As promised...

Well here it is, a peek at our wedding! I can hardly believe it was two months ago, but having the pictures now has brought back all of it's wonderful memories...A few peeps have been asking if I was going to show any of it here so I wanted to show a little bit of the hand made details (see HERE for the hand screen printed invitations I made) and some of the atmosphere. I have included links to the suppliers we used, just in case anyone is planning a Cornish wedding! (It's a long one, sorry but I loved it so much I can't stop waffling!)

We really wanted to get married outside, but English law being English law it isn't possible so we went for the next best thing, which was the stunning setting of the thatched summer house in the garden of Rosteague House near Portscatho, right on the South Cornwall coast. We were lucky in that it is only a 15 minute drive from my parent's house, where we had the reception in a marquee in one of their fields (Truro Marquees and Catering). Plus, through dressage connections, my mum and I know the lady who owns Rosteague which is a bonus. She oversaw the proceedings and it made for a much more personal experience.The setting of the summer house meant that guests could mingle in the garden during the ceremony and it gave the feeling of being outside, but the ceremony took place under the thatched canopy. It was touch and go whether the weather would hold for us but it did and no one got wet...we had brollies at the ready though, just in case...My beautiful bridesmaid was my youngest cousin Evie and we had a room at Rosteague to get ready in with my mum and our hairdresser Claire from Number 8 in Truro, who we have known for years. It was a wonderful place to prepare for the day with it's copper bath tub and four poster bed!

My dress was a real find. I had fallen in love with it online but on finding out it was by Jenny Packham and how much it cost (£?!£?!!!) I had kind of lost all hope of getting that actual one. But, lo and behold, County Cream Bridal House in Truro had a sample which they sold to me for half price, huzzah! My bright red shoes were from Office and the little sparkly hair comb was a snip from Accessorize...The flowers were just what I was after and they were done by Jane Adele in Truro. I went in asking for a 'country style' with little jam jars on each table filled with a few in season wild and garden flower type blooms each, and tied with raffia. She made us the most beautiful displays - Lots of pink and variety and just like someone had gone about the garden picking whatever took their fancy, just what I like!We wanted the wedding to have a personal touch and lots of the details were hand made by myself and our family and friends - The directions signs, the place settings and favours, the cake, my bridesmaid's dress, the painted seating plan and table numbers, the invitations, our photographers, even the field preparation and electricity supply! I also made mine and my bridesmaids jewellery. My dad and I had fun hanging the bunting in the days before the big day. It was really pretty and it was so admired, we are lending it to two more weddings this summer!
We didn't have any plans for entertainment other than a night of dancing fun, so Mark and I set about making the most amazing playlist we could. We asked our guests to request a song with their RSVP so there would be something for everyone. Mark set up a Spotify playlist which could be run offline from a laptop in the marquee and we had some great evenings picking stuff to go on it and dancing around our flat (losers!).It was a real mix of stuff from the Rolling Stones, JT and lots of Timbaland-esque noughties pop, loads of motown, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Hall and Oates...you get the picture. We hired some speakers through a friend, which turned out to be a MASSIVE black band PA (not pretty, but functional!) complete with lights, and the playlist was a hit with the dancefloor being packed allll night. It was brilliant and we were so happy with the way it worked out as we had been worried that not having a band etc might seem a bit strange at a wedding.

It was such a great celebration and despite the weather not allowing for us to have our group pics outside - hence the quirky pictures of me with my girls and Mark with his boys! - we were just pleased it held off for the ceremony and actually, the rain meant everyone stayed in one place in the marquee and kept dancing till the small hours, ha!
Lots of guests camped over and the next day we invited lots of people back to the marquee where we had a lunch of cold cuts and salad and polished off the last of the bubbles and beer....nom!

I have mentioned it before but our photographers were our good friends Ashley Hampson and Tim Lawrence. Check out their portfolios, these guys are gooood...

Well, there you go, I really wish we could do it all again, it was such an amazing few weeks. I'm looking forward to the first year anniversary party now!!

29 Project: Days 65 - 67...

Today has been a good day, I've been painting for much of the day and it's been great!

Here is an update for you of the 29 project, days 65 - 67:

Day 65: Monday 26th July - Wedding Pictures! I was playing with my new printer and the MASSIVE packet of photo paper that came with it, so I printed up a bunch of pictures to put around and about the house as happy reminders, and for my mama to put in her purse...
Day 66: Tuesday 27th July - I started this painting a while ago and for various reasons I haven't done much to it, so on this day I cracked on with it. It has become my evening project...
Day 67: Wednesday 28th July - Today - Like I mentioned before, I have been painting for most of the day. I have been re-working my Herd painting...there's lots to do still, but I'm liking the feeling of it much, much more. Does anyone else ever think something is finished and then weeks later do a complete overhaul? Ha!Tomorrow I am off to a wedding, so expect more updates on Friday. Have a good Thursday everyone!

All that's new...

Well here it is, as promised a little update of all the new things I have been adding to the shop of late...

Clothes for the guys and the girls! I have 3 new designs in the shop at the moment: All the Kings Horses, Triangle Dog and Pegasus! (The Pegasus jumper is very limited and already I only have size small left...) They can all be seen and shopped in the Womens and Mens sections of my Bonbi Forest store.
Accessories...There are new jewels in the shop made from these lovely dyed wooden beads, pictured here in Magenta and Black but they also come in an Ultramarine blue hue too. Plus some cute as you like tote bags for you to carry your shopping around in, featuring the lovely Triangle Dog and ever popular Pegasus again...Bonbi Forest X Custom Made. I am so proud to have finally got these goodies in the shop! You may have seen a little while back that I mentioned them here. They are the product of a collaboration between myself and Anna Butler of Custom Made where I did all the printing and she used her absolutely AMAZING sewing skillz to whip the denim into these gorgeous purses, bags and brooches. You can see and shop them in the accessories section of the shop...We hope you like 'em!That's it for the moment as I am busy working on some new scarf designs and paintings, of which there will be peeks soon...!

29 Project: Days 60 - 64...

A quick 29 project update for you today and a round up of alll the new things I have been putting in the shop will be coming up tomorrow!

Days 60 - 64...

Day 60: Wednesday 21st July - Studio tidying...I haven't been too well this week and tidying the studio and clearing orders was about all I could chivvy myself into doing for a few days. However a swift trip to the docs is seeing me better now and I'm nearly back up to speed! Anyway, when tidying I always seem to make much more mess than I started with before things get tidy again. I'm about half way through here...Day 61: Thursday 22nd July - Sketching, sketching, sketching...
Day 62: Friday 23rd July - Wedding picture previews! We had one of our wedding photographers (who also happens to be a lovely friend - www.ashleyhampson.co.uk) round on Friday evening with our pics which we perused over Kettle Chips and beer. They are looking so good, we are really pleased with them and I shall be posting all about the wedding later in the week...Day 63: Saturday 24th July - Mmmm, Mark and I and a bunch of friends went for a Thai dinner (my fave!) the bill came on a strange golden hand...Day 64: Sunday 25th July - My dad's birthday! My mama and I also took Pia to her first competition for a very long time...she found it all terribly exciting and we took dressage to new levels by including a spot of rodeoing and spinning around. Fun as it was it wasn't very successful! Here she is chilling out in the lorry afterwards...xXx

29 Project: Days 55 - 59...

Hello everyone, I hope you had a nice weekend? I have had a bit of a mixed bag of days (see below!) and I am slowly getting all of the new things in the Bonbi Forest shop...I added the new Bonbi Forest X Custom Made wares today which can be seen HERE! I will do a round up soooon!

Anyway, on with the 29 project - Days 55 - 59:

Day 55: Friday 16th July - The Stillness of Horses painting is off to a new home! As usual it was sent wrapped in a hand printed fabric and bound with contrasting twine for it's protection...I always like wrapping paintings.Day 56: Saturday 17th July - L Plates! I went to a friend's hen party on Saturday...it was much fun. Good food and cocktails with happy friends are always enjoyable, no?Day 57: Sunday 18th July - I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE: I forgot today's picture! I'm so ANNOYED with myself! Grrr!
Instead, here is a link to some amazing artwork from Dora Batty, who was one of the London underground's transport poster artists in the 1920's and 30's. Click to see them HERE! Just gorgeous, and I have Cafe Cartolina to thank for the find, whose blog I was having a look through on Sunday. A tenuous link to the 29 project I know! My fave is below...Day 58: Monday 19th July - Photo props...you may have spotted a few of these twigs and flowers on the Bonbi site from time to time.Day 59: Tuesday 20th July (today) - Well, today has been utterly horrible. This morning my mama's beloved Antonio horse came in from the field with a horrible cut to one of his legs, right at the joint and because of his age she made the horrible decision that it was time to let him go. Never an easy decision to make for any pet, but especially for an old friend who she had loved and looked after for the last 17 years since she first bought him as a youngster. He was quite a character and was notorious for being a bit of a lovable rogue! So today's picture shows him being ridden by my mum back in his heyday, he was quite the handsome beast, even in old age. Goodbye Arnie Face, we'll miss your tearaway charms terribly...I don't like to end on a downer. I decided to make a list of things I have appreciated lately in a bid to feel a bit happier, it does work a treat. Here's a few, you might like to try it yourself sometime...

- Lauder after he has had a few days off, he likes to squeal and bounce about when he's ridden, it makes me smile.
- Mark looking after me as I sniff and cough my way through what is probably the worst cold I have ever had. He's lovely.
- Amazon bundle deals! New printer, big pack of inks and paper for half the price of the printer on it's own at normal pricing? Yes please!
- The wedding pics from both of our photographers are looking A. MA. ZING! I can't wait to show them to you...
- Seeing my ma and pa looking so chilled out after their recent, well deserved holiday.
- A baby fox sighting!
- Baby swallows!
- Puppies!
- Mayflies, aside from butterflies they are the only flies I can abide.
- Waking all cozy in the night and hearing rain on the roof - Strangely comforting.

xXx

29 Project: days 52 - 54...

Here's some more 29 project pics for your perusal...baby things and lots of wet! I have been adding new wearables to the shop and there are more accessories and jewels on the way so I will do a round up soon. Hopefully tomorrow! For the time being have a peek at the womens and mens sections of the shop...

Here's the 29 project update:

Day 52: Tuesday 13th July - It's been a week of new creatures! At the stables we have families of Swallows that return year on year to the same nests, something I find incredible considering how far they migrate every winter. The chicks are still in the nests with their big yellow baby beaks. I love them. In the next few weeks we'll be enjoying watching their maiden flights...bless! (Apologies for the not great photograph...I didn't want to use the flash for obvious reasons and the light from their florescent light fitting perch wasn't enough so I had a long exposure while I balanced on an upturned bucket with my arms above my head...camera shake inevitable!)Day 53: Wednesday 14th July - Mark's mama's poocher has had some babies! They are Hungarian Vizla pups who are the most delicious golden caramel colour. Unfortunately not all of the already small litter survived, but the two that did are just gorgeous...Day 54: Thursday 15th July (today!) - The great British Summertime...oh yay. That is all I have to say about that.More new things tomorrow...hurrah!

29 Project: Days 46 - 51...

Well, on a lighter note to my previous post of the day here is the 29 project up to yesterday!

Days 46 - 51:

Day 46: Wednesday 7th July - Printing more business cards. I'm quite enjoying how the test prints are layering up...Day 47: Thursday 8th July - Amongst other London preparations I was cutting the business cards printed yesterday...Chop, chop, slice.
Day 48: Friday 9th July - In London we stayed with our friends Jon and Sam. Here is Sam's pin wheel 'flower' display. Love it.Day 49: Saturday 10th July - The Bust Craftacular! I forgot my camera and this is the only picture I took on my not very good phone. It was a great day despite sweltering in a very hot and humid London and I got to meet loads of people whose work I have liked for a while. Good times!Day 50: Sunday 11th July - Crossing the border (again!) I always like looking at the little boats on the Tamar as we go over on the train on the way home from the big smoke...Day 51: Monday 12th July - Cooking up some Ratatouille and being watched over by the beady eyes of some kitchen characters. Yum, yum.I will try and stay a little more on top of this project now I don't have so many animals to look after and a trip away to plan...I also will be putting new things in the shop tomorrow: Bags, jumpers and jewels!

You thought we wouldn't notice...

Earlier today I happened upon, via the medium of Twitter, a discussion about yet another case of the plagiarism of independent illustrators and designers.

Of course all plagiarism is dispicable, especially that committed by big companies against independent artists, but what I find most sad about this whole episode is that the plagiarism was by a 3rd year illustration student, a young artist at the beginning of their career, who has tarnished a fledgling reputation through their own laziness. They have so very blatantly ripped off not just one, but several fairly well known artists and illustrators including Gemma Correll, Kate Wilson of Little Doodles, Nan Lawson, Julia Pott and sadly too, me.

Below is an example of my two original drawings, and their amalgamated version. They didn't even bother to correct my terrible misquote of the lyrics to Rock Around the Clock!! Unfortunately I don't have any other examples of the other artists whose work was taken as all traces of the student in question's internet presence was swiftly cleared as soon as the shit hit the fan.

EDIT - Image removed...see below!

I'm not going to go on a tirade of how awful this is, to me, and I hope to others this is fairly obvious. I just want to put out a reminder that even if the work you are producing isn't for financial gain (though in the case of a 3rd year student who will be putting together a portfolio to find work, it technically will be) it is just wrong, wrong, WRONG to steal another artist's ideas and visual imagery. At school and college it is drummed into us not to take another's words for our essays without quoting them, and the same rule goes for visual ideas and imagery too.

The internet is an amazing place to showcase work and also to draw inspiration from, but what it gives us is also it's downside. In putting my art out there I, and no doubt countless other artists are fully aware of the risks involved with putting work on such a public platform, but still, there is a big difference between being influenced by someone's work, and copying it.

Sadly this isn't the first case of a student ripping of another artist's work for the benefit of their degree. The case of Samantha Beeston last year caused a huge amount of outrage, especially as she went on to win a prize with the images she stole...more of which can be read about here: http://bit.ly/3bB1y8

However vast the internet is, it has quite a close knit community of artists and illustrators and when something like this happens it really doesn't take long for the news to spread (see youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com for further reading!). The student in question has been contacted as has their art school, who knows what action they will take on this. Plagiarism in any form just won't be tolerated and I hope this silly person has learned their lesson.

Anyway, I have been meaning to broach this subject for a while and I guess it happening a little too close for comfort gave me the push I needed to do it! I'd love to know your thoughts...

More 29 project updates coming this-a-way later!

EDIT - This article has been edited and the image removed due to a legal threat...Yes, really!

29 Project: Days 41 - 45...

Well, that was a whirlwind trip to a very hot n sticky London!! The Craftacular was much fun and it was great to meet lots of people whose work I have known online for a while now...I shall post more about it tomorrow as I have a BIG update of 29 project pics and thought it would be best to throw them at you in two parts.

So here is part one: Days 41 - 45...

Day 41: Friday 2nd July - I have to admit that I almost, almost forgot today's picture!!! So I snapped this on the way home from a friend's birthday dinner right before midnight. Phew, just in time!! Street lights through the leaves:Day 42: Saturday 3rd July - Did some doodling...Day 43: Sunday 4th July - Ah, the tiny toad! Every year on a wet day in June or July these guys turn up. In their HUNDREDS! They are so tiny and we (we being myself and the ladies at the stables) try and rescue as many as we can from the perils of our giant land...Here is a little fella with a biro nib for scale. Pretty small...Day 44: Monday 5th July (also known as my brother's 28th birthday, hurrah!) - Yes? I have been making new designs which I will be making available this week. Exciting, non?...Here is Triangle Dog being made screen ready:Day 45: Tuesday 6th July - Lou Lou cat doesn't like it when people put things on her seat, but she'll squeeze on for a snooze anyway:Days 46 - 51 coming up soon along with lots of new things for the shop. I think you'll like 'em!

Off to London we go...

Many, many apologies for the lack of posting this past week. It has been somewhat a busy one! I have been in charge of looking after my family's animals (3 horses and some meowers) for the week while they are off on their hols and have also been busy preparing for the Bust Craftacular this Saturday!

Full service and a BIG update of the 29 project will commence on Monday (or maybe even Sunday if our return from the big smoke is in a timely fashion)...In the meantime, if you are in London theis weekend, do come along to the Craftacular and say hello!See you Monday peeps!

Bonbi Forest X Custom Made

You may have seen me mentioning over the last few weeks some pattern printing I have been doing for a project I have been working on with Anna Butler of Custom Made?

Well, we are really excited to announce that the new Bonbi Forest X Custom Made collection will be launching at the Bust london Summer Craftacular next Saturday at the York Hall in Bethnal Green!!

All of the pieces are made with reclaimed denim from mill samples which have been hand printed by me with environmentally friendly water based inks, and then hand crafted into some amazing creations by Anna.

There are bags, purses and brooches galore, and here is a little peek at what we will have on offer:We hope you like them, whaddya think?

29 project: Days 39 and 40...

Remember me bleating on about how I had been living in shorts this last couple of weeks because of the gorgeous weather, just a couple of posts back, in fact, on Monday?....well, today it's pouring and back in the jeans I am. I tried to resist, but the thought of dragging some soggy horses in from the field with bare legs later didn't appeal so trews it is...boo.

Anyway, here are days 39 and 40 of the 29 project...
Day 39: Wednesday 30th June - Petal hearts. I saw these on the floor right near the studio. It's not confetti, just actual petals from an actual shrub. So pretty!Day 40: Today, Thursday 1st July - The view from here...I took this before it started raining, when I was taking Lauder for a nice stroll around the fields earlier. The grass hasn't been topped in this particular field yet, it's so long! He likes to jump through it and over the thistles, and since it is as tall as his knees in places, he also likes to try and grab the odd mouthful as we go by...naughty!