If ever there was a time to put extra thought into what we are giving, this is the year to do it. We all need some extra special attention, appreciation, and benefit of the doubt. There are the moms who have given up jobs to home school their kids, folks who have lost loved ones, overworked health care workers, kids out of school who miss their friends, and our young adults who have postponed their college years. All of us have changed our lifestyles. Here are three examples of the kind of thoughtful giving I see through the lens of my business.
To keep the glaze from running, I have to prop the house this way and that to make surfaces level.
Big Gifts
In April, just after the pandemic hit, a customer was diagnosed with bone cancer. Her pelvis cracked, and along with a hospital stay, she could no longer walk her dog. She is big time on the mend now but still can't walk the dog. People in her condo building quickly came together and worked out a schedule of walkers. The timetable is still in use eight months later. While hiring me to make custom pieces for her neighbors, she's not only helping me stay in business but is making them feel special by carefully choosing pieces and colors that will complement their homes as well as delight them. One extra special friend not only walks her dog but brings her small amounts of beautiful fruit or flowers a few times a week. I'm making a birdhouse for him.
Little Gifts
Here's how another customer gave in her own words, "I just opened the box from Marina with her delightful cardinal ornament. It's beautiful! So bright and cheerful. It'll look wonderful on our holiday tree. I was excited when I saw these ornaments on her website, and I bought one for myself and one for each of my two sisters, an October present. They are thrilled with theirs too. At Christmas, we'll all wake up to the same bright and cheerful ornament even if we aren't together." –Bobbi Heath
If you or someone you love is into boats, check out Bobbi's paintings. She also loves to paint DOGS.
Custom Gifts
House numbers marking the driveway to Cheryl's photography studio.
While having a socially distant whine and wine with a photographer friend, Cheryl Gottshall, she told me, customers, we're having a hard time locating the driveway to her business. I said, “I can help with that and made and gave her two address plaques for her picket fence. Now customers can effortlessly identify where to turn in to get to her studio.
Cheryl is a commercial photographer in Raleigh, North Carolina (or wherever you need photography created) for advertising, corporate communications/marketing, editorial assignments and, DOGS! Gift cards and gift certificates are available.
Portrait of my poodle Gem, taken by Gottdog Photograpy/Cheryl Gottshall.