Review - Bags of Love Photo Canvas Print

In my youth, I was never one for taking many photographs.  My attitude was ‘why stand still, taking photos of your life when you could be out there living it?’.  It's a motto that stood me well...in my youth.

But now, as a mother, I am becoming obsessed with photographs.  The one thing about children is that they grow up so fast.  I want to document my children’s path in this world, from mewling newborn infants to know it all teenagers and beyond.  These are memories, like my wedding day, that I cherish.

It is so wonderful to look back at photographs of my babies, when they really were babies, and see how they have grown and matured.  I literally have hundreds of photographs of Sophia and of Dexter as babies, which I want to arrange into special albums as a special keepsake for both of them.

But in some ways, it seems like a slight injustice to them to 'hide away' these photographs in albums that are kept in cupboards or on shelves.  I want them festooned over my walls, my children smiling down on me.  It helps of course, that my children are in my opinion the cutest, most adorable children on this planet. 

This is why I love canvases.  They are my new favourite thing.  They allow you to enlarge a favourite photograph, they're '3D' in the sense that they stand out from the wall and the finish on good quality photo canvases can almost make them resemble an oil painting, a work of art.

My husband and I have a couple of beautiful canvases of Sophia aged 18-months-old and we were wanting to do something similar for Dexter at the same age.  So it was with great coincidence and good fortune that Bags of Love, a personalised gifts website, enquired as to whether or not I'd like to review one of their products.  The website has lots to offer, including personalised bags, cushions and iPad cases, but I chose the option of...yes, you guessed it, a photo canvas print. 

I chose a picture that was taken at Dexter's Christening, of my son and I together, and eagerly waited for its arrival.  It came quickly, wrapped extremely well.  I was impressed by how well the photograph had been reproduced, enlarged and stretched firmly across the frame.

The canvas I chose measures 50x40cm (that's 20"x16") and, according to the website, costs £55.  This isn't the cheapest photo canvas print that Bags of Love do, but it's certainly not the most expensive either.  Their largest ones can cost £200 or more.

Hanging the canvas print, the strong colours looked great against my neutral wall (and still does, of course).  However, hanging it next to a canvas we had bought locally just over a year before highlighted some differences between the two.  The locally bought canvas is bigger, with a larger, wider frame and cost less money (although to be fair, we got a good deal because the whole family bought a number of them at the same time).  It doesn't mean that the Bags of Love canvas is in any way mediocre in comparison, just that you shouldn't discount local companies and the deals they may be able to provide.

Would I use Bags of Love in the future?  Probably.  I was impressed with the quality of the reproduction of my photograph and, as canvases go, it isn't half bad.  Their customer service was also top notch.  However, knowing the type of deal I can get locally on this sort of thing, I'd be tempted to order one of their other products next time.  They have a huge range of personalised gifts, all handmade in the UK, which should suit more or less any need.

Please note: This photo canvas from Bags of Love was given to me for free for the purposes of this review.  All thoughts and opinions are mine and are 100% honest.