May is a busy month for us here in Dundee- with so many brilliant events in the creative calendar- including the DJCAD Degree Show- which opened last night on the 17th of May 2013.  It feels like yesterday that I was hosting my Degree Show here (although it was only 5 years back) how time flies!

Over the last few years I’ve blogged about my own personal highlights of the show (you can find my 2011 & 2012 picks via the links previous) and this year is no different.  The work on show this year was exceptional- so prepare yourself for a bumper blog post to match!

Graphic Design – John Russell

First up, John Russell’s work caught my eye in the Graphic Design show, with his personal project, General Store.  I really enjoyed John’s use of simple colour, type and the overall tactility of his work on this project. Also, the idea that Dundee could one day be host to a store full of beautiful things such as these made my heart skip a beat.  John’s wonderful notebooks were available to purchase as part of Paula Grubb‘s excellent Show Off platform over in the Matthew Building.

Jewellery & Metal Design – Beth Lamont

I find that in general I’m drawn to work that’s quite interdisciplinary, and Beth Lamont’s work was no different here.  Beth’s delicate ceramic balloons which were embellished with dainty silver clouds and strings of cotton rain drops pushed the boundaries of  Jewellery Design and really took on a sculptural form. Her work had a peaceful and nostalgic air for me, reminding me of the hot air balloon light shade that hung in my room as a child.

Jewellery & Metal Design – Ali Taylor

I unfortunately didn’t get a photo of Ali’s work that did it justice- so on that note I’d strongly urge you to go and visit his show in person to enjoy it in full.  In a somewhat unheard of turn of events, Ali is exhibiting his jewellery in a room all of his own, outwith the usual group show format of the graduate jewellery show- which he has done magnificently.  His work takes on new life as art, referencing religious symbolism within his installation.  Very clever!

Textile Design – Kirsty Marshall

Kirsty Marshall’s combination of printed pattern and appliqued leather and laser cut acrylic jewels was stunning.  Kirsty’s embellishments had a super contemporary feel and gave her cloths a lovely weight.

Fine Art – Ross Weryk

Ross Weryk’s dark installation, Hospital quite deservedly picked up the esteemed RSA New Contemporaries prize, where he’ll exhibit alongside Scotland’s finest emerging artists (and several other DJCAD graduates) and architects next spring.  Hospital left me feeling totally unsettled, and for that reason, I thought it was brilliant. A definite must see in the depths of the art school’s sculpture block.

Fine Art – Morgan Cahn

I first met Morgan Cahn at a Creative Dundee bash and was instantly impressed by her vigour for all things creative.  We caught up with Morgan on the night of the show where she was clad entirely in gold, whilst inhabiting her Onion Cellar from which she’s hosting all manner of fun events over the course of the Degree Show.  Morgan’s program includes artist’s talks, an art scavenger hunt, film screenings and soup making- lovely!

Fine Art – Paul Corbett

I visited Paul’s space 3 times over the course of the evening – and his work was easily my favourite across the entire show. I was instantly drawn to his use of colour and repetition and his show’s particularly strong design aesthetic (there’s that mixing of disciplines that I like so much, again!).  All of the objects in Paul’s space mimicked the form of functional things that we come across in our daily lives- manipulated in either colour or scale to take on a new existence as sculpture.  I’m currently trying to figure out a way I could welcome one of his pastel petrol drums into my life- I’ve become quite attached!

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It was brilliant to be back at DJCAD at a time when the whole building is buzzing.  There is SO much to see so if you’re planning on paying a visit make sure you give yourself a whole day (or even two) to take it all in.

I’m not sure if they’ll be around for the whole week- but there were a couple of SUPER FUN photo booths dotted around the art school- which were free and I’d totally recommend. My art school pal Alex and I got our picture taken. What larks! Likewise- if you’re in town for the show this Thursday, do feel free to join us in our Dundee studio for Sample Sale fun and games!

Nikki

It’s that time again- it’s SAMPLE SALE time!

We had an absolutely amazing response to our last Studio Sale back in September 2012, with our sale selling-out within 30 minutes. So- we are mega excited to be able to have you all back for more #BiscuitSale fun and games, once again!

We’ve got a selection of cushion samples, in super rare never-before-seen colourways as well as slight seconds- which will be available at up to 50% off their retail price!

As before- this sale will work on a First Come, First Served basis- with early birds getting first pick of the treats.

As well as this- we’ll be previewing our brand new 2013 collection- so come along to see it first! We’ve also got some tasty treats, ace music and a very special prize draw lined up for our guests. We can’t wait!

For those who are too far away to join us on the night- don’t fret- we do have some surprises lined up for you too! Make sure you follow us on twitter @nikkimcwilliams and keep an eye on the hashtag #BiscuitSale for all of our news an updates.

TIME: Doors open 6pm sharp.

LOCATION: The Project Space, Fourth Floor, WASPS Meadowmill, West Hendersons Wynd, Dundee, DD1 2AA.

RVSP via our Facebook event

See you there!

Nx

It’s been a busy old few weeks, what with the launch of our Biscuit Mix Cushions, new Tunnock’s Dark Choc Wafer Cushions AND our 2013 Neapolitan Wafer Cushions mini collection (more on those soon!) and I’m only just getting around to blogging about the time we spent in Glasgow a few weeks ago for Finnieston Fashion Pop-Up.

Silvia of Chouchou did a wonderful job of pulling the night together with a wonderful venue (we’ve vowed to return to the Kelvingrove Cafe for their famous Macaroni and Salt Beef soon!) and a truly fantastic turnout. (Pictured above, pieces by Nikki McWilliams; Jane Gowans & Hilary Grant) Chouchou and Trakke were also on good form showing some pieces from their 2013 collections.

It was brilliant catching up with familiar faces and meeting some new folks too!  As big fans of Kingdom of Style- it was great to meet Glasgow bloggers Queen Marie and Michelle- Queen Marie even wrote a lovely post about our new Tunnocks’ offering!

Betty Swollocks also dropped by and couldn’t resist going home with a pair of our Tunnock’s Cushions- which look quite at home on her fabulous furniture! Thanks so much to Betty for sharing her Instagram pics with us!

We had so much fun taking part in the pop-up- thank you again to the fabulous Silvia for asking us to be involved. Until next time!

Way back in 2011- we added a very special biscuit to our collection- which was of course- our Tunnock’s original Caramel Wafer Cushion, in all its red & gold glory!

In the 2 years in between we’ve added loads of other tea-time treats to our collection- and we felt it was about time to introduce a new member to our biscuity family!

So, new for 2013, we’d warmly like to welcome our Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Cushion, in decadent Dark Chocolate! We’ve become seriously partial to these little gems in the studio lately- they are harder to come by than their more well-known Milk Chocolate cousins…but we can confirm they are delicious!

Not only are they super tasty, we are in love with their rather regal looking blue and gold wrappers- which was truly inspirational!  We’re really pleased with how our new cushions have turned out- and we were really pleased to hear that the good folks at Tunnock’s approve also. Hip hip, Hooray!

They’ll be available to Pre-Order in our online store from Friday the 3rd of May 2013, priced at £44.50.

We’ve got a few more cushions to introduce over the next few weeks also- so keep an eye on our blog for news. In the meantime, here’s a wee hint…

What do you think? Do you like our new cushions? And most importantly- what do you prefer: Dark Choc or Milk Choc?

After previewing our brand new cushions at Finnieston Fashion Pop-Up last week- our Biscuit Mix cushions are now available in our Online Biscuit Shop!

We’ve been really excited about launching these as quite different to our original Biscuit Cushion collection- so it’s been great to get such nice feedback on these so far!  We’ve added them to our store in two colourways- Cool Monotone (above) and Sunshine (below).

Our newest addition to our snack-inspired family features our original illustrations of a few of our favourite tea-time treats (Custard Creams, Digestives & Rich Tea Finger) all in glorious repeat.

With the UK’s somewhat delayed summertime – I reckon we can all use a little Sunshine in advance of its arrival! Each of our Biscuit Mix  cushions are priced at £29.50 and are great way to mix up up your cushion collection with an assortment of all your biscuit tin favourites.

Shop Biscuit Mix now!

During our trip to NYC earlier in the month, we were lucky enough to spend some time with the wonderful Silvia of Chouchou - who has now very kindly invited us to be part of a very special pop-up event in Glasgow on Thursday the 25th of April at the Kelvingrove Cafe.

Finnieston Fashion Pop-Up is a one-night only showcase of 5 select designers- including Chouchou, Jane Gowans Jewellery, Hilary Grant knitwear, Trakke bags and of course, us!

We’ll be previewing some of our brand new designs and giving you the chance to pre-order these at the event- alongwith all of your old favourites!

Finnieston Fashion Pop-Up  is FREE to attend from 5-9pm on the evening of 25.04.13 downstairs at Kelvingrove Cafe; 1161 – 1163 Argyle Street, G3 8TB.

Are you coming along? RSVP here.

**UPDATE: This prize draw is now closed- and all winners have been contacted. We had an amazing response- so thank you to everyone who took the time to enter!**

We’re busy putting the finishing touches on our brand new collection- but in the mean time we thought we’d have a bit of a prize draw to say thank you for all of our support over the last few months!

For the chance to win one of our Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Cushions all you need to do is take our super-quick six question survey via the link below, and then leave us a comment on this post letting us know when you’ve completed it. Easy Peasy!

We’ve also got 10 Runner-Up Goodie Bags to give away alongside our Star Prize- so there are loads of opportunities to win some really great stuff.

Take Our Biscuity Survey

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We’ll even put your name in the draw twice, for double the chance to win if you also:

• Share the link to this post in your Facebook timeline (and link to our facebook page: Nikki McWilliams Design)

or

• Share the link to this post in your Twitter feed using the hashtag #CaramelPrizeDraw

Remember to let us know if you’ve shared this post via either your Facebook or Twitter in your comment below- we will check!

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The draw will close at 10pm on Wednesday the 17th of April 2013, GMT. Any entries made after this time will not be counted. The winner & runners up will be contacted at noon the following day.

GOOD LUCK!

Nikki.xx

Taking my Tunnock’s Teacake cushion on tour on the East River Ferry- what an amazing view! If anyone has any photos of their cushions in exciting settings we’d LOVE to see them!

We went on a biscuit-hunt at Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg food market in Williamsburg.  This has got to be one of the best food-related events I’ve ever attended- everything we saw (and all of things we managed to eat!) was absolutely delicious.  We found some brilliant biscuity treats and…

I even had my first S’more experience at S’more Bakery! Mike (who had visited Edinburgh & Falkirk here in Scotland) toasted our marshmallows with a little blowtorch and topped them with salted caramel.  SO GOOD!

We also visited Williamsburg’s Artists & Fleas market- which was very good fun! It was great to meet some of New York’s makers and find out a little bit more about Brooklyn’s creative scene.

I couldn’t help but take home this little gold, clay & quartz beauty from the lovely Afshaan‘s collection.  She told us all about how her mum used to give her Caramel Wafers to eat for her lunch whilst growing up in New York too- which we thought was very cool!

Another thing I loved about Brooklyn was the use of hand-painted signage.  There were some amazing examples of skill- with no vinyl lettering in sight! It also reminded me that I need to try and see the Sign Painters Movie as soon as possible.  We need more hand-painted signage in Scotland!

And speaking of Scotland- we were extremely lucky to get our hands on tickets for Frightened Rabbit‘s Show at Terminal 5 in Manhattan. The gig was sold-out and the band played to their biggest audience ever- which was a total treat.  It was great to hear some Scottish voices and I felt very proud to be from the same little island as these guys on that night!

We met some amazing people during our trip- including the fabulous Silvia Pellegrino of Chouchou Couture who I’m sure we’ll meet again! I’d like to say a special thank you to Dundee Graphic Designer, Paul Sparks who worked so hard to put together our excellent new 2013 Look Book for presenting during our trip- however we’ll have more about this as well as our brand new collection very soon. We can’t wait! Stay tuned, Biscuit Fans!

A few weeks ago, Royal Mail announced their updated prices for 2013.  As they had last year- the prices were to increase- however this time (for some parcels) the prices will rise by over 130%.

This seems to be due to Royal Mail introducing a new sizing system for their parcels, whereby there will now be small, medium & large packet/parcel sizes- and pricing relational to these.  In addition to this- compensation levels for lost mail will be more than halved from £46 to £20.

This year’s 2013 Royal Mail Pricing leaflet is bigger than ever (with more categories, weight & size limits) and can be found here.

These changes will have a direct impact on owners of small businesses- including Flora of Through The Round Window who speaks about her concerns about the new pricing in her recent blog post.

While we’re doing everything we can to minimise the costs that we pass on to our customers-  these changes sadly will affect our postage costs and as a result our P&P prices will be increasing at the beginning of April 2013.

There’s an e-petition against the changes here- which I’d strongly urge everybody to sign. It only takes a few minutes and it could make a difference.

In the mean time- our current P&P rates will be valid until the end of March 2013- so do feel free to take advantage of these until then- should you be looking to add to your Biscuit Collection!

Nikki.x

After introducing our Biscuits Sticky Tape in Yellow back in February we knew we couldn’t stop there.  As a stationary mega-fan – I was personally delighted that it was received so well – and that there other tape fanatics out there!

The new colour choice for our second batch of Biscuits Sticky Tape was an easy one – it had to be our signature mint green.

…and lovely it looks too!  Our super-nice quality new Mint Biscuits Sticky Tape is available in our online shop for only £6.00 per roll.