It is always exciting when something new comes along, and I find it very difficult not to say anything. So with that being said I am very proud to announce that we are entering the world of pen making in its truest form! From the drawing board to the writing board: we will be designing and making our very own fountain pens. The only parts we don't make are the nibs, and these will be Bock size 6 nibs.

2024 sees a great new shift at the Hopping Frog workshop as I can now spend more time adding new stock to the website.
You may notice a few things have changed - my hope is that I make the whole experience a lot easier for customers to find what they want.
The 'Historic' range became so popular last year that I was unable to keep the website updated. But after putting in new processes and setting time aside regularly, it will be much easier to keep updated.

I have, for a long time, made many key-rings, none of which have ever made it onto the website. So new for 2024 will be a range of key-rings that will sit alongside the 'Historic' & 'Unique' range of pens, starting with a collection of Scotch whisky casks.
​These are incredible, and each key-ring will be supplied with an unfinished off-cut so the recipient can inhale the wonderful whisky aroma held within the wood.

We moved our workshop (and family home) at the end of June this year and planned to refurb the workshop straight away.

Unfortunately it had a very leaky asbestos roof that needed replacement before any other work took place in there, and so we had planned ahead by booking a roofer back in March to attend immediately after taking ownership in June.
Due to the pandemic, material shortages and other things, the roofer had to delay the start date until the end of July, which then turned into the end of August(!).
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Well, i can now happily say, the roofer managed to squeeze us in last week following a good run of dry weather and we now have a new, watertight roof to the building!

Whilst this is fantastic news as we can now start buying the materials required to insulate the building and begin work (and finally get the tools and machinery out of storage) the cost of timber has gone through the roof (pun intended!), and so our insulation & boarding out project will cost a significant amount more than originally budgeted for!

We are now waiting for the local timber merchant to give us a costing on materials and confirm a delivery date, then we can then get the workshop habitable and get it setup to recommence business!

We're beginning to get a little excited!