The Very British Bunnies have arrived!

The style of the 1930's & 1940's inspired my new range, Very British Bunnies which I'm delighted to finally be able to share with you all.  Do many of you enjoy watching the BBC show, The Land Girls?  These Bunnies made their own Land Girls inspired outfits - Make Do & Mend!  This range is available as a whimsical Archival Print or sets of Art Postcards, perfect for sending a little note to a special friend in the post, all available from my Etsy Shop.

I do hope these Bunnies will bring a smile or three to your day :)

Catherine

x

Oh Hello!

Isn't it always such a treat nowadays to receive cards in the post?  I know how much it makes my day knowing that someone has taken the time to think of me in this way.  With this in mind I created this adorable new range of Postcards called Oh Hello!  The really fun part is that in the set of 6 Postcards you can choose the colours of Bunnies Bow Tie and the sentiments you want.  They are now available in my Etsy shop.

I'm working on some new Embroidery Patterns so watch this space! At the weekend I am going to a Garden Fair so will be sure to take lots of photos to share. Catherine x

Stories of friendship

I'm so excited to share my first of 3 custom Bears I am currently busy bringing to life. This little darling is called Jacob with the cuddliest chocolate brown Alpaca, I could just hug him all day long! He will be going to his new Mum in England, bringing with him a lifetime of friendship.**UPDATE 25 Jan, due to unforeseen circumstances, Jacob is now available for adoption, more details soon. **
The friendship and comfort a Bear can bring is a very precious gift I feel very lucky to be able to share with others, even though it is always hard to part with the Bears!


To spread this friendship I bring you a new Print. This is "Our Story" said Bear to his Best Friend as he started to read a book of adventures written just for her. What better place to read than under a Toadstool? This Print can be personalised with an initial on the book cover to join in with their story.


Also with Valentines on the horizon I have created this Postcard, along with a range of other delights, perfect to show those you love how special they are to you. I remember feeling very special always getting a Valentine's Card from my Granny!


To show how special all my customers are to me there is a short term special offer of a 14% discount on all items in my Etsy shop. Just add the coupon code VAL11 at check out and it will take off 14% off your total. See you back soon with more Bears, one of which I'm knitting a little outfit for. Hugs, Catherine x

Step into their Wonderlands

Thanks for all your kind words about my new Embroidery Pattern, so glad you love it. It has been quite a few years since I embroidered and it was such fun and relaxing to create this for you all. They have been whizzing off to new homes. I look forward to creating more in the future. After full days of listing on Etsy finally these patient friends are ready to meet you all! I have a whole new selection of Prints that are also available as Notecards and the cutest Gift Tags, all available in my Etsy Store.

Firstly these Bumpkin Friends are very proud of their Winter Wonderland, each year they love to decorate, look closely and you'll see little mouse holding a star on his favourite Toadstool, all ready to pass to Bunny to hang in the tree! Watch out for the snowballs from Squirrel! As for Hedgehog, well he got tired out before he'd even really started!

Our Winter Wonderland

Look up to the sky on a very clear night when the Stars sparkle as bright as diamonds and you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Reindeer leaping through the air with Bunny holding on tight in her Teacup!

The Flight of the Teacup

Meanwhile down in Summer Hill the Bunnies are having having more fun than they thought was even possible sledging in the first Snow of the season. They had never gone down hill so very very fast, those Teacups and Saucers make the Best sledges, although I'm not sure their Mother would agree!

Tea Time in the Snow

Back across the field the other Summer Hill Bunnies are kindly asking if their new snow friend was warm enough!

Keeping Cosy

After a long day of adventures this little family of Bunnies are nestled back in their cosy Nest! I was inspired by all the bird nests in my garden and these wonderful knitted nests by Vicki, do check out her Blog. I love Victorian family portraits so thought I'd create a Bumpkin style portrait! A nice way to celebrate your family.
Smartly written under the nest is "Our Nest", this comes as Christmas Cards & Tags with the words Merry Christmas from Our Nest, a nice way to share messages from your own family.

Our Nest

Pick N Mix Card selection, packs of 5 or 10 (buy 8 get 2 free) just choose which ones you'd like. Matching Gift Tags also available with the cutest ribbons.

Last but not least is my Bumpkin Friends 2011 Calendar. If you love Bears, lots of Bunnies, Hedgehogs, Mice, Owls and more all having the best adventures and tea parties then this one is for you. These Friends will love to spend a whole year brightening up your home.



If you made it to the end of this post then thanks for sticking with me! I said I had lots to show :) Hop on over to Etsy to meet them all and step into their wonderlands. Lots of Hugs, Catherine & all the new Bumpkin friends xx

Christmas in July Sale

We've been away for a long weekend in Luxembourg, it is a beautiful country with wide open views, forests with clear rivers and lots of castles. So as ever I took lots of photos to share with you all over the coming days. In the meantime there's lots of fun to be had over at my Etsy Store. I'm joining in with the Christmas in July SALE that lots of folk are doing over there, not really Christmas, just a fun way of bargain shopping in the Summer.


*****CHRISTMAS IN JULY SALE - BUY any 2 items, Get 1 FREE*****
Here's how the fun works:

* Take a stroll over to HERE
* Order 2 items that would make you happy and place them in your ETSY cart
* MENTION the 3rd item you would like for free in the “Message to seller” box.
* Make sure that the 3rd free item is less than or equal to the least expensive item in your cart.
* Place your order, and I'll send all your delights to you, beautifully presented.
* SALE ends Friday July 31st. Enjoy ♥

Any questions send me an email.. If you would like to help spread the word then feel free to take the button from my side bar advertising the sale to put on your Blog. Back to working on my new mohair Bear, she may even have a little vintage jacket! Hugs, Catherine x

Overflow of New Delights!

I've got so many new delights to share I'm not sure where to begin! Let's start with my new Invitations. I was recently asked to create some custom Teddy Bear's Picnic invitations for Becky's little girls 1st Birthday Party. As you can imagine this was just my kind of theme and my mind started buzzing with ideas. So I created a woodland picnic, with table cloth over an old tree stump, tea and cupcakes (of course!), fun toadstools, wild flowers, bunting flying in the breeze being held by birds.... oh the list goes on. I added her name into the Bunting which turned out to be the same colours of Bunting she has in her Nursery!! Thank you Becky for giving me the inspiration for this. I so enjoyed creating these characters that I have made some for everyone to enjoy in my Etsy store. The back is just as delightful with embroidered letters and friends having fun! So anyone for a Teddy Bear's Picnic?



(You may well recognise Beau The Bear in the Photos, he is available for adoption here.

ok, next on the list are Bookmarks, I've worked on some designs improving them and taking new photos and others are brand new, so lots of friends to share your stories with.






You may also see Bunny with her Butterfly. I had so much lovely feedback about my new The Butterfly Chase Print that I felt it
would be nice to create a design with Bunny for folks to treat themsleves to have in their craft spaces & home to help inspire. So there is now a Chase Your Dreams Bookmark, Notecard and soon to be launched Print. All to be found at Etsy. What do you think?

Are you still with me?!! Next up is a delightful Nostalgic Print of the Bumpkin Bears heading off to the Beach complete with surfboard, bucket and spade all in stripey bathing suits! I remember those long Summer days making sand castles on the Beach in Cornwall, England and waiting for the tide to come in to fill the moat! What are your favourite Summer Moments? This Print is part of a set of 4 Favourite Moments Prints and is available on it's own as "Favourite Summer Moment" here

I have just created a charming set of 4 Notecards of all the Favourite Moment illustrations, perfect for sending notes to special folk. Isn't it even more precious nowadays to receive real mail, that someone took the time and thought to really write to you.

I think I've overloaded you all enough for now ;) Later today I will have a Tea Party themed article coming out at Oh My Handmade Goodness. So excited, so I'll tell you all about it when it's live :) bye for now, Catherine xx

My very first Stockist!

I'm over the moon to announce that my Bumpkin Bears & Friends illustrations have been selected to be stocked by the fabulous UK company Cottontails.

If you have never visited them before you must hop by, they are a much loved retailer of some of the finest toys in Europe as well as stocking work from some wonderful UK Designers. I am pinching myself when I see my work listed alongside such talented folk, as Mandy of Belle & Boo, Jane of Snapdragon and Claire of Made in Pixieland,I'm thrilled!

It is a business with a personal touch, run by the lovely Charlotte and her assistant, Humphrey the rabbit! My Bumpkin friends fit in nicely with their countryside style and I'm delighted to say orders have already come in to them for my work. Charlotte's Blog is a delight to follow, she recently made this adroable video of the shop Bunnies making Elderflower Cordial!

If anyone reading this would be interested in also becoming a stockist of my work, then feel free to send me an email.

Lots more fun and new delights to share this week, so I'll look forward to seeing you again soon, Hugs, Catherine x

Birthday Bunny

I was delighted to be asked to create a custom Party set for a customer's little girl's 1st Birthday. I can't think of anything more special than that very first Birthday and so I have loved making this pretty Bunny in her vintage party dress complete with polka dot hair bow! I have made a set of invites, gift tags, thank you cards & Print.



I must say I have rather fallen in love with this wee Bunny and am inspired to create a new range of Bunnies when I am back from holiday. We are heading off to Spain and think we may melt with the temperatures over there, but it will be lovely I am sure. I will take loads of photos to share with you all. I may pop in to Twitter whilst away, so you can follow the links to it here in my Blog. In the meantime I will leave you in the company of Birthday Bunny until we meet up again soon. Hugs, Catherine xx

How does your Garden Grow?

I had such fun writing my latest "How does your Garden Grow" article for Oh My Handmade Goodness. I love gardening and remember all the delights as a child watching plants grow from seeds, picking bunches of fresh flowers larger than even my little hands could hold! Enjoy seeing lots of garden themed delights at Oh My Handmade Goodness. It would be lovely to have your support over there too with your comments.

My Favourite Spring Moment Print has been featured along with all the other charming gifts.

As for gardening here, well someone stole the Springtime, it's cold and raining! I had to put a scarf and winter coat on this morning to go to the post office!! I feel like snuggling up under a warm patchwork quilt like my little Sweet Dreams Mouse, just launched as a Greetings Card. She can also be found in a Print & Button in my Etsy store

This afternoon I'll be sewing Blue Bear that I talked about in my previous post, so come back soon to see his progress. Hugs, Catherine x

Join me for Tea?

Doing the photo shoot for my new range of Friends for Tea Greetings Cards felt like the days when I would have afternoon tea at my Granny's.

Every afternoon we would have biscuits, cake, and a cup of tea in the prettiest china, mine was always filled to the brim with milk instead! I now cherish the memories and they are brought back everytime I look at Gran's beautiful china sets. I just know that she would be so proud of me as she looks down and sees my own cards inspired by these days. Granny and my Mum were always the biggest of supporters of my hand made cards and crafts that I made since I was tiny, I was always creating something for the ones I loved. Now I get to share all my creations with all of you special folk that are kind enough to visit me here and give me the kindest words of encouragement and support, for this I am truly grateful.

So I'd love to share this new set of 3 Greetings Cards available in my Etsy store. These Friends for Tea make a lovely series now, with Prints, Party Invitations, Gift Tags, Magnets & Buttons, these Bunnies are hopping around with excitement to meet their new families!




Bunny Hugs, Catherine x