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!

A little bit of lately...

Isn't it lovely out there? I hope the sun is shining just as gloriously wherever you are...

You may or may not have noticed that I have been having a tee sale in the shop. It's because I am in the midst of making new Bonbi Forest goodies and wanted to have a bit of a clear out of some of my older designs. I don't love them any less, but it's just high time that newer and fresher things took their place. So, until they are gone for good you can now nab yourself some summer tees in old favourite designs such as Alphabet Owl and Spots and Dots at up to 50% off! Have a peek at the sale HERE!

Here are a few of the happenings from the studio including lots of little kites off to new homes, a bag of 200 antlers (expect some antler shaped awesomeness very soon!), and a pile of tees from the sale waiting to be packed off to pastures new... (Apologies if you have already seen these via the medium of Twitter and Instagram...!)

I have also been printing lots and lots of tea towels. I love the colours piled together, they inspire whole new ideas!

Time for a treat...

Today we are basking in sunshine here in Cornwall after an unsettled week, it's glorious and this morning I took the opportunity to get back in the saddle after a post championship hiatus. I was quite excited, and as you can see, Pia not so much...Poor Pia.
As well as that, it's been a busy old time here too as my brother got married at the weekend to his lovely lady, Morwenna, who wore the most beautiful lace Claire Pettibone gown with a long vintage look veil and sparkling headband, so gorgeous. Congratulations you two, It was a wonderful day!
(Original wedding image courtesy of my friend Ashley Hampson --> www.ashleyhampson.co.uk)

In other news, as well as giving the jewels section of the shop a makeover (much prettier, dontcha think?) I have been making some new jewellery pieces for you as well. At last I hear you cry! Say hello to these super cute stud earrings: Against the Wind Kite Earrings. They feature little hand etched kite faces with vintage glass tails. So very sweet for summertime parties and pic-nics. Have a look see HERE!

...and finally, I thought it was high time there was a little offer here at Bonbi Forest, so for this week only you can get FREE SHIPPING on any order...just enter the code HELLOFREESHIP at checkout!

Enjoy!

A Day in the Life

This post has been a long time coming! Last week Claire of Miso Funky put the call out to her fellow bloggers for the next installment of 'A Day in the Life', a blogging project that sees bloggers each taking the same day and documenting it in detail. I chose the day this time and it was last Friday the 20th April.

It wasn't a typical Bonbi Forest day for me, in fact I had the day off to get ready for and head to the National Winter Dressage Championships!

Here is how it went:

7 - 8am...
I woke up, my alarm went off about 7:30. I'm not a great morning person and to me, waking any time before 8 feels like the middle of the night. I grab a shower to wash the sleep out of my eyes and set about gathering my stuff for the weekend.

8 - 9am...
Packing for these kinds of things is always hard. I need so much stuff! I have to take my dressage outfit (white breeches, white stock, white gloves etc) along with general riding gear - enough for two sessions - and clothes that aren't riding wear for the evenings, as well as all the usual washing paraphernalia. I put everything I think I will need out, then look at it, take half of it away and squash what I will actually need into my suitcase. Packing done.

9 - 10am...
I head up to my parents house which is a short drive away. The next packing task is gathering all of Pia's stuff together and strategically packing it into the tack locker at the back of our horse van. She needs even more than me - rugs, food, saddle, bridle, saddle cloths, grooming kit, buckets - it's endless and a tight squeeze! I also mix up her feeds for the trip. We separate them into individual carrier bags that can be easily emptied into her feed bowls while we are at the show. It saves us taking huge feed sacks with us!

While I am getting ready, Mark (my fella) who has been out cycling rides down for a chat. I kiss him goodbye and then realise that I have forgotten to bring my sleeping bag. Cue another drive home, say hello to Mark again before he drops me back at my folks place. I am rushing now!

10 - 11am...
My mum and I get Pia and her stable mate Jack in from the field and we get her ready, all protective booted for the journey. We load her onto the van and set off. We have a short stop at the post office for me to send the last of the weeks Bonbi Forest orders and then hit the road...

11 - 12 noon...
On the road...it's a bit boring to be honest but I do like the views over Bodmin Moor. All this little ponies! I didn't see the beast.

12 - 1pm...
Still on the road, and we are finally at the motorway! It takes us an hour and 45 minutes to get to the motorway from where we live and as soon as we get there we have a stop over at Exeter services (they have an M&S dontcha know...) There is a HUGE hailstorm while we are there which rattles the van all over. It's so loud in there that poor Pia is a bit frightened. I stay with her until it stops and give her a bravery carrot. She seems to like that, and off we go again...

1 - 2pm...
Still driving...it's a long way from Cornwall to Gloucestershire in a horse van. Boring.

2 - 3pm...
We finally leave the motorway, hurrah! Now I have to employ my directional skillz and direct my mum to Hartpury College where the championships are. I don't have to do this for long though as we catch up with a very posh looking horsebox and just follow that. We arrive just before 3 and are directed to the car park and Pia's stable by the very helpful (and rather bored looking) stewards.

3 - 4pm...
It's raining. Rubbish. I get Pia settled into her home for the night after tidying it up a bit. The previous occupant hadn't cleaned it out very well at all. She is stabled in some very posh temporary stables which are sited in a field, so she promptly digs up the bedding and nuzzles about looking for the grass underneath. Unfortunately there isn't much as we have arrived on Day 4 of the competition and it seems someone else got there first...Pia is not impressed.

4 - 5pm...
The general exercise arena is open so I tack Pia up and go up there to stretch her legs after the long journey. It's quite busy in there with some very posh horses and riders all doing their thing. It's easy to become intimidated at these shows as people like little old me are warming up alongside some of the best in the business but you have to be brave and hold your line, otherwise you spend the whole time weaving out of the way of the professionals. Pia is great and goes really nicely for me. I cool her down and put her away and get changed for the evening. My changing room for now? The oh so glamourous horse compartment of the lorry. Nice.

5 - 7pm...
My lovely cousin Kerry and her man, Tony have turned up. We are going to watch the Championship Gala evening performance this evening. We find some food (a sad burger and chips as the canteen isn't open...boo) catch up on all the gossip and take our seats for the evening.

7 - 10:30pm...
I didn't take many photos between these times unfortunately (not any remotely worth showcasing on here anyway) but the gala was great. We watched demos by two of our best professional riders who are both vying for Olympic places, so that was a treat. A couple of silly displays, one involving a reining pony (think wild west style galloping about, very fun) and another called the leaping leprechauns, a couple of fence stewards who one day entertained themselves by jumping show jumps on foot at a show and have since turned it into an act...it's very silly but pretty impressive: http://youtu.be/pFWlwaNgT2w
We also watched the Freestyle Prix Saint Georges National Championship and watched my trainer Isobel Wessels win it atop her ENORMOUS horse, Chagall, which was very inspiring!

10:30 - 11:30pm...
After the gala my mum and I said goodbye to Kerry and Tony before checking on Pia (who was perfectly happy, munching away) and then setting off to find our B&B a few miles away...

So there you have it, an unconventional day in the life for me!

...and the competition the next day? Well, things didn't quite go to plan. After working beautifully in the morning exercise, Pia got a bit wound up by the other horses in the busy warm up arena before our test and I wasn't able to get the best out of her unfortunately, so we weren't placed. Though her high jinks in the warm up entertained the spectators somewhat, someones gotta do it I suppose!!

We'll try again next year...

A little bit of lately...

Days out, sunshine and inspiring things.

I have been OBSESSED with Magnolias recently. This happens every year, I always take way too many pictures of them...

Bonbi Colour...

The sun is shining, hurrah! I hope everyone is getting the chance to enjoy it a little bit. I have been sat at my computer with the doors to the garden open and reaching my legs around to catch some sun. It feels so good!

I haven't just been trying to catch some rays though, I have been busily printing and colour mixing in the studio recently and today launched the first of the new Bonbi Forest home wares along with some brand new scarves...

I have been wanting to do home wares for a long time and with time for such a printing spree on my hands I decided it was only right to incorporate some tea towel printing into it...so here we have the first of them! My Big Cats design and a reworked version of my old Equus design adorn these sets (yes, sets, they are sold in contrasting pairs for ultimate Bonbi Forest brightening of your kitchen!) and they can be seen in the new Home section of the shop HERE! I hope to be adding more useables verrry soon...

Also, new scarves!! Big Cats has had an aquatic blues makeover and the Equus design has been printed in two colourways...Ok, so i know it's hardly scarf weather at the moment, but as the sun goes down they are lovely and big for keeping the chill off. I am wearing my cream Big Cats one right now! (It goes awfully well with an Azure Blue I must say!) See them all in the shop HERE!!

I'd love to know what you think...

They're here...

The new scarves are in the shop!

I have really enjoyed making these and now have grand ideas for the same designs involving some home wares and the like...I shall keep you posted about that.

Anyway, all of the scarves can be seen HERE in the shop...I hope you like them!

A little peek...

^^How lovely is this cat? I recently had a friend to visit and we went on an outing to the beautiful harbour village of Mevagissey here in Cornwall. This little guy followed us most of the way around the harbour...I bet he is quite the attraction in the summer with the holiday-makers!

In other news I have been working away on some brand new prints, hurrah! Going with a floral theme (I do like my flowers...) and also re-introducing the Big Cats, I have been whipping up some brand new scarves for you.

They will be available in the shop very soon, but in the meantime have a little peek at the samples...(I took these pictures with Instagram, so apologies if any Twitter, Facebook or Instagram followers have already seen them)

...and here is a first look at the finished Big Cats Scarf in a pretty lemon/lime and dark grey colourway!

I'd love to know what you think...

Big Love...

I love this song, so sweet and quite apt for the day...

In other news, I have been photographing some of my printerly mishaps and misprints for a Bonbi Forest seconds sale which will be taking place in the shop very soon. There will be bargains to be had peeps, stay tuned!

Me and You, You and Me

Oh no. I don't like to start with something so lame but hasn't it been a while since I last posted?

Well now that's out of the way I just wanted to let you know about a brand new locket that landed in the shop yesterday. It's the first double sided one and a super special edition at that! I designed it with best friends and sweethearts in mind, a little something for whoever happens to be the other pea in your pod.

Me and you, you and me. I have only made 30 of these little treats, have a look see HERE!

I have more new things coming up very soon including a new addition to the Lovebirds card flock (current members can be seen HERE!) and I have just taken a delivery of beautiful, super soft, fair trade scarves...I can't wait to get my print making fingers to work on them for you!

Ah, Christmas...

Wowee it's been a while since I last posted here...you have Christmas to thank for that!

You guys have been keeping me very busy with all of your Christmas orders and for that I can only thank you, it's proving to be an exceptionally busy season here for Bonbi Forest! One of my favorite things is seeing how many fellas are buying lockets for their ladies, it doesn't half make the heart all warm and fuzzy...

I just wanted to post to let you know that Cornish friends (and friends that find themselves in Cornwall this weekend) can come and buy some Bonbi Forest goodies directly from me this weekend at the Falmouth Christmas Festival, which is taking place on Events Square. The Christmas market is running alongside a Christmas food festival too with demonstrations from Rick Stein, sea shanty singing, Christmas carols, and lots of workshops for kids. Some nice pre-Christmas fun, more info about which can be found here --> Falmouth Christmas Festival

Here is a little picture of Falmouth I took a while ago...I love the fluorescent bouys bobbing alongside the boats on the grey water!