Wednesday 21 October 2009

I've just got to show you this embroidery!!



We have just finished converting Bea's flower drawing into an embroidered framed picture... and it's so lovely... I wanted to show you all!


Bea is only four and has drawn a wonderful picture of summery flowers and butterflies.... We have converted it into embroidery and it looks gorgeous! I'm sure Bea will keep it for years and years... and maybe even saves it to show her children one day!?


Sunday 18 October 2009

I've won "One Lovely Blog Award"!!

Thank you to Petra Herbst for awarding me the "One lovely Blog Award!" Please click on the Award image on the right to link to her blog.
I will find 15 blogs to pass it on to later... I will go and have a look now!

Thursday 15 October 2009

Personalised monogrammed wedding napkins and place setting


Personalised monogrammed wedding napkins and place setting
Originally uploaded by Extra Special Touch Gifts

Personalised embroidered wedding napkins and matching monogrammed stationery.

Why do people like to receive personalised gifts?

I just thought I would write a few words about how I started my business and why, in turn, people like to receive personalised gifts.
A couple of years ago I got engaged, and started planning our special day. I really wanted it to be unique (doesn't every couple)... but how unique can it get??
I searched everywhere for the right, unique, unusual, special invitations... but couldn't find anything... just right.
So I made my own, and used mine and my husbands initials monogrammed on the wedding stationery... so they were completely unique to us.
I have always worked in the fashion / pattern cutting / designing world... and in the last ten years I have worked with embroidery machines and embroidery design software.... so I thought of embroidering monogrammed linen napkins to match my unique wedding stationery.
It worked brilliantly!!
I received lots of lovely compliments at our wedding and lots of guests took the embroidered napkins home as a souvenir of our special day.
Around this time, lots of friends were having babies.... so with embroidery in mind again... I made them all personalised baby gifts, with baby name and date of birth information... and they loved it!
In about a year, we must have had nearly ten sets of friends having babies.... so I was embroidering baby gifts every few weeks. And then one friend liked her baby gift so much, she asked me to do some for her friend.... and so my business began!
People love personalised gifts!
Especially for babies and weddings. Everyone likes to give an unusual gifts and as time goes on, we are running out of unusual gifts... but if it is personalised... you can give the same gift to lots of people and it will always be unique!!!
Personalised baby gifts will be kept as a keepsake or memory of the birth and often handed down to the child when it has grown up! (I still have a bag my mum made me with my name on when I was four... a long time ago!!)
Also, people often are giving unusual names to their children, or unusual spellings of a traditional name.... when gifts are personalised I made to order... we can embroider any name! I know this from personal experience, as a young kid, I always wanted pens, mugs, bags etc with my name on, just like everyone else at school! But having such an unusual name... I never could find my name printed, painted, embroidered on anything!!
As for weddings... again... personalised gifts are fabulous! Often couples have been living together for a while before they get hitched... so they don't need the customary kettle & toaster... but for the couple who has everything.. how about a personalised set of bath towels with their initials on... or lovely quality cotton pillow cases with their initials on?
We have recently done a commission piece for a wedding.... we took the flower design that the bride had stencilled onto her handmade invitations.... turned this into embroidery and created a beautiful 100% ivory slub silk cushion, with her flower design, name of the bride & groom and date of the wedding. Such a gorgeous gift! And because they know you have taken the time and effort to make the gift extra special.... they will love it even more!!
We are currently working on Anniversary gifts, 21st, 40th Birthday etc... and they will soon be available from our website....if you have any other requests... let us know and we will look at designing something special!

Monday 12 October 2009

New baby & Christening gifts




We have been working on some new personalised new baby & christening gifts. They are housed in a extra deep white framed with an inner white mount.


The embroidery is done on 100% linen fabric and can be stitched in a choice of colours.


A unique keepsake they will keep forever!

Tuesday 6 October 2009

Baby & Toddler Show 04/10/09

We exhibited at The Baby & Toddler Show at East Midlands Conference Centre on Sunday 4th October 2009. We were sooo busy all day!! We took our embroidery machine, and everyone stopped and had a look what was going on.
Congratulations to Alice T who won the free prize draw of £25 in vouchers to spend with us.


This is Jan, my mum, who does most of our embroidery work.

And me... looking very excited about the day ahead!!