This is one of those things that most of us don’t need:  a small bolt does the trick in our house - and maybe yours too.

do not disturb hanging sign

But people have asked me for these signs on several occasions now, for various reasons. 

One family didn’t want a lock on their toilet door because of their young children.  Getting locked in a loo when you’re only two or three can’t be much fun for any child - or their inevitably stressed and panicky rescuer!  However, you do really need something for when your visitors want to “pay a visit”  (being interrupted can’t be much fun either … especially if your age is somewhat more than two or three).

Another family living in an old cottage said the position of the door was too awkward to accommodate any type of lock.  And yet another didn’t want to drill into their lovely, ancient door.

I make these signs individually to order, so you can specify any wording you like.  If you need more information, do have a look at the website www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk or email wendy@1stuniquegifts.co.uk

Oh, and if you’d like a different picture, that’s ok too.

There’s always lots to think about when you’re making and selling things.  One of the things which I’ve been working on recently is packaging.  I can’t afford to pay a lot upfront for professionally-designed packaging - and to be honest, even if I could there would be negatives: the cost would add to the cost of each item, things could end up over-packaged, it’s hard to respond quickly to changes in stock (new items, etc) and, of course, there are a lot of different shapes and styles to consider.

Cellophane wrap and cellophane bags have formed the bulk of my packaging up to now - cheap, versatile, clean and crisp-looking… protecting items at fairs as well as looking nice when the customer receives the item in the post.  But…

letters

I’ve found it difficult to know how to package these individual painted letters up to now - they’ve definitely been in need of something.  They get bubble-wrapped when posted out, but how to present them at a fair?

papers

Cue brainwave…

My small collection of leftover scrapbooking papers combined well with the cellophane bags

letters packaged

to produce a rather nice looking display.

letters in basket

I’m quite pleased that all the papers were recycled from previous projects and the cello bags are cheap and easy to come by (if you’re in the Warrington area, www.patscraftybitz.co.uk is based at the back of Winwick B&Q and holds a lot of cardmaking stock. You can also buy from her online)  The baskets were a snip at 50p each in a Tesco bargain bucket!

At fairs, I’ll just be stocking the letters in cream

letters in cream

but you can order them from the website in any colours you choose: http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/Individualletternamecanvases.html

multicolour letters

My next job is to do the same with the capital letters!

capital letters awaiting finishing and packaging

That first day at school is an exciting time - especially if you approach it in the right way!

first day at school

Most children will have been well prepared for the occasion by their nursery, and will have visited the school, talked about school and will already know some of their classmates.  The ones who haven’t had this preparation will soon catch up though!

I know a lot of parents and grandparents want to mark the occasion, and most people take a photo of the little one on their first day, looking all grown-up in their new school uniform.  This personalised first day at school photo frame is a perfect place to display that photo - and last year a lot of people bought one (or more!).  They make great gifts for grandparents too.

first day at school

The frames come in a choice of colours, with a choice of little images at the top.  They also come in a plain or distressed finish.  Because they are painted and lettered by hand here in our garden studio, you can specify changes to suit yourself too: just email wendy@1stuniquegifts.co.uk to ask.  The orders have started coming in now for these frames - if you’d like one too, you can order yours here: http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/handpaintedpictureframes.html - delivery is usually within 7-10 days.  If it’s urgent though, do let us know and we’ll do what we can to get it to you in time!

first day at school

As well as frames, the little art hangers can make starting school a bit more special.  With two sturdy wooden spring pegs on the back, they give you somewhere special to hang their artwork allowing you to give it the pride of place it deserves.

art hanger

Another great idea for a gift for Grandma!

look what my grandson made in school

Of course, the wording can be changed to suit you and doesn’t need to include the word school - ideal for a little brother or sister too!

girly pink art hanger

I’ve been making some new baby and Christening gifts just recently - and I thought you might enjoy a little peek:

toy soldier canvas

The toy soldier canvas was a customer’s idea: she wanted something to match a new baby’s nursery - and this is what I came up with.  It fits in with the colourscheme as well as the design of the bedding and accessories in the room. 

The little signs between the soldiers show the time and date of birth, as well as the baby’s weight

Harrison

and the baby’s name is above the smiling soldiers

soldier with a happy face

I love it and I’ve just heard that the recipients do too!  It will become a new addition to the website, as I love the colours, the soldiers are so jolly and I think it’d make an unusual and welcome gift idea for a new baby boy.  It’ll be available in 3 sizes: 18cm, 25cm and 35cm.  All the canvases are deep-profile and are painted on the sides so the painting can be hung without framing.  If you can’t wait till it goes onto the website to order one, you can email me at: wendy@1stuniquegifts.co.uk. The price will be similar to the canvases on this page: http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/newbornandchristeninggifts.html

OK, so the fairy clock and moneybox aren’t really new … but the idea of putting the baby’s Christening details on them is!

clock and moneybox

I love this idea for a Christening gift

close up

Amelie Kate

and we all know a money box and clock will be used and loved! 

clock and moneybox

moneybox

This storybook canvas (below) makes a lovely gift for a little girl’s Christening (or maybe birthday) and comes in three different sizes.  The wording in the open book reads: Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess called Holly.  You can, of course, choose absolutely any other name to make it personal for your very own beautiful princess - these products are all painted by hand to order so you can specify other changes too, such as colour.

storybook canvas for Princess Holly

The stork canvas comes in 3 different sizes too and is always a popular gift, available in other colours but the neutral cream (shown here) is the most popular.

stork painting

 And these letters make a fabulous gift: you could choose a name

Alfie

or a word

baby

and you can choose any colours you like!

Georgia

Jacob in bright colours

Reid

These letters are a maximum of about 15cm in height - some are quite a bit smaller than that.  They come with optional sticky pads on the back for quick and easy fixing to a wall or door (no extra cost).

If there are no little babies or little people in your life to buy for, we do cater for lots of other occasions: you can see more here: www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk

OK, with the end of term for most schools this week, I was bound to have been kept busy with teacher gifts.

There have been chalk boards for teachers

chalkboard

chalkboard

and chalkboards for playgroup leaders

personalised chalk board

there were messages on the back

message on back

There were photo frames for teachers

best teacher

and orders have started trickling in for first day at school photo frames too.

first day at school

I love the people who order well in advance, but the last minute orders are also very welcome!  If you’re not sure if the gift you want will be ready in time for your occasion, feel free to email me and ask! wendy@1stuniquegifts.co.uk

Do pop over to the website for a browse! www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk

Recently I had the pleasure of being next to the delightful Heatha, from Rock Folly, at a show.  Heatha sells the loveliest of scarves as well as a selection of bags and baskets.  She asked me to make her some bespoke signs for her stall:

I made three signs, each to Heatha’s brief, as follows:

you can never have enough scarves

You can never have enough scarves - as this is what Heatha is always telling people.

scarves make great gifts

Scarves make great gifts (well, of course they do - you can never have enough scarves!!)

Rock Folly for scarves

and Rock Folly for scarves!

As always, it’s a great pleasure to do bespoke designs.  It’s a bit of a worry, too, as people haven’t seen what they’re buying.  Luckily nobody has (yet!) hated a bespoke design, and for those who are quite nervous about this way of doing things, I do offer to show them the design online before they pay.  It’s sometimes quite hard to buy something you’ve not yet seen!!

Heatha was most definitely pleased and wrote a lovely review for me: http://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(1st-unique-gifts)_259662.htm 

You can find Rock Folly here: www.rockfolly.co.uk - it’s definitely worth a look!

If you’d like to order your own bespoke design, you can email me: wendy@1stuniquegifts.co.uk … you can also hop over to the website to see more: www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk

I mentioned recently that I could accommodate special requests (I think perhaps I’m always mentioning it!): well, this is an example of one of those times.  This order came from a lady who is preparing a property for holiday rental.  The bedrooms are all being named after flowers and I was asked to make plaques for each of the bedroom doors as well as the bathrooms and loos (in this case, reading rooms!):

door plaques

honeysuckle

painted plaques

rose

lavender

snowdrop

primrose

daisy

honeysuckle

bathroom

reading room

It’s been such a busy week!  When there’s a fair to attend, there’s always a lot of stock to prepare: these are door plaques getting their sticky pads on the back. Always a boring job when there are this many to do at once!

door plaques

This week there’s been the Cheshire Show, always a busy well-attended show followed closely by the Arley Garden Festival - so two big events very close together. The preparation is only one aspect of doing a show: fitting it in around customer orders, packing, unloading, getting the stall ready all add to the mix!  The other big part is actually being there for the sometimes long, long days: time consuming and sometimes exhausting, but definitely rewarding and enjoyable.  I was asked at Arley would I be able to take a break during the day. The short answer is no: what we do when we work for ourselves would be illegal if we were employees!  Fortunately, when you’re next to nice helpful people (as is the norm) you do manage to slip away for a few minutes - we watch each other’s stall.

 This was the first time I’d attended the Arley show, and I was impressed.  It was well laid out, with shopping tents, plant stalls and gazebos as well as marquees lining grassy streets!

grassy shopping streets

As you’d expect from a garden festival, there were lots of plants for people to buy

some of the plant stalls

It was incredibly hot and sunny but most people were sensible and hats were in evidence everywhere:

everyone wore hats

There was a rather fetching hat stall, no doubt doing brisk business: this is www.hatsoffoxford.com

hat stall

And there were some lovely things to buy for your garden:

garden ornaments

Lovely handmade soaps and skincare products from www.cherishskincare.co.uk - Laura and her mum make all these products themselves. They’re all completely natural and I can assure you the scents are just gorgeous - I spent a weekend next to this stall and it was a real treat!

gorgeous handmade soap

A real life owl

owl

and impossibly cute baby hedgehogs courtesy of www.lowermosswood.org.uk who are an educational nature reserve and wildlife hospital:

baby hedgehogs

And there was even a large painted rhino sculpture (not that I know much about the sizing of rhinos, but this one looked life-size to me) on display

rhino sculpture

There’s more info about the rhino here: www.rhinomania.co.uk and www.visitcheshire.com/gardens

I was fortunate to have a position just by the entrance to the marquee - which meant I caught a gentle breeze every so often, which was most welcome on such a hot day.  If you’ve ever spent more than a few minutes on a hot day in a marquee you’ll understand just how welcome that breeze was! This photo is taken from behind my stall:

welcome breeze from the entrance

It is always a delight to be able to personalise things for people there and then: this plaque was personalised for someone who has a collection of bears and bear-related items, which will be having their own room. 

clares bears

This shoe clock reads: give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world - it’s also personalised for Charlotte Mary, who I believe is someone who likes her shoes!

shoe clock

Probably not surprisingly, the Saturday at Arley was busier than the Sunday - I would imagine the only reason for this was the England v Germany match at 3pm.  I’m told England didn’t play well - but I guess the score is testament to that: I’m no soccer expert but 4-1 is not a good result in anyone’s books… unless you’re supporting the opposing team, then I suppose you may be celebrating!! 

My next event could not be more local to me unless it was in my back garden!  I’ll be at Croft Carnival on 3rd July, which will be held on the playing fields in Croft (Warrington): about 2 minutes from my house - walking at a slow pace!!  I’m looking forward to it - hope the weather stays good!

In the meantime, if you’re not close enough to visit me at any of these shows, you can buy all the products online at www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk or email me for special requests: wendy@1stuniquegifts.co.uk

Everything is hand-painted and hand-lettered, which means there are always slight differences between each item.  It also means that if you have any special requests regarding colour, design, images or wording, they can usually be accommodated.

I thought the door plaques we’ve got for teens deserved a write-up of their own.  They’re one of the most popular items at fairs, but have only just recently made it onto the website. 

There is a bit of a theme going on with them, you may notice:

if he is a bit untidy but very eco friendly

when the floor is full please use the wardrobe

you can even see the carpet

chaos panic and disorder

if in doubt buy more shoes

give a girl the right shoes

or you could have it as a door plaque

door plaque

I’m rather excited about a new product we’re going to be offering at 1st Unique Gifts.

I’m working on the designs at the moment

designs for mugs

for something a bit different: mugs.  These ones are the initial designs for beach huts and campervans and will be in bright primary colours.  I’m thinking of doing one in blues or pinks too.  Other designs will definitely be on their way shortly!

We’ll be selling them very soon, I hope … all I can say is:

watch this space!!