• A Dove for Peace



    The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free - Maya Angelou

    Scribble & Daub exists to foster connection, tiny acts of kindness, little sparks of connection through gifts and cards given at life's important moments, and also for no reason than to show love and care, gilding our relationships with others. It has never been more important to recognise our shared humanity and connection than in the the dark weeks since the heinous attack on Israel on 7 October, and the subsequent horrific ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Our hearts have been broken day after day after day, and we have seen things we never thought we would see, and never wish to see again. We call on all nations to work together to ensure an immediate ceasefire, to ensure International Law is always adhered to, and that those responsible for these atrocious war crimes are held accountable. 

    Scribble & Daub has made donations from our profits this month to Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders who offer emergency aid without discrimination.

    We will donate 100% of profits from the sales of our new Dove print to these two charities. This print is available to pre-order now on our website in two variants in an edition of 100 each. Delivery should be possible from early December.

    We end as we began, with the beautiful and timeless words of Maya Angelou:

    A Brave & Startling Truth

    We, this people, on a small and lonely planet
    Traveling through casual space
    Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns
    To a destination where all signs tell us
    It is possible and imperative that we learn
    A brave and startling truth

    And when we come to it
    To the day of peacemaking
    When we release our fingers
    From fists of hostility
    And allow the pure air to cool our palms

    When we come to it
    When the curtain falls on the minstrel show of hate
    And faces sooted with scorn are scrubbed clean
    When battlefields and coliseum
    No longer rake our unique and particular sons and daughters
    Up with the bruised and bloody grass
    To lie in identical plots in foreign soil

    When the rapacious storming of the churches
    The screaming racket in the temples have ceased
    When the pennants are waving gaily
    When the banners of the world tremble
    Stoutly in the good, clean breeze

    When we come to it
    When we let the rifles fall from our shoulders
    And children dress their dolls in flags of truce
    When land mines of death have been removed
    And the aged can walk into evenings of peace
    When religious ritual is not perfumed
    By the incense of burning flesh
    And childhood dreams are not kicked awake
    By nightmares of abuse

    When we come to it
    Then we will confess that not the Pyramids
    With their stones set in mysterious perfection
    Nor the Gardens of Babylon
    Hanging as eternal beauty
    In our collective memory
    Not the Grand Canyon
    Kindled into delicious color
    By Western sunsets

    Nor the Danube, flowing its blue soul into Europe
    Not the sacred peak of Mount Fuji
    Stretching to the Rising Sun
    Neither Father Amazon nor Mother Mississippi who, without favor,
    Nurture all creatures in the depths and on the shores
    These are not the only wonders of the world

    When we come to it
    We, this people, on this minuscule and kithless globe
    Who reach daily for the bomb, the blade and the dagger
    Yet who petition in the dark for tokens of peace
    We, this people on this mote of matter
    In whose mouths abide cankerous words
    Which challenge our very existence
    Yet out of those same mouths
    Come songs of such exquisite sweetness
    That the heart falters in its labor
    And the body is quieted into awe

    We, this people, on this small and drifting planet
    Whose hands can strike with such abandon
    That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living
    Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness
    That the haughty neck is happy to bow
    And the proud back is glad to bend
    Out of such chaos, of such contradiction
    We learn that we are neither devils nor divines

    When we come to it
    We, this people, on this wayward, floating body
    Created on this earth, of this earth
    Have the power to fashion for this earth
    A climate where every man and every woman
    Can live freely without sanctimonious piety
    Without crippling fear

    When we come to it
    We must confess that we are the possible
    We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world
    That is when, and only when
    We come to it.

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    1. Christmas Events



      Christmas Salon at Cornbury Park
      29 November 2023
      Join us for a sparkling Christmas Salon at Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire, more famously known as the home of Wilderness Festival. A glittering array of female-founded, creative British businesses will be offering you the chance to do some extra special Christmas shopping with added sparkle given by the complimentary Della Vite prosecco for all our guests. 

      Please RSVP alice@alicesykes.co.uk if you would like to join us and feel free to share with your friends...



      Mountfield Winery Christmas Fair
      30 November, 2023

      A cosy event in the Stables Tasting Room featuring an array of wonderful local businesses including Rae and Only Coco. More details here

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    2. Rye Oh Rye Oh Rye!

       

      As promised, hot on the heels of Hastings & St Leonards, here is Scribble & Daub's brief guide to Rye, the ancient cobble-stoned town where every single one of our cards, prints and decorations is letterpress-printed. Take a day or two if you plan to explore; treat yourself to a room at The George in Rye, rent diminutive gem, Dot Cottage, or if you have transport, opt for a stay in the peaceful valley at Tillingham.
       

      Aimless ambling is pretty much Rye's pace, but first thing's first, take a trip up the church tower - though perhaps not before a visit to Knoops for a fortifying hot chocolate (or milkshake). It's a very vertiginous experience, but to the brave it will bestow an extraordinary perspective on the town.

      Next, hit the High Street and be sure to visit Adams of Rye, an experience akin to time travel as this Rye institution has changed little over the decades - special mention for the toy shop upstairs! You have little chance, I'm sorry to say, of being granted admission to the workshops which lie behind a tightly guarded door at the back of the shop, but here is a glimpse inside the place where the Scribble & Daub magic happens...   

      This is a town you can wander to your hearts content, taking in the many junk shops and boutiques as you go. You're spoilt for choice, but don't miss haberdashery heaven at Merchant & Mills, our fantastic stockists, lifestyle & homeware store Rae (and their new outpost at Camber Landing) and the secular temple to vintage furniture and design that is Soap & Salvation, a shop I love so much, that thanks to owners Jo & Barrie's generosity, we photographed our new Christmas cards & print collection there recently. Explore the Festive & Prints pages of our shop to see the results...

      If you find yourself in search of sustenance after all that wandering, The White House always has a tempting array of home baked sweet & savoury treats to eat in or take out (see below) and whilst I've yet to go, I've heard rave reviews of The Union and it's top of my list to visit...

      The illustration at the top of this piece is the view looking out to the river and the Rye marshes, created for a branding project with The Lookout a few years ago (a sister hotel to The George). It's well worth venturing beyond the town itself as Rye is surrounded by natural beauty. Camber sands, location for Corinne Day's notorious 90s photoshoot with Kate Moss is a long walk, a reasonable cycle or a short drive away. Rye Harbour Nature Reserve is a paradise for birders and scooting toddlers alike, and if you head to Winchelsea beach and can find the Red Pig Van in the layby, you won't be sorry.

      Finally, if you're in the area, it would be quite remiss to miss the greatest garden of all, Great Dixter - just a short drive from Rye and an earthly paradise for anyone with even the slightest horticultural leanings; it is without shadow of doubt my favourite place to be.

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    3. Beside the seaside...



      Scribble & Daub's studio is almost within stone skimming distance of Hastings & St Leonards - in fact I'm off for a swim there this evening! And with our letterpress workshop located in historic Rye, it's fair to say we're beside the seaside quite a bit...




      On a sunny day earlier this summer, I asked my friend and photographer, Kim Lightbody to take a trip with me to snap some of our prize card catch on the Fisherman's Beach at Hastings - home to the largest beach-launched fishing fleet in Europe and a place unlike any other.

       


      After fish & chips from The Mermaid (watch out for the greedy kleptomaniac seagulls when eating on the beach!) and a bag of pick & mix, we hit the funfair - you can't beat an afternoon on the Sussex riviera. Here are a few great spots to look up if you take the trip before the weather turns...


       In Hastings & St Leonards, it's very much not the done thing to conflate the two, but truth be told, I'm never entirely sure where one begins and the other ends... in St Leos, most of the browsing action is concentrated around the Norman and Kings Roads with lots of vintage and junk shops (special mention for Sunless Antiques) and some great independents like Introduced (where I'll be hosting a workshop in October) Maker & Baker and Little Mashers, a fantastic shop for kids, and kids at heart.


       
      If all that pottering makes you peckish head to Goat Ledge for fresh fish baps and the best margaritas, it's a colourful cafe with stripy deckchairs right on the beach. If the weather isn't beach-worthy or you fancy something, well, fancier, The Royal and Farmyard are both excellent eateries, and Cactus Hound bar around the corner has a cocktail menu (largely tequila based) as eclectic as its crowd. 



      Heading towards Hastings, drop in to Dyke & Dean's tile clad showroom in an old printworks for incredibly stylish interior fixtures & lighting (their website is well worth a trawl too), before heading to the Old Town, home to the greatest vintage shop I know, Hawk & Dove (rarely much stock on their website but the shop is a trove).

       

       
      On and around the historic High Street you're spoilt for unique and special shops - Endlings for C.20th paintings, prints & books, Sea Whistle for exquisite kids paraphernalia, Robert's Rummage for a 50p teapot, one of many antique and vintage spots. Don't miss the Flower Museum for an experience like no other, Hendy's for immersive vintage homewares and Shimuzu for floral finery. 



      Towards the Stade, we love a trip the Fishermans Museum and a ride up the funicular to the country park on the cliffs. Visit Rock a Nore Smokery on the way back down for a roll of their legendary smoked butter.

       

      Last but not least, Hastings welcomed a colourful new resident recently, and though you'll have to venture a little further, it's worth the trip to see the joyously idiosyncratic new premises of
      Colour Makes People Happy who have recently jumped ship from Lewes...

      Coming soon, Scribble & Daub's guide to Rye..!

      All photographs Kim Lightbody

       

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    4. Last of the Summer Wine...

      Last of the Summer Wine...

       

      Last weekend, we hosted a celebration of summer in the beautiful surroundings of Mountfield Court Winery, photographed for us by Sarah Frances Kelley. Carrying buckets and snips, we walked around the old walled garden like kids in a sweet shop, cutting masses of flowers lovingly grown by Isobel of Walled Garden Flowers and soaking up her sage advice on growing, picking and arranging. We raided the orchard for armfuls old English apples and munched them on the walk back to lunch. After a feasting with new friends in the sunshine, we retired to the cool of the stables where everyone learnt the art of using a dip pen and ink to create their own floral stationery. All this hard work was then rewarded with delicious carrot cake and a glass or two of Mountfield's own award winning sparkling wine before our lovely guests journeyed home (some back to Scotland!) carrying their floral prizes aloft, or spilling out of their car boot in several instances..!

       

       

      Caroline will be significantly reducing the number of workshops she leads next year, but we will be hosting this event again in 2024 - if you would like to join us, please sign up to our mailing list via the website or send an email to be the first to hear when tickets go on sale. You can read below just a few of the comments from our lovely guests last week...

       

       
      "Thanks so much for the BEST day. Loved it so much"

       

       

      "Thank you for a really wonderful day on Saturday, and for all you did to make it such an enjoyable and special occasion. Everything was lovely! - the flowers, drawing, refreshments, venue and the weather too - as well as the opportunity to meet everyone there and spend the day together. I’m so glad I booked to attend!"

       

       

      "Thank you again for the amazing day yesterday. I don’t think that I will ever attend another workshop that brings together so many of the things that I love - it was magical"

       

       

      "What a truly wonderful day...if possible, you exceeded my expectations. I had an absolutely amazing time. Thank you so so much"

       

       

      "Thank you, again, so much for honestly the most wonderful day. It was absolutely perfect in every way"

       

       
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    5. New York Workshop

      New York Workshop
      Thursday, July 6th | 7-9pm
      Goods for the Study
      50 W 8th St.
       

      Join me at our wonderful New York stockists Goods for the Study, where I will be leading a workshop in their West Village store. Guests will design and make their own hand-coloured set of note cards. Refreshments and materials will be provided. Guests will receive one set of note cards with envelopes in a custom gift box, a pen nib & holder set, a brush, and black ink.

      For more information and to book click here

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