OK, I just have to admit I’m a teensy bit proud of myself that Swanky Maison decided to use my stork in their rotating banners on their homepage http://www.swankymaison.com/ (if you wait for the pictures to change, you’ll spot my stork within  a few seconds).

stork and baby

They also used it as the banner on their Christening gifts page: http://www.swankymaison.com/christening-and-new-baby-gifts

And the stork gets about in other ways.  Storks have made their way to Australia, Spain, South Africa and Canada as far as I know.  Quite the little gadabout, my stork! 

Stork paintings are painted especially for you, they’re not prints, and they’re on deep-profile canvas - painted on the sides too so they’re easy to hang and designed to remain frameless for that modern look.  I can do them for twins too (I’m sure I could manage triplets, but have never been asked for that one yet!) . 

They do make a fab Christening gift - see here for more info: http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/newbornandchristeninggifts.html

And don’t forget that www.swankymaison.com/ has some amazingly fabulous products on their site!  If you like things that are different, gorgeous and handmade, you’ll love the Swanky Maison site.

When you are invited to a Christening, or are buying for a new baby, it’s always nice to buy a gift which is special, unique and memorable.  Something a bit different.  If you are the Godparents or Grandparents, it’s even more important to get it right.  No pressure then!!

stork and baby painting

For a special Christening gift which stands out from the rest, have a look at our totally unique stork painting.  It comes in three different sizes - and therefore a price to suit every budget.  The impressive 14″ x 14″ deep-profile canvas is £29.99 - amazing value considering each canvas is hand-painted here in Cheshire, is hand-lettered to your requirements and you can even specify colours or have a message added.  The neutral colourway is most definitely the most popular and is usually in stock, which means it can be posted out next day. 

The 10″ x 10″ canvas, at just £19.99, is the most popular size and the neutral cream is usually in stock.  If you want a smaller gift, the 6″ x 6″ canvas is just £14.99.  Amazing value for something hand-painted and hand-lettered.  A very special gift for a very special baby… or babies!!!  Because our stork is hand-painted, we can paint you a stork with twins or even triplets at no extra cost!!  (We don’t usually have twins and triplet paintings in stock, but we’ll do what we can to ensure you’re not waiting too long).

To buy your very own stork canvas, go to: http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/newbornandchristeninggifts.html

If you’d like to see a stork painting in person, we usually have them with us at fairs and markets.  Please check out our events page to see if we’ll be anywhere near you soon.  Our storks always provide the wow factor on the 1st Unique Gifts stall but there are always lots more gift ideas to look at too! 

A lot of people order the painted individual letters at the same time as their stork canvas.  The letters are a shabby-chic design (hand painted on the front and lightly sanded back to reveal some of the mdf wood) in your choice of colour (or colours) with a faux stitched-effect around the edges of each letter. 

letters in pale blue

The neutral colour is always popular:

Alfie in natural cream colour

 They are here: http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/Individualletternamecanvases.html

If you’re looking for something just as unique but smaller, you could order a door or wall plaque with the wording of your choice:

cute little door plaque

doorplaques are here: http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/doorplaques.html

If you are going to a Christening any time soon, do have a wonderful time and enjoy your cuddle with the star of the show!  If you’re ordering one of our gifts for a specific date, be sure to let us know the date you need the gift for - we can work to most deadlines!

I have been working on a lot of these names on individual chunky canvases this week:

bright alphabet letters on small individual canvases for children

I paint these freehand on 15cm (6″) square chunky canvases.  There have been a lot of different colour choices, and I’ve done lime green, jade green, mint green, red, pale pink, bright pink, bright blue and pale blue backgrounds - er, that’s just this week!!  Phew!  Want a colour I’ve not done yet?  I’d be happy to do it (if you can think of one)!!

individual alphabet letters on canvas with balloons for children

And one with gorgeous girlie bright pink letters for little girls:

individual alphabet letter canvases with balloons for little girls

I love painting these, they’re easy to handle, fun to work on and really effective when they’re done.  The ones with blue backgrounds (above) are painted so that each letter is actually a letter-shaped balloon floating in the sky.  The top one (James) has little hills at the bottom with a scattering of sheep grazing. 

Customers are now requesting these balloon letters with other backgrounds - they don’t have to be floating against a pale blue sky.  Mint green or bright pink?  Not a problem!!  Because I hand-paint them all, I’m able to change the colours to match your decor or even your child’s favourite colour.

I know they work out more expensive the longer your child’s name is, but the longer names do look quite stunning along a wall (or even standing up like little letter blocks on a shelf).  However, to make it a bit cheaper, I can paint any name on a 45cm x 15cm (18″ x 6″) canvas, in similar styles.  I’ve not yet got these on the website, so I’ll try to do that in the next few days.

If you are interested in ordering a set of canvases with your child’s name on, please go to:

http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/childrens%20wall%20art.0.html  - the postage is free for orders made in the months of July and August 2009, so be sure to take advantage!  Please allow about three weeks for delivery (it it’s urgent - for a birthday or Christening - email me on this contact form first http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/contact.html and I’ll see if I can rush it through).

Right, there are more of these to paint and post out to customers, so I’ll be getting back into the studio.