Our Lady Catholic Gifts Launches Online Catholic Gift and Collectibles Shop

March 18, 2008 - PRLog -- Our Lady Catholic Gifts, based in O’Fallon, IL, is on the verge of becoming known as the “go to” place to find quality hand crafted Catholic gifts and collectibles online, was created with the sole ambition of distributing divinely inspired Catholic gifts to Catholics and Christians throughout the United States. You can find them at http://www.OurLadyCatholicGifts.com

The feature products of Our Lady Catholic Gifts are the exceptionally hand-crafted and hand-painted resin Catholic statues produced in the Philippines.  The Philippines, strongly influenced in their Catholic and Christian traditions by over 300 years of Spanish occupation, has led to some of the most stunning and divinely inspired Catholic creations ever produced.  The spectacular statue collections offered by Our Lady Catholic Gifts were inspired by Spanish artisans from days past, but the romance and splendor of these works of art have brought to the modern age the artistry and inspiration from years gone by.

Each statue is constructed of hand mixed and hand poured resin.  Once dry, the molds are cautiously removed from the cast. Once removed, each statue is then hand sanded, smoothed and inspected for any flaws.  Once the quality of the statue is ensured, each statue is then meticulously hand-painted by skilled artisans. Each statue is inspected yet again to ensure nothing but the highest quality statue is released.  Because each statue is hand crafted and hand painted, and though similar, no two statues are the same. Most statues feature real hair eye lashes and glass eyes, resulting in a true to life statue that is sure to bring pleasure and inspiration to any recipient.

Lily, who is originally from the Philippines, immigrated to the United States in 1980 and became an American citizen in 1987.  Proud of her heritage, Lily wanted to find a way to showcase not only the beautiful artistry that comes from the Philippines, but she wanted to be able to showcase the talent of her niece Sally, and Sally’s husband Gough, who are the artisans behind these hand-crafted and hand-painted statues.

Lily explains, “About a year and a half ago, the statue company that Sally and Gough worked for closed their doors leaving Sally and Gough unemployed and with no way to support their growing family.  With over 25 years of combined experience and having developed a reputation among their customers as the reason for the success of their previous employer, Sally and Gough acquired all the statue molds and opened up their own statue shop.”

Fortunately they did.  The statues that Sally and Gough produce are second to none.  Each statue is inspected after being removed from the mold.  Once sanded and finished, the statue is inspected again before painting.  Each statue is then meticulously hand painted down to the finest detail and inspected again before shipping.  Dan says, “Until now, Sally and Gough’s statues have only been available in the Philippines. We wanted to do something for our family in the Philippines, so we decided to open up Our Lady Catholic Gifts to share these beautifully crafted statues.  We are hopeful that others will see what wonderful pieces of Catholic art these statues are.  We hope to not only help out our niece and her family, but we also want to share the beauty of these statues beyond the Philippines.”

In addition to their Catholic statues from the Philippines, Our Lady Catholic Gifts has found additional unique gifts from around the world.  Some of the other unique gifts are hand made Rosaries from Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus and Christianity; Ladder Rosaries from Italy, Holy water from the Jordan River and Holy Earth from Bethlehem.  They also offer an assorted other gifts and collectibles for anniversaries, baptisms, first communions, weddings and more.  For more information, visit Our Lady Catholic Gifts website at: http://www.OurLadyCatholicGifts.com

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Our Lady Catholic Gifts features hand-crafted and hand-painted resin Catholic statues from the Philippines, hand crafted Rosaries from Bethlehem, Holy water from the Jordan River, Holy earth from Bethlehem, Ladder Rosaries from Italy, and assorted other Catholic gifts and collectibles sure to please you or that special someone in your life.  A gift from Our Lady Catholic Gifts speaks of the occasion it represents and brings joy and blessings to the recipient.

Website: www.ourladycatholicgifts.com