For as long as we have been in the card business cellowrap has been the standard way of keeping the cards clean. In recent months there has been a lot of publicity about the problems of plastic in the environment, and this has led to many requests that we supply our cards “naked” the term our industry use for cards that are not packed in a cellobag. Looking around we found there were no satisfactory methods to holding the cards, envelopes and address labels together, so we set out to find a solution.
We have come up with the idea of using translucent bands of paper. The straps pull tightly around the cards and held firmly by a peel and seal glue pad.
The bands are narrowest on the front of the cards, and are nearly invisible when looking at the cards in the display racks.
The straps are wider on the back of the cards, allowing us to add extra space for information such as pricing, bar codes and our company logo
The straps do not keep the cards clean like cellobags do, and we are not expecting the smaller independent shops to adopt our new method of presenting naked cards very fast. However we do believe we have found a more elegant solution to presenting naked cards and in coming months you will see other companies adopting this green method we have invented.
Another advantage we had not anticipated is that the bands are so much easier to remove and discard. Opening and extracting cards from bags, and then sorting them in the waste, is actually quite a chore
Traditionally we have also used cellobags to supply our cards to shops in bundles of 6s or 12s. We are now phasing out our use of plastic for bundling cards and using bundle straps instead. Bundle straps are another product developed by Two Bad Mice!
Unfortunately this card is not included for publication. Anita likes the title “Serenity”
(4 X 5 stars + 6 X 4 Stars)
Serenity
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. Really surprised this has been rated so low. I thought Serenity was the perfect title for this card. It is unlikely to be chosen for publication this time.
Chosen for Publication: Anna likes the title “Sky’s the Limit”
This was not very highly ranked, but we are going with it because it is so different from other cards and we now have a good title
Winner Moira Ashley (you have £50 to spend on www.twobadmice.com)
(5 X 5 stars + 4X 4 Stars)
Places I would Go (going Places)
Sky’s the Limit
In Plane Sight
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. This card has a low anking, but ti is original and different which is why we will probably publish it all the same. If it is not to sit on the shelve a good title is important.
Chosen for Publication: Anna likes the title “Moonlight Picnic”
We very nearly went with Red Riding Friend, but Lizzie’s late entry clinched the prize.
winner Lizzie (you have £50 to spend on www.TwoBadMice.com)
(7 X 5 stars + 3 X 4 Stars)
Red Riding Friend
Catching a Ride
A Friendship is Born
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. I think the present title is too bare and adds nothing we do not know, a title that emphasizes the friendship improves this cards worth and use of the image as a greeting?
Unfortunately this card is not included for publication. This card will probably be published in the summer instead when we will have really good selection of titles to choose from and perhaps another winner
(9 X 5 stars + 3 X 4 Stars)
Share your Dreams (Dream Sharing)
Make a Wish
Starry Eyed
Another Super Star
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. Are any of the above titles better than Star Struck?
Unfortunately this card is not included for publication. The other beach card was ranked so much higher by competitors.
(15 X 5 stars + 5 X 4 Stars)
We do like ot be beside the Sea Side
Making a SPLASH
Oceans of Friends
Bay Watch
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. So much difference between this card and Chip by the Sea. Maybe we will hold off publishing this one this time.
Unfortunately this card is not included for publication. Anita likes the title “Soul Mates”
Such a good selection of titles to choose from. We have short listed this for publication in the summer in which case kbwgully will become a winner. kbwgully please keep watching to see if we ever go ahead and use your title!
(10 X 5 stars + 5 X 4 Stars)
Please Say Yes
Lets Hop Together
All Ears
Snuggle Buns
Meeting of Minds
Hoppisites Attract
Fancy a Dance
Made for Each Other
Soul Mates
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. The contributions of ideas really does show how much we gain from these title competitions. So many original idea – so many of them good. We always ask Anita to choose, I have no idea which she will like best. Whats your opinion/
Chosen for Publication Title : Anita chose to change her original title to Fair Lady
Winner JMPerez (£50 to spend on Two Bad Mice.com)
(10 X 5 stars + 5 X 4 Stars)
For You
Foxy Lady
Fair Lady
For Me?
The Answers Yes
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. “The Answers Yes” is very clever, original and fits well, but i am not sure how many people want a card with that on the front? Foxy Lady is an obvious title, personally it is not a phrase i have ever used.
Chosen for Publication Title : Feeding the Sparrows
Alison stayed with her original title. There were some funny ideas but nothing stood out as improving the potential of the card
(10 X 5 stars + 11 X 4 Stars)
Feeding the Sparrows
Oh Crumbs
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. Only Alison, with her quirky humour, can make dark cards that sell? A very high number of 4 stars, not sure how to read that.
Anita was never going to budge from this title, the words came before the title and it makes us all smile.
(12 X 5 stars + 3 X 4 Stars)
Is that your home, or did you just burrow it
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. This title will probably remain unchanged. Anita often likes the captions to be true to the original intentions. I thought “After You, My Dear” very clever but the expression on rabbits faces does not quite work
The title was first suggested before the competition by Julian who works in Two Bad Mice Office
(15 X 5 stars + 5 X 4 Stars)
Games Evening
Me to You
Are you Game
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. This card has done well in the rankings and we have a title which is better than Check Mate as a greeting.
Chosen for Publication Title : Fran has chosen At Home
This title was first suggested by Nikki before the competition who works in our office
(13 X 5 stars + 2 X 4 Stars)
At Home
Home Office
A Night in
All the Comforts
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. We are obviously going to publish this one. We did not want to make it a lockdown card, which si why we went for “at home2 rather than “working from home”
Chosen for Publication Title Anna wants to keep Star Catcher
(14 X 5 stars + 4 X 4 Stars)
Fish upon a Star
Catch a Falling Star
Wish upon a Star
Moon Gazing
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. We expected this to be very highly rated, and that is what happened. Some of the alternative titles are very good. Which works for you?
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. Babysitting is probably first choice, I thought Child’s Play is the clever title because it has two meanings and sums the card up in multiple ways. But perhaps Babysitting is the safe option?
Your views on which title works best are appreciated. This card was put into the competition late, yet it is ranked no 3! People want to associate it with waking up in the morning and seeing something beautiful
Fran grew up in Pembrokeshire with her sister and two brothers. However she recalls spending hours alone in the garden observing snails, insects and tadpoles; she wanted to share their small world. When she was 4 she won a Blue Peter badge in a drawing competition. This, along with her encouraging and creative primary school teacher planted a little seed in her head; she wanted to be an artist. Fran can’t remember ‘not drawing’. She copied Norman Thelwell’s drawings of children on chubby ponies – she started working at a local riding stables at the age of 10 in return for riding lessons, which broadened her understanding of drawing horses.
Fran moved from Pembrokeshire to Llanelli when she was 15 and after ‘A’ levels did a foundation course in Art &Design in Carmarthen. For a while she veered towards ceramics, model-making appealed, but decided it was illustration she wanted to specialise in and went to Exeter to complete a BA in Graphic Design. Here she discovered the work of Arthur Rackham, Brian Froud and Alan Lee, a small stepping stone in developing her own style. Before graduating, representatives from a tile manufacturing company spotted her work. She worked for 6 months designing tiles, whilst living in Cornwall and travelled to Australia. She travelled the country, worked as a crew-member on a whale-watching tall ship, with dressage horses and cared for orphaned wallabies.
On her return to the U.K, she worked on a reserve for the West Wales Wildlife Trust, in a cafe on site, designing interpretation, posters and running children’s workshops. Before becoming a full-time illustrator, Fran worked in a whole-food shop, South American Cafe, as a hotel cleaner, card packer, and as a scenic artist near Chepstow where she learned to make polystyrene walls look ‘old and weathered’. She sold her own hand made cards for a while before approaching her favourite card company whom she had discovered whilst studying in Exeter, ‘Two Bad Mice’ Publishers, then based in London – now in Pembrokeshire. Initially her work was rejected but persistence prevailed and she now produces images for cards, ceramics and wrapping paper; which are distributed worldwide.
A commission for a poster from the Welsh Books Council resulted in her first picture book with Gomer Press in West Wales. She has also been commissioned by Andre Deutsch and Piccadilly Press in London, Templar in Surrey, Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission, A.Vogel in Ireland, and has had work commissioned from Tasmania. She has written and illustrated several childrens books. Fran occasionally works in schools where she talks about her books and provides illustration workshops.
Fran returned to live in Pembrokeshire in 1999 and lives with her partner, two sons and two dogs near the Cleddau Estuary.
Lisa D’Andrea is an award-winning illustrator who lives and works in Padua. She spent her childhood in northern Italy and has devoted herself to drawing and painting ever since. After graduating from college in the humanities, she went to the International School of Comics of Padua. Since 2015, her work has been selected for many awards and exhibitions. In 2016 she took part in the travelling collective exhibition for the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
To the moon and back – illustration by Anita Jeram
Perhaps once in every generation an artist will stamp their personality on to a children’s book. In the 1990’s that book was “Guess How Much I Love you” by Sam McBratney which is as with much loved for its illustrations as its words.
Many of our greatest Children’s Classics have been born as a collaboration between writer and illustrator. When we think of Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll 1865) we always imagine John Tenniel’s illustrations of the little girl with flowing blond hair:
Alice in Wonderland original study
Original study for Alice 1864 from Houghton Library
When we think of Beatrix Potter’s books images of Peter Rabbit, Mrs Tiggywinkle and Jemima Puddle Duck come flowing into our minds
We cannot imagine Wind in the Willows (by Kenneth Grahame1908) without simultaneously remembering E H Shepard’s pictures of Toad
Toad of Taod Hall
Toad of Toad Hall by E H Shepard 1908
If we think of Winnie the Pooh (by A A Milne 1926) we again think of E H Shepard’s illustrations
Pooh and Piglet by E H Shepard 1926
Peggy Fortnum has cemented her images of Paddington bear on to Michael Bond’s words
‘A Bear Called Paddington’ illustration Peggy Fortnum 1958
and when we think of Guess How Much I Love You by Sam MacBratney we immediately conjure up Anita Jeram’s pictures of The Little Nut Brown Hare with his dad. The book is already a classic that children who grew up in the 1990s are now sharing with their own children.
the Little Nutbrown Hare with his father
In many peoples’ mind Anita’s illustrations and Two Bad Mice cards are inseparable. We have sold about 25 million of Anita’s cards across the world since we started working with Anita in 1994. Most Greeting Cards have a shelf life of five years or less before they are discontinued and become the forgotten Ephemera of our pasts. Anita’s cards have broken that rule, for instance Cloud Watching which was released in 1997, is still a best seller in 2019.
I was born in a sunny city in Eastern Europe. A lot of my childhood I spent at the backstage of the family puppet theatre where I used to grow up with the puppets and sets of each new performance. I would make stories about the characters that were different from the plot of the plays. At first I was shorter than the puppets, then finally got taller. It’s probably when it started – I see a personal story in each object or creature and this I convey in my illustrations and texts.
Back home I was surrounded by my dad’s paints and pictures. I used to play with sketchbooks, which I continually filled with my crayons, page after page of big smiling suns with thick hairs of colourful rays. In a sense my art hasn’t changed that much – the world I create is bright and happy, my characters who are often animals are friendly and naïve, they sometimes live in a human-like environment and have human-like thoughts and dreams. My pictures are detailed and have many ‘mini-stories’ to discover, one can look and imagine what the characters are like and what their dreams are. I also like to explore a world of animal – human relationships. I like to create pictures and stories that are ageless, that would be interesting and amusing and at the same time valid for the children and also the adults. I have an interest in using traditional painting / drawing materials such as watercolour and gouache or pen and ink but also work on Photoshop to maximize my work’s finish.
I spent the summers in a remote mountainous village in Bulgaria. We didn’t have a TV or internet there and I played in the mud near the river. My dad used to bring home frogs, lizards or turtles for me to play with; sometimes snakes (the snakes he put in empty glass bottles). My first ever sentence was ‘My dad brought me a frog, lizard and one more frog’. Growing up with no brothers or sisters I shared my childhood and my nursery with a cat and a dog – we were only apart when I went to school. I used to draw them all the time and study their characters and behaviour. Very young I managed to sell some of these drawings and donated all the money to a homeless animals charity. I love all animals and if I hadn’t become an artist, I probably would have been a vet.
I went to school in Sofia where I studied at the National School for Fine Art where I studied for five years and was trained in classical techniques and subjects. After that I continued my art education and gained a BA in Fine & Art and Mural Painting from the National Academy of Arts in 2008. I now live in England and since moving here have been working on children’s book illustrations and also on greetings cards for Two Bad Mice.
One of my most favourite things are puddles (of which you get a lot in England) – maybe this is quite understandable having in mind I spent a lot of time playing in muddy ponds. I love watching them, I love to discover the landscape in them and study the different point of view, I like to jump over them and to watch how people react when they meet them. But I’m still in love with the sun and the warm weather and weather and time permitting I try to do some gardening – being an amateur gardener though I often end up tending for a plant that is not quite the one I thought it was. I like to find seeds and plant them to see what will grow from them. My working table is never big enough (even when I buy a new larger one) and is covered in sketches, paints, pencils, books, dry leaves and all sorts, but there’s always room for another cup of tea – for a friend.
We (Julian and Mami, the two founders of Two Bad Mice) discovered Anita Jeram’s artwork in 1994 in an Islington Bookshop. Her illustrations for the first Guess How Much I Love You book had just been published
To the moon and back – illustration by Anita Jeram
This is a new page which is still under construction
Made in the UK for you
We are working on a new concept which will enable customers to buy made-to-order bespoke ceramics. This way we can offer a far wider choice of designs and products at very competitive prices. Further more we will be able to work more intimately with British factories to provide items that are wholly made in the UK.
There are draw backs
The products are not off-the-shelf and will take a few weeks to reach you
They will not be gift boxed
We have a minimum order value of £100 plus postage
Using our “Drag and Shop” software you will be able to put together images on the objects you want. At first, whilst we are testing this new way of making products, the choice will be very limited, but if the service is popular we will add a wider range of ceramic products and a bigger image library
We are starting with bone china pasta dishes made by Duchess China in Stoke on Trent. You can also use the images on mugs and bowls used for our current ranges of off-the-shelve ceramics. To illustrate the concept we have put together this example.
The image called Swan No 5 is used on the Pasta dish + Large bowl (cereal) + Medium bowl + Medium sized mug.
It would also be possible to tile your kitchen with the same Swan images. Maybe in a pattern like this?
Of course not everyone wants Swans. We already have a number of images ranges
One day we might also be able to add fabrics as well.
Amongst the new ranges are blue and white ceramics are two ranges that feature birds, and make ideal gifts for Bird lovers.
One range features garden birds. So far we have only released the Robin and the Blue tit
Gifts for bird lovers
and the other Swans
Gifts for Swan lovers
Blue and white is suitable to be put on many things, maybe we can team up with a pottery and produce, pasta plates, teapots and ceramic boxes. We expect to expand the two ranges in the near future!
Go to this page to find pages where you can buy gifts for bird watchers
Two Bad Mice have strong links with the dance world. Mami, my Japanese wife and partner in the business, is a classical ballet dancer who still does her barre work every day and keeps her body trim. Even though she is in her mid sixties she is still performing solo works on stage. I also have links with the dance world as I learnt to draw from moving figures. In fact we met in a dance studio where I would visit to draw in ballet classes.
Mami has a private website showing her videos, photographs and my drawings.
Mami Usami Williams, director of Two Bad Mice is still performing on stage
We have a wide range of cards and gifts for badger lovers and a number of branches of the Badgers Trust stock our cards for their shops. We live in Pembrokeshire West Wales and badgers are very common in our neighbourhood, in fact there is a local badger who comes through the cat flap into our home to steal the cat food!
Most of our badger cards are by Fran Evans, a local artist who lives down the road. The other artist who includes badges in her work is Anita Jeram.
Fine Bone china is well known for its whiteness, strength and the glossy finish of its glazes. The whiteness and strength are derived from the whiteness of the substrate. The glossiness is because the bone china glazes melt at the same temperature as the colours of the decals, meaning the colours fuse into the glaze producing a gorgeous glossy finish. By comparison porcelain stood next to fine bone china will look less brilliant, however the beauty of bone china comes with a penalty; as they age the physically softer glazes used on bone china collect more micro scratches which makes them stain more easily.
There are some people who wash their cups immediately after finishing their cup of tea. I am not like that. I am really lazy and will leave mugs around the office full of tea that has gone cold. Afterwards I rinse them lightly before making another cup, so my mugs get really badly stained. For years we have been trying out all sorts of remedies to clean the tea stains that accumulate in our bone china mugs. These remedies usually involved a lot of scrubbing and it has always been a bit of a chore to get the brilliance back.
Astonish Cup Clean
Recently a customer told me about a product called Astonish Cup Clean that restores the mugs to looking as good as new with almost no scrubbing. The product can be bought online from Amazon
This is how bad my mugs get after a few weeks of mistreatment around the office.
Looking as good as new!
All you need to do is fill your mug with boiling water and add one teaspoon of the powder. This is the same mug after being soaked for ten minutes in Astonish Cup Clean. The brilliance of the colours and glazes are fully restored.
Other Ways to Clean Bone China
1. Denture tablets: Use in the same way as you use Astonish cup clean; fill the cup with hot water and add quarter of a denture tablet and leave. (Maybe it is the same chemical?)
2. Magic cleaners: The brand we use is Doktor Power magic eraser. You don’t need soap but you will need to rub the surfaces quite hard to remove the stains
3. Lemon juice: Never tried this and I think it will not work for deeply engrained stain: Fill the mug with hot water and add a wedge of lime or lemon. Leave to stand for an hour.. Some people scrub with salt and lemon rind
4. Vinegar: Heat 1 cup of vinegar over medium heat until hot. Soak the mug in the hot vinegar for 4 hours or overnight.
5. Baking Soda: Make a thick paste of baking soda and a little bit of water. Apply this to the stains and then scrub with a scrub brush or sponge. This may have to be done more than once
In October 2016, when the Kanneh-Mason Children were generally unknown, we invited the family to make some videos at Lampeter House. Since that time Sheku and Isata have burst on the classical music scene and both are now superstars in the classical music world that have topped the classical music charts. Sheku played at Megan and Harry’s royal wedding . These are the videos we made when they came to Lampeter house and they the family as they were before stardom struck.
This is a drawing I made of Sheku who is the third of seven Kanneh-Mason children. In 2016 Sheku was crowned BBC Young Musician and the Year.
Sheku Rees Kanneh-Mason. In those days Sheku had a distinctive mop of hair and looked cool. Drawing by Julian Williams
Following his success Sheku was invited to perform at two BBC Prom concerts and signed a contract to make CDs with Decca. Within a couple of years he had sold more CDs than Julian Lloyd Webber and was travelling to perform all over the world.
Sheku Kanneh Mason publicity Photograph
Sheku has a beautiful elder sister who has a huge smile who wears her plaited hair as a mantle threaded with gold. Isata (pronounced Ice-i-ta), reached the piano finals in BBC Young Musician of the Year 2014 and was awarded The Walter Todds Bursary for the most promising musician not to reach the Grand Final (she was unlucky to come up against the overall winner in the finals of the piano section). Isata studied at the Royal Academy of Music and is well on the way to becoming a international concert pianist. I always think she plays from the heart and looks like an Egyptian queen.
Isata Megan Kanneh-Mason
This is a picture of the seven children:
The Kanneh-Mason Children in 2016
The Kanneh-Mason children have exotic Sierra Leonian names; Sheku (cello, 17), Isata (pianist, 20), Braimah (violinist, 18), Mariatu (cello and piano 7), Konya (piano and violin 15), Jeneba (piano and cello 13), and Aminata (Violin and Piano 11).
Kadiatu (Kadie) and Stuart Kanneh Mason with Sheku and Braimah (2015 Nottingham Post)
The Nottingham family are a rich cultural mix; Kadiatu’s mother is Welsh and married to a man from Sierra Leone, their English father Stuart has parents who immigrated from Antigua. The family rejoice in their cultural diversity, they all have Welsh names and continue their close ties with Wales, the Caribbean and Sierra Leone. Both of their parents have always loved classical music and learnt to play the piano as children, so it was a natural decision for them to buy a piano after their first child was born; Kadiatu also played the clarinet as a child and is an academic whilst Stuart has a physics degree and masters degree in maths. Stuart commutes to work in London from Nottingham, instead of buying smart cars and other luxuries every penny the family earns has been channelled into giving their children the best opportunities in life. Isata chose the piano which seems to have influenced the other children to follow her into musical careers.
When we met the Kanneh-Masons at the Tenby Arts Festival in 2015 we were blown away and became instant fans. We have got to know this lovely family better after they gave a concert at Lampeter House in the Spring 2016. A few weeks ago they came and recorded You Tube videos in our home, these are the results (it is essential to listen through good speakers):
Personally I find it most moving to see the whole family playing together
The Kanneh-Masons Six – Medley
but they are all virtuosic and play solos or together in smaller groups. In these two videos Sheku plays duets with his elder brother Braimah who is studying the violin at Royal Academy of Music.
Braimah and Sheku – Bloch Prayer from Jewish life
Braimah and Sheku – Ajde Jano
When the three eldest perform together they call themselves “The Kanneh-Mason Trio”. It is worth looking up you tube videos of their performances of Shostakovitch. For us they played Rachmaninov Trio élégiaque No.1
The Kanneh-Mason Trio Rachmaninov Trio élégiaque No.1
Shekus’ younger sisters, Konya and Jeneba, are both accomplished pianists. Konya was not satisfied with her recording of Debussy, it sounded ravishing but she insists it was flawed. This is Jeneba (13) playing a Chopin’s Etude Op.10, No.4
Jeneba Kannah Mason – Chopin Etude Op.10, No.4
We also made videos of Isata and Sheku playing a duet
Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Masons – Gaspo Cassadó – Requiebros
and two pieces of Isata playing solo
Isata Kanneh-Masons – Rossini/Ginzburg Cavatina of Figaro
Isata Kanneh-Mason – Liszt Les jeux d’eau à la villa d’este
The Kanneh-Masons have an official website: http://www.kannehmasons.com/. BBC have made a documentary about the Kanneh-Masons that is called Young, Gifted and Classical to be screened on November 20 on BBC4We could not have made these videos without the help of Alberto Bona of Arepo Productions and Nick Swannell (sound engineer)
Postscript:
I am not particularly knowledgeable about music, often I have to work harder than others to track the melodies, rhythms and musical structures in complex classical pieces, but the emotional rewards are always worth it. From the moment I first saw this family I was a fan, this is why:
Music is found in all cultures however primitive or isolated. It is as if nature has encoded Music into our DNA and it is as essential to humanity as language and speech. Some years ago I read a book, “The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body” by Prof Steven Mithen, in which he posited that music and singing were precursors to language. He painted an image of groups of Neanderthals without language abilities dancing, grunting and warbling around their hearths for tens of thousands of years until the language speaking Homo sapiens arrived to Southern Europe with cave painting and sculpture. He suggested that musical activity in our hominid ancestors generated empathy and set off a chain of brain development that in Homo sapiens mutated into our abilities for “theory of mind”, intensely complex self knowledge, social and cultural cohesion, and that from these musical beginnings language was born. Music led to the development of language followed by the big bang of creativity that led to agriculture and civilisation.
Mithen was speculating and maybe he is wrong, but his point is a good one; music harmonises emotions across audiences in extremely powerful ways. This trait was well known to ancient generals who marched their armies to music in the safe knowledge that this will make their soldiers more comradely and willing to sacrifice their lives for each other and their tribes, in our present day society music still has a strong place in rituals that bring marriages, families, tribes and nations together; what would the Olympics be like without the collective playing of each other’s national anthems from around the world? In my quest to improve my drawing I had an idealistic view that art has a good purpose, as I have grown older I have come to see that purpose to be about reaching inside each other’s minds and sharing qualia in a mingling of spirits, but I have never been so naive as to believe that producing or loving good art automatically equates with having a well developed sense of humanity. Tyrants like Stalin loved the ballet and Hitler loved watercolours and architectures, but the humanising effects of art were not enough to stop them being responsible for the deaths of millions of there fellow citizens. This is a sad fact; Art’s power to bring us together in a mingling of our spirits can be embraced, ignored, subverted and misused. My conclusion has been that art, like speech, comes with responsibility. I have always questioned goodness and badness in art and often asked myself if there is such a thing as purity in art?
The Kanneh Masons are fascinating to know. The family seem to be bonded in a warm glow of empathy and cooperation. The eldest sister started the process, but now they are all in it together, sharing tunes, unifying melodies and harmonies within their family. In the little time I have been with them I have witnessed this depth of communication and extreme closeness. They are not unique, they are ordinary people, but it has been wonderful to watch what has happened inside their family which seems to me to be one of the purest expressions of “good art” I have ever experienced. In this troubled world we need more families like the Kanneh-Masons and more “good art”.
At Two Bad Mice we have many cards and gifts for dog lovers.
m201
Dogs are a great subject for humour. Anita and Alison both get this.
It is often difficult to find a good gift or card for a man. Often cards with dogs are man cards, for instance Anita Jeram’s Laid Back Kinda Guy is a good card for the man about the house.
M99 Laid Back Kinda Guy
If you are looking for a gift for a dog loving man then you should look at our large sized mugs; NLM99 Laid Back Kinda Guy
Alison Friend has a lot of fun with dogs; she has them playing the piano. And ideal card for a musician who loves dogs. not being able to control the sheep
When you think of Anita Jeram you are quite likely think of her illustrations for the Children’s classic Guess How Much I Love You (Walker Books 1995). This charming book, which tells of the love between a father and his son the Little Nutbrown Hare, has sold 28million copies in 53 languages. The book is as famous for its pictures of hares as it is for the text.
It was through this wonderful book that we discovered the work of Anita Jeram
Guess How Much I Love You (Walker Books) Illustration by Anita Jeram
We have an agreement with Walker Books that we will not commission Anita to make cards with Hares that could be confused with her book, but we publish a lot of images of Rabbits by Anita Jeram. Anita’s rabbits are every bit as cute, cuddly and full of expression as her illustrations of Guess. Consequently Two Bad Mice have a wide range cards and gifts featuring Anita’s rabbits.
Our top performing card and mug of all time is Cloud Watching
by Julian Williams (founder director of Two Bad Mice)
I am currently working on a range of cards and gifts for bird lovers. It is a project that will be spread across a number of years. Creating something new is always a journey along a road that is never straight. The unexpected problems become detours that take us to new destinations we never envisaged when we set out .
My range of cards and ceramics will be centred on the birds many of us are familiar with in Northern Europe. I am choosing birds we see visiting our bird tables and on our walks in the parks of our towns and cities. Amongst Britain’s commonest birds is the Great Tit Parus parus. These lively nosey bossy birds have a huge range from North Africa in the South to Norway in the North, Ireland in the West to Korea and Japan in the East, and will be familiar to many of our customers.
The images start as a page of pencil drawings. I make the sketches using videos and from photographs. Once I have made a few drawings and got a feeling for the bird I can invent additional poses. I then scan the pencil drawings so that I can be amalgamated on a single sheet and worked with digitally.
I have no confidence as a painter, but in recent years I have begun to learn how to use painting software platforms like Photoshop and Corel Painter. Instead of using paint brushes I use a digipen which is like using a pencil on a big flat screen. Digipens are programmed to mimic the behaviour and properties of real brushes in very sophisticated ways.
There are hundreds of different digital brushes to choose from. Each brush has its own characteristics which can be adjusted and changed, for instance the digital paint can be made to behave as if it is thick or watery. I can ask the brushes to react as if it is painting over wet paint that mixes and smears with new colours. Alternatively I can apply the colour with a brush that behaves with the soft and floppy properties of a fine sable watercolour brush. The watercolour brushes add translucent colours that run and dribble over the wrinkles and dips of textured papers. A big advantage of working with digital brushes is that the screen can zoom out so that the artist can apply broad strokes of colour across the whole canvas and then be asked to zoom in to blow up a small area where detailed work is required.
I use a watercolour brush carrying translucent yellows and bluey-greeny-greys on top of pencil drawing . The basic colours are applied to all the images in a matter of minutes and I now have a small library of birds in different poses to choose from.
greeting cards for bird lovers great tits by Julian Williams Parus major sketch
The next stage of the process is to paint some branches for the birds.
The outlines of the alder branches are painted directly on the flat screen. I am working on making an abstract pattern that distributes the vertical drops of the catkins, against the rambling branches and the birds which are dropped in front of the of the branches. In this case I have a layer for the birds, a layer for the branches The flying bird can be dragged and resized to a position where it will show on the front side of the mug, his partner will be on the back.
You might notice that I have added more layers of smeary paint to the birds so they no longer look like water colours. More paint is applied to add colour and fill out the branches.
Lastly I add watery blue background which sits on a layer behind the birds and branches.
This design is now ready to be printed out on a desktop printer and wrapped around mug so that I will see how the item will look after it has been manufactured.
mock up of great tit mug
Other birds
So far I have made twelve mock ups included Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Swallows, Robins, Wrens, Mute Swans, Blue Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Coal tits, Bull Finches, Gold Crest. Here are a few samples of the designs
Blue Tits
Chaffinches
Goldfinches
Nuthatches
Here is a selection of how the mock ups look so far
Cards of Bird Watchers
A big advantage of digital painting is that we can re-use an image we have made for one prupose for another purpose. For instance the painting I made for a mug can be modified by changing changing the arrangements of the pieces, adding details, resizing and adding new layers. When I want to make a card I can reposition the elements image so that they work on a new portrait format. In this instance I also change the background too.
My image is finished, the last job is to research on the internet and find out interesting facts about the birds for the backs of the cards. This card was released in July 2019.
and here are some more images from the same series
Ceramics for Bird Lovers
NMB129 SPARROW & BLOSSOM by Julian Williams
KBMB29 Sparrows and Blossom by Julian Williams
SMPJ2 Sparrows & Cherry Blossom Memo Pad by Julian Williams
Two Bad Mice has a wide selection of gifts for cat lovers. This is because Mami, my partner and fellow director at Two Bad Mice, is bonkers about cats. At the time of writing she has five cats in the house and another six hangers-on that come to the door for her gracious charity. Our interest in cats is reflected in the selection of ceramics, greeting cards and other products that feature cats.
Perhaps you are looking for a gift for a man who love cats? This hamper includes a large apron, over gloves, a tea towel, a large mug and greeting card
This small 200 ml mug might be a suitable gift for a cat loving child
Small Mug – Basketful of Kittens by Anita Jeram
and of course there are dozens of cat cards by Anita, and dozens more containing images of rabbits, mice, dogs, hamsters and badgers. You really need to go to our website to look through her cards! www.twobadmice.com
Guess How Much I Love You illustrated by Anita Jeram (Walker Books 1994)
Biography of Anita Jeram
Biography of Anita Jeram
Anita was born in 1965 and brought up in Portsmouth. After leaving school she worked at a factory, shop and at a kennel. Her early ambition was to work with animals but she soon realised that without more academic qualifications it would be difficult to advance her career. In 1986 she married Andrew Jeram whom she had known from her school days and was then living in Manchester where he was studying palaeontology and the physiology of fossil scorpions.
Anita had always loved making drawing of animals. Her husband would come across these drawings around the house. One day, after finding a particularly lovely picture of a kitten in the kitchen, he urged her to take her talent more seriously. This conversation led her to apply to join an Art and Illustration course at Manchester Polytechnic. Her tutor on the course was David Hughes, an illustrator, who took the promising work of his pupil to Walker Books who shortly afterwards offered her a contract. Her first book, Bill’s Belly Button, was published in 1991 a year after she graduated.
Anita has written and illustrated her own books as well as worked with other children’s authors (see list below). Anita’s most famous illustrations are the ones she has done for the best selling classic Guess How Much I Love You written by Sam McBratney which has sold 28 million copies and been translated into 53 different languages. The directors of Two Bad Mice discovered the illustrations for Guess How Much I Love You in a bookshop in Islington, a few months later Anita started working with Two Bad Mice (1996). At Two Bad Mice she established a reputation and big fan following for her witty cards (to date 20 million cards have been sold in many countries across the world). More recently Anita has designed ranges of ceramics and gift products.
Anita’s original works are sold through The Illustration Cupboard, Children’s Book Illustration and Francis Iles Gallery. The success of Guess never went to her head, she lives a quiet private life with her husband and three children and many animals near the coast. She does not accept private commissions because she is already very busy and wants more time to enjoy with her family.
Biography of Anita Jeram – Books
Bill’s Belly Button (1991) It Was Jake (1991) The Most Obedient Dog in the World (1993) All Pigs are Beautiful (by Dick King-Smith 1993) My Hen is Dancing (by Karen Wallace 1993) I Love Guinea Pigs (by Dick King-Smith 1994) Guess How Much I Love You (by Sam McBratney 1994) Contrary Mary (1995) Daisy Dare (1995) Puppy Love (by Dick King-Smith 1997) Animal Friends ( by Dick King-Smith 1997) Birthday Happy Contrary Mary (1998) Bunny, My Honey (1999) All Together Now (1999) In Every Tiny Grain of Sand (contributed illustrations 2000) Kiss Goodnight, Sam (by Amy Hest 2001) Don’t You Feel Well, Sam ( by Amy Hest 2001) I Love My Little Storybook (2002) You Can Do It, Sam (by Amy Hest 2003) You’re All My Favourites (by Sam McBratney 2004) The Little Nutbrown Hare stories (by Sam McBratney 2007) Little Chick (2009 by Amy Hest)
Anita Jeram’s Illustrations
Perhaps once in every generation an artist will stamp their personality on to a children’s book. In the 1990’s that book was “Guess How Much I Love you” by Sam McBratney which is as with much loved for its illustrations as its words.
Many of our greatest Children’s Classics have been born as a collaboration between writer and illustrator. When we think of Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll 1865) we always imagine John Tenniel’s illustrations of the little girl with flowing blond hair:
Original study for Alice 1864 from Houghton Library
When we think of Beatrix Potter’s books images of Peter Rabbit, Mrs Tiggywinkle and Jemima Puddle Duck come flowing into our minds
We cannot imagine Wind in the Willows (by Kenneth Grahame1908) without simultaneously remembering E H Shepard’s pictures of Toad
Toad of Toad Hall by E H Shepard 1908
If we think of Winnie the Pooh (by A A Milne 1926) we again think of E H Shepard’s illustrations
Pooh and Piglet by E H Shepard 1926
Peggy Fortnum has cemented her images of Paddington bear on to Michael Bond’s words
‘A Bear Called Paddington’ illustration Peggy Fortnum 1958
and when we think of Guess How Much I Love You by Sam MacBratney we immediately conjure up Anita Jeram’s pictures of The Little Nut Brown Hare with his dad. The book is already a classic that children who grew up in the 1990s are now sharing with their own children.
The Little Nutbrown Hare with his father
In many peoples’ mind Anita’s illustrations and Two Bad Mice cards are inseparable. We have sold about 25 million of Anita’s cards across the world since we started working with Anita in 1994. Most Greeting Cards have a shelf life of five years or less before they are discontinued and become the forgotten Ephemera of our pasts. Anita’s cards have broken that rule, for instance Cloud Watching which was released in 1997, is still a best seller in 2019.
Cloud Watching by Anita Jeram 1997
New Work for Cloud Watching by Anita Jeram
Anita has reworked her original ideas to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this card. In 2018 a whole range of Cloud Watching products; stationery, notebooks, paper pads, even umbrellas were released by Bekking and Blitz (Holland).
Anita’s work for Two Bad Mice has a different emphasis from the work she does for Walker Books her children’s book publishers. When Anita paints for Two Bad Mice she always has an adult audience at the forefront of her mind. Her jokes and images catch the attention of all age groups.
Selection of Bears by Anita Jeram
Twice a year we ask her for new ideas for cards. A few days later a package will arrive with perhaps ten sheets of closely packed illustrations with titles. These sheets are always a joy to receive and the number of ideas so prolific that we have trouble choosing which ones to use.
Sometimes, when we later come back to these pages, we find new jokes we did not notice first time round. Perhaps it is just our memory could not hold on to so many ideas all arriving at once.
Anita also makes illustrations for ceramics, like this one for a small mug called Fruit Tea.
Design for Fruit Tea Mug
Anita’s works are often well composed very pretty.
Cat’s Rule OK by Anita Jeram for Two Bad Mice
and when she wants it her work is elegant
idea for tiles by Anita Jeram
But Anita’s primary interest does not seem to be centred on colour, composition, elegance or even humour. What makes her work different and interesting is the nuanced psychology that always embellishes her pictures with added meaning. In this picture the cat attention and thoughts are very clearly explained, what is extraordinary is the bird’s eye, which even though it is half hidden behind the wire of the cage seems to let us know what is going on inside the birds head too. This level of expression is very rare in illustrators.
We have only met Anita a few times, and we have always discovered her to be shy and quiet. At first she seems a different person from the one we see coming forward in her artwork, she is definitely humble. Suddenly she will make a quip that mirrors the humour and focus that is in her picture. Her pictures reflect her personality exactly, it is just that you cannot see her meekness in them.
Recently Anita has kindly embarked with us on a series of big projects expanding the range of products in new areas of interest. We have been working on bowls, linen, new mug shapes and tiles for Kitchen’s and Bathrooms.
I have collated every scrap of information on to sheets, all the information is being scrutinised very carefully. Often your reasons for not wanting to buy a card are as informative and your reasons for liking a card, we know which cards to print in lower quantities and get clearer insights about how the cards are being used. As an entrant I thought you might enjoy an abbreviated summary in which the cards are sorted in order of popularity. Prizes winner will be announced in a later email
Silvery Moon by Fran Evans
3 star 21 / 2 star Amongst title ideas: “Some Enchanted Evening” and “Silvery Moon”
3 star 21 / 2 star 6 Title ideas included Badgers Drift and Busy Bees
3 star x 21 / 2 star x 6 Title Ideas include Only Ewe and Black Sheep
3 star x 21 2 star x 5 Title Ideas include Big Hugs and Let’s Cuddle
3 star 21 2 star 5 Title Ideas include How to make a cup of Coffee and Barista Boys
3 Star x 21 2 star x 5 Title Ideas Include Family Album and Baby Days
3 stars x 20 / 2 stars x 9 / Title Ideas Include Have you Heard and Smile Now
3 Stars x 20 / 2 stars x 6 / Title Ideas include Winter’s Feast and Let’s Do Lunch
3 stars x 20 / 2 stars x 6 / Title Ideas Include Everyone Welcome and Lazy Days of Summer
3 star x 19 / 2 star x 5 / Title Ideas include Green Paws and Pottering around
3 star x 18 / 2 star x 8
3 star 17 / 2 star 12 / Title Ideas include Swan Lake and Mated for Life
3 Stars x 17 / 2 stars 11 / title Ideas include Ocean’s Bounty and Shoaling
3 Star x 17 / 2 star x 8 / Title ideas include Springtime and Sing Your Heart Out
3 star 16 / 2 star 7 / Title Ideas include Special Delivery and Nice to Keep in Touch
3 star x 16 / 2 star x 6 / title Ideas include Thinking of You and You’re Always on my mind
3 Star x 15 / 2 Star x 15 / Title Ideas include Lets Dance and Who Spiked the Tea
3 star x 15 / 2 star x 12 / Title Ideas include Let’s Adventure and Stepping Stones
3 Star x 15 / 2 star x 11 / Title ideas include Still Life and Going Potty
3 star x 15 / 2 star x 10 / Title ideas My Cherry Blossom and Time to Chatter
3 stars x 15 / 2 stars x 9 / Title Ideas A Special Guest and Guess who’s coming to Dinner?
3 Star x 15 2 star x 9 / Title Ideas One of a Kind and On the Lookout
3 stars 15 / two stars 7 / Title ideas include Sweet Reward and Red Berries
3 stars x 14 / 2 stars x 9 / Title ideas Fine Dining and The Good Life
3 star x 14 / 2 star x 11/ You’re the Best and Pick of the Crop
3 star x 13 / 2 star x 13
3 star x 13 / 2 star x 10 Suggested Title – Happiness in Blue and Yellow
3 stars x 13 / 2 stars x 10 / Title ideas Yummy and Purrfect Soup
3 stars x 12 / 2 stars x 10 / Title Ideas A Rooftop Picnic and House Sitting
3 stars x 12 / 2 stars x 8 / Title ideas include Hear my Song and Welcome to the World
3 stars x 11 / 2 stars x 9 / Title ideas include Thistle Tweakers
3 star x 11 / 2 star x 10 / Title ideas include Butterfly Chase and Gently Does it
3 star x 10 / 2 star x 12 / Title ideas include Feather Fun and Lets Party
3 star x 10 / 2 star x 10 / Title ideas include Queen for a Day and I had the worst nights Sleep
3 star x 10 / 2 star x 12 / Title ideas include A Place in the Sun and Pottering Around
3 stars x 9 / 2 stars x 10 / Title ideas include By the Light…. and Moonlight rendezvous
3 stars x 9 / 2 stars x 7 / Title ideas include Travelers Tales and Are we There Yet
Below are all the suggested titles for the picture below
There are some very funny and original ideas for titles. I liked “Who Let The Dogs Out?â€Â “The Kennel Club†or “No, I Haven’t Brought My Human Out Tonightâ€
We made a practical choice “Cheers!â€. It is not the funniest but it was the most popular suggestion and it is the sort of title that works well for a card sender.
We cannot divide the prize between twenty winners, so we have decided to award a free mug to the seven entrants who correctly added the exclamation mark. These winners will each receive a mug of their choice sent to their homes. The names of the winners are: Jane Keating, Liza Mcquaid, Anna James, Ashlee Mccune, Lesley Noble, Moira Ashley, Anne Thomas-Ferrand
This is a full list of the titles
A Dog Walks Into A Bar…
A Doggie’s Do
A Dog’s Dinner
A Dog’s Night Inn
A Dog’s Night Out
A Drink Between Friends
A Happy Gathering
A Job Well Done, Cheers!
A Night With The Boys
A Pack Of Friends
A Shaggy Dog Story
A Toast To Our Friendship
Among Best Friends
Anyone For Pool?
At The Fox And Hound
Bar Stool Woofers
Bar Tending
Bar Terrier
Best Of Luck Mate
Best Of Mates
Better Than A Water Bowl
Blokes Night Out
Bonding Time
Bottoms Up
Bottoms Up
Bottoms Up!
Bottoms Up!
Boys Booze Up
Busy Evening At The Dog´S Inn
Called To The Bar
Canine Capers
Canine Drinks
Catch Up
‘Catching Up’
Cheers
Cheers
Cheers
Cheers
Cheers
Cheers
‘Cheers’
Cheers Big Ears
Cheers My Dears!
Cheers To Us All Cheers! Cheers! Cheers! Cheers! Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!
Cheers?
Chillin’ And Swillin’!
Chilling And Swilling!
Chilling Out With The Boys
Chin-Chin
Cock Tails Bar
Come Here Often?
Discussing The Day
Do You Come Here Often
Do You Come Here Often?
Do You Take Walkies Here Often?
Dog Friendly
Dog Friendly
Dog Tales
Dog Talk
Dog Walks Into A Bar
Doggie Down Time.
Doggie Heaven
Doggy Bar
Dogs Bar
Dog’s Dinner
Dogs Only
Dogtail Bar
Dogtail Hour
Dogtails
Don’t Drink And Bite
Down At The Local
Down The Dog And Hound.
Drink To Me Only
Drinks Are On Me!
Drinks With Special Friends
Enjoying A Sniffter
Evening Meeting
Fancy A Drink?
Foxy Lady!
Fueling Up For Alkies
Going To The Dogs
Good To See You…
Great Times With Friends
Hair Of The Dog
Hair Of The Dog
Hair Of The Dog
Hair Of The Dog
Hair Of The Dog
‘Hair Of The Dog’
Hair Of The Dog?
Happy Days
Happy Friday!
Happy Hound Hour.
Happy Hour
Happy Hour
Happy Hour
Happy Hour
Happy Hour
Happy Hour
Happy Hour At The Kennel Club
Happy Nour
Heard The One About The Three Cats Who Walked Int
Hello, Do You Walk Here Often?
Here’s Seeing You
Here’s To Our Doglemma
Here’s To Us,Good Friends.
Here’s To You
Here’s Too………
Hey Buddy, A Toast To You
Holiday Cheer
Holiday Chitchat
Hound Happy Hour
Hound Pub For Hound Talks. Brandy Rains No Cats.
I,M Just Having The Hair Of The Human.
I’ll Be “Ruff†In The Morning!
I’ll Drink To That!
I’m Going To Be As Sick As A Dog
In The Dog House
In The Dog House
In The Dog House-Again!
Inn For A Pleasant Evening
Inn Keeping With The Best
It Is A Dogs Life!
It.S Youre Round
It’s A Dog’s Life
It’s A Dog’s Life
It’s A Dog’s Life
It’s A Dog’s Life
It’s A Dog’s Life ….
It’s A Dog’s Life.
It’s Always Five O’clock Somewhere
It’s Good To Have Friends
It’s The Hair Of The Dog I’m Afraid, I Had A Heav
Just Chilling
Just Dogs No Cats
‘Just The One’
Keeping It Cool…
Kennel Club.
Kibbles And Drinks
Last Orders
Last Orders
Last Orders!
Leader Of The Pack
Let Drinking Dogs Lie
Let’s Celebrate
Let’s Drink To That
Let’s Have A Drink
Let’s Have A Hair Of The Dog……
‘Let’s Meet’
Lets Meet Up
Light Refreshments At The Cocked-Tail Lounge
Local Wag
Lock In
Love A Nice Drink After A Long Walk
Man’s Best Friend
Meat Lovers’ Pub
Meet Me At The Bar
Meet Me At The Bar-K
Meeting At The Local
Meeting Friends
Mrs
My Owners Are Away So I’m Making Hay Whilst The Sun Shines
My Round
Nice Bar, This
Nighthawks
No,Haven’t Brought My Human Out Tonight
Not Another Shaggy Dog Story
Nothing Like A Good Tail-Wag At The Local!
Old Friends Toast
One For The Road
One For The Road
One For The Road
One For The Road Lads!
One More For The Road
One More For The Road!
One Pint Only
Party Animal
Party Animals
Party Animals
Play It Cool!
Propping The Bar Up
Pub For Pups
Pups In The Pub
Pup’s Pub
Putting The World To Rights
Relaxed Night Out
‘Relaxing’
Relaxing After A Ruff Day
Rime To Catch Up
Rover’s Happy Day
Rover’s Return
Same Again?
Saturday Night At The Bark Bar
Set Them Up Joe
Shaken Not Stirred
Shaken Not Stirred
Six Pack
So I Said To This Bloke…
Special Times
Such A Thirst After All That Barking!
Tall Tails
Tgif
Tgif!
Thank Dog It’s Friday
Thank God It’s Friday
Thank God It’s Friday!
The Bachelor Bar
The Bar Is Busy
The Business Meeting
The Dog’s Dish
The Drinks Are On Me
The Fox And Hounds
The Fox And Hounds
The Gang’s All Here
The Hound’s Tipple
The More The Merrier
There’s Nothing Like Dog O’clock
This Is Worth Being In The Dog House
Time For Another?
Time Gentledogs
Time With Friends
‘Two Pints Of Lager And A Pack Of Bonio Please’
Watering Hole
Welcome To The Weekend
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Who Let The Dogs Out?
Wine List
Working Dog Drinks
Would You Like Some Bone Flavoured Crisps?
You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks
You Come Here Often.
You’re Here Too!?
Thank you for all your entries. I am giving the prize to the four entrants who suggested Open Wide – a simple title I had not thought of. The winners are Adriana Mallery, Janice Mack, Catherine Cooper and Lee-Ann Leander-Pehrson. Well done you have each won £25 to spend on teh Two Bad Mice website. We also pay all postage costs.
“Mum?â€
A Helping Hand
A Helping Hand
A Little Drop Of Kindness
A Little Tender Care
A Mere Morsal
A Mother’s Job
Adopteeater
All Things Great And Small
Baby..
Before I Fly
Bet In Black Jack
Bird Breakfast
Bird Feeder
Birdie Num Num
Can I Tempt You?
Caw That’s A Lovely Drop
Chick Crumble….
Cor Jete!!
Dinnertime
Down A Little
Down The Hatch!
Down The Hatch!
Feed Me
Feed Me
Feed Me!
Feeding Time
Feeding Time
Feeling Peckish
Food From The Gods
Foundling
Great Expectations!
Grubs Up
Have A Dillicious Day
Hungry Little Chick
I Need You….
I’ll Always Be There For You
Just A Tidbit
Learning To Use Chopsticks!!
Little By Little
Little Treats
Look Up!
Loving Care
Luncheon Is Served
Mamma
Mammy??
More Please!
Motherly Love
My Black Friend
Nature AND Nurture/Nurturing Nature
No Worms Today,Tiny!
One Small Piece
Open Wide
Open Wide
Open Wide And Say Aaahhhh….
Open Wide!
Open Wide!
Patience Makes The Young Grow Stronger!
Peck Ism
Petite Dejeuner
Room Service
Say “AAAAAâ€
Say Ah!
Sing For It’s Supper
Singing For My Supper
Something Wicked This Way Comes…….
Starvin Marvin!
Stronger Day By Day
Take Your Medicine And Get Well Soon.
Thanks
That Doesn’t Look Like A Worm To Me!!
Tuppence-A-Time
Tweezeater
Tweezer Treat
Worms! Dream On,Tiny!
Yum!
A Dill In The Kitchen
Thank you for all your ideas for titles. We have consulted with Anita and chosen to use is “The Very Bestâ€Â because it is a great message for a card. Sometimes others titles are wittier and tempting to use, but we have to keep in mind what message will be useful to the card sender.
Congratulations to Jo for winning £75 to spend on the website
Today we have launched our You Tube Channel. If you do not know about You Tube Channels this is all you need to know: It is possible for users and business to set up their own video libraries in You Tube. Members of the Public can use this library and subscribe to be told when we add new videos are added to our collection.
At present we have one introductory video which is a light hearted look at how we how we run our quirky company. There are already over 50 mini-videos which customers can use to view our products from all angles. This example is 20 second video for the Laid Back Guy mug…
Welcome to our blog. A place where we will let you know news of what we are doing behind the scenes and ask you for advice about product development.
2014 has been a busy year because we have been working with Johnson Tiles to create a range of Kitchen tiles.  This led to further plans to create a selection of kitchen accessories to match the work we had started.  Everything is coming together for a release date early in 2015
Customers and fans on our email list will know about the aprons. We consulted you about pockets and whether you use them, we discovered by a margin of 2 – 1 that most people do not want a pocket. This was good news because we did not know how to incorporate a pocket with the design.
(click on image to see the image in detail)
The items are being manufactured for us by Ulster Weavers who have factories in both Britain and China and are well known for their quality.
It is not too late for you to comment and influence our work, so please tell us what you think of these products we are developing.
not being able to control the sheep
