Book Launch Event 24th, 25th, 26th July 2021
at Memorable Events Wedding & Gift Shop
91 Bath Street, Ilkeston, DE7 8AP
In late 2020 during the Christmas online sales rush, a customer bought a few of my Story Calendars and some Personalised Illustrations. This customer was Mandy, the owner of "Memorable Events", a small gift shop on the local high street.
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Almost immediately we hit it off, both having similar ideas about how we could work together once the lockdowns had lifted. Mandy was looking for ways to introduce a creative space for children, and I was wondering where to launch my next picture book. We seemed to be the perfect match for each other!
It had been a very quiet first half of the year for me during the lockdowns of 2021, so this gave me plenty of time to work on "Bonnie's Ball". Mandy and I agreed on a July date to work towards, hoping that there would be a little more freedom with the rules around the pandemic, and also with it being the beginning of the summer holidays for most children.
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"Memorable Events" is well known for it's beautiful window displays on our high street, so when Mandy asked if I'd like to paint a "Bonnie's Ball" design on one of them, I jumped at the chance!
As luck would have it, most restrictions were lifted by the time the Book Launch Event came along. I spent 3 days at the shop reading, meeting and signing copies of my little book. Bonnie herself even made a special guest appearance on Day 1 - she was as good as gold, and was happy to be stroked and petted by all the children!
It was also great to meet the Mayor of Erewash, Donna Briggs, who made a special effort to come and meet myself and the staff at the shop. Donna has just written a book herself and is awaiting publication, using local printers, Moorleys Ltd.
"Memorable Events" has been a huge supporter of local crafters and artists for years, and I feel lucky to have found a place where my work seems to fit in. I'm intending to write more about this in a blog soon, but it has become more and more important to me to support small businesses wherever possible.
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To celebrate the book launch I asked Amy's Cakelicious Creations to create some cookies. Amy lives locally and has her own business baking and decorating cakes. Her designs are always flawless and always taste incredible. She created some beautiful paw print shaped cookies and added a red ribbon on the packaging, which were a beautiful addition to the book events. Needless to say, they sold out!
I also stumbled upon a small business based in Droitwich called Hattie-Lu Designs. They print images onto a variety of items specifically for businesses and I couldn't resist their tote bags once I saw the amazing print quality! The bags were very popular, ideal for carrying books, cookies, gifts and the free Activity Packs.
To create a little bit more work for myself (!), I thought it would be a nice idea to give away free Activity Packs for children, as a little thank you for coming to visit the shop and celebrate the book launch. This became an 8 page booklet full of puzzles, pages to colour in, and prompts for children to create their own stories! Each child also received a free "Bonnie's Ball" sticker and Mandy added a couple of small toys too.
