A new shop which specialises in handmade cards and personalised gifts has opened its doors in Stirling.
J’s Gems is based in Stirling’s historic Arcade and run by Marie Brownhill who named the shop in memory of her late mother June.
Marie sells a vast range of homemade cards and crafts plus personalised items including bags, pillows, jewellery, brooches, wall hangers, framed pictures, sun catchers, jewellery boxes, handmade lettered pictures and much more.
She began the business during the lockdown period when she started a new hobby – creating cards and crafts – to keep herself occupied.
Marie says: “During lockdown when – like many others – I was bored, I decided to search for a new hobby to keep me busy and help cope with the boredom.
“I was working from home during the day but was bored in the evenings, so I started making cards and crafts including a range of gifts like jewellery boxes and pen holders made from lollipop sticks.”
Marie quickly created a large selection of homemade items and cards and once lockdown restrictions were lifted, she took them to craft fayres and events where they proved popular.
She says: “I was doing fayres at weekends, but it was a lot of work carrying everything to venues and I had the idea of opening a shop instead.
“I was keen to dedicate it to the memory of my beautiful mum whose name was June and who died of Parkinson’s ten years ago at the age of just 62.
“And so the name J’s Gems was born to keep her memory alive – she was a very caring and supportive mum as well as a nana and great nana.”
Marie, who is originally from Stirling but now lives in Cumbernauld, began searching online for potential shops. She was keen to open her store in Stirling since she thought her personalised gifts and crafts would be popular with the tourists the city attracts.
She found the perfect premises in Stirling’s Arcade taking over Unit 40, which was previously home to Creative Kitchens, and opened J’s Gems in January this year.
Marie’s dad Colin died just a couple of months before she opened the shop, so it is also dedicated to him and a section of J’s Gems sells Celtic-themed gifts inspired by him.
In addition to her homemade cards and crafts, Marie has a range of items which are personalised with words and slogans such as ‘Mum’, ‘Dad’, ‘Grandma’, ‘Teacher’, ‘Friend’, ‘Daddy’s Little Princess’, ‘Best Mum Ever’, ‘In Loving Memory’ and so on.
Among her most popular products are pillows and bags while her bespoke cards are a real hit with customers.
She says: “When I opened in January, it was quite slow but I’m getting a lot more returning customers coming in now and more tourists have started to arrive.
“I love having the shop and really enjoy talking to and building up a relationship with customers. I think they enjoy the personal touch and the chance to come in and browse through all the different gifts and see their quality.
“And because the cards are homemade, no two are the same which gives them a really personal feel.
“It’s lovely to be running the shop in the memory of my mum and dad and I know my mum would have loved it as she was always looking for a bargain and she would definitely find a few bargains at J’s Gems!”
J’s Gems is based at Unit 40 in Stirling Arcade and is open Monday to Saturday from 10am until 5pm.
And more details about the business and photos of the gifts and cards on offer can be found on the J’s Gems Facebook page.
