Carole's Custom Mirror - YUMMY!

A while back a previous client, Carole from Lake Forest, IL, sent me her deceased mother's jewelry. I first wrote about it here.
She had asked that I do an 8x10 mirror for her, and a 5x7 frame for a black and white photo of her mother sitting at her dressing table on her wedding day.

I was stunned by the collection of pieces she sent in terms of quantity and quality. What a fabulous project. Here is Carole's mirror:



Needless to say, I was touched to find photos in the locket.




I "happened" to have letter charms and trinkets that perfectly match Carole's maiden and married names.

Hot Off The Wine Press - Sublmiation in Bloom

New wine coolers/carafes.

Especially love this one. The greens and purples always work for me.

Clearly continuing on in my refusal to use solid colored shards for some reason...

Maybe I'm compensating for not doing any flower gardening (yet) this spring!


Sublimation in Bloom!!
I'm too Jungian for my shards, too Jungian for my grout, too Jungian for my nippers.



Now appearing for sale in my etsy store.

It's Always Wine O'Clock Somewhere!

I finished two gorgeous wine coolers today but they need a tiny bit more work before I can post them. Therefore, I thought a little retrospective on a few of my other wine-related pieces from the past would be fun.

I am certain I've done three dozen of these wine coolers/carafes over the last few years. I got overwhelmed trying to choose just a few and it just so happens that these three were all for the same wonderful client who commissioned them for her close friends' gifts, Christmas of 2008. (Said wonderful client owns at least six her own self.) Above was for Clare.

Below is Vince's:

And Jayne's gift:

I totally forgot about this piece but I am sure it was my very first carafe, and definitely the funkiest to date! Sort of wish I had it around.





I sold this WINO frame at a show immediately after making it. Truly a one-of-a-kind piece! I was able to set the tiny ring watch to 5:00! That made the piece for me.


This wine o'clock clock was so neat. Gave it as full payment to the woman who designed my web site in exchange for her gorgeous work.





I can't believe I still have not sold this wine amphora. If I had to keep just one piece that I'd ever made, this would be it. I used a magnum bottle I moved from CO to NC along with the perfect handle from a Pier One Margarita pitcher that I broke. The Italian rose cluster on the front is stunning, I used some of my favorite floral china patterns, and at one time, there was no such thing as too much purple grout for me.


You can buy the wine amphora as well as this Wine and Roses mirror in my etsy store right now. Hurry! Run!


New wine carafes in a day or so.
Cheers!

Bea My Beautiful Baby!

Concurrent with working on Carole's two super-special customized pieces (see post below), I had the honor of creating this frame for the darling baby you see enjoying bath time with much glee.

A lovely woman found me online and requested this as a birthday gift for her 43-year-old son who is a first-time dad and totally "beasotted" with his little Bea. Her room is full of bee themes, and her favorite song is, of course, "Be My Baby".

Bea's Grama asked only that I use the words: "Bea My Baby" on the 5x7 frame, and that I orient it horizontally.

I got a few perfect bee broaches from eBay for the piece.
HOW DID WE SURVIVE WITHOUT EBAY?

I didn't have enough "travel size" Scrabble tiles to do the whole lettering in a uniform way but I think it looks sorta cool with a few larger, "regulation size" tiles mixed in.

I usually use these awesome metallic and highly-saturated, brightly-colored Spectra Glass beads as space fillers but I could not resist leaving them in strand form for the lining of the inside of this frame. What else could I have possibly used? I had no choice.


Bea's Grama received the frame about two hours ago, so I've been freed to post about it. I never show clients photos of the completed pieces in advance because I'm all about The Big Reveal In Person Ritual. Plus, I've been told a zillion times that my photos don't do my work justice, which is a good thing. I guess?

Thank you, Bea's Grama! This was more fun and special than you'll ever know. Send me a photo of Bea's Daddy unwrapping it!

BONUS BEA: