Tag: About me

Meet the Peg Doll Maker Series – Part IV- My Helpers!

Welcome to Part Four 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 designed to help small business owners and creatives to tell the story behind their brand.

The prompt for Day 19 of  #marchmeetthemaker was Helper…As you know an awful lot of work goes into every peg doll I make, therefore a lot goes on behind the scenes. As much as I try to do almost all of it on my own, some family members won’t take no for an answer when they offer assistance. Especially those  four-legged family members! So I think you’ll agree that this prompt deserves a post all of its own! You’ll have to scroll through all the pics to fully grasp the roles of everyone here at Pink Elephant Crafts.

Little Pearl holds several key positions in the company and to be honest pretty much runs the joint here. She is :

1. Official Guard of the Pencils. Don’t. Touch. The. Yellow. Pencils.

cute kitten with coloured pencils

2. Stock Controller. Who knew that cats had such great numerical abilities?

cute kitten with wooden peg dolls

3. Storage Manager . This role mainly involves sleeping in stacked up boxes and on important bits of paper.

cute kitten hiding in peg doll storage box

4.Photoshop supervisor. Did somebody say the “mouse” is moving?!

cute kitten helps edit pictures of peg dolls in photoshop

5. Paintbrush inspector.  A sniff and a little nibble usually weeds out any duff brushes.

cute white kitten inspects peg doll artists paintbrushes

6. Grabber of Things from the Printer. An essential role in every office.

cute white kitten helps with the office printer

She is often joined by Cookie (our third cat Dexter has chosen not to be involved in the family business) and together they prowl the studio windowsill to guard against threats of corporate espionage (mainly from next doors’ dog).

cute cats in peg doll artists studio

They also help with the cleaning by ensuring anything on my studio desk is knocked to its “rightful” place on the floor.

cute cats on peg doll artists desk

That’s the main important roles here covered really.

Oh! Occasionally I get a little bit of casual help from two family members. Once in a while, Mr T redesigns and makes sure that my website and spreadsheets are all working. I break them a lot. He might make a cuppa every now and then too. Sometimes his Dad will make me a jig and drill a load of dolls for me. However, I have been considering bringing the pair of slackers in for a disciplinary 😉

drilling and sanding in the pegdoll workshop

Hehehe! I’m lucky to have so much support  in making my personalised peg doll families at Pink Elephant Crafts!

Cwtch ♥ Mawr

peg doll family

Easter Bunny Peg Dolls – Happy Easter – Pasg Hapus

Our Easter Bunny Peg Dolls would just like to wish you all a Happy Easter!

Or, as we say here in Wales, Pasg Hapus! The Easter Bunny Peg Dolls are excited at the prospect of a day of consuming vast quantities of chocolate!

Easter Bunny peg dolls, non-chocolate Easter gifts

easter peg dolls, easter gifts, easter bunny, easter decorationseaster gifts, easter bunny, bunny peg dolls, easter decorations, spring decorUnfortunately, it’s not a very spring-like day here for Easter Sunday. Never the less, our little garden is starting to slowly burst into colour.

peg doll families int he Easter garden

The bluebells are starting to open, the tulips are in full bloom, and the Alliums and Lily of the Valley are sprouting nicely.

peg doll family in the easter garden

peg doll families

We are currently having  the kitchen replaced. It’s a dusty scene of devastation, so it’s lovely to have this little area of colour to escape to. Let’s hope it stays dry so we can enjoy it a bit more.

Despite that, we are open for custom orders as always! Take a look at our information page here to find out more about placing a custom order.

Wishing you all a lovely Easter weekend, what ever you are up to and however you chose to celebrate.

Cwtch ♥ Mawr

peg doll family

Meet the Peg Doll Maker – Part III

Welcome to part 3 of my Meet the Peg Doll Maker series, sharing a bit more of the stories and behind the scenes of making our peg doll families.

For more information of the Meet the Maker concept if you’re just catching up, see my previous two posts.

Day 13: Photography 📷

photographing my peg doll families

In our old house we had a perfect south-facing conservatory for taking photos of my peg doll families. They only ever needed very little post-shoot editing. But in our new house, our little side-return “conservatory” faces the west. It is unevenly lit because it only has windows along one side. So my current simple set up takes place in the massive bay window in our lounge. I’m still not 100% happy, it takes a lot more tweaking this way than it used to. Photoshop actions are my late night friends! I’ve always kept my photos very simple to allow the colours and patterns of the dolls to shine, I am thinking of changing this up this year. I will be keeping the white backgrounds, but hope to explore props and staging a little more 📷 💕🐘

DAY 14: Creative Friends

I don’t really have a real life creative business circle that I brainstorm with. Being an introvert suffering with anxiety and depression (oh my goodness, I sound a right barrel of laughs! I’m not a TOTAL loon, I promise!), makes it hard to “get out there” and network. However, IG is fabulous for being inspired by others work and the way they operate their small/creative businesses. So it is a bit of a godsend! I have been fortunate to cross IG paths with lots of lovely lovely makers. There are a few who stick in my mind not only for their talents and the beautiful products they make, but for the warmth and friendliness they extend to their followers. I love the time they take to respond to comments and messages. This is something that is essential in running a small creative business. Have a little peep at their lovely work and beautiful souls:
a) Deedee & Boo Designs
b) Daisylions
c) @rhubarb_hill_crafts
d) Glenbach Weaving
e) Jessica Kathryn Art

Day 15: Work Clothes.

my uniform worn when making peg doll families

Comfort is key. Every day I get up and change into my “uniform”. This consists of some sort of soft, cosy pjs and my slipper boots. I have a little preference for the pj bottoms with the cuffed ankles and pockets . This makes them perfectly good “around the house day wear” in my books! In fact a couple of my friends think this is hilarious and regularly text me to ask what “lounge wear” I have on today. Isn’t jealousy an awful thing 😉😄 The slipper boots are a must. Once my feet are cold there is no thawing out for me and I become a very grumpy Natalie, as Mr T will vouch.

PPE worn when making peg doll families

Here you can see the PPE I *should* wear.  It gets a bit smokey and dusty when I’m burning and sanding the dolls. I don’t wear it often enough though. I hope that’s not going to be something that bites me on the bottom in years to come 😨

Day 16: Time to Relax.

hand made in wales

Mr T has been working his IT wizardry in Reading all week but is due home anytime soon. I am excited to spend the evening doing our favourite everyday thing…cwtching up together in our cosy lounge with a film, or binge watching a good series 💕 We’ve got a cinema projector that we haven’t yet set back up since we moved in to this house. I can’t wait to install it. This sofa was made for maximum relaxing and big screen watching! I usually sit catching up on admin on the laptop or drawing out peg dolls as we watch. We are both night owls so it’s not at all unusual for us to be up until 2 or 3 am. This is great for me, but not so much for Mr T who has to get up in the morning! I think you have to listen to your body rhythms. For as long as I can remember I have been a night owl. I always find my most productive time of day is between 3pm and midnight-ish.  When I was a uni student, working as a teacher and with what I do now. No wonder working in a “normal” job has always gotten me down/unwell. I always feel like I “come alive” or properly come around about 2 in the afternoon no matter what time I get up before that. But I’m no longer beating myself up for it and just going with it. Of course, I am fortunate to be in a situation where I can do it, and feel much healthier and happier for it.

Day 17: Feedback

wedding cake topper feedback

I really have the loveliest customers who say the nicest things about my peg doll families. Feedback is so important that I have a whole page devoted to it on my website. Not only does is build up trust with potential customers when they see what people have to say about you, it absolutely keeps me going with what I do. It has given me a little purpose in life, certainly over the past 6 months. This email in particular was rather special. It made me cry knowing my work had made her cry!! Tears of joy of course!! 💕

 You can see lots more about what my lovely customers have said about my peg doll families by selecting “Feedback” from the menu at the top of this page 

Day 18: Hyperlapse

Find my Hyperlapse video here on YouTube

I am being a TOTAL cheat because I’m reposting the one I made for the December challenge! It’s got awful lighting and it’s off centre a lot of the time, but it took me soooo long to edit what I do into one minute. I couldn’t face doing another one! 😂 I’ve got one or two new followers since then, so it’s nice to re-show the process that every single one of my dolls goes through. Lots of people are surprised that I use pencil and not paint on my peg doll families. It takes a lot more time and effort but it’s worth it. When I shared this on Facebook in December, my Mother In Law gave me a row as she thought it made what I do look really easy 😂

That brings part III of Meet the Peg Doll Maker to a close. Stay tuned for part III; if you’re a cat lover, you are going to love it!

Cwtch ♥ Mawr

peg doll family

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

Meet the Peg Doll Maker – Part I

Welcome to Part I 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. It is designed to help small business owners and creatives to tell the story behind their brand.

 Each day of the month has a different prompt, which participants can interpret freely. Over the series of posts I am sharing the images I chose for each daily prompt, along with the caption I wrote for each one on Instagram. Hopefully you will learn a little more about myself, the peg doll families and cake toppers that I lovingly create, and about what goes on behind the scenes in our studio!

Day 1: you

peg doll artist Natalie Thomas

This is me, Natalie. I’m not usually fortunate enough to be sipping on cocktails! However this was my 35th birthday in the Lake District over the weekend. I’m not at all ready to be a grown up yet though! I live on the side of a mountain in the Welsh Valleys with my lovely hubby. His presence keeps me (an introverted, tea-drinking creative gal who wants a quiet, uncomplicated life; likes staying in and her own company) just about on the right side of the “Crazy Cat Lady” line.  We have 3 cats; Dexter, Cookie and our kitten Pearl, who really are the apples of my eye. Pearl is completely deaf and I am teaching her sign language, thus validating the almost crazy cat lady status 😹. Really looking forward to finding out more about my favourite makers and meeting lots of new inspirational and talented lovelies too.

DAY 2: Favourite to make

Peg doll family of five

I’ve really had to think long and hard about this. I really love EVERY set I’m commissioned to make. So much love, time, and effort goes into each doll I make that I become attached to each one. I almost posted some Wedding Cake toppers as it’s always such a huge honour to be asked to make something which is such a focal point of someone’s special day. It’s also an extremely nervous process – particularly between sending them from my little studio to their new recipient! Will the dolls be what the customer envisaged and hoped for? Have I got the details just right? So it’s very stressful but so rewarding when I get lovely email feedback!

However, after a bit of reflection, I realised that my favourite sets to make are in fact the ones that involve lots of colour and pattern. It’s such a satisfying and therapeutic process to translate them to my little wooden dolls. So I picked this picture as an example of my favourite sort of work to undertake- bright, colourful and patterned! 😍💕 Does colour or pattern play a big part in your work?

Day 3: Workspace

peg doll artists studio, wales, uk

Here’s my little studio. We haven’t lived here long so we haven’t decorated in here (brown carpet anyone?) but I love my room anyway. My desk is under the window so gets lots of natural light. The deep windowsill is perfect for our 3 moggies to curl up on while I’m working. It looks over our little terraced garden and up to the pine trees on the mountain we live on. I love watching them sway hypnotically in the wind. Of course this is rather fortunate because we get a lot of wet and windy weather in the Welsh valleys!

The room is home to all my special little trinkets and treasures from my dearest family and friends, and favourite makers, so it’s an ecclectic but inspirational environment for me. It’s also got a bank of built-in storage which is crammed with my years of arts and crafts materials. It’s the main reason I bagged this room as my studio when we bought the house! If I’m feeling brave enough to reveal my scratchy little Welsh accent, I might show you around on Stories later! 🙈 Do you have anything special to you in your studio? Looking forward to seeing everyone elses creative spaces today

Day 4: Tools

peg doll artists tools

Here are my essential tools for making my peg doll families and wedding cake toppers. I usually work in my studio. Of course this is a necessity when I’m burning the dolls. Sometimes though, in the evenings, I like to pop my pencils and drawling tools in to a basket and work curled on the sofa up next to Mr T. There’s usually a cat or two on my lap too!

Day 6: Raw Materials

peg doll families and couples

Here are my little wooden peg dolls before I work my pyrography and pencil magic on them. I keep an easy to grab “working stock” handy in pretty glass jars on my pretty turquoise Raskog trolly next to my desk. The rest of my raw stock is in a big box. I keep track of how many I’ve got with little chalk labels on each jar – high tec baby! 😂 💕 Do you have any clever ways to keep track of your raw materials?

 Stay tuned for Part II of my Meet the Peg Doll Maker Series for the next 6 snippets into our little business.

Cwtch ♥ Mawr

peg doll family