Monday Maker- ME!!

Name:Anna Matthews
Year of birth:1979
Current City:Guildford. (Closest city)
Significant others:Ida Lillian Rosalie, age 3 (AKA BIG Naughty & Smiley Sue) & Samson Allan Grey, 22 months (AKA LITTLE naughty & Sam Sam)





Company name: u-ni-k gifts

U-ni-k gifts - A bespoke gift website established by two crafty mums, who were astounded when their daughters were infants, by the lack of bespoke, traditional infant gifts that last generations. Inspired by the gorgeous gifts hand made by talented friends and family that they will treasure forever an idea was born. Over a cup of tea and coffee, these two mums had a brain wave to make a trove of all things wonderful especially for infants. Delving from their past professions and skills and imputing them into a new project. 
U-ni-k gifts, named after their first Born's and their new project (a totally unique one!)
I am one half of u-ni-k gifts

How would you describe a typical Sunday?

I am a Mum of two toddlers so most days are much the same. Busy and with an early start. Luckily I love the mornings, especially where I currently live. Most mornings the beautiful dawn chorus normally wakes me before my naughties do. 

The day depends on whether my other half is working on restoring the house we bought 2 years ago and currently live in as we renovate it or working in the office or free to play! 

If I'm on my lonesome with the naughties we bake cakes, water the garden, play on the slide and swings, paint, read books and then wind down with a film till Daddy gets home. If he's available we do something fun away from home. I am lucky enough to live in a very beautiful area with wonderful out door amenities for little ones. So we normally head to Farnham Park, Alice Holt or Frensham Ponds. 

When the little ones are tucked up it's wine time and feet up with my laptop working through my emails or conjuring up some new idea I have had whittling through my mind with fabric, paint or paper. That's if the other half allows me!

And here a quite obvious question: How did you become a talented crafts person / designer? What inspired you to do this?

My Mum was always at her sewing machine when I was a child. Making wonderful creations for parties or the school disco. Although I didn't appreciate it at the time it definitely made me who I am today. 

I was constantly with a pen, paper, paint or some type of Art shop equipment to hand. At birthdays or Christmas I would ask for Dryad Craft making kits or paper. A parcel of pretty papers is my idea of heaven! Of an evening you would often find me happily scribbling, designing or making lists......Nothing much has changed!

My biggest learning curve was at secondary school whilst sat drawing in class one day. I watched  a girl who is now a very dear friend, swooshing paint, mixing, making it sludgy and being quite free. I was in total awe. I loved the end result and the look of fun she had creating her picture. On that day I vowed that I would no longer stunt myself by trying to forever paint the perfect picture. I wanted to "play" and enjoy my pictures. Making an expression rather than a flat picture is far more fun!  

I went onto study Fashion at University which I know to many intellectuals sounds like a cop out. But learning to research, design, cut, sew and market a collection was much more than pretty pictures. It was about having a vision, justifying the vision, creating and marketing it! I was lucky enough to have my collection shown on the catwalk at London Fashion week, not a bad accomplishment for a girl who didn't know how to sew till she started her degree. I was known more for my ability to break a sewing machine than sew with it! My degree certainly made me thick holistically and wholly about a creation rather than just the pretty physical drawing. Perhaps a perfect insight to running a business too!

My love of creating from fabrics comes very much from my mum. Even today she makes beautiful dresses for my daughter......much prettier than anything you'd find in the shops.

My love of collecting beautiful things comes from my Nan. She worked in a charity shop where we often hung out. To a child it is like a massive fancy dress shop! Heaven. Rows of beads and pretty fabrics. These two people certainly had the biggest creative impact on my life.

Its Fill-in-the-blanks time. So, please fill in the blanks:

I love the early mornings with my dawn chorus  because it is a moment of still, contemplation

and beauty before the chaos of my life wakes! 

If I could live anywhere I'd live in Farnham where I am now. But my house

would be finished, decorated and beautiful. And I would have a cleaner to tidy up after my three messy

naughties!

If I weren’t a designer / maker , I would be a Witchy potion maker. 

Picking my herbs, flowers, spices, and medicinal plants while the sun rises and making potions and poultices as the moon sparkles!

People who like Treasure shopping & Charity shopping (and Magpies!) will like my creations.

unikgifts.co.uk

* I am currently in the process of making something new for unik.

Hopefully by week 4 of this series of maker blogs it will be finished and I will be able to

share it with you!

Made to Order, Make it special

We make, where possible to order. 

Which means we can personalise. 

We work closely with most of our makers to offer a bespoke service.

This can envolve many types of personalisation. 

You can add a name, choose a special colour, finger print, choose a theme,
ask for a porcelain portrait of a favourite Teddy friend,
or simply choose the fabric of your preference.

 Here are a few of the personalised gifts we have made, and the services that are available.

Edinburgh Silver bangles

Bangles can be engraved with the child’s name and D.O.B

Porcelain Breakfast & Bathroom sets

Sets can be personalised to show the child’s favourite toy, place or simply a replicated drawing of themselves with their favourite rubber duck or meal

Wooden Memory Boxes

Boxes can be personalised with family images hiding beneath the woodland scenes or unisex bunny & teddy decoupage with the pages from a baby book baring the child’s first name.

Personalised Bunting and Mice Sets

Unique vintage fabrics are chosen to make ever length of bunting and matching mice bespoke. Additionally the child’s first name can be sewn into the bunting. Perfect for a child’s nursery.

Breakfast Boards

Our animal boards can be personalised with the child’s name written on the board.
We have even had a commission of a sheep board make especially for a Welsh man.

Ride on Toys

Our ride on toys come with personalised number plates, if you so wish!

Fingerprint Jewellery

Every fingerprint is unique. Therefore every piece of fingerprint jewellery is too.

Knitted Animals

If you child has a favourite colour, ask us and Larry Lamb or Bert Bunny can come with a jumper or scarf knitted in that colour.

Anything is possible.

We never say no, so ask. 

You never know, we may be able to offer you something even more unique then you hoped.

We can help you make a lovely product even more special.

We gift wrap everything beautifully.

It the cherry on the top!

unikgifts.co.uk

Making it Personal

We are unique. 

By that I don’t mean our company. I mean us as individual people.

Even as tiny newborn babies, we are unique with our own personalities and agendas.
I still can’t quite believe how polar opposites my two children are.

I have a Wam Bam SamSam who climbs, runs, isn’t affected by new people or places and generally never sits still and causes chaos, whilst constantly saying “mummy cuddle plz”

Whereas my eldest is a babbling bossy boots, who reminds me a lot of my nattering Grandma. She draws, colours, scribbles and never stops talking but put her in a public space and she becomes mute, sweet and angelic…. she constantly tells me “I’m too busy Mummy!"

Every  baby born  has a personality. A “theme tune” so to speak. Then we give them their very own personal name to define them a little more. The newness of the name makes us smile, every time it is spoken. Then slowly, day-by-day the name is comes familiar and fitting.

Every child is unique. So we embrace that by trying our hardest to find things that are as different as every Mum and every baby. Something you haven’t seen before on the high street. Something that is totally unique and one of a kind. Something that will be treasured and kept forever. Something that grows with age just like our little ones do.

Finding makers that understand and believe in the same ethos as us is hard. But we dig deep and wait till we have that sudden lovely rush of excitement, or tremor of tears when seeing that perfect thing.

Our makers are just as unique and special as the babies they make for.

Their signature invisible cashmere seaming.

Their wobbles of whimsical porcelain.

Their beauty of the hand drawn line.

A uniquely hand forged heritage piece of silver.

Wonderfully cheeky stitches to capture a softie's new face.

The unique signature of letterpress print.

A sweetly hand stitched sari.

A perfectly printed fingerprint in a piece of silver.

A charming captured expression carved into wood.

These captured hand strokes, whether it be with knitting needles, pencil, pen, potters wheel or hand stitched are what make them unique. Keeping them precious and real.
Keeping them wholesome.
Wabi sabi.

 

Support handmade in 2013!
Keep the little crafty people busy.

Make sure you see our Monday maker’s blogs throughout the year, capturing the personalities of our makers and how they personalise what they make. Making personal things to capture smiles & personalities. 

#Supporthandmade  

unikgifts.co.uk

It's Customer Service Week!

Whilst travelling to my other job (I'm a multi multi tasking Mum!) I noticed on a South West Trains bill board that this week is National customer service week! 

A time to straighten up your collar, brush your hair and put on an extra special smile?

No no, not for us!!

Unlike other websites, one of the most important factors when starting u-ni-k gifts was that Sarah and I wanted a website with old fashioned values. A website with a friendly service where you could pick up the phone and ask questions, ask an opinion or simply ask us to help you choose. A service where we are happy to organise for something special to be made especially for you. A one off porcelain cup with a image of your child, or your child’s favourite toy. A memory box made personal for you- a gift from parent to baby. A extra special blanket stitched from your little one’s favourite rompers. A perfectly treasured and recycled keepsake. Something for the little one to grow old with.

Despite not being able to see our clients we always give service with a smile.

We try never to say no to a request or a clients wish. We sometime even add a little extra special bit, like a cherry on the top. (Read the blog)

Many of our gifts are hand made by our own hands. If a client has a tight deadline we always try to make sure the gift is received on time! (Read the blog)

We gift wrap every gift that leaves us. We’ll also send it with a special message to the person the gift is intended. No need to post it yourself when we can do it for you!

We have 100% positive feedback!

Every day is Customer service week at unikgifts.co.uk

A SECRET something for a very special girl

Making things personal means making things extra special. 

So when an order for a personalised memory box bleeped up on my computer, as always I was thrilled. After all, that’s why Sarah and I do what we do. We struggled to find extra special, unique things that went that extra mile when our little ones were tiny. 

Hence why u-ni-k was born! 

A gift to make you feel special and cherished.

As always, I contact the client to ask if any special message should be chosen on the gift, or a special colour theme should be incorporated into the theme .To add a little extra special touch. Once this was decided upon, I tore, stuck, pasted, cut, sewed and painted…it suddenly dawned on me how I could make the little box for a very special girl even more special. When making the personalised Teddy memory boxes, I decoupage the teddy from a baby naming book. Choosing the correct page with babies name on to make the special teddy from. While making a new special teddy for this special box, I read a little about the origin of her fore and middle name, as I always do. When choosing my own children’s names the meaning was as important as the name itself.

The little girl I was making a box for has a forename and middle name with a beautiful meaning. 

Bird and Cloud.

On reading the meanings, I was taken aback as to how two beautifully chosen names could work so well together. 

A bird and a cloud. 

A perfect pairing.

But how to in cooperate the meaning secretly into a Teddy Box without making it over bearing or crowded.

A secret personalisation.

I hope the Mummy and Daddy who have treated their new baby to a special box like the hidden personalisation I have added to their daughter’s special box.

It’s been made with love and I know it will be given with much more.

With Love X

unikgifts.co.uk