Gift Focus - Nov/Dec 2018 (Issue 110)

Animal-themed products for all ages hear me roar The Wilberry collection of soft toys from The Puppet Company strongly embraces animal design, with some focusing on the naturalistic, whereas others are dominated by bright, funky and colourful materials to help them stand out. If you are looking for classic animal soft toys, then the Wilberry Minis, Wilberry Bunnies, Wilberry Woodland and Wilberry Knitted collections are perfect. For something more unusual, take a look at the Wilberry Woollies, which are designed from a mixture of woollen and patterned fabrics and are available as a hippo, mouse, rat, sloth, dog, elephant and fox. If soft linen is more to your liking, there are nine characters that will sit happily on the windowsill of any child’s bedroom. Choose from a pretty faced deer, pink rabbit, blue elephant, two designs of fox or the newly launched lion, as well as three unicorn designs: pink, blue and red. There are also some new animals in the Wilberry Friends collection of smartly dressed characters, including Mr and Mrs Pig and the lamb and cow couples, which come in grey or pink colour schemes. T: +44 (0)1462 446 040 W: wilberrytoys.com Wraptious has a host of animal-related designs in its offering, including the In The Mist greetings cards by Aidan Sloan. Aidan uses oils to create his beautiful images, and likes to experiment with canvas materials, using old boards and even leather jackets to paint on. There’s also Sue Gardner’s Highland Cow greetings cards; her colourful animal portraits are perfect for any season. Fox in Foxgloves is part of a lovely range of work by British artist Kate Findlay, who creates her work using appliqué techniques and hand dyes her own materials. T: +44 (0)1614 302 310 W: wraptious.com Frith Sculpture, marketed by Blue Poppy Art , has built up a reputation over the past 25 years for its innovative sculptures, featuring hares and cats designed by Paul Jenkins, Highland cattle sculpted by Veronica Ballan, as well as dogs, farm animals and British birds and mammals. The Thomas Meadow hedgehog designs are new for 2018. There are seven models in the collection, with smaller ones retailing at £25. The new Cockapoo dogs sculpted by Adrian Tinsley have also proved popular. Eight sculptures are available, with more planned for the spring. T: +44 (0)1666 577 110 W: frithsculpture.co.uk This bestselling kit by Corinne Lapierre contains everything to make a family of four adorable mice in soft wool/viscose mix felt. Lovingly assembled in Yorkshire and designed to inspire crafters of all abilities, it is the ideal gift for adults and children and has a retail price of £14.40. It comes in the company’s signature craft box with a window to display the subtle colours. The kit contains embroidery thread, toy filling, a needle, and a full-scale template with clear instructions. “The growth of the handmade trend means that more and more people are looking to learn new skills, and a craft kit is the easiest way to do so as everything is conveniently put together in one box,” says Corinne. “We see many adults wanting to learn to sew again, and we are always delighted to see how much pleasure our kits bring them.” Corinne’s full range features many different animals, such as cats, dogs, flamingos, llamas, foxes, penguins and monkeys. All trade customers will receive complimentary POS materials including sample packs to make their own displays. T: +44 (0)113 2460 403 W: corinnelapierre.com giftfocus 41 animal designs