29 Project: Days 339 - 350

I'm back from my travels! Seeing family in Australia was super, and Mark and I had a fun few weeks with them...the weather in Perth was spectacularly good to us (despite some of the Aussies saying it was getting cold...c'mon, 25˚ is like high summer here in Blighty!) The jetlag hasn't been too bad and I am back to work today...

We didn't return to the best news though...My brother, who is a talented racing driver, suffered a serious crash this week in practice at the Belgian race track of Spa and is in hospital recuperating after breaking his back for the second time (He had a much worse crash in 2006, which he eventually recovered from came back to win the Australian F3 championship in 2009...), it wasn't his fault and is ever so disappointing for him. Horrible, scary stuff for everyone, not least my parents and his girlfriend. Get well soon and come home Joey!

Anyway, after all that here is quite a big 29 project update for you from the last days of our Australia trip.

29 Project: Days 339 - 350...

Day 339: Wednesday 27th April - At Daniel Kitson. Not the best picture I am afraid. Mark, his brother Ian and I went to see comedian Daniel Kitson who was brilliant...If you get the chance, I highly recommend you see him, his stories are incredible!


Day 340: Thursday 28th April - Butterflies...Mark and I took a trip around Perth, saw some shops, bought some stuff, drank some beer and visited the museum where I saw these and many more butterflies...


Day 341: Friday 29th April - Royal wedding Day! We watched the wedding at our sister in law's parents house where they had laid on a delicious spread of meats and salads and champagne bubbles, all complete with a heart shaped cake, aww! In the daytime however, we went for a walk around Lake Monger, where I had been told by the visit WA website there would be lots of black swans...there wasn't! We saw about 4, these guys included, lots of ducks and some turtles. It was a beautiful day and a nice walk anyway...


Day 342: Saturday 30th April - Drawing and a journal. I have been trying to get to grips with some water pens I bought before we left for Australia (much easier than hefting brushes and water jars everywhere) and here is one of my little doodles alongside the Jill Bliss 'Drawing Nature' journal that I spied in a shop in Leederville and couldn't resist!


Day 343: Sunday 1st May - Tasting at the Vineyard. A trip to the vineyards is always in order if you visit Australia I find...we did some tasting, bought some very nice wine and then went to the Margaret River Chocolate company where I gobbled as much free chocolate as I could. Lush.


Day 344: Monday 2nd May (my mama's birthday!) - In Kings Park. Mark and I took a stroll around part of Kings Park (which is HUGE!). Here is a view over the river towards south Perth. It was a beautiful day.


Day 345: Tuesday 3rd May - Looking pretty cool here, yeah? Wearing my mandatory cycle helmet. We took a trip to Rottnest Island for the day where there are no cars and you cycle everywhere. It was beautiful and much quieter than I expected. We cycled a long way, looked at some pretty beaches and swam in the sea...a grand day out indeed. A little word of advice though...if you ever go, and you really don't like boats like me, do try NOT to get the 'Mega Blast' ferry. Hellish is the only way I can describe it. It's like being on a rollercoaster, but in a boat for half an hour. Bleurgh!


Day 346: Wednesday 4th May - Giraffe crane in Fremantle. We went on another little outing to Fremantle, a really lovely place full of old (by Aussie standards!) buildings and cute little shops...I spied this crane and couldn't help thinking it looked like a giraffe!


Day 347: Thursday 5th May - A no picture day. Well, today was the day I woke up and found out about my brother's crash, and to be honest, what with that and packing for the trip home, it wasn't the best day. Mark and I did get to the pool for a swim but with my brother's health hanging in the balance, picture taking was the last thing on my mind. So for the 3rd (or 4th?!) time in the history of the 29 project, I forgot to take a picture. Sorry about that peeps!

Day 348: Friday 6th May - Sunrise over the Southern Hemisphere. We left Perth on a jet plane at 6am and for a good few hours the sunrise chased us around the world. It was so sad saying goodbye to Ian, Natalie and Morwenna. We don't know when we will see them again...Goodbye for now Australia!


Day 349: Saturday 7th May - The green (and fog) of home! I love going away, but it is nice to get home (especially in the circumstances we have found ourselves)...I just wish we could have brought some of the Perth warmth with us. Brr!


Day 350: Sunday 8th May - View from a sick bed. So to finish off a week that started well and slowly descended into something scary, full of sad goodbyes and gloomy weather, I found myself stuck in bed on Sunday with a stomach bug. Oh yay. Anyway, I am feeling much better today and hope to be right as rain tomorrow!

Free Ship Shop...

It's a right Royal weekend! A Royal wedding day off, followed by the weekend and then another bank holiday...nice!

I thought I'd add to the good stuff and give you guys a FREE SHIPPING treat for the weekend...Just enter the code ROYALDAYOFF at checkout and get your free ship shop on any order until midnight on Monday.

Visit the shop HERE!

Enjoy the weekend peeps!

29 Project: Days 334 - 338

How was everyone's Easter holiday? Good I hope!

We are still having a good time here in the city of Perth, I can hardly believe we have been here a week already...there has been lots of hanging out in parks, admiring of views and pretty flowers, some spying of black swans and enjoying of the sunshine.

I have also been getting to grips with some water brushes I picked up and watercolour pencils, and when I have conjured something I am pleased with I will show you the results!

Here is a little 29 project update for you: Days 334 - 338...

Day 334: Friday 22nd April - White Rabbit. There seems to be quite a nice culture here of trying out different beers from the region and beyond. I found this one to be quite the taste delight, and also enjoyed the seemingly odd choice of illustration on the bottle...


Day 335: Saturday 23rd April - River views at Heathcote. We went to meet some of our host's friends in a park called the Heathcote Reserve and took in the views of Perth across the river. Here I am pictured with a quite slick 80's looking Mark. I don't know why he looks so slick and 80's here, he doesn't usually...


Day 336: Sunday 24th April - In the Pines. On Easter day, myself, Mark and his brother Ian, went to a music festival called In the Pines. It was organised by Perth radio station RTR and featured lots of Western Australian bands. It was a good afternoon...


Day 337: Monday 25th April - Perth Autumn. It seems weird that it is getting well into Autumn here, the temperature is still up in the high 20s and early 30˚c...like a glorious high British summer!


Day 338: Tuesday 26th April - Hanging at the pool. Mark and I decided it was high time we did some exercise after a week of not doing any, so we went down to the local swimming pool, which was lovely. There are lots of grassy areas to lie about on, which was a good job as I had forgotten how tiring swimming lengths was!


Enjoy the three day week!

29 Project: Days 324 - 333...

Greetings from Australia!! It is very warm here in Perth which is great...I do like the sunshine, especially after such a long and hard winter. It is nice to get some vitamin D. I believe it is warm at home in the UK too? I hope you are all getting to enjoy it...don't burn yourselves peeps!

I will be trying to keep up a little with the 29 project while I am out here (which is coming scarily close to it's conclusion...only another month to go!) and also keep on top of shop news too.

Speaking of which: The animal print scarves are now also available as rectangles as well as the square version. Have a look at each scarf to see details of both HERE! Orders are shipping as normal, so if you want one you certainly don;t have to wait until I am back home at all...

Anyway, a 29 project update: Days 324 - 333...

Day 324: Tuesday 12th April - Cutting, cutting, folding, folding. To make sure the shop can still run while I am away i have been making stacks of the little origami pouches that my jewellery gets sent out in...that's a lot of folding.


Day 325: Wednesday 13th April - Bluebells. I have been really enjoying watching the transition of the springtime colours from yellow through to blue and pink and purple. The bluebells suddenly seem to be out and they are everywhere! I thought I'd get some snaps because I imagine they will all be gone by the time I return to the UK...


Day 326: Thursday 14th April - Blue water. A tub where I wash my screens has got little bits of garden debris floating in it and the blue pigment from printing flowed in there when I washed a screen...it was very pretty.


Day 327: Friday 15th April - Match your walls to your washing! Noted from a friends house in Falmouth...


Day 328: Saturday 16th April - New shoes! Twenty quid? Yes please, I couldn't resist!


Day 329: Sunday 17th April - Blossoms. Yes more...and another snap of some pretties that won't be around when I get back from Australia.


Day 330: Monday 18th April - Leaving Gatwick. ...and we're off! Our flight was a little late leaving and we spent a good while on the tarmac before we left, but finally we were on the move and headed for Dubai...


Day 331: Tuesday 19th April - Bye Bye Dubai. At some point, goodness knows when or which timezone I should have been observing, we landed at Dubai, swapped planes and began the last leg to Australia. The plane was crammed and Mark and I weren't sat next to each other...it was a long 10 hours sandwiched between two strangers at the very back of the plane!


Day 332: Wednesday 20th April - Hello Sunshine! We made it to Ian and Natalies and met our little niece and took a stroll in the sun. Ahhh...on holiday. Lush.


Day 334: Thursday 21st April - Indian Ocean feet. For the second time in my life I dipped my feet in the Indian ocean...it was a lot warmer than the last time we were here. I shall swim in it next time we go to the beach.

29 Project: Days 315 - 323

I am in the midst of a mad time trying to sort everything out in the studio before my trip away so that hopefully orders can continue to ship and the shop won't be left high and dry for three weeks. Which incidentally, is the longest time I have been away from the studio since I started Bonbi Forest...eek!

In an attempt to gain a little respite from the chaos, here is the second part of a mammoth 29 project update, as promised!

29 Project: Days 315 - 323...

Day 315: Sunday 3rd April - Seconds. Pia and I went to another competition and it wasn't quite our usual success. We were 2nd in both of our classes, but I was pleased with that at that particular venue...last time we went there, there were peacocks next to the arena, and this time we had a bonfire with an an exploding can on it (anyone who knows horses will also know that horses plus peacocks, and horses plus exploding cans do not a great combination make...). It's always fun and games there!


Day 316: Monday 4th April - Sunroof Trees. I was waiting for Mark to come back to the car and noted the lovely polarizing effect our sunroof has...


Day 317: Tuesday 5th April - We like fruit. Our fruit bowl, freshly filled and overflowing and being spied on by a Donna Wilson tray...(The massive bottle of Chinon was a wedding present, Mark and I are very much looking forward to drinking that on May 29th, our first anniversary. Yay!)


Day 318: Wednesday 6th April - Blossoms! Seriously, I take pictures of these every year, as if I don't already have enough on my hard drive...I do love them so.


Day 319: Thursday 7th April - New business cards. I am afraid I have had to stop hand printing my business cards...I loved making them, but I am getting through them so quickly these days I just can't keep up! So here are a brand new selection from the ever impressive Moo:


Day 320: Friday 8th April - Settling up. I know, awful picture! You didn't expect to have a 29 project update without at least one blurry, yellow, last minute snap did you? Anyway, I took this as we were settling the bill at my li'l cousins 18th birthday dinner. I can't believe you are so grown up already Evie!!!


Day 321: Saturday 9th April - Glowing baby Jack. So after the 18th birthday dinner, I was up at 5:30 to go to another show with Miss Pia (we had another day of mixed fortunes...) and baby Jack was glowing in the early morning sunshine...look at his cute orange face:


Day 322: Sunday 10th April - Hanging in the hammock. What a gorgeous day this was! Mark and I took some time out to do garden stuff (nothing complicated, weeding, mowing, drinking beer...) and I have finally hung my hammock...I have had this for about 10 years, and now we have a decent garden I have somewhere to put it and it is brilliant!


Day 323: Monday 11th April - Look books. I have been working on these little Blossom Pop! look books, and here they are all printed up at last...hurrah!

29 Project: Days 306 - 314...

It's been a while since I updated the 29 project...things have been pretty busy around here as I am off to Australia for nigh on three weeks on Monday. Sorting everything out to be left for that long is no mean feat, I tell ya!

Before I crack on with the update, don't forget that the 20% off Springtime discount ends on Friday...just enter SPRINGTREAT at checkout to treat yourself: S H O P!

Anyway...here is a HUGE update which I will post here in two parts, one today and one tomorrow:

29 Project: Days 306 - 314...

Day 306: Friday 25th March - Outside looking in. I had all the Blossom Pop! jewels lined up in my photography window in the studio, I liked the way they looked all colourful and upside down like that.


Day 307: Saturday 26th March - Falmouth late on a Saturday...Out and about, I snapped this rather blurry shot on the way back to a friends house and yes, that is someone I know taking a little rest/nap by leaning on that car in the foreground there...


Day 308: Sunday 27th March - 'Helping' with the gardening. It was a very lovely day and as I lazed on the un-hung hammock sipping a beer and poring over my new copy of Orla Kiely's 'Pattern', Mark mowed the field of a lawn we seem to have acquired. A very pleasant way to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon...


Day 309: Monday 28th March - Hazy Sunshine. I do love this time of year very much...Summer is almost upon us peeps!


Day 310: Tuesday 29th March - New slippers again...Well, the pretty be-pom pommed slippers I bought in Kefalonia last year finally gave up the ghost, so I picked up these cheapies from Sainsbury's. They'll do the job! Mark also had his wisdom teeth out today, but I won't dwell on that, it wasn't pleasant for him.


Day 311: Wednesday 30th March - Ladybird! A little nature update for you, and an outing for the super macro setting on my camera. We seem to have quite a lot of these guys in our front garden which is good, because I like them.


Day 312: Thursday 31st March - Pia's pictures arrived...A little bit of a cheat today I am afraid! This is a picture of me and Miss Pia at our disastrous regional championship outing earlier in the year which arrived today. Moments of harmony between the pair of us were few and far between that particular day, but there must have been a few to get this great shot!


Day 313: Friday 1st April - Grape beads. My mama came to see me in the studio today and thought the green vintage moonglow beads were grapes. I wasn't even trying to play an April fool!


Day 314: Saturday 2nd April - Long lost books. I thought that Mark and I had lost this big box of treasures five years ago when we moved from Brighton to Cornwall...but they have been found! I thought I had lost my Julie Verhoeven Gas book, J Otto Seibold pop-up Alice in Wonderland, all of my Edward Gorey books, my Patrick Heron retrospective, Davids Hockney and Shrigley collections and a whole host of other art book delights...I can't tell you how happy I am to have them all back!!!!!

A sweet commission...

A little while ago I mentioned about a commission I was working on...well here it is!

I was contacted by one of my lovely customers, Sana, who said how much she liked my work and asked if I would design some wedding invitations for her and her husband to be. I had enjoyed making the invitations for our wedding last year so much, of course I said YES!

...and here they are: I hand screen printed them in three colours onto a pale blue recycled card stock and sent them out with pretty pink envelopes. The back of the invitation had all the information for the guests and further hand printed accents.





It was such a nice commission to do. Thank you Tristan and Sana for asking me to make them for you, I hope you have a wonderful wedding day!

Time for a Spring treat...

Did everyone have a good weekend? I had a dressage competition with Miss Pia yesterday. It wasn't the most successful of days results wise, more about which I shall tell in my next 29 project installment. Other than that it was a lovely weekend!

Anyway, if you haven't already seen my latest email newsletter (below...), I just wanted to let you all know that I have a lil treat for you: 20% off in the shop!

Have a sooopa Monday folks...I will be back soon with some more hit n miss photographs from the last week to show you.

...and here they are!

Blossom Pop...hurrah!

I have really loved making this new collection, and have been inspired by the sunny days of late and the freshness of Spring (which you could probably tell from my 29 project pictures...all those petals and blooms!)

It's been great to use so much colour again and I have mixed up juicy acrylics and vintage Lucite with crystal and metal for a clean, colourful, fun and sparkling look, with a handful of charms thrown in for good measure...I'd love to know what you think and I do hope you like it!

See and shop all of these bits and pieces in the Jewels section of my shop...

Coming soon...

Hey folks...I just thought I would give you another peek at the new jewellery collection.

Say hello to Blossom Pop earrings!


Expect to see them and lots, lots more in the shop later today...

First Look...

I hope everyone had a good weekend? I had a nice one, seeing friends and general merriment. I also received my copy of Orla Kiely's 'Pattern' through the post and spent a good deal of Sunday afternoon lounging in the garden reading it and getting inspired...A very good book indeed.

Anyway, so here I have a little treat for you: A first look at my newest jewellery collection...I am so excited to show these pieces to you in greater detail over the next few days. For now, here they all are hanging out in all of their spring colour glory:

Blossom Pop!