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Christmas Ornaments for Pet Owners
Why not show how much you love your pets with their very own Christmas tree ornament? Our new line of Christmas baubles are laser cut by creator Terry Quinn in the shape of several different dog breeds - plus cats! - with different sparkly, shiny finishes. Best of all, a donation is made to Guide Dogs UK with every purchase - read on to find out why.
Christmas Ornaments for Pet Lovers Everywhere
Terry's Christmas ornaments for Simply2 are completely handmade from acrylic, which is lightweight but still durable. Acrylic Christmas ornaments could be up to 17x stronger than glass, so you can enjoy your ornaments for years to come.
As well as being more resistant to scratches, cracks, and breaking, these sparkly baubles won't shed like the ornaments you might be used to. The glitter is actually mixed into the acrylic, meaning you won't get glitter all over your floors and home.
Christmas Ornaments For Guide Dogs UK
Creator Terry makes a donation to Guide Dogs UK from every ornament sale because he says being matched with his guide dog Spencer turned his life around.
Before his sight began to deteriorate, Terry owned Deano's Pet Food in Bradford, and was heartbroken to give it up. He received Spencer in 2019 and just as they were due to begin the eight weeks of guide dog training - lockdown happened. But the months at home gave them time to bond, and for Spencer to help Terry get his mojo back.
They eventually qualified together in September 2020, and Terry was inspired to begin his Etsy store, VisionCraftByTerry, to help raise as much funding as possible for Guide Dogs UK.
"What I've realised is that I can still live a fantastic life, just 'differently'," says Terry. "I can achieve anything, and enjoy what I always used to by simply approaching it in a different way. Hence why I started VisionCraftByTerry, because whilst I don’t have sight – that doesn’t mean I don’t have vision. I love to create and will continue to do so for as long as I am able with the very limited sight I have left."
How Do You Make Crafts With Sight Loss?
Between multiple self-employed businesses and frequent travels with his partner Dean, Terry's always been a self-confessed workaholic - but not always creative! He began crafting when looking for a new hobby after beginning to lose his sight - he started out with resin, later starting to work with lasers.
Terry makes his decorations and ornaments from a wide range of materials - "anything that will laser!" - including different acrylics, wood, card, paper, and glass. He designs the ornaments using computer software, but there's still plenty of trial and error to make sure the design cuts as he imagined it.
Being able to see bright lights makes working with lasers ideal for Terry - using the crosshair of the laser to position the ornaments, and reflections on the acrylic's surface to check which way round the material is. He also uses a range of assistive technology, including screen readers and apps like Be My Eyes, which connects users through video chat to a sighted volunteer who can identify items or find misplaced tools.
Organisation is key too - "What people don’t understand about sight loss is that if I think (know) something is in a particular place, if someone moves it an inch or two away, it may as well be in another room, because chances are, I'm not going to find it! Everything has to be done in a certain order – I'm extremely methodical."
Terry lives in Bradford with his partner of 25 years, Dean, and their menagerie of animals. As well as Spencer, they have two Irish Wolfhounds, a bearded dragon called Boris, fish, and a 24 year old rescue cat they've raised since she was a kitten. ("All animals welcome!" - Terry) They love travelling (with 287 cruises taken together so far) and are both real foodies.