Those guys at Amazon like to keep us on our toes! Ever since the launch of the Kindle 4 at the end of last year we’ve been busy modifying our original Kindle 3 cases to accommodate the new smaller, sleeker design….

Handmade case especially-designed for the latest Kindle 4 and Kobo ereader Touch in Apple

We had a prototype finished earlier this year, and this week we’ve had a little time to tweak the design and have now finished our first batch of the new cases. We’re very excited as we’ve already sold, and posted off, a good portion of these. We’ve just added a couple in the Olive Swirl and Apple PVC-coated cottons to our website shop. They’re priced at £28, the same as our Kindle 3 case. These new cases are also perfect for the Kobo ereader Touch too! They have a padded back and a little side pocket, for the charging cable. The side flap folds around the device to ensure greater protection for the screen.

We’ll be adding more fabric designs, as we make them.. including some leather ones. The new design will be making its debut at Greenwich Market this weekend, so watch out for them there if you’re local, and let us know what you think!

Have a great weekend all!

Check out today’s Metro for their top picks for Valentine’s Day gifts.

We're featured in today's Metro as a top pick for Valentine's Day gifts!

Our contemporary rose Italian leather zip tote is featured as one of their cool Valentines present ideas! It’s one our current favourites too, and available online for £90, along with three other colour choices of Italian leather – Smoke, Ebony and Heather.

One of Metro's top picks for gifts this Valentine's Day

This little bag is a stylish and practical way of keeping those everyday essentials safe inside. With a secure zip-top fastening and a silky soft velvet lining, the main body and straps are made of beautiful Italian leather. This model has two shoulder straps, and a small front zipped pocket, just perfect for an oyster card, business cards, or a mobile phone. There’s also a handy bigger interior zip pocket, again lined in a lovely, soft velvet.

Sweetheart: Leather card wallets can't fail to melt the heart of your loved one

We also make a range of smaller items in all our shades of Italian leather. We’re sure that these beautiful card wallets will melt the heart of your loved one. And they won’t break the bank either. They’re priced at just £15 each, all handmade with love in London and available in our website shop. Our favourite is the Mandarin on Pink card wallet right now.

Buy online or contact us for more info.

It’s been freezing around London during the past couple of days and we’ve even seen a few “two-coat” days at Greenwich Market recently! Brrr! Although we adore snuggling up by a cosy fire, sipping hot chocolate and listening to Madeleine Peyroux on the stereo as we tuck into Haruki Murakami’s latest novel, the current cold snap has us dreaming of Springtime. And this has definitely influenced our latest fabric-buying spree.

There’s nothing we love more than walking through rooms full of beautiful fabrics, selecting the designs that we think our customers are going to love for the next season! And there are lots of new and exciting designs out there at the moment. The first one we’re really excited about right now is this bright and crisp Spring green chenille stripy upholstery fabric…

Spring shoots: Chenille upholstery fabric with crisp spring green, cream and chocolate stripes

We saw it in the navy colour-way too, but that was just a bit too dark. Can’t wait to get to the studio to cut this piece into shape and start creating our products with it.. Possibly a mini expandable tote and an expandable tote are going to be first on the list.

It’ll also go really nicely with a cocoa brown leather to make a mini zip-top bag.

There is something to be said for fabrics having personalities of their own, whether it’s the pattern or colour that evokes a certain feeling in people or a texture that feels deliciously luxurious or calming or cosy… and we just love this chenilley stripy fabric for it’s luxurious velvety texture combined with Spring colours! Ahh…. we think it’s a perfect transition fabric from Winter to Spring!

Our team of three splashproof pouches are literally as lovely inside as they are outside! They all have a zip top and a wipeclean lining that is made from the same splashproof fabric as the outside. All handcut and stitched at our East London studio, they will look after all of those toiletry products that can spill or that need to be kept together while you travel and are made in a choice of bright printed fabrics. ..

The wash bag is a spacious pouch specially designed to keep safe large bottles of shampoo, conditioner, showergel, bath oils, moisturiser and toothpaste.

Lovely inside: Our wash bag pouches have the same lining inside as the fabric outside

Our cosmetic pouches are about half the size of their large washbag siblings and again have the same lining inside as the outside fabric. Suitable for smaller bottles of travel toiletries or all of those everyday make-up essentials.

Handily-sized to keep all those make-up essentials safe whilst travelling or in the home

Our pencil cases are shorter than our cosmetic pouches but are longer, especially designed to fit full-sized pencils inside. Suitable for cosmetics, pens, pencils and any other small products that you might need to keep all together either in the home or whilst travelling!

Especially designed to fit pens, pencils, small make-up items, all with a wipeclean lining

These little mini expandable bags are so-called because they have a strong magnetic closure at each side, that lets them expand outwards so you can put more inside! These handcrafted gems are a perfect size for carrying everyday essentials and finished with a secure ring and toggle closure on a velvet ribbon. We’ve taken a lot of effort to get our design just right. Here’s a little bit more information about exactly what goes into each of our creations….

All our leather bags are made to a very high standard at our studio in East London

Using the original Italian leather skins, we cut each bag by hand to our unique design patterns, before it is stitched at our East London studio. The skins are surface glazed with vegetable dyes to allow the lovely properties of this natural material (including spots and veins and flaws!) on the leather surface to shine through. Once the bag is ready for stitching we combine each one with it’s own silky soft cotton velvet lining. Sometimes we create a complementary, sophisticated combination, like a rich aubergine leather and a nice slate velvet lining. Other times we like to team up a match that’s a bit more daring like a lovely pink leather and lemon lining! The interior zip pockets are also lined in velvet.

The width and length of the handles have been tweaked and improved over the years, and measured on actual people, to make sure they’ll fit comfortably over the shoulder even if you’re wearing a chunky winter coat. But you’re still able to hold the bag securely and find your things easily inside.

We designed and launched a new version of the mini expandable tote in November 2011 which uses a very similar pattern features a zip top closure, a front zip pocket and and interior zip pocket for customers who like their bags to be securely closed. Both designs are currently available in our shop.

Just wanted to share with you my home-made cold cure in case anyone out there has succumbed to the New Year bugs!

Squeeze the juice of one lemon into a mug. Cut up a small strip of fresh ginger into tiny pieces and add them into the mug, then add a teaspoon of manuka honey. Put about 2 inches of cold water into the bottom and stir, and top up with boiling water (this ensures the good, live stuff in the lemon isn’t killed off).

Add a splash of echinacea tincture… and enjoy!

Hope it helps to blow those cobwebs away! Now back to the bag designs….

All the team at velvetmutineer wish our friends and customers, and all who have supported us over the past few years, a very happy new year!

We’ll be posting regularly to our website and to our links on facebook and twitter with all the very latest product news and updates.