Tag: rudy and the rowan tree

Hello February!

Hooperhart

I don’t know about you but I’m usually quite relieved to get January out of the way and this year is no exception. February feels to me like the start of the year proper, so to celebrate I’m offering free postage on everything in my HooperHart Folksy and Etsy stores! No need for a discount code – zero postage has already been applied, and will continue for the whole month.

Dream Wheels

A wee update on what I’ve been up to as Rudy and the Rowan Tree, the offshoot I use as a place to experiment and try out ideas which are unrelated to my Hooperhart work, and often more playful – I love creating my HooperHart pieces incidentally, but sometimes it’s nice to mix things up a bit! I’m currently loving making spirograph-inspired hanging decorations using embroidery thread and wooden discs – I call them Dream Wheels and you can find them on Folksy and Etsy Free postage also applies to my Rudy and the Rowan Tree stores for the whole of February!

Gift vouchers are go!

In other news, I wanted to draw your attention to my newly launched Gift Vouchers.They can be emailed directly to the recipient so make gifting super easy! They are exclusively available from my HooperHart Folksy store. There’s so many gorgeous products on there you might want to make it your go-to for gifts in the future though – all made in the UK to boot!

Thanks for reading and have a fabulous February!

Hello 2021!

Hooperhart

So 2020 is finally over, and there probably aren’t many folk who won’t be sorry to see the back of it. We can only hope 2021 will be an improvement. I’d like to say a huge thank you for all the support I received during that strange and difficult year, whether it was online likes, comments, shares, reviews or purchases – it all really helped get me through it.

Top 9 HooperHart and Rudy and the Rowan Tree posts on Instagram

To kick off 2021 I’m having a little sale in my Etsy shop (10% off when you spend £20) and Folksy (10% off everything) – use the code HELLO2021 in both!

January is usually a quiet month and therefore a good opportunity to plan ahead and start new work – I’ve already got a list of things I want to get started on so watch this space!

Thanks for reading and all the best for 2021 x

Autumn Arrives

Hooperhart

Well, the temperature has dipped somewhat and the nights are drawing in, which means only one thing – autumn has definitely arrived! Which normally I would not complain about, but…this year is, of course, different. On the upside we’ve had some incredible sunny days with visits to idyllic islands, days which remind you it’s good to be alive and living in a beautiful country.

There’s also been a few fun commissions to work on and some new Rudy and the Rowan Tree items I’ve been enjoying making, all of which has kept me occupied and out of trouble. This has gone some way to distract from the fact that all but one of this year’s festive events I had in my calendar have been cancelled. Some have been replaced by virtual versions on social media but there’s honestly no substitute for meeting customers and connecting with fellow makers in the flesh. However, such is the world we find ourselves in and there’s no choice but to get on with it…it won’t be as much fun but it’s better than nothing, and as I keep reminding myself, things could be worse! So let’s concentrate on the fun stuff…

Rudy and the Rowan Tree screenprints on wood – available from Folksy

I’ve been revisiting my roots and screenprinting on plywood tablets (which I found a wee stash of when I was clearing out my workroom), keeping things simple with paper cut-outs of simple shapes and seeing where it takes me…

Screenprints on wood available from Folksy

…and it’s been a lot of fun (nice to mix things up a bit – sometimes it’s the only way to motivate yourself). It’s also helping to keep the Folksy shop stocked up and ready for the Folksy Online Festive Market on December 5th & 6th (watch my ‘Shop’ page for details). I’ve also been making lots of little affordable brooches for stocking fillers as I know not everyone can spend money on larger pieces at the moment…

I’ll be posting updates on online fairs and events as they are confirmed so watch this space! In the meantime, thanks for reading x

Rudy And The Rowan Tree

Hooperhart

July is almost over (how did that happen?!) and things have been on the quiet side regarding Hooperhart; July is always a slow sales month what with summer holidays etc, so I’ve been trying to get as much stock made in advance of the autumn/winter season as possible to avoid panic stations later on. I’ve also been somewhat distracted by our purchase of a campervan at the start of the month – a 27 year old Talbot Rambler called Tallulah complete with cooker, fridge, loo, shower, a full set of crockery, and most importantly, a wine rack!

Screenshot_2019-07-30-14-28-09

I’d been hankering for another campervan since our beloved Bridget (aka the smallest camper in the world ever) had to be retired from service four years ago; having the freedom to head off whenever you fancy (and in Scotland whenever the weather allows) has such a strong appeal. The thought of being on the road, heading to a remote beach or catching a ferry to an island for a few days is always in the back of my mind, so I was pretty happy to find a suitable replacement in Tallulah.

Anyway, besides tootling along the B-roads of Scotland, I’ve also started making little houses from reclaimed wood under the name Rudy and the Rowan Tree:

Rudy and the Rowan Tree

When I’m making my dioramas it’s quite a precise process – there’s a lot of design and planning involved to make sure the finished piece physically and aesthetically fits together. As the work has developed I’ve moved further and further away from the printed pattern aspect (which is where it all began really). So I thought it would be nice to return to that again –  and to make something which was quite free and celebrated the random patterns created by screenprinting layers onto a surface, without planning how the finished piece will look. This, along with the fact I had built up a fine collection of random bits of wood in the outhouse (as you do) let me to making these pocket-sized house-shaped works of art.

I’d long admired other makers’ little houses on Instagram and Pinterest, be they ceramic, glass, concrete or wood (and had bought a few too!). So this is my own individual take on the miniature house. Each one is completely unique, and the nice thing about them is they are small, affordable and very collectible. You can build a street or even a whole village!

If you like the look of these wee cuties I’ve opened a separate Rudy And The Rowan Tree Folksy shop which currently has free UK shipping over £30, so feel free to have a little browse. I’m also going to be debuting them in the flesh at Southside Artist and Makers Market on August 30th so if you’re in the Glasgow area pop along. More details on this to follow so keep an eye on my SHOP page 🙂

Well, got to go now as it’s time to feed the dog (the original Rudy)

Thanks for reading!