Ok so I've  become even more of a dog-sentimentalist since I found out that the beloved Abby needs a hip replacement, but these beautifully painted portraits - posted daily on Facebook by artist Sally Muir - must surely bring a ray of pleasure to even the grimmest of mornings. Muir's Dog A Day project began on 19 February and will run for a year. The paintings are for sale with prices starting at £200. ...

If you go down to Valleyfield Woods in Fife you'll find a charming woodland with twisting walks, a tumbling burn and, in spring, carpets of snowdrops and bluebells. Look closer however and you'll find that you are walking in the ghostly footprint of a very different environment - once so vividly present and now almost entirely vanished. A fine classical mansion stood here, grand enough to cast Downton in th ...

Detroit is a city built for 2 million people. Less than a third of that number lives there now. Houses, public buildings, churches and schools stand empty and are crumbling into dust. Detroiturbex chronicles the unique experience of this once great American city including these 'then and now' images of Cass Tech - once a thriving focus of inner city education, now a picture of utter dereliction. Images of s ...

There's nothing more powerful than shared nostalgia and The Kronk disco stirs fond memories for many. The club ran from 1989 to 1992 in various venues in Dunfermline, eventually ending up in a nightclub called Banners in downtown Lumphinnans. By the time it reached the West Fife mining village, buses were travelling from all over Scotland to this notorious rave club. Now, Dunfermline artist Alan Grieve has ...

Now that we've got Valentine's Day out of the way, here's a gift for someone you really love - and who who loves you back! In our shop in time for Mother's Day are these pretty and useful sticky notes with quotes from Jane Austen, Maeve Binchy and Nora Ephron. We also have a set with the simple lines 'You rock' and 'You're a hero'. Pads are 7x7cm and are supplied as two pads in a smart silver-coloured metal ...

These days beards are ever so fashionable but will we ever be able to say the same of moustaches? We had Movember when celebrities and ordinary blokes wore a moustache for the month of November to raise awareness and money for testicular cancer. The morning of the 30th saw all these moustaches swiftly removed. May be there just aren't any role models - when was the last hero with a moustache? Magnum Private ...

How wonderful would it be to travel the world in one's own house? Floating from place to place like the old man in Up without leaving the comfort of home behind. It's not so whimsical a thought behind these images by photographer Laurent Chehere however. His aim is to pick out overlooked architecture and domiciles in his native Paris and literally elevate them for our attention. The complex, photoshopped co ...

Here's an early glimpse of what promises to be a very beautiful - and very long - tapestry depicting the history of Scotland. Writer Alexander McCall Smith, whose idea this was, is working with historian Alistair Moffat and artist Andrew Crummy as well as stitchers from all over Scotland to produce The Great Tapestry of Scotland. It will be world's longest tapestry and one of the biggest community arts proj ...

Brand new from Avocado Sweet are these sticky notepads with messages that Christian Grey would love - ‘I’m writing an erotic bestseller…(you’re in it)’ and 'Tie Me Up'. For those who don’t want to get tangled up in a Fifty Shades drama then there are two other packs with messages saying ‘You Float My Boat’ and just a simple kiss, X. ‘You is well sexy’ and ‘You make me want to purr’ on an animal print note a ...

There is something pleasingly odd about the creations of Scottish designer Karen Mabon who trades under the name Red Brick. Lab rats, earthworms, marathon runners and weeping women all feature in her 'narrative scarves and jewellery'. Karen says she aims to create 'affordable accessories which capture the eccentricity of daily life'. The 100% silk scarves are 70cm by 70cm and start at £45. The necklaces sta ...