Author: Lisa Saul

*ART* A Close Encounter – And New Art

Come on a verbal equivalent of an English countryside ramble with me as I explain a close encounter I just had, and why it was such an extraordinary moment.

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*ART* Help me get this FREE art to as many people as possible.

Can you help me get this FREE artwork to everyone who needs encouragement? Download your copy and read the story behind it and its important symbolism here.

*ART* What says summer to you?

“Summer Lane” is part of a new series of artwork I’m doing to explore what summer means to me. Whether it’s nostalgic, idealistic, or unusual, this series is a way for this cold-weather-loving artist to be mindful of the good about summer. What says (a good) summer to you?

*SHOP* Our all-new bookmarks for writers and notetakers – the original the best

Twenty years ago, at least, I bought a packet of bookmarks that were designed for writers. They were extra wide, with lines, and had a place to hold a pen (two pop-out rings the pen could slide through). They were extremely plain with just a muted red border to give them a little colour on the front and nothing on the back, but for me as a writer who loves to take notes, highlight, underline, mark pages, remember key phrases etc, they were ideal. (I still have one I’ve kept all these years but I couldn’t find it to take a photo of it. If it turns up, I’ll add a photo to this post.) After that initial packet of ten, I haven’t seen anything like it since.

When Naomi and I started to look into doing bookmarks, I remembered those bookmarks. They were a great idea, but I also love beautiful bookmarks. I collect them and have a small but lovely range. I’m always torn between a piece of scrap paper for taking notes, and one of my favourite bookmarks. Why couldn’t I have something that did both? And suddenly I knew what I wanted to design.

Finally, we have the very first bookmarks in our range of Bookmarks for Notetakers and Writers. (Sadly not for the US & CA due to their sizing restrictions but you never know.)

They are extra wide, about the size of a panoramic greeting card, thick, with lines on the back and a lovely watermark beneath the lines. We delayed bringing them out because we couldn’t decide between gloss card, which really brings out the artwork, is really strong and scuff-proof, but is a little slipperier to write on, and matte card, perfect for writing on but less “wow” with the art, not as thick and more prone to scuffing. In the end, we opted to let the reader choose. Different people will want different things. Some value the writing more, some value the art more. Some value durability, some prefer really thin bookmarks that sit more easily between pages.

They come in packs of ten. And we plan to build up quite a range. (See the gallery above for some of our soon-to-be-released designs. Click on an image to see a larger version.) You could choose a different pack to represent a different book, or maybe you could mix and match. Or you could even choose one of our designs that comes in different colours so you could pair a colour to a particular topic or book in a series.

We are really pleased with these and as far as we know, we are the only ones making them. We like to think we are the original and the best.

Take a look at our first three, out now. Find your favourite, or collect them all.

See our growing list of bookmarks under STATIONERY (EU/Rest of world only).

[Unfortunately not available for the US & CA due to print sizing differences.]

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*BOOKS* The hidden reason why what you write, and what you read, truly matters.

There is a hidden, undiscussed reason why the books you write or the books you read genuinely matter. This is the story of how I discovered the truth the hard way. (NOTE: It’s not a post for the faint-hearted or the easily scared, but it’s an important one.)

*SHOP* *ART* Our first notebooks of 2023 + Behind the scenes of producing our notebooks

Curious about what’s involved in producing and publishing our range of notebooks? We’ve given you a glimpse behind the scenes this week. And we introduce to you our first two notebooks of 2023.

*ART* Escape with me. New art and some book recommendations

A long-time dream to live and build in Scotland is closer than it’s ever been … yet still just beyond our reach. Living vicariously through others who have risked everything for a dream and written down their stories, I was inspired to paint “Escape”. (Includes a bonus journal piece and some book recommendations.)

*BOOKS* ‘Redemption’ is a paperback: the saga behind the saga.

Do you have a few hours to hear the story behind the publishing of the paperback of Redemption? No? Well, I’ll try and summarise it then, but it’s not going to be easy, for within the publishing of the paperback of Redemption lies the story of our entire struggle to be published in the first place and the rise and fall, and fall, then slow recovery of our publishing journey. Whether you read my books or not, you might find the behind the scenes of the publishing industry eye-opening.