Welcome to issue #6 of The Wanderlust, my monthly zine where I share what I’m up to, some of my current loves, places, travel stories and freebies.
Last month I was hoping to get out with my camera and enjoy some Autumn colour. We managed a couple of really lovely day trips and plenty of local early morning wanders. I can definitely recommend taking a trip up Glenlyon for a walk and sampling some of the food at Glenlyon Tea Room!
It has been amazing to dedicate so much time to my photography again. I have a tonne of images to process and I’m thinking about creating a Lesley Gray Photography Substack to share photos while I get the website back up and running. What do you think? Would you like to see them?
Time to read: 4 mins
Time to dance: 6 mins 40 secs
With the Neon Gray shop closed and no Christmas rush this year, the next month for me is all about starting to feel festive. A mix of frosty morning walks with my camera and heading to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee to shop, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy some good food.
Tea Green Events run brilliant markets full of small creative businesses and their Winter line up has a few I’ll be aiming to get to. In Edinburgh, they’ll be at the National Galleries Sat, Nov 23 - Sun, Nov 24. In Dundee, they’ll be at the V&A Fri, Nov 29 - Sun, Dec 1 and in Glasgow, they’ll be at Kelvingrove Art Gallery Sat, Dec 7 - Sun, Dec 8. I also really love a trip over to Bowhouse in Fife where they’ll be Fri, Dec 13 - Sun, Dec 15.
I just heard about The Last Bookstore in Glasgow and immediately added it to the list. There’s over 8000 books adorning the walls, a literary inspired cocktail menu and their small plates look amazing! I’d also really like to check out the Devils Roast Coffee Shop, situated inside the Devil of Brooklyn. Coffee by day, cocktails by night.
Over in Edinburgh, the Dominion Cinema in Morningside with they’re new fancy Platinum Suites and The Scotsman Picturehouse are both on my list for a Christmas movie. Last year we went to the Birks Cinema in Aberfeldy and loved it so I think we might make this a new tradition.
I love a good Winter walk and this year, as the temps drop, I want to explore more of the Cairngorms. The Loch Morlich Circuit looks like a good place to start with sandy beaches backed by (hopefully) snow capped mountains. The route around Loch an Eilein at Rothiemurchus is also on the list with a stop at the Barn for some hearty food afterwards.
With a little under 6 weeks until Christmas, I’m thinking about unique decorations to add to my collection and picking up cards that need to be sent abroad. I’ve been collecting my tree decorations for 20 years now and I add one or 2 new ones each year. It’s an eclectic mix of vintage glass and all sorts of handmade pieces. I even have a little gold robin from my childhood that still makes it onto the tree despite being pretty bedraggled.
East End Press is a design and print studio based in Bridgeton in Glasgow, creating the most colourful paper decorations, prints and cards; all screen printed or hand painted, like these beautiful recycled papier mâché baubles. There’s lots of little birds and garlands in the Christmas range too. Perfect if you have an heirloom tree, like me. You can see more from designer Ellie on her Instagram.
I’ve always loved the tactile quality of letterpress so when I saw these cards from Studio 55 Letterpress with their simple typography and bold colour they went straight on the list. Paul is a graphic designer and hand makes each card in his Cotswolds studio on his restored, vintage 1915 press ‘Mary’ making each print unique. Catch more on his Insta.
I’ve followed Esther from Origami Est for years and even have one of her books so when I saw that she’d created a reusable cracker kit I had to take a look! I always enjoy a make at Christmas and I love that you can fill these with whatever you like, you could even personalise them with special gifts inside. They come in 3 paper styles to choose from, plain colours, monochrome patterns or my personal favourite, Kitty McCall patterns. Discover loads more on her Instagram.
You might remember that I shared the paper cut work of Laura K Sayers back in Issue #4. She’s teamed up with her baker friend Kevin Flynn to create a series of cards with her beautiful paper art on the front and Kevin’s recipes on the inside. There’s one for mulled wine, mince pies and lebkuchen biscuits. I love the idea of sending a card that the person can keep and dig out each year. You can see some behind the scenes here and read more about their collaboration.
I’m taking you back to 2013 again and a trip to the rustic island of Santorini. We stayed high up on the cliffs above Megalochori for views out over the caldera and hired an old banger to scoot about in and explore the surrounding towns and villages. The whitewashed streets and courtyards were the perfect backdrop for all the pops of blue and pink and I spent days with my camera glued to my face taking it all in.
Your Free Mobile Wallpaper
Sticking with the Santorini theme, this month’s wallpaper was taken in the pretty town of Oia. A popular sunset spot.
A little more low key than some of the songs I’ve shared previously, this was one of my top songs on Spotify in 2021.
Don’t fancy a boogie? Enjoy one of my all time favs from Joy Division.
🥰🎄🤩 Feeling very festive after reading this!!