What is Pecage and Pecage Art?
Whenever customers visit my market stall they have the benefit of seeing my pictures first hand, inspecting the precision bevel cut mount designs, the quilted fabrics, quality solid wood frames and generally ‘getting it’! See my tips below on how to use Pecage to create that perfect gift.
The most common comments are “simple but effective”, “I’ve not seen this before”, “this is completely new and unique”. A regular question then is “What do you call it?”
Although certain techniques I use have been used before they have not been combined in the unique way I do it and to be honest I did not know how to answer the question “What do you call it?” So I racked my brains, considered all the elements involved in making my pictures and all the benefits they offer, options available, personalisation, and feedback from regular customers and I now have an answer to the question.
It is called Pecage.
Now the …age bit on the end you will recognise from words like collage and decollage, French arty farty stuff, – but the Pec… bit nominally stands for Personalised Elemental Creation. Hence Pecage or Pecage Art. The hashtag is just #pecage.
So there you have it. Pecage is your personalised creation made up of elements that you can choose. As an engineer by trade I like #pecage because it is short, simple and easy to understand. Remember the most regular comment I get is “simple but effective”? Well any engineer will tell you that it takes a lot of design, development, work and effort to make something look and work simply whilst the ducks in the background are peddling furiously!
Pecage gives you a series of options. I try my best to create great matches of design, adding character with vibrant fabrics, and mounted in simple but true solid wood frames and lots of customers love the mixes I produce. However, if I don’t quite get it right for you simply invoke the #pecage philosophy and create your own mix of design, fabric, maps, personalisation and framing options.
Here are some tips and some blogs that might help you find that perfect gift:
5 Secrets to finding the perfect gift for someone special
A Personalised Picture makes the Perfect Gift
Birthday Presents for Her – Gift Ideas for her Birthday
Birthday Presents for Men – Unusual gifts he will love
Birthday Presents for Her? Whether it’s your mum, wife, girlfriend, fiancee, sister, aunt, grandma – here are some unique birthday gift ideas for the women in your life. Use our 5 steps below to help us produce you a special picture that will show her that you have really thought about this and that something she will really appreciate.
They say giving is better than receiving and this is sometimes difficult to get our heads around. But when you give a present that you know she will really appreciate and be able to cherish for a lifetime. You can feel really smug and satisfied that you have done the absolute best you can. When you are looking for gifts for her birthday it is easy to go down the same old routes as before. Flowers always work of course but they only last a few days. If I am honest you should be buying flowers AND a present to do the job properly.
So finding the ideal gift for her birthday involves bringing together four or five key elements that reflect her interests, preferences, memories, experiences and locations and then making it very personal. You might be thinking ‘How do I do that?” but don’t worry, just bear with me on this. All you need to do is fill in the blanks and we will do the rest for you and what you will end up with is something magical.
I had to make it is easy for myself to be honest as I am a simple soul. It took me a while but it all comes down to 5 things. Give these five things your attention and you will not only find brilliant presents for her but you will have a blueprint for finding the perfect gift for anyone you know.
Sounds obvious I guess but most people have at least one key area of interest and often it is very close to their hearts.
I used to think that this was just for old people, but since running Gecko Designs I have become awakened to just how much impact memories and experiences have on people’s happiness across the age range. I guess the word ‘memories’ is more appropriate for the older person but they have had experiences, and shared experiences with loved ones so don’t forget that. Often they have not mentioned it to many people and of course be careful of picking the wrong memory.
This is where you need to have some pretty good knowledge of what she likes. It can be pretty simple to establish though if you think whether she prefers black & white for example. Or homely, country colours like green and brown. Does she love bright colours, pastel or paisley colours and is there a colour theme you can establish?
This is an often forgotten secret to nailing the perfect gift. All you have discovered about memories and experiences above had to happen somewhere. For example my wife and I got engaged in Paris and married on the Greek island of Zante so these are particular locations that mean something to us. Perhaps your female friend or family member was born in Scotland and is very proud of her Scottish heritage, she still has family in Newcastle or Birmingham for example. She might have had a memorable experience bungee jumping in New Zealand, or walking the South Coast way. Or perhaps you are the key, where were you born or conceived. Her most important memory might have been going to and graduating from University, but which one? Did she cycle from Lands End to John O’Groats, or run the New York Marathon or did she meet someone famous or special at a concert in a town or city.
This is where you start to put it all together but the main aim is to make sure that your 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.
So by following the 5 personalisation tips above you should now have an idea distilled in your head. This will include colours, locations, designs etc and anything that will make it special. We take your own creativity, add some of our magic. Then we put it all together for you to produce a truly personal picture that will make the perfect gift.
Women 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!
We 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.
All 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.
One 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.
This 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.
Jenny’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.
John 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.
