I think December is not too early to talk about buying gifts and Seasonal Shopping?
 
And many of you have already taken advantage of our Super Seasonal Offers of 2012 calendars (£8.50 for a limited time at lulu.com), the last few older calendars with 13 smashing quality pictures to clip and frame, Christmas Cards (many sold out now, so you’ll have to send the free e-cards instead!) and the brand new wintery limited editions from Collier Dobson...
 
But many are also asking about original work (which is both reassuringly expensive and in short supply):
 
If you can make it to our Open Studio Event (10 and 11 December 12-6pm), we have a few lovely and dear, new originals to buy and view in person.

Or if you want to surf the interweb, please search these wonderful Gallery websites (Gallerina, John Noott, Art Movement) for new, fully coloured-in, original masterpieces all framed up and ready to go.
 
But the new and exciting, exclusive news delivered today to your inbox is, that there are 7 rather lovely (and dare I say, conveniently priced) framed, original sketches that can be bought directly from Nan at Mustardshop. These are not in Brighton at the Open Studio but are floating up in the clouds somewhere ready to be delivered to your door pre-Christmas if you are lucky enough to bag one. Please call Nan on 01326 280976 to check availability/postage costs etc, and if you like them at all, please do not deliberate too long...there are 7 only, they are £395 each, and they are small enough to fit into a largish stocking (and no, I don't do commissions).
 
And I am aware that so many of you cannot make it to the Open Studio Weekend this December.

You will not get to taste the pies, sample the mulled wine and pinch my popcorn. You won't get to see all the bargains and lovely things I'm getting together right now, and I don't know whether our Youtube channel can convey the welcoming atmosphere and slightly hysterical busy chaos that sometimes ensues as people find the last few Christmas cards, or a slightly damaged sold out print at a super discount price. And I guess most of you will not be here for the dotty half price sale 

• runs between 4 and 6pm on Sunday 11/12/11
• password required: please visit Facebook page for details
• does not include original pictures 
• excludes 2012 calendars and books as 100% of their sale price goes to charity

BUT, I have something very special for you... AN ONLINE RAFFLE!
 
THE PRIZE: a 21x30cm Christmas Original (unframed, so I can send quickly anywhere!).  It's a version of the perennially popular Small Dog, to be launched as a Christmas card in 2012 by Art Press, usual framed selling price £3000.
 
THE RULES:
Go to my Small Dog Xmas Raffle Facebook page here  

1. Like the page so you get updates
2. Share the link with your friends using the sharing box
3. Donate £5 to a charity of your choice
4. Leave me a message on the page at the bottom to let me know you’ve done it.  For example, "My name is Chris Cringle and I have just given £5 to Sight Savers. It would be smashing if I won the lovely picture. I have sent ecards to the whole world and all my friends will donate too, so that they have a chance to win such a marvellous prize."
5. The winner will be posted up on Facebook on 12/12/11, so that you will have a great chance of getting your prize for Christmas if you give me your address sharpish once I have announced the winner.

That Facebook page address again:  https://www.facebook.com/samtoftartist?sk=app_197602066931325

NEW SMALL DOG E-CARD
Please help us raise more money by sending the free Small Dog at Christmas ecard to friends... Only one Raffle Ticket per person, but I'm sure your dear friends would give you the picture if they won it, wouldn't they?

It’s here (first one on the page): http://www.samtoft.co.uk/ecards.php

On your marks.
Get set.
GO!!!
 
All the very best in Seasonability Factoring,
 
Sam Toft x

I'm really loving this weather.

It hasn't rained in ages, it's not too cold, and the skies are blue most days...

However, I've just ordered snow chains for my shoes, have my winter duvet at the ready, and the wellies are all cleaned up and ready to go.

I've also been doing a bit of painting here and there, it's not all chit chat you know.

There are some wonderful new Limited Edition Prints out, already available from Mustard Shop even though I only finished painting them a couple of weeks back. It's those hard working people at Collier Dobson. Scarcely have I finished a good un, and they're proofing and printing. The new work has a wintery feel: snow and penguins, fiddles and Dalmations, you know the sort of thing? I'd love to know what you think of them, so please spring into action on that there Facebook group.

The 2012 calendar is finally finished, and you can find it at Lulu.com (and I do not speak of the home of the versatile Scottish songstress, for she is to be found at Lulu.co.uk ). The calendar is published to this interweb site, so that if no-one buys it, no-one prints it, and all trees stay intact. And for a limited time it is available at a special bargain 15% off price. I usually build a charity donation into the price (no profit for Toftie, 'cos its a time of giving and caring...aaawwww!), but this year, as I'm sure we're all tightening our belts a little, I am leaving the Charity Donations to you, and you get to buy the calendar at cost price, plus 13 pence. And there's a little competition to win a sack of post Christmas goodies, but you'll have to visit Lulu.com for that.

We have brand new Christmas cards on Mustard Shop, and totally free ones at Ecards, so you could choose to go virtually card free and save yourself a packet. Most Great Aunts and Grandads have computers too you know, and it saves all that pesky recycling. There are brand new colourful badges as well, so if you don't want to buy a new outfit, you can just update your accessories. Badge up your coat, hat and cardigans! Show your Mustard Fan-ness to the world!!!

If you are feeling flush this Christmas and your loved one just HAS to have a Mustard Original, then look no further than the galleries listed, many of whom have shiny new stock in, and can schmooze you rotten, relieve you of your hard earned, and get something in the post to you before the big day. Or if you are ready for a trip to Brighton, we have Open Studios here on Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th December, 12-6pm. We have been having a Big Massive Studio Clearout and have plenty of bargains, old stock, interesting things, ends of lines, sold out prints etc...I have a few new lovely paintings, lots of prints and cards, calendars, little books and Robert Pattinson. Upstairs from the Studio there are other artists too. Jez Webb www.studiowebb.com and Michelle Chilton www.chiltongallery.com will be showing their wares to all who enter thither!

For those of you lovely special people on my mailing list (yes, yes, yes I mean YOU), I am offering a Sillytastic deal. On Sunday 11th December, between 4 and 6pm (the last 2 hours of the last day), everything will be half price. But only if you know the password. So look on our Facebook Group and you too shall have the secret. Any original paintings left will be finding a cosy home with a local gallery, so will not be included in our totally generous and slightly nutty Sale, so that if you have second thoughts about something original you saw and you must have and you missed it, you will be getting them out of bed the next weekend, not me... I notice that many of you think that Sam Toft is a man, so I think I need to be getting a bit more beauty sleep...

I will no doubt be writing to you again in December, so I'll save the Merrys and the Yohohos 'til then,

Thanks for reading and thanks for being there,

Sam Toft x

Greetings to all you Mustard Fans
 
How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

I have been away for quite a while on a lovely holiday: swimming in the sea, eating lovely salads in the sunshine, sleeping to the sound of the cicadas... and now I am back in Brighton, met by a jungle-like garden, a mat full of bills and the beautiful English summer weather. A good year for blackberries, and not so good for the broad beans, I'm guessing.

There are some lovely shows coming up in London during October, with The Art Movement. Please contact Camilla at www.art-movement.com for more details nearer the time (or browse the collection online from early October) if you would like to catch some brand new original work and limited edition screen prints at:

• Affordable Art Fair,  Hampstead
• Affordable Art Fair, Battersea Park
• Art London, Chelsea
• The Bowler, 20 Bellevue Road, SW12

And in the interest of something closer to (my) home, and a little more exclusive (limited to 20, and first come first served), I will be doing some storytelling and puppetshowing at (the wonderful and awfully bijou) Bom Banes Restaurant, 24 George Street, Kemptown, Brighton, on 13th September from 8pm.

All details and tickets sales from www.bom-banes.co.uk 01273 606400.

Jane Bom Banes herself will be performing. Which is a good job, as my confidence may fail me on the night, who knows? And you can book for a delicious meal beforehand, too. I may post some photographs up on our Facebook group. Or in the absence of an extra pair of hands, why don't you come along and share your photos instead?

All the best to you all out there. I will write soon about Christmas Open Studio dates (if I am here in Brighton), and a One Man Show date in May 2012

Dear Mustard Lovers old and new,

I hope this email finds you as well as can be expected (or perhaps even weller?).

My exciting news is that I will very soon be performing a puppet show. Exciting and very scary as this is a totally new venture for me.

I went on a course with Isobel Smith www.gravyboatpuppets.co.uk to learn how to make these rod puppets, and now have two! (Mr and Mrs Mustard). Then I did another course with Robert Race www.robertrace.co.ukand made some moving wooden toys ( a Doris Dog and a few others) and a bit of scenery. And with all these lovely characters moving in their three dimensions for the first time I felt moved to put on a Show. But it's not as easy as all that. In fact it's not easy at all.

I've been practising an awful lot. Some days it seems that all I do is walk the dogs, make my dinner and practise with my puppets. Not a bad life though, really...

The show has gone through many incarnations... and THANKS to the generous friends who have sat through it all and given me invaluable feed back, as my 2 dogs (Moses and Stanley Philpot) are supportive but not particularly helpful it has to be said.

And now what I'm left with is a simple piece, 15 minutes long, that looks as though it took me 5 minutes to put together. And not particularly well at that. The wriggly puppets seem to have minds of their own, and the props sometimes collapse which really is not part of the show. But I'm hoping that the charm of the puppets, my strenuous efforts to keep it together, and the fact that it's only a short piece will carry us through. O, but I'm so nervous though. So wish me luck, or if you're near enough, do come along and have a smile. There's free popcorn.

The show will be performed twice a day for two weekends:

12.30 and 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays 21st, 22nd and 28th, 29th Perhaps there may be a short film?

And I haven't just been playing with my toys and nothing else, although sometimes it feels a bit like that...I have painted 8 new small square original paintings ( still at the framers as I write, so as hot off the press as they come). There are new button badges (that will soon find their way onto the website), new card ranges (occasions by Art Press), new limited edition prints (published and distributed by Collier Dobson)... And all will be there at the Open Studio. Along with the Puppet Show... Or did I mention that already?

We also have beautiful, leather handbags made by a very talented new company Ginger and Brown. They really are special. And once they get into the shops the prices will double of course, so if you want that very special handmade handbag of your dreams I recommend a good peruse of the limited stock here at the Open Studio. We also have bespoke corsets and Eco friendly leather accessories by the very talented Harriet Rich www.oakappledesigns.etsy.com

And, my own favourite (as I have 2 of his lamps and  a very special garden fountain) Chris Cain's recycled metal lamps and birdbaths. Some really do have to be seen to be believed. And hopefully a few cards and sketches by Jerwood Prize Winning Artist Cadi Froehlich www.cadifroehlich.co.ukCadi's work is brave, bold and sensitive: an upcoming superstar, she really is a one to watch! Really really.

O dear.

I must confess I have just damaged one of Mr Mustard's legs (he has a very high pain threshold so don't panic) and am having to apply some emergency surgery... Hopefully it'll be alright on the night? So wish me luck Mustard Lovers, but don't invite me to break-a-leg (*a quaint British expression for all you overseas fans).

All the very best to you,

Sam Toft x

It's a-snowing here in Brighton along the Prom. Mr Mustard loves it! The Dear Lady Wife has decided that nothing but the Thursday night Bingo is getting her out there in it, and Doris dog is reserving her judgment until she sees how many extra biscuits those big, hard luck, shivery, doggy eyes get her.

But rather than go on about our beautiful weather, I will just remind you of our two Open Studio days coming up soon on 11th and 12th December. I know it's a funny climate, financial- and snow-wise, and I really don't know how many of you to expect, but we will be opening our doors 12-6pm each day at Brown Dog Studio, 12 Chapel Mews, Hove BN3 1AR nonetheless.

We will put the heating on, get the fairy lights twinkling, hand round the mince pies and get some mulled wine on the go. There'll be the usual Lucky Dip, Hot Popcorn machine and Candy Grabber to keep the littluns busy if it's a Family Outing, and I may even get the sherry out for Grandma.

There will be lots new to see:

• I have a small stock of 2011 calendars (3 varieties!) otherwise available through Lulu.com
• Lovely tiny wee sketches in mounts, and larger sketches in frames from £65-£250
• Nine brand new original pieces, including a set of small, square, sepia toned sweeties, inspired by old photographs, and beautifully framed (priced from £750-£1950 before the VAT increase!)
• A small stock of Stories from along the Prom (otherwise available from blurb.com) which is a delightful little book that dare I say it, would make a perfect gift
• Christmas cards ... 19 designs but limited stock!
• Limited edition prints, silk screen prints, Artist Proofs, signed posters
• A bargain box of older work and end of lines
• Mugs, bags, badges, Mrs. Mustard's handknits and jewellery
• All these lovely items available to studio visitors only, and to make you feel extra special we will give you a 10% discount if you say "Doris sent me" when you pay. Marvellous.

I also see that Nan Mustard has had some new Christmas cards done, so look online at the Mustardshop to check those out!

And finally (hoping I have the time to finish them ) I will have 2 puppets for you to see when you visit... Mr and Mrs Guess Who...

Hoping to see some of you very soon. And don't forget, "Doris sent you"!

Hello Mustard lovers!

Hope this mail finds you well?

After a tough few months I feel things have started to go my way again, AND this is one of my favourite times of the year. I love our British weather and the changes it wreaks. There's a touch of excitement every time the sun comes out, and I feel blessed for every dog walk I can take without getting absolutely soaked. The crisp, clear days are a real blessing. And if you'd like to exchange opinions on the weather then please contact me via our Facebook group!

I know a lot of you have been concerned about the break in supply of small prints and the like, so the Good News is: normal service is henceforth resumed! Mustard Shop is up and running again (with a couple of new ranges) ... And we have a few surprises up our sleevies to be revealed in the months to come! So thanks for your patience at what has been a pretty stressful time. Not that I have been trapped down a mine for weeks thank goodness, but it's all relative isn't it Uncle Alistair?I would also like to flag up our Open Studio Days in Brighton this year: 11th and 12th December 12-6 pm, so perhaps you can book your Travel Lodge Experience and give us a visit? There will be some delightfully exclusive goodies, including a few small original works, framed pencil sketches, handmade Xmas cards as well as a large selection of Christmas cards I've been able to get my hands on.

There'll be special limited edition copies of Along the Prom, my first book (or bring yours along to be signed?) Also I have been making some tiny little drawings on the back of envelopes which will make gorgeous special gifts, and a full set of limited edition prints including artist proofs of sold out editions.

Open Studio Days are a whole lot of work, a whole lot of fun, and tend to be very busy, but if any of the special stock remains unsold after the weekend, we will post it up on the website, otherwise it's first come first served!

More soon I hope... But thanks for reading. I really do appreciate each and every one of you, and I mean that most sincerely, folks.

Very best regardings as ever,

Sam Toft

Do any of you remember Mr Benn? It was one of my favourite shows when I was small, and now instead of the 'shopkeeper' it is a Mustard Calendar that has conveniently materialized in our midsts...

So this is just a short info-mail to let you know where to find it, should you be interested to have a browse. I had so many disappointed emails when I omitted to get round to having a 2010 calendar last year, that I hope with the vision of this one, I will be at least partly forgiven?

It's a 'print on demand' one available only from lulu.com for £13 (lucky for some) and will someone let me know what it looks like as I don't even have a copy yet. It runs from April 2010 through March 2011 which I thought would be marvellously convenient. You can get it here: http://bit.ly/cwbqT3

I am working on all kinds of new things at the moment, but more of that later... For now, just let me announce that the winner of the competition to win a signed original sketch is............Joseduardo de la Garza!!!!

Congratulations to him on his inspired entry (number 31 on our facebook discussions page) and many, many thanks to all who took part. As I said, if I had nothing else to do for the next 7 weeks I would be sending sketches to all of you, but hey.

I hope you like the calendar.

I am LOVING the little daffs that are just starting to come out in my Brighton garden right now...Do you reckon that Spring is actually on her way?

All the very best to you all,

Sam Toft

I hope the new year is being kind to all of you lovely people out there.

Here in Brighton there has been plenty of snow, lovely for walking the dogs in my wellies, a good excuse for lighting fires, staying home, learning to crochet and great inspiration for my new paintings!

Lovely to see so many of you at the Open Studio Days here in Brighton before Christmas. There was a lovely festive atmosphere, a meeting of friends old and new, and plenty of sales to keep the wolf from the door... so thank you to all who were able to make it.

And if you were snowed in, or live too far away to have made the journey to the seaside last December, here's good news. The lovely Mr Cain was on hand with his trusty camera to make a wobbly video which cleverly captures the spirit of the event... I love it! It makes me want to do Christmas at the studio all over again, but I guess we'll have to wait for that. So make some mulled wine, have a mince pie and join the virtual fun!  Take a look here: www.youtube.com/user/ehmustard#p/a/u/0/X0DntokZObE

And yet more good news. Some of the pictures I did for the Open Studio are miraculously still available! They are up on the home page now, and you need to call me on 01273 720660 if you would like to buy one. Otherwise they are good for a peruse with a cup of tea just to see what Mr M was up to in the twilight of the Noughties.

In the spirit of the time of year (and so no-one feels left out) we are doing a special 3 day SALE on Mustard Shop. Nan Mustard (hardworking and ever generous) has agreed that our loyal mailorder fans deserve a treat. So listen carefully while I say this only once.

The dates are 25th 26th 27th January 2010

That's a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday very soon

If you purchase anything at all from the Mustard Shop on these dates, you will be entitled to choose another thing (of the same or lesser value) absolutely free. None of this buy 3 get one half price nonsense. You could buy yourself something nice, and get another Treasure free for a special gift later in the year maybe?

You would need to order the thing you are paying for, then let Nan Mustard know what you would like her to send you FREE. So that she will know that you are a special Mustard Customer, and not any Tom Dick and Harry calling for a chat, please use the SPECIAL SALE PASSWORD : say ''Does it come with Humbugs?", and she may well say "No, caller, but can I send you a lovely gift of your choice (of equal or lesser value) absolutely free?"

Well I hope you will keep her busy. She gets up to all kinds of mischief if not...  Mustard Shop is here: www.samtoft.co.uk/shop.php?cat=ownltdedprint

One more thing to keep the post Christmas blues away. I am going to send a lovely Original Mustard Sketch (4B on paper)(not framed, mind) to the person whose answer I like best.

In true cereal box style, please complete the following sentence. 'I would like a little extra Mustard in my life because...'

The catch is, I would like you to put your answer up on The Real Sam Toft Facebook page, so we can all have a look, rather than me ploughing through my overstuffed Inbox. Answers sent directly to me will not be admitted. Your statutary rights remain unaffected.  Add your answer and read everyone else's here:

So that's free stuff on Mustard Shop, a free sketch from me, and a lovely Youtube video for you all!  Can you really say any fairer than that?

All the very best Mustardeenies

Sam Toft x

Delighted to note that Doris sent a fair few of you to the Christmas Open Studio last weekend! We got through 72 mince pies and more than half a gallon of mulled wine, so someone was clearly having 'the good time'...

Industrious as ever, the very lovely Mr Cain has put together a video on YouTube, especially for those of you who couldn't make it.

It's here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttKd3t2OYZ4

And Nan Mustard, not to be left out, is offering a special on her new Christmas cards:

• Order 3 packs and get a free Mustard Bag...
• Order 5 packs and get 6 packs (as well as the free Mustard Bag) !!!
• Get them here.

As for me, I'm winding down now for Christmas, catching up on the cleaning (I worked so hard getting the studio together for the show, that my home looks like a bomb's hit it), doing a bit of knitting and baking, and making the Mrs Mustard puppet so Ernest won't feel lonely.

Thanks for all your support this year, Mustard Lovers, I hope you enjoy the video, and keep warm this Christmas!  (The video’s here).

All the very best to you,

Sam Toft x

Hallo Mustardeenies,

Hope you are enjoying this dampish weather as much as my cyclamen.

I'm writing to cordially invite you, my very best of friends, to join me at my Very Special Open Studio Days this December: 12th and 13th between 12 noon and 6pm at Brown Dog Studio in Hove. Map here.

There will be some fine framed sketches, some rather dear and lovingly framed original pieces, Doris Dog sculptures, Automata made of driftwood including my brand new (I mean soon to be completed) "Who's Fallen Out Of The Boat, Then?" pull-the-handle-and-see-how-it- moves thing!

There will be specially customised and exclusive boxes of Thorntons chocs, so you can give a little Mustard in a yummy Belgian chocolates kind of a way, as well as the usual horde of posters, limited edition prints, Christmas cards and such like. And the return of the Hot Popcorn Machine, mulled wine, £1 Lucky Dip and a thoughtful selection of cake to keep you going throughout your visit. But no 2010 calendars I'm afraid...

And although I imagine more of the original pieces, sketches and many of the range of Christmas Goodies may be snaffled up on the Saturday, I am offering you loyal fans a Special Password discount for Sunday. Just say Doris sent you crackers, and we will give you a 10% discount off your purchases on Sunday. Maybe you will come back twice?

Announcing the winners of Mustard Favourite Passwords competition that I set in the last email to fans... The winners are: Laura Eagles, Louise Erskine, Lesley Gray and Jill Phillips.

So please send me your addresses and I will get your lovely Artist Proofs off to you pronto .... Well done to the 157 of you that came up with the right answers!

If there are any unclaimed original pieces at the end of the weekend, then I will post them up for sale on the home page of my interweb site. And if you feel like cutting the cardboard out of your Christmas Greetings, please avail yourself of our range of free Mustardy Yuletide Ecards (Here: http://www.samtoft.co.uk/ecards.php)

Thanks for listening and I hope to see many of you at the Stude at the weekend!

All the very best to you all,

Sam Toft and the Mustards

X

Hello to Mustard Fans old and new,

It's not usually this long between updates, is it?

I've been taking a bit of time off with my dogs, with my home and garden, with the fields and trees, and just generally away from the studio. I have a new friend for Moses Dog too. Little Stanley Philpot (9 1/2 months) is as black and curly and cheeky as you'd like. And probably a bit more cheekier.

But I'm back this month (tearing myself away from my compulsive blackberry picking - aren't they out early? Aren't there LOADS!?), with some news from Brown Dog Studio.

First, as I am being asked quite a lot already, there will be no Mustard 2010 Calendar. I haven't produced much new work this year, and do not really have the VAVAVOOM required to design and put legs on the thing, but if anybody out there is interested in funding designing printing and distributing, I would be happy to hear from you!

Second, I will be having Open Studio come December, the first two weekends I believe. I had a leak while I was away, and am waiting for all the lovely mushrooms to dry out before a major redecorating job....but I reckon I should be all spruced up and ready for visitors here in Brighton just in time!

And third, I have a pair of lovely new prints to introduce you to shortly (they should be on MUSTARDSHOP soon if not already).

They're littlies (22 X 16cm image size), in editions of 47 (Mr Mustard's favourite number) and the first 22 of each will have a unique hand drawn figure on the title line.

* The prints will be all pre-signed, numbered and sent to our International Distribution Central Warehouse in Cornwall from their home in Brighton, where they can be ordered (01326 280 976) and sent out to you wherever you are. Why not buy now while the sun is high in the sky and present your loved one with something "unique au monde" as the nights draw in? Smashing.

The first features The World Famous Stanley Philpot, along with old favourites Doris and Rover, as they push on by.

And the second has a jaunty piece of appliqué featuring MacIntosh, the twittery tree bird.

They are £95 each or take the pair for £175.

And I'm not saying, you can't say fairer than that, I'm just saying that this offer will be with you until the end of September only. Just let Nan Mustard know (at the International Big Massive Warehouse in Cornwall) that you are one of our especially special mailing list members, and she will sort you out with our very nice discount when you buy two.

And a little quiz for you special internettie people (and there's another on the Forum section of my website in case you haven't even noticed). Mr Mustard has a racy new coat, any idea what he calls it?

There will be two prizes (well three counting the bumper goodies prize for the forum quiz):

• One prize for the correct answer,
• One prize for the answer I like best,
• The prizes being Artist proofs of the above prints

I hope this day finds you as lovely as you left it,

And I'm glad to be back here with you,

All the very BEST

Sam Toft

Okay so we had a bit of rain on the Bank Holiday here in Brighton, but we've just had 3 weeks of marvellous crisply clear sunshine, and for that I am eternally grateful. My broad beans are growing up a treat.

Here in my dear old home town, we have the most wonderful Brighton Festival on at the minute. Dance, Theatre, Comedy and Artist Open Houses during May... And I love it!

I'm very busy preparing for a show in July at John Noott Galleries in Broadway, Worcestershire (please get in touch with them direct if you'd like a brochure) and so to give me and the dogs a bit of time to enjoy the Festival, we are having a rest from opening Brown Dog Studio this year.

But we do have some lovely treats in store you'll be glad to hear!

On 17th May we will be having a Virtual Private View here online on t'internet. These very special 6 small pictures have just been finished and are heading to the framers as we speak. They are very lovely and there are only 6.

I will also hopefully be launching prints of these pictures, both because they are gorgeous and because there are so few...

• Four will be handmade screenprints
• Two will be giclee prints
• And then there will be six hand screenprinted drawings.. Hopefully.  I am so excited about these screenprints. I hope we will get them finished on time but please bear with us. It will be 17th May or soon after. And I have a sneaky feeling they will be worth the wait...

17th May will also see lots more signed poster prints on Mustard Shop.

Large ones, small ones, long thin ones... Out of Africa, Sri Lanka, Brighton and Hove... Good prices, nice pictures, new sizes...

And another thing, we have a special offer 17th-21st May. Order ANY three things from Mustard Shop and don't even bother paying for the cheapest thing. Just tell Nan Mustard when you call that Doris sent you. You will have to call Nan to take advantage of this astounding offer, as Paypal just CAN'T keep up with our generosity.

And if you are more time rich than cash rich, or if you feel like lending a hand, get on down to our Facebook group where there will be lovely prizes during May for a few lucky people who give us feedback.

Good or bad. Please let rip. Visit the Discussion Board at The Real Sam Toft for more details..

I'll send another mail soon just to update about the byootiful screenprints and a reminder of when the 6 original pieces are available for sale.

And now it's time for walkies.

All the best to you,

Sam Toft