I Love Surprises…..who doesn’t?
ILS was started in 2009, as a hobby and a way to give my friends and family beautiful gifts.
We believe that when you give a gift it comes from the heart. If you know someone well enough to want to buy them something, you should be drawn to an idea. However, I also know that this is a very romantic notion. Not everyone in modern day life has the time to spend the time needed to create the ideal package.
And so I Love Surprises was born.
I Love Surprises started off creating gifts for my friends and family for all those special occasions like “Happy birthday” or simply “thinking of you.” 14 years on and after welcoming my second beautiful daughter into the world, I have been driven even more to develop the business and it has slowly but surely become a place where people come to buy their personalised items.
Moving into 2022 ILS as people fondly refer to our brand, is best known for its designer bespoke and personalised bottles, that we have developed to become a quality but affordable product.
We have put a lot of time, effort, and consideration to ensure that the bottles have been sourced to provided you with an exceptional product.
We are constantly developing the brand in 2022 we announced the launch of our dedicated club shop supported by many of the local sports teams and clubs. Providing drinks bottles to sports teams that are both branded with the team or company logo, along with a personalised name ensure that each bottle is always reunited with its owner.
2023 reportedly saw the biggest growth in the crafting market since 2019. With more people wanting to buy with small businesses than with online retailers, and have that handmade touch, our social media platforms have blown up with people advertising personalised and bespoke items.
Being a keen hobbyist, I’ve always struggled to find reputable UK-based suppliers that don’t insist on you buying an MOQ of an item you only want to sample, and also to find that one wholesaler that would send my items out the same day.
Crafting is an impulse. You get that one magical idea, you vision it, believe it, and want to turn that vision into a reality as quickly as possible!
I was faced with this situation time and time again. After trawling the internet looking for that one perfect product, that one ‘blank’ that I could transform into my vision, I would be left with either the fact that I had to buy 10 of an item and or wait weeks for 1 to arrive.
By the time the item arrived, I would either have moved on to the next product or lost my mojo for the inspiration I had.
I started to buy my items without a vision, shopping overseas and buying in bulk to support my dream of having a bursting craft room, and a treasure trove of blank items ready for inspiration to hit.
I found my suppliers and the majority were overseas, where customer service was jilted due to time delays, language barriers, and the incentive of a huge commission payout if they ‘brought home the sale’.
The UK craft blanks market is saturated with wholesalers that prioritise profit over customer service, sacrifice quality for quantity, take pre-orders (money upfront), and leave the customer waiting in the dark not knowing when their items might arrive.
So I conjured up the idea to provide a service that eradicates these problems! With ILS Wholesale Blanks there are no MOQs, we only offer RTS items, same-day shipping where possible, and we give you great customer service and aftersales support!
Speeding into 2023 and ILS Wholesale Blanks was born. Two thing I love to do is find affordable but quality products that can be personalised, and support other small businesses. Listening to other crafters and small businesses in the same and similar fields it became apparent that there was a lack of wholesalers that offer Ready to ship items (RTS) and no minimum order quantities (MOQ’s).
Being lucky enough to have built an amazing supplier list we are thrilled to be able to pass our discounts onto other small businesses, and support them in their personalised journey.
I adore what I do, and want to support as many people as possible. So if you are small business or crafty individual who wants to be a part of a supportive community head to our FB group and sign up to our Wholesale page, or follow our tutorials over on our TikTok and YouTube Channels.
FB – https://www.facebook.com/groups/486352176577793