Tuesday 17 December 2013

Teacup Tuesday....a look back over a busy year

Well we were at the last Godalming Independent Market and for us that was the last public appearance of the year. It's been a busy year!!

This year we've increased the number of craft fayres we attend; because both Anna and I feel it's important to meet those people who buy our lovely gifts (well the makers lovely gifts) and receive feedback from those who come back for more!

We've met some lovely people along the way:

There was Ben, who wanted to be a Geologist just like me - he walked away with this lovely picture of a dinosaur!

There was Bump (who became a Tom) who was bought a Tiger Frog... he visited us a year on and fell in love with the bunny!



There was the family that bought snappy crocodile for their child minder (age not disclosed)



The lovely Rebecca that had her breakfast board for 30years and wanted one for each of her little ones (Naive and Harrison).



There was the grandparents to the boy that happened to be moving in around the corner from Sarah (you just can't make this stuff up) who fell in love with this train

The lovely Jan who needed something special for a young lady who liked reptiles - a special frog & snake memory box headed her way with a bossy panda hidden inside



The guys who know what they want - those that post Mibos to someone on the same day every year, and the fella who is collecting every animal of the breakfast boards (we'll let you know when the Hippos are back in!). We'll not mention any names but we'll keep sending you our offer emails!


We've sold out of most of our breakfast boards, pull along toys, mibo characters & memory boxes.
I've hung up my knitting needles and have moved on to some new projects... something for little hands & bigger hands to play with!
We've wrapped & posted over 100 gifts and sent them to over 10 different countries worldwide.
We've welcomed back old friends and gladly met new ones.

We're proud to still have received 100% positive customer feedback!


Beautiful. Practical. Handmade


Tuesday 10 December 2013

Teacup Tuesday... Small Business Admin


Well it's that time of year again, busy season and both HMRC and Companies House deadlines on the horizon!

Yep we have to hand in a balance sheet and P&L accounts to Companies House (via paper as LLPs can't yet do this online). Since we're small we're exempt from the auditors report... but don't forget to declare this on your balance sheet!! We recently had our accounts rejected because I'd included a cover letter to accompany the account sheets (oh and forgot to print my name next to my signature).

HMRC uses the same accounting information but they want it on their own form (why these two institutions can't share the information I don't know!!).

All of these need to be complete before the end of the year, well since we fill in our HMRC return online we have until the end of the year!! So while wrapping up orders to be delivered before Christmas, we're also writing down numbers, doing our sums & posting off our accounts to the powers that be! It truly is a very busy time of the year.

So with this in mind, my thoughts turn to our next big seasonal push... Easter!
 

Monday 9 December 2013

Monday Maker.... A look back at the year

Well, we've had a whole year of Monday Makers, featuring some of our old and some of our new makers.

We've learnt a little about the people, a little about their creative journeys and a little about their lovely creations.

Here's a homage to some of my favourite pieces that we've featured this year!

Moose head coatrack

Loopy Larry!

Teddy memory box

Fill and Ted Best Book About Me

Forrest Friends from Mibo


Winnie's Pinnies

Rabbit breakfast board


Shuktara blankets in indigo blue

Bashful squirrel from Beetroot Press



This Shuktara blanket in particular is a big favourite of mine!

And like Maria from the Sound of Music... these all come gift wrapped, and then like one of her favourite things... 
they would be parcelled up in brown paper & tied up with string 

'And these are a few of my favourite things'

(I couldn't add ALL my favourite things as the blog would be too long)

Thursday 5 December 2013

Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday
7th December 2013

We'll be participating in Small Business Saturday this weekend?
Are you?

Click here to read more.




unikgifts.co.uk

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Festive cheer... AGAIN



To get me into the Festive spirit, I am enjoying a Christmas tune with my friends...
Piper Penguin
Delores the Donkey
Blixen the Reindeer
Timothy the Turkey
Santa Paws the Cat

And my little naughty Sam

Quite possibly the BEST festive tune ever!
Don't forget to wiggle with your little ones.

unikgifts.co.uk

Take a peek at our festive homepage too.

Monday 2 December 2013

Perfect to post!




Meet some of our  cute paper friends.
Spotted by Alex from Mother & Baby Magazine, Daisy from The Telegraph and quite possibly the most perfect post-able gift!

Perfect for little ones just a little bit too far away to send a large gift to in the post. These 2-D flat pack paper friends fit perfectly into an A4 envelope!
With just scissors and glue they transform into 3-d friends that can be played with, used to decorate a bedroom, a perfect table setting and the perfect place to hide treats inside.

Great for Christmas but perfect all year round!

Visit unikgifts.co.uk to see the vast array of paper animals available.
Pssstttt!!! The grown ups love them too!
Meet all the little paper animals here.

Friday 29 November 2013

Friday Funny....

"And what do toy rabbits get for Christmas?", asked Shoey
"Hmmm I'm not sure", DangerMouse replied.


This image source was not found (I think it was in an Etsy shop but it's gone now) but was on Pinterest. If you are the owner of this image please contact me so I can give you credit here!

Thursday 28 November 2013

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... everywhere you go!

I've been working on the website recently (who knew that our menu didn't work with iPads and other touch screen devices? Not us... anyway I digress) and I've made a few festive changes as well. Pop over and take a look!


We've put together a show of some of our favourite Christmas gift ideas.

We've also added our latest & greatest pages to our mini navigations


And over on our Facebook page you can now tell everyone what you think about your shopping experience with u-ni-k! (see the new Reviews section!)




So as you can see we're constantly changing our website, our Facebook page, our Pinterest boards... just like the children we named our company after, we too are growing!

Don't forget to keep your eyes open over at www.unikgifts.co.uk

Tuesday 26 November 2013

All wrapped up!

Christmas time. A time of wrappings, bows and tape.
Unless your thrifty, most ends up in the bin.  
The moment of a beautifully wrapped present is soon a crumpled crunchy pile.
Being given a present and unwrapping it is almost as exciting as the gift itself. So we choose to wrap our gifts beautifully. Going the extra mile to make the gift precious and wanted before it is even opened.
We use methods of furoshiki to wrap our gifts.
It is beautiful, reusable and kind to the environment (each year tonnes of plastic bags end up as litter and spends decades in landfills. Reusable material, such as furoshiki can help reduce this waste. It's versatile, which allows us to wrap almost anything regardless of its shape or size. Furoshiki uses techniques similar to origami, with stunning results. We add the final flourish of a silk ribbon and our compliments/gift tag for you to write a personal message to the recipient. The end result is beautiful as well as functional. Since we're not ones to waste, please remember that the cotton is yours and could be used again as a scarf, a burp cloth or a babies comfort blanket.



We always gift wrap every product that leaves u_ni_k so that you can give it to it's new owner exactly how you receive it! We wrap it without stickers or sellotape so that you can peek inside without disturbing the wrapping too much!!