About | Whimsy

Encouraging a little bit of whimsy, but ethically.

Hi I'm Barbara from Dunedin, New Zealand. I'm in my eigth year of running a small business venture Whimsy, which started out as a pop-up shop in my brick single garage (hence the website name). I do have a dry sense of humour and Whimsy offers me the chance to bring joy by providing colourful, whimsical, unique gifts which will brighten your mood.

I've always strived to make Whimsy as sustainable as I can. All the products are hand picked for their ethics;

The vintage Children's books still have a lot of enjoyment to give
I upcycle books that are beyond reading and are headed for the dump
Flamingo Paperie support UK artists and printers and a number of worldwide charities
Naturalus Soaps are made with natural ingredients by a clinical medical practitioner
All packaging is recyclable Kraft paper
All natural fibre and yarn are from New Zealand sheep

My Passions

I enjoy crafting Little Golden Book notebooks out of pre-loved books I source from charity shops. I've always loved children's book illustrations so what better way to preserve a little bit of nostalgia from a simpler time. For Whimsy it had to be 100% recycled paper for the pages and I chose not to buy new books but rather to re-purpose old ones. And yes I do find myself looking at the pictures. My favourite Little Golden Book illustrators are Richard Scarry, Tibor Gergely, Mary Blair and Eloise Wilkin.

In an effort to use all my expanding book collection, worn soft cover books have been made into the book page buntings with the covers used as the spine. The greeting cards are made from pre-loved soft cover editions as well. And if I think the Little Golden Book is too precious to cut up then these are for sale intact here too.

A side effect/ by-product of buying Little Golden Books is seeing other Children's books to buy. I specialise in picture books from the seventies and back. These have the greatest illustrations and paper quality. I've made these very affordable to buy for today's kids as although we live in a digital world, there is nothing like holding a real book!