Stamping Ground

Today is Mr Dunnit's birthday. He is an honourable and modest man and I am therefore not going to tell you how old he is. Let us instead dwell on the outbreak of decoupage characters that are finding their way onto my cards. I realise, dear interweb thingy, that not everyone is as old as me, and that The Clangers and Bagpuss may not have found world wide syndication as tv programmes, so not everyone will know that I'm not making it up! These two characters - the Soup Dragon (Clangers) and collectively, the mice from Bagpuss, evoke the strongest memories for me. Not of the programmes and stories, but more of getting home after school - a bike ride with Frederick from down the road. We used to cycle to North Camp, dump the bikes at Aunty Ellen's and walk to school from hers. On a Wednesday, AP would give me 10p to buy a Saving Stamp. There was a huge secondhand bookshop en route that was one of my favourite places to stop. I collected (like sooooooo many others) 'Whimsies' and they were expensive. 50p each. And Ladybird History books, 25p. I'm amazed by the details that I've remembered; I thought that music was the start point for my memories. Amazing what impact a fairly simple tv show had. So Mr Dunnit, I hope you like the card I made for you; I kept pretty much to your preferences - mostly though, I hope that your birthday memories are as warm and fun as those that came to my mind while I cut out The Clangers!

**Edited to answer questions: decoupage characters come from Jolly Nation, as listed on the right of this page***