Posts belonging to Category General

For a while now, I’ve had contact forms on my website, mainly because I’d read somewhere that people were more likely to use a contact form than send an email.

I’ve decided to get rid of them though.  Why?  Well, when people contact me using email, I’m able to reply.  Easy and simple.

Mostly, when people contact me using the contact form, the same applies – but not always.  Sometimes, my emails get caught up in spam filters and end up in people’s junk mail – Hotmail accounts seem to be the worst for doing this.  It does seem to be ok when they’ve emailed me first and I’m just hitting reply.

So, if you’ve tried to contact me using a form recently and you’ve not had a reply, please have a trawl through your junk mail – or feel free to email me: wendy@1stuniquegifts.co.uk

let's stay in touch!

I can’t be the only one who feels like ideas just pop in her head sometimes, seemingly from nowhere.

Today, I was making up some of these family plaques for customer orders when…

sorry about the mess but the Johnson family lives here

… PING! an idea for a clock – followed very quickly by several others – popped into my head.  Of course, I had to stop and scribble the ideas down quickly on the first thing to hand (a customer order!)…

ideas scribbled down

…before the ideas disappeared from my head (my brain seems to work pretty well – and almost independently, it would appear – when it comes to generating ideas, but also seems just as good at forgetting them!)

Now all I need to do is to find time to make up the ones I think are actually good ideas as opposed to the ones which just came along for the ride.

Do you get ideas popping in your head when you’re not expecting them?  Or are you much more organised than that?

Welcome to Handmade Monday – and I hope the sun’s been shining this weekend in your part of the world – despite the frosty nights, we’ve had some gloriously sunny days here in Cheshire!  It’s always lovely to see the sun shining but it’s especially welcome at this time of year.

As well as unseasonal sunshine, there’s been a high level of unseasonal sales here too – I can’t quite believe how steadily busy I’ve been since Christmas.  I had expected (and almost even hoped for!) a slow period in January, and the to-do list that I’ve been adding to since September is still just waiting patiently for me – I’ve made no dents in it yet; I’m still just working on getting orders out!

It’s a nice position to be in, admittedly, and I think  good percentage of the sales have come via the press that has been generated by Press Loft – one way or another.  I’ll be doing a blog post specifically about Press Loft soon because I think it’s something which might be of interest to some of you.

some people have sandwiches on trays - I have plaques on trays

Meanwhile, there’s not much that’s new here – but lots of new things to work on.  Among them quite a few door plaques have been prepped and are ready to finish – a farmhouse in France is awaiting some bespoke door plaques (maybe I’ll show you them next week!) and there’s a few fairies to paint on the pink ones.  And a couple of campervans, too – of course!

I’m looking forward to browsing your blogs and seeing what’s new in your handmade world . . .

Welcome back to Handmade Monday.  Hope you all had a fab Christmas and New Year break.

This week, I’m just going to show you one of the last things I completed before Christmas.

It was ordered in plenty of time.  However, with the frenzy of clock orders that turned the studio into a pre-Christmas production line, I put it to one side for fear of splashing it (if you’ve ever seen me and paint in the same room, you’d understand).  I also knew I had someone to deliver this one personally for me so it didn’t need to meet the last posting dates.

painting the camper canvas

It was a large canvas (60cm x 45cm, which is quite a bit larger than I usually work), and one designed especially for a child who’d had a holiday in a camper called Coral, which I thought was a lovely idea!

camper photo

The red background was to match his room, and the beige camper matched Coral!  I worked from a photo on this campervan hire website.

the finished painting with CORAL on the number plate

I did enjoy doing it and hope it reminds the whole family of happy times.  Now, though, it’s over to you . . . I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve been creating recently

It’s the time of year we dust off our new year’s resolutions and resolve to be healthier, more organised and . . .

Well, I’ve decided to scrap that idea and just make some plans instead!

My plans for 2012 include:

* Being kinder to myself.  I need to remind myself that I’m only one person and can only do so much!  I have workaholic tendencies, which is good up to a point.  I need to be more aware of where that point kicks in!

mint tea - a moment of calm

* Making a start on a new business idea.  This new idea involves creating downloadable designs – for cardmakers, people who sew and maybe just anyone who wants invitations, gift tags, etc.  I’m thinking along the lines of instant, printable downloads.  The more I think about this idea, the more I love it.

* Making a decision about the growth of 1st Unique Gifts.  I love that it’s growing, being busy and gaining small amounts of media attention.  I need to decide if I want it to grow more (therefore needing staff – which was never my aim) or contain it and keep it as it is (me, my paintbrush and my website!)

tools of the trade

* Making more stock – this will not only make the business more manageable in busy periods and allow me some precious time off, it will make delivery to the customer quicker at times too.

making art hangers

* Writing a book (!!).  Not giving too much away about that one yet and it may take more than just this year to complete.

* Trying to make more one-offs.  Paintings, mixed media pieces and (my great love) driftwood pieces

driftwood mirror

* Making a success of my vegetable plot, which means thinking beyond just tomatoes, courgettes and runner beans (which was last year’s plot, more or less!)

Looking at the above list, I think it may be becoming obvious why my first plan is to be kinder to myself!  I have far too much I want to do for just one human being, in one year.

Hey ho, there’s always 2013 . . .

Here’s to a fabulous 2012 to all my customers, blog readers, Twitter and Pinterest followers and Facebook likers – you have all made a difference to me this past year.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make 2011 so wonderful for me – I wish you much health, wealth and (most of all!) happiness in 2012.

2011 for me felt a little bit like “blink and you missed it” . . . where on earth did the year go?  All in all, it was a good year, though.

In summary, it was the year that (in no particular order):

* I started Handmade Monday!

* I had work featured in the Sunday Mirror, the Metro, the Sunday Telegraph – and others!

The Sunday Mirror featured my campervan clock

* I learned (finally!) my chronic migraines were mostly being caused by gluten and can be almost completely controlled by a gluten-free diet!  This discovery was highly significant in helping me move my business forward – frequent and severe migraines hold you back more than you can begin to imagine.

* I gained two new gorgeous baby granddaughters!

* I gained five new adopted chickens who lay the most delicious eggs and make me chuckle on a daily basis with their little old lady personalities

gardening - chicken-style

* My studio gained a wood burning stove – transforming my workspace on cold winter days

* I was chosen by Theo Paphitis as one of his #sbs retweets on Twitter

Theo's retweet

* I reached some significant milestones on my blog: I hit both 50,000 and 100,000 visitors this year

* and generally, my little business grew and got busier in the last few weeks of 2011 than I could ever have dreamed or imagined.

There’s been a set of learning curves too.  You don’t suddenly go from around 8 orders a day to 50+ in a single day without there being a little bit of learning, development and a few “aargh! NOO!!”  as well as “ahh! YES!!” moments

So what’s planned for 2012? Quite a lot, actually.  I don’t know how much of it I’ll manage to convert from the planning stage to the actual doing stage, but looking at what happened in 2011, who knows?

I think I’ve blogged enough for today, so check back sometime soon for my plans for the new year.  I think they’ll most definitely be plans rather than resolutions (which always somehow seem to end up dead in a ditch partway into January!).

So, goodbye 2011, you’ve been good to me.  Thank you!

If you want to share your blog post about 2011, do leave me a comment and I’ll pop over and have a read!

Just a quick post today!

I wanted to show you a couple of recent mentions in craft mags . . .

craft mag mentions

Popular Crafts Magazine included me in their “Craft Transformed My Life” feature.  It reminded me that when I look back, I can’t quite believe how different my life is these days!

craft mag mentions

And Craftseller magazine had a little piece about this very blog! (I had hoped they’d mention Handmade Monday, but never mind!)

They’re both in the shops now in case you want a nosey!

Hello and welcome to the last Handmade Monday before Christmas!  The next one is due on Christmas Day/Boxing Day so I think we’ll give that one a miss!  In fact, the following one is New Year, so maybe we’ll leave it till the 8th and 9th – what do you think?  Is that ok with you?

It’s still a bit manic here but we’re coming to the end of it, slowly but surely.  I’m certain the ladies in the post office will be glad!  I think they all try to hide when they see me with my bags of parcels.

I just wanted to show you one of my commissions this week.

New York Fund moneybox

This moneybox was one of the last custom orders I took and only finished it this week.  The brief was simple: black & white and Empire State building with the New York Fund wording, of course- I was quite pleased with it and hope it goes down well with its new owner.

New York Fund

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas – enjoy browsing the links this week and I’m sure I’ll find time to get round to visiting and commenting on them all this week   Thank you all for being so lovely and understanding last week – and thanks also for all your lovely comments; they are all appreciated.

There’s light at the end of the tunnel!

Don’t get me wrong, I do love my work, but it’s been hard work recently – 15 and 16 hour days, 7 days a week, and stopping only for food and sleep!

organised chaos

I feel lucky and privileged though to have had so many orders in the run up to Christmas (and a man who does the washing, ironing and general tidying up after me!).

The next few days will see me finalising the last 40-ish orders and getting them to their new owners.

There’s already a list for January orders.  I will be taking some time off first, though!