A Treasure Trove
Full of Surprises WORDS DI VON ESSEN For those of you who may have missed it, there's a beautiful new store now open at Hunter Valley Gardens Shopping Village. The brainchild of Ross and Yvonne Welsh, byvonne was created to signify that products made by Yvonne feature prominently in-store. While new to the Hunter Valley, byvonne is not new to being purveyors of all things beautiful. The store was originally situated at The Old Wyong Milk Factory on the Central Coast from 2017 to mid-2021 when the business was closed due to covid restrictions. Ross and Yvonne decided to move further afield during the lockdown, and the Hunter Valley seemed the perfect place to start afresh. Yvonne has always been fascinated by the arts and has expressed herself in various media during her life. She was an award-winning potter for many years, showing at the Royal Easter Show and local Central Coast galleries. She now paints watercolours, designs, and makes jewellery and resin art pieces. Yvonne also makes all the candles for byvonne from the couple's workshop. The products available in the new shop at Hunter Valley Gardens Shopping Village are deliberately slanted towards Australian providers, with a vast proportion handmade in-house. "Candles, jewellery, art pieces, laser engraved cutting boards and food platters, coasters, and home decor are amongst the pieces we make," said Yvonne. "We also stock products from Australian suppliers Fab Slabs (camphor laurel cutting boards), BoldB (handmade jewellery), Bocchetta (plush toys), Cosse (ladies grooming products), Vitaman (gents grooming products), and RIVSALT (salts, spices & kitchen/tableware from around the world). We aim to supply an eclectic range of products and giftware to suit most tastes and all budgets," added Ross. With a particular emphasis on buying 'close to the source', Yvonne says that all of their candles are made from 100% soy wax imported from the U.S.A. to ensure an unadulterated source product. "Each sale from our BoldB Aqua range ensures clean drinking water for one person for a year in Africa and the other ranges contribute to numerous environmental causes. Where it is necessary to import ingredients and products, byvonne tries to ensure that the purchases are made from as close to the source as possible, i.e. seashells from aquaculture plantations in the Philippines, soy wax from the U.S.A., artwork from Fijian village co-operatives, wooden stands from small manufacturers in India, artwork from Borneo villagers," she said. Drop into the store at Hunter Valley Gardens Shopping Village, and you'll find Ross and Yvonne behind the counters – a chance to 'meet the makers' each and every day.
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17 | DEC-JAN 2022 yhv
