New Year, New Studio, New Blog!
I've never really been one for keeping a regular blog, but sometimes it's good to have an archive for some of the events I've done, particularly fund-raising for charity. And 2024 has got off to a cracking start in that regard!
In December 2023, my husband Enrique went to Mexico to raise money for World Villages for Children by climbing the third highest peak, Iztaccihuatl. I ran a charity raffle for the Los Intrepidos Mice (pictured top left climbing a marble pear) and an auction for Two Wee Christmas Cracker Bunnies (bottom right). In total, these raised £786, an amazing amount!
In January 2024, I did a huge clear out of my studio, something which has been long-overdue, and was rather daunting. However, after a week of hard work, and many donations to a local primary school, I'm delighted with it and feel like I can breathe again! You can watch a walk through video of what it looks like now here.
Once the dust had quite literally settled, I made these wee Henry Hoover Mice, the first mice to appear in 2024. I'd forgotten that I had a miniature Henry Hoover, and was delighted when it resurfaced! These three will be taking part in a 3 day auction on
14-17 February 2024.
During the clear out, I unearthed a number of wee creatures, some of whom would be considered "vintage" by today's standards, and some who were prototypes for ideas that never got off the ground. And there were a few who just weren't quite up to my usual standards. So I decided to make these all available in a charity raffle and two charity auctions to raise money for the Penny Jones Animal Hospice.
I found out about this amazing charity when I did a trial to help out on a milk round for our local farmer (we've got to support them as much as possible). The chap who showed me the ropes, David, told me all about his partner, Liz Mcdonagh, who ran an animal hospice up in the Lake District. And I discovered that I'm not cut out for night shifts, I did discover the amazing work that Liz does, and I wanted to do something to help out. So after a week of running the charity auction in the Quernoholics Anonymouse group on Facebook, and also running a couple of 3 day auctions, we raised the amazing sum of £520! Thanks to everyone who took part in this :)
And so onwards and upwards for 2024 - keep an eye on the Latest News page to find out what's coming up, and it's a good idea to subscribe to my newsletter if you haven't already :)