Ptolemy the Tortoise

We have just created this little advert to use for a local event we are supporting.  It's created using Serif Pageplus which cost very little and seems to be fairly easy to use without any training! Worth looking at if you have a small business and need to create your own artwork.

We love our little Ptolemy Tortoise who was designed by our lovely neighbour Jane Fieven with some technical help from her husband Geof  who runs a design consultancy in Milton Keynes called Redsky.

We'd love to hear your ideas for Ptolemy Tortoise - what should he get up to next? 

Matador Back in Stock

Buy Matador Now at Ptolemy Toys

We have just received a delivery of Matador from Austria. ..... one of our favourite construction toys for boys and girls who love to build and create working models.

what is Matador?  Click the Matador LOGO above to see our Range

  

 Ø Matador is a toy construction kit made of beech wood.

 

Ø Use a hammer and pins to put the blocks together.

 

Ø Use the special Matador tool to easily take apart the constructed objects.

 

Ø Matador is available for 2 age groups: Matador Ki and Matador Classic.

Matador is a design classic - every child in Austria has a set of Matador, and it's timeless nature unpins it's popularity.  Many of our customers buy this set for their children or grandchildren becuase they remember how many hours of fun and creativity they had with a matador set when they were young.

A traditional wooden toy that will be handed down the generations - Matador helps your children learn through play.  You can construct many different models and even add moving parts to your design. 

Matador is a design classic - every child in Austria has a set of Matador, and it's timeless nature unpins it's popularity.  Many of our customers buy this set for their children or grandchildren becuase they remember how many hours of fun and creativity they had with a matador set when they were young.

A traditional wooden toy that will be handed down the generations - Matador helps your children learn through play.  You can construct many different models and even add moving parts to your design. 

Kathe Kruse Dolls from Germany

Toni dolls from Kathe Kruse - the most beautiful play dolls from Germany

Just in time for Christmas we have added the Toni range of Kathe Kruse dolls to our website.  These dolls are 37cm tall and they can stand up independently, little girls love to play with them and take them into a land of imagination and fun.

Amelie Doll from Kathe Kruse

Amelie wears a classic navy striped dress and is ready to go to the party.  She loves to travel and will have great fun visiting cities the world over.

Valerie Doll from Kathe Kruse

Valerie is a fun doll who's ready for spending time with friends, she loves to visit her friends for play dates and will enjoy playing fun games with the girls.  She loves her outfit and has teamed her pretty floral skirt with her grey leggings and pink tee.  To keep her lovely blond hair in check she's wearing a pretty lilac hairband. 


All the Toni dolls have beautiful outfits - all are available separately from our site to order at £29.99 so you can dress up the dolls in any of the wonderful handmade outfits from Kathe Kruse.

Kaia Toni Doll Kathe Kruse

Kaia is a trendy little play friend, she loves sports and adventure, take her with you on trips and discover different worlds, cultures and experiences.  The perfect play friend, Kaia will be loved for many years by your little girls.

Lauren Toni Doll Kathe Kruse

Lauren is such a pretty red head doll, her gorgeous summer dress will stand out at any party, Lauren has style just take a look at her Ugg boots that she's matched with her dress - maybe she love to go to festivals and have fun dancing to great music.

Ellen from Kathe Kruse Toni Range

The last doll in our Toni Range from Kathe Kruse is Ellen, she is just as stylish and beautiful as her friends, very glamorous but with a sense of fun Ellen is a joy to play and everybody loves to invite her to a party.

We love these beautiful dolls and they are available to order from our website at £119.99 - a very special gift for very lucky girls!  Click one of the dolls to go directly to our site now!  

We are placing an order early next week with Kathe Kruse so if you love these dolls and think they would be a wonderful gift for a very special girl place your order on our website today.

Halloween ideas....

Halloween Pumpkins


Rather than carve your pumpkins if you have smaller children it's much safer and more fun for them to decorate them rather than watch you carving!  Another bonus is that they don't smell if you don't open them - and most people agree they do not smell too great!

We took inspiration from Good Housekeeping Magazine and are creating pretty jewel encrusted pumpkins, that look will look great on display in our shop later this month.  Here's Hebe's work in progress....not quite as stunning as the Good Housekeeping but it will look stunning when it's all done!

We'll post more photos as we create them and if you've been creative with pumpkins please send us photos of your pumpkins for our gallery!

Lovely Pens and Pencils

There comes a time when every child gets excited by art materials and pencil cases!

Drawing is definitely one of my daughters top 10 activities, from a simple colouring book to creating arty projects this is a great activity to encourage.

Not only will it help little ones improve their observational skills, it will also give you some quiet time to enjoy!

To make art fun it's a good idea to have a mix of different materials available, from pens and pencils to chalks and paints.

We love the Djeco range which has art materials and art projects in a box that are a joy to own and complete.











The kits include some fabulous art for boys and girls. Boys will enjoy the felt colour knights set with a colour by numbers scheme to ensure they end up with an amazing picture they will be proud to display on their bedroom wall. The Djeco sets come with all the materials needed so this knights set includes 8 felt tip pens and 4 knighthood scenes.

For Little ones the finger painting set is creative fun and produces a result they will love.

Girls are spoilt for choice one of our favourite sets is the Watercolour Workshop which includes 4 scenes to paint and create using cut outs, stick ons and 10 watercolours - and Djeco include a glue stick so it really is a project in a box. These make super gifts that any little girl would adore.

20 Alternative Signs Your Child is Gifted

I received an email this morning headed 20 Signs of a Gifted Child.... from Circle of Moms
It introduced itself in the preamble.... "kids are also commonly identified as gifted by the observations of families, teachers, and friends. Below are some of the many characteristics that gifted children often exhibit...." making sure to point out that "no one gifted child exhibits all the traits"...

Well I thought before I read the list what would my 20 signs be... and here they are

20 Alternative Signs Your Child is Gifted

Oh and it does help if they DO exhibit all the traits...

1. They say please and thank you appropriately
   
2. They look at you when they talk to you
3. They don't look like they have ants in their pants when talking to you
4. They eat what they are given when at a friends house
5. They are not fussy eaters
6. They don't only want to eat sweets
7. They write thank you letters willingly
8. They don't pick on other children who seem different
   
9. They don't show off, act up or throw temper tantrums
   
10. They thank parents of friends for having them to play/stay/sleepover
    
11. They say goodbye to friends when they leave
12. They do not spend all day watching TV or playing computer games
13. They do not sit with a DS or i-phone playing when you have friends or family over
14. They tell you about their day
15. They are able to describe events with more words than just "good" "ok" "nice"
    
16. They prefer to play in the garden than watch TV
17. They go to bed without any argument when asked to
    
18. They can play a game for more than 10 minutes and not end it in tears
19. They play with their siblings nicely
20. They are grateful for what they have

I think there's easily another 20 in me but I'll just keep working on these for now, after all Christmas is coming and you never know what gifts Santa might bring me....