Butterscotch & Beesting Circus Carousel Lampshade

Butterscotch & Beesting Large Circus Carousel lampshade, £80

I have a god daughter! How exciting is that? It was her christening this weekend, and in between writing her letters for when she's grown-up, and finding books to buy her, I had to think about what to get her as a christening present.

I got quite a lot of jewellery for mine when I was a baby, but the more I searched, the more I found that I was falling into the trap of just wanting to buy what I had been bought. Instead, I wanted to find her something that she could use everyday, and hopefully still like when she was older. Also, I love stories, and as I was also buying her a collection of children's Bible stories and a lovely copy of Joan Aiken, it fit to get this utterly beautiful shade from Butterscotch & Beesting.

A lovely shop run by Camilla Westergaard, I had found the shade while browsing on Folksy and Etsy (she's on both). A bit strange for a christening perhaps, but it had the aura I wanted. My god daughter's mother, one of my dearest friends, is one of the most literate people I know. She has a wildly creative mind and a love for stories. The stories on this lampshade seemed to fly off! And the silhouettes match beautifully with the Jan Pienkowski illustrations in my Aiken book.

Butterscotch & Beesting Smaller Circus Carousel lampshade, £56

You can buy the shades fit for pendant lamps, or table. When I bought it, there was a bit of a to-do with the courier. Camilla was wonderful, and got everything rescheduled, even paying extra to change company. And when I got the lampshade, all beautifully packaged and taped up, I got a hand-printed thank you card, as well as a couple of rolls of her lovely silly birds sticky tape and circus sticky tape.

We're very keen on which online shops give us the best customer service, and given that Camilla didn't know I was going to write about her, this was pretty bloody good.

The lampshade is already up, and a wonderful day was had at the christening. This little girl is going to grow up surrounded by love, light and stories.

(Happy 30th birthday Charlotte!)