Oh So Cherished

Why do we give gifts to our lovers on Valentine’s Day?

2016-02-09T09:04:00.002+00:00

The origin of this medieval holiday might just surprise you.

As February 14^th draws nearer, people all over the world are scrambling to choose a meaningful token of their love and affection to give to their partner. Chocolates, jewellery, flowers and a romantic meal are all common Valentine’s Day traditions, but why is it that we exchange presents on this day in the first place?

The ancient history of Valentine’s Day

The historical origins of Valentine’s Day are fascinating, as this holiday is thought to incorporate both early Christian and ancient Roman traditions. Interestingly, the Catholic Church recognises three different saints all named Valentine, each of them young men who were martyred for their faith.

With that said, the most commonly cited is a third century Roman saint. Little is known about his personal life or the circumstances surrounding his martyrdom, but since his feast day was declared by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD, it has been associated with courtly love, birds and flowers. Most scholars believe that this was an attempt to recast the pagan fertility festival of Lupercalia as a properly Christian holiday devoid of its heretic roots while still maintaining some of its original meaning.

Early cards and tokens

Valentine’s Day greetings have been recorded as far back as the middle ages, but cards do not begin to appear in the historical record until 1400. The oldest known Valentine in existence is a 1415 poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, now in the British Library’s collection.

The holiday rapidly picked up in popularity by the mid 1700s – people across England, Europe (and the colonies that would later become the U.S.) began to exchange small gifts and tokens of love on February 14th. In 1840 a woman named Esther A. Howland changed Valentine’s Day forever by mass- producing printed cards festooned with lace, hearts and ribbons.

By the early twentieth century, lower postage rates made exchanging Valentine’s Day cards by post possible for the average person, and more and more card companies got into the lucrative business of all things February 14^th. Today, this is a widely celebrated holiday around the world that captures the hearts of lovers young and old.

Personalised gifts of love and affection

From these humble historical origins emerged the romantic annual holiday that we look forward to each year. The cherished gifts of jewellery, chocolates and flowers are simply just the modern day equivalents of medieval love poems and Esther Howland’s beautiful printed cards.

One of the most important aspects of a meaningful Valentine’s Day gift is the personal and intimate nature of the item being given. Oh So Cherished is a unique British company that specialises in creating bespoke gifts that truly communicate just how much you care for your partner.

From a wide array of lovely necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets to a breathtaking collection of stationery, books and key rings, the thoughtful Valentine’s Day gifts available from Oh SoCherished will help you to celebrate this ancient holiday with style, love and most importantly – with romance.

Image: Oh So Cherished 'Love You To Pieces' Necklace - £39.99
Contributed By: Jessica

Sneek Peek At Our New Bracelet Range!

2015-09-16T09:12:00.002+01:00

For those men stuck for something to get the little lady for Birthday or shall I even utter the 'C' word. I have compiled a list of some of our new bracelets she will adore, leave the Slippers, Milk Tray and Garden Sheers at Tesco (althought I could do with a new pair of shears!).

Soon to be added to our website, so watch out for them in the next couple of days, many are on our NotOnTheHighStreet Store already if you want to take a look.

All our bracelets can be personalised with a gorgeous message of your choice making an extra special gift for a special girl in your life.

Corporate Orders With Oh So Cherished...

2015-07-04T10:32:00.002+01:00

Oh So Cherished has been providing a corporate gifting service for our valued customers since we began back in 2006. Whether it's gifts for a special event, staff, a conference or Christmas clients gifts. Let our team listen to your brief and we will create a bespoke order based entirely on your needs and budgetary requirements. To create a truly unique and special gift, have your leather goods branded with your company logo by our skilled craftsmen in silver, gold or blind embossed...they look stunning.

Our books and accessories are all hand bound and made in our bindery here in England. We use only the highest quality leathers in a range of exquisite colours and finishes. We use soft laid paper for all our notebooks and diaries and soft satin ribbon markers, all our leather gift are finished off in gorgeous sturdy tissue lined gift boxes.

We ship globally to any address of your choice. From order to dispatch our corporate gifts team will keep you updated at every stage to ensure that all your personal requirements are met smoothly and promptly.

Corporate products we offer...

• Leather notebooks and journals (various sizes)
• Conference folders
• Diaries (various sizes)
• Travel sets
• Leather binders
• Visitor books (various sizes)
• Guest books
• Birthday books
• Address books (various sizes)
• Writing cases (various sizes)
• Luggage labels
• Jewellery
• Engraved products

And more...

For more information or quotations please email sarah@ohsocherished.co.uk or call 01983 526516

2015 Wedding Trends From Oh So Cherished

2015-06-02T20:57:00.002+01:00

We don’t have a crystal ball but we do like to think we know what's hot in the world of weddings, here’s a wonderful gathering of must have products for your 2015 wedding, whether you’ve begun your wedding preparations, or just don’t really know where to start, if 2015 is the year you’re getting married, here’s a roundup of cool and unique wedding details from Oh So Cherished...

Oh So Pretty Wedding Guest Book
(Also Available In White and Silver)

Our Personalised Wedding Garter Is Adorable!
Add Your Names & Wedding Dates For That Extra Special Touch,
It Makes A Gorgeous Keepsake


Pretty Knot Bangle

Fill This Album With Gorgeous Pics Of The Two
Of You For A Wonderful Gift For Your Bride Or Groom To
Cherish On Your Wedding Day

Oh We Can't Forget Our Ever Popular
Gorgeous Groom Journal, If You Are After Something Romantic
That COULD Bring Him To Tears...This Is Your Gift.

Our Wedding Pin Is A Lovely Gift For The Bride To Be
She Pins It Under Her Wedding Dress And She Will Then
Have Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
at hand


Secret Message Cufflinks - A Perfectly Cool Groom Gift Tell Him It's The Happiest Day Of Your Life, You Can't Wait To Be His New Mrs...,Or You'll Love Him Every Day Until Forever!

Bridesmaids Will Love These Pretty Freshwater Pearl
Bracelet, choose any initial

Something For The Honeymoon

Capture Your Hen's Messages With This Cool
Red & Gold Foil Hen Night Guest Book

For All Those Important Pics!

A Super Romantic Card For Your Bride/Groom
On Their Special Day

Our Popular Handsome Gift Keepsake Box
For All Your Groom Gifts

Personalised Cufflinks For The Wedding Party Make An
Amazing And Personal Gift

Oh The Bridesmaids Will Just Adore Our Bramble Bear

Tying The Knot Leather Wristband
Perfect For The Ushers

Tying The Knot Stud Earrings With Personalised Box.
These Make Super Gifts For Bridesmaids, Especially With A Sweet Message
On The Box Saying 'Thanks For Helping Me Tie The Knot'

Oh How Cute...
What A Perfect Way To Thank The Groomsmen As Well With These
Knot Cufflinks

And Thank The Rest Of The Wedding Party With
These Sweet Wedding Party Cards

Oh So Pretty Wedding Always & Forever Photo Album

View our wedding details section online to view all the product...

Collect them, Stack Them, Own Them!

2015-05-28T13:25:00.002+01:00

We have designed these super cool collectable stacking bracelets at Oh So Cherished. They come in a huge range of scrummy colours to choose from from Sea Blue, Raspberry, Tangerine to Lemon Fizz! Our collectable stacking bracelets look amazing going up your arm in contrasting summer colours or classic colours, match up with an outfit to ping out the colours. At £12 each you can't wont be able to resist.

Our coloured stacking bracelets are a spin off of our ever popular {precious collection} personalised 4mm beaded bracelets. Our precious collection are handmade in rose gold, yellow gold, sterling silver, mother of pearl, fuschia agate and Chinese turquoise (see below images). They can be personalised with a sweet message on a circular pendent and charms added: prices start from £34.99 for our {Precious Collection} and together with a few stacking bracelets they look stunning.

Coloured Stacking Bracelets - Classic Colours

Coloured Stacking Bracelets - Bright Zingy Colours

Yellow Gold {Precious Collection} Available Personalised

Mother of Pearl {Precious Collection} Personalised

Chinese Turqoise {Precious Collection} Personalised

Rose Gold {Precious Collection} Personalised

Fuschia Agate {Precious Collection} Personalised

View our entire collection online by clicking here or order from our NotOnTheHighStreet store.

We're Hiring! - Social Media Person Required

2015-05-26T15:54:00.003+01:00

This is an incredibily role, and our successful candidate will need to thoroughly understand our customers, business and brand. Our Social Media person will need to communicate through, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, plus creating interesting and engaging blog posts on our growing gifting blog. We are thrilled with the community we have built in just over a year but we need to focus on developing our social media strategy and presence more than ever.

If you are interested in this part-time position (one-two days per week), please email me for more details sarah@ohsocherished.co.uk and I will email an application form over to you.

(Don’t be put off applying if you feel you have no experience. Social media is an integral part of our business, but social media is about people, conversations and having the ability to engage – and you might just be the right person that we are looking for.)

Olaf has entered the building!

2015-05-21T12:34:00.001+01:00

Super cute Olaf from Frozen walked in this week, we are personalising him and he looks adorable with his big orange ribbon and tag on...

Olaf from Frozen - £17.99 Personalised

View our other personalised Frozen toys by clicking here

Father's Day Gift Ideas...

2015-05-20T19:45:00.000+01:00

Here's a few rather super cool gifts perfect for dad on Sunday 21st June...

Moon & Back Keyring

Infinity Cufflinks

Daddy's Juice Beer Glass

Check out more of our collection by viewing our Father's Day section online

Introducing...our new Initial Range

2013-11-25T16:08:00.003+00:00

Our customers love leather and they love personalised products too. So when we came up withour new 'Initial Range' we knew we were on to a winner! We have seen lots of places that sell leather books with blind embossing and silver or gold foil blocking, but we wanted to come up with something a bit funkier and more unique.

Initial Leather Coaster

Sarah came up with the idea of combining our popular pale ivory Italian vachetta leather with a single lower case initial stamped in a contemporary font in black matt foil.

To start with we chose to add a completely new product to our range: personalised coasters. Each coaster is covered in soft smooth ivory leather and then foil blocked with the initial of your choice. Choose one for each member of the family, or spell out a fun or romantic word with them. Either way they make a really cool drinking accessory around the home.

Initial Leather Coaster

Our other choice was a new version of our popular chunky plain page leather journal, again covered in the ivory vachetta leather and blocked with the single intial.

Initial Leather Journal

These journals are just delicious; filled with a thick chunk of plain ivory acid-free, recycled pages and finished with a black ribbon marker, we send them in a sturdy black box for safe-keeping. Use them as a diary or journal, for poems, lyrics or even sketching.

Each item is personally made to order by a skilled leathersmith and so please allow 5-7 days for your order to despatch - but it will be well worth the wait! See them on our website here.

Super Stocking Fillers - For Under A Tenner!

2013-11-04T13:03:00.000+00:00

Who says everything at Christmas has to cost the earth? What can go in the Christmas stocking without breaking the bank? We decided there was definitely a place for a Stocking Fillers section on the website this year, full of attractive and desirable little gifts for friends and family, many of which come in at well under a tenner*. So here is a selection to browse through; just click on the caption and you'll go straight through to the product page to pop it in your basket....stockings done!

Mini 'Sari' Notebook

£3.25


Mini Hot Pink Notebook £4.96

£4.99

£6.95

£2.99

£4.99

£7.99


Chocolate Cookie Bookie Notebook £7.99

'Love You Mum' Daisy Glass Token

£9.00

Trekker Journal With Treeless Paper

£4.99


'How Wonderful Life Is' Gift Box £4.10


Mini 'The Moment I Met You' Card

£1.55

'Owl Always Love You' Tin Heart

£3.85


Naturally Cute - Animal Pens

£3.99

Mini 'Three Little Words' Boxed Paper Book

£4.99

There are loads more great stocking fillers on the website - browse our full selection here

And if you need advice, information or just want or place an order our phone lines are open from 9.30am to 2.30pm Monday to Friday just call 01983 526516 and one of our team of customer advisors will be delighted to help!

*Prices quoted are correct on day of publication but are subject to change. Please check current prices on website.

Win A Fab Hamper Of Stationery!

2013-10-29T12:59:00.002+00:00

Just in time for Christmas we are giving away a fabulous hamper of stationery!

A chance to win this gorgeous collection of cards, notebooks and all sorts of lovely things is yours just by answering this one little question:
"What product from the Oh So Cherished website would you want in your stocking?"

You never know, you just might get it!

Beautiful jewellery, fine leather journals, super-cute baby bits or styish wedding accessories - what would you really, really like?

Take a look through our pages of loveliness and then just email your answer to sales@ohsocherished.co.uk to be entered into our prize draw

Gorgeous Giftbooks For Christmas

2013-10-22T16:51:00.000+01:00

It's that time of year already! We have been on stocking up with fab products, many exclusive to us, that we know our paper-loving customers will just love! On our pages you will find lots of unusual and quirky Christmas gifts - practical solutions and indulgent treats alike.

One of our best sellers is our fabulous Recipe File. We couldn't decide whether to make it bright and funky or cool and classic, so we went for one of each! Both options are ring binders bound in fine Italian leather and filled with a chunk of illustrated, lined cream pages, divided into 10 sections. Being loose leaf, you can add and remove pages whenever you like so you can keep it bang up to date with your current culinary inspirations as well as the old family favourites.

'Lovin' From The Oven' Recipe File

Black Leather Recipe File

Another quirky choice is our fab range of pocket journals - neat little leather journals in vibrant colours, filled with plain white paper, each with a fun quote that will suit someone you know down to the ground. They are just 12cm x 9cm in size, ideal for a handbag or briefcase or just so cool to sit on the office desk. There are seven pocket quote journals in all to choose from, each with a luscious padded leather cover and bold silver foil blocking.

'Don't Judge A Book' Pocket Journal

'It's A Mad World' Pocket Journal

'Behind Every Successful Man' Pocket Journal

Our leather address book are perennial favourites so we have added some lovely new colours to both sizes. This larger size has alphabetical tabbed sections for: Name, address, home/work/mobile telephone number, fax and email (4 entries per page).

Modern Hot Pink Leather Address Book

Modern Pale Blue Leather Address Book

The pocket version comes in classic grained leather in burgundy, navy and hot pink...

Dark Blue Leather Pocket Address Book

and also in this funky hot pink. Just 12cm x 8cm in size, they are perfect for a pocket or handbag.

Hot Pink Leather Pocket Address Book

Why not pair an address book with one of these desirable leather pocket birthday books?

Aqua Pocket Leather Birthday Book

And right now we're offering a free engraved silver nameplate on our hot pink version - a nice finishing touch!

Hot Pink Leather Birthday Book

Despite everyone texting and emailing these days, we always find we sell lots of leather writing cases, at this time of year. So much so that we have added to our range of colours to include both cool and classic options, from bright pink, lime and aqua to tradtional black, navy or burgundy. We offer three sizes, each filled with a pad of Basildon Bond watermarked paper and envelopes, a perpetual calendar and stamp pocket and supplied in a tissue lined gift box.

Duke Red Leather Writing Case

A4 Dark Green Writing Case

Quarto Dark Blue Leather Writing Case

Paper lovers like us will want your kids to get the bug for writing too and these cool and fun writing sets will get them started, even if it's just writing a few thank you letters after Christmas. There is still nothing as nice as receiving a proper hand written letter from the children in the family instead of a prompted mumble down the phone or worse still a text!

The Gruffalo's Child Stationery Set

Creepy Crawlies Writing Set

My Cool Writing Set

If you want something really unique and luxurious this Christmas, take a look at our unique range of Leather Lifetime Diaries. Our first choices were leather bindings in Aubergine, Black, Red and Antique Tan Hide, embellished with the wording 'A Wonderful Life'. This is a seriously huge tome of 1020 pages, split into years, each one featuring prompts to get you stared like
• Places I've visited
• People I've met
• Things I've achieved that year
• Things in the news that year

Aubergine Leather Lifetime Diary

Next we added our Black Linen version, with a plain black linen cover that you can personalise with one of our free engraved nameplates. They are great for youngsters to start while they are young, but lots of older folk buy them for writing memoirs.

Black Linen Lifetime Diary

Another popular choice is this Personalised A3 Calendar for the kids to give their Daddy. You can't beat a homemade gift from a child and they'll have great fun colouring in each page for him. There are dolphins and dinosaurs, castles and cats and more to colour in and your child's name will feature on every page.

Colour In Calendar For Daddy

From generation to genetation, children always want to know quite how their letter to Santa gets to the North Pole and how he delivers all their presents to their Christmas stocking. This sweet personalised Letter to Santa Book has the explanation. The book is written as if by Santa as a reply to your child's letter and the rhyming story cleverly works in your child's name on every beautifully illustrated page. It's a lovely book to share at bedtime in the run-up to Christmas!

Personalised 'Your Letter to Santa Book'

Here is a fun idea for a diary with a difference! If you like the idea of keeping a journal but don't think you will have time to keep it up this is just the thing. You just choose one word to sum up each day - it could be a mood, an event, an emotion or a passing thought. Was your day 'Gratifying'? Did you feel 'Sprightly'? Or was work 'Hellacious'? Keep it clear or make it cryptic, it's up to you to find the perfect word, but if inspiration evades you, turn to the handy lists of words at the back of the book - after all, would you ever have thought of 'Shananigans' or 'Serendipitous'? The page a day format will take you through one calendar year, but as the pages are not dated you can start and finish any day you like, which makes this cool little journal a super gift any day of the year. By the end of the year you will have a uniquely personal record to look back on - you'll be surprised how many memories can be triggered by a single word!

One Word A Day Journal

We are known for our fine leather journals of course, and this one is a real object of desire! It's bound in a beautifully soft and supple cracked leather and filled with 280 pages of recycled, ivory, acid-free paper that any keen writer will be just itching to get started on. As it has a lock it is great for personal memoirs and journaling.

Chunky Rustic Tan Leather Journal with Lock

So get comfortable with a nice cuppa and head on over to Oh So Cherished for a relaxed and hassle-free Christmas shopping session. And if you need advice, information or just want or place an order our phone lines are open from 9.30am to 2.30pm Monday to Friday just call 01983 526516 and one of our team of customer advisors will be delighted to help!

Coming soon...Super Stocking Fillers! Watch this space!

New Graduation Day Gifts

2013-10-04T11:18:00.000+01:00

Up and down the country new graduates have received their exam results and are proudly clutching their brand new degree certificates! What an achievement! Everyone wants to share the graduation day celebrations and invitations are flying out to friends and family to attend the graduation ceremony.

Earlier we blogged our great collection of Graduation Gifts For The Class Of 2013; here you will find an inspiring choice of gifts large and small to reward the new graduate. But we wanted to come up with a really striking set of items to commemorate the graduation ceremony in fitting style and so our clever little owl was conceived!

Wearing his mortar board, he sits on a white leather panel, and is boldly blocked in red foil, along with the words 'Graduation Day' and a border of red stars.We have added him to a set of lovely white linen bound items that will help the new graduate and the family build a souvenir of the student years and a big day.

There will of course be lots of photo opportunities: the graduation ceremony, the new graduate proudly sporting academic dress, the rest of the class of 2013, as well as lecturers, friends and the university buildings and town that have been home for the student years. So we have produced two photo albums, a small one with 30 plain cream card pages that will take 6x4" or 7x5" photos and a nice chunky one with 50 pages that will hold two 6x4" or or one 7x5" photo per page.

Graduation Day Chunky Photo Album

Graduation Day Small Photo Album

There is bound to be some serious partying on graduation day too and a signing book is a great way of remembering everyone who shared the day. Filled with well wishes and congratulations, it will be a lasting reminder of a great celebration and it is a good place to collect contact details too so as not to lose touch with any of the uni crowd.

Graduation Day Signing Book

The student years are a special time to be remembered long after the cap and gown have been hung up. We added a gorgeous keepsake box to the collection, roomy, covered in white linen and finished with a white satin bow. Fill it with favourite books, photos, certificates, gap-year souvenirs, dissertations and all the memories of working hard and playing hard!

Graduation Day Keepsake Box

So if there's a clever new grad in your family, why not show how proud you are by treating him or her to a special keepsake of that their graduation day! See the whole range here!

Graduation Gifts For The Class Of 2013

2013-09-30T11:55:00.000+01:00

It's that time of year again! All over the country students are proudly clutching their graduation certificates and celebrating the end of three or four years hard studying! If you're looking to reward a new graduate, we have some super graduation gift ideas to say a great big "Well done!".

CC Image by j.o.h.n. walker

The chances are there will be some partying involved at some point, so a personalised bottle of champagne will certainly be put to good use!

Graduation Champagne

But if a little encouragement is needed, this wooden framed poster will help to get the party underway...


Time To Drink Champagne Poster

A popular range of graduation gifts is our 'Graduation Story' range, comprising photo albums, a keepsake book and a signing book, all covered in bright white linen with an embroidered embellishment. SORRY- SOME OF THIS RANGE IS CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK

Graduation Story range

The albums are great to house photos of the ceremony and celebrations and these mini ones make a fun little boasting book for grandparents and other proud friends and family.

The large photo album, though, makes a great souvenir of uni days; fill it with favourite photos of friends, places, events and travels and you have a record of all the brilliant student years. The matching keepsake box will hold certificates, dissertations, cherished books and mementoes too.

LARGE Graduation Story Photo Album

A great way to congratulate the new graduate is with a signing book for fellow students and family to write in their messages of congratulations and wishes for the future; it's a good way to remember all the people who were a part of this time in the graduate's life and to make sure no one will be forgotten. It a useful way to collect contact details too as everyone goes their separate ways.

Graduation signing book

These two photo albums are really popular as well; they are superb value for money and will hold 20 x 6X4" photos in easy slip in acid-free paper lined sleeves.

Mini Graduation Photo Album

This sparkly design holds 40 x 6x4" photos to show off.

MINI Sparkly Graduation Photo Album

For anyone planning a bit of travelling before joining the world of work, we have some useful travel journals to help them organise and remember their trip.

Blue Genuine Leather Travel Journal

Sand Dunes Travel Journa

A novel alternative to a signing book, is one of these Graduation Signing Plates. At the ceremony or celebration, just get everyone to sign the plate with the pen included, leave it to dry for 24 hours and the signatures will become a permanent record of your guests.

Graduation Signing Plate

It's a new chapter in life after uni and this cool leather journal might just be the place to reflect on life's challenges in times past and in years to come.

'The road to success is always under construction'

If you just want to send a little token of congratulations to a new grad, you will find lots of ideas on our pages. These sweet porcelain tokens send out the right message:

Follow Your Dreams Porcelain Tag

No Set Path Porcelain Tag

And this just says it all!

Mr Clever Bookmark

Mr Clever Keyring

And if you're just looking for a graduation card, you'll be glad to know ours all go out on free delivery!

Graduation day is really something to celebrate and any new grads will bask in the glory of their achievement! Let them know how proud you are with a well-chosen gift or card. And don't forget, any of our products can be personalised with the addition of one of our engraved nameplates; add a name and the degree details for a really personal finishing touch.

NOW ONLINE!!! A fab new set of graduation gifts exclusive to Oh So Cherished TAKE A LOOK!

Honeymoons and Holidays - how to make the perfect photo album.

2013-09-27T15:28:00.000+01:00

September - it's back to work for most of us and the kids are back at school. Holiday memories can soon become a distant memory as the daily grind sets in. Newlyweds too are returning from honeymoons in exotic climes, filled with memories of that trip of a lifetime.

In pre-digital times, the first thing I did when I got back from holiday was to send off my photos to be developed, then spend hours poring over them; in my family, getting together to share the photos was all part of the holiday ritual! Now all I have to show for my last few holidays is an increasingly full hard drive; like many people I have just left them sitting on my laptop. So I have decided to spend some of my time this autumn printing out my favourite photos and making some lovely albums to look back on in the winter months. This gave me the idea of blogging some ideas of how we can help our customers make some really super photo albums worthy of their fabulous memories.

Of course many of our customers are brides and they will have spent ages finding the perfect photographer and selecting the photos for their wedding album. But the honeymoon is just as magical and the memories of this special time in a couple's life deserve to be displayed beautifully. That's why we have designed this luxurious album just for the honeymoon photos.

Our Honeymoon Album - aqua

Our Honeymoon Album - Ivory

We were delighted with them when they arrived; covered in the smoothest Italian leather in ivory, or a beautiful tropical aqua, they are silver foiled and filled with 50 pages of thick ivory acid-free card, each with a luxurious vellum interleave and boxed to set off your photographs to perfection.

But how do you choose an album? First of all think about how many photos you will want to display and how large you want your prints to be. You will find a range of gorgeous honeymoon albums and general holiday albums on our website, that will take anything from 6x4" to 10x8" prints. The 'Refine Your Search' boxes at the top left of the web page will help you find an album with the correct size page. As a general rule it is best to stick your photos on just one side of the pages, or you may find the album does not close as flat, and may not fit the box properly.

Of course price will always be a consideration. If you are choosing an album for perhaps a wedding gift for the couple, then a leather album will be the premium option; superbly durable and luxurious to feel, leather will keep its finish for years and with this grade of album you can expect the finest quality acid-free card and vellum interleaving to protect the photos indefinitely.

For a holiday or all-purpose album, our leather chunky albums are ideal, as they come in all sorts of colours and have 50 pages which will hold two 6x4" or x1 7x5" photo, interleaved with vellum for added protection. Or, if you want to display 8x10 photos, take a look at our A4 photo albums.

Leather albums don't have to be traditional in style. We stock some lovely handmade photo albums from India, embossed with traditional designs, and filled with Khadda paper recycled from cotton rags, to which are added petals, grass and silk threads. A beautiful yet sustainable option, they are available in a number of sizes, colours and prices.

Extra Large Leather Photo Album

When filling a photo album, your aim, of course, is to create a book that will bring back all sorts of memories. Photos are brilliant, but why not add other pieces of memorabilia that will recall a special meal, an excursion, a show you saw, the hotel you stayed at. Postcards, tickets, menus, flyers, exotic pressed flowers, maps, banknotes, a label from your favourite local wine - they will all help to really bring the album alive and remind you of stories to tell - the good times and the near disasters!

This smaller album has a lovely leather texture and again, beautiful cotton paper; they double as brilliant sketch books too.

Small Stitched Leather Photo Album

Staying with the Indian recycled style are these gorgeous albums covered in richly coloured fabric recycled from traditional heavy Indian saris and filled with cotton paper. Cotton paper is an excellent choice for photo albums, as it is both acid free and exceptionally enduring; it can last hundreds of years without deteriorating or fading. Each album is quite individual and they make brilliant albums for holiday memories or as a souvenir of gap-year travels.

Sari Photo Album

Whilst some brides and grooms may be happy to 'splash the cash' on a top quality honeymoon photo album, many will be just looking for a smaller, simpler way to display a few favourite snaps to show around family and friends, or perhaps a honeymoon album to give their parents. We have several that are specially designed for honeymoon memories in a smaller format. This one is really popular; handbound with textured ivory mulberry paper, it's filled with just 20 pages of acid free paper that will take photos up to 10x8" in size and your own choice of snap to go into the little window on the cover.

Large 'Just Married' Honeymoon Photo Album

New this season is our Tropical Honeymoon Album. We cover it in bright white linen and on the cover is a leather panel foil blocked in an exotic sea-green with a design of tropical foliage, mounted on a pale blue card. This boxed album has 30 interleaved cream card pages to take photos up to 7x5". There even a keepsake box to match to hold all the honeymoon mementoes.

Tropical Honeymoon Small Photo Album

One question that we are constantly asked is how best to fix the photos into an album of this kind. Well, there are several options, but it is really very simple. One of the most popular ways to mount photos is to use transparent photo corners, which come in packs of 250.

Transparent Photo Corners

Another alternative is to use photo glue dots. These are really easy to use! They are sticky on both sides, so you just peel off the backing strip, pop one onto each corner of the photo, remove the clear film and press the photo onto the card. Done! Our standard pack contains 64 dots, but if you have a lot of photos you are better off buying a bumper pack of 1600.

Photo Glue Dots

Finally, you can choose an adhesive tape runner to do all the work for you! Just run the device along the edge of the photo and it will dispense a section of sticky tape. Peel off the backing and it’s ready to use.

Adhesive Tape Runner

The other way to display photos is to go for an album with slip-in sleeves. Whilst quick and easy to use, you will usually find these take just smaller photos, usually 6x4". It is worth checking too that the the photo sleeves themselves are made from acid-free materials.This little honeymoon album contains acid-free pockets for 100 6x4" photos and makes a very portable album to show off to envious friends!

Small Honeymoon Photo Album

Here is another pretty album just for honeymoon memories with 40 6"x4" slots, which has a companion album for general use.

Mini Honeymoon Album

Mini Blue Print Photo Album

Honeymoons or holidays, classic or contemporary, with over 180 photo albums in stock and all the necessary fixings, we are bound to have an album to suit you! And if you need help in choosing the right one, just give us a call, we're always happy to help and advise!

Wedding Anniversary Traditions - Year 2 - Cotton

2013-09-27T10:59:00.000+01:00

With our fab selection of stationery and paper products we get quite a few couples looking to us for paper gifts to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. But it might be more surprising to see how much we have to offer for the second year too - the cotton wedding anniversary. It is thought that cotton is a good choice as it is durable and associated with prosperity, a fitting symbol for the second year. But another theory is that the cotton plant requires many hot, sunny days to bloom, just as the marriage bond needs sustained warmth and happiness to blossom.

On our shelves is a fine selection of stationery filled with cotton paper pages. Cotton paper can be made from the cotton plant itself or from used cloth, often called 'rag paper'. It is stronger and more durable than wood-based paper, but importantly it contains much less acid, making it ideal for archival purposes and, in the case of our gifts, for valuable writings and albums.

One of our most popular ranges of journals is our Sari collection. The journals come in all sizes and colours but all are covered in recycled Indian sari fabric.

Mini 'Sari' Notebook

But inside each notebook is a chunk of cotton 'khadda' paper, made from recycled rags from the vast garment industry. The paper is pure unbleached cotton and contains no chemicals but may have splashes of colour from flower petals sprinkled into the pulp. It is a beautiful paper for writing or drawing, but very affordable.

Fair Trade Extra Large Sari Journal

We also stock lovely leather journals also filled with cotton paper like this gorgeous deep tan chunky journal. You can even see the marigold, aster and bougainvillea flowers and threads of silk and grass in the paper.

Large Embossed Leather Journal

There's no need to sacrifice colour for natural cotton stationery. This sweet little gift journal comes in hot pink and is embossed with a lovely traditional design.

Medium Hot Pink Leather Journal

If you like a more classic style of writing paper this beautiful set of Original Crown Mill is ideal.
Original Crown Mill specialises in luxury stationery, replicating the paper produced in the royal paper mills of 17th century Belgium. Presented in a stylish gift box featuring the royal logo of the Original Crown Mill is a writing set of 100% cotton paper, beautifully soft, yet very durable. The paper is incredibly smooth, watermarked and suitable for all types of pen, including fountain pens, as well as printing. This luxury box contains 100 A5 writing sheets with 50 matching envelopes, a versatile and elegant choice suitable for a second wedding anniversary gift.

Original Crown Mill Pure Cotton Luxury A5 Writing Set

Another luxury brand is Cartiera Amatruda, situated in the ancient duchy of Amalfi, Italy, one of the oldest and most renowned papermaking centres in Europe.The paper manufacturing tradition of the Cartiera Amatruda dates back to1380 and each deckle-edged cotton sheet bears a distinctive Amalfi "Amatruda" coat of arms watermark crafted with the utmost care, using many of the traditional methods developed in the Middle Ages. The paper is made from the finest cotton rag and sized for the best possible writing quality, making a beau luxury gift set.

Amalfi Writing Set

One of these ideas is sure to please on your second wedding anniversary; why not finish off your gift by wrapping it with one of our pretty cotton ribbons?

Pretty Heart Ribbon

Pretty Cream 'With Love' Ribbon

Gorgeous Stationery Hampers - New From Oh So Cherished

2013-09-25T15:25:00.000+01:00

We know our customers just adore beautiful stationery so we have boxed up two fantastic stationery hampers in time for Christmas. We designed this pretty pink hamper with the ladies in mind...

Pretty Stationery Hamper

We took a white gift box and popped in a lovely Sari Journal, covered in Indian Sari fabric and filled with a chunk of 'Khadda' paper, made from recycled cotton rags from the garment factories of Rajasthan. Next we added a beautifully illustrated Birthday and Anniversary book so you'll never miss another special occasion and a box of 14 Cupcake Thank You Notecards with an elegant gold foiled design. To finish the stationery set we include a white crystal tipped pen and we wrap it in delicious hot pink grosgrain ribbon.

We then created our Classic Stationery Hamper with the guys in view with good strong 'blokey' colours and no frills! Into this one we put one of our most popular journals, the Light Leather Retro Strap Journal. Beautifully handcrafted in Italy it has a fine leather binding and inside is a chunk of smooth, lined, acid-free ivory paper pages to use for notes, as a journal or for memoirs and diaries. Moleskine notebooks are great for home and office so we chose a large lined one and a small red pocket notebook with plain pages. For this hamper our pen is a slimline, black ceramic rollerball from the quality Japanese brand Ohto. The box for our Classic Stationery Hamper is black with a smart matching grosgrain ribbon tie.

Classic Stationery Hamper

You can order our Stationery Hampers online here.

With this ring I thee wed...

2013-09-21T14:53:00.000+01:00

There is no more enduring symbol of everlasting love and marriage than the wedding ring. So we were delighted to come across a beautiful range of handmade bridal ring cushions made here in the UK. Covered in smooth ivory silk satin, they are available in a range of gorgeous colours to match the wedding colour scheme. Traditionally carried by ring bearers or young flower girls, a beautiful ring cushion makes a charming flourish to the wedding procession.

We were so pleased to find these exquisite individual designs, inspired by the designer's love of 'haute couture', flowers, foliage, nature and jewellery. These gorgeous ring cushions feature intricate appliqué work, hand embroidery and the use of high quality seed beads and Swarovski crystals to add a glamorous sparkle.

Personalised Duck Egg Blue 3D Flower Ring Cushion

Fine hand embroidery is a feature of these lovely cushions and we were delighted to find that several designs can also be personalised with the couple's names and wedding date.

Personalised Purple Appliqué Heart Ring Cushion

Real romantics will love the personalised 'Appliquéd Heart' design. The silk heart bearing the couple's details is surrounded by delicate seed beads, crystals and pearl beads.

Personalised Gold Appliqué Heart Ring Cushion

The 'Beaded Heart' is another attractive option with its hand-sewn beading and crystal on a silk sash.

Duck Egg Blue Beaded Heart Ring Cushion

My personal favourite though is the '3D Flower' with its striking silk sash and intricate beaded flower.

Personalised White 3D Flower Ring Cushion

We just love it when we are able to source really finely crafted pieces like this, made by individual craftspeople working in the UK, and we can see these beautiful cushions gracing many an aisle this season.

But we are always on the look-out for new accessories and we were so taken with these pretty little ring pillows that we had to add them to the range for this season, even though it meant importing them from the USA!

This one is covered in ivory satin, decorated with lace and finished with an ivory sash and a gorgeous rhinestone clasp.

Cream Lace Ring Cushion

I really like the elegant simplicity of this ivory satin ring cushion with its neat folded pleats and classic bow.

Pleated Pale Ivory Ring Cushion

So many brides choose to have butterflies among their accessories, so we knew this white ring cushion would be popular and so it is! The sparkly butterfly closes a pretty laced sash to make a lovely setting for the wedding rings.

Butterfly Ring Cushion

If you're not already spoiled for choice, take a look at our full range of beautiful wedding ring cushions here on the website.

The Friday Fix -Charbonnel et Walker Chocolate Truffles

2013-09-20T12:40:00.002+01:00

An indulgent treat is on offer for today's Friday Fix - a mini box of handmade milk chocolate truffles from the renowned chocolatier, Charbonnel et Walker.

Founded in 1875, Charbonnel et Walker is one of Britain’s earliest chocolatiers. Encouraged by Edward VII, (then the Prince of Wales), the company first formed as a partnership between Mrs Walker and Mme. Charbonnel, the latter from the Maison Boissier chocolate house in Paris. The company's first shop opened at 173 New Bond Street in Mayfair and has remained in Bond Street ever since. It is now housed in one of London’s elegant arcades, the Royal Arcade on Old Bond Street and is even endorsed by the Royal Warrant as chocolate manufacturers to Her Majesty The Queen!

We have chosen a little heart-shaped box of lightly dusted pink chocolate truffles with a milk chocolate butter and Marc de Champagne centre.They make gorgeous wedding favours or gifts for ladies' nights or just as a sweet treat!

Charbonnel et Walker - Box of Mini Pale Pink Truffles

Just for today, Friday 20th Sept, sheer indulgence comes at the price of £4.25 per box instead of the usual £5.99.
All you need to do is click here to order and quote the code 'FIX' in the discount box.

The Friday Fix - Botanical Notebooks

2013-09-13T12:37:00.002+01:00

It's a floral Friday Fix this week!

A handy set of three small, but perfectly formed, lined notebooks, each with a different colourful botanical design on the front, enhanced with classy gold foil lettering. Why not keep one at home, one in the office and one in a handbag?

Botanicals Notebook Collection

Normally selling for £10.00 we've lopped 25% off the price so they're yours for just £7.50. Quote 'FIX' in the discount box at checkout and get your order in before midnight tonight, Friday 13th September. Click here to order!

Wedding in a Winter Wonderland...our new designs for 2013/4

2013-09-13T10:00:00.000+01:00

Winter Weddings can be simply magical! Just imagine the bride and her maids dressed in white fur capes against the chill, photos taken beneath snow-laden boughs and a venue decked in holly and warmed by a roaring fire. A truly cosy and intimate setting can be created with an array of beautiful table decorations and accessories, all themed in sparkling tones of silver and white. Whilst traditional bridal flowers can still be had, a winter-inspired floral arrangement can make a gorgeous centrepiece; white and red poinsettias make a fantastic focal point and the delicate white flowers of mistletoe, paired with red holly berries, add a touch of colour in a wintry theme. In preparation for the Winter Wedding season of 2013/4, we set out to put together a stunning collection of accessories to add some festive sparkle to the celebrations.

No wedding is complete without a guestbook and we already had some lovely white leather ones in contemporary and traditional designs.

Script Bright White Leather Guest Book

Bright White Leather Wedding Guest Book

But we wanted something really special just for this year's winter weddings so Sarah designed our exclusive winter-themed guest book. She chose a bright white linen covering and sourced a gorgeous, sparkling, jewelled brooch style embellishment - a real statement piece. Teamed with a pretty little shimmering mosaic pen it looks just gorgeous!

White Linen Snowflake Guest Book

Little Silver Mosaic Pen

Also new for 2013/4 is this beautiful Diamond Droplet design for a matching large or small photo album, keepsake box and guest book. Again, the cover is of white linen and the embellishment is a lovely jewelled droplet encrusted with rhinestone gems, silver bugle beads and pearls.

'Small' Diamond Droplet White Photo Album

Diamond Droplet White Keepsake Box

Diamond Droplet White Guest Book

Another new stunner is the Diamond Flower white linen guest book - a beautiful touch of snowflakey bling brought to you direct from New York!

Diamond Flower White Guest Book

One of our best-selling guestbooks is our Clear Jewelled Heart Guestbook. Bound in snowy white linen and glittering with silver embroidery and diamond cut crystals, it picks up the winter theme to perfection. Lots of couples go for the personalisation option, with their names and wedding date on a pretty embroidered panel, and add a matching keepsake box and wedding album for a complete set.

Personalised Clear Jewelled Heart Keepsake Box

We then hunted around for some matching table decorations and found some real little gems! To sprinkle on the reception tables we chose a gorgeous blend of table confetti, combining tiny silver-foil snowflakes and diamante crystal. They looked stunning when we scattered them around the guestbook on a white linen cloth.

Snowflakes and Diamonds Table Confetti

Another option is a sprinkling of sparkly table crystals; in three sizes they shimmer beautifully as they catch the light - scattered around the centrepiece they will draw attention to the focal point of the table.

Sparkly Table Crystals

Another unusual find was the silver snowflake wineglass decorations, which can double up as placecard holders.

Snowflake Placecards

The silver cube placecard holders look very elegant too, and romantics will go for the silver heart variety; both add a stylish touch to the table. The bauble holders add a little festive sparkle to Christmas weddings

Silver Cube Placecard Holders

Silver Heart Placecard Holders

Silver Bauble Placecard Holders

If you are a guest at a Winter Wedding, you are unlikely to leave empty-handed. Wedding favours are a long-standing tradition and one that is very much back in vogue right now. There is no favour more classic than the sugar almond, traditionally offered in sets of five to represent health, wealth, fertility, longevity and happiness. Pop them into these pretty white organza favour bags for a sweet keepsake.

Organza 'White' Favour Bags

Bubble pots make fun favours too; we like the classic champagne style but the Christmas snowstorm ones are just fab!

Silver Heart Champagne Bubbles

Snowstorm 'Merry Christmas' Bubbles

For an intimate winter setting, there is nothing so perfect as a sea of flickering candles, and to enhance our snowflake theme, these gorgeous little snowflake candles will soon be added to the range.

Small Snowflake Candles

So pop over to our Winter Wonderland section for ideas and inspiration! And remember, we love to see photos of our customers' weddings, so if you have created a magical wintry setting, we'd love to feature some photos on the blog. Just email me at hello@ohsocherished.co.uk. Happy planning!

Wedding Anniversary Tradition - Year 1 - Paper

2013-09-09T15:52:00.001+01:00

Have you ever wondered why certain wedding anniversaries are celebrated with particular gifts? There are many suggestions for the origins of these customs in the UK, but most seem to agree that the earliest known examples date back to the Germanic region of medieval Europe, when a wife was given a silver wreath on reaching her 25th year of marriage and a gold one on her 50th. Over time a number of other yearly traditions were added, especially by the Victorians, inspired perhaps by the Queen's Golden and Diamond Jubilee celebrations. But it was in 1937, that the American National Retail Jeweler Association issued a more complete list, no doubt spotting the commercial possibilities.

Debrett's lists the UK choices as follows:
1 paper
2 cotton
3 leather
4 flowers, fruit
5 wood
6 sugar
7 wool, copper
8 bronze, pottery
9 willow, pottery
10 tin
11 steel
12 silk, linen
13 lace
14 ivory
15 crystal
20 china
25 silver
30 pearl
35 coral
40 ruby
45 sapphire
50 gold
55 emerald
60 diamond
70 platinum

It probably seemed natural that the longer the marriage, the more valuable and durable the gifts should be, hence the choice of paper for the first year. It has also been suggested that paper is symbolic of the marriage being still fragile and easily torn, but also that it is an affordable option for struggling newlyweds.

In the first of our series, we look at some ideas for gifts for the Paper Anniversary.

The first thought that springs to mind is of course just to send a lovely romantic card. We can do funny...

1st Anniversary Card

classic...

With Love Anniversary Card

romantic...

Red Rose Anniversary Card

or cheeky!

'Sweet Cheeks' Card

'You Make My Heart Go Boom' is a paper gift with a message; a neat little volume full of quotes, messages and musings to tell your other half that they rock your world.

You Make My Heart Go Boom Book

Here is a little novelty paper anniversary gift just for saying 'I love you'. Sitting in a red foiled heart box, it opens out like a concertina, each page with a message, beginning 'There's been something on my mind' and ending with 'I love you'.

Another popular choice is an original newspaper from the day you were married. See what other momentous events took place alongside your wedding!

Original Newspaper - Any Date

Some think that one of the reasons for choosing paper for the first wedding anniversary is the idea of documenting the marriage. So why not keep a diary especially for recording special moments, words and events of your early married life? Choose from a traditional leather five year One Line A Day diary...

One Line A Day A Five Year Memory Book

or this quirky One Tweet A Day version.

One Tweet A Day: A Five Year Memory Book

Here is another sweet token for a paper wedding anniversary. Inside the pretty red heart foiled box is a little message that opens like a concertina, each page with a message, beginning with
'There's been something on my mind' and ending with 'I Love You'.

Mini 'Three Little Words' Boxed Paper Book

A piece of Word Art could be a really appropriate choice as a paper anniversary gift. This A3 size print has a sweet message and can hang as it is or you can frame it to suit your home.

'I Love You Simply' Word Art A3 Print

These framed Word Art blocks make real statement! They are framed in the recycled antique timbers from Victorian roofs for a rustic, distressed effect. These two messages are particularly suitable to celebrate your first year.

'You Had Me At Hello' Framed Word Art

'Love Makes The Ride Worthwhile' Framed Word Art

No-one but you knows just why you chose the one you did, so why not write your own book? Inside this one are 50 prompts for you to fill in, such as 'I never get tired of your...'You have the greatest taste in...' and 'I love now you believe in...'. You can make it cheeky, romantic or a bit of both but you'll end up with a really personal, unique paper anniversary gift.

What I Love About You

Take a look here at all our gorgeous ideas for your 1st Wedding Anniversary; there is sure to be something that is just right for your new life partner.
'

The Friday Fix - Guardian Angel Fairy

2013-09-06T12:30:00.000+01:00

The Friday Fix this week is this little guardian angel fairy in a box, on offer just for today for £8.99 instead of the usual £11.99.

Every little girl needs a guardian angel to watch over her and this token makes a charming gift for a new baby, christening or birthday. Our angels are handmade by Fairtrade producers in India and are wearing a silvery organza dress with embroidered edges and finished with ribbons, bells and beads.

She comes in a little white box with a message tag reading
"I have been sent to look after you,
Please always keep me near,
I will care and comfort you,
So let your worries disappear"

To pick up your guardian angel at today's reduced price, just quote 'FIX' in the discount box at checkout.

New - For Your Honeymoon Memories

2013-09-02T16:39:00.001+01:00

With the wedding season drawing to a close, couples are now returning from honeymoon with cases full of souvenirs, cameras full of photos and hopefully bucketloads of happy memories. So we thought it would be a bright idea to design a pair of special honeymoon pieces just to keep the memories fresh long after the tans have faded.

For each of them Sarah designed an attractive white leather panel, decorated in aqua foil with the word 'Honeymoon' on a background of tropical foliage and mounted on a shimmering blue card.

First up is this keepsake box for storing all the precious bits and bobs that will tell the story of your first holiday together as a married couple: air tickets, hotel brochures, postcards, restaurant tabs, menus, local craftwares, a handful of shells...every couple will have their own special things. Made from sturdy card it is covered in a white linen effect to match the album.

Next is a fine handmade photo album bound in clean white linen and enclosing 30 pages of ivory card, interleaved for added protection. So don't leave those images languishing on a memory card or hard drive, print them out and look at them again and again!

Take a look at both of these gorgeous keepsakes on our website - they make a delightful gift for a pair of newlyweds or just to treat yourself!

September Special! Get 5% off any of our honeymoom albums by quoting 'MEMORIES' in the discount box at checkout.

The Friday Fix - Modern Croc Guestbook

2013-08-30T12:21:00.000+01:00

Today's Friday Fix is our super-stylish Modern Croc Guestbook, reduced just for today from £19.99 to £15.49.

It's a truly versatile volume with a pearly faux crocodile finish and elegant silver foil blocked lettering. Inside are 98 plain ivory pages for you to fill with wishes and messages. It makes a great guestbook for a birthday, christening or wedding but it's fine for a visitors book too.

Modern Croc Guestbook

Pick it up at today's special price by quoting 'FIX' at checkout and ordering before midnight today 30th August 2013.