Personalised Corporate Gifting

Christmas is a great time of year in our studio, spirits are high, the biscuit tin is always full and we love making, packing and sending so many sentimental christmas present.

We know that Christmas is also a great time in so many other businesses, but understand that what can make it a little more stressful are those corporate and employee gifting decisions. Why not do away with generic corporate gifts this Christmas and allow us to help you give your clients and employees impressive personalised and eco-friendly gifts to be cherished.

We offer personalised corporate gifting options across our full range of products and are always happy to discuss creating bespoke designs to fit your specifications.

Whether you are looking for corporate gifts to give to clients or products to gift to your employees, we can create jewellery, gifts and accessories that are tailored to you and your business.

We can create products using your logo, a specific design you have created, personalised messages or we can work with you to develop something suitable.

With both laser cutting and assembling done in house, we are able to provide a very fast turnaround for samples and orders. We are able to make products in any quantity and there are no minimum orders.

Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about our service and what we can offer you and your business: email info@mariaallenboutique.com or call us on 01273 748868

Vegan cookery class

Last month Maria attended a plant based cookery class in Brighton run by Paula from Titbits catering. Paula kindly, and somewhat bravely, opens up her home to budding bakers and vegan cooking fanatics, hosting the classes from her own kitchen in the Lewes Road area of Brighton. The classes are small and offered twice a month, each time with a different theme. Maria's class was aptly themed 'Budding Bakers' and here's what she made:

"Our class was a small group of 4 which was great and it was suitable for all levels - we baked so much and then everyone took home the food we had left over.

We started off making individual Leek and Mushroom pies (from scratch, including the pastry) and then had them for lunch along with some amazing salads. We had a potato salad and a beetroot, apple and pecan salad which filled us up and kept us going whilst we baked for the rest of the day! All of the food that we made was vegan / plant based."

Individual Leek and Mushroom pie with potato and beetroot, apple and pecan salad

 Sweet scones and Sundried Tomato and Rosemary Muffins

Chocolate Brownies

Victoria Sponge cake

Gluten free chocolate chip cookies

"We also made some amazing bread rolls which I sadly didn't have chance to photograph. All in all it was a great day of social baking and and everyone involved had a lot of fun. We all received a copy of the recipes to take with us so I now have several new ideas to try out at home! I have since taken several of Paula's classes and would highly recommend them!"


You can find out more about the cookery classes and how to book here.

Paula also runs a pop-up restaurant every Friday night in the Hanover area of Brighton which you can find out about here.

Happy baking!

Our exclusive collection for Harrods

Back in January we were asked by Harrods to design an exclusive collection of wooden Christmas decorations for their luxury Christmas department.

We were extremely excited by the opportunity and after much sampling decided on 11 intricate and fun decorations along the themes of Luxe Lodge and Magical Marionettes. 7 months later, and after a lot of hard work from our team, our designs became available to the public at the end of August! 

We take a visit to the wonderful knightsbridge store to visit the designs:

Above: Colourful and woodland themed displays in the luxury Christmas department

From top left: Solid walnut wood baubles in choice of three shapes // our decorations on display // Woodland lodge bauble // Christmas jumper decoration

From top left: Preparation in the studio, making, boxing and bowing our wooden fox decorations // Solid walnut wood decorations ready to pack // Snowflake and woodland scene baubles // Stag baubles ready to box

In all we created over 1000 wooden baubles and christmas decorations for Harrods. Our favourite design has to be the christmas jumper decoration, the concept is fun whilst the detailed cross stitch etching gives a stylishly scandinavian appearance.

You can view (and buy!) all 11 designs exclusively at Harrods in the run up to Christmas, for more information visit www.harrods.com or stop by the Knightsbridge store at 87-135 Brompton Rd, London SW1X 7XL.

For more information about our bespoke design service and what we can do for you please visit our website here.

Meet our stockists: Little Beach Boutique

We have some really amazing stockists around the UK and in Europe so felt it was about time we shared some of them with you! For our very first feature we are starting close to home with the beautiful Little Beach Boutique, located in the North Laine area of Brighton. 

We asked shop owner and designer, Suzanne a few questions:

How long has Little Beach Boutique been open and how did the business come about?

The North Laine shop opened in June 2014, but Little Beach Boutique began in one of the fisherman's arches on Brighton seafront, which is where the name came from.

I began on the seafront in 2011 after working for a charity for nearly ten years. I had been making my own glass products for a long time as a hobby and decided to throw myself into it full time and have a complete career change. The seafront shop was a great place to learn the principles of running a small business and I started looking for more space where I could sell other products as well as my glass - and be open all year round.

What do you like most about owning your own boutique?
I love the scope to be creative with displays and choosing beautiful product ranges. I also love being able to work with other creative businesses and local makers and showcase their products. Another perk is being able to hear the comments people make about the shop and being able to make bespoke pieces for them for a special occasion.

There are so many amazing designers out there, how do you choose who to stock in your shop?
Yes, there are so many wonderful designers out there! Lots of people, (such as Maria Allen!) introduce themselves and their products when they come into the shop, which means that they have already researched the shop and think their products would fit well here. I tend to choose products with a story behind them, with unique qualities and a personal touch to be able to offer customers something they won't find elsewhere.

You are a designer yourself, what do you make?
I make glass in the workshop here. My main range is the Brighton tiles, which is a range of local landmarks that I screen print onto glass and kiln fire. I also make one off glass dishes and sculptural pieces as well as coasters. I run glass workshops once a month in the downstairs space so people can learn to make some of these things themselves.

What is your favourite thing about Brighton?
I love the balance between the friendliness of a small community and the liveliness of a much larger city, especially in the North Laine, where there is always so much going on but always someone familiar to say hello to.

What is your top tip for Christmas shopping?
Late night shopping in the North Laine - so festive, so cosy, mulled wine, fairy lights...something unique and beautiful from an independent shop...what more could you ask for?!

Above: A selection of beautiful hand crafted Brighton themed products available at Little Beach Boutique

Little Beach Boutique is open 7 days a week and is located at 74 North Road, Brighton, BN1 1YD. Opening Times: Monday - Saturday 10am - 6pm, Sunday 10.30am - 5pm.

You can contact suzanne by email to littlebeachboutique@googlemail.com or call the shop on 01273 697275