December ‘24 - Final thoughts, looking ahead to 2025
A wee bit late but Happy New Year! I’ve had a few weeks off but I’ve been back in the studio this week doing a bit of a ‘soft launch’ back to work. It’s important to remember it’s very much still Winter and nature is still in hibernation, resting and recovering. We’re not quite ready to get straight back into things full send so take it easy if you can.
December came and went in a flash as it always does! My final market of the year with Exclusively Highlands at Eden Court was a huge success. It was a well put together market providing a wide range of exhibitors and some amazing Christmas shopping. I recommend it to any small business reading this and for any customer to attend!
As noted in Novembers post, Quercus 24 was released by Dog Falls Brewing Co. I visited the brewery to capture the first canning, labelling and to catch up with Bob and Calum about all things Quercus. This year the can features my stag drawing and some Belgian inspired livery. It can bought here if you’re interested in sampling, it tastes like Christmas cake. And beer.
In between packing online orders from you lovely people I’ve been packing up my house. Laura and I are moving out to Muir of Ord early in the new year which I’m very excited about! We’ve been super organised getting the house packed up early so that it doesn’t feel so overwhelming closer to the time.
Additionally I’ve been planning my booth for Scotland's Trade Fair at the SECC (Glasgow) in mid January. After a very productive call with my mentor from the IMPACT 30 programme I’ve been completing throughout 2024, I was encouraged to take the visuals of my booth a bit more seriously. In an attempt to stand out from the crowd, I’ve decided to make my stand look like the inside of a bothy. It matches the aesthetics of my business and allows me to showcase my work in a creative way (while hopefully engaging a new crowd of businesses). I’ve got brick effect wallpaper, a wooden floor, various bothy props like walking sticks, lanterns and I’m hoping to make a (model) wood burner. I’ll hang my work up on the walls, have my t-shirts hanging from the drying line and I’ve got some old furniture to populate the booth. Photos to follow, wish me luck!
Shenavall Bothy
In more very exciting news, my collaboration with The Bear & Wolf Co. is now live and available on their website! Jake (The founder of Bear & Wolf) has kicked off his very curated outdoor-focused brand after a hiatus travelling. We collaborated on a t-shirt design, combining our minimalist logos into a maximalist design which captures the values of our brands so well. The t-shirt is the exact same quality of my rise & seek t-shirts so if you have a rise & seek you know it’s the best quality! They’re super limited edition so grab one while stocks last.
After quite a poor hill walking year I had a last ditch attempt to bag a winter Munro. The weather looked epic, cold and crispy, blue skies and low winds. It was mid week so only 1 friend could tag along, Jonny, but we meandered up Fionn Bheinn to be met with the most epic cloud inversion and a rare fog bow. One of those days.
That’s December wrapped up, thank you so much for reading (or just looking at the pictures which is what I do for blogs…) I’ve got a tonne of ideas for 2025 but first I need to get through the Trade Fair which is taking a lot of my time and energy at the moment (along with moving house…). I’ll do a debrief at the end of January and tell you all about it!
As always, please leave any comments or questions below and I’ll do my best to reply.
Cheers ~ Jack
