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Our Founder and Creative Director, Virginia Lette says, “For as long I can remember, my mum would always sing the Tiptoe song to my siblings and I, every year on the eve of our birthdays — it was easily our most beloved family tradition. We always found it funny that nobody we knew had ever heard of the song, despite its release in the 1950s.

Enthusiastically, I continued the tradition of singing Tiptoe with my own family, and when my five year old daughter began singing it to her young friends at school, their excitement and constant requests to hear it again inspired me to share the song more widely.

Soon the kids started asking, “What does Tiptoe look like?” — which first sparked the idea of bringing him to life. I had always had an image of him in my head, but trying to do it justice through drawings and illustrations proved more challenging than I’d thought.

In 2019, I spent most of the year in hospital undergoing chemotherapy treatment, and the Tiptoe project became my creative outlet. Some days I poured every ounce of energy into it; other times I had to step away for weeks, often months at a time. Thankfully, the wonderful designers, manufacturers, and suppliers who joined the journey, showed great patience as the project slowly found it’s feet.

In the years since then, countless sketches have been drawn (and redrawn), prototypes have been made (and remade) and much of my hard-earned savings has been poured into building a recognisable character: registering trademarks, working with legal teams in overseas markets, joining the Toy Creators Academy, building industry networks, and travelling to Toy Fairs in Australia and the USA.

Now, after an extended period of learning, refining and re-imagining, we are filled with excitement as we look towards launching a new website, a children’s storybook and a toy in 2026 — Tiptoe the Birthday Elf will finally be introduced to more children and families.

Our enduring dream is that Tiptoe the Birthday Elf will become known to everyone, everywhere, all around the world… and that Tiptoe’s trademark sparkle will continue to flourish among all who believe in his magic.” ✨