Made With Love

I will give you a little background to how my business ‘Made With Love’ started.

I have been in the sales of new homes for 20 odd years.  A few years back I moved my elderly dad to be closer to me as he was beginning to have a few health issues and it meant I could go to doctor/hospital appointments with him and help him with everyday tasks like shopping, housework, gardening etc on my days off.  I found him a lovely bungalow, moved him within a couple of months selling his old house, packing his old bungalow up and moving him.  He absolutely loved his new home and was so excited to be closer to me where we made all these plans to make more memories together.

However a few months later my life was torn apart when, just before Christmas, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma (cancer caused by asbestos which he came across in his job). I took time off from my full time job to look after him, as he was frightened of dying in hospital or in a hospice, so I moved in with him as I was told he only had a month.  It turned out that I was so lucky as I had another year with him making as many memories as we could until he was too poorly to do anything.  I kept to my promise and cared for him 24/7 until he passed on Christmas Eve.  I believe  he passed then as he wanted me to go home to my husband and daughter to have Christmas with them.

His death hit me hard,  I tried to go back to work but just sat there in floods of tears so I had to give my job up as people just didn’t understand.  I didn’t want to get up let alone go out and do my Wildlife Photography that I would always fit in on my days off on my own or with my late dad. Days were spent in bed or on my iPad.  This is when I came across Pyrography items, I know that my dad wouldn’t want to see me like this, so I bought a pyrography machine and thought I would give it a go, which was a turning point.  Instead of going to bed just thinking about my dad, I would go to bed, think about my dad and then think of all the items I could burn designs on.

Slowly it helped them dark days go by and I begun to enjoy something again.  My friends started commenting and buying my items, which gave me a real boost.  On really good days, as I still had bad ones, I even started going out again doing my Wildlife Photography.  This then led very recently attending craft Fairs, which has expanded from just chopping boards to Cheese, charcuterie, seafood boards, placemats, egg cups, spoons, boxes etc. which has been very successful.  I decided to move a step further and show case my Wildlife photos and have been blown away by the feedback from customers and the sales I have made of my mounted and framed prints and my cards.

I still miss my dad enormously and there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t think about him, but I know he would be proud that I have come out the other side and doing something I enjoy!  I named my company after my dad ‘Made With Love’ because I know my dad is looking down on me with every piece I make and every photograph I take ❤️.

Bev