I recall only too well my first introduction to the Willow Tree collection. I was visiting Enesco, our top supplier for gifts and collectables. Every year I pay them a visit early in the New Year to see what they have for us that is new and exciting. As distributors for Border Fine Arts, Lilliput Lane, Breed Apart, Franz Porcelain and many other successful collectable ranges, it’s important that I devote a solid couple of days perusing their amazing showrooms. Popping onto their stand at a trade fair is never enough.

So, it was January 200 and the Managing Director of Enesco, John Hammond asked me to come and see something new. He forewarned me, “You won’t have seen anything like these before. You probably won’t understand them, let alone like them, but we believe they have a chance of being the collectable phenomenon of the new century. What an odd build up to a new product launch. Not a conventional sales pitch. But then John Hammond isn’t a conventional man. More than anyone else in our industry, John has been responsible for revolutionising the collectables industry. It was he who realized and developed the use of polyresins in the manufacture of figurines. He understood that you can achieve incredible detail with resin that just isn’t possible using traditional ceramic materials.

John took me into a side room annexed to the main Enesco showroom. There, on a low table in a poorly lit corner of the room was a collection of figurines and angels, each about five or six inches in height. At first glance, they all looked the same, pale beige in colour and pretty non-descript in appearance.

My first reaction was along the lines of, “OK John. But why show these Willow Tree figurines to me now? They’re not finished. They haven’t been painted and they haven’t even got any faces yet.” “Ah,” he retorted, “they most certainly are finished and they’re not supposed to have faces. And I’ll tell you something else,” he continued, laughing. “You’ll buy them and your customers will collect them …. By the hundred” I found it hard to credit. Where was the appeal in these dull, anodyne figurines? Without facial features, they looked, at best, incomplete, at worst, positively spooky. Still, John is a good chap, and more importantly, a good judge, certainly a better one than me. So I did what I was told and placed an order, admittedly a small one. And so began, what for us has been arguably the biggest collectable phenomenon our industry has ever seen.

The first order arrived in February of that year. I remember the day well. I recall unpacking the delivery myself and gingerly putting these strange new Willow Tree figurines and angels out on display. The staff thought I’d gone crazy. “We’ll never sell these in a month of Sundays.” Deep down inside I shared their trepidation, but I put on a brave face. “Let’s be patient. You never know.” Within two days, I had placed our first repeat order and the rest is history.

To explore our range of Willow Tree collectibles further, please visit our website at http://www.theukgiftcompany.co.uk

Spotting a fake Lladro figurine is fairly easy once you know what to look for. Since the beginning, Lladro has stamped the bottoms of their porcelain figurines.

Stamps:

Before purchasing, make sure you can see one of these stamps on the bottom of the figurine.

eBay: Tips for Lladro Sellers

Take good pictures of your Lladro figurine including the bottom stamp. Include the Lladro item number because that is a common search method. Also include the item name, ie "Girl With Calle Lillies" to help searchers find your item. If there was a Certificate of Authenticity, scan or take pictures of it. These tips will help your buyers find you and trust you.

eBay: Tips for Lladro Buyers

Insist on seeing a picture of the stamp before buying the figurine so you can insure it's authentic. A "second" will have the bell logo scraped off to indicate it's status as a less than perfect Lladro figurine. Don't pay top dollar for a second! Check the feedback of the seller to make sure they're a trustworthy vendor of Lladro products  The Lladro website is a great resource for historical information on retired Lladro figurines.

Note:These items are extremely scarce and eBay searches may turn up no results.

10. FLOWERS FOREVER #5966

Issue Year: 1993
Retirement Year: 2007
Sculptor: José Puche

Price: $1700

9. PORTRAIT OF A FAMILY #1805

Issue Year: 1995
Sculptor: Francisco Polope

Price: $1700

Limited to 2500 Pieces

8. THREE SISTERS #1492

Issue Year: 1986
Sculptor: José Puche

Limited to 3000 Pieces

Price $2180

7. THE PAELLA #1762

Issue Year: 1993
Retirement Year: 2006
Sculptor: Juan Huerta

Limited to 500 Pieces

Price: $2290

6. TRENO DELLA GIOIA (At The Fair) #1517

Issue Year: 1987
Retirement Year: 1994
Sculptor: Antonio Ramos

Price: $2650

5. YOUNG COUPLE WITH CAR #1393

Issue Year: 1982
Sculptor: Salvador Debón

Limited Edition 1500 pieces

Price: $2750

4. KITAKAMI CRUISE #1605

Issue Year: 1989
Retirement Year: 1992
Sculptor: Salvador Debón

Limited Edition 500 pieces

Price: $3000

3. RADHA KRISHNA #1910

Issue Year: 2005
Sculptor: Francisco Polope

Limited Edition 3000 pieces

Price: $4200

2. GYPSY DANCER #11770

Issue Year: 1993
Retirement Year: 1996
Sculptor: Enrique Sanisidro

Limited Edition 250 pieces

Price: $5000

1. AT THE STROKE OF 12 #1493

Issue Year: 1986
Retirement Year: 1992
Sculptor: José Roig

Limited Edition 1500 pieces

Price: $5900

Who needs that white vanilla wedding cake with sugary frosting? Do you want a wedding cake that looks good but tastes like cardboard, or one that looks good enough to eat - and is? And would you put that hard plastic bride and groom wedding cake topper in your curio cabinet?

Fruit cake, cheesecake, ice cream cakes, even chocolate with chocolate-dipped fruit - your choices in wedding cakes are much wider than they were when your mother got married. You deserve a wedding you like, and a perfect wedding cake for it.

Here are some ideas for you:

A multi-flavored wedding cake thrills everyone. Uncle Jack won't eat vanilla, but your husband's best friend is allergic to chocolate. And you have one guest who is allergic to wheat products, another who is lactose-intolerant. So get a cake with multiple layers of different cakes: cheesecake on the bottom for Mr. Wheat, chocolate for Uncle Jack, and a fluffy fat-free angel food cake on the top for you. Your baker can help.

How about a filling for the wedding cake? To dress up an otherwise-bland cake or just one layer, fill it with chocolate, strawberry, or preserves. Or frost it with hard chocolate instead of traditional frosting.

Why are wedding cakes always round? A current cake trend is one that looks like a stack of presents, decorated with ribbons and bows. You can have anything you want; if you're both Nascar fans, maybe a car shape, or a cake in the shape of a rose or a castle. And don't limit yourself to one shape; you can make layers heart-shaped and have a square base, or use geometric shapes.

Match your wedding cake to your wedding colors. White cakes can be boring. Consider edible flowers for decoration as well; these real flowers add color and a real touch of class and beauty, but are totally nontoxic.

Have a gorgeous wedding dress? Dress the cake up to match. Especially if you have a very unique design, you can ask your bakery to match some of the decorations on the cake to your dress.

Look at real china, glass, or objets d'art to top your cake, instead of the plastic figures. Lladro figurines are a wonderful keepsake and look great with traditional and semi traditional cakes. Or you can go with a glass pumpkin coach for the fairytale wedding theme, or something you both love.

If you just can't agree, have a groom's cake as well. Men tend to go for richer, heavier flavors. One great wedding had a traditional tall white wedding cake next to a chocolate fountain, and then a groom's cake, devil's food chocolate (how appropriate) piled high with chocolate-dipped strawberries, with undipped strawberries around it for decoration and to dip into the fountain. Don't be afraid of being different.

Wedding cake ideas and other catering issues are always changing. Our Wedding Planning Toolkit can help you make everything about your wedding memorable, and avoid the traps and pitfalls that many couples fall into. Check it out... it will likely turn out to be the most cost-effective tool in your wedding planning budget.

If there is a time when the language of emotions is at its height, that time must surely be childhood. Words, expressions, caresses .... learning to live entails a new and infinite array of gestures and attitudes. With their new collection, “A World To Discover”, Lladro are celebrating the magical process whereby a child displays the first signs of the human being that lies within. Lladro Porcelain recognise that this is a journey filled with hope, where each experience is another step towards making a place for oneself in life.

Similarly the new creations of Lladro’s The Pulse of Africa collection are inspired by the formal purity and expressiveness of traditional African art. Part of the proceeds of these sculptures are being donated to Operation Smile, a foundation that raises funds for the repair of facial deformities of underprivileged children in underdeveloped countries. Lladro are keen to extend their cooperation with this foundation from the United States around the world. It is a wonderful initiative which goes a long way to putting a smile back on the faces of thousands of children.

There are smiles all round too for the members of the exclusive Lladro Privilege Gold Society, which embarks on a new phase, with new sculptures and with many new benefits. For example, there is the introduction of the first Lladro Privelige Gold Annual sculpture, Playtime With Petals, the first piece in a brand new collection. Lladro invites collectors to join them in this new adventure, steeped in feelings and emotions. Emotions that we have attempted to reflect in their new advertising campaign. Because, as long as there are fairy tales, innocence, romance and freedom, there will always be Lladro.

Playtime With Petals

When springtime comes around, there will always be colour. At this time of the year, when life springs anew, the air is filled with nature’s fragrances and our energies are renewed, this is the ideal time to carry out our plans or live out our dreams. Lladro’s exclusive Privilege Gold Society opens a new chapter with the launch of its first annual sculpture, Playtime With Petals.

This piece will be followed by many other Lladro exclusives – sculptures which are sure to delight all those who admire their porcelain creations. As fresh as the real-life flowers that it represents, this sculpture, created in the artists’ workshops of the City of Porcelain, is destined to become one of the most sought after Lladro sculptures in the history of the company.

Collectors are urged to reserve their figurines soon, as Playtime With Petals will be restricted in number. No true afficionado of Lladro porcelain will want to miss out on this delightful new figurine.

Say the name 'Lladro' and a wonderful image comes to mind - the image of a living artistic tradition whose beautiful secrets have fascinated through the centuries. Modelled by expert Lladro sculptors, each work of art acquires its own spark of life. Romantic and energetic, sensitive and full of life - that's what epitomises the Lladro story

To explore our range of Lladro collectibles further, please visit our website at http://www.theukgiftcompany.co.uk/