When the Happy Tartan Girls Started Telling Their Own Stories
How six tartans, six characters and a lot of imagination began turning into a world of stories.
There is a funny point in creating a character when they stop being a drawing.
They start becoming a person.
Not literally, obviously — although sometimes I'm not entirely convinced.
They develop opinions.
They would definitely wear that, but absolutely wouldn't wear that.
One would charge straight into an adventure while another would stand back and work out a plan first.
You start knowing what they would say.
What would make them laugh.
Who would get everyone into trouble.
And who would probably have to get them back out of it.
That's what happened with the Happy Tartan Girls.
What began with tartan, colour, fashion and illustration has gradually become something much bigger:
six girls, six personalities and a growing world of stories.
It Started With the Tartans
Happy Tartan® began with my love of colour and my slightly less traditional way of looking at tartan.
I wanted tartan to feel bright, playful and contemporary while still having that unmistakable connection to Scotland.
As the tartan collections developed, I began imagining the people who might inhabit this colourful little world.
And then came the girls.
At first, the process was visual.
Hair colours.
Clothes.
Expressions.
Different tartans.
Little details that made each character recognisable.
But drawing a character inevitably makes me wonder about the person inside the picture.
Who is she?
And that's where the storytelling started.
Meet the Girls
Eventually, six distinct personalities emerged.
There's Bonnie, bold, sparkly and confident — the sort of girl who doesn't particularly mind being the centre of attention.
Blaire is the planner and creative problem-solver. When everyone else is getting carried away, she's probably the one saying, “Right, here's the plan…”
Iona is the dreamy artist. She's imaginative, observant and forever finding inspiration in the world around her.
Alba carries the spirit of Scotland with her — thoughtful, grounded and fascinated by the stories and traditions behind things.
Blane is brave, curious and always ready to explore.
And Skye is the outdoorsy adventurer, happiest racing towards whatever might be waiting around the next corner.
Six different personalities.
Which, conveniently, means six completely different ways for things to go wrong.
Perfect for stories.
Then the Stories Started Appearing
Once I knew who the girls were, I started imagining what might happen to them.
And suddenly there were adventures everywhere.
A parade could become a story.
A fashion problem could become a story.
A walk outside could become a treasure hunt.
A picnic could end up somewhere completely unexpected.
Something as simple as painting a heart could begin an idea that quietly connects to something much bigger.
That's one of my favourite things about storytelling.
You don't always know at the beginning which little details are going to matter later.
Sometimes you put something into a story simply because it feels right.
Months later you realise:
Ah. That's what that was for.
Bonnie Went First
Bonnie became the first of the girls to step properly into her own book with Bonnie and the Big Tartan Parade.
And that was an important moment for me.
Because suddenly I wasn't simply designing a character wearing a tartan.
I was thinking about scenes.
What happens next?
What does Bonnie learn?
Who does she meet?
What does the world around her look like?
What tiny details can appear in the illustrations?
What could return in another story?
That's when a character begins to have a life beyond a product or an illustration.
She has somewhere to go.
Building Their World One Book at a Time
The other girls now have their own stories developing too.
Blaire has fashion to fix.
Iona has nature to explore.
Alba has art and stories to uncover.
Blane has treasure to find.
And Skye has adventures waiting somewhere up high.
But I don't want to rush them.
That's something I'm learning more and more about my creative process.
A story sometimes needs time to tell you what it wants to become.
Characters evolve while you're writing them.
A small idea becomes important.
A background character suddenly demands a speaking part.
One book creates the seed for another.
And eventually separate stories begin connecting into a world.
That's what's happening with Happy Tartan.
There Are Hearts Appearing Too
One little symbol has started quietly finding its way through the Happy Tartan world.
Hearts.
Bonnie painting hearts.
Hearts hidden in illustrations.
Hearts left behind.
Small acts of kindness.
Little reminders that you can leave somewhere — or someone — slightly happier than you found them.
I didn't want to force that into the stories as a big message.
I wanted it to grow naturally.
Something children might begin spotting.
Something that gradually becomes part of the Happy Tartan tradition.
And eventually those little hearts can connect the fictional world with something real through Threads of Kindness and the wider values behind Happy Tartan.
That's the Bit I Love
I love that I don't completely know where all of this is going.
I have plans.
Lots of plans.
Books being written.
Characters developing.
Ideas for adventures.
Illustrations.
Products.
Places.
Traditions.
And probably far too many notes.
But there is still room for the girls to surprise me.
That's the fun part.
I'm building their world, but in a strange way, the more developed the characters become, the more they start helping to write it.
You begin asking:
What would Bonnie do?
Would Blaire really agree to that?
Iona would notice that flower.
Skye would definitely climb that.
And suddenly you've got the next scene.
From Drawing Characters to Building Worlds
I've realised this is a pattern in my work.
I love creating something visually.
But then I want to know its story.
A tartan becomes a dress.
A dress finds a character.
The character develops a personality.
The personality creates an adventure.
The adventure becomes a book.
And the book opens the door to another story.
That's how the Happy Tartan Girls have grown.
Slowly.
Playfully.
One idea connecting to another.
And they're still evolving.
There are more books to write, more adventures to have and lots of little pieces of their world that I haven't shared yet.
For now, I'm enjoying finding out who these girls become.
Because sometimes the best part of creating a story isn't knowing exactly how it ends.
It's discovering the world as you build it.
