfie, who decided to "help" during my photoshoot for my Nice Biscuit cushion. Usually when cats try to help you with your work, they plonk themselves down and sit right on top of it.

This time was no different- but I reckon Alfie makes a pretty good model! If Tyra Banks ever decides to do a kitty-version of ANTM then I think he definitely has a good shot!

I've started a Cushions & Cats album over on my facebook page (which is probably a subconscious attempt at spending more time looking at pictures of cute kitties on the internet!)

Happy Jammy Valentines!

Happy Valentines everyone!

I tweeted about my new Jammy Heart Biscuit cushions this weekend- and I thought today was an appropriately lovely (!) day to post them on the blog. A few have already found new homes as Valentines gifts- and if you'd like to bring some Jam-Love into your home you can do so by picking one up in my online shop from hereon!

I've been busy working on lots of new designs recently- which I'm hoping to share with you really soon.

I hope everyone has lovely evenings planned... I will be relaxing with my all time favourite night-in: an M&S Dine-In-For-Two Dinner!

Stickygram Vs Goodwin + Goodwin

A little while ago I picked up this amazing Speech Bubble magnetic whiteboard from the fabulous Goodwin + Goodwin- the talented duo behind Signs For Homes.

Although I wasn't sure quite where I was going to hang it in our flat- I knew that I needed it in my life! The perfect opportunity arose last week, when I received my Stickygrams in the post. For anyone who's not already been swept away by the joy that is Instagram- Stickygrams are little magnetic versions of your Instagram photos.

Anyhoo- my new shiny white Speech Bubble whiteboard is the perfect blank canvas for my Stickygram magnetic photos! I love that I'll be able to rearrange the pictures and even add more to my collection.

It comes in an oval shape too and as a piece of British made design (hooray!) is a bargain at £34.95.

A Day in the Life: February 1st 2012

Yesterday was the most recent "A Day in the Life" blog date. Here's a day in my life:

Up and dressed early for the Post Office trip. My phone says it's -2 degrees C out, but it feels a lot colder! Posting out of the way, I pick up things for lunch: bread, milk & an all-butter Victoria sponge.

I arrive home and put the kettle on- My Stickygram magnets have arrived! I only ordered them on Sunday and they are brilliant. I contemplate getting more to cover every magnetic surface in the flat with instagram magnet fun.

I get through the mornings' emails and then Michael gets home. We have crusty rolls, ham, tea and the Victoria sponge- I think ham rolls are my favourite of all plain sandwich fare. After lunch I do some paperwork and pack some things to take to my parents' house for the night.

I catch the train- it is totally mobbed, so I sit on one of the foldy seats in the vestibule. I try to be productive by making some notes for the talk I'm doing for 2nd year Design at DJCAD in March.

I arrive at my parents' house- they've made a beef curry in the slow cooker- it's really tasty! My Dad goes out to work and me and my mum do some cushion packing.

My Mum's cat, Alfie, is obviously feeling a bit left out so decides to act super-cute to get some attention. It works. Alfie rolls around on his footstool throne for a while posing for photographs and we have cup of tea and some of my Mum's greek Semolina Cake.

Somehow it is 1am. This is well-past my usual bedtime however the Cat/Cake party was good fun.

Bed.

------------------

Read about a Day in the Life of the other participants here: (**Update- great effort everyone! Look out for the next Day in the Life date- which will be chosen by Hilary Grant**)

Frances

Claire

Daniel

Marceline

Hilary

Tanya

Tracey

Leona

Laura

Julie

Nikki McWilliams Design at Selfridges

I am very, VERY excited to say that my Biscuit Cushions will soon be available to buy in Selfridges!

As part of the celebrations surrounding the Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, my cushions are to be featured within Selfridges' Big British Bang, launching summer 2012. You'll be able to take one of my cuddly biscuits home in an iconic yellow bag from the Oxford Street Store from March onwards!

The lovely Zoe of Ladybird Likes went along to the Press Preview this week and took these beautiful photographs. She's one talented gal!

I love the way Selfridges have styled my cushions- I do like a good afternoon tea- and this one looks brilliant!

My wee Teacake Cushion with some iced buns and a Corgi- he looks like he's having a grand ol' time in London town!

Thank you again to Zoe for the fabulous photographs (see more of her work here and more of her pics from the Big British Bang here), and to the good people at Selfridges for this amazing opportunity- I am royally chuffed! In the mean time, my full range is available to buy online.

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend!

Hooray for Handmade!

I've posted about my process before- but after a productive day's printing this week I really wanted to share some more photos of the start of my cushions' existence- which involves printing each cushion by hand.

In other news, my Caramel Wafer cushions were featured in Emerald Street's fabulous weekend guide! If you don't already sign up for it, I suggest you do!

Video Blog: Product Development

I have ventured into the world of Video Blogging! Please excuse the glare-tastic lighting.

My London Photo Diary

I wanted to post some of the photos I took while I was in London for Top Drawer last week. Some friends were kind enough to put me up for the week- and show me some cool places in London that I would have never found otherwise. It's a long post, but bear with me- it's all good stuff! So here's my London photo diary:

1. Setting off from Dundee train station early on Friday morning. Caught a beautiful sunrise behind the Discovery.

2. Six hours later- arrive in London and make my way to my Friends' house. They have nice tiles in their hallway!

3. Go out for dinner (Franco Manca Sourdough Pizza, Yum!) and then cocktails at an amazing half art exhibition/bar called Seven at Brixton. Had a Ginger beer and Basil Mojito- it was delicious. My favourite part was the room filled with faces!

4. Set up my stand at Earl's Court and then head for tea and cake at the delicious Yumchaa near Goodge St station. They have about 50 different teas and amazing cake. Despite the choice I opt for English Breakfast tea- but is a particularly delicious variety!

5. Having fun at Top Drawer with some of my Spotted buddies from the September show. They gave us champagne on the second day!

6. My laser cut print display stand- took a bit of figuring out but it worked out in the end- I'm proud of that!

7. An amazing cardboard tube shop called, Circus, in Brixton village- it was closed when we went- but it looked pretty fantastic from the outside!

8. One evening I sampled dinner at The Breakfast Club in Hoxton. I had a ginormous burger and delicious chips, that although less breakfasty that it's establishment's name suggests was still very, very good. My favourite thing about The Breakfast Club however would have to be...

9. The Toilets at The Breakfast Club. Firstly- the entrance hall to the toilets is painted entirely black, has a glitter ball and a speaker playing music- and is most likely the "World's Smallest Disco" as it says on the door. Secondly- the interiors of the toilet cubicles are papered entirely with 80's cartoon wallpaper. My toilet was papered in a Fraggle Rock repeat- it was awesome!

10. Despite getting in from our Hoxton adventure pretty late- I decided to paint my nails all fancy for the last day of the show. Yay for Zigzags!

11. A lovely painted "Bovril" building on my way to the tube station on my last day of Top Drawer.

12. After catching the train back up north I caught a beautiful sunset while passing over the river in Newcastle- Shepherd's Delight if ever I saw it!

And that's that! I had such a great time while I was in the Big Smoke this time round- it's so good when you have a London local to help you find all of the little hidden gems! I'd recommend seeking any of these places out- they're very good finds indeed!