Today was a lovely day and still I thought I will check out some illustrative art from young…read moreprospective students at the Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show. The entrance to the exhibition is located of Westport Street and the illustrated gallery can be found on the 4th floor in a very modern building just opposite from Edinburgh castle with very amazing views. One of the students is no other than our own Ollie from "Wings", who is a very talented young man bringing his fantasies to life, presented in a combination of colourful fiction and science. You need a certain class of talent to draw various human and other forms with such a detailed eye, otherwise what you paint is missing shape and essence. He uses bright and eccentric colours indicating fun and play, and his arty signature is a little dog called "Wings" (well, we might hope so ;-) ) You can also admire his art work in the Princess Mall shopping centre at Waverly Station. There his talent and illustrative work is displayed on a massive wall for everybody to see when passing by. It's literally a very large print with many little characters in it, all waiting in a queue to get into the Mall for a bit of shopping. Remember to look out for it next time you are there. Tomorrow is the last day of the Art Degree Exhibition, so you better hurry. There is a lot to see!

ECA is a bit like other Edinburgh University buildings in that during the school year, students are…read moretortured (and by tortured I mean taught and by taught I mean made to sit exams) there, while during the Fringe, it becomes a venue. The Edinburgh College of Art, surprise surprise, offers art courses. I've met a few photography students from there (all amazing photographers), and their fashion students are, I think, in some way, affiliated with Godiva in the Grassmarket. Every year, the students will take over the many many buildings with a week (or so) long degree exhibition. This exhibition is massive. All the different students have their own sections, so there's the photography part, the fashion part, textiles, animation, etc. It borders on impossible to do it in a day. During the festival, I saw a great show where people in amazing make-up danced and did acro on stilts. It was jaw-dropping. Also, the building itself is pretty amazing. I mean, I'm not a fan of the outside, but then inside is full of columns and huge open spaces. If you haven't made the degree show ever, keep it in mind for next year. And keep your ears open for news on fringe shows going on in the college.

My friend gave me a guided tour and all I can say about this University is I really wished I had…read moregone here (and could afford it). It's so amazing, and pretty, and people are friendly, and they have all these cool events advertised (like a cheese party!!!). Teviot row house is also the oldest student union building in the world (My friend told me) and it looks great! they have a sports bar, library bar, and other various bars for different functions and settings.

Home to some of the ugliest buildings on earth (can I get a round of applause for Appleton Tower's…read moresheer foulness please?) the University of Edinburgh was the place of my 'further education'. Superficially the Uni does well in the league tables (23rd in the world I think) but the real student experience is pretty patchy. The main library is probably the best example of this. Spanning over six floors this building houses millions of books and resources but for some reason there never seemed to be any of the ones I wanted! At the beginning of every year at least one of my courses was complaining that their books hadn't been put on short loan and that keen students had already checked out the course work for the year. There was also a constant issue of people hogging computers, leaving their books and coats on the table and then heading off to Bristo Square for a leisurely lunch. Annoying! Nonetheless I did enjoy my studies at Edinburgh a lot. The uni attracts some brilliant lecturers especially in the History and Politics departments (my degree). Dr Day, Dr Cogliano and Dr Bates were my favourite historians although I would have to say that the international relations and politics of human rights courses were very impressive. In recent years the University has come out quite badly in 'student satisfaction' surveys primarily because of the time it took to get coursework marked and returned. As I left I could see that there were real efforts being made to reverse these patterns but as far as most of us were concerned it was a bit too little too late. Despite this I would still say that Edinburgh is a great University and I miss it a lot!

A FUN way to explore your creative side!! I have taken 3 different classes from Jen's Artisan…read moreStitch studio and loved them all! Dressmaking, Free-motion stitching and most recently the Mono-Printing workshop. I have always had a love for stationery and this class combined paper crafting (by making your own print) with my newest passion for stitching! It was so fun and having an intimate (small) setting makes it even more freeing to explore, ask LOTS of questions and experiment! Jen is patient and is so creative you just want to make more classes with her! She is always prepared and has lots of visual options to gear you in the right direction!! Thank you, Jen, for your creative energy and for sharing it with others!

From the owner: Sewing Lessons, Sewing Classes, how to use a sewing machine, Textile art workshops, Beginners to…read moreAdvanced Sewing Classes, Beginners Sewing Classes, Dress Making courses & Pattern Cutting, childrens sewing classes, machine embroidery, mixed media workshops, mono-printing workshops, creative textiles, personal tuition, one-to-one tuition, using an overlocker

bubbles. its the g. its the go. its the goa. its the goat. if ur 3 years old or 69 years of age…read morethis is the place for you. just be careful on the triangles, i smashed my pinkie toe in on them once. kind regards, granny smith

Soft play areas are a necessary evil of having children. Admittedly, they are probably one of the…read moredimensions of hell too dark even for Dante's Inferno. I always leave with a horrific headache after a couple of hours in an enclosed space with the high pitched squeals of sweaty children having far more fun than is good for them. However, the silver lining to these places is the guaranteed time off resulting from the muckle nap small children will need shortly after visiting. It makes that couple of hours all worthwhile and keeps me coming back and happily handing over money. Bubbles Factory is purpose built and a really good soft play. The cafe area is clean, bright and appealing and the soft play area is well maintained and adored by big and small children alike. On this visit I ordered a coffee and empire biscuit for me and a cheese sandwich for puff. It is worth noting that a wait for food is usual but since everything is freshly prepared and there is plenty to distracted impatient children this hasn't ever been an issue for us, even on really busy rainy days. The coffee isn't brilliant, it's a machine rather than proper espresso and they do loose a star for that - proper good coffee would make me much happier here! But the empire biscuit and the cheese sandwich were very good and since puff went on to sleep for a mammoth 3 hours following our visit I'll be going back.