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Here's a trip down memory lane. A Teddy Bear Sofa we made way, way back in 2006 exclusively for Harrods, London.  Made from hundreds of Harrods Bears created by RUSS and hand stitched by Rikey Austin and Jo Farmer at the RUSS BERRIE Head Office in Southampton.

If you don't already know this cute fella, let me introduce you. This is Tat, the first of the Alice's Bear Shop characters to ever get his own book. I began telling Tat's tale to my children when my eldest son was around eight years old. That's a whopping twenty years ago! I finally wrote and illustrated Tat's story about a decade later and a gorgeous series of soft toys followed. To celebrate our new Teddy passports and the imminent launch of our Teddy Tags global map (watch this space) we're sending My own Tat bear on a journey around...

On Thursday 2nd of March, our interview with the lovely Charlotte Foot aired on BBC Radio Solent. Charlotte was a sweetheart. We had such giggles and even managed to get across an important message. Our Teddy and Doll Hospital is at the heart of our ethical business. It's a perfect example of the circular economy making it a great thing for the planet. Those of you who know us won't be surprised by the pleasure our work gives us. It's wonderful, truly wonderful to see the joy that handing over a mended, beloved teddy brings. You can listen to the...

WOW! What a blinder of a month February has been so far, and we're not even at the end! Our decision to give up the front shop, step aside if not completely away from soft toys and concentrate on the bits of our business that make us special and, we hope, make the world a better place, was a tough one. After all, it's pick up sales and impulse buys that part parents from their money easiest. But we did it anyway.  December and the move was too fraught to worry. Christmas sales of kits were good online and we were...

While chatting about the mountains of 'stuff' we bury ourselves in, it occurred to me that the urge to hoard is as branching and diverse as the biggest gnarled oak in the forest. To begin with, we make a decision not to part with an item. We see value in it and therefore hang on to it.  Now that makes sense. What's the problem? And really, at this stage there is no problem at all.  But, let's break it down a little, let's take a look at a very few of the reasons for keeping an item. The item is...