One of my favourite challenges is to create truly unique gifts and artworks for customers. A recent stained glass enquiry came from a lady and her brother who wanted a special anniversary gift to mark their parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.

They felt that, with the gloom of coronavirus-induced lockdowns over the past year, they would like to commemorate this golden wedding anniversary with a positive present in the form of a piece of light and bright stained glass. The magic ingredient that brings stained glass to life is light – and even on a dull day, it always lifts the spirits and brings joy.

The customers wanted a bespoke artwork that could hang in the sunlight. They wanted to use the initials of their parents’ first names and to include the date of their wedding day in the design. Another nice touch was to use the colours that reflected their mother’s wedding bouquet, which had featured purple irises and yellow roses.

As the customers would not be able to visit their parents on their anniversary, owing to the pandemic restrictions, I offered to include a handwritten message in the package and send the gift directly to their parents in time for them to open it on the special day.

I designed the piece with the initials J and Y as the main part, with a small, painted plaque with the date at the bottom.

On a practical level, it was created at a convenient size for hanging, with a wire loop added for easy display.

Throughout the process, the customers were updated with progress and the parcel arrived in good time, with instructions for their parents to keep it to open on the anniversary date.

I heard that their parents were intrigued with their mystery box, but they were delighted when they opened it and were fully appreciative of the thoughtful, personalised gift that their children had commissioned.