Meet the Bobbly Bunnies!

The very first Bobbly Bunny, born on Christmas Eve 2014.

Over Christmas we went to visit some friends who have a 5-year-old daughter. I decided to make her a little present from some bobbly socks that were perfect for sewing. As you can see from the picture, two socks were all I needed to make a cute toy rabbit, and she loved it! When my own daughter was that age, she used to be fascinated by miniature things, so I gave the first Bobbly Bunny a little yellow backpack full of interesting items. I put in a shiny toy trumpet (a Christmas decoration) and some sheet music, a small notebook and a set of mini crayons. These tiny items were such a hit that I later sent a few more, including a map of the London Underground, a photo album (with pictures of bunnies) and an even smaller toy bunny that would fit inside the backpack.

This bunny has a blue felt satchel for her music lessons.

After that first success, I thought it would be fun to make more Bobbly Bunnies, and give them cute little bags full of goodies. I rushed off to buy more bobbly socks, and looked for just the right sort of fabric to make the bags.

Inside her satchel, this bunny has a trumpet, some sheet music and a pink notebook.

It’s fun to think up all sorts of accessories for the bunnies. Some of them play musical instruments. Others carry toys and books, maps, diaries, photo albums and more! I’m wondering whether perhaps I should make each bunny a birth certificate, too…

This bunny has a flowery backpack with a French horn, sheet music and a yellow notebook.

At Hillhead Library in the West End of Glasgow there is a craft fair that’s held once a month as part of The Makers Markets. It’s a great place to find unique hand-made gifts of all sorts, and at the next fair (Saturday the 28th of March, 11:00am to 4:00pm) I’ll have a table laden with my Bobbly Bunnies! There are baby- and toddler-safe bunnies (with soft, stitched faces) and little boy blue bunnies. There are button-eyed bunnies for older kids (4+) and all sorts of bags and accessories that can be mixed-and-matched.

Just a few of the Bobbly Bunnies waiting to meet you!

If you can’t get to the Hillhead Library to meet the Bobbly Bunnies on 28 March, just visit my Contact page and let me know if you’d like one made-to-order for someone special. Hope to see you soon!

Never Bite a Tiger on the Nose!

March 2015 seemed ages away when I was working with the Scottish Book Trust and a group of fun, creative ladies in Fife to produce a picture book on the theme of healthy eating. But now it is nearly upon us! Being Early Years Writer-in-Residence 2013 was a brilliant experience, and I am delighted to announce that our finished book is now in print!

Eilidh Muldoon has done a lovely job with her charming and comical illustrations. I’m sure they will be a huge hit with their target audience, ie. every toddler in Scotland! The Scottish Book Trust will be distributing our book free to thousands of children as part of their Bookbug scheme. It’s a fantastic initiative which encourages a love of reading from an early age, and facilitates the sharing of books between parents and their children.

This was my first collaborative writing project, and I really enjoyed working with the lovely ladies at Home-Start Levenmouth and the great group of mums who helped me formulate the story. If you want to read more about the whole process, we put together a blog about it called The Methil Makars. You can see some of the fun things we did to explore our healthy eating theme, like making food art and visiting the Buckhaven Community Garden.

I am very grateful to everyone at the Scottish Book Trust who helped bring this book to “fruition”! The Early Years team are a great bunch of people and it was a genuine pleasure to work with them. I’m looking forward to seeing them again (and meeting the illustrator Eilidh Muldoon for the first time) at our Book Launch in a few weeks.

And if you missed out on the 2015 distribution of Never Bite a Tiger on the Nose, you can still find a copy on my website HERE.