Category: Welsh

Meet the Peg Doll Maker – Part II

Welcome to Part 2 of my Meet the Peg Doll Maker series, helping you to get to know us a little more. It’s based on the prompts provided by Joanne Hawker for the month long Instagram challenge March Meet The Maker. For more information, see my last post.

day 7: How it’s made

peg doll gifts UK

These pictures are almost 2 years old. My work has improved since then but they still give a good insight into how I make my dolls. Most people presume they are just painted like the majority of peg dolls you see. However mine are a bit different. My lines are etched into the wood using pyrography. Then I colour them using artists pencils. This enhances the lovely wood grain rather than covering it up. It’s a lot of work and a long process (I’ll show you a bit more later in the month). Nevertheless it’s one that I relish and think is worth it 💕

Day 8: Where.

peg dolls made in wales

peg dolls made in wales

I work from our lovely little Victorian semi on the side of a little Pine-covered Mountain in the Welsh Valleys. The meaning of “Gwynfa” is paradise or heavenly in Welsh. So we knew this was exactly the place our hearts and minds need to be as soon as we saw it. Every day my breath is taken away by the beautiful views of the mountains from our lovely home 💕🏡

Day 9: Work in Progress

peg doll in progress

This is a very special little spoon peg doll on my desk right now. She is a special make for the lovely Sharon at Daisy Lions, who makes the most beautiful textile art featuring her wonderful little liberty fabric birds. The spoon peg doll has been pyrographed and is now being coloured.

Day 10: Recommend a Maker

peg doll silver charms

Yikey Mikey! Instagram is so jam-packed with amazing talent how can I pick just one? I mentioned some of my faves last week when I did my Stories video of my little studio, but one super lovely maker who didn’t come into that bracket then was @onelittlehut . Emily is a super talented silver smith and truly lovely to boot. She creates her jewellery in the most swoon-worthy shepherds hut that I’m a tad jealous of 😍 So if you don’t like pretty shiny things (say whaaaat?!) her feed is worth checking out for her interior design!

 I am still flawed by the amazing detail she packed into my beautiful bracelet that my husband had commissioned a few Christmases ago – the teeny tiny peg dolls are just like the first ever ones I made of Mr T and I – how she managed that I have no idea. I would have gone blind/loopy/all of the afore mentioned working so much detail on such a teeny weeny scale. Her customer service is also exceptional. Thank you Emily for rocking IG with your lovely work 💪🌹🌻🌸💕

Day 11: Post/Mail.

A post shared by Natalie (@pinkelephantcrafts) on

Our local post office has been closed all week for a refurb. So I have to drive over to the next village and today theirs was closed too 🙈 I wonder if they’ll be fitting a tv in the new PO, because whenever I go down I seem to be tearing the Post Mistress away from her daily dose of Loose Women in her lounge. Anyway, I eventually found one open this week and was able to get my parcels off to their forever homes.😂✉ 💕

Day 12: Brand

pink elephant crafts peg dolls logo

pink elephant crafts peg dolls logo Silly little story for you today! When we first thought about a logo, I scribbled my idea on a scrap of paper and clever Mr T brought it to digital life for me. I wanted it to encompass the various skills I brought to our products at the time, including embroidered and appliqued hoop art, illustrated cards and chalkboards.

Over time we have became focussed on the peg dolls and have considered rebranding to “Pink Elephant Pegs” to reflect this, but it would be a bit of a headache with all our packaging/cards/stall banners/website/domain and emails all needing changing 😪 We did however try changing the logo about 18months ago to represent our current work.  We settled on replacing the tools with little polkadot pegdolls. We launched it on Facebook and it got lots of 👍 until someone commented that they looked like…erm…willy warmers!!!🙈🙈 Needless to say I immediately reverted to the old one and haven’t really looked back since! I’ve managed to find it deep in our dropbox so have added a pic of it for your amusement 😂💕xxx

And that little giggle rounds up Part II of Meet the Peg Doll Maker. We hope you are enjoying finding our more about us! The next installment will be here soon.

Cwtch ♥ Mawr

peg doll family

Peg Dolls at Christmas – Craft Fayre Season!

We kicked off our Christmas Season here at Peg Dolls HQ last night with Dwr-Y-Felin Christmas Fayre in Neath.  

Like last year, it was a superbly organised festive evening, full of stalls from some of the most talented local makers and craftspeople. With over 40 hand picked stalls, this year was even better. It certainly felt an honour to be there with our peg dolls!

peg dolls for sale

Things have been turning particularly festive here in the Welsh Valleys this week, when we woke early last Sunday to a light dusting of the white stuff! It certainly finally made creating Santa’s and elves feel “right” anyway! It’s hard to deny Christmas is on its way when it’s cold and frosty!

So it’s fitting that for this year, as well as traditional red and green, our peg dolls took on a frosty twist in their colour schemes. Inspired by retro Christmas cards and images pinned on our Christmas Mood Board Pinterest Board, I chose cool aqua tones with pops of coral.

christmas santa peg dolls couple

Lots of people commented on the attention to detail on the peg dolls and were in disbelief that they are handmade!

Yes – I REALLY do draw out, then woodburn, then colour (yes colour, NOT paint! Sometimes I wish I did paint them as I’m sure it would be quicker, but I love the unique tactile finish my dolls have which would be lost to paint) each and every single doll myself, by hand. There is absolutely no mass-production or mechanical intervention. Each one takes hours of work. They truly are labours of love. When you hold one of my peg dolls, you have a little piece of my heart in your hands.

peg dolls elves

christmas peg dolls

We also have brand New Christmas Countdown Characters too – if you haven’t spotted them on our Instagram or Facebook accounts you need to pop over and take a peep! These very special peg dolls are perfect for starting a brand new family tradition for advent. I’ll post them here soon I promise – you know I love to tease! Instagram and Facebook really are the best way to keep up to date with our newest peg doll creations.

Our 2nd Fayre is next week In the beautiful Maesteg Town Hall, and coincides with the annual Santa parade, Tree Switch on and fireworks display. It’s always a lovely, free and festive afternoon. Pop along and say hello!

peg dolls wales christmas maesteg

Cwtch ♥ Mawr

peg doll peg dolls UK handmade gifts

Made in Wales ♥

We’re not fibbing when we say that our peg dolls and handmade gifts are crafted in one of the most beautiful places in the UK you know! With our little home studio just a hop, skip and jump from the Gower in Wales, we really are spoilt with all the inspiration we can draw from the natural beauty on our doorstep.

Yesterday, to celebrate the bank holiday weekend and make the most of the glorious British sunshine (while it lasts!), Mr T and I took a cliff-top stroll from sweet Bracelet Bay in Mumbles, around to Langland Bay; famed for it’s white and green beach huts and.

I think the fact that your custom, personalised peg dolls and hoop art gifts are made in an area of the UK which is classed as being of outstanding natural beauty just makes them that extra bit special, but being a Welsh girl I may be slightly biased 😉

See for yourself…..
custom personalised peg doll gifts wales Uk

 

Wishing you a super bank holiday weekend wherever you are in the UK and whatever you are up to!

Cariad ♥ Mawr,

Natalie-Name-divider

 

Hello & Welcome to Pink Elephant Crafts – Customised peg dolls, hoop art and handmade gifts made in the UK

Customised personalised peg dolls gifts handmade in wales uk

Customised wooden peg dolls – couple and pets

A lovely warm hello from Mr T and I (and our wooden peg doll counterparts) here in the cosy little studio of Pink Elephant Crafts, where I beaver away making bespoke handmade gifts.

Welcome to the little Blog corner of our website (which Mr T has been slaving away over the past few weeks to build), where we endeavour to bring you little snatches and snippets of life behind the studio doors, and insights into how our bespoke wooden peg dolls, hoop art, and cards and illustrations are lovingly hand made.

Pink Elephant Crafts has been running in one way or another for a little over 10 years, where I drew upon my art student days to make handmade cards with paper crafting techniques. Over time, my interests have broadened, harking back to the hazy long-gone days where I spent hours as a little girl learning to sew and embroider with my Grandma and to colour and shade drawings with my Grandad.

Now, here on the Gower in Wales, UK, our greatest pleasure is using traditional techniques to create unique pieces of art for you. Our specialties lie in our hand sewn hoop art and wooden peg dolls, on which we use pyrography and hand colouring, with great attention to detail.

Have a little look around, and do pop back soon to keep up with our latest creations and news – new products will be continually added to the Gallery. Feel free to get in touch with us anytime (we do love a little chat!), or follow us on Instagram and Facebook too!

Hope to see you soon!

             Cariad ♥ mawr,

 

Natalie-Name-divider