Messy Merlin creates thoughtful presents with a personal touch. We use pyrography to burn unique wooden gifts such as personalised chopping boards
Messy Merlin has been born from a lifetime of faffing about, making a mess and trying lots of different crafts.
As a child I enjoyed making things at home with my Mum-My Nan patiently taught me how to knit and always encouraged me to bake, draw and paint with her watercolours and I have such lovely memories of doing woodwork with my Grandad in his workshop.
Therefore it was no surprise to anyone that the creative subjects were my favourites at school. Art, Food Technology and Craft, Design and Technology were the classes I loved and got the best grades in at GCSE and I continued to study Art at A-level.
I was a daydreamer with no idea what I wanted to do when I left school but got a place at Uni to study business studies with advertising. I took a gap year to save up some money before starting my course, and worked in the office of a creative publishers who produced visual source books showcasing the work of creatives.
Whilst there, when not making coffee or doing the post runs, I got to help process the artwork and photographs that were sent to us by the artists, photographers and designers which was then scanned, catalogued and then printed and the books were then distributed to advertising companies looking to commission creatives for upcoming projects.
During this year I decided that I wasn't really that into the idea of the business and advertising degree and decided to let my place go and went back to not having any kind of plan for the future (much to my Mum's dismay).
So I worked for a bit longer and then booked some flights and coach tickets, packed a rucksack and went to see the sights of Australia with a friend. We had an amazing time and whilst travelling we met so many interesting people, including some nurses from Ireland. Nursing had never occurred to me as a career choice before then, the careers officer at school had only really been interested in pushing secretarial/office type careers and caring roles were never mentioned or suggested to me.
I applied to The University of Surrey on my return to the UK, started my Nursing degree later that year and I have been nursing for almost twenty years now. Despite not following a creative career path in the end, I have always been a hobby crafter and have quite the craft stash to show for it, having had a go at most things over the years!
Fast forward a few years and as my friends began to have beautiful, squidgey babies, I had an excellent excuse to paint and knit and 'faff' about with pretty stuff!
A few years later, when on maternity leave after having my first daughter, I let people convince me to sell some of the things that I was making as gifts. Friends and family commissioned me to make things for them and a lovely lady offered to sell some of my hand-knitted baby hats and bootees on her children's clothing stall in the local craft and farmers market.
Soon enough I was back at work and with a toddler on the move and nursing part-time, I didn't have time to think about what to cook for dinner, let alone craft businesses!
Then along came beastie number two! On the days that my older daughter was at preschool, I found myself with a few hours to myself during nap time! Rather than doing housework I reignited my creative fire and began making again.
It was then that my little business, Messy Merlin was born!
In Spring 2016 I began to create an Etsy shop and create listings for some of the items that I had made and have continued to add more items to the range. The first item I listed was my personalised giant ruler height chart which has remained one of my best selling items and one of my favourites to make.
The majority of my products nowadays are wooden and are personalised using pyrography-A technique that uses a hot wire pen to burn details onto the surface of wood.
My absolute favourite items to make are the personalised chopping boards. I feel absolutely privileged to be trusted with the task of turning your little artist's drawings and your loved one's handwriting into beautiful keepsakes that will be cherished for many years.
Here at Messy Merlin, all of the orders are made by hand in the little workshop at the end of my garden in Horsham, West Sussex.
Messy Merlin has the perfect gift for any occasion - new arrivals, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, christenings, teacher gifts, new home or Christmas.
There is a growing range of Christmas products including tree decorations, family plaques, coasters, christmas eve boards and wall plaques.
For the Mother's Day this year lots of you have been ordering plaques personalised with your children's names and birth flowers.
My passion is for creating unique, beautiful gifts for family and home. I especially enjoy creating something bespoke to meet a client's specific requirements and tastes.
I hope that you enjoy looking at my shop and that you will pop back now and again to see what Messy Merlin has been up to!
💜❤️💛💚💙
