Introducing the Pebble People

A short story about an accidental win

There is nothing better than coming up with an idea that works or making something that wins the heart of another. I am yet to master the secret sauce or find the perfect formula, and maybe that is where the magic lies. Perhaps we need the days and weeks of trying, chipping away, putting in the hours to fully appreciate the rare shiny nuggets of success.

I have been making for as long as I can remember, mostly as a side hustle alongside studying and later teaching and have traversed the many different art forms. There have been lows aplenty. The “no thank you’s” the direct “no” and arguably the worst form of rejection, the icy radio silence. Memories of freezing cold mornings at London’s iconic Spitalfield’s market, where I would line up at first light to try and claim a pitch. Not wanting to buy so much as a cup of tea to warm my cold bones, as I hadn’t yet earned back the cost of my stall and then trudging home with a bag that felt heavier than when I arrived. Then come the wonderful highs, the business card of a buyer pressed into my hand at a trade show, the day I completely sold out and the email from a fashion director of a big glossy magazine who commissioned me to make the gifts for her stylish baby shower.

Today I wanted to write about the Pebble People, a tiny but mighty accidental win, but first a little back story. The first Pebble People were real pebbles, collected from Limantour beach, one sunny Saturday. They returned home with us in Posy’s small yellow bucket and were left forgotten until boredom struck several weeks later and the pebbles were re-discovered and painted in pastel shades. We added tiny rosy cheeks and sweet smiles, bringing them to life. Posy christened them the Pebble People and incorporated them into her imaginative play, but grew frustrated that they couldn’t and just wouldn’t stand up.

The next time we had a rainy afternoon, we got out a tub of clay and set to work making the new and improved pebble peeps. Beginning with small balls of clay, we squished them into pebble like shapes and finished them with a gentle bash onto the kitchen table to ensure a flat bottom. The next part was the trickiest, a patient week whilst they dried out, turning slowly from a milky brown to chalky white to let us know they were ready for their coloured coats. The final stage was to add the hand drawn faces that magically transformed them from pastel clay lumps into Pebble People. We arranged them into a little group and I shared a photo on my Instagram account without giving it much thought. I picked up my phone a couple of hours later, to see hundreds of heart-shaped seals of approval and a myriad of messages. My inbox was filled with requests for more, as well as questions on how to make. I obliged with a step-by-step tutorial and it warmed my heart as people began to make their own collections of Pebble People.

Several months later, the children and I made around a hundred more Pebble People. Working together to form, paint and draw on faces. We added a spray of clear varnish to make them more durable and held a fundraiser for a local children’s charity. They were imperfect and a touch wonky but somehow had a unique charm. What I hadn’t anticipated was that people would look to recreate their own families with our little pebble peeps. A tall one for dad, rosy cheeks and eyelashes for mum and then three smaller ones for the kids and maybe even a teeny tiny one to represent Bob the dog. A couple to go on a wedding cake, two tiny matching ones for a set of new-born twins. The stories continued, as did the special requests in my inbox.

By this stage the children had grown a little bored with helping mum make pebbles and if I’m honest I wanted to raise the bar a little, making them a little less wonky and giving them additional coats of paint and varnish to ensure a longer life. I took up the mantle, making Pebble People in every iteration of the modern family. I sent little pebble families to friends near and far and ran giveaways on my Instagram account. My favourite of all was the pebble treasure hunt that I created in my hometown of San Anselmo on the run up to Thanksgiving. I wanted to give thanks to this small special town and the community that had welcomed us with open arms. Every day for a week we hid a pebble person and posted clues on my social media. Jake and Posy loved helping find the hiding spots and drip feeding the clues. I was a little worried in case the pebbles were left lonely and unfound, but I needn’t have worried as both old and young hunted high and low and sent me photos of the newly claimed pebble peeps in tiny hands and in their new homes. It was such a joyous experience, I am beaming as I type. Who knew, these tiny squished balls of clay would capture hearts.

The Pebble People have evolved over the past two years, adorned in brighter shades for spring, wearing teeny tiny flower crowns in summer and I am currently working on a small collection of party pebbles with a sprinkling of glitter and requisite tiny party hats! The Pebbles have welcomed their cousins the Pumpkin People during fall and the Treelets for the holidays. I painted pebbles in the colours of summer petals and hid them in flower beds for a May Day party and have dreams of one day making a completely white collection to exhibit in one of my favourite stores.

They are all made completely by me at my kitchen table, each unique and a tiny labour of love. I still get weekly messages about the small clay pebbles and honestly never tire. They will never make me rich nor famous but I have been referred to as the pebble lady on more than one occasion whilst ordering my coffee and that is enough to make me smile.