When I’m wanting to give a gift I always start off by thinking “What is the thing that they hold most special?”

The closer we are to our loved ones the harder it can be to get your gifting experience just right! I know that after many years of being happily married and growing our family together, out of all of the presents that I’ve gifted my husband, the ones that have meant the most to him are the ones that have evoked emotion. These are the ones that are remembered and treasured, the ones that are kept on show to be shared with visitors and the ones that are truly gratefully received.

There are certain times of the year when gift buying can be seen as a bit of a chore! When we’re rushing around with food to buy, parties to plan and lots of different family commitments we don’t always have the time to sit and consider what each of the people on list hold dear.

Not everyone that visits my studio are making their own memories! Some are preparing to shape them for others and give the most precious of gifts.

I’ve provided sessions where the casted piece has been a present for a family member and the stories that I’m lucky enough to hear about how the gift was received are always emotional!

Grandparents gathered around in the family home being gifted their own keepsake of the next generation, father’s holding a tactile recreation of their child’s first birthday or a teacher having the honour of keeping a permanent reminder of a little hand that they used to hold; these are the gifts that we keep in our hearts.

Another way I like to make gifting special is to think of ways of experiencing new things as a family or with friends. Spa days and afternoon teas are always welcomed in our house but once they are over we may only have the odd photograph on our phone to remind us of a lovely day.

Imagine if you could give a gift that was not only a chance to own an everlasting snippet of time from within your family’s story but also the experience of creating it together!  Giving a voucher for a casting session would combine a thoughtful and emotive gift with the exciting anticipation of precious quality time spent as loved ones.  A gift of time spent together creating a unique piece that will serve as a much-loved reminder of a special day is surely the best gift of all?

We don’t always treasure the most expensive presents or the ones that come from high-end stores. The ones that strike a chord with us are the ones that speak to our hearts. Our lives have become busier than ever.  Let’s use gifting as an opportunity to pause, appreciate our loved ones and create a gift to last a lifetime.

The summer holidays naturally create long-lasting precious memories.  Who can’t cast their mind back to a favourite holiday with their parents, a trip to a beautiful British beach or long lazy days playing in the sandpit and paddling pool in the back garden?  These memories are the ones that can be evoked by the touch of a sea breeze, the sound of the ice cream man or the scent of fragrant sun cream.

These sensory triggers really do take us right back to the best of times and keeping souvenirs can be such a lovely way to hold those memories close and make the imagery burn that bit brighter!

Trinkets that little ones urgently MUST buy from a local gift shop, postcards and shells inevitably get cast to one side though when the holidays are over and our hectic lives settle back into that well-rehearsed rhythm once we’re home.  Those idyllic beach days seem like they never happened.

I wanted to hold those precious memories close and keep something from that period in our lives that wouldn’t get lost at the bottom of the toy box or glossed over as another bit of “stuff” when we’re tidying up at the weekends!  I had a think about all of the special moments that I never wanted to lose from some of our dearest trips. The one that stood out most was a beautiful day on the beach where we built sandcastles, ate sandwiches and jumped the waves as they came into shore.  We warmed our cold toes on the sand after our paddle and studied all of the details that our footprints had left! Each tiny toe had been picked out by the sparkling grains of sand and they were beautiful albeit temporary works of art!

What if, just as the holiday blues set in you could lift your spirits by stretching out that special quality time by visiting me at the studio to let me work my magic and stop time?  I can help in saving those little footprints in the sand for all of the summers to follow by creating a permanent work of art that will bring back that holiday feeling again and again!  👣