Valentine Offer

We have a lovely offer on at the moment, our sweet denim pinafore dresses by Australian designer Tea Pony are all half price. They were £32 now just £16, available here & here. Avaliable in 4 sizes, 6-12mths, 1-2yrs, 2-3yrs, 3-4yrs.
Go on give that special little someone a BIG hig.

I am still here !

( Yes Fran you will be pleased to know I have had many nice weeks since 13th Dec, cheeky ! )

Now I know its mid Jan, but I think I am just about OK to wish you all a Happy New Year.
I have been having a lovely summery Christmas here in Sydney.
my Christmas Day looked like this,


my families back in England looked like this


Quite different I think you'll agree.

We spent Boxing Day at a friend house in the bush & a possum ran over my foot.


Russ & I had an AMAZING time in the Blue Mountains, we stayed here,


I highly recommend it, log fire, spar bath, homemade bread & my favourite a tin roof and non stop rain (have I mentioned before my obsession with rain? it seriously is my favourite type of weather, I think it stems from being born in Manchester!) I could have stayed cosy indoors the entire weekend, but Russ made me walk down tracks like this,


which were well worth it when you saw things like this.


We looked after this little fella again,


I forget to mention last time but he was the dog featured here in my friends Wedding invitations that I designed, how cute I hear you think, hmmmmmmmmm


he disappeared over a hill & did this !!!


I have been finding time to do some work firstly I have just added 8 new Valentine cards to our shop.





I have been designing packaging for our cushions, which will be available so soon I promise, thank you for all the exciting emails about them (click on the pics to enlarge)





We have SO many new & exciting things in the pipeline for Belle & Boo, I am looking forward to getting back to my studio and really getting my teeth stuck in.

Talking about teeth ! I just finished reading the Twilight Books, a guilty indulgence over the past few months. I am now waiting for a night in alone so I can rent the movies in peace, without Russ making sarcastic comments every 5 mins !

I read somewhere that 2010 sounds like a solid year and I agree, I have big plans, the first 2 on my LONG, long list are

-have Belle & Boo mentioned in Elle Decor
-have a Belle & Boo outfit featured in the fashion ages of Junior

Lets see what the year brings :)

One of the nicest weeks I have had in a long time.

I knew I liked Melbourne, but I had forgotten just how much. The people, the shops, the fashion, the individuality, it's just damn cool & I am already thinking our next home exchange should be there !
I took tons of photos, here is just a small sample of what we got up to, in no particular order.

coffee.....lots of delicious coffee



shopping.....


Belle & Boo spotting......



street wandering...


exclaiming "look at the toilet sign & ooohhh you get your receipt inside a kids book"


I had a great day at the Sisters Market with Allison, I met so many lovely people, a special "hello" to you all that read this. Thank you to Elie for organising my interview with Eliza from the Hearld Sun, to Justine for her newly printed Mixtape mag and of course to Natasha who bought along a handmade Christmas gift for Allison and I (it is still wrapped Natasha!) I bought some real treats at the market, but can't show any of them off just yet, as most are Christmas presents & I don't want to spoil any surprises.


After 4 days of city life Russ & I went too Daylesford to visit Allison and Paul from Lark it was AMAZING.


If I could find the equivalent place in the UK I would move there in a shot. So, so pretty, quaint, peaceful & dignified, just as a spar town should be, but with the hippest cafes, shops and resturants you can imagin & of course the FABULOUS Lark shop it was pretty surreal seeing it in real life !



We were treated to stunning accommodation, which I would totally recommend





a spa package in equally pretty Hepburn Springs



& a delicious meal with super company, followed by herbal tea at the Lark household.


THANK YOU Allison & Paul it was a really wonderful break, Russ & I want your life !

On another note how fab is this, Belle & Boo on the front cover of the Observer Food Mag, thanks for the pics Kelly.

Melbourne here I come

So my tickets are booked, I am hugely excited, russ and I fly to Melbourne this Friday. We arrive just before lunch so I think an afternoon of visiting all the amazing shops I read about on blogs is in order. Then I am joining Allison from Lark at the Sister's Market on Saturday 10am-4pm, please come by and say 'hi', I have a bunch of Christmas postcards to give away. Then I think on Sunday we are heading off to The Great Ocean Road and a few days later ending up at Daylesford to stay in such a pretty cottage (photos to follow) If anyone reading this has any tips, favourite places, must do's, must see's please drop me a line. I visited Melbourne a few years ago and feel I only just touched the surface of what the city has to offer.
Also I thought I would show you a sneaky peek of one of the projects I have been working on lately, it is a backdrop for a children's play area. if it goes ahead my illustrations will be life size & everywhere (gulp!) This first image for example will be applied to a pillar.


There will be 19 children featured all together, these are 2 of my favouites

This Weekend.....

..... Russ & I house & dog sat this little fella, Rupert. Our friends have just painted their house yellow, I thinks its so pretty, as are the agapanthus (one of my favourite flowers) that seem to grow wild everywhere in Sydney.



Their house is in Surry Hills; its full of yummy places to eat & cute boutique shops, I was thrilled to discover this paper shop and even more thrilled to see they stocked Belle & Boo (excuse the blurry photos I think my cameras was covered in suntan lotion!)





On the Saturday I had such fun at Magnolia Square 'hello' to everyone I met, you all made me feel so welcome. Carla's stall looked beautiful and our prints complimented her range of bedding perfectly.






It is such a lovely event, the location is stunning, there are even pony rides for the children & a very high standard of stalls throughout.



A special thank you to Lisa from The Red Thread for her inspiring words and of course to Carla for inviting me along.


I am very excited to announce I will now be attending the Sister's Market SATURDAY 5 DECEMBER from 10am-2pm at Brunswick Town Hall, with Allison from Lark. If you can make it please come along and say 'hi' I have a HUGE bunch of free postcards that will be exclusive to the market.

Magnolia Square

I must admit I hadn't heard of Magnolia Square until I arrived in Australia, but now I have, I am SO excited to be visiting the Sydney event twice. It starts this Thursday at 2pm at the Oaks Lawn Marquee at Randwick Racecourse



& is on for 3 days. I am meeting a friend there for some serious Christmas shopping on Thursday & then I will be there again this Saturday to sign prints and generally just say "hello". You will find me at Habitat Baby with the lovely Carla, from 11am.


If you are attending (& I think you should !) please come by and say 'hi' I will have a large stack of free postcards with me & I love making new Belle & Boo friends.


Oohhh & I just thought I would share this pic I took on the way to the pool, as it contains 2 of my favorite things, blue skies and 'where the wild things are' I am counting down the days :)

Also thank you to Tania for sending me this gorgeous picture & message

"My 6 year old daughter takes ballet lessons and will be performing in a recital in May. Apparently the music comes from "The 4 seasons". The ballet teacher asked the children to draw up a picture inspired by one of the 4 seasons. Caitlin was complaining that she didn't know what to draw, so I told her I knew a lady who did these wonderful drawings and that I would show her on the computer. So, when I showed her your "My favourite spot" drawings she fell in love with "winter". She used your picture as an example and I thought she did pretty well for a 6 year old, so I scanned it and attached it for you. Sending you a little snow for your christmas down under"

New Christmasey products

I have spent the last 2 days uploading our Christmas goodies here and here. It's felt a little strange when nipping outside for a computer break requires sunglasses and factor 30+ but I couldn't leave it any longer. There are approximately only 4 weeks left for guaranteed International Christmas post !
Where ever you are in the world I hope the following images make you feel festive.

3 New 10" by 10" Fine Art Prints




12 New Beautifully printed Christmas Cards