Puffin Post Vol.11 no.1

A great one for anniversary fever! This issue included a brief history of the club up till that point as well as Jill McDonalds memories of drawing Fat Puffin (previously posted). Also included was a short birthday story by Elisabeth Beresford, a piece about Ponies by Flambards author Kathleen Peyton and an interview with Jan Pienkowski.

Bundled in with the magazine was the 10th Birthday Exhibition announcement with a special board game called 'Swoop' designed by Merlin Southwell printed on the back - not many have survived!

Puffin Post Vol.3 No.4

Okay, this isn't a typical spring/summer image, but it's so full of wit and humour - I defy anyone who says this doesn't offer something for all ages.

Long time, no blog...

Hello Puffin Bloggers - sorry to have been away for so long, I'm afraid my other work has been taking all of my attention lately. Goodness know what I'll do if it really takes off!

Anywho, here is a little restoration that I've been working on: The Puffin Readers Diary 1979!


This delightful cover was not very good at keeping its Gold and Green foil intact - mine was very worn. I hope that other owners of this little work of art allow me the license of approximating the look of the complete foil image. This is one of my favourite Jill McDonald ephemeral images.

I now have a cache of scans to work through, so I hope to resume normal service.

Puffin Cake?

I admit this isn't an original Jill McDonald work - it's mine! My youngest daughter just turned six and requested a Puffin cake! (I don't know where she gets it from!) My freehand icing isn't the greatest, but here is my attempt based on the badge design by Jill.*

One nice consequence of doing this was discovering that the parent of one of her friends was also a member of the Puffin Club - now a teacher!

I was also contacted by another founder member who had come across this site - sadly she only had one letter from another member on club stationary as a memento. She also has a polaroid of her as a child in her bedroom with one of the (now very) rare Puffin Bookcases. These were a short run item that could be bought at selected Puffin outlets around the country. As far as I have been able to find out, these are excessively difficult to find as they tended to get thrown out when the Puffin books were outgrown - or didn't survive moves.

I'm sure there are some still out there in varying states of repair - hold on to them! They are going to increase in value.

After careful consideration (despite asking permission), I have chosen not to post the picture, as I feel it would be inappropriate. I will locate one of the photos that were taken for Puffin Post as this shows it very clearly.

*I have removed my daughters name electronically for her protection!

Another successful restoration...Puffin Mugs!

This is something I have wanted to do for a while!

My lovely puffin mug (the one on the right) that was accidentally smashed by my eldest when she was little (the restored graphic was one of my first postings!) and then stuck together with sellotape and modeling resin has been useless for anything other than storing bits and pieces - until now!

My youngest is quite taken with the whole 'Puffin Thing' and loves Fat Puffin, asked if she could make a different coloured image - easy on most image manipulation software - and then asked for a mug for her birthday. I finally sent both image files to the nice people at tshirtstudio.com who did a sterling job, turning it around in 48 hours!!

So I had the pleasure of drinking my tea from a treasured classic - as did my youngest!

Thanks Guys!

Please don't ask me to make these up for any of you! The copyright issues are hideous!!

Sorry I've been away...

It's been kind of hectic of late - non Puffin related. This was a sticker that was handed out to old Puffineers. This is another example from Ruths collection. If I can sort out the current stresses, normal service will be resumed shortly.

Image from the collection of Ruth - Founder member 1487 - Restored S. Hassan March 2009

If you ever received a postcard from the Puffin Club...

...You probably got a card with this on the front! This is from the collection shared by Jacqueline Atkinson. This was a really clever response to submissions from members (and everyone else!) The front had this lovely illustration and the back had a tick-box selection also illustrated by Jill McDonald (unless you hadn't recognised her deft pen and brushwork).

Look out for the typically humorous back of the card in future postings (I've got to promise something to get you to come back!!).