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Mens Gift Ideas

Mens gift ideasWomen are always looking for Mens Gift Ideas. My wife Elaine tells me that women are easy to buy for and that finding unusual gifts for men is a challenge. And they DO have to be unusual apparently. I never thought of myself as that demanding but it is the buyer that feels the pressure it seems. Personally a bottle of JD and a meal out does it for me!

mens gift ideasWe hear it every day when people visit our stall. My wife has a chat and at some point she will be discussing the worldwide difficulty in finding unique mens gift ideas that their husband, dad, uncle, boyfriend, fiancee or brother will appreciate. Especially since many men love sport so lots of mens gift ideas are sport related, but sometimes this becomes somewhat boring. I mean how many items with their football team logo or name on it can you find.

Your mission is to find something different, something unusual and something that shows you put a lot of thought into it. Let’s face it you love them right? It pays to put in a little more effort so that your mens gift reflects some of your character and knowledge, and of course affection, as well.

Thankfully we have laid out some options below for you. 5 steps to creating a unique gift idea for the man in your life to ensure you buy that unique present that no one else will have thought of. Don’t worry this won’t take long, just follow the steps and you will create a picture gift, with our help, that he will appreciate and love forever.

Mens Gift Ideas #1 – What are their Interests

mens gift ideas InterestsAll men have an interest in something and most have a number of key areas of interest that we can use as the first keystone of this birthday present search. If I were you I would start by listing up to 5 areas of interest, and remember there might be latent interests that your loved male might not spend much time on but you know deep down that it is still close to their heart.

For example, I don’t make a big thing of it but I used to play a lot of rugby, I was never a real fan of football, and out of the blue my wife came up with the idea of getting me a ticket to Twickenham for the Aviva Premiership Final. Absolutely loved it and it brought back an area of interest that I am keen to rejuvenate.

So, areas of interest that we can use to come up with mens gift ideas. Obviously we need to look at sports of many kinds, perhaps driving, animals, reading, watching films, music – it could be anything. Don’t hold back as we will filter these down later on as we add more ‘Ideas’!

Mens Gift Ideas #2 – Memories & Experiences

We find that this is onmens gift ideas heading_experiencese of the most powerful emotional drivers when trying to find the perfect gift for men. Since we have been running Gecko Designs we have become awakened to just how much impact memories and experiences have on people’s happiness across the age range. I guess we often associate the word ‘memories’ more with older people but they have had experiences, and shared experiences with loved ones in the past – so was there something they often talk about that is close to their hearts.

For example my late father in law sometimes mentioned the time he drove down to the south of France in the 1940s with a mate of his. It was a long time ago but you could tell that it was still a strong emotional memory for him despite it being suppressed in the following 60+ years.

Perhaps a very strong memory is associated with a vehicle. It could be a first car, mine was a mini that was close to my heart but also many people meet and go out in a car and relationships started in cars and the cars themselves have become a poignant element of the memory that lead to a happy marriage for example.  Perhaps your man’s children now live away and he does not see them as often as he would like. Maybe he was a hippy or mod in the 60s and rode a Vespa or drove a VW Camper van to music concerts. Anything like that is great stuff to consider when looking for birthday presents for men.

With younger people though experiences and shared experiences are very powerful images that warrant serious inclusion in the perfect gift thought process. Today life is driven by achievement and often joint achievement whether that be having a first child, running a marathon together, the wedding day, going up in a hot air balloon or even buying their first house. These achievements are solid experiences that mean a lot to the person or people involved and are typical ideas that need to be put into the perfect gift melting pot.

So when you are creating your mens gift idea you might like to remember that there were experiences that mean a great deal to him that did not involve you like a classic bike ride or challenge he did with a friend, playing footy with Mike down the road, restoring an old car with mates from the car club, camping in Cornwall, waterskiing in the south of France, the list can be endless.

Mens Gift Ideas #3 – Preferences

mens gift ideas preferencesOne of the other things that helps to come up with mens gift ideas is understanding their preferences. For example there is no point getting him something that is wine related if he is a beer lover and remember if you live with this bloke your preferences might have to get involved too.

Chances are that you have shared preferences when it comes to your home, although this is not guaranteed, for example liking wooden frames for pictures rather than white. Or knowing that your house is more black and white than red and blue in terms of home décor. Is there a preference for homely, country colours like greens and browns or do they love bright colours, stripes, or is there a generic colour that comes through via their love of a certain football club.

This reminds me of a story here on the south coast. You might or might not be aware of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. In fact some of my bio photos are taken in the coffee shop at the top.  Well, not long after Elaine and I visited the tower, which was all white at the time by the way, it was announced that Emirates were planning a sponsorship deal with Portsmouth Football Club. Now one of the key colours of Emirates is red and the plan was to re-paint the Spinnaker Tower partially red.

Supporters of the football club went bonkers because the main colour of Portsmouth Football Club is blue and to make it absolutely unbearable is that the red Emiraes had chosen is the main colour of their arch south coast football rival Southampton. Needless to say the colour scheme was redesigned and it is now blue and white. So this is a clue on preferences.

Mens Gift Ideas #4 – Locations

mens gift ideas map_locationLocation Location Location. Don’t forget this when trying to nail the perfect mens gift ideas.   All the work you have done above thinking about memories and experiences had to happen somewhere. My wife and I got engaged in Paris and married on the Greek island of Zante for example which would be good information for someone wanting to buy me a great gift, but the location does not have to be  abroad of course unless something special happened on holiday or on your honeymoon.

The bike ride they did might have just been London to Brighton for example, or your man might have been born in Cape Town, South Africa, or Sherborne in Dorset.  Perhaps they  had a memorable holiday with the ‘Lads’ in Ibiza . They might have taken a year out and traveled around Asia or Australia. They might have gone to the World Cup, chased the Ashes to Australia or something like that.

Their most important memory might have been going to and graduating from University, but which one? They might have cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats, bungee jumped off a bridge in New Zealand, or run the New York Marathon.

When you think about it everything has to happen SOMEWHERE, and that ‘somewhere’ becomes very important to people and the location becomes a massive part of the visualization of any memory or experience.

Pretty much all of the custom gifts we create for people have some indication of location, mostly using maps but often words and sometimes the picture image portrays a location too, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris for example. So don’t forget this crucial location element of finding mens gift ideas.

Mens Gift Ideas #5 – Unique, Individual & Original

mens gift ideasThis is where you start to put it all together to come up with an unusual gift for the man in your life.  If you want the best present for him then the main aim is to make sure that your man gift is Unique, Individual and Original.  You might be thinking how the hell can I do that?  But never fear there is a way you can create the perfect present and someone can make it for you.

What you need to do now is to bring together all the information you have assembled above, look at the options available and you could be giving a handmade, One-off or limited edition, attractive and extremely poignant gift to your man on their special day.

This is where you have to become a little creative so to help you out I will give you some real examples of actual commissions our customers have asked for to enable them to give that perfect gift.

Mens Gift Ideas – Real Examples

 

mens gift ideasA couple had a close family friend.  All of them were into skiing and their friend was famous within their group of skiing buddies for skiing down a mountain wrapped in a Union Jack. His birthday was in a few days and they were struggling to decide what to get him as a present. They saw our skier cut out and our Union Jack fabric and their perfect gift search was over.

DragonDevilJenny’s father was going to attempt the famous Dragon Devil cycle ride in Wales and it was his 70th birthday  coming up. An enormous challenge with more than 6 massive climbs. This is an annual event and one that mad cyclists fight to get accepted to take part in. She asked us to use one of our Bicycle cut outs and use maps to signify important segments of the ride. This was the perfect birthday gift for her Dad.

CapriMk1-FrenchFlagJohn was visiting an old friend in France. This old friend had owned a Mark 1 Ford Capri and it had been a lasting memory for him and all their friends. John put together the two key items, Ford Capri Mk1 and France and so we created a cut out design of a Mk1 Capri and put a French Flag behind it. Delighted.

These are just some examples of how to take your hard work and come up with mens gift ideas. In a lot of cases we might be one jump ahead of you. Based on customer feedback and sales we have identified 3-4 fabric choices for each of our designs that are most popular. This does not mean that your perfect picture is not unique because the fabric placement within the picture is never the same twice.

But this does not take away your ability to make your own choices so you always have access to our wide fabric swatches and of course for that absolutely personal picture you can send us your own fabric. Clearly any map based perfect gifts are also unique to you.

So you have the idea distilled in your head, an idea of colours, locations, designs etc.  The next stage is pulling it all together and producing your perfect gift. This includes your own creativity, add some of our magic and you can create the perfect gift. This is the way to do it:

  1. Choose the cut out design from our online shop
  2. Select your choice of size (if available) and select your frame preference from the dropdowns
  3. Select your choice of popular fabric – or select the ‘Custom’ option and then
  4. Select from our wider swatch of available fabrics – or
  5. Send us your own fabric
  6. Make a map choice if this is part of the design (we will be in touch directly to confirm the exact locations)
  7. For all custom choices complete ‘order notes’ at checkout and we will contact you
  8. Select your delivery/collection option (only select local collection if you will be collecting from us in Dorchester)
  9. Pay via Paypal, Debit or Credit Card
  10. Then it’s over to us

So go to our online shop – Gecko Designs Shop – and get started. Need some more reassurance – have a look at what our delighted customers say. 

Please don’t forget to tell everyone you know how easy this is. Use our sharing options to tell everyone you know. We do run competitions and offer seasonal discounts so everyone can benefit from knowing a little more about Gecko Designs.

 

We hope our guide has helped you come up with some unique and great mens gift ideas

If there is a design that you feel you need to complete the picture just get in touch  we will do all we can to help.

All the best

Tim & Elaine

 

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Pictures of Dogs

picture of dogs labrador-Golden-AP10Looking for pictures of dogs as a gift or for your own home? You are not alone! We have found that people are fanatical about their four legged best friends and if they have a favourite breed then a dog picture of that breed makes the perfect gift. If this is you we are talking about then you simply don’t have enough picture of dogs in your home!

A completely different type of Dog Picture

pictures of dogs Dachshund Cut Out Art

There a loads of pictures of dogs around but they are often a little samey of you know what I mean. Let me give you an example. I was talking with the owner of a Dachshund the other day and, in the words of her boyfriend, she has everything Dachsy there is to have. I mean Dachshund pictures, coasters, doormat, bed covers, curtains – I mean everything!

So it had become a hell of a challenge for her family to find new presents for her because all she craved was more Dachshund stuff. Then they visited our market stall.

It became a bit of a Dachshund fest then. We have two cut outs for the dachshund pictures the standard shaped one as you can see on the right here and our stretched sausage dog as shown below:

pictures of dogs sausagedog

We got a bit carried away when we designed this stretched sausage dog picture but it has become very popular with the Dachsy fraternity and gives a unique twist on the pictures of these dogs. The point I am trying to make is that these pictures are nothing like anything this young lady had seen before and the great thing about them is that as they are a deep mount cutout we can back them with any padded fabric the customer chooses. We have a standard set of fabric choices that are most popular but you can choose anything.

This now gives her family and friends an almost unlimited set of choices for new Dachshund pictures. So pictures of dogs will never be the same again.

Pictures of other Dog Breeds

We currently have exclusive and original Gecko Designs pictures of dogs for Staffies, Pugs, Dachshunds, Retrievers, Labradors and Chihuahua Art and we are adding more all the time. We are working on a Greyhound, Dalmation and Poodle for customers at the moment and because we work closely with a number of dog charities including Dogs Trust we are under pressure to add more and more.

So if you can’t find a picture of the dog breed you are looking for just give us a call or send us a message and we will look into it.

To give me some set of guidelines I researched the top 10 breeds of dog in the UK.  I am not sure what the criteria are for the lists that appear on Google, I guess it is dogs registered in that year or something, but it does not bear any relation to what we are asked for.

A recent poll for the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/pets/Britain-dog-breed-pets-animals/  shows a top 25 dog breeds as voted for but this bears little relation to the figures highlighted by other top 10s so I am not sure which is the best way to do this.  For example the Staffy features highly in some recent figures for dog registrations but does not even get a showing in the Telegraph’s poll.

You can help us make our own list – use the Twitter hashtags #2016Top10 #DogBreeds and look at our tweets on dog breeds.

More Dog Breeds from Gecko Designs

At the time or writing we have Staffy Cut Out Art, Dachshund Cut Out Art, Chihuahua Cut Out Art. Labrador Cut out Art and Pug Cut Out Art as wall art pictures and you can follow the links above to these pages. We have also just added our Dachshund Cut Out art picture in tan check to Etsy – Brows our Etsy Shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/GeckoDesignsUK

 

#WeLoveDogs

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Silhouette Art from Gecko Designs

Gecko Cut Out ArtSilhouette Art from Gecko Designs. Cut Out art has many forms but for us the focus is to create unique and exclusive mount cut out art backed by our own formula of padded fabric that exploits the perspective effects of the cut mount giving your chosen cut out art both a contemporary and traditional look.

All of our cut out art is framed in real wood frames, either antique pine or white wood, and we try, where we can, to stick to our roots (no pun intended!) and create artwork that appeals to all who love the countryside, rural retreats and also, of course, those who actually live outside our cities and urban environments.

We have a wide selection of fabrics that we have chosen to back our mount cut outs and although there are some combinations we, and many of our customers, prefer, the actual choice of which fabric you choose is entirely up to you. But keep an eye on our bestsellers if you are struggling for ideas. If you absolutely insist, and we have done it, we can make up very personal art using fabric you supply using the same principles we use for all of our fabric backed cut out art products.

Gecko designs oaktree cutout with map infil

We also offer Map Memories, with maps behind any of our own cut outs. Typical reasons our customers select our map memories cut outs include remembering or celebrating where people come from, where they are going, where they met, where they did anything to be honest!

Gecko Designs Map Memories cut out art is ideal for house warming presents, weddings, anniversaries, engagements and almost any occasion where location has become personal to the person giving or receiving the map memory gift. Our most popular cutouts for map memories are the heart, double heart, oak tree and lovebirds but we have had customers choosing cats, monkeys and geckos! Whatever floats your boat! Oh we have those too!

geko-right-crop-transSo if you are looking for that unique gift or are buying for your own home decoration project then look no further than Gecko Designs. If there is not an option clearly available on our lovely website that you really really need then just drop us a or give us a call and we will of course do all we can to help you create that personal, unique and exclusive gift or wall decoration.

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Dogs Trust Save and Donate

Fundraising for Dogs TrustDogs Trust Save and Donate from Gecko Designs is a unique opportunity for Dogs Trust supporters to save money on exclusive and iconic cut out wall art and gifts of dog breeds and many other designs from Gecko Designs whilst generating a donation to Dogs Trust at the same time. For more information please visit our dedicated Dogs Trust Charity Page.

Your Discount Code is dt15 and here is the exclusive link where you can use it: http://goo.gl/9W3fTG

As you know, the aim of Dogs Trust is to give stray and abandoned dogs a second chance at a brighter future with responsible, caring new owners. They are funded entirely by the generosity of their supporters and without them it would be simply not possible to care for nearly 17,000 dogs every year at their 21 rehoming centres.

All donations are put to good use providing their special care and finding loving homes for all the needy dogs in their centres. And of course, all donations help Dogs Trust to keep their promise – never to destroy a healthy dog.

Diesel our Rescue StaffieWe are both lifelong dog owners and currently have a rescue Staffie called Diesel who was bald when he came to live with us.  We have even had a rescue kitten (now an old cat called Alfie) from Dogs Trust, and we have always wanted to do more to support the work of animal charities in the UK. We have been accepted as a Corporate Friend of Dogs Trust and would like to generate as much in donations as possible through our website sales.

Gecko Designs customers can now help support Dogs Trust, plus receive a discount in our online shop.  You simply needalfiecat to use the Dogs Trust Save and Donate link below plus our latest discount voucher code which at the time of writing is dt15.  This code is applied at checkout and will give you a 15% discount on your product purchases (delivery and post and packing is at standard rates) and the good news is that the code is not limited to how often you use it, or who uses it, or what you are buying.  You can buy non-dog stuff, tell your friends and family, post it on Facebook or Twitter and whoever actually uses the code still gets the discount and Dogs Trust get the donation.

We would love to invite you to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook plus we are launching on Instagram and Pinterest too. Our links are here:     Twitter_logo_blueFacebook-Icon-4 Multi-Color_Logo_thumbnail200pinteresticon

At the time of writing we are not intending to limit the use of this voucher code.  All we ask is that you purchase a framed picture from our website, get the discount, and we donate to Dogs Trust.  This exclusive link includes two tracking codes to ensure we keep on top of what we owe Dogs Trust and we will then make regular payments to them as we have promised to do as part of our commitment as a Corporate Friend. We will then post updates on this blog showing what we are donating.

Your Discount Code is dt15.  Here is the exclusive link where you can use it: http://goo.gl/9W3fTG

If you have any problems using the link or the code then do not hesitate to get in touch.

Happy shopping and donating

Elaine & Tim Floyd

Dogs Trust Save and Donate is managed, and monitored by Gecko Designs.  Save and Donate is not an official service offered by Dogs Trust but is the headline under which Gecko Designs, as an official Corporate Friend of the charity, creates donations for Dogs Trust in return for the use of a discounted sales voucher. Please read more at our Dog Trust charity page.  Our status as a corporate friend can be validated with Dogs Trust and their contact details are here: https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/contact/
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Margaret Green Animal Rescue Save and Donate

Margaret Green Animal Rescue save and donateMargaret Green Animal Rescue Save and Donate from Gecko Designs is a unique opportunity for charity supporters to save money on exclusive and iconic cut out wall art and gifts of dog breeds and many other designs from Gecko Designs whilst generating a donation to Margaret Green Animal Rescue at the same time. For more information please visit our dedicated Margaret Green Animal Rescue Charity Page.

Your Discount Code is mgar15 and here is the exclusive link where you can use it: http://goo.gl/tKI6xT

The core values of Margaret Green Animal Rescue are rescue homeless, abandoned, neglected or mistreated animals, to care, rehabilitate and respect them, to rehome them in forever homes and provide lifelong support to the new owners and their rescue pets.

Diesel our Rescue StaffieHere at Gecko Designs we are both lifelong dog owners and currently have a rescue Staffie called Diesel who was bald when he came to live with us.  We have even had a rescue kitten (now an old cat called Alfie).  We have always wanted to do more to support the work of animal charities in the UK and are delighted that Margaret Green Animal Rescue has decided to work with us to generate donations and raise funds for their charity.

Gecko Designs customers can now help support MGAR, plus receive a discount in our online shop.  You simply need to use the Margaret Green Animal Rescue Save and Donate link below plus our latest discount voucher codealfiecat which at the time of writing is mgar15.  This code is applied at checkout and will give you a 15% discount on your product purchases (delivery and post and packing is at standard rates) and the good news is that the code is not limited to how often you use it, or who uses it, or what you are buying.  You can buy non-dog stuff, tell your friends and family, post it on Facebook or Twitter and whoever actually uses the code still gets the discount and Dogs Trust get the donation.

We would love to invite you to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook plus we are launching on Instagram and Pinterest too. Our links are here:     Twitter_logo_blueFacebook-Icon-4 Multi-Color_Logo_thumbnail200pinteresticon

At the time of writing we are not intending to limit the use of this voucher code.  All we ask is that you purchase a framed picture from our website, get the discount, and we donate to MGAR.  This exclusive link includes two tracking codes to ensure we keep on top of what we owe MGAR and we will then make regular payments to them as we have promised to do as part of our commitment as a Corporate Friend. We will then post updates on this blog showing what we are donating.

Your Discount Code is mgar15 and here is the exclusive link where you can use it: http://goo.gl/tKI6xT

If you have any problems using the link or the code then do not hesitate to get in touch.

Happy shopping and donating

Elaine & Tim Floyd

Margaret Green Animal Rescue Save and Donate is managed, and monitored by Gecko Designs.  Save and Donate is not an official service offered by MGAR but is the headline under which Gecko Designs, creates donations for the charity in return for the use of a discounted sales voucher. Please read more at our Margaret Green Animal Rescue charity page.  Our status as a corporate fundraising supporter can be validated with the charity and their contact details are here: http://www.margaretgreenanimalrescue.org.uk/contact.html

 

 

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New Tennis Wall Art Goes Down a Storm in Winchester

Tennis Wall Art – Game, Set & Match

Tennis Wall Art -WW10

I am well happy after our new tennis wall art , called ‘Game, Set & Match’, was so well received at the Winchester Art & Design market on Sunday.

Just for your diaries folks the Winchester Art & Design market is held in the high street of the historical Hampshire city in the shadow of Winchester Cathedral on the third Sunday of each month.

The story behind our unique and exclusive tennis wall art is that my late father, as well as being a carpenter and joiner hence our use of just wooden frames for our cut out wall art, was, in his heyday, a fanatical and successful tennis player well known on the Cheltenham and Gloucester tennis circuit.

Not Wimbledon standard of course but Wimbledon did feature very highly in his sports viewing program and those two weeks in June and July tended to be pretty focused on watching as many matches as possible. Wimbledon 2016 runs from 27th June to 10th July 2016.

But back to our new tennis wall art.  We had the idea, designed the cut out – which was not that straight forward as there had to be an element of artistic necessity in the design to give the cut out design strength thus the cut outs on the tennis racquets.  Also the white line on the tennis balls is thicker than usual because it had to be to cut it out and give the white cut out enough rigidity to survive.

Then we thought – hang on a minute – what material do we use for this design?  We did decide to use a deep purple for the tennis racquet but found a fantastic lime green fury material which means we really do have furry balls!

furry tennis ball - tennis wall artSo we bring you new and exclusive tennis wall art with furry balls.  What could be better than that?

We can of course offer all the usual personalisation and customisation options for fabric and maps but bear in mind that maps are not going to show that well behind the thin art cut out of the tennis racket.

 

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Win a Gecko Designs free picture

Gecko Designs Free PictureAs we start the run up to the ‘C’ word (that is Christmas), we thought “what about giving away one of our unique and exclusive pictures”. So here is our Gecko Designs free picture offer.  If you win you can choose any picture – frame, infil and design up to a value of £25. Including all of our new designs.

gecko designs free pictureAll you have to do is Like or Comment on this post and our extremely clever software will log your interest. The winner is picked at the end of September by a random selection system and we will video it (if I have mastered the video software in time!). And then of course we will post the video and contact the winner privately.

So come on, Like us or Comment on our post, visit our website and have a look at our new designs (we do need to update our pictures but it will do for the moment) and find that exclusive and unique gift for yourself or a friend or family. If you are reading this on the website itself then get over to facebook.com/geckodesignsco and check out the competition post to enter.

Gecko Designs Free PicturePS – this is not a secret.  The competition is open to anyone in the UK providing they will appreciate our lovely stuff.  Local delivery or pickup (at our market stall) is included although if you don’t live near us in Dorset we will ask you to pay a little bit of postage to cover delivery costs.

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Gifts Dorchester

Gifts Dorchester.

Looking for gifts in Dorchester, Dorset’s lovely small county town? Look no further as we have exclusive and unique Gifts Dorchestercut out art perfect for gifts and of course for your own home.

We live here too and having spoken to many local people, residents, visitors and the like we have come to learn that rural, country style, real wood and unique are words that are most often used when looking for gifts in Dorchester.

Gecko Designs, based in Stratton, are pleased to be able to offer unique and exclusive cut out art for special and everyday gift occasions.  If you are searching for Gifts Dorchester we aim to please.  We have a market stall in the main street Cornhill, just at the top of South Street in Dorchester.  Our market stall location moves a bit from day to day but usually we are near Boots, Costa Coffee, Seasalt – somewhere about there!  We are there most days but definitely Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and throughout the summer some other days too – but definitely NOT Sundays!

You will not find our products anywhere else, apart from our website and most of what we have on display on the Gifts Dorchester - Gecko Designsstall is unique, sometimes one offs and this is where we showcase and introduce all of our new designs for the first time so you could come along and buy something we might never make again.

We would love to meet you, show you our designs and talk with you about how we can make it special for your gift for someone else, or even better a gift for yourself!

We do understand though that many of our viewers, and stall visitors for that matter, see us once and then cannot get back to Dorchester to discuss their unique gift plans.  No problem, just contact us via this website or give us a call on the number at the top of every page of this website.

We take orders via our online shop http://geckodesigns.co/ and we ship all over the UK for a small fee for postage and packing.  If you are local, that is Weymouth/Dorchester or not too far away, we are happy to deliver to you for cash on delivery.  You can select this option at checkout on the shop if you prefer.

So come along, get buying gifts Dorchester, for birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, weddings, christmas, housewarming – almost anything really.  We are here to help.

Elaine

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Wooden Gifts from Gecko Designs

ap-gecko-greenWooden Gifts are a real joy. My late father was a carpenter and joiner and his love of all things wood was second to none and it clearly passed down to me. I passed on the chance to become a carpenter myself, not just because I am a girl, but at the time I preferred riding horses and looking after my dogs.

So living in the countryside, and being surrounded by all types of wood, not just cut and sawn but trees and forests, is probably the core reason I created Gecko Designs.

I wanted to combine everything I loved and whilst some purists might argue that my real wood framed cut out art is not solid wood, it is my, quite reasonable, twist on it as I am simply not able to create solid wood objects so I have to resort to making real wood a core part of Gecko Designs products.

oaktree with red floral fabricSo I call my products wooden gifts, and I think they are. I diddled about with wood effect frames when I first started, and they were of course cheaper to buy, but finally I decided to stick to my guns and go with just wood, and so here we are.

Wooden Gifts clearly come in all shapes and sizes and I hope you accept my argument that Gecko Designs does create wooden gifts. But it is your choice, just have a look and see how I have respected and reflected the countryside in what I do, and you will find yourself the proud owner of unique, personalised and exclusive real wood framed cut out art for your home or as a gift for friends or family.

Just pop over to our Gecko Designs Shop where you can select your real wood frame, the size and design of your cut out art and the fabric or map to complete your artwork.  Then we will check your selection, to make sure we get it right, make it up and send it out to you as soon as we can.

We do not hold stock, we will make your artwork to order so bear with us and order in plenty of time.  We are only to happy to discuss any special orders so just get in touch.

Elaine (Chief Gecko!)

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Bertie and Jack – That is not Us

Gecko Designs not Bertie and JackBertie and Jack – Who are they? Some of our customers mention, when visiting the stall, that they have seen something similar, but thankfully not as interesting to them, when visiting Bath, for example.

What they have probably seen is Bertie and Jack which is a cut out company offering paper backed cut out art in contemporary white and black mdf frames which seems popular with city dwellers but does not really appeal to the countryside and rural lovers that frequent the Dorset Netherlands. And in most cases these customers have been put off by Bertie and Jack prices and are very happy when they see ours.

We are completely different from them. We need to make that completely clear. The cut out mount designs are our own for a start, and we use quality padded fabric in our cut out art which is a completely unique formula in the UK. Also, as a nod to my late father who was a carpenter, and with respect to our countryside surroundings, we use only real wooden frames for our cut out artwork.

stagpictureGecko Designs is the only company offering this exclusive combination of mount cutouts and padded fabric and we pride ourselves on providing something that our countryside lovers really enjoy. We also offer some lovely fabric based landscape art of Stags in the Wild and Country Wildlife, and as a reference to our seaside location (ie the South Coast) we have a very popular range of fabric based Beach Hut landscapes.  Now, you don’t have to live in Dorset to get your hands on our lovely stuff, any country dweller, and also those city dwellers that have a love of the rural, can order online at our Gecko Designs Shop and we will make your personalised, unique and exclusive cut out art or map memory as soon as we can and send it along to you.

We do not carry stock as everything is made for you and we always check we have got it right before sending it out too.

So forget about Bertie and Jack and look to Gecko Designs to create your gift or home decoration.