word cloud examples by the wordbird

Ordering a custom word picture as a gift is a bit of a winner to be honest. Whoever you give it to will love it. Really love it. They might even cry. And you'll find you really enjoy making the list of words about them - adjectives to describe them, places they've been, family names, pets' names, cars they've owned, things they say - endless possibilities. You might start off thinking you know nothing but it all comes to you. The middle of the night is my bright spark time. And I love making them, no two ever come out the same because the lists are all different and different fonts and colours mean that every custom order is absolutely unique. Prices for custom orders start at €60. As I said, they're a bit of a winner. Enjoy browsing them here and there's a separate tab on how to order one.

An Irish Dancer

An image with lots of movement for a woman who inspired and taught many over a lot of years.

Sew Beautiful

Given to a school secretary who was leaving to set up her own quilting business, this picture was filled with words by friends who miss her but wish her all the very best in her exciting new venture.

The Classic Love Heart

You really can't beat it, I come back to it time and time again as the classic shape which holds its words brilliantly. Ideally suited for presents celebrating engagements, weddings, family and friendships.

Ring The Changes

Mark and remember all the details leading up to when the question got popped by filling a ring for your friends or your soon to be other half.

Something's cooking....

This one went out recently to an Avoca chef; his work colleagues filled a saucepan for him with words relating to him and some of his utterances!

100 not out.....

A gift for a man celebrating his 100th birthday!

A Hero's Helmet.

This is a silhouette that conjures respect the second you see it. Given as a gift on Father's Day, these children gave this surprise to their dad, their hero.

Let's Celebrate!

This commission got the celebrations off with a bang. The cork flying out of the champagne bottle was the suggestion of the girl who ordered it and it worked out really well. Love this one.

Keeping Dublin close to home....

How about this one for a Dub away from home? It needs lots of words and over 80 single ones just to make the Poolbeg towers, but it's a great visual piece to give someone.

Having a whale of a time

What a great way to remember the holiday of a lifetime!

I can see clearly now the rain has gone....

Fiachna, from 'The Hothouse Flowers', was given a guitar filled with the songs, album titles, record labels and collaborations from his career to date..

There is no better friend than a sister....

This beautifully compiled list of words must have made one twin sister well up! For her 40th birthday her sister gave her a silhouette symbolizing their love, sisterhood and friendship filled with words for those in multiple languages including Irish, Japanese and Maori. It expresses its intent eloquently and looked very elegant in the dark gold, brown and navy times chosen by the customer. It's the first time I'd used Japanese characters in a word cloud and they are stunning in there.

Lego Love

Given an a gift to a Lego mad couple who celebrated their wedding day in the most colourful and fun way imaginable. Even their wedding cake was lego themed.

I want to ride my bicycle.....

What a lovely gift from a daughter to her mum on her 70th - her bicycle filled with love, memories and family.....

And the speedier version -

It can be a challenge to the list maker to come up with enough single words to make all the fine lines for a bike but the list maker ordering this one did a fantastic job with the result being one very happy recipient. This was a good big one too, designed for hanging on the wall, it was 13" by 19"in a handmade black frame. Nice.

A Tree of Pride of Place....

Made up of words chosen by the community of Donabate and Portrane, this tree celebrates all that there is to love about the seaside area to the north of Dublin. It was presented as a 'thank you' to judges who had worked with them on their Pride of Place Committee.

This rugby ball made a great present for a 40th birthday. Prices for a framed 10x10 inch personalised picture start at €40, postage extra. The frames are handmade for me by James Griffin here in Greystones, Co Wicklow. The purists will spot it's not really a rugby ball.....it's an American football, but without the stripes and stitches it looked like an egg. The lady commissioning it suggested using an American football and it made all the difference; sometimes it's about what you leave out as much as what you put in.

The Rugby Player

If rugby really is the real deal then this player might satisfy; great movement, shoulder forward and the egg there under his arm nice and safe. This one works best with quite a lot of single words and short phrases.

And one more rugby player....

The Oak Tree

This is my all time favourite shape as it works very well as a classic design which one would never tire of and it holds its words better than any other shape. It can hold phrases easily as sharp clean edges aren't a requirement. A longer inscription line can run below the tree as the grass. It's perfect for a family gift and it is one of the best for men too.

High heels & handbags....

How can you beat the glamour and drama of a pink stiletto?

I love the lines of the stiletto here- it makes a great Word Bird gift for all the shoe lovers out there.

I want to go to Paris with you.....

It doesn't get more romantic than this....

Strum along now...

The guitar works very well as a shape to hold words. I've done one for a band member with all their songs in it and one for a man whose sister combed his iTunes account and listed all the bands he loved. Others have been made up of general information, like the one below.

The Big Black Bull

This bull articulates very clearly just how much John is loved and cherished.

A Rose By Any Other Name....

A commission from Rose Committee as a gift for each of the 2016 roses. All of their names are in there along with key festival words and people.

A vintastic present...

The Excitement was In Tents....

A Wedding Festival Celebration! I love this marquee shape and it's great for weddings or for festival goers.

Happy Surfday

This present suits him down to a t -

This was great fun to do as I was told to go as mad as I liked with the fonts for this t-shirt loving 40 year old.

There's Whiskey In the Jar Boy....

With golden tones and plenty of room for words and phases, the whiskey bottle is a great shape for someone who has a fondness for liquid gold.

The Mini - a Design Icon

The Mary Quant of cars, the Mini has been a design classic since the 60s and has a loyal following of enthusiasts. The recipient of this picture has owned and loved many Minis over the years.

Fly Me To The Moon

Eddie Rockets was a favourite post-pub haunt of mine in the 90s, (night life before children, I remember it well...sort of!) so I was very pleased to be asked to make a rocket for the founder of the great chain!

Strong Beaux

Cute Heart Alert.....

Oh well this is PURE heart melt! Get the grandkids to list all the things they love about their grandad and let me put them in a heart. Guaranteed to bring a tear to his eye.....

I'm Going to the Chapel and I'm Gonna Get Married....

A gift to a newly wedded couple; the story of their honeymoon.

Any birthday number can be done so don't be stuck again for a significant birthday birthday present!

A lovely gift for a a girl; a bra full of things to make her smile.

Flying High.

This will always be one of my favourites; a present from an adult daughter to her father, a retired pilot from the US Airforce. She used this piece of word art to record all the places he'd been stationed and all the planes he'd flown and then gave it to him for his birthday. Needless to say he was absolutely delighted.

You might think it will be hard to come up with a list of 80 or so words but once you start you'll fly! They will repeat to fill the shape and they need to, otherwise some would be too small to be clearly legible. While phrases can go in too, the more single words you have the tighter the shape of the word cloud can be.

What better gift to give for a 50th than an affectionate and hilarious trip down memory lane?

Balls...(childish snigger)

For the longest time I didn't do footballs for people as they just looked like circles and then finally, I had the not very bright idea of layering a semi transparent layer back over the text. It was a long time coming but it's a good solution! The ball can be done in any team colour.

I am sailing, I am sailing...

Well you'd really believe summer to be on the way if you looked at an aqua coloured sailing boat every day! Fresh and airy.

Possibly the more thoughtful gift you you could give an au pair returning to Spain....

Wedding Bells...(well heart)...

I love getting wedding word clouds here at The Word Bird and they are a great way of recording the big day if you are giving a gift after the event!

If she means the world to you, tell her....

The Druid's Glen, Co Wicklow

The design here is the logo for the Druids Glen Resort in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow. The names are all the colleagues of a member of staff who was leaving. The custom made frames come in a choice of off white, black or dark brown.

Keep on truckin'.

This truck was made up from a photo a girl gave me of her dad's truck. She made a list for his birthday of all his words, sayings and favourite phrases and I filled his gravel truck with them. Needless to say he was over the moon with it!