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].

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!!