To be able to announce Punnydukes as one of my official stockists is a brilliant milestone. I am proud and pleased to be part of the Punnydukes family. The shop is still quite new. It opened down a Matlock side street in December 2018. It is the creation of illustrator Katie Abey whose funny (and punny!) illustrated range of goodies are a staple of any independent gift shop in the U.K. Santa even brought e one of her mugs last Christmas.
The shop itself is a-maz-ing. Themed around the magical, it nods to the Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland but most obviously to Harry Potter. A big influence on Kate’s work and with potter puns littering the shop (including the name, a Punny Honeydukes of course) The gorgeous bay windowed shop looks straight out of Diagonal Alley.
This store is so instagramable it hurts!
The shop had 7,000 international Instagram followers in its first few months of opening. One youtubers tour of the shop gained 50,000 views in about 3 days. The shop was Kickstarter backed and it just shows you what a worldwide audience there is for this store. There is a yearning to visit from fans across the globe.
Luckily for me, it’s just a 45 minute drive. There is certainly a fierce appetite for the store worldwide with many who will likely never get the chance to visit. I am really pleased that this doesn’t have to include me! I have already planned my first trip to the super instagramable independent store and it will be when I drop off my first batch of custom ceramic punny figures.
Punny is the teal wizard cat that is the mascot of Punnydukes. The store commissions artists to recreate punny in a range of mediums. There are a few crocheted punny’s I have spotted on their instagram. The adorable nature of the character and the cult status of the store shows there is a demand for Punnydukes branded products.
It’s been my first batch ceramics commission for a wholesale order and it’s been a delight to work with Punnydukes on this collaboration.