Sale now on!

Just a quick one to let people know that you can get 20 per cent off everything at www.Sand-Writing.com using the voucher code SALE20 now!

Brighten up a wall with a beautiful personalised, canvas picture from Sand-Writing.com.

Or stock up on birthday/christening/wedding/anniversary presents, even Christmas presents now!

Happy shopping xxx

The top baby names 2012

Writing the top 100 boys' and girls' names individually in sand and photographing them was a challenge! In a good way.

And as I wrote the last name (which happened to be Mya) I felt a certain sense of achievement. However a new list has been published of the most popular baby names of 2012, so I'll soon be returning to the beach (also armed with quite a few requests).

Baby boys' names now in the top 100 which I haven't already got include Hugo, Seth and Austin. Violet, Clara and Martha are among the new girls' list that I am missing.

According to babycentre.co.uk, Harry is now the number one name, maybe due in part to Prince Harry's popularity.

I love the name Harry and I love this black and white version of one of my photographs of  Harry written in the sand, available as a canvas from www.Sand-Writing.com.

 

 

The top 10 boys's names of the moment are mainly traditional and thankfully I have written them all in sand:

1. Harry
2. Jack
3. Oliver
4. Charlie
5. James
6. George
7. Thomas
8. Ethan
9. Jacob
10. William

 

Top of the girls' names is Amelia. Many of the most popular girls' names end in a soft a sound.

Here is my colour picture of Amelia written in sand, again available as a canvas from www.Sand-Writing.com.

 

 

As with all my photographs, it was written individually on a beach in Abersoch, north Wales.

Here are the top 10 girls' names for 2012 according to babycentre.co.uk:

 

1. Amelia

2. Lily

3. Emily

4. Sophia

5. Isabelle

6. Sophie

7. Olivia

8. Jessica

9. Chloe

10. Mia

What do you think of the popular names of the moment?

Which are your favourite or do you prefer more unusual names?

Let me know and please visit my website and tell me what you think.

 

Ideas for Valentine's Day

Now that the new year is underway, one of the next celebrations to look forward to - if you are happily loved up - is Valentine's Day.
Of course it's nice to think your partner knows how much you care and in an ideal world, you find ways to show it all year round.
But I always think it's a good opportunity to make an effort and really make them feel special.
My husband and I have a tradition that we do every year.
Rather than splash out on an expensive meal, we cook a surprise for each other - me taking care of the starter and dessert and Stuart, the main course.
We go to great lengths to ensure the other one doesn't discover what we are making.
It has gone slightly wrong twice - the first year when I cooked a gigantic fish pie each as a starter and then Stuart's main course was like two meals in one - leaving us both feeling a little full and unromantic!
And last year when, despite our dozens of cookbooks, we managed to cook the same starter and main course, with copious amounts of alioli to go with each.
Anyway, this year I hope to help a lot of people express their feelings in a unique way through my new website.
What better gift for Valentine's Day than I Love You written in the sand.
Or a simple heart drawn on a beautiful beach and photographed by me.
The pictures taken near Abersoch in North Wales are available as canvas prints at www.Sand-Writing.com
Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Happy new year

Happy new year everyone!
I hope 2013 will be a good one for you - it will be an exciting time for me - the website is so new but I already have some new ideas for it that I am itching to get started on!
And our two-year-old son gets even more entertaining and rewarding by the day so I can't wait to find out how much he learns and develops this year.
I wish the weather would improve as he loves being out and about, especially if it involves visiting a farm.
But I'm hoping that this cold wet weather will have a positive effect on business and encourage people to inject memories of beaches and summer sun into their homes with one of my canvas prints!

http://www.Sand-Writing.com

The challenges of writing in sand

 

There has been lots of lovely interest in the website and enthusiasm for the idea and my pictures.

I'm so pleased by everyone's reaction and hope everyone who has ordered is pleased with their canvas prints.

So how did I get to this stage?

As I explained in the last entry, I'd written my son's name in the sand spontaneously  in March and the resulting canvas print looked gorgeous in his room.

Full of enthusiasm for the idea to write as many boys' and girls' names in the sand and messages, I set about finding the perfect beach.

It is surprisingly hard to find just the right type of sand for the job! I also wanted quite a pure surface and a beautiful backdrop.

And as is so often the case - I ended up back at the original beach in north Wales where the idea was born.

And so I began, armed with a stick, the lists for the top 100 boys' and girls' names and a will to write and photograph as many as possible.

After determining the best size lettering, I began, but the weather was not on my side and every time I felt on a roll, big dark clouds would fill the sky.

Many times I had  to write a name again - either the tide had gone out by the time the sky had cleared or else the sea washed it away!

It all proved quite a good workout for a newish mum who hasn't had time to visit a gym since Josh was born over two years ago.

I was delighted when - several trips later - I realised I was going to complete all the popular names and managed to add some different spellings and requests from friends and family.

I also wrote messages like Congratulations, I Love You and Just Married and some drawings like a heart.

It is quite a remote spot near Abersoch but the occasional passer-by was curious by the big names and messages covering the beach.

I wonder whether they guessed they would end up as personalised pictures in children's bedrooms and on other walls.

But I was too absorbed in my new work to explain  - and only occasionally distracted by my husband and son playing happily in the distance while they waited.

http://www.Sand-Writing.com

The website is live!

 

Well, the website is finally live!

It has been a lot of hard work getting to this stage, but I've really enjoyed it.

It all started back in March when I picked up a stick and wrote my son Joshua's name in the sand while we were walking along the beach near Abersoch in North Wales.

I took a photograph and carried on, not realising I had just sparked a new business idea and a new chapter in my life.

The picture was beautiful and we had it made into a canvas for Joshua’s bedroom.

He loved it and I realised it would make a unique gift for others too, so the idea for Sand-Writing.com was born - a website selling canvas prints of names and messages written in the sand.

But the idea was the easy bit - I'll tell you more about the challenges I faced in my next blog.