Finding Solace in Creativity

From late July through mid-August 2024, as her father’s condition unexpectedly declined at home—with the loving support of Macmillan and Shipston Home Nursing—Emma found refuge in her work. Each afternoon she would settle beside him with baby Isla in her lap, laptop open, sketching and designing pages for the ABC Animals Starter Kit from Little Paws Big Memories. Those weeks became her anchor: every animal outline she completed was a way to thank her dad, distract her mind from grief, and celebrate the joy he’d always brought her.

Creating the ABC Animals Starter Kit

• June–December 2024: Emma sketched each of the 26 animals (one per letter of the alphabet) with a section left “partially drawn.” Parents press their baby’s handprint, footprint or fingerprint into the outline—creating a bespoke keepsake.
• Each spread includes a “Memories of You” prompt, so parents can capture anecdotes they might otherwise forget: first giggles, Grandma’s nickname for her first grand daughter, or her first sleep through the night. A pouch at the back holds ultrasound scans, hospital bands and photos.
• The kit comes with four “clean-touch” ink pads sized for little hands—quick, mess-free and able to capture impressions about four to five times each, ensuring every tiny digit is preserved without smudges.

Even while Michael’s surgery was brought forward to July 2024—and Emma nursed him at home—she pressed on with the book, finding strength in every completed page. At her father’s funeral, Emma’s reading was a final tribute to the man who meant everything to her.

From Self-Publishers to Award Winners

With no publishing experience, Emma and Michael plunged into quotations from UK and overseas printers. Early UK quotes would have priced the book at over £60 retail; after testing numerous China-based samples, they landed on a 400 gsm stock that makes every print pop and stands up to generations of handling.

• Initial Print Run: 2,500 copies (February 2025 launch)
• Sales Channels: Their own ecommerce site (supported by Google Ads, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok), plus an Amazon storefront. Instagram attracts new parents; Facebook reaches grandparents.
• Roles: Emma continues her NHS role, oversees social media and “Memories of You” content; Michael handles printing partnerships, ink-pad sourcing, book editing, marketing strategy and logistics for pop-ups and shows.

Their leap of faith paid off in May 2025 when the ABC Animals Starter Kit won the First Time Mums’ Choice Award 2025 in the Baby Shower Gift / Newborn Keepsake category—proof that analogue memories still hold a magic digital data can’t touch.

Looking Ahead

Emma and Michael aren’t stopping there:

• Supporting Bereaved Families: They’ve launched a GoFundMe to provide every baby who passes away in a UK NICU with a free print of the art work and a clean-touch ink pad—so parents can capture those precious imprints forever.
• Prints for the Wall: If demand is strong, they plan a line of single prints to be sold with an Ink Pad. The perfect gift for Grandparents.
• Wall-Sticker Collection: High-quality, removable stickers featuring their beloved ABC characters—so nurseries can keep the magic on the walls.

“When we look back at these pages in ten or twenty years,” says Emma, “we won’t just see inked paws and footprints—we’ll feel the warmth of those early moments with Isla, Jacob’s first day at school, and the comfort of creating something together as a family. That’s a legacy worth more than any digital file.”