The August bank holiday Monday with these perfect blue skies

blue skies and marquee before the customers arrived

the well-trodden grass

well trodden grass

and the promise of a good day out

gorgeous setting

with a variety of attractions

birds of prey

could only mean one thing . . . yesterday at Gawsworth Hall was a busy day for all us stallholders. 

I enjoyed personalising gifts for customers.  Among other things, I sold quite a few first day at school frames

first day at school photo frame

a few fairy clocks

fairy clock

some wine o’ clock clocks

wine o clock

and lots of mini masterpiece holders for all those little budding artists out there

mini masterpiece hanger

It was exhausting but lots of fun - and I still haven’t unloaded my car.  I’ve an urgent order to start first, though, so unloading will begin as soon as some paint needs a bit of drying time! 

I love the way my days get ordered nowadays by paint drying!

Well the writing will definitely be on the wall for anyone who’s bought some of these painted wooden letters!  I’ve been painting a lot of them just recently.  Most people order names for children:

Katie

Jack

They’re available in any colour(s) but the cream is by far the most popular.

Alfie

You can make words with them too…like baby:

baby

or dining room:

dining room

You can have capital letters or lower case letters - or any mix of the two.  Each letter comes with sticky pads on the back (although we’ll leave them off if you prefer) for easy fixing to a wall or door.  They measure a maximum of 15cm (6″) in height, although some letters are a lot smaller than this.  Some of the capitals or letters with risers are of course taller than some of the lower case letters.

They’ve been really popular with people doing up children’s rooms, with people buying presents for new babies, and with people wanting a statement for their wall. Literally, I suppose!!

For your name, word, sentiment or statement, see more here: http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/Individualletternamecanvases.html or just visit the website for lots more personalised gifts: www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk

Here at 1st Unique Gifts, we are all about special occasions! Many a customer has ordered personalised gifts for Christenings, first birthdays, weddings, first day at school, 30th, 40th and yes, 50th birthdays.

 I mention 50th birthdays in particular because today

10th July 2010

is the day I mark up half a century on this planet.

Despite being a specialist in providing special occasion gifts for others - and being told I do it rather well - I must admit I’m not so good at celebrating them myself!

I’m so bad at it that this weekend I have two fairs booked: today on my birthday, 10th July, I’m at www.stocktonheathfestival.co.uk  - and tomorrow the 11th July I’m at www.wilmslowshow.com

I’m hoping for the birthday fairy to grant me enough energy for a little celebration with my family this evening in between the two shows.

By the way, I’m not the only one celebrating: my long-suffering partner celebrates his birthday today too, so Happy Birthday Mr 1st Unique Gifts (a lovely man who deserves so much more than coming a very close second to my fledgling business!)

Also, someone, somewhere, is getting married today.  Hope it’s a lovely, lovely day for them!  This is a campervan wedding canvas I made recently:

campervan wedding canvas

If there’s one thing we specialise in here at 1st Unique Gifts, it’s got to be totally unique personalised gifts.  I don’t like to brag or boast too much (a very British trait, I believe!) but we are told they’re funky, quirky and gorgeous.  They are certainly bright, colourful and a lot of fun.  I love the fact that they bring a smile to people’s faces - it’s one of the nicest things about selling direct at markets and fairs.

personalised moneybox with scottie dog

We hand-paint and personalise all our gifts here in our garden studio in the small village of Croft in Warrington, Cheshire, UK.

hand painting the canvases

This means that you can specify changes in colour and design. It also means we can also add any personalisation to suit your requirements - so you can add any name (yes, any name - no limitations on number of letters, unusual spellings or even unusual names) and on some items you can add any message you choose too.  The only limitation on this is space - but because all personalisation is hand-lettered, we can usually accommodate whatever you ask for as we can make the writing smaller or larger to fit the space.

If you are looking for a personalised gift, especially if it’s one for somebody with an unusual name, we hope we can help you.  We’re a new business so we are still developing our range -  if we’ve not got what you’re looking for then we may be able to create it.

Our individual shabby chic letters can spell out any name or message and with optional sticky pads on the reverse they are so easy to fix to a wall or door. 

pink lowercase shabby chic letters spelling baby

They’re a fabulous gift for a new baby.

spell out any name with individual shabby chic letters

One of our most popular gifts for new babies and Christenings/Baptisms is our stork canvas.  We hand letter this with the baby’s name, date of birth, weight and even time of birth if required.  We can also accommodate a special message around the side edges of the canvas.  The stork canvases come in three different sizes to suit different occasions, rooms and budgets.  Of course, you can choose any colourway - the neutral background is the most popular.   Here it is in blue:

stork and baby canvas

The individual 6″ canvases (below) with a different letter on each one are also a really popular gift for a new baby or young child - or just something to brighten up any child’s room.

individual canvas letters spell out a name on the wall

individual handpainted canvases spell out any name

A lovely gift for all ages is our campervan canvas or campervan clock.  We can paint this in any colourways and will add a personalised numberplate - at no extra cost.  In fact, none of our personalisation costs any extra - the price you see is the one you pay.  The only extra is postage! (and if you live anywhere near Warrington you can even save on this by arranging collection.)

campervan canvas

campervan clock with personalised numberplate

There are fabulous personalised end-of-term gifts for teachers, personalised first-day-at-school gifts, lots of ideas for children’s gifts and room accessories, fairies, footballs, hearts and cupcakes.  And lots, lots more. 

Visit the site now for even more personalised gift ideas we hope you’ll love: www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk

picture frame gift for a teacher

The Stockton Heath Festival (in Stockton Heath, Warrington, Cheshire) is an exciting event spread over a few days (and a few venues!) which just gets bigger and bigger every year.

On Saturday 11th July, Stockton Heath Festival is hosting an Art and Craft Market - it should be a great event, with artists, designer/makers and crafters all displaying their wares.  I’ll be joining them, so look out for the 1st Unique Gifts stall.  Lots of canvases for kids’ rooms, clocks, picture frames and door hangers and door plaques.  Everything we do can be personalised especially for you - sometimes on the spot (depending on the stock we have with us).

You can look up more info on the Stockton Heath Festival here:

http://www.stocktonheathfestival.co.uk

 Look forward to seeing you there!! Oh, by the way - the Art and Craft market will be in Mill Lane Field (in Stockton Heath, Warrington - of course!).