About

Hello! I’m Wendy

Wendy

and I’m the artist/designer – and general dogsbody – behind 1st Unique Gifts.

I love creating special and different gifts for people and am always willing to have a go at new ideas for you – just ask.  I love the individual and the slightly quirky.  I’m inspired by people’s passions, by escapism and by laughter.

beach huts plaque

Four people on the planet call me Mum and three call me Grandma.  I share my home with my partner (aka Britain’s Tidiest Man) five very cheeky free range hens and a cute little rabbit (who scares the chickens a tiny bit).

hello, who are you?

I started 1^st Unique Gifts following redundancy from what I’d assumed was a secure job in prison education; frequent and severe migraines had already made the job much more difficult than it should have been and the redundancy was a blessing, albeit in heavy disguise.

The timing was poor: it came at exactly the same time as a house move – we took on a neglected dormer bungalow with an equally neglected large garden (we chose it as it gave us the space for my studio). In between creating gifts and updating the website/blog, I’m battling to tame this former jungle (think rainforest and you’d be close) into something that might just be capable of producing a little organic goodness for the table.  It’s a slow but satisfying task.

chickens helping out in the garden

Rewind a few years, and you’d have seen me – at various times – involved in community education, child minding, writing project articles for craft magazines, painting murals and designing children’s wear – all woven into raising a family.

OK, so if you don’t know enough about me already, here are some random facts:

1. My migraines were once so bad I thought I was unemployable. I probably was.
2. I adore campervans, beach huts, driftwood and pebbles.  It’s the escapist part of me – maybe that’s what working in prison education does to you.
3. I love potatoes in any form, fresh ginger and cake. Not necessarily together.
4. My favourite colour is blue. If you want to sell me anything, make sure I see it in blue.
5. It may be the teacher in me, but I am a bit of a grammar and spelling geek.  I don’t use a spell check on my blog, so there may be the odd typo – but I do proof read it to death.
6. I don’t watch a lot of TV but I never miss Coronation Street. I’m an addict.
7. I’m also addicted to caffeine, blogging and cake. I have to strictly limit my intake of all three. It’s difficult.
8. My favourite gadget is my Kindle. I wouldn’t be without it but it’s far too easy to buy books for it.
9. I love, love, love recycled crafts – I plan to start working on more arty crafty upcycling projects and you’ll see the theme popping up every so often in my blog.
10. I don’t understand the girly love of handbags and shoes. I wear one pair of shoes for most occasions until they wear out.  I’m possibly an embarrassment to be seen out with

You can contact me by emailing wendy@1stuniquegifts.co.uk or by leaving a comment on this blog