INTRODUCING: My Small Business...Isabella Mai-de - The Home of Personalised Hand Printed Gifts for Everyone

Starting this post feels a bit de ja vu because I wrote a very similar post back in 2016 when I originally launched Isabella Mai-de. Back then it was all about hand printed children's leggings and joggers, but after only a few months of being open I had to close due to morning sickness with my second pregnancy and then we entered the busy life of two children and I just didn't get around to reopening. However, in the spring/summer of 2021 I started to wonder whether I should open Isabella Mai-de back up again. Our middle daughter was due to start school in September, leaving just our youngest at home, so I felt that I'd have enough time to really concentrate on it this time. Then followed many excited months redesigning the logo, setting up the Etsy shop again, photographing products, making reels, filming TikToks, writing listings, trialing products, carving stamps, putting together new designs/patterns, sourcing stock, hand stamping labels/thank you cards, finding more sustainable packaging options etc. Along with the inevitable questions like 'will this work?', 'what if no one buys anything?' that I think are all part of launching your own business. 

DIY PROJECT: Personalised Wooden Name Blocks Tutorial

As I was putting together this wishlist for our second baby I fell in love with the idea of having our children's names on wooden blocks. At the time we hadn't decided on a name for our second little girl, so I thought I'd see if I could recreate something similar for Isabella's new bedroom. At £5 for each letter block buying them was a more expensive option, especially as Isabella has such a long name! Don't get me wrong there are lots of advantages to buying personalised wooden name blocks, including the use of high quality toy safe paint and the fact that someone else will make them for you. But I like a good old DIY project and if it means saving pennies at the same time then surely it's win, win?

TODDLER ACTIVITY: Personalised Canvas Painting

This craft activity would be ideal as a special gift for any family member or friend and luckily it is simple, effective and takes minutes to make. There's also minimal mess made in the process. What's not to like? By using stickers you can create an image or word/phrase that will stand out once your child has done some painting. I've used a similar method before to create a daffodil out of masking tape, which worked really well.

HOW TO: Watercolour Bunny Invitations using PicMonkey

Birthdays, baby showers, weddings, christenings, anniversaries - there are so many events that we send out invitations for. Ordering personalised invitations is such a beautiful way of getting exactly what you want, but can quickly become very expensive. This is where Picmonkey can step in and be your invitation knight in shining armour, along with this tutorial. Picmonkey is a free photo editing website where you can edit photos, create collages and pay a premium for access to even more incredible features. As a blogger I do pay for their 'Royale' Membership, but for this tutorial you certainly don't need it.

CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE: For Baby + GIVEAWAY

This gift guide is the one that is the closest to my heart this year, as it will be our little babies first Christmas. It feel incredibly strange that I am buying for a baby this year, it's a dream come true and I feel so lucky. As with everything in the baby world, there are so many cute gifts out there but these are my favourites and ones I know your babies will love too!

BABY: Personalised The Snowman and the Snowdog Book from Penwizard

Firstly, I'm not going to apologise for writing about Christmas in August - I usually love Christmas but this year brings a whole new level of excitement, as its Isabella's first Christmas!!

FATHERS DAY: Wrappz Personalised Photo Gifts (+ free skin code)

I can't believe Father's Day is quickly approaching, it will be the first one for my husband! I'm therefore determined to make it something special, one he can remember. The fact that we've been snapping away for the past two months has meant we have accumulated a large number of beautiful photographs of our daughter, with the odd appearance of us. As I'm sure is the case for new and well established parents alike! Photographing and capturing all of the special moments that happen is something a lot of us do, especially as it's so easy now with phones, tablets, Instagram, Facebook etc. So I was trying to think of what I could do with all those photographs and I came across Wrappz. A company that offer a wide range of personalised photograph products, perfect for Father's Day!

Wrappz offer such a plethora of personalised products it was really difficult to decide on what to get, they have canvases, pillows, mugs, skins, phone cases, aprons, tea towels, jewellery boxes and jigsaws. The website is the easiest thing to navigate around, with clear imagery and pricing. Too many of the personalised photo gift websites have hidden prices that almost double when you get to check out, which is so annoying. Wrappz is up front, with no hidden charges, a refreshing change.

I finally decided on getting a personalised glass cutting board* (£17.95), usually a pretty boring item in the kitchen...until you can personalise it! As you may know, we are currently renovating our house and the kitchen is heading in the direction of being finished. The wooden surfaces we now have in there can get damaged easily, so we needed a glass cutting board to protect the surface.

The process of adding your own photographs is so easy on the Wrappz website, you can link up to your Facebook or Instagram. Or you can always choose photos from your computer/tablet/phone. They also have a range of preloaded designs you can use, as well as adding whatever text you like. You can select the photo then resize it, move it, edit it or delete it if you're not happy. It was honestly so easy, I personalised this glass cutting board in less than 10 minutes. Perfect as time is limited with a little baby! The delivery was just as quick, with the finished product arriving two days after I had ordered it.

I was intrigued to see what the quality of the photo's would be like, especially as I took them on either my phone or iPad. I was not disappointed, none of the images were fuzzy or pixilated. In fact the cutting board is incredible quality, as you can see from these photos.

If you want to have a go yourself then Wrappz have kindly given me a code for you to get a free phone or ipod skin, all you have to do is pay for postage. Such an amazing offer and one not to be missed! Why not get it for your Dad ready for Father's Day?

The code is: 

freeskin

Which photo gift do you think your Dad would like? 

Feel free to leave me a comment :) 

Helen x 

WEDDING: Personalised Vintage Apple Crate Review

Personalised.

Vintage.

Crate.

Wedding.

These words pretty much sum up my life at the moment and one very happy life it is. The wedding planning is coming along, the sun has been shining and we're concentrating on the smaller details of our wedding now. I am enjoying being a Bride to Be so much at the moment, it's bring out our creative sides and encouraged us to work together and become even more of a unit together.

When I came across a product that bought those four important words together, I fell in love. In love with the beautiful product, in love with the quality and craftsmanship and finally in love with how perfectly it fits in with our wedding. The Personalised Vintage Apple Crate* made by Fontwell Designs is available from Perfect Details for £29.99. The uses of this outstanding quality apple crate are endless, so many ideas raced through my head as I opened up the box it was in. 

The Personalised Vintage Apple Crate would be perfect for....

a thoughtful wedding present

or

ideal for offering your guests flip flops for tired feet

or

sunglasses for bright sunshine

or

blankets for the cooler evenings

or

homemade hamper

or

umbrellas for unwanted rain showers

or

a collection box for cards and gifts

or
presenting favours


or

beautiful smelling flowers/herbs
or
holding cocktail accessories

or

games for your guests

or

a seating plan on wire surrounded by flowers
or
holding cones/boxes of confetti

or

simply as a lovely memory of your wedding day.

On the Perfect Details website you can opt for the crate to have a liner in (for 75p extra), this allows your to add soil and plant flowers/herbs in the crate. I'm currently on a growing fruit/vegetables/herbs/flowers project, where I aim to grow some flowers that might be able to appear at our wedding. I have no idea if they will be successful but you can't blame a girl for trying! Also on the Perfect Details website you can pick between Script font (which is on this crate) or Century font and whether you want vintage white or natural wood (as is this one) - the choice is yours! Soo many choices, so it's just perfect for you :)


What's your favourite use for this gorgeous apple crate?


Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Who would have thought a wooden cheese board could be so pretty?

As Valentine's Day is fast approaching it's that time of year where we're searching for a present to give that person we love that they will actually want! I don't know about you but my experience of giving presents is a mixture of success and failures, I bet that some of the presents I have given over the years never get used and find a place in the renowned 'Present Graveyard'! To avoid this anymore, as it's a waste of your money and time, I have looked for some useful, thoughtful gifts for Valentine's Day from gettingpersonal.co.uk...

Personalised Heart Shaped Slate Cheese Board - £24.99

12 Luxury Valentine's Roses - £39.99

Personalised Hanging Slate Sign - Romantic Location - £9.99

Truly Madly Deeply Paperweight - £26.99

The Chocoholics Pizza - from £14.99

Rob Ryan His n Her Pair of Ceramic Mugs - £16.99

The kind people at gettingpersonal.co.uk offered to send me a Valentine's Day item, I chose the Personalised Wooden Heart Cheese Board with Leather Tie:

I love the look of this cheese board and because it has a leather tie I also thought it would look nice hanging up as a decoration. I'm a huge fan of personalised gifts, as they show that thought and time have gone into the gift, it's not a present you've found lying around. However the quality of personalised aspect of these kind of gifts can be variable, I was really impressed with this product!

I can't tell you how much I fell in love with this when I opened it! It's simply gorgeous! The wood is a lovely dark colour and the words are clear, neat and high quality. The wood is much thicker than I was expecting but it still could be hung up if you'd prefer to do that rather than use it for a cheese board. I just can't believe it's only £19.99 and it's personalised.

Have you bought anything from gettingpersonal.co.uk before?

Feel free to leave a comment below :)



Bakerdays - Delicious Personalised Cakes

As you probably know, I love baking and chocolate! Giving someone a beautifully decorated cake for their special occasion is a very rewarding feeling and personal. But like most people, work and time means that I can't always spend hours baking a moist sponge, then lovingly decorate the cake and finally hand deliver my homemade creation to their front door! If you ever feel like this then you need to know about Bakerdays! It's a company that personalises delicious cakes that fit through your letterbox! Taking away the worry of whether you'll be in to receive the cake or not, it doesn't matter as they neatly fit through your letterbox. The range of personalised cakes is vast on the Bakerday website, including designs for birthday's, christening's, Christmas, driving test, thank you, good luck, get well soon and design your own cake. There really is something for everyone!

Bakerdays kindly sent me one of their cakes designed for Valentine's Day, what a perfect present to give or receive! They had a wide range of design choices for the icing topping, which you could either personalise or not. I chose the '522' design and couldn't believe the quality of the print when I received it! The 'letterbox' cake comes in a cute tin to keep it secure and safe from damage. It's a nice addition to the cake, as you can keep the tin and use it again!

You may be concerned as to whether the cakes are delivered without being knocked around and ruined in the post. Once again Bakerdays have fully thought this through and securely package their cakes on a cake board, in a tin and then within a tightly fitting box, so there is hardly any risk of the cake being damaged during transit!

The quality of the appearance of the cake was amazing, I couldn't believe how clear the image was on the icing that covered the whole cake. Icing is seriously hard to print onto, without getting bulges, smudges or a 'pixelated' image. But Bakerdays have mastered this tough skill, the icing was immaculate, which helped to make the cake look very impressive! I chose a Chocolate Chip Sponge and it was divine, so moist with white and milk chocolate chips in and a light layer of chocolate buttercream covering the cake! Luxurious!

There are other types of sponge available, including vanilla sponge, carrot cake, fruit cake, gluten and wheat free. The cakes start from £14.99 with free delivery on the Bakerdays website.

Have you ordered from Bakerdays before?

Feel free to comment below, I'd love to hear what you think :)