So, this is happening...

I hope everyone had a great Christmas time and plans are looking good for the coming new year felicitations!

Christmas at Bonbi Forest was a super busy affair (I think the busiest yet!) so thank you to everyone who bought and gave Bonbi goodies this Christmas, your support is always very much appreciated indeed by independent businesses like Bonbi Forest. I always finish the last of the Christmas posting feeling eternally grateful that I am able to spend each and every day making things and earning my living doing what I love!

One of my new years resolutions this year is to post here more often. There's a few reasons I haven't been posting as much lately, the main one being that as well as beginning Christmas preparations waaaay earlier than I can usually get myself organised for (who wants to hear about Christmas in August, really?) I have had quite a lot of non-art/Bonbi related things on my mind of late because of this:

Yep, due VERY soon in early January and it is all very exciting! The last few months have seen Mark and I painting the nursery, getting confused by the myriad of baby paraphernalia available, squealing (mostly me, occasionally Mark) at tiny outfits and wondering if my ever expanding belly can actually expand much more...finally though, now Christmas is out of the way, we are ready to meet the little bean. Hopefully she won't keep us waiting too long!

Much organising is taking place now while we wait for the baba so that the Bonbi shop can stay open (hurrah!) and in the meantime watch this space for news on Valentines goodies, artwork I have been meaning to show you for AGES and other bits and pieces...

2013 looks to be an exciting time here!

Hello Winter (almost)

It's very nearly December (can you believe?!) which for me heralds the start of Winter. Cue cozy nights by the fire, big knits and crisp mornings, ahh!

I have been making a brand new limited edition batch of wintery snowflake lockets for 2012, a wearable slice of the winter for you that is becoming a bit of a Bonbi tradition! This years snowflakes have a scattering of ice hued Swarovski crystals, glass pearls and raw brass leaves and leaping deer. Have a look in the shop HERE!

Over the Mountain...

There is more newness in the shop, new lockets no less!

They have been a bit of a long time coming, ideas came and went and I finally settled on some that I love...The first is a little soaring bird amongst the stars with a pair of feathers on the chain. I love drawing birds, all the patterns in their wings and their universal appeal make them a wonderful subject matter.

The second features a snow capped mountain range with little pine trees and (another) bird charm on the chain as if in flight over the mountain. I called this one Always Over the Mountain. It is inspired by the Iron and Wine track Upward Over the Mountain which is a beautiful song that sound tracked a 4 week American road trip Mark and I took back in 2004 through California, Arizona, New Mexico & Nevada...It also makes me think of my mother in law and her two sons. Have a listen:

See all of the lockets, new and old, HERE!

All the birds...

Hasn't it got cold all of a sudden? On Saturday when I drove up to the stables to see Miss Pia and Little B the car thermometer read 2˚...it's a little too early in the year for it to be that chilly, blue hands and cooold ears were not what I expected on Saturday morning!

With the chills of winter fast approaching it seemed as good a time as any to add the new Bird Scarf to the shop today...it's the same print as the Cream Birds Scarf that launched in the shop a month ago (which I neglected to mention here...) but in more Autumnal hues of violet, pretty mauve and snowy white. These scarves are so lovely and big, great for wrapping around and around and keeping warm!

Violet Bird Scarf, available HERE!

This is the cream version, available HERE!

Don't forget to check out the rest of the scarves too, they are all in stock now for the winter time and Christmas gift giving --> HERE!

Coco Magazine...

So I still haven't gotten around to photographing, or even figuring out a way to photograph those mirrors so I can show you the whole collection...Soon!

I have just received these images through from stylist Emma Breden who used a couple of Bonbi Forest pieces on a shoot for Coco magazine recently...I always enjoy seeing how other people interpret Bonbi Forest jewels. These looks are gorgeous with the rich purples and other muted garden tones. What do you think?

Antlers Necklace: (Shop HERE!)

Garden Cuff: (Shop: HERE!)

Photography by Daniela Majic
Styling by Emma Breden
For Coco Magazine

Mirror Mirror on the Wall...

I have some new work to show you...well I would do if I could think of a way to photograph it without seeing my own image reflected in it!

I made these mirrors as part of the Cornwall Design Fair curated exhibition in August, I LOVED doing them and will be exploring this route more thoroughly in the future. They were made as a response to Trerife House where the design fair is held. The Le Grice family who own the house have a huge love of horses (as do I you may have noticed) so it seemed natural to theme the work that way. I was also given what is known as 'the pink room' in the house to display my work in (yep, I could use horses AND pink, it doesn't really get any better for me. Really.) which is a beautiful Georgian pink and full pretty antiques and an amazing ornate mirrored wardrobe, see pics on their website if you like --> www.trereifepark.co.uk

Anyway, so now I am trying to photograph them and it isn't easy! If anyone has any suggestions I would be happy to hear them...Here's a peek for now. Stay tuned for better pictures sometime soon. I hope...

Underway with Autumn...

How did it get to be so far into Autumn before I posted again?! This summer has been crazy busy, so much going on and lots to show and tell. I won't try to cram it all into one bumper post but I will be posting more often with things I am making, doing, seeing and finding inspiration in. I WILL!

I thought I would start with a picture post, a round up and a quick catch up of various things from the summer. Soon I will share with you more artwork, Bonbi goodies and news of a completely different kind, but for now here's summer in a mash up of instagrams...

A statement from the garden...

I have long been a fan of cute and dainty jewellery, the kind that swings from a delicate chain and is peppered with small details, little sparkles and the odd tiny hint of bright colour. But since I have been trying to incorporate my drawings into the jewellery more I am finding that I am needing to be bolder with the jewels, otherwise you just can't see the pictures and really, what's the point in that?

Cue my first ever illustrated cuffs! They are quite possibly the biggest jewels I have ever made, a statement piece in my eyes!

I am so pleased with how they have come out. They are available in two colours, blue hues and shades of purple grape and topped with little vintage resin blooms. Find them in the Bonbi Forest shop HERE! I hope you like them...

Printing and love...

I think this cool and rainy weather has brought out the scarf wearers in you guys, they are flying out! It was these Equus yesterday and today I have an afternoon of Big Cats printing planned...

I am bringing out some new colours of these for Autumn, any suggestions of favorite hues before I finalise plans?

Love cards have been popular lately too and it's not even Valentines...I can only think it's the season of wedding anniversaries and summer lovin'. Cute!

In the Night Time...

I made this little painting a while ago but have yet to share it...I haven't done much painting for a while (it goes like that sometimes, fits and spurts!) but have been splashing some gouache around in my sketchbook lately in the hope to find my hand again and get back to some proper paintings.

More soon I hope!

Go Slow...

It's a grey Sunday and I am somewhere near Dartmoor working on a few bits and pieces while I await news from Mark. He is cycling 100 miles in a sportive event across and around the moor for fun. I know, crazy, right?!

I have been L O V I N G the sound of Haim this last couple of weeks. They only have one EP out with just three tracks on it, but their folk rock meets the 80s meets RnB sound is really floating my boat right now...have a listen to them on Soundcloud HERE! This one below is a favorite -> Go Slow:

Dreaming of summer...

Cheeky Lou Lou shouting at the clouds...

Instagram friends will have already seen this picture (I always feel the need to apologise for that!?!) but on this grey afternoon I wanted to share it again...I took it a week or so ago when the sun was actually out and giving us a taste of the summer we could be having. If only the jet stream would do it's job and take all of these horrible low pressure rains and storms away with it!

I am packing orders and dreaming up new things for the shop. I also have the urge to do some painting. Time to make time I think...

Day in the Life: Saturday 2nd June...

It's time I showed you my latest Day in the Life day as I am a little over due...This time around the date in question was chosen by Nikki McWilliams (she who makes amazing biscuit cushions, check them out!) and was Saturday 2nd of June...It's not as detailed as my usual day in the Life days because to be frank, I had a bit of a lazy day! But anyway, here's what I got up to:

Well, it's not every day you wake up in a four star hotel, but on this morning I did! Mark and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary last week and as we have decided is to become tradition, we treated ourselves to a night at one of Cornwall's spa hotels. On the Friday we splashed around in the swimming pool, had lovely massages and a very tasty dinner. The breakfast was no less delicious, my glazed banana granola was an amazing culinary start to the day...

After checking out at 11 which is very civilised I thought, I hate it when hotels chuck you out too early, we set off back to our neck of the woods. On the way we stopped off at my folks place where I helped to rescue a butterfly, as you do, before heading home. Mark's new and very 'grandad' slippers had arrived (Hurrah! The old Campers have had it and are a health hazard at best...) and the afternoon was spent with good intentions of working in mind but in reality it was spent wishing it wasn't raining and watching the racing on the TV. I never do that, but I became engrossed!

In the evening we were due to be out at dinner with friends in Falmouth, so I spent a little time choosing what to wear (again, something I hardly ever do, I usually just grab what is clean and goes together in the 10 minutes before I leave the house...) In the end I went for the American Apparel dress at the front with a blouse that isn't pictured here over the top. A tried and trusted ensemble.

We stopped at our friend's house on the way out where I noted that their very sweet daughter, Charlotte, had made an Olympic Torch. The evening out was lovely, we went to Dolly's tapas restaurant in the centre of Falmouth which I recommend should you ever find yourself in need of eats in the town. It has lovely decor, all vintage bits and pieces, including this fire guard with what appears to be a carpeted dog sandwiched behind glass on the front. Amazing.

So after dinner, we all headed over to another Falmouth favorite, The Hand Bar, where we had a few beverages, cooed at the little dog that hangs out there (who I am told is called Foxy, she does actually look like a lil fox!!) and chatted silly things at each other before heading home in the early hours...

A very relaxing and lovely day indeed!