Top Drawer & More

"Ola" to all you lovely Portuguese bloggers out there & Thank you, thank you everyone for all the paper doll love. After much cajoling & tugging at heart strings, yes, I will make some Belle & Boo paper dolls for the shop & yes, hopefully before Christmas although I have a 'To Do' list as long as a giraffes neck & a particularly tall giraffe at that !

Meanwhile maybe this little lady will soften the wait. Not exactly a paper doll with a change of clothes, but you do get to have fun with a pair of scissors and sticky tape. She is available to buy here & here





She was designed to entice prospective buyers to Belle & Boo's first trade show, Top Drawer at Olympia. I was SSoooooooo nervous I really didn't know what to expect, Belle & Boo ( until a few days ago was relatively unknown here in the UK ) but it seems the Brits like it just as much as our overseas customers. Hence the VERY long 'To Do' list

There were a few VERY exciting opportunities discussed at the show and as and when they develop I will reveal all :)
So having never set up an exhibition stand before, I constructed this little 20 cm high model


& luckily ( I think ) it scaled up well.



Boo (who you can just see peeking round the stool) 's ear fell off & a very sweet little boy pushed Belle rather vigorously on the swing, but she managed to hang on. We have learnt a lot...for example a table for taking orders at would be great and you are allowed to park your van outside to unload & don't have to park it miles away & lug everything back & forth!!

A BIG Thank you to all the Etsy & blog readers, that stopped by and introduced them selves it was lovely meeting such like minded people.
Coincidentally Alison from Lark & Angela from Sew Your Own had flown over from Melbourne for the show and had a stand exactly opposite us, I couldn't have asked for nicer people to hang out with.

So after 5 days of being entrenched at Olmpia it was a relief to get back to my little studio & catch up on my emails. I was blown away by this photo, the first ( to my knowledge ) Belle & Boo tattoo, note the little key in her hand, I think it is amazing.


We have been getting great press recently......Junior featured our Halloween tags and Mother & Baby wrote the sweetest byline.



We were also featured in the gorgeous online magazine LMNOP, the Australian Sunday Telegraph and in Frankie......




...Which leads me on to our framed prints being exhibited at Bob Boutique, Bendigo, Victoria, Austrlia, Sonia has done such a lovely job of displaying my work, look at the row of cut out ducks, adorable.






There is also an interview with me & lots of my favorite illustrators here in this great on line magazine.

Ok better get on and start ticking things off my list.......