The price of a cheaper alternative...

I take photos [as many of you know]. In fact I take LOTS of photos, some of which I think are quite good... so I print them out, frame them and put them up on the walls of my house (yes I have builders in making the house bigger... no not just so I can put more photos up!).

So I've invested in a professional printer, I now religiously buy the make of the printer ink & the paper by the same manufacturer as the printer. The branded ink & paper cost me more than the cheap alternatives that I used to buy, but the quality out weighs the price difference.

The cheaper inks & paper meant the beautiful colours I see on my screen weren't replicated on the printed photo, my greens weren't right, by blacks had a reddish tint & sometimes the photo looked flat in comparison. The photos on the cheaper paper fade quicker, losing the finder detail. So for me the more expensive, high quality ink & paper will look better, last longer and keep my happy for a lot longer than the cheaper alternative.

This is the lesson I've learnt through trial and error: pay for the quality and don't suffer the heartache caused by the cheaper alternative.

Which is why all our gifts at u-ni-k are hand selected by Anna & I.

We both believe in the high quality of our products and although for some pieces there are cheaper alternatives we've found these to be inferior to ours.

We want the gift you are giving to look better, last longer and keep the recipient happier than the cheaper alternative. That's why we're u-ni-k (unique).

It's a kinda magic...

Although a picture says a 1000 words, it is very hard to show the quality of handmade goods in a photograph or two. You could have the perfect light, the best model, the most up to date megapixel digital SLR and a sales copy that should cause people fall at your feet begging to own one, but you still would be missing out on that one to one touch experience that really shows the quality of the goods.

I've tried, and come woefully short, to explain the softness, the sheen and touch-ability of the Nyoki bonnets and booties. There's something in the handmade process that doesn't carry across through pictures or words, but pick up just one little bootie and the feeling is universal. You want to pick it up again right after you have put it down. It's hard to let go. The same goes for the Shuktara blankets, the knitted Micies, Squishies, and Softies – they have a need to be loved. Probably because they are made with love, by people who care about them.

Our less cuddly pieces are just as irresistible; the wooden Markus Kempe pieces exude a warmth on an emotional level that just speak to your inner child. They make you want to sit on the floor and go brrrrmmmm or clip clop depending upon which toy you pick up. You're already half way through an adventure in your own little world by the time you pick up a piece. It's almost as if there's some kind of invisible mini you whispering into your ear.

Actually, it's magic. The magic of handmade. The love and care that the artist or creator puts into each of their pieces is the same kind of love that a parent gives a child. So the hours spent making a handmade piece weaves each loving minute into the material, breathing warmth and love into it. The finished product is not only made of cotton or bamboo or wood, it's seeped in love and it is this magic that you feel on an unconscious level.

Like the fairy who brought Pinocchio to life for Geppetto, our handmade pieces cast their own spell over people. It's just a shame that unlike the world of Harry Potter, our website doesn't have the ability to let you touch and feel our pieces using some kind of magic... Perhaps we'll find a way to bring these lovely pieces to you... [watch this space].

Join the revolution - Don't settle for second best!

I'm not easily rankled, I'm not a laid back person quite the opposite really, but there are things that really annoy me and a bit like Anna last week I'm going to rant about them.

u-ni-k IT HQ is in Surrey, which can lay claim to being part of England, GB, and the UK. All three of which have a proud heritage of high quality workmanship, visionary concepts and hard work. These combine to create world leading products or services. We should be building on our rich heritage not saying “the UK doesn't make anything anymore, that's why our country is in the state it's in”.

I believe we are still rich in people who make high quality, world leading products. Just visit any local fete or local market and there will be the world's best products right there. Any county show will be showcasing the softest homemade knitted clothing, sewn toys to cherish, or beautiful hand thrown pottery. All of which would have been made by hand, right here in the UK. Why don't we hear about these small pockets of industry? Because we the consumers aren't looking for them.

It's like apples, I come from the best apple growing country in the world. England has the perfect climate for apples and although the original plant came from India, it is here in the UK that more species have thrived and settled. English apples taste better, last longer and look superior to those grown in France or South Africa. However, walk around any supermarket and 95% of the apples will come from a faraway land. (Oooh my blood pressure is up just thinking about it!). Why? Probably because of price, we the consumer have demanded lower and lower prices pushing the small apple grower in the UK out of the competition and the big commercial growers abroad have stepped in.

As consumers we now have a selection of plastic shiny looking, dull tasting, regimental apples to choose from, we could have the world's best but we're now settling for 3^rd or 4^th best. It's been like this for so long that we don't know what choice we have, we think we have choice because we can see apples.

The same goes for many other products available here in the UK, we the consumers have not supported our homegrown producers and we've now forgotten that they are there. So the small producers are now found in the fringes; in local fetes, school fayres, county shows and, dare I say it..., on small internet sites like www.unikgifts.co.uk.

So in this quiet corner of Surrey I am starting a revolution (I did state I'm not a laid back person), I am supporting high quality, small makers / producers / craft people by buying their products. I am not going to settle for 2^nd best because that's the choice the commercial big players say I have. I may pay a little more, but you would expect to pay a little more for the best.

I, a consumer, will find the best products for my family because we deserve the best.

English apples grown at u-ni-k IT HQ

A day in the life of our Shuktara blanket.

Anna and I truly believe in the products and makers we have working with us on u-ni-k. So much so that we use, treasure and love the u-ni-k pieces we have ourselves. Today's blog is all about DangerBaby and her Shuktara blanket.

We don't have a name for our blanket, everything is “DaDah!” at the moment, unless she's trapped her fingers in a drawer / cupboard / something she knows she's not allowed to play with and then it's “mummmmmMa”. So for ease of reading we'll call it “blanket” from hereonin.

Blanket is usually waiting for DangerBaby on the sofa bed in her room, we're currently not sleeping with a blanket as it's warm and she wakes up hot and upset if we put one in with her at night. So on the sofa it sits waiting for the little toddling feet to run over and throw her face into it to appreciate the softness. It's then up and out of there dragged with Bunny Bunny off to a bathroom or a bedroom to empty all the drawers. Downstairs for CBeebies and breakfast!

After the hour struggle to remove Bunny Bunny and Blanket off DangerBaby, it's shower and clothes time . Back downstairs to hoover, clean the kitchen, empty all the kitchen cupboards – if she hides under Blanket then I obviously can't see her empty the cupboards... and if I can then it's obviously Bunny Bunny that I caught...hmmmm, some more 'run amok' type activities and then lunch.

After our lunctime nap, we go out on an adventure. Blanket comes in the car as the settler with noisy book (DangerBaby has always hated the car. Screamed from the very first day we put her in a car, a little better now but boy I used to be house bound). I say adventure – usually a trip to Tesco or the post office, in a trolly blanket becomes the soft cushion on DangerBaby's back, offering protection from the hard trolly when she turns to see the other children go whizzing past.

Back home to play in the garden, Blanket is at its best here. A tent one minute, a theatre curtain the next, a soft landing from the slide, a princess headdress for peekaboo, a table cloth for tea time with teddy, something soft to wipe those gardening hands with. A quick afternoon snack with blanket and Bunny Bunny before Bedtime Hour begins and supper.

The long struggle to remove Blanket and Bunny Bunny from DangerBaby starts after Supper as it's bath, story and bedtime for our tired little girl. Bunny Bunny goes in the cot but Blanket goes on the sofa bed, waiting for the start of another lovely day.

Peek a boo Mummy!!