Little animals...

I love, love, looove animals! Left over from my shop's days as a handmade Emporium I have these wonderful little glass badges made by Happy Owl Glass in the USA.

They are so sweet, each with a different animal and the colours and glassy sheen make them really gem like. They are now in the shop anyway and will make the cutest little gifts and stocking fillers...Have a look at all of them in the accessories section HERE!

Here's my favorites: a cute Okapi, wily Fox and little Ladybird...

I also have a new Owl Pattern scarf colour coming to the shop this week! It's a lovely berry-like colour and a bit more subtle than the current colours in the shop...I think you are going to like it :) Here's a peek:

Moomin Love

As a child I was never introduced to The Moomins and only really heard about them when I went to art school. I still didn't read any Moomin books then but around that time, my most Moomin obsessed friend brought home a copy of 'The Book of Moomin, Mymble and Little My' which really grabbed my heart.

It's not so much the story but the wonderful illustrations that really got me hooked on this book. I hadn't seen or thought about it for ages but found a copy in a shop on our recent trip to Brighton and got it for myself...

I love the cut out pages, making canny use of the illustrations on pages preceding and following the one you are on and the way Tove Jansson used flat and limited colours to create the quite simplistic drawings and lovely patterns...The pears in the tree in the bottom picture below (the one of Moomin mama with the berries) are so perfect, and the red, white and blue flowers around the writing in the third picture down, oh!

There is so much to look at (hence the abundance of images here! Click the pics to see them bigger), I love it so much.


If you would like a copy for yourself, I think it is available on Amazon. Or if you are in Brighton I gt it from the comic shop on Sydney Street (I think...) in the North Laines...

Brand new business cards...

I have been working on these for a little while and this week I made the screens and printed them...my brand new hand printed business cards!

This first batch have either a foresty green or bright blue image on the front with pink information on the back...I am so pleased with the handmade feel of them and love how the screened ink 'sits' on the surface of the card.

I have made 4 designs so far and all orders from now on will come with a couple of these little artworks for you to keep or share :)

Feather Thread Bracelet...

I have had a good selection of vintage chain around the studio for a while, using it to create pretty things as and when the inspiration came to me and now I have just about used it up and I'm down to my last strand! It's one I've been saving as I like it so much and it is a vintage gold plated fifties style textured link chain that is really pretty, with a definite dash of old time glamour.

I have been making a lot of bracelets lately with a celestial and feathery theme and yesterday I finally made up my mind about how to incorporate this into another of these lovelies, and came up with the Feather Thread Bracelet (All sold out now!). It has a large cluster of feathers, a little swooping swallow and three vintage look Swarovskis along with two newer chains and (what has now become an oft requested addition to my bracelets) a thread of bright red cord...

Of course, not having much of this chain left means Feather Thread is a very limited edition little number...I hope you like it!

See and Shop it HERE!

Bauble III

Well, I wasn't wrong...the last couple of weeks have been SO busy, I feel like I have been going here, there and everywhere! It was lovely to catch up with old friends on a brief trip up to Brighton and although I wasn't amazingly successful at the dressage competition (a 3rd and two 4ths...a little off form) it was great fun and I have learned a lot from the two days of training last week too, which is always a good thing :)

Anyway, things are just about back to normal and I will be adding some new goodies to the shop this week too. In the meantime here is a lovely start to all of the Christmas hoo ha:

The Shop Floor Project are a long time stockist of my Bonbi Forest wares and this week they announced their annual Bauble exhibition of alternative artists decorations.


I love the theatrical feel to the collection with leaping horses and acrobatic ladies, colourful birds (those of the fabulous Zosienka whose work I used to stock in the Emporium), a game based on age old phrases and unusual miniature antique furniture...


Visit The Shop Floor Project HERE! and you can see and perhaps shop the limited edition jewellery I created for them HERE! (Just scroll along a little to my cabinet...)

It's all about the feathers and leaves...

This week and next are turning out to be quite the busiest weeks of the year so far (they probably aren't, but it seems that way...), not just with work but with people to see, places to be, horses to compete and other things.

This weekend is Mark's birthday and I have a dressage competition up in Devon, and then at the beginning of next week we are taking a flying visit to Brighton to visit our friend Natasha who's birthday it is as well, and then I will be back for more horse training...that will add up to quite a bit of tooing and froing!

In the meantime I have added some more jewellery to the shop! Two lovely new bracelets and a feathery necklace...

The first bracelet is the Autumn Bracelet, a piece of Autumn beauty for your wrist (above) and the second is a limited edition Feather Nest Bracelet (below. Edit - All sold out now, thanks!). It is made with vintage chains and has pretty feathers and a little bird with beautiful pacific opal Swarovski crystals...I'm so pleased with these two :)

I have also added yet another feathery creation to the jewels section of the shop in the form of this Feather and Feather Necklace. It has a large detailed brass feather with a smaller silver plated one and a couple of sparkling Swarovski crystals (I love my Swarovski's, gorgeous colours and so much twinkling!)...All these pieces are available in the jewels section of the Bonbi Forest shop. I hope you like them!

So what with all the goings on this weekend and next week, I just wanted to give a heads up that because of this (and what with the Royal Mail's planned postal strikes on Thursday and Friday) any orders placed today and tomorrow will ship on Saturday morning and any orders from Friday onwards will ship next Thursday...phew!

Things I want - Donna Wilson's fabulous knits!!

This cooler weather has got me thinking about big cozy knits and warm blankets to cuddle up under on the sofa as the nights draw in and I was reminded of the work of Donna Wilson, whose work I cam across a little while back. I immediately fell in love with the colours she uses and the offbeat lines in her drawings, and I also adore the kind of clunkiness that the knit fabric gives her designs.

Top of my list of desire is the Rainy day blanket, oh and the Up the Garden Path blanket and perhaps a set of her glasses too for supping sweet warming concoctions of rum and ginger or bourbon based beverages...


...and her creatures. My goodness, so amazing. That cat's face cracks me up!

Visit Donna's site HERE there is a ton more lovely craziness to inspire :)

An English Garden...

I have a new necklace in the store...An English Garden.

Since Autumn is here and the flowers are fading and wildlife is either flying away or beginning to hibernate, I wanted to create something that evokes a feeling of spring and summertime past.

It is super pretty and has a silver plated pendant with cream vintage acrylic blooms on one side and cute etched leaves on the other. It swings from a dainty silver plated chain along with opaque turquoise Swarovski, a little brass bird and a sparkling red Swarovski butterfly...I hope you like it!


See and shop An English Garden HERE!!

Forever...

My latest painting!

'Forever...' In a little cocoon there they will stay, bright and marvelous for us to behold.

Ella May

Every few days I take 1/2 hour out to have a peruse and catch up on some of my favorite blogs. I don't read them everyday because despite it being way to time consuming (so many favorites!) in a funny kind of way I get a bit OVER-inspired and end up with so many half formed and hair-brained ideas I don't know where to begin. Despite being someone who makes lots of different things, I have to dedicate time to concentrate on one. thing. at. a. time. or my studio becomes a mass of half finished chaos...

Anyway, the reason I started with a little musing about blog reading is that I came across these photographs by Ella May on one of my favorite blogs, Modish (which is actually where the blog relevance ends...I like to waffle, see!) and have absolutely fallen in love with her use of light. It's just beautiful:

Celestial Asymmetry

So, they are finally in store - a selection of the latest Bonbi Forest earrings, hurrah!

It seems with making these that my obsession with all things celestial, asymmetric and bird like has continued...I hope you like them! Here is a peek at a few here and there are more in store HERE!

Coming sooon....!

The past couple of days has been a jewellery making extravaganza for me. I will be adding new pieces over the next week, including lots of new earrings which the shop has been seriously lacking since it opened!

Here is a peek at a pair of the newest...They are based on a lovely long asymmetrical set I made for myself a while ago that sit prettily in long hair and look so elegant with an up-do or shorter hair. they'll be in store tomorrow!

One table saved...

Last week I saw this little bamboo table sat in the garden at my folks house and after a some investigation I was horrified to discover it was en-route to the bonfire! I have been looking for a table just like it for our bathroom, one with wheels and a cute rack underneath for towels and the like...it had to be saved!!

I brought it home and gave it a clean up. I got rid of the dust and cobwebs and sanded the rust of the caster wheels and then gave it a good coat of white satinwood paint which took about 24 hours to dry.

I wanted to make it pretty for the bathroom and so gave it a little sprinkling of pink, green, grey and black leaves on the top and down the legs, with cute sprays on the side of the rack underneath...

It looks so lovely in our bathroom, which is a little dated in the decor stakes - we rent our home you see and it can't be changed :( - but the table adds a personal pop and I'm really pleased with it. Yay!

It is the genuine 70's article and came from a set of bits and pieces my parents had when they bought their first house. They still use the bamboo framed mirror, but there was a coffee table with a glass top, and a tall bookshelf corner unit with a round top too. I was told today that the bookshelf is actually in mine and my brother's old treehouse, so I am going to venture up there and if it's not succumbed to rot or anything else horrid (that goes for the treehouse too - the tree has grown and pushed it to one side somewhat. Safety may scupper the rescue mission!) it shall be saved too...watch this space :)

Cupcake Sunday...

It is a well known fact among my good friends and family that I have just about the sweetest tooth going and so, I am unable to resist anything remotely sugary treat-like. I particularly adore anything sugary and gingery and despite not being the most naturally talented in the baking stakes, I was most excited to find this easy gingerbread cupcake recipe.

The recipe comes from a book called Cupcakes (of course) by Susannah Blake and is really easy, even for people who aren't that great at baking like my good self :)

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Icing - By Susannah Blake:

Makes 12

60g Butter
50g Brown Sugar
2 tbsp Golden Syrup
2 tbsp Black Treacle
1 tsp Ground Ginger
80ml Milk
1 egg, beaten
2 pcs Stem Ginger, drained and chopped
115g Self-Raising Flour

You will need 12 cupcake cases and a 12 hole muffin tin.

Preheat the oven to 170ºc (325ºf, Gas 3).

Put the butter, sugar, golden syrup, treacle and ground ginger in a saucepan and gently heat until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the milk then beat in the egg and stem ginger.

Sift the flour into the mixture and fold in. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases and bake for about 20 minutes until risen and a skewer comes out clean and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the decoration you will need:

2 tbsp Lemon Juice
200g Icing Sugar, sifted
2-3 pieces of Stem Ginger drained and chopped

Pour the lemon juice into a bowl and gradually sift in the icing sugar, stirring as you go until smooth, thick and spoonable. Spoon the icing over the cakes, top with a few pieces of stem ginger on each one and leave to set...

Et Voila!

The book has so many gorgeous looking recipes in it with beautiful photographs and can be bought from Amazon HERE!

Yummers!

Look!

A version of my Astrology Bracelet has been featured in Look Magazine this week! Hurrah and thank you to the folks over at The Shop Floor Project where you can buy it, HERE!

Filling...

The shop is slowly filling up! This week I finally got my Owl Pattern Scarves back in the store, hurrah! and I have a new colour on the way too which will be so lovely for Autumn, so watch this space. (All scarves £12, HERE!)

Also just added to the store today is this new Astrology Bracelet. It has been made with a cut of very limited vintage fifties style textured disc chain along with dainty chains in gold and silver plate and a length of bright red cord, and it has different planet-like sparkling beads, a hand carved moon, feathers and a star. A perfect dreamy accessory for the darkness of winter nights... (Bracelet: £19.50, HERE!)

I will be adding some more jewellery to the shop this evening too in the way of more little lockets and a couple of old favourites...

Shadow Horse

Onestone New York

Look at these lovely jewels! Yesterday I received a highly anticipated package in the mail and inside it was a beautiful engagement ring Mark and I had got custom made for us by Etsy seller onestonenewyork. The craftsmanship really is wonderful and I thought I would help spread the Onestone love by showing you some of their gorgeous gems...All are available from the onestonenewyork Etsy shop:





Mine is in the style of this last one but made from re-claimed sterling silver with a Herkimer Diamond (gemstone) and a White Topaz accent...just lovely!

End of the Road Lights...

I almost forgot to post these pics! Last weekend me and Mark and a bunch of friends headed to Dorset's Larmer Tree Park for the End of The Road festival, the weather was so beautiful all weekend and we had a splendid time indeed. Musical highlights for me were the Dirty Projectors, Magnolia Electric Company and Richmond Fontaine (who's new album is just wonderful).

The festival is surrounded by trees which had been strung with thousands of tiny twinkling fairy lights and lanterns and made for some interesting photographs for sure (especially when I couldn't keep the camera still!). I loved the effect of the streaks of light but also there was an umbrella installation that looked as pretty and interesting in the sun as it did with the lights of the night:

The Butterfly Catchers (again!)

Hey all, I know I have posted briefly about my butterfly catcher drawings when I first made them but there is now three of them and they are available as prints in the store. They are printed with archival inks onto a matte archival paper (fade resistant for 82+ years) with a small white border for framing and look sweet on their own or they can be put together in a triptych.

One thing I love doing when I draw is creating little narratives, not in a comic book stylee, but working along a theme that hints at a story, this one being the little tale of a pair of ladies going for a day out on a nature trail and loving the prettiness so much, they wanted it for keeps instead of leaving it where it belongs...

There is also the Butterfly catcher tee too depicting Part One...Available for men and women: