Cottontails Baby

Cottontails competition - Who Nose?

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:18:00 +0000

I think it's about time for another Cottontails competition, and this time it's quite a challenge...

Can you identify eight Cottontails toy creatures from just their noses? Not easy I know but I have sorted out a lovely prize, so worth having a go...

The prize is a classic Ragtales Darcy teddy bear AND a set of nightwear - choose from pink or blue. Both teddy and clothes come in lovely gift boxes, and altogether the prize is worth £47, so quite a treat.

So, take a look at the eight noses pictured below and see if you can work out who they belong to. They are all featured on the Cottontails website, and I have put a little clue under each photograph to help you in your quest...

1. A Moulin Roty classic, and a member of the Grand Family

2. Count his friends to help you get to sleep

3. Zzzzzz..... purr......

4. Sometimes described as sly.. but we don't think so

5. Straight from the Wild West...

6. Handy to have around if you fancy a glass of milk...

7. A favourite with little girls - and very fond of cheese

8. Dashing off to get his bone...

When you think you've worked out who they are, simply send me an email to enquiries@cottontailsbaby.co.uk with your list of names.

All the correct answers will go into a hat and I'll pick a winner on the 31st May 2012.

Don't be too daunted, it's not easy-peasy but a little searching around the Cottontails website should suffice. And don't forget the little search box in the top right corner of the website, it might help you narrow down certain types of animal and so on.

And finally, it would be nice if you would like to leave a comment to say you've taken part, but please don't give away the answers in your comment.

Have fun and good luck!

Mice, peas and Timmy Willie

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:44:00 +0000

A recent discovery: mice love peas.

I have been looking at the packaging on a new range of Moulin Roty mice, and notice that the little mouse family is depicted shelling peas.

And since I've mentioned the new mice (plus I did promise you some Cottontails toys in my next blog post) I might as well introduce them to you. They are a little family of three - Zaza mummy mouse, Zephyr daddy mouse and Zoe baby mouse. Each mouse comes in a lovely box - complete with pea-shelling illustration.

Big daddy mouse - Zephyr is £37.50

Medium sized mummy mouse - Zaza is £30

Little baby mouse - Zoe is £24

And all this mouse / pea business got me thinking about an illustration in one of my favourite books - the Tale of Johnny Town Mouse by Beatrix Potter. You probably know the story - it's that old town mouse / country mouse fable.

At the start of the story Timmy Willie (country mouse) makes his way into a vegetable hamper and just look what happens...

Yep. Under the influence of too many peas Timmy Willie falls asleep in the hamper (... and wakes up in the town, yikes).

So you see, mice seem very fond of peas.

And if you Google the subject, it seems there is quite a vibrant community of gardeners out there battling the little creatures. Take this quote from the RHS's online 'garden community'.

Packets of peas and beans generally come with instructions to sow them in the ground where they are to grow. It sounds good enough, but it puzzles me because the instructions don’t take into account a certain small mammal - the mouse.

It made me smile anyway - but then I'm not trying to grow any peas this year :)

The goats are here!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:05:00 +0000

Just a quick little post - between parcel packing and bottle-feeding - to let you know the goats are here!

Meet Rufus, 10 months old, a neutered goatling. He is what is knows as an AOV (any other variety) or 'scrub goat'. Pretty basic, as goats go, but he is adorable - very gentle and affectionate.

And Emma and Eve are just five and six weeks old respectively and are Anglo-Nubian pure breed goats. They have marvelous ears!

I am bottle feeding the girls so it's a lot of work and early mornings, but I love it.

Goats really can't stand getting wet so the weather has not been ideal for their first few days, but I have managed to take Rufus out for a few walks between rainstorms. He has already decimated some raspberry canes and the lower branches of an apple tree. Starting as he means to go on :)

The next post will involve Cottontails and some toys, I promise, but in the meantime don't forget we do have wooden goats and barns for sale... and the bonus is that these goats don't need feeding at 7.30am!

(I really must get myself a farmer's wife style headscarf...)

Celebrating the rain - save 15% and why not buy a mac!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:50:00 +0000

It's good weather for ducks, as they say. And my three runner ducks are certainly in their element today, racing around quacking loudly and generally having the time of their life (as I struggle to juggle duck food and an umbrella).

(This is not one of my ducks, this is an actor, handmade by Catherine Tough)

And it's all this rain that has inspired this month's offer at Cottontails. Save 15% on everything until midnight tonight (Wednesday 25th) with the discount code: showers

(I am starting to wonder if the discount code should have been 'torrential rain'?)

And we're not the only ones celebrating the rain today - I love this graphic that appeared from gorgeous Seasalt this morning.

Do check out their outerwear for rainy day clothes - isn't their Seaside Mac gorgeous?

I think I need one for feeding the ducks...

Anyway, don't forget the Cottontails offer - use the discount code 'showers' to save 15% until midnight tonight!

Sad and happy goat news

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 11:55:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about our soon-to-be arriving goats, Martha and Rufus. Since then things have changed a bit and I haven't written about it before now because it's all been rather sad and unresolved. But I am getting over it now and have some happier news, so here's what has been happening.

Nearly four weeks ago now, just 10 days before Martha and Rufus were due to move in, a terrible accident happened at Canon Frome Court, their current home. Along with the herd of older goats, Martha and Rufus escaped from their yard and they all got into their feed bin. It is very dangerous for goats to overeat on their rich concentrated food and they were all very poorly indeed. All the older goats and Rufus responded to treatment and pulled through, but very sadly Martha passed away the next day.

It was all terribly upsetting and sudden. And to make matters worse, I had been there in the morning of the accident, milking and looking after them all, so it was almost certainly my responsibility for not closing a bolt properly. Everyone at Canon Frome was so lovely but you can imagine the guilt and the grief.

Well, since then some decisions have had to be made. Firstly we delayed Rufus coming here on his own, it wouldn't have been fair on him. And then we set about finding him a new companion. Initially I looked for another female goatling (last year's kid, like Rufus) but they are few and far between, then I looked at older milking nannies but decided I wasn't ready for the twice-daily milking commitment yet. So in the end I settled on a little kid, one of this years. But as little kids are so, well, little it wouldn't be wise to put such a baby in with Rufus straight away (even though he is a gentle, neutered and not-very-big 10 month old boy). So - upshot is I am having two little girl kids. And Rufus.

As I write Mike is busy transforming the goat shed into something that will house the two kids in one pen, and Rufus in the next. They will 'run together' (goat speak) in the yard / fields when I am around to supervise, and hopefully they will all share a pen one day when the kids are bigger.

The two kids are just a few weeks old and very lovely. They are Anglo-Nubian goats which means they have long floppy ears. (They are sometimes called 'rabbit goats' - perfect!)

They are all arriving on Thursday. First we drive down to Wales to pick up the girls (a box in the car will be fine for them), then come home via Canon Frome Court to hook up a stock trailer for Rufus. So we should be arriving with all three of them around teatime Thursday.

It's been a quite a journey, these last few weeks, and I am so looking forward to them all arriving. At last.

Rufus and me

Facebook banner pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:18:00 +0000

Rather frustratingly Facebook have changed their page design so it involves a sort of 'headline' banner across the top of the page. I suppose it's nice, it's just that these things take so much time to create.

Anyway, I have spent the last hour or so creating a couple of banner pictures based around some of the new Maileg toys (if the images look a bit empty it's because I wanted something simple, plus Facebook place a logo in the middle of things too).

I liked both and couldn't decide which to upload. At the moment I have the bunny in the deckchair design up, but will replace her with the cowboy at some point.

Whilst on this topic, do go and visit our Facebook page here if you haven't already - I write little snippets on there much more often than complete blog posts, so it's a bit more current and a good place to read about new arrivals, little offers etc.

Nose a-twitching, a pricked up ear... Ragtales toys are nearly here!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:59:00 +0000

After a relaxing Easter weekend (the most important holiday of the year for bunnies) Humphrey is now is a state of high alert - he is listening out for a new toy delivery with his nose twitching and his ears pricked extra high.

And what is the cause of this excitement?

Well, it's the imminent arrival of a new and seriously lovely range of toys from Ragtales, a brand new English toy making company.

The lovely pictures below say far more than words really, and all I will add is that it is rare something comes along which I think is so perfect for Cottontails - it's that wonderful mixture of charm and quirkiness.

This is just a small part of the range and you can see these and a everything else from Ragtales on the website here. It's all available to reserve right now, and I'll let you know when the delivery arrives - i.e. as soon as Humphrey starts to thump... :)

***Update 11th April***

Humphrey: Thump, thump...
Me: What?
Humphrey: Thump, thump...
Me: WHAT?
Humphrey: Thump, thump... oh for heaven's sake, Ragtales is here!

New Cottontails leaflet now out!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:13:00 +0000

Why is Charlotte the cow looking so happy? And what is that she has under her arm?

Why, it is a new Cottontails leaflet!

It opens up into a little 'poster'. Charlotte is featured along with a few other creatures who are all keen to spot themselves in print.

And on the reverse, there are lots of simple activities to keep ~~cows~~ ~~rabbits~~ children entertained.

As always a massive thank you to Kaitie and Jay at Leaff Design who have been instrumental in putting it together. They were especially wonderful at handling a last minute change of plan (there was supposed to be an origami rabbit project involved in the poster, but it proved too tricky for me to master let alone ~~cows~~ ~~rabbits~~ children and I had visions of the whole thing ending up in waste baskets across the country!)

This will be going out with all our parcels over spring and summer, and come the autumn we will have a new full catalogue.

Go Green - the self sufficiency board game

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:59:00 +0000

Something new for Cottontails, we are now stocking a board game!

I first spotted 'Go Green' in Country Living magazine a few months ago and bought one for the family at Christmas - and I liked it so much that I sent the makers an email, asking if I might stock a few at Cottontails, and here they are. I do hope my customers will have as much fun with it as we do in this household.

It's a traditional sort of board game but based around the theme of self-sufficiency - players move around the board in their little wheelbarrows, buying crops, chickens and pigs and trying to create the best and winning small holding. There are trivia questions and various challenges on the way, and the whole thing is great fun. There are also lots of 'little bits' which always appeals to me! You can read more about it and buy it on the website here, it is £25.

Meanwhile, back in the land of real small holding matters, the goats are due to arrive on Easter weekend! I am very excited but also suffering from a touch of 'Oh dear, what am I doing?' Mike is busy researching fencing options, but we both know such things are futile really when it comes to goats... :)

The Billy Goats Gruff

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:24:00 +0000

No, despite the title, this post is not the long promised Fairy Tale Friday story (sorry, sorry, sorry for the ongoing delay. It goes without saying that I am aiming for this Friday, but then again I am always aiming for 'this Friday'...)

Anyway...

This is a post about goats. Not the three billy goats gruff but two real-life lovely (non-gruff) goats. Goats that are coming to live with me in six weeks time. Huge excitement!

Gluckskafer wooden barn with Ostheimer goats (and some of Humphrey's hay!)

Obviously they will be joining the crack team that is the Cottontails workforce, along with Humphrey and the runner ducks. I'm not quite sure what their roles will be yet. But if it's based on their skill set it's going to have to involve a lot of leaping, bleating and nibbling. All valuable skills in the online retail sector.

A bit of background... I have always loved goats (not as much as rabbits obviously, such a thing would not be possible) and when my other half was trying to persuade to move to a small holding last year, goats were mentioned.

So I joined the Hereforshire Goat Club last summer to start finding out more about them, and in the autumn agreed to take two kids from a nearby farm community, Canon Frome Court. They kindly offered to keep the kids for us until this spring, by which time we hoped to be moved into our small holding.

In fact, we won't be moving into the small holding ourselves in until the summer now, but the kids will be moving in ahead of us - Easter weekend to be exact.

For months I have been spending Tuesdays at Canon Frome Court, helping with their small herd of goats and bonding with the kids. It's been an incredible learning experience and will hopefully make things a bit less daunting come Easter weekend.

The kids, now nine months old, are a lovely nanny goat called Martha, and her neutered brother Rufus. They are already alarmingly huge... This morning I took Martha for a walk - about 50 yards. It took half an hour and was a truly exhausting experience. And then Rufus ate the buckle off my left wellington boot.

Anyway, I will be uploading photos and telling you all about them in the months ahead, and hopefully sharing lots of goat antics (of which there are sure to be many).

But in the meantime, I haven't been able to resist stocking a few goats at Cottontails....

Ostheimer wooden goat - looks a lot like Rufus!

Ostheimer wooden goat - yes, this is a typical stance

Gluckskafer felted wool goat

They are all available on the Cottontails website, just look in the Tiny Animals - Felt and Wood department.

Things to do...

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:37:00 +0000

My to-do list is as long as my leg at the moment. And it seems to be growing. Here is a sample:

1. Emails
2. Orders - packaging
3. Place ordrs
4. Put new Ostheimer products on website
5. (And new Gluckskafer)
6. (And new Snapdragon)
7. (And new Sting in Tail)
8. Edit photography of all the above
9. Finish first Fairy Tale Friday film
10. Branding course
11. Upload photos to Press Loft
12. Create Easter category
13. Add more to sale / more discounts
14. Email 10,000 people re sale
15. Stock count - urgent!!

I am not complaining, I am inspired and happy at the moment. Really the above list is there as an explanation and apology for the fact I have yet to finish my first Fairy Tale Friday film (number nine on the list) - which should be launching today (delayed from last Friday, delayed from the Friday before...).

Here is a little picture from it. Can you guess what the fairy tale is? It's not hard!

'take this basket of food to your grandmother....'

So, it looks like Fairy Tale Friday is going to be late again - I am sorry. The worst of it is that I have been promising it on our Facebook page for weeks now - I am worried that folks will be expecting something epic. Believe me, it's just a series of pics and a little story, quite why I can't find time to finish it is beyond me....

So - next Friday!

Knitted guinea pigs and silver rabbits

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:11:00 +0000

I have been um-ing and ah-ing about whether to stock a little bit of jewellery at Cottontails.

In fact I have decided against it for the moment, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to introduce you to one of the lovely brands I have been considering - a small company called Just Trade who design and import some beautiful fairtrade jewellery and brooches.

Who could resist a knitted guinea pig brooch? And some veggies for him to munch on of course...

And their silver necklaces are simply lovely. My other half rarely reads my blog, but if anyone who knows him wants to point him at the rabbit necklace and mutter 'Valentines Day', feel free!

And as if the products themselves aren't gorgeous enough, they lady who runs Just Trade has recently acquired two house rabbits. I know how demanding such creatures can be so it's important to support Just Trade and help keep the rabbits in carrots!

They tell me they will be introducing some more rabbity items this year, so perhaps the range will be appearing at Cottontails one day, but in the meantime, do visit their own website and have a browse.

Big Garden Birdwatch - get ready!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:10:00 +0000

Don't forget this weekend is the The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. It's easy to take part and simply involves sitting by a window for one hour and recording all the birds you see (i.e. enforced relaxing bird watching time - bliss!) All the details are on the website here, along with a sheet to help with bird identification.

In the meantime, to help you get ready, can you identify any of the birds in this photograph?

The photo is an area of wilderness on the farm we are moving to and the birds are little handmade wooden creations from Ostheimer.

All our Ostheimer toys are on the website here, we don't stock a lot of the birds but can get them in pretty quickly. And I am awaiting an order from them at the moment with lots more little animals - woodland and farm animals. Even a little wooden snail is on his way. Slowly.

The 'John Lewis' model

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:24:00 +0000

Last week Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg urged companies to follow the 'John Lewis' model and offer shares to their employees - apparently it will improve productivity and unlock growth.

With this in mind I have decided to offer shares in Cottontails to Humphrey and the ducks.

New shareholder: Humphrey

New shareholders: Mary, Dick and Jim

Also, from now on Humphrey will be sitting on the Cottontails remuneration committee - to make sure I don't award myself any huge bonuses at the expense of employees' carrots, corn etc.

Humphrey consults other workers ahead of remuneration committee

This will surely be the start of a new period of unprecedented productivity and growth at Cottontails!

Cottontails Bunny Biscuits

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:13:00 +0000

This is a lovely simple recipe I tried and tested ahead of putting it in our little Cottontails Book - they are simple, sweet, delicious little biscuits and Humphrey and I cannot recommend them enough....

Cottontails Bunny Biscuits

Ingredients
1 tsp vanilla essence
100g golden caster sugar
200g butter
300g plain flour, sifted

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then stir in vanilla essence.

Add sifted flour and mix together until crumbs come together - don't overwork the mixture.

Turn out, wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least an hour. (Overnight is fine - I tried!)

Preheat oven to 160*c / fan 140*c / gas 3 and cover baking trays with baking parchment

Place dough on floured surface, cover with clingfilm (to prevent rolling pin sticking) and roll out to 5mm thick.

Carefully cut out bunny shapes using our bunny cutters and place on baking trays.

Use a cocktail stick to give each bunny an eye.

Bake for about 15 minutes until golden.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool and crisp up.

Finally, GOBBLE THEM UP!!

This really is a nice recipe - I tried several different ones - the biscuits are really light and crispy.

Well worth a try...

UPDATE: I made a batch of these biscuits on Monday in a bit of a rush and 'rested' the pastry for five mins in the freezer - this is probably a dreadful baking faux pas, but it worked perfectly.

Dream Toys 2011 - The Cottontails Alternatives

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:18:00 +0000

Every year the Toy Retailers Association publish a list of 'dream toys' for Christmas and I have just been looking over the list for 2011. A world away from what I do here at Cottontails, it is a list rich in plastic and electronics - in at number one is 'Doggie Doo', a pooing plastic dog.

But I'm not too worried about this - after all I am not trying to compete with Argos or Toys r Us - what I try to do is offer an alternative to the mainstream - and thank goodness - I have just returned from a shopping trip to the dreaded Tesco where children's toys are piled high as you walk in. It's a relief not to be going head to head with that.

However, I'm not completely out of touch and I know that lots of children will really love a pooing dog or Full-auto Long Range Nerf-Disc Blaster (yes, really). These toys are bright, active, instant. The have big box packaging appeal and are doubtlessly being promoted all over children's tv.

But maybe there is room in the stocking for something a bit more traditional too? And, with this in mind, I have put together some alternatives. Here are five toys from the original list along with some rather more traditional, quirky and charming alternatives...

1. Doggie Doo vs Philbert the velvet sausage dog

Doggie Doo (£34.99) - the aforementioned plastic pooch produces his own poo. Philbert (£19.99) is a velvet sausage dog who lives in his own little cardboard kennel. He has Liberty print ears and he does not poo. (This is a good thing, right?)

2. Fijit Friends vs Bunny & Mouse Little Wardrobe

A 'Fijit Friend' (£55) is a funny dancing robot doll billed as "your interactive BFF". As an alternative I have selected a couple of more traditional 'best friends'... The Bunny and Mouse Little Wardrobe (£55) play set includes two little soft toys in their own carry case (wardrobe) along with a whole host of outfits - perfect for plenty of 'interactive' playing.

3. Milky Bunny vs oooh too many to choose from!

Milky Bunny (£59.99) is from the 'Emotion Pets' series and has batteries so she moves, snores and makes little noises. Scary eyes though. We have so many alternatives at Cottontails, where rabbits are our forte, that I couldn't choose just one. A few favourites though include the lovely French bunnies Lola, Sylvain or Jeanette who comes in her own a sturdy gift box. Or for something more interactive how about a handmade wooden hutch from Ostheimer with some wooden bunnies and a bag of hay.

4. Moshi Monsters Moshlings Treehouse vs Maileg Mouse House

The Moshi Monsters Moshlings Treehouse (£20) is a plastic moulded tree which opens up to reveal a place to play with and store your Moshlings (small plastic collectible things, I think). Maileg make two homes for mice. There is a wooden home (£35) fashioned on a cheese which also includes some furnishings and a little bell on the doorway*, or there is a much larger sturdy cardboard home based on a milk carton (£43). It might be nice to buy some mice to live in the house too - how about these little babies that come in their own matchbox bed with blanket? (£20)

(*Sorry I have sold out of wooden mouse houses.)

5. Let's Rock Elmo vs Moulin Roty Orchestra in a Bag

'Rock out' with Let's Rock Elmo (£69.99) - a plush toy who sings and comes with his own plastic drums and tambourine, or play percussion with Moulin Roty's Orchestra in a Bag (£73) - a cloth carry case full of eight traditional wooden instruments including xylophone, tambourine, bells, and whistle. Either way, it's not going to be a peaceful Christmas!

The ducks are famous!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:42:00 +0000

Wonderful news - my runner ducks are on a Christmas card!

Catherine over at Bumpkin Bears has featured them on one of her lovely hand made Christmas cards.

I feel like a proud mum and have treated the famous trio to fresh tomato, peas and a lovely deep layer of hay in the duck house.

Well done ducks! (And thank you Catherine.)

Once upon a time there was a mouse...

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 11:17:00 +0000

Those of you who read our Facebook page will have already heard about this - we have had an adventure with a real life mouse!

(This is not the Real Life Mouse, this is an actor)

Friday afternoon, and my other half turned up in the office doorway with a tiny, drenched, barely moving baby mouse he had rescued from the cat. It didn't look too hopeful, but I popped the little chap into a box with some of Humphrey's hay and placed it next to the heater under the desk. He was so, so tiny. Half the size of my little finger.

Over the next few of hours the little mouse brightened up considerably! He dried out and started to move around in his box. He had a bit of a problem with a back leg, but otherwise seemed pretty fast and agile. It was hard to catch him, even in the little box. I was delighted - it looked like he was going to make it!

I toyed with letting him out into the garden that night, but it was torrential rain and pretty cold. I decided to keep him in his box over night and release him the next morning. I added a handful of rabbit food, a bit of chocolate, some leaves, a cotton reel table and a tea set water bowl to his box. (I admit I also dreamed about keeping him as a Cottontails pet, but knew this wouldn't be a happy life for a wild mouse, so the next morning was to be 'release day'.)

The next morning. I gingerly poked about in the hay looking for the little chap but there was no movement or scrabbling. My heart sank when I thought he might have died, but I couldn't find him anywhere. And then I spotted a tiny round hole in the corner of the box. HE HAD ESCAPED!

(Angel Mouse could barely fit her nose through the escape hole)

I was happy he was clearly alive and well and full of beans if he had managed to stage an escape, but not so happy at the thought that somewhere in my office, rammed to rafters with expensive toys, lived a tiny nibbling creature.

Not long afterwards I noticed the phone wasn't working. The cable had been chewed. Oh dear.

Well... I don't really have a conclusion to this story as to be honest I don't know if he is still here or not. I spent the whole day spring cleaning and emptying every little cubby hole in the office. A couple of times I thought I heard a scrabbling sound under the packing table over by the door (when Humphrey - the usual creator of scrabbles - was asleep at the other end of the office) and I had the door open all day. I am hoping he has made his way back into the big wide world.

But I don't know. After all, if I was a mouse who happened up this office, complete with Mouse Houses, mouse furniture, mouse beds and a ready supply of fresh bunny food throughout the day, well I might be tempted to stay....!

The Grand Family grand day out

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:52:00 +0000

Last week we had an afternoon out at Westonbirt Arboretum (where they are filming this season's Autumnwatch). Just for once I took pity on my long suffering other half and didn't take along any fabric animals, but I did take lots of pictures and had a play on Photoshop at the weekend.

So this is the day out we would have had, had I been able to sneak the entire Moulin Roty Grand Family range into my handbag....

The Cottontails Grand Family Grand Day Out
An afternoon at Westonbirt

Philemon Pig, Jeanne Goose and Perlette frog love the autumn leaves and colours

Arsene the squirrel in his element - so many trees to scamper up!

Igor and Albert prove that a wolf and a lamb can play nicely together

Apolline mole wore her pretty but impractical summer dress

Nini and I have a little sit down...

...while some of the others are more energetic!

"No Amedee, you must NOT waddle off without permission."

Carrot cake for afternoon tea!

The perfect family day out.

Competition - Name that Biscuit!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:08:00 +0000

(3rd November update: And the winner is....... Sharon Peters! Well done Sharon, I will email you now...)

I think it's about time for another Cottontails competition, and this is a fun one - to take part all you have to do is identify some classic British biscuits!

The prize is a lovely children's apron kindly donated by Caron at English Eclectics (a new brand at Cottontails) and a coordinating Moulin Roty soft toy - the winner will be able to choose from a pretty duck egg blue apron and a 20cm Jeanne Goose or a natural doggy print apron with a 20cm Julius dog - total prize value £39!

Have a look at the five yummy biscuits pictured below and see if you can work out what the biscuits are - they are all well known family favourites - then simply send me an email to enquiries@cottontailsbaby.co.uk with your list of biscuits.

Number 1 - a creamy sandwich biscuit

Number 2 - mmmm, chocolate!

Number 3 - quite a mouthful

Number 4 - a simple biscuit, and my favourite

Number 5 - an absolute classic

All the correct answers will go into a hat and I'll pick a winner on the 31st October.

We have a selection of Caron's lovely children's baking accessories on the website here, or you can visit her own website for mummy sized aprons and home accessories too.

Please do tell your friends about the competition, it would be nice to have a lot of people playing Name That Biscuit!

And finally, it would be nice if you would like to leave a comment to say you've taken part, but please don't give away the biscuit names in your comment.

Enjoy!

Me, a bit of history and how (not to) open a shop

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 13:26:00 +0000

I get asked quite a lot about how Cottontails 'came to be', so I thought I'd write a little bit about my story...

I have worked in retail since I left college, never anything managerial or anything just normal shop work. To be honest it was the only thing I knew to do. I had a degree in Sociology but that didn't exactly lead to an obvious career, and I didn't have much confidence. Besides, I always liked working in shops and was quite good at it, 'good with people' as they say.

(In fact maybe the story goes back even further - as a little girl my favourite games always involved playing shops. I am an only child and my long suffering mother must have spent years being my only customer!)

I worked in a few shops but my favourite shop was definitely Waterstones where I worked for a few years as a bookseller. I ran the children's department at Stratford upon Avon for quite a while and loved that.

But about 10 years ago I started to get itchy feet and wanted to try something else. I tried a few office things but wasn't happy. I despaired of myself at the time, but looking back now maybe some of it did have a purpose - for example I worked part time at a little design agency and also spent 12 months teaching myself web design - both of those things are really useful today.

Around the same time someone I knew opened a little shop selling second hand films and music. Not my kind of thing at all but I helped out there some times, and I guess more than anything it made me realise that opening a shop was possible.

In 2002, feeling more lost than ever, I decided to give it a go. I had about £1000 in savings and put together a business plan to get a bank loan for the rest. My full start up budget was £10,000. (I extended the loan a couple of years later and am still paying the damn thing off today...)

At first I was going to open a nice bedding and bathing gift shop with a nursery section and looked for premises in lots of small market towns, but when I eventually found a nice empty shop in Pershore there were too many 'general' gift shops already there. As such I amended my plans - took the nursery element of the original plan and added baby and children's clothes.

We opened in 2003, but to be honest I had a pretty appalling first year. The relationship I was in broke up, I was a mess and not really coping. I didn't know if the shop was a blessing or a curse but at least it kept me going.

For the next six years Cottontails traded at 60, High Street, Pershore. My mum worked in the shop with me (often more than me!) and we sold mainly baby clothes and some gifts and toys. I started selling surplus stock on eBay and in 2005 I launched the website to sit along side the high street shop.

And it's about here that Cottontails started to look more like the business it is today. The toys sold really well on the website - much better than the clothes. I was selling a lot of Moulin Roty toys - remember this was only 2005, the internet was a lot less saturated.

Over the next few years it became clear that the shop was barely supporting itself / losing money whereas the website was (a bit) more successful. Early in 2009 I took the decision to close the shop and focus my energies online. At the same time I took a p/t evening job as a receptionist to help pay off a massive VAT bill (a nightmare story - guess who crossed the threshold without realising and had two years of back pay to find) and bring in a little extra cash.

For a short while I worked from my home in Pershore, then in Summer 2009 moved over to Herefordshire to move in with my partner Mike. He works from home too (he is a cider maker - www.henneys.co.uk) and didn't really fancy sharing a working space with me (not to mention my enormous stock of soft toys), so the office in the garden was built and that is where I work today.

I don't have any storage facilities apart from the office which is packed to rafters with toys, and some space in the garage for the big items, and I don't have an IT department or a marketing department or anything like that. Oh what a dream that would be! But it is a lovely space, and although it has its challenges and I miss people, it's nice to work from home. Also I am able to 'use' the garden and the surrounding countryside for inspiration. Since moving here, Cottontails has become a lot more interested in nature!

I work on my own apart from Humphrey. He is my rabbit, who I have had since 2004 and who I love to bits. He is a house rabbit but I carry him over to the office every morning and he mainly hangs out under the desk. Every so often he hops out to try and nibble something. He is also a huge inspiration. Rabbits have been a passion of mine all my life and I think that is obvious in Cottontails.

There are some people who support me though and who are a big part of Cottontails:

My mum, who was there from the beginning, picking up the pieces when I was falling apart during the first year of Cottontails and quickly pretty much managing the shop, even though just weeks beforehand she had been terrified of using the till. What a star. These days she still helps out in the busy few weeks before Christmas.

Tamsin - who has been my web designer since day one. I knew her as the woman behind Rabbit Rehome - a website she had set up to help rescue rabbits - and emailed to see if she would help with Cottontails. We have never met! We do everything by email and she is amazing for general technical support too.

And, more recently, Kaitie at Leaff Design, who has just worked with me on my first catalogue for Cottontails. She has been lovely to work with, has really 'got' the Cottontails brand and it has been an absolute pleasure to have help with something. I am so used to having to do everything myself - it has been such a novelty to have someone quietly getting on with something in the background.

As for the future, well sales are growing steadily each year which is something given the current economic climate (although believe me, it continues to be a bit of a struggle financially) and my plans for the future definitely include more handmade and ethically produced toys. I dream of making some toys of my own too... it might happen.

Finally, I get asked a lot specifically how I set up the website, how I find stock, how I manage the marketing. Well I don't want to give all my secrets away and obviously things have evolved for me over nearly 10 years, but here is a quick general guide - and honestly, anyone can do this.

1. Probably do not open a high street shop!
2. Look at other websites / shops for brands you like
3. Work up a brand and proposition for yourself - a name, look, feel, make a mood board, logo. put a little creative proposition together to take to potential suppliers
4. Contact the manufacturers directly - ask if they supply wholesale
5. Also go to trade fairs to source stock from bigger suppliers - they are free to attend if you register as a potential business. Top Drawer is my favourite.
6. Start selling on market places like eBay - save any email addresses of your customers to make a database
7. Based on your eBay sales decide on one or two areas or brands to do really well - to be really good at - it could be a brand (like Moulin Roty) or an area (like toy rabbits!)
8. Get your own website designed - I can't recommend Tamsin enough for this, she is friendly and reasonable
9. Email your database to promote your website
8. Use Google adwords to drive traffic to your website for the specific things you do well in
9. Use Twitter, Facebook and a Blog to promote
10. And, well, that's it really!

Of course there are hundreds of details to think about, but this is the essence of it really.

If anyone has any questions, do email me - I am no super businesswoman and will never be a millionaire but somehow, amid the personal crises and mistakes, I seem to have created something that just about works and I am happy to share any experiences and help anyone.

Amedee and the Runner Ducks

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:17:00 +0000

We have recently acquired three runner ducklings. Well, I say ducklings, they are eight weeks old now and pretty much fully grown. They are beautiful.

They live at the farm we are moving to and we go down twice a day to feed, water and visit them.

We will be digging them a pond soon, but for now they are splashing around in washing up bowls. Apparently this is all they need, but having seen how much they love to play in the water (not to mention the dreadful mess they make!) a pond is now a must.

Of course they are not my first ducks. Amedee duck has been here at Cottontails for many years now. And last week I decided it was time for him to meet his feathered family...

The runner ducks were a little unsure of Amedee - I don't think they have seen a duck in dungarees before? But I will take him down for regular visits and I'm sure they will all be splashing around together very soon.

So watch this space for many more duck stories..........

One summer evening

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:50:00 +0000

The wheat has been harvested from the meadow behind the garden and the trees are heavy with apples. So last night I took Amedee duck and Jeanne goose outside to enjoy a lazy end of summer evening...

(stretch!)

("Hurry up Jeanne, my legs are going...")

Next door's hen

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:08:00 +0000

A few months back some chickens appeared next door. I love chickens and had high hopes that, given time, they might start to wander into our garden... and they have.

One chicken in particular is very brave and has made herself right at home.

Here she is knocking at Cottontails door:

Sometimes she even comes in and sunbathes on the carpet.

And Felicie hen is very pleased to have a new friend...

I am hoping that given time she might become yet another useful member of the Cottontails team. Perhaps she could start by writing a review of our handmade wooden hen house and little felt hens?

But in the meantime she seems content just to dig holes everywhere. Particularly in the Cottontails Kitchen Garden. Hmmm. Naughty hen.

The marvelous Maileg mice...

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte, Cottontails) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:42:00 +0000

I am constantly amazed by the ingenuity my Maileg mice...

Last week they were reading the daily paper...

...when something caught their attention.

Next thing I knew they were busy tearing and folding...

...and before I could say 'cheese' they had made themselves a new set of furniture

Amazing!

(Factual note: the mouse furniture is actually made of lovely printed fabric and is available at Cottontails here - but the story was nice eh!)