So Mothers Day is fast approaching and your other half may be trying to find something special for the children to give you (either that or he's completely oblivious to it all and will start to panic on the 17th March!!) One very popular gift idea at the moment is Jewellery that is personalised with your children's finger print or hand and footprints. A beautiful keepsake that you can wear everyday to remind you of precious moments.
There are are so many places popping up now to offer fingerprint or doodle jewellery. But how do you know that you are getting a good quality product and not being over charged? Well my answer to that is to buy from another mum! All products from Impressions to Keep are made by Emma who is a WAHM Mum to 2 boys and a labradoodle, a RAF wife and ex RAF herself.
After realising she was paying over the odds for keepsakes of her children's precious moments she decided she could do not only better but also cheaper and started out making wet clay hand & foot impressions and taking hand/foot prints onto ceramic ware. Since then she has expanded with a beautiful range of silver and copper personalised jewellery.
With Impressions to keep (or Emma should I say, as she is a mum just like us, she doesn't need to hide behind a company name) you get what matters, you get excellent personalised service, a fantastic choice of pieces (and if non of them take your fancy the ability to request a bespoke design!) an amazing price and most importantly an absolutely beautiful piece of keepsake jewellery that will last a lifetime...
Even though Silver prices have risen considerably in recent times, Emma strives to keep the prices as low as possible, so that parents on a variety of budgets are able to afford her gorgeous keepsakes. She understands the economic factors affecting us all so has a 'no frills' website and has done away with pointless 'extras'. She does not supply a silver chain as she finds that many women will have a spare one at home and if not she is happy to guide customers to where to get one at the best price rather than making a profit on this herself. Essentially she cuts the costs of the ‘fluff’ that surrounds a product rather than cutting corners on quality.
Emma kindly offered to make me a piece of her beautiful jewellery so I could see for myself how the ordering process works and the quality of the finished items.
After browsing through the lovely images on the Impressions to keep website and facebook page I finally settled on a heart shaped pendant that held my daughters fingerprint....
The first stage is being sent out the 'kit'. Now some companies will send this out in a posh presentation or gift box and although this may look nice all you are doing is sending the impression back so this packaging is soon disposed of. Therefore not only would that create waste it also adds unnecessary cost to your product. Emma sent me her 'easy peasy finger print kit' which consists of step by step instructions and two little pots, one containing blue moulding compound and one containing white. The package also contained an order form for me to indicate the design I wanted.
The instructions were clear and simple! (Even a Daddy could follow them!) The blue and white 'putty' was to be kneaded together to form a soft pliable clay, Elizabeth's finger was then to be pressed into this for 20 seconds to take an impression of her prints. After a couple of minutes the mixture would set and then was to be placed back into the tub and labelled with Elizabeth's name.
Well as always with a baby not everything is as simple as it sounds! Elizabeth was rather wiggly the first time and was more interested in trying to get the mixture in her month than keep her finger still! But being a mum herself, Emma of course accounted for this and provided enough putty for two attempts! Second time round we nailed it and produced a lovely impression of Elizabeth's fingerprint! After allowing the putty to dry and harden I replaced it in the tub, and popped it in the envelope to return to Emma and allow her to work her magic...
Emma's communication was great and before I knew it, just a few weeks later an exciting parcel arrived! Inside the softly padded enveloped was a small velvety pouch and inside the pouch was....
...an absolutely stunning heart shaped charm bearing my baby daughters tiny fingerprints! I have to admit I almost cried when I saw it, and I knew what I was expecting! (If this had been a surprise from Daddy he certainly would have been getting brownie points!)
The detail was amazing! The charm itself actually consists of two silver hearts one smaller that the other, the larger heart has a beautifully detailed impression of my Daughter's fingerprint on one side while the other size hand her name lovingly engraved around the edge of the heart. The smaller silver heart hangs in front of the fingerprint keeping it 'hidden' jut for me!
The charm arrived just as Elizabeth was starting at Nursery. I wear it every day and although I still miss her enormously, knowing I have a little part of her hanging around my neck makes me smile and helps me get through the workday without her!
The quality of the charm is fabulous, the silver is beautiful and is actually
99.9% silver so is classed as 'fine' silver and even purer than stirling! The detail of the lettering on the reverse of the charm is so lovely. Emma listened very carefully to what I wanted and produced exactly what I had dreamt of! This is the kind of personal, bespoke service that unfortunately you rarely get with larger companies and is one on the reasons I love to buy from WAHM's such as Emma!
The lovely Emma has made a very special offer just for you lucky
Mymummyspennies readers!
She is offering....
5% off all orders over £25 and 10% off all orders over £100!
Just quote MMP when placing your order! This offer is valid up until Mothers Day (18th March 2012) so don't miss out!
So now you have seen and heard all about this beautiful Jewellery you must be eager to find out how to order! Well you can pop over to Impressions to keep on facebook or check out the website...
A beautiful charm such as this bearing a childs fingerprint or a 'doodle' charm bearing their hand or foot print would not only make an ideal mothers day present for you lovely Mummies (quick get hinting to the Daddies!!) they would also make perfect gifts for those Grannies and Nannas' on mothers day!
This week will be the last opportunity to safely order in time in time for Mothers day so be quick! But do not fear if you cannot get your order in on time an impressions kit will make a fabulous gift to wrap up and then the special Mummy or grandmother gets to choose the exact design they would like! And it's not just for the ladies, Emma can also put your children's fingerprints or hand and footprints onto cufflinks for the Daddies and Grandpa's too!
I was sent the charm free of charge in exchange for writing this review, all opinions are my own and are honest and true.
