A bit of a strange post today. It’s all about packaging.

Coulson Macleod HQ has been try­ing to buy shred­ded newspaper.

Why?

Well firstly by its very nature it’s recycled. Which is good. And it’s in keep­ing with what we do. Typo­graphic pack­aging. Perfect.

But can I find a com­pany that does it? No.

We recently ordered some plants from a nurs­ery in Corn­wall. Inside the box was shred­ded news­pa­per. And we thought how much bet­ter that would be than using bubble wrap to keep our art safe on its journey.

So I Googled. And Googled. But could not find any­one that sells it. I con­tac­ted our local coun­cil. They didn’t provide a solu­tion. So I con­tac­ted the nurs­ery and they buy it as animal bed­ding. But the com­pany they buy from only sup­plies Corn­wall. Then I found a com­pany in Scot­land. But their min­imum order was 20 x 20kg bales. Yikes! We’re not farm­ers and we don’t have a spare barn.

So if any­one read­ing this knows of a com­pany, prefer­ably within the Mid­lands, that sells clean shred­ded news­pa­per, please let us know.

Our latest col­lec­tion, ‘Winter Trees’ is now online to buy at Coulson Macleod

‘Thick Blows My Frosty Breath Abroad’

‘Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind’

‘The Roar of Trees and Crack of Branches’

‘Freeze, Freeze Thou Bit­ter Sky’

We’ve hand­made the frame and pan­elled back­board from reclaimed antique Vic­torian roof tim­bers, the same tim­bers that we use for our ‘Zodiac’ frames, because they are just so gor­geous. The planks all vary in size, so no piece is identical.

We then hand paint the boards and over-print it with dis­tressed image and typography.

‘Winter Trees’ is unlim­ited in print quantity.

Coulson Macleod’s latest col­lec­tion of lim­ited edi­tion prints… Calm Britannia

Dis­tressed Union Jack flags prin­ted onto nat­ural, coarse-weave, unbleached linen and then encased in a chunky sand­wich of reclaimed wood.

Three dif­fer­ent quotes.

Each print costs £169.

The frames are all hand­made using reclaimed antique Vic­torian roof tim­bers. We’re totally lov­ing all the nat­ural defects in the tim­ber too, they just ooze charm and char­ac­ter. Bring on the knot holes, nail holes, warps, and water marks!

We’ve fallen head-over-heels in love with these prints. So unique. And we par­tic­u­larly enjoy see­ing the linen slightly waft when you open a door!

I’ve been want­ing to show­case the amaz­ing hand­made cards by Ruby Wren for awhile now. All of the designs are simple, mod­ern, and totally lovely. Ruby Wren’s cards and envel­opes are 100% recycled and bleach free and are made using ele­phant and rhino poo!  

This small busi­ness, run by Hay­ley Mitchell, also hap­pens to be pretty local to Coulson Macleod — which makes me think that this is rather a cre­at­ive pocket of England.