An Autumn Day in the Park

I am VERY excited to share with you the first few images from the shoot in October for the A/W collection, with my fantastic team of talented friends.

Photography by Alexander Petricca. Make-Up by Emma Wray. Modelled by Talulah.

 Thanks guys, you're the best!

Autumn-Winter Collection Is Here!

Hello again! It's been a while I know, but I've been squirrelled away in my work room getting my new collection ready, and finally it's all listed in my Etsy shop!
I've previewed it on my Facebook page, and at the few markets I've had recently and it's been very well received, so I'm super excited to make it available to everyone now. The prints I've picked for this collection are perfect for the cooler weather and longer nights, lots of dark florals, warm reds, plum, navy, and popping yellow and cerise for a flash of colour. I'm also very pleased to have collaborated with my friend Alex on the photo's for the new collection, I'm sure you'll agree the product shots are perfect, and I can't wait to show you all the lifestyle shoot, so watch this space!

Reef Knot Cuff in Elysian

Josephine Knot Cuff in Ros

Eight Knot Bracelet in Mirabelle

Reef Knot Bracelet in Thorpe

Re-designed for A/W - Josephine Knot Bracelet in Milla.

Hoop Drop Earrings in Thorpe

Knot Drop Earrings in Milla

Button Stud Earrings in Ros

Eight Knot Necklace in Thorpe

Reef Knot Necklace in Ros

Eight Knot Pendant in Elysian

Josephine Knot Necklace in Mirabelle

And if last season's brights are more your thing they're still available through Etsy with 40% off!

Local Colour

I'm in the middle of planning a photoshoot for my Autumn-Winter collection, very exciting, and went for a wander around my neighbourhood to check out potential locations. Even though I live in a pretty built-up area of a large city I'm never far from nature!

 Brambles growing out from the gardens bordering our local park, would it be cheeky to go pick some?

 Ivy covers everything in my neighbourhood.

 Elderberries?

 This fella was on the lake at the park and flew away before I could get a picture. He seemed quite happy at the very top of this tree though.

 Hawthorn everywhere.

And this little chap was just hanging out in the tangle of bushes in front of my flat! He makes a change from the usual magpies and squirrels out there.
Tomorrow I'm visiting Ness Gardens on the Wirral to do some planning for an event I'm organising there so who knows what flora and fauna I'll see there!

Back in the Swing of Things

After a month long immersion in the theatre world, followed by my sister's wedding and then a stinking cold, I have emerged on the other side, ploughing ahead with new work. Coming back to a studio with nothing but Christmas decorations in stock and having gotten to the end of all my 'good' fabrics (by no means the end of all my fabrics, that will take a few years yet) was more than a little disconcerting. It reminded me of Phillip Pullman's writing habits;

"I write three pages every day (one side of the paper only). That's about 1100 words. Then I stop, having made sure to write the first sentence on the next page, so I never have a blank page facing me in the morning."

I had come home to the BIGGEST blank page, and it took me bloody ages to write anything on it. For the first week I was just scribbling pictures in the margin and underlining the title 4 or 5 times, and the week after that I'd lost the page under a pile of snotty tissues. Thankfully I had some non-design tasks to get on with over the weekend, workshop planning and so on, which has given me a bit of momentum to get my act together today.

One useful thing I did achieve in my first week back was to choose a palette and shortlist some new prints to choose from for my A/W collection. I started with the colour trend report from Pantone, just so I wasn't trying to narrow down from an infinite selection of colours.

I have a feeling Etsy might reference the Pantone colour reports when they set the front page treasuries so it's a handy thing to keep an eye on. The other source I was working from is a still from a fantastic film by Wes Anderson.

If you haven't seen Moonrise Kingdom yet you really must, and if you have you should go and watch it again! Somewhere between these two things I have found my palette, and after much trawling of the site where I get my Tana Lawn I have chosen my prints.

 This first one is Tatum, a classic Liberty design that I haven't used before, the contrast between the dark purple ground and the acid yellow leaves is nice and fresh without being too summery.

I've been desperate to use Capel for a while now, I thought it would be good to have something a bit more solid in the mix and I think it'll really show off the detail in the knot jewellery.

 

This is a Betsy Ann, a smaller, less brash version of Betsy, full of nice stormy, autumnal tones.

This is a Claire Aude, another Liberty classic, but in a colour way I haven't used before, it's a bit softer than the other prints with some nice orangey leaf tones in it, I'd agree with my friend JM that it's a bit 1930's, no bad thing!

This last print is Nina Taylor, it's a seasonal design from the A/W 13 collection and was a last minute pick as I was searching for something with a bit more orange in it to tie the whole collection together, which this does perfectly. You should search the Nina Taylor print as there are some other beautiful colour ways available.

So now I'm waiting for everything to arrive before I can get making again, but if you are interested in ordering a piece of jewellery in any of these prints I am now taking orders over on my Facebook page at slightly discounted prices for the next two weeks. Just message my on FB with your contact details, the print you'd like and the style of necklace or bracelet and I can get started on it as soon as everything arrives, and it'll arrive in it's own Handmade by Bunny Bosworth gift box!