A Very Busy Couple Of Months!

So here we are at the beginning of October already! Autumn is gradually creeping in, the evenings are  getting cooler, days are getting shorter, and the weather quite frankly seems to think that it's April with sunshine one minute and heavy downpours the next. I'm not sure how we got here so quickly or what happened to September, but one thing I do know is that the eight weeks since I last blogged have been very busy, both with my Bobby Bunny & Friends work and socially.

It was lovely to actually have an action packed summer this year though that I have been able to enjoy for the first time in a good twelve years, rather than dread as I did with how busy and stressful my old retail job would be over the summer holidays! I do warn you though that I have a lot to cover so I do apologize as this will be a rather long post!

So I will start where I left off back towards the beginning of August when I finally got to have a coffee and a catch-up with an old work colleague and meet her gorgeous little boy William for the first time, who was already four months old at this point and just gorgeous. He was such a happy little chap and was more than content amusing himself in his buggy whilst we had our first proper catch-up in a good few years!

That week I was also really chuffed to have the 4Ocean bracelet that I had ordered turn up all the way from America in super fast time, less that a week after I first ordered it.

I first came across 4Ocean a few months back through a friend on Instagram and just loved the organisation and what they, so I just had to buy one of their bracelets. Basically for each bracelet sold a 1lb of rubbish gets removed from our oceans, and all of the bracelets are also made fully from recycled materials. The organisation was only set up in Florida at the beginning of this year, but already they have removed 126,025lbs rubbish from eight different locations across the world. Below you can see my limited edition shark conservation bracelet, for which 10% of the profits alo went to shark conservation as well as removing 1lb of rubbish from the ocean. If you would like to know more about this worthwhile movement please go to: https://4ocean.com/

Talking of conservation and such like I also came across an Elephant Hawk moth larvae on the grass outside our home that week. I don't think that they are that rare in this country, but I have only ever come across one once before and that was years ago in my parents back garden. I find them quite fascinating creatures to look and watch though, and then once I had finished I moved him out of harms way to a nearby bush so that he didn't get trodden on.

You can see him below!

The following Saturday I then headed down to Chichester with both mum and sister to visit our Nan, do a spot of shopping in Chichester, and stop off for brunch in our favorite cafe.

Sunday was then the Christening of my uncles, stepdaughters son, which was held at at their local church. It was a lovely service and he was so good! We then headed off to their local village hall after to celebrate, where there was a beautiful spread of food and a bouncy castle laid on for the kids, which they loved. The weather was also gorgeous, which was pretty lucky considering that it had been pretty unsettled and unpredictable in the lead up to the day.

Everyone had an enjoyable time and the little boy in question loved crawling around on the grass, it was also good to catch-up with the family most of which we hadn't seen since Christmas.

Below you can see a few pics from the day.

The following week I then had another bit of lovely post turn up in the form of a personalised "Merci Maman" bunny bracelet, which I had ordered with a voucher that I still had left from Christmas. I had saved the voucher as I wasn't sure what to spend it on at the time, but as soon as I saw this bunny bracelet of course I just had it get it, and below you can see just how lovely it is!

That weekend then involved a night out on the town with the girls! But being that it was the first time that we had been out together in a while I decided to have a little gathering at ours first, for which I made a selection of alcoholic jelly's including; prosecco and peach jelly, vodka jelly and rum jelly! All of which went down pretty well, and below you can see my efforts!

The weekend that followed was that of the August Bank Holiday, which as I have mentioned before is usually a weekend that I dread as it's the busiest weekend within my retail job. But being that I am not there anymore meant that I had the whole of the Bank Holiday break off for the first time in over 12 years! Which it turned out was a pretty good thing as not only was house sitting for my parents, but we had the wedding of my hubby's brother that weekend.

Talking of house sitting for my parents, whilst I was out watering their plants one evening I came across a little toad that had clearly taken up residence in their pond, and who was chilling out quite happily on the rocks. It had been years since I had last seen a toad so I watched him for a bit, but he was so still that he looked like a little ornament as you can see below!



The Sunday then bought my hubby's brother's wedding!

The day itself was held at a beautifully restored National Trust Hall just outside of Wimbledon on a boiling hot day, which again was pretty lucky since the weather had been pretty rubbish for most of the week before!

Both the day and the venue were just stunning, their daughter (our little Niece) made the most gorgeous flower girl and we all had a wonderful time. Below you can see a few pics of their day.

On the night of the wedding we then stayed in a beautiful hotel in Wimbledon along with the bridal party, which you can see below.

The day after the wedding we woke up to another gloriously sunny day and over breakfast we had the most beautiful view of the park that backed onto the hotel as you can see below.

Then as it was such a gorgeous day and because we had never been there before, once we had checked out we decided to go exploring in the park! I'm glad that we did too as apart from the beautiful views and gardens, we also came across a mummy duck and her ducklings who I could have watched all day.

We loved Wimbledon, but was odd to think that we were so close to central London with so much countryside around! I definitely think that we will be returning both to Wimbledon and the hotel at some point though! Below you can see pics from our little adventure, and plenty of the ducks!

 

After our little exploration we returned home later that afternoon, and then after a bit of a chill out I headed up to our neighbors that evening to celebrate his birthday with him and his girlfriend, where we ended up catching-up until the early hours!

So needless to say after an action packed Bank Holiday weekend I was pretty knackered the following week! But the action didn't stop there as come Thursday I was back out again with the girls at a pottery painting and cocktail evening held at our local ceramics shop. 

I had never been before but it was good fun, and great to catch-up with the girls too! I wanted to paint something that I would use so I painted a flowerpot for Florrie's basil plant, which I wrote "Florrie's Basil" on. It didn't turn out too bad considering, and you can see my efforts below. 

The next Saturday bought the first weekend of September and our little Florrie's 1st birthday! I still can't believe that it came around so quickly and that she has been in our lives for ten months now already, but equally it seems like she has been a part of the family forever too. As I mentioned at the time of getting her I didn't think that I would have another bunny again until we had children that would be old enough to have them, or that I could love another bunny again as much as I did with my Mill & Moll! But she stole my heart and now neither I or my hubby would be without her. 

As you can imagine she was thoroughly spoilt and had a birthday breakfast of hay, pellets, basil, dandelion mix, and food stick, all in a little birthday bowl. I also made her a little party hat, which she was more that willing to show off in, and she got presents of a new sea grass tunnel and chewy mat, a play stick tunnel, and some food sticks! All of which she loved and got quite hyper playing with! Especially the sea grass tube, which she has enjoyed hiding in, but that she has already eaten nearly all of a month on, and her playstick tunnel which again she has enjoyed hiding in, stripping the bark from, moving, and has now discovered how to stand on too!

Obviously I couldn't let her 1st birthday pass without a little photoshoot so below you can see her enjoying her day, and quite happily posing in her party hat!

Below you can also see Flo flo enjoying hiding in her playstick tube!

On the same day as our little Flo's birthday there was also the annual food festival taking place in town so we went along to check it out, as again due to my past working commitments I haven't really had the chance to in the past! 

Thankfully the weather was beautiful and warm once again, having been pretty unsettled, chilly and wet in the lead up to it! 

The hubby and I enjoyed moseying around all of the different food stalls and came away with some locally made cider and some chilli and chocolate sausages, which is a combination that I really didn't think would work but after sampling I realized really did! My hubby was also in is element as not only were there food stalls and live music there, but there was also a visit from Optimums Prime and Bumblebee! So being the Transformers fan that my hubby was and still is he was like a little child in a sweet shop!

Below you can see a few pics from the day.  

After having had quite a few busy weekends and knowing that we had more coming up the Sunday after the food festival was a day of chilling in pj's and shutting the world away, especially since the weather was pretty awful. 

The following Thursday the hubby and I then headed up to Islington for the gig of one of my hubby's favorite artists, which was held in the most gorgeous chapel as you can see below! 

It was a lovely night, if not a rather late and tiring one by the time that we had got the train back.

  

Saturday then bought another rather busy day! Firstly a pub lunch with a group of my school friends, for the first of one of their 30th birthday's. Which was lovely, as being that many of us live apart from each other now it's only at such events like this that we all really get to meet up! But being that we are all going to be turning 30th within the next year these meetings could be getting a little more frequent!

Then that evening we then rushed to get to the 10th Wedding Anniversary party of one of my hubby's brothers, which was being held at their house. 

Unfortunately the weather hadn't been the best that day and most of the party was being held outside,  but it had at least stopped raining by the time that we got there, even though it was a little chilly! We all had a good time though, and the children made little speeches and even got their parents to make additional vows such as: "I promise to pick up daddy's dirty socks" etc which was so cute, and very funny! 

Below you can see a few pics from the evening. 

 

The following weekend I then worked the first Saturday in my new job, in order to cover holiday. Which was just some of a rather lot of overtime that I have been needed for recently, and another reason aside from being busy socially as to why I have been a bit behind with my illustrating and social media presence lately!

Saturday evening I then ended up going straight from work up to Brighton to celebrate another of my best friends 30th birthday's, which was a fab night! 

We started off in a lovely bar that was all decorated to look like you were inside a cave, before heading off to a lovely rock bar where we partied the night away until the early hours. 

Sunday was then unsurprisingly spent chilling! 

Then come Monday I realized that I had somehow manage to bruise my wrist quite badly on our night out as you can see below! I have no idea how or why it took me so long to realize! But I have always bruised easily and can be pretty clumsy at times, so I probably bashed it whilst dancing the night away!

Then below you can see it looking rather colorful and like it was forming it's own galaxy come the following week! 

As well as realizing that I had bruised my wrist, that Monday also bought a rather sleepless night for us as our little Florrie wasn't at all well.

She was fine when I got home from work, but I could just tell when I went to feed her that evening that she wasn't quite right. She took her basil but wouldn't even touch her pellets which is very unlike her, especially in the evening. 

I then woke up around 2am to check on her and still no food or drink had been touched, and she was hiding in he log tube looking very uncomfortable flopping out one minute and getting up to get comfortable the next. She also let me pick her up no problem which is also very unlike her! So I had her out briefly to give her a little tummy rub to see if it would help, but by 2:30am she was back in her hutch still looking very uncomfortable and trying to hide away as far back as she could in her sea grass tube. She also seemed to be so much skinnier than she was even that morning, so much so that even my hubby could see that she wasn't right. I was very worried and thought that a trip to the vets was going to be in order, but amazingly by 4am I woke up again to hear her eating, and by the time that we woke again the next morning she was eating, drinking, crashing about in her hutch, and moving her stick house around as usual! It was such a relief and I have never been so happy to be woken up by her antics! 

Come playtime she was then full of beans as if nothing had happened and stuffed her face that day! I don't know what was wrong with her, but it was so worrying. Especially since bunnies can go down hill so quickly and you often don't know why. What made it even more worrying is that the first time that it happened with my first bunny Dusty, it was the last and we lost him. Then with Mill and Moll it would happen maybe twice a year, which we would refer to their off days when they would often be lethargic like Florrie was and off their food for upto twelve hours with no explanation, and then be fine again after. It was almost like they had tummy ache, and obviously with bunnies not being able to be sick or pass wind that can be fatal, hence the tummy rubs! With Flo I think it was probably a combination of the fact that she was a bit blocked up where she hadn't done many droppings that day, plus as I have mentioned before she is a bit of an over-groomer despite me brushing her and often passes pearly dropping full of fur, which is what she did the day after.

Thankfully she has been fine since though! 

Typically the day that she was ill I had booked her in for her nail clipping and six month health check with the vet earlier in the day, which she had on the Friday before last. 

My hubby came with us for the first time, and Florrie tried out her new pet carrier for the first time too rather than her box, which is getting a bit scrappy these days! 

I wasn't sure how she would react to it, but she was actually pretty chilled in it! I think that she liked being able to look out unlike in her box, and whilst we were in the waiting room she was chilled enough that she was munching hay and even started to make a bed in it! 

She was also the best that she has ever been with the nail clipping too, which makes a change as as I have mentioned in the past she is not usually great with it! Hence why we tend to leave her nails for as long as possible before clipping! 

She didn't jump over my shoulder this time either, but did lean her paws up on me to pick her up! But rather than jumping up stayed there and let the vet listen to her heart and breathing for a good while, all of which were good thankfully! It was also her first time of seeing a male vet, and she was nowhere near as stressed as she has been in the past when we got back either. All of which makes me a bit happier about the idea of getting her spayed, as due to her temperament I have been worried about the stress that it would put her under as I have mentioned in the past. I also discussed how they are kept before and after spays with the vet, and pain relief etc, so I am edging a step closer to letting it happen!

Below you can see Flo's new pet carrier as well as a few other pics of her from over the last seven weeks.

Flow chilling and crashed out! Because we all need a good afternoon nap every now and again!

 

I love this pic of Nutbrown Hare hitching a ride on Flo!

Because we all have days where we have crazy hair and feel the need to pull funny faces!

Florrie in destructive mode eating what's left of her sea grass tube! (The last one she had lasted for about four months before she fully demolished it!) This one has lasted less than a month! Then to the right Florrie barricading herself and making a little den, by knocking over her hay cart and using what's left of her sea grass tube! Plus giving her best "no mum you are not picking me up to go out to play" face! Little monkey that she is!

 

After Flo had had her visit to the vets we then headed up to London again that afternoon for the gig of another of my hubby's favorite artists, which this time was being held at the Albert Hall! A venue that I love!

We have been up there once before, which was last year and which you may remember me mentioning, but it's such a gorgeous building that you can't help but be overawed by it each time!

The gig was fab, and we managed to get a really good spot towards the front too! Once again it was a rather tiring journey back though, with us once again getting in the early hours. But as always it was worth it!

The weather had also been lovely that day, so by the time that we got there there was a gorgeous sunset over both Kensington and the Albert Hall, as you can see below along with a few pics of the gig!

The following sat then bought my dad's birthday. For which we headed into town for a lovely pub lunch, before going back to my sisters new flat to continue the celebrations! 

She laid on a lovely little spread for us with homemade brownies (which were delicious,) along with pimms, gold balloons, and a matching gold Happy Birthday banner for decoration. So all in all it was a lovely enjoyable family day.

That evening I then headed off to pick the hubby from his dad's where he had spent the day helping him and his brother lay a new patio in the back garden. Before we headed home to have another a much needed chill out! 

Below you can see the yummy starter and main that I had at the pub, which consisted of rarebit and fish and chips!

 

The Sunday was then a lovely day filled with warm early Autumn sunshine, so we made the most of the day by attending an American car and bike festival in town. Which was complete with American food stalls, as well as an Elvis impersonator!

It was the first time that it had been held in the town, but we both really enjoyed the event and there were so many beautiful cars and bikes to look at! I think that I fell in love with just a few of them, especially the classic ones so there are quite a lot of photos as you can see below! 

The weekend before last was then a relatively chilled one compared to recent ones! With us going out for lunch with Mark's sister last minute on sat, and meeting up with his brother and his nephews for a few drinks after. Before we then then had an early chilled out night watching TV and chilling on the sofa Flo. Plus the weather was pretty awful out! 

Then come Sunday we had another chilled out one, as not only did we need it but the weather was also pretty awful again so it was a pj kinda day!  

Below you can see our waffle breakfast the perfect start to a dull day!

Last Tuesday was then my hubby's birthday, so after he had finished work we celebrated by having our neighbours around for a few drinks. Unfortunately I typically came out with a head cold that day so didn't feel that great, and felt even worse the day after and for the rest of last week, but we still had a nice evening and a good catch-up.

This weekend was then another busy one packed with me making up a frame order and finishing a frame present during the day on sat, before I headed up to Clapaham in the evening for the 30th birthday meal of one of my school friends. It was all a bit of a rush to get up there with trains being cancelled and my hubby not being able to attend last minute, meaning that I ended up having to go up on my own with no idea of where I was meant to be going! But it all worked out in the end, I didn't end up being as late as I though that I would be, and we all had a fab time/catch-up!

Sunday then involved another train journey, this time up to Croydon to visit the hubby's mum for her birthday with the family. As always his mum had laid on a lovely spread of food so we all ended up eating way too much as usual, but it was lovely catching-up with everyone and seeing our Niece and Nephew's playing so well together now that our Nice is getting a little older. She's such a character and at just over one and a half knows her mind, and is turning into quite a little chatterbox!

So there we go, that brings you up to date with what like a said has been a very busy few months! 

On the illustration front, even though my sales are going well I feel like I am pretty behind with everything else regarding it! Having not had the time to produce any new work recently, or go on social media much. Which as I mentioned earlier is due both to me bring busy socially, but mainly due to the amount of overtime that I have being doing in my new job to cover end of year holidays. Which I don't mind as I love it there but I just need to get back on track, which I am hoping to do this week as I am now back to my normal hours for now.

I have however managed to get a few creative bits done in the form of a late wedding present for both Mark's sister, (who I mentioned got married in Las Vegas a few posts back,) his brother (who's wedding I mentioned in this post), and for his other brothers 10th Anniversary present, (which I also mentioned in this post. All of which I will share with you in my next post.

So there we are! Thank you so much for bearing with this very long post if you are still reading it, and thank you for all of your support over the years! September 4th marked my 5th year of blogging, and I'm so appreciative that all of you that still come here and read my ramblings! A lot has changed since I first started this blog, but my goals and focus have always remained the same, and slowly but surely I am getting to where I want to be as an Illustrator.

I hope that you are all well, that you had a good weekend, and that you all having good start to the week!  x  

Three Week Round Up!

Hello everyone! I hope that you've all had a good three weeks!

Since I last blogged I have started the little part-time job as a gift advisor that I mentioned in my last post, and I have to say that I am really loving it! The 15 hours a week are perfect to balance around my illustrating, plus the job is so me too! I'm really enjoying learning about how the gift and card market works on a wholesale basis, and generally find the place very inspiring to work. Plus my colleagues and customers alike are all lovely, so I am really happy that I found the opportunity and took the job there.

I have also been busy completing customer orders for Bobby Bunny & Friends, having completed the heart plaques that I mentioned in my last post and gaining another, as well as a number of card orders. I still have a way to go to get to the point that I want to be at, but I am definitely heading in the right direction and again I'm still really enjoying it. Below you can see the first of my heart plaque orders that went out just after I last blogged.

As well as this general life has continued to be quite busy on the social front, but has calmed down a bit from the last few months. 

Firstly three weekends back I went down to Chichester with my mum to visit my Nan. As usual we had brunch in out favorite cafe and had a little mooch around the city, where I bought a few new outfits for work (as I now get to dress up a bit in my new role, which is rather nice compared to my last retail role.) 

We had a lovely day as usual despite the grey weather, and below you can see a rather moody looking Chichester Cathedral against the grey backdrop. 

The following weekend was then the "Hen Day/Night" of my sister-in-law to be, for which we went to the races and also had afternoon tea. Unfortunately once again the weather wasn't the greatest with scattered showers and the odd bit of sunshine later in the day, but we still enjoyed ourselves!

I'd personally never been to the races before and hadn't ever bet on a horse/been into betting either, but I gave it a go just putting a small amount on over four races for a bit of fun, and ended up winning something on 3 out of four races which was pretty good considering I had no idea what I was doing.

The afternoon tea was also lovely, and the Maid Of Honour did such a good job of setting up the tables beautifully for us.

Below you can see a few pics from the day.

The weekend after that involved family celebrations for Mum's birthday, which consisted of us going to a Chinese restaurant for Sunday lunch.

I had never been to the restaurant before but it was lovely, the staff were really nice, and the food was just gorgeous. Afterwards we then went back to my parents for cake, games of Uno, and a few drinks in the garden being that the weather was a bit brighter that day, if not a little windy!

We all enjoyed spending the day together and mum was thoroughly spoilt!

Below you can see some of the yummy Chinese and lemon swiss roll that we all enjoyed!

Last Tuesday I then had the pleasure of going to meet my friends baby Freya, who I mentioned in my last post. She was just gorgeous as expected! I got to have lots of cuddles with her as she was fast asleep on me, and apparently was the most settled that she had been for them all day, typically! But mum, dad, and baby, were all doing well especially since she was three weeks early and had to be delivered quite quickly by c-section as mum had virtually no waters left. I think that dad is struggling a bit with juggling sleepless nights with being back at work as a police officer, but they are both enjoying being first time parents! She has also been introduced to their two bunnies who are also adjusting to her too as, as I mentioned in my last post Freya's mum is another crazy bunny lady like myself! I just can't believe that their little lady is four weeks old already, and I can't wait to see her again!

So that takes us to this weekend just gone which was a relatively chilled affair, for which we attended the garden party of some of the hubby's extended family on sat.

I think that I have mentioned it on here before as it tends to be a yearly affair where my hubby's stepdads sister-in-law who is now sadly widowed, invites all of the friends and neighbours around for the garden party.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't too great once again! To be honest I don't think that the weather knows whether it's been coming or going over the last few weeks or so, with there being lots of April shower like downpours one minute, with it starting to feel like Autumn the next, to bright sunshine, clear skies, and it feeling like summer again after that! I have to say though that I am happy that the mugginess that we've been having has gone now though!

So anyway once we got the off the train at the station for the garden party the heavens opened, and when I say opened I mean torrential rain and localized flooding within the space of about 10-15mins! Needless to say we stayed in the shelter of the station foyer until it passed, and then the minute that it stopped the sun was out again! But being the power that it has at this time of year despite the amount of rain it soon all dried up and the ground was pretty much dry once again, leaving us to enjoy a lovely sunny afternoon/evening with the hog roast and DJ that they laid on.

We all had a lovely time, and below you can see a few pics including the lovely sunset over the Surrey Hills which overlook their garden.

 The heavy rain that greeted us at the station, and the sun that greeted us by the time we walked to, and arrived at the garden party 

We enjoyed Prosecco and jelly vodka shots as well as the hog roast and DJ, and were left with this glorious sunset over the Surrey Hills that evening

So that's everything that has been going on here over the past three weeks really.

On the Florrie front the little monkey is now weighing in at 2.1kg, her dewlap has been developing more, and has been being as cheeky as ever!

The other week we woke up to find that the cardboard tube that she had been chewing on the night before had been chewed flat, and then she had somehow then managed to post it through the bars on to the floor! Then last week we woke up to find that she had moved her ladder across the hutch! The crazy little bun! 

Above left: Florrie looking very proud at managing get what was left of her cardboard tube out of her hutch! Above right: Florrie also looking very proud of her efforts to move her ladder across the hutch!

 Above: Florrie on the same morning as we found the moved ladder, doing her usual morning routine of gnawing the bars to summon us for her breakfast! 

She was also a little naughty the other week too, as when I went to pick her up from the sofa to put her back in her hutch after her morning run, she launched and went for the back of my hand which is rather unusual for her. We have had her nip here and there on the odd occasion but never maliciously, so needless to say the little monkey got put back and had a telling off! I'm pretty sure that it was her hormones as she has been grumpier than usual when I go to pick her up as of late, but as soon as I have hold of her or go to stroke her she is  absolutely fine. But even so I nipped the behavior in the bud at the time, and we haven't had any incidents since. 

We have however also had bunny drama too! As one morning on the week before last Florrie was out on the sofa as usual for her morning run, I had gone to quickly put something in the bin then as I came back in the room something outside really spooked her. I have never seen her so petrified before it was like she was being chased by a fox and she was just darting backwards and forwards across the sofa. I couldn't stop her and knew that if I tried to chase her too much that it would just make her worse! All I could see was her ending up hurting herself as she continued to dart about knocking things over on the coffee table next to the sofa, and as I continued to helplessly try and catch her. Eventually she ended up skidding across the coffee table and onto the wooden floor where I managed to catch and comfort her, by which time her heart was going, as was mine! We were both quite traumatized by it, but thankfully she was OK!

I knew that it must have been something out of the ordinary that scared her though as she comes out on the sofa everyday, as it's one of the only places that she likes to go and we have never had anything like that happen before! If anything does spook her like the postman putting letters through the door she normally just runs to the end of the sofa and hides around the back of the arm, but this was very different! I did however get to the bottom of it in the end though, as it transpires that some workers had been out on the road nearby filling in a pot hole. They were very quiet though as I didn't even know that they were there, so I can only assume that it was the vibrations that they made in the ground whilst fixing it were what she felt. She has been fine since thankfully if not a little more jumpy when out, and clingier towards me than usual which is understandable.

Below you can see that she is now back to her chilled self, having afternoon naps and sunbathing! Plus if you follow me on Instagram you will have also seen that she has been continuing to enjoy chasing and grooming her "Nutbrown Hare."

Thank you for visiting as always and I hope that you've all had a good start to the working week! I'm now off to eat a rather late dinner of sausage risotto, made from a recipe within in Joe Wicks's new book that I first tried the other week. It past the taste test with the hubby then, and turned out pretty well for a first attempt too as you can see below, so I thought that I'd make it again!

New Bobby Bunny & Friends Product Lines!

Hi everyone! I hope that you are all well and have had a good couple of weeks or so!

Today I have some exciting things to share with you that have been going on around here lately, which if you follow me on either Instagram on Facebook you may already know!

Firstly after months of working out logistics and suppliers as well as making prototypes, I am very happy to share with you that I now have two new Bobby Bunny & Friends product lines on sale over at my Etsy shop!

The first of which are my framed prints which I have mentioned wanting to sell on here before, but was having trouble finding boxes the right size, and ways in which to package them without them being damaged in transit. As it currently stands this means that I am afraid that I am only able to sell my framed prints in the UK, but I am however hoping that over time I will be able to offer unframed prints to overseas customers.

Below you can see the framed prints available.

 

Currently they are only available in this design in both pink and blue, but I hope over time to extend the range to christening and wedding designs etc. You will also notice that the frame design has changed from the ones that I originally blogged about last year, which were made as gifts for a couple of friends. There are a couple of reasons for this, one just simply because I preferred them and because they look more modern and simplified, but also because the frames are deeper meaning that I have more freedom as to what buttons I can use to accent the image as I am not limited to space. They are also a little smaller which means that they aren't not quite as fragile! The only downside is that the image is quite a lot smaller due to the large boarder mount, but I kind of like that as I think that it makes the image more quaint.

The second new product line is again one that I have been working on for a while now, and is that of personalised heart name plaques. They took quite a lot of trial and error to get right, and I am still learning the right technique to get the best results from them, but I am pleased with them as you can see below.

Again they are currently only available in the one design in both pink and blue, but like the frames I am hoping to extend the range to christening and wedding designs etc too over time.

Both the girls frame and heart plaque pictured above were made for a close friend who's baby shower I attended a couple of weekends back. Thankfully she loved them as did a number of other girls in attendance, which meant that I got to do both a bit of networking plus it was nice to get some feedback on my new products.

We all had a lovely time at the baby shower, and my friend's sister-in-law and sister-in-law to be did a fab job of organizing it all. I did however have a bit of a ditsy moment before hand driving 20 or so minutes down the road to their house, just to find that the baby shower was actually being held at her hubby's parents house!

Below you can see a few pics from the day, and some of the games that we played!

The beautiful spread

The very imaginative fruit pram and baby and the gorgeous baby shower cake that was made by one of my friends friends, complete with a bunny on top as she is probably as crazy about bunnies as I am!   

Milly the cat getting in on the present opening action

Pin the dummy on the baby (which I did much better at during this baby shower than the last one that I went to, getting 3rd closest,) and the lovely party bags! 

Since then my friend has given birth to little baby Freya Hope who arrived three and a half weeks early, weighing a healthy 6lb's 6oz. I am over the moon for them as they have been through a huge amount over the past year, but they have come out the other side and now have their happy ending and I can't wait to meet their little lady!

Besides this things have been a little quieter here the last few weekends after the madness that was June, but we have still been relatively busy! Firstly with the hubby going off to Maguluf for three nights for his brothers stag do, which I had take him and his brother to the airport for at stupid o'clock in the morning on the weekend before last! I also had a night out for a friend's birthday.

But I've had down time too, taking my autistic cousin swimming for my auntie over the last few Friday's due to his rest bite carer cancelling on them. Plus my auntie is also currently recovering from a big operation on the vertebrae in her neck, and is so unable to take him herself. Then this week I also took him to visit the funfair in town after too as he was desperate to go on the bumper cars, which he loved and thoroughly chilled him out!

Like most autistic children/young adults he is very routine based, and loves to go off with his dad after swimming each each week to get his fish and chips. So as the weather has mainly continued to be in the high 20's and low 30's here over the past few weeks, and with my hubby away on the stag do, I decided to go and get my own fish and chips and eat them in one of my favourite local spots which I have mentioned on here many times before! I'm glad that I did too because it was glorious evening up there and so quiet, with only the sound of the cricketers playing at our local club in the distance. In fact it was so nice that I ended up doing the same thing last Friday after swimming, on what was once again a beautiful evening, only this time with my hubby in tow too!

Below you can see my yummy fish and chips and what a glorious evening it was, plus if you look closely you will be able to see a bunny too!

That pretty much rounds everything up with one big exception, and that is the fact that I have gone and got myself a part-time job!

I wasn't looking to find anything to fit in around my illustration until the end of Sept when my redundancy is due to run out, but it came up, it was somewhere I wanted to work, and the hours were perfect!

It has all happened pretty quickly with me having only applied for the job a week and a half ago, but since then I have had interviews with both the manager, and area manager, and been offered the job! So as of Friday I am going to be a gift advisor for 15 hours a week, normally on a Tues, Weds & Thurs afternoon for a local family run gift shop, which I have to say I am really looking forward too! The team all seem lovely, it will be nice to work in an area of retail that I am interested in, plus have a new challenge, and they sell so many lovely things too! I will just have to make sure that I don't go and spend all of my wages in there!

To celebrate my hubby and I then met up with my parents for a meal to celebrate at one of our favourite pub/restaurants. It was good to see them, plus good for my dad to get out too as he is currently recovering from his second hernia operation.

Below you can see the yummy but filthy food that my hubby and I had on a dinner date to the same pub/restaurant the week before, just after he got back from Magaluf. Plus the huge strawberries that we had when we got back home! They weren't kidding when they said that all of the good weather that we've been having had created a megga crop this year! I affectionately named this one megga-strawb!

So that's about it really! I'm now off to cook dinner and finish the three heart name plaque orders that I currently have on the go whilst gazing out of the window at a lovely evening that we have here, after having had torrential rain over the past few days! We did need it though to be fair after all of the hot weather of late, and it's also made it much cooler after all of the mugginess and lack of storms that we've had to clear it! So I am much happier about that!

I hope that you are having a lovely evening and week wherever you are, and that the weather is being kind to you too! Thanks as always for visiting! x

A Bobby Bunny & Friends & Florrie Update!

As my last post was so long I said that I would fill you in with the goings regarding Bobby Bunny & Friends and Florrie in the next one, so here goes!

On the Bobby Bunny & Friends front I have continued to make slow but steady progress.

Firstly at the end of May after heavily searching and deliberating, I finally found and settled on some boxes that would suitably package the frames that I have been wanting to sell for a long time now!

I had had so many issues trying to find the right size, the right colour, and a way in which to package my frames to prevent them from breaking! Especially since one of the test frames that I ordered from my supplier turned up broken! Then just as I had pretty much decided on my box supplier I saw that they had a number of bad reviews, but not having many other options I went ahead and ordered them and thankfully they arrived with no problems, and quickly too! So I am now pretty much all set for the frames and another exciting new product that I have been working on to launch next week, so keep your eyes peeled both here, on Facebook, and Instagram!

Below you can see my boxes, which I was way more excited about when they arrived than I should have been!

So aside from the boxes and working on the prototypes for my new product lines, I have also launched another two card designs since I last blogged. The first being a twins card which I had had mocked up in the pipeline for quite some time, which uses the same design as my New Baby cards and comes in three different variations as you can see below.

The second design was then a New Home/First Home card which was a totally new one, and a design that I didn't have too much difficulty with drawing.

Below you can see the different stages that the design went through from sketch to sale.

The final sketch 

At the watercolour wash stage, and photographed outside for the "wips and blooms" hashtag on Instagram 

The final finished design

All mocked up into card form, complete with personalisation and ready for Etsy

Besides this there has been a lot of behind the scenes and time consuming stuff going on including; working out the pricing for and photographing new products, improving social media stats, and finding suppliers. 

Like I say I am getting there slowly and it has taken me a bit to get back into get back into the swing of things over the past few weeks after being away, but I feel like I am back up to date and on track with things now and I am looking forward to sharing my new products with you.

I just can't believe that I am halfway through my time off already, which does make me freak out and hold me back a bit some days. But I will continue to do as much as I can with getting Bobby Bunny & Friends off of the ground whilst I can.

On the Florrie front since I last blogged little miss has thankfully finally stopped moulting! Which is good, one because I no longer have to keep finding her fur everywhere as it was a nightmare to clear up being much finer and coming out in bits rather than clumps like Mill & Moll's did. But two, mainly because she had a habit of over grooming (despite me regularly brushing her,) to the point that she was eating so much fur that her poop pellets were joining together! She also went through a phase just before I went to Download festival of pulling some of her fur out through over grooming too! Then whilst I was at Download she spent five days with Daddy who took the week off of work to look after her and kept me regularly updated! I really missed her but they both survived without me, even though she was a bit timid when I got back and felt rather heavy! 

I also mentioned a few posts back that I am now having to dismantle the who hutch in order to get little madam out, which has continued and seems to be the best and least stressful way of getting her out. She still has her moment of squeaking and pouncing depending on her mood, but for the most part she's pretty good now. I also mentioned in that post that we tried her on the living room mat and that she wasn't too keen, well we haven't tried her with that or her outside ladder again recently as seems quite happy as she is, but I will try again in time!   

She did got to the vets in the end to have her nails clipped a few weeks before I went to Download, because as I mentioned a few posts back she is now just too difficult for me to do it myself and I don't want to hurt her. 

She wasn't keen on the whole idea as I knew she wouldn't be, and she ended up making more of a fuss about it than getting her vaccinations done! 

It all started off not too bad with me holding her up on the table whilst the nurse cut her front paws, but it was the back paws that were the issue! The veterinary nurse suggested me putting her on her back, to which I assured her she would never let me do! So after Florrie tried to jump over my shoulder again we managed to get her back on the table for me to prop her up like we did with her front paws, whilst the veterinary nurse worked around clipping with her back paws still on the table (as it was the only was it was going to happen!) Still after a lot of fur went flying we got there in the end! But by the time that we got back after the whole ordeal Florrie was not a happy bunny and was huffing and puffing and dribbling, and generally not happy with me at all! But it had to be done and within a few hours she got over it, until the next time!

In other Florrie news her weight seems to have now levelled out with her weighing in at just over 2kg a few weeks back, so I now think/hope that she is fully grown! Plus her mane is now in full flow too, and she is looking a lot more like a Lionhead-cross again now as you can see below.

She has also not been keen on this hot weather at all, especially last Weds when it got up to 34 degrees! But I kept her cool by trying to offer her cold water in a bowl alongside her bottled water (which she wasn't too keen on,) and by putting an ice cold bottle of water on the sofa for her to snuggle up with as you can see below.

          Mumma it's too hot!        But I don't do water in a bowl!         Aah that's better!

Besides this Florrie has enjoyed snoozing more this month, which is something that I don't often see her do. The first time was after our playtime on the May Bank Holiday, which was clearly far too much for her as you can see below:

Then the second time was the other week which was so funny to watch because as she gradually began to nod of her head would drop like a baby which would wake her up again, until she eventually fell fast asleep as you can see below.

She has also been lounging about a lot in her usual funny positions and pulling her usual funny faces as you can see below!

Mumma if I sit here and look cute will you feed me more?

She's still been a little monkey when she's awake though as you can see below!

 I took this image the other week after she managed to get onto the coffee table next to the sofa again! She's standing on her carrot toy, but seems to be more interested in the bunny and balloon!  

Then the image below I took the other day and it just makes me laugh as she has such a guilty look on her face after shredding her chewy mat!

That's all for now! I hope that Monday hasn't been too much of a struggle and that you have been slowly eased into the week ahead! It's been another lovely day of sunshine and blue skies here today with just the right amount of breeze and heat in the mid 20's, but it looks like it's going to be wet here for the rest of the week so I better go and enjoy it whilst I can! x