The BIG Move
My goodness, it is mayhem here at the moment, as i get ready for the BIG move.
About 6 months ago it became clear that my lovely studio ( which is palatal compared to my humble beginnings of a small desk in the lounge ) was sadly getting too small for the growing business. Kate & I started looking at premises in London (which are SSOOOOO expensive & tiny) then Tracy suggested she took over the posting and packaging side of Belle & Boo where she lives in Bristol. Freeing me up to create, something I have been struggling to do amidst the day to day running of an online business. So on Monday, Russ & I will pack everything up and drive the 2 hours to Bristol where Tracy has rented an ex-photographers studio for a quarter of the price.
My hall way looks like this.....
and I am still having to negotiate my way to the post office with orders like this......
I admit I am SO darned excited by the prospect of just drawing again.
In between the packaging I have been doing some lovely things
The Kuniyoshi exhibition at The Royal Academy followed by afternoon tea at Fortnum and Masons,
A VERY fancy weekend at Hoarcross Hall with my mum and sister, where we pampered ourselves rotten & I had a golf lesson, which was hilarious & exhausting !
& Russ and treated ourselves after 10 years to a new bed, it is SOooooo pretty, I feel like a princess when I go to sleep.
Belle & Boo were featured in our first news paper last weekend the Daily Mail and we have had some fantastic sales since
& big THANK YOU for all your lovely comments about Ava's Tea party, it was such a pleasure to work with Sheye again.
Lastly we are going to be discontinuing some of our prints, so watch this blog for some lovely give aways over the next few months. Today's give away is a Fern bunny mounted print to fit in a 10" by 10" frame. Just leave a comment and I will randomly select a winner, a week today (Fri 19th June)
Right, back to the bubble wrapping !!!
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79 comments:
how lovely - i recently found some of your postcards in paperchase & had to buy two of each one!
Ooo, how lovely - I'd be over the moon if I won this. Good luck with the move!
Oh wow -you are so talented - and it fills me with hope and happiness to know that a talent like yours is being recognised! Enjoy, inbetween the hard work, your success - weldone.
fleur
xx
wow, beautiful *fingers crossed*. good luck with the big move!
I hope the move goes wonderfully well. Your work is just beautiful and I'm sure it will be heaven indeed to re-focus your creative energies on your drawing...
Simply gorgeous! Reminds me of my little girl's bunny that she takes to bed every night..Can't wait to see what you come up with next, your drawings are just divine!
Good luck with the big move!!
What a beautiful bed!
And what a cute bunny, just like Sally, our rabbit!
xxx Steph
good luck with moving everything, you must feel so good about being able to be focused again.
I totally love that you've build you business up on line, and you've kept control of your own ideas. You quite an inspiration to the rest of us!
keep it up!
Kat
x
Oh! I would love to win that!
How fantastic to spend your days being creative. It seems like your business is just getting better and better so congratulations! You are an inspiration!
ooohhh so lovely! you are truly gifted! {crossing my fingers} best of luck with the big move!
I'm glad you will be getting to focus more on the drawing.
How exciting.
Please enter me to win that bunnylicious bunny. Thanks x
Love your beautiful illustrations! Congrats on all of your well deserved success!
Congratulations on the growth of your business! I can't wait to see new drawings!
Wonderful! You deserved it, getting featured and all. :) Good Luck with the move, hope everything goes smoothly.
Katrina
Good luck with the move! I'm glad you are getting back to your passion. Can't wait to see what new treasures you create.
I would love to give this bunny to MY bunny for his first birthday!
Congrats on the big move!! :)
I would love to give this bunny to MY bunny for his first birthday!
Congrats on the big move!!
Oh, I love love love the little bunny! So Sweet! And how wonderful that you'll have more time for making.
Oh! So is shipping going to be from Bristol now - and you're still going to be doing drawing from London?
If Tracy wants an intern, I am very well qualified (having spent several summers doing Lucy's packing and posting) ;)
Maybe while you're in Bristol for the weekend you might want to visit Soma Gallery and the Here Gallery, and Snap Studios and lots of other nice stuff :)
ps, love the bed - we're looking to get something similar as our wedding gift - "we don't have a wedding list but please help us buy this Louise the xvth bed" ...
Good luck packing!
it's wonderful how belle and boo is growing and expanding, and it is well-deserved :) thank you for making me dream with your creations!
Love your work always, Mandy. I think a bunny was one of the first pieces of art I created as a watercolourist.
lovely to hear your busy news and see your nice treats of late. oh my...that bed!
it's wonderful to see how your business is growing and growing and deservedly so. i really feel for you with that massive pile of packaging...from my side of the counter at the post office i'd make you a cup of tea to enjoy whilst i weighed and labelled it all up : )
have fun this sunny weekend! xxx
Good to hear things are going great! I have a shop in Holland, www.huizepippemuis.nl, and your products sell very well. I never doubted the fact they would!!!
In case I can do anything for you, just post a note. I am so excited about all Belle & Belle products and can't wait to see your future products..
Keep on drawing!
Thanks a lot,
And all the best with moving everything, careful!!!
Caroline
It's so exciting to read about your milestones - well done on your well-deserved success! I spotted your work in Paperchase too - I bought a stack to send out as thank you notes :)
Congrats on getting back to what you love! Speaking of love, I love that little bunny!
Thank you for the update. I'm sad to hear that some pictures will be discontinued, but I understand that sometimes in order to move forward, one has to free oneself up :O) LOVE your new bed frame!!!
OH MY what a beautiful new bed! And the bunny fern print is so sweet. Good luck with the big move & happy bubble wrapping to you! :)
Oh, how exciting! Congrats to you for your chance to grow and expand! It is always so great to see people who realy deserve success get it! I hope even more wonderful things come your way!
Melissa
Was wondering where you had got to. How exciting that you are so busy - and the Daily Mail! You are famous and everything! Good luck with everything and hope this really will mean some creative time for you - enjoy xxx
I don't enter giveaways very often, but yours is definitely the exception! I'd love to add this little beauty to my collection of prints!!
One of my favourite prints in your shop. It's just so cute! :)
Love the bed, very princess & the pea like!
Vanessa x
Lovely new drawing, looking forward to seing this indian sweet girl.
I would love winning the bunny illustration too of course.
Happy to know Bell&Boo is doing so great but you sure deserve it.
I LOVE the lines of your new bed, Mandy!
And congrats on the new studio space :)
This has been one of my favorites at Etsy for a long time. I would love to win it to add to the rabbit and wildlife theme of my little boy's room. Thanks for the giveaway!
Love the new bed, was great to hang out the other weekend x
Hope all goes smoothly with the big move!
Best of luck with the move! I love that bed and little fern bunny too.
I just discovered your art on Etsy and find such joy in it. I am so glad for you that you will SOON be drawing again. I love rabbits, bunnies and little girls. You do too, it is easy to tell!
You are so talented! I adore your art. :)
Your latest drawing is as charming as the previous ones. Good luck with the move! And yes, I would love to win the print! *fingers crossed*
Love the bunny! Please pick me!
Good luck moving! :) That print is beautiful.
I'm waiting on my first Belle & Boo, Ava's Tea Party, and my little girl and I are so excited! Am a huge fan of all your work :)
19th of June is my mum's birthday. I hope it brings me luck! Glad to hear that you've found a way to free yourself up to creat some more lovliness. I can't wait to see what comes our way!
Good luck with the move and what a cute bunny.
Oohhh- pick me pick me pick me!!!
Your pics are gorgeous, I got my bub Pirate party for his 1st birthday, and this bunny would go great in my room!
Good luck on your move
Emma x
qoftu72@yahoo.com.au
It's gorgeous - both the bunny and the bed. I love the pink - it's oh so pretty!
So so so cute. Good luck with the move. (I love reading your blog, but this my first comment!)
What a great giveaway - I would love to win this print for my daughter's bedroom!
bloody hell, how the hell do you get to the post office?!
how does russ feel about that bed i wonder? like a handsome prince?
what an exciting change!
love that bed, definitely a princess bed
I hope everything goes smoothly with the move. How fun to be able to concentrate only on drawing!
I can't wait to see the new items. And fun retiring ones. :)
Sounds like the move will be worth it. Good luck! I'll be keeping my eyes peeled to see if you give away one of your cowboys and indians prints. I have loved it for a long time but I'm meant to be resisting spending :(
ps I keep seeing more and more of your work popping up in shops here in Glasgow and it always comes as a lovely surprise
Moving is so hard isn't it? Even when you don't have to move everything.
Hi Mandy
best of wishes for the move! love the indian squaw drawing btw.
please enter me for the giveaway honey,love Kat xxxxx
Yay for Belle and Boo giveaways! Love the print.
Moving is the pits; however, rediscovering your treasures as you unpack them is sometimes more exciting than Christmas presents. Congratulations on a thriving business!
how cute! This would go great in my daughter's room!
The bunny is so adorable! Reminds me of the stuffed bunny I have had for 21 years. I got the bunny my first Easter, and it has survived going to university with me :)
That really is a bed for a princess - I love it!
I really love your work, and good luck with the move.
I just love your work! My 16 year old niece would LOVE this for her birthday as she adores anything 'rabbitty'. AND she would love me forever if I won it for her!
I love your work. Have two of the Super Princess series as I found you through Sheye whom 'met' via a close-knit online community before the loss of Ava.
I look at your work and marvel.
Thank you!
k8
Oh my! I do love your work...so so magical!
This all sounds v.exciting! Lots of changes of things happening and all for the better- hope it goes v.well. Good luck!
Oh, that fern bunny print is lovely, and I would be tickled pink to win! Fingers crossed ...
I just stumbled into your site, and, oh my, what a lovely bunny! So peaceful and yet ready to spring into action.
All the best!
Onwards and upwards, admiring your work from the Antipodes...
Good luck with your move, hope all goes well xx
Just bought some of your cards for my little girl's 3rd birthday on Saturday. This lovely bunny would be the icing on the birthday cake!!!! Zx
saw your cards first in Tante Jojo (a lovely little shop in Leuven - Belgium) tracked you down from the UK and enjoy reading your blog... I am in the middle of some huge renovation works... so I feel your pain ;-) Having said that, it's for a good cause: accommodating baby number 2. As such that print would fit 'picture perfect' in the nursery ;-) With creative vibes, Annelies
WOW, there are already 71 comments!
Love all your artwork!
Get to say I've been a fan for years
(and why oh why didn't I get around to assembling those photos for originals at your then-agreed-on prices!)
Well done.
(And I wore that same bunny on a button on my shirt Sunday. To church and then to the hospital-- http://purplepetunialife.blogspot.com/2009/06/sore.html--stupid cancer. We got to play with it during the ER wait)
at silfray.....
i adore this illustration! i've have just discovered belle and boo and have instantly added your website to my favourites.
thanks for brightening up my day
jenny x
oh i have the badge of this print and i saved it to wear at Easter this year! it's wonderful! hello from australia! xx
Aww, that rabbit print is so adorable! Glad to hear the move went well!
Am I too late!?
I would love to have this darling piece.
I don't envy you in the middle of a move, although it will ultimately be wonderful I'm sure!
Dawn
what a gorgeous rabbit!
i have gone through this blog. i found it really interesting fot my job and my future career
online business
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