Christmas Colour Study

Christmas 2019 was a wild one, my first holiday spent without my immediate family. Instead, I joined Ben's family for a trip down south, to stay with his grandma in Queenstown. It was a completely new experience for me and something that was both challenging and super rewarding. I missed my family a ton, but it was also great to step outside of my comfort zone and really experience what it's like to start melding my life with someone (so scary). Overall, the month of December was one spent relaxing, spending time with loved ones and just taking a break. So, here's a little snippet of my month, via a Colour Study!

I really haven't spent too much time in Queenstown, so it was great to have an explore, especially as the place we were staying in had the most insane views. We took huge walks, played plenty of card games and Monopoly, took the water taxi over to Queenstown shops and even went go-karting. It was a completely different holiday to anything I've experienced with my own family but I loved it! We even had time to get some thrifting done in both Cromwell and Queenstown, I managed to pick up a surprisingly large amount of pieces, which will be coming to the store later this year.

On our last morning down south, we visited a cute little farmers market in Queenstown central. Ben and I wandered around the fancy artisan food stalls for a while, eventually settling on a classic $3 sausage in bread (never disappoints). I also spotted four miniature schnauzers (!!), so it was a good time.

The last few days of December were spent building our new Christmas Lego sets (yes-Ben and I still build Lego). I also received my absolute dream bag from my parents, a proper hand-tooled leather purse from Hunters & Collectors and she has not left my side since! We celebrated Fran's 19th birthday at the trampoline park (still children). I finally (after two years) got to spend a New Years Eve with Ben, which was amazing. Then, we rang in the new year with a hangover from hell and a mini holiday to Martinborough to stay with my parents.

As I've grown older, Christmas has become less about gifts and the actual celebration of 'Christmas', and more about the people I spend it with. I think this could be said for most people as they leave childhood. So, I'm glad I got to spend December with some of my absolute favourite people!

Bella 🌼

Depop January Preview

It's January-well, it's actually almost February but better late than never! If you followed my blog at all last year then you'll know I love posting lil teaser blogs on pieces you can expect to see in the upcoming months over on my Depop (here). This is a series that always gets great feedback and of course, just helps to build hype around clothing drops over on the store. So, I figured why not carry it into 2020?! Here is your January Depop preview!

After thrifting a ton over in Queenstown and Cromwell during Christmas and picking up some groovy pieces in Masterton too, my stock is actually overflowing. Hence the HUGE sale, which is still very much alive over on my Depop and Insta store! There you'll find 30+ items are still 50% off (which is literally the biggest discount you can give an item on Depop). There are still so many fun pieces left to pick up, so don't miss out!

In the process of clearing old 2019 stock for exciting new pieces, I've also been getting back into regular clothing drops this month. I'd love to start narrowing down some specific days that you all want me to drop clothes on. Having a consistent drop day would be ideal, it's just figuring out what works best for everyone! I've had such a great response already after my little holiday hiatus and it feels so great to finally get back into it.

Over 2019 I learnt so much about the kind of pieces you all love to see on my store and what sells the best. Of course, this is always changing as trends come and go but it's good to have a base to work from at the start of 2020. I know that this year I want to grow, change and develop my store into something completely different. If you read my Summer Updates blog post (here), then you'll know that a new name for my store is very much on the cards! It's something I've been mulling over and brainstorming about for a while because I want it to be perfect. I'm also super keen to start branching out into a lifestyle collection (retro homewares etc), a stronger focus on my vintage 1960s/1970s drops, lookbooks, more consistent drops, a new website and more!! So, it's gonna be an exciting year for Bella Foster Depop!

Thank you to all those that supported my store last year and helped me grow it into something that lets me support myself financially, as well as do what I love! I'm so beyond excited for what's to come this year and I think you're going to love it. So, watch this space...
See my Depop here and Insta store here.

Bella 🌼

What's Happening This Summer / 2019 Reflections

Welcome to 2020! I know everyone says it but I truly can't believe that 2019 is over, it's been a crazy whirlwind of lessons, mistakes and massive achievements for me. At the beginning of the year, I made the decision to officially drop out of high school a year early and ever since I've been riding the sometimes tumultuous wave of freelancing and self-employment. But overall, 2019 has been pretty kind to me, so here are some of my highlights and plans for the near future.

Since leaving school I started my Depop store which after some serious photoshoots, lots of promotion and hard work kind of took off! I plan to write up a separate post entirely on this topic with some stats on my sales for anyone that's interested. But, I'm extremely proud of how much my business has grown in 2019, with over 300 items sold across Depop, Instagram and Facebook. It also enabled me to interact with so many new people, push the boundaries of my creativity and do what I love best as my job; thrifting! This year I hit the op shops so many times I lost count and I scored so many incredible pieces for myself and the store. I plan to continue on this way right into 2020!

The first big plan for my business is to give it a name, the one thing that my store is really lacking is a unique identity. So, I've spent the latter part of this year doing some major brainstorming and trying to find the perfect name for my store. I'll be announcing more on this soon, but I'm super excited about it. I'd also love to set up a website where you can buy pieces directly through PayPal or Apple Pay etc. That way I can really work on churning out more frequent lookbooks and extra bits and bobs along with the regular clothing drops. I've also been looking into trialling a little 'lifestyle collection' with a focus on 1960s/1970s home decor and kitchenware pieces. This would be a branch off my Depop store and something I would advertise more on my Instagram or potential website, but I think it could be a fun idea.

Then, of course, I'll be picking up some incredible thrifted pieces over in Los Angeles, where I'll be travelling by myself for two weeks in March. If you want to read more about this, see my separate post with all the details here. This will be my first international thrifting trip ever and I can't wait to source some truly incredible and unique pieces for you all!

I'll also be travelling and thrifting a little more locally, with an upcoming trip to Dunedin and Alexandra planned! This will be a great opportunity to see my Grandparents over in Alex and spend some time in their incredible mid-century house. I'll also get a ton of op-shopping time, with all of Dunedin to explore too. My travel plans will eventually take me to Perth later this year to visit my uncle, aunt and baby cousin, Mia Bella. I really just want to spend as much time with Mia as possible as she is growing up and if I can get a little thrifting done while I'm over there that's a bonus!

One of the great things about working for myself is that I can really plan trips whenever I feel like it and hopefully fund them by selling clothes and prints that I shoot along the way. Speaking of which, I'll be exhibiting in the 2020 NZ Art Show, along with plenty of other incredible artists. This is something I've done for several years now and it's a great way to get my art out there and make a little extra money too. I'm still in the process of finding some new places to exhibit and lockdown dates to really get going again. Selling art is probably one of the more difficult and confusing branches of my freelance work and something that can be relatively unpredictable. Art is so subjective, so it's really about finding someone who appreciates what I create and wants to help me grow.

For now, I'm trying to sort through my muddled half-holiday brain that's not quite ready to get into things again. But, for me, it's about constantly being stimulated with new and exciting projects that will keep my creative juices flowing! I leave for Dunedin on Monday, so I'll be dropping a ton of new clothes on my store before then and keeping everyone up to date with my travels over on Instagram (here). Here's to a (hopefully) fantastic new decade!

Bella 🌼

California Dreamin

Photos by Fran (here) and Matt (here)

If you've ever read this blog before or you know me in person then you'll probably be aware of my complete obsession and love affair with the city of Los Angeles. I visited California for the first time when I was really young, so I could barely remember it. But when we eventually returned during the Winter of 2015 I truly fell in love. Since then I've only been back twice and every time I leave I'm ready to plan my next trip. Some of you may not know that I actually have family over there, so that's even more of a reason to book a flight. But, a third family trip to Cali isn't looking likely so I've had to take things into my own hands...

Yes-this is my official (very exciting) announcement and something that I've been pondering over, planning and just bursting with excitement over for a while now. I'm going to Los Angeles! By myself! It's terrifying, amazing and so dang exciting, I just can't wait. I've been dreaming of LA ever since my last trip in 2018, which only lasted a few days. So, my flights are officially booked and I'll be heading to the city of angels early March 2020! I'll be staying in an Airbnb (which I'll talk more about when I'm home, for obvious security reasons). I plan to be completely independent, flying, travelling within the city and looking after myself. But it's also nice to know that I'll have family close by if I need a little company.

I'll be in Los Angeles for exactly two weeks, that's two weeks all on my own on the other side of the world. Without my family, friends and Ben I'll be entirely dependant on myself and that's absolutely terrifying. But, I hope that throwing myself into an intense experience like this will give me a confidence boost to travel more in the near future, whether that's solo or with other people.

So, other than trying to not die and maybe catching up with my cousins, what will I be doing? Lots and LOTS of thrifting. This trip is about me and my personal growth but it's also for my business. Last year my Depop and Instagram store brought me an entirely new source of income and it's something I want to continue growing and improving this year. I've thrifted for my store all across New Zealand, with pieces from Auckland, Wellington, Kapiti, Queenstown and more, but this will be my first international thrifting trip!

I also plan to take a ton of photos, so many photos that you'll probably be sick of seeing me pop up on your feed! Some of my most successful prints and photo series' have come from California and I plan to shoot a whole new series while I'm over there. I can never really plan what I'm going to shoot, I just kind of turn up somewhere and start snapping. But, I'm picturing American diners, retro signs, Venice Beach, pastels and that classic warm Cali light that just never gets old.

So, in between thrifting expeditions across the city and plenty of photoshoots, I want to see more of California. I'm currently in the process of trying to figure out a way to bus from Los Angeles to Palm Springs for a day or two. Palm Springs is my all-time favourite place and a spot that I didn't feel I had enough time to fully experience back in 2017. I'd love to spend some quality time there taking pictures, checking out stores and maybe even going on another mid-century house tour! It'll also be great to just soak up the general atmosphere, meet interesting people, eat interesting food and completely step outside of my comfort zone.

Of course, I'll be keeping this blog as up to date as possible and I'll share more with you over the next couple of months leading up to my trip. But, for constant updates, while I'm over there make sure you're following me over on Instagram (here). This experience is going to be crazy, probably stressful at times but overall super exciting. I can't wait to explore a city on my own, with no time constraints or obligations. I'm yet to sort out my full itinerary but I know I'll definitely be visiting the Rose Bowl Flea Market, plenty of Goodwill stores, Santa Monica, Venice Beach and hopefully Palm Springs. I'd love to hear any suggestions or recommendations if you've explored Cali too, just flick me a message I can't wait to share more as the months, weeks and days before my trip count down, so stay tuned!

Bella 🌼