Wolfenoot Morning

Good morning Wolfenati,

It is 5am on Wolfenoot morning in New Zealand. My coffeepot is bubbling away, the cats are fed, and I just want to take a moment before the mayhem of the next 48 hours sets in.

About two months ago, I posted a thing my kid said on the internet. I have been doing this for as long as he has been saying things. I’m his Mom, and so I think he’s pretty great and cute and the stuff he says makes me laugh and fills me with amazement.

But this one tiny idea resonated and rippled across the world, and changed our lives and this piece of magic fell into my hands. I have done as much as I could to direct that magic well, to use this energy to foster kindness and to channel it into creating a force for good. It has definitely changed my life. I hope, in some ways, it has changed some of yours for the better too. ❤

We are about to celebrate a holiday my child just made up along with thousands of people around the world. What I originally thought would be a whimsical day in the life of my family has become something bigger than us. Around the world, people are loving on their dogs, doing kind things for their humans, supporting charities and organisations for wolves.

We have two books in the works. We have raised hundreds of dollars for Wolf Park and the Wellington SPCA. I have interviews with two radio stations in two different countries lined up today. I have a list as long as my arm of things to research and check and look up and merch to add and stuff to do.

But for just this one moment, before all the craziness starts, I want to stop and say THANK YOU. Thank you to every single person who embraced this thing and fed your love and your support into this wave of kindness we have created. Thank you to my partner who has dealt with my panic attacks and my exhaustion and my frustration and all the things that go along with unexpected virality. Thanks to my beautiful little boy who has such a big heart and such an interesting mind who gave us this idea in the first place.

Thank YOU. Whoever you are. For coming on this ride.

Be kind. Be happy. Hug a child or a dog or whoever you love today.

Have a howly Wolfenoot.

❤

Wolfenoot Posters

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EDIT: This is now closed. I will shortly draw the raffle/kindness winners and notify winners and once I have confirmation, I will make an announcement. ❤
Good morning, most excellent Wolfenati!

So, a couple of weeks back, we received a handful of these gorgeous Wolfenoot posters from The Bird Machine. We love them! And one will be mounted and go on our wall as soon as we get around to taking it to a framing place. 🙂 They are limited edition, numbered and signed.

But I have a few extras. After asking Jay over at The Bird Machine if he was okay with it, I have decided to use them to spread some good into the world.

There are three posters up for grabs. Each one will come with a note from the Wolfenoot Kid, and a thank you from me. And maybe something else depending on how creative we get. 😉 If you would like us (or only one of us) to sign the back, we will.

The first is up for auction. CURRENT HIGHEST BID: US$350

It’s going to be a semi-silent auction. A whisper auction. Here’s how it works.

You send me an email with the subject “Bird Machine Auction” and your bid.
At least once a day, I will update THIS POST with the highest bid. (And maybe announce it on other social media platforms, but to be sure check this post.)
Highest bidder at midday on the 24th November NEW ZEALAND TIME gets the thing.

All money (apart from paying postage) will go the Wellington SPCA. They are the beneficiaries of our #Nohateonlysnootboops line over on RedBubble, but it hasn’t really made as much as I’d hoped, so I am hoping to bump that contribution with this.

The second is more like a raffle.

To enter:

Please donate any amount of money to any dog or wolf based organisation/charity in the world.
Screenshot your confirmation (blurring or cropping out any credit card details or addresses)
Email it to us with your name and the subject line “Bird Machine Raffle”.

This closes at the same time as the auction above. We’ll get the kid to draw it, and I’ll let you know asap.

The third is about kindness.

Nominate someone you know who deserves a gorgeous thing because of something they do or work on that helps either children or animals.

Send me an email telling me about this person and why you think they should get the third poster. Please make sure you know how to get it to them. I’ll pick one of them.

Deadline for all three is midday NZ time on the 24th Nov.

(Click here to see when this deadline is where you are)

Artist Announcement

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We have finally done all we need to for me to be able to announce the artist for our The Wolfenoot Story book.

We had so many submissions, and it was really difficult to pick, but when I saw this young woman’s work and discovered she is only thirteen, I knew I had our artist.

Maria Roshto is a young artist hailing from Oregon. I loved the images her Mom sent us, but more than that, I loved the idea of giving an opportunity to a young artist to work with my young writer. Maria is working her heart out to get the illustrations done for the book under the guidance of The Patchwork Raven‘s designer Will Thompson. I really hope this is an extraordinary and positive experience for her.

She says: “I’ve been doing art since I could barely talk and I’m really excited for this project because I’m doing what I love for a career.”

Wolfenati, please embrace this bright young talent.

You can see her work on her (brand new) Facebook page.

But here’s a little teaser from the work she is doing for the book already.

wolfenoot story teaser

We are so excited to have Maria on board, and confident that with her we can produce a picture book that will be a delight for all celebrants of Wolfenoot everywhere. ❤

Conversations with the Wolfenoot Kid (Part 1)

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Here’s a thing we did:

We made a podcast.

If you’d like to guarantee your question in the next one (assuming it’s 7 yr old appropriate), pop over and support us on Patreon.

It was pretty fun having this conversation with him. It’s short because we are both a bit sick at the moment, but we hope to do more. Just me and the kid, chatting about Wolfenoot and answering some questions.

Enjoy.

❤

23 days till Wolfenoot!

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Good morning, Wolfenati, from a chilly spring New Zealand morning.

I just wanted to stop for a minute and take stock of this crazy rollercoaster ride we inadvertently started. Since that fateful tweet/fb post, we have gathered almost 6k members in Wolfenoot Central (which, if you’re on Facebook, is the best place for Wolfenoot goodness). The Official Wolfenoot page has just shy of 1.5k likes. And the Wolfenoot Event I started on a whim, randomly, back when people first started getting excited about it, has 7k+ going and 10k interested.

Over on Twitter, the @realwolfenoot account has almost 2k followers, and I think this is the first time I’ve done anything that could be considered actively promoting it.

My darling pack, this is mind-blowing.

But what is even more mind-blowing is the utter joy of the thing. I have had so many people contact me or post on one of those places that Wolfenoot is the happiest thing in their social media feeds. That this random thing the kid thought up has given them hope and joy in a world that sometimes can feel a bit short on those things. I think this is the thing that makes me happiest. That it has become such a force for good and kindness in the world.

The Wolfeloot has to date raised almost $400 for the charities involved (Wolf Park and the Wellington SPCA). I’ve been able to send some of that to Wolf Park, but am waiting on the other funds to be released. I know, anecdotally, that others have been donating to other charities, so I have reason to believe that the impact of Wolfenoot on charity donations is significantly larger than this, but no way of measuring it.

Over at The Patchwork Raven, we are working like demons to get The Wolfeloot Story children’s picture book, based on the kid’s story, completed and out. It probably won’t be done by the 23rd, but we plan to turn it around as fast as possible. We may be in a position to open pre-orders by then.

We have another book scheme up our sleeves, too, which we will talk about more later once we’ve figured out what we’re doing. Suffice to say, you’re going to want to be on board with this one. 😉

We also have a Patreon which is the best way to support us, if you are so moved. At the moment, there’s not much there, but $3+ Patrons get to choose questions to ask the kid. Sometime soon, he and I are going to sit down and do a recording of me working through the questions with him, which we’ll release, perhaps as a podcast? I’m still working that out. The Patreon will evolve as we work out exactly what the future of Wolfenoot will be. For now, that money will be used for admin/legal fees etc, or just sit there until we have a better idea of where this thing is going.

I have some new Wolfeloot in the wings, as well as a couple of very special limited edition items, but I am still working on the best way to deal with that. Keep an eye on our social media and website for more info as things evolve.

It has been quite a ride so far, but, again, I am blown away by the kindness and love of the people who have gotten involved in this. Even if it all dies down tomorrow, the good this had leveraged in the world will be worth it. Somehow that doesn’t seem entirely likely though. 😉 I think this journey is just beginning.

I love you, pack. Thank you for being the best thing on my Internet. ❤

One week down

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I was going to write a whole long post about what this last week has been like for us. But I am too tired. So I am simply going to repeat what I put on social media.

This last week has been the most insane rollercoaster. But overwhelmingly, people have been kind and warm and joyful. Thank you, everyone who has embraced the full spirit of #wolfenoot. I think, with your help, we’re turning it into a beautiful force for good. ❤

Thank you, all of you, for coming on this journey with me. Tomorrow, maybe, I’ll do a proper roundup.

I love you.

#nohateonlysnootboops