So excited to have opened a JoJo Gnome online Etsy shop  check it out at https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JoJoGnome which is selling JoJo Gnome cards and button badges. The cards are perfect for those occasions when you need a wee present as well as a card …so the badge along with the photo card should just hit the spot (if your 4 or 40!).

There’s a choice of 6 JoJo Gnome cards at the moment showing illustrations from various JoJo Gnome stories (Including Sow & Grow and The Sound Machine). There are also two sets of badges (3 badges in each set). Buy 6 cards and only pay for 5!

For the badges I decided to have a choice of 2 finishes…1 plastic for the younger kids and the other more traditional metal.

Making the badges and cards takes me back to my student days when I ran a wee shop at Decourcy’s Arcade in Glasgow called Mouse House. There I sold my own cards and brooches (Tatty Bijoux). It’s funny how things in life come round to visit you again.

Pop over to the shop and check it out, delighted to hear what you think.

I’ll keep you updated with additions to the shop as I plan to have other cards for sale too, which won’t have JoJo Gnome on them. These will feature some of my other art work and photographs. To have a wee peek at some of my photos check out my Instagram account jojognome.

If you are a twitter person then I would be delighted to have you follow @jojognome. I share lots of education content (especially primary/ early years), all things bookish and art bits and pieces, which I come across. On @1jojognomecards it’s all about the cards and latest news on what’s in the shop.

I had such a good time doing storytelling sessions in Fife with JoJo Gnome this July. The first stop was St Andrews  Library where we had a mix of children from St Andrews and a few who were on holiday. Lots of fun was had when the children joined in the story ‘Sow & Grow with JoJo Gnome”  We then climbed the largest record breaking bean stalk in the world (having grow it ourselves first of course).

In the afternoon it was off to Newport Library …and what a lovely place that is on the banks of the Tay. The children at this session particularly enjoyed colouring in JoJo Gnome plant labels for their potentially record breaking sun flowers.  In both workshops we did some stop frame animation and you can see the lovely films the children made .  There are also templates to download, which you can use to make your own JoJo Gnome flower labels.

The brilliant news is that storytelling with JoJo Gnome will be back in Fife in November for 3-6’s. More details on that soon. A huge thank you to the lovely library ladies Maggie and Pauline who climbed those beanstalks with me and also cleaned up the spilled compost! The storytelling sessions fitted with the theme of the Summer Reading Challenge ‘Record Breakers’ which is proving very successful. Here’s to lots more young people reading this summer. A particularly appropriate activity just now as it’s nice to have something to do when the rain is pouring down outside.

Look out for fab JoJo Gnome badges and cards coming soon.