Canadian Gift Guide

Who is this happy couple above? Doesn’t matter. Not really. This COULD be a photo of you and your fiancée. Your best friend and her beau. Your sister and her husband. Your mom and dad a few decades ago. What DOES matter is what one lovely little photo like this one can be transformed into, with the help of Lise Grossman, owner of Etsy shop lilimandrill.

I know what you’re thinking. A pencil sketch? Albeit a pretty accurate one…but it’s still just a pencil sketch. Or is it? This little sketch is actually the template for a custom-made stamp. After years of hacking away at bits of rubber in the classroom, Lise learned she’s actually pretty talented with pen, paper, and beyond – including carving, a skill she combined with her graphic design education to kick start her Etsy business, now a full-time gig.

After she’s got your likeness just right in sketch form, it forms the basis for a carving. Every single piece is completely unique – just like we all are, right? – and of course, portable, meaning instead of a fusty old portrait hanging in your hallway, you’ve suddenly got the ability to tag everything from wedding invites and Christmas cards to your most prized possessions.

The finished product is packed in a beautiful wooden box, and includes a free heart stamp if you want to share your love with the world. The couple portrait stamps retail for $70 USD (as of writing this post, about $74 CDN), and while it may seem like a hearty investment consider that this is a genuine work of art, one-of-a-kind, just like the special couple that’s featured in the portrait. It lasts for eons, can be customized with dozens of coloured inkpads, and is extremely versatile. Consider snagging one as a shower gift or for a special anniversary. It’s gifts like this that stay in the memory long after a piece of jewelery or a fancy toaster – THIS is the gift your daughter / best friend / sister / boyfriend / mom will be pulling out and sharing with her friends when they ask how an event went.

The couple portrait stamps are what makes up the bulk of buys at lilimandrill, but there’s plenty of other options as well. You can score a solo portrait ($42 CAD), your name ($21 CAD), a pet, or pretty much anything you’ve always wanted to put your personal stamp (hah!) on. Cool idea? Take a photo of your son / daughter / niece / nephew shortly before their birthday. Then buy them a new stamp every year so they can see how they grow up under the careful fingers of an expert stamp creator. Oh, and did I mention lilimandrill is based in France? Cause it is. Making this imported artisan product that much more beautiful to give.