Red Hat Domino Pendant

At the last craft show we did at St. Rita’s School I got several custom order requests. This was the first time this happened at a craft show so, as you can imagine, I was thrilled. I adore doing custom work. I love the challenge of figuring out exactly what my customer wants and making it happen.

One very kind lady said she plays dominoes with her friends. And one of her friends is into the Red Hat Society. So she asked me if I could make a Red Hat domino pendant. It’s interesting to say, “Yes, I can do that!” before I actually have a plan of how to do it. But if I stood there and thought about it for too long the customer would walk away. So I say “yes” to these things without really knowing what I’m going to do. I have to tease information out of the customer. More often they know what they don’t want more than they know what they do want. I like sifting through that information to form an idea. So I quickly came up with thoughts about feathers and rhinestones. She agreed to the design and I went from there. This is the finished product.

I let the light hit the extreme shininess of this one to show you just how glossy these end up if all goes well. This has two layers of sealer on it. It looks like it is encased in glass!

I used white ink to stamp on the purple and red cardstocks. I made a little template of a hat so I can reproduce this design later. Then I made little fake feathers out of lilac paper. Real feathers would have ended up looking wet under the sealer so I had to improvise. I added a tiny rhinestone for some additional shine. I tied red and purple beads onto the black waxed cotton cord.

Now it’s off in the post for this one. I hope my customer likes it! And I hope her friend likes it, too!

This would be a really good time to contact me at inmyheadstudios@gmail.com about custom orders. The earlier the better as I have quite the busy schedule coming up with shows and the holidays and the Etsy Twitter Team. You dream it… I can do it! Let’s work on something together!

Monkey Pants!!

photo by Anna M. of www.ImogensGarden.etsy.com

I was poking around in the Etsy forums a few weeks ago, as usual, and stumbled across ImogensGarden’s shop run by Anna M. She has the most adorable classic children's clothing with a contemporary flair. Immediately I fell in love with the sock monkey pants. Alas, she only had kid sizes! Mind you, I am not even five feet tall so I figured I could fit into a kid size. I sent her a message on Etsy to ask if she would be interested in a trade: monkey pants for a custom pendant. Never have I asked for a trade, so I was a bit hesitant to even put it out there. She said, “Yes!”

So I sent her my measurements (note to self: lose 10 pounds!). We began discussing her custom pendant. She told me she had lost both of her grandmothers in February of this year (along with two aunts and a tornado hit her house). She wanted a pendant to honor her grandmothers. One of her grandmothers had a glass bluebird of happiness on her windowsill for as long as Anna could remember. My grandmother had one too! Then I had a strong gut feeling that they were the same bluebirds. I had taken photos of my grandmother’s house shortly after she died so I would always remember some things I loved. The bluebirds were one of those images. I emailed the picture to Anna and sure enough they were the exact same ones her grandmother had! Small world. So we decided to use the photo as part of her pendant to remember her grandmothers. The back of the pendant has an owl on it to symbolize her other very wise grandmother.




The pants she made me are great! I love them! They fit just right and feel good too. The construction and serged edges really impressed me.

But what really got to my heart about all this was the lovely feedback she gave me on Etsy. She wrote, ”Absolutely the most beautiful, meaningful piece of jewelry I own. This means the world to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

I love how art has the power to touch us so deeply and across many miles. I’m very grateful for the new friend I made. Thanks, Anna!

Tokenblogger’s Custom Pendant

Around Christmas last year, I got a custom pendant request from Tokenblogger. Her original request was a design with pansies on it and the words “I AM”. We emailed a lot to nail down more details. Usually a custom pendant takes about two weeks of communicating and drafts to get right. This one took longer, and I didn’t mind one bit. I really wanted her to have exactly what she wanted without a doubt. That’s what custom pendants are for, right?

I really liked working on this project because it kept changing from the original request. She would send me new ideas and pictures weekly and I would find a way to incorporate the new pieces each time. I know some people may find this kind of work taxing, but I honestly liked the new additions she kept making. It forced me to rethink an idea each time keeping the work fresh and challenging.

She ultimately decided on a green background with two purple pansies on the front. I included the original “I AM” while adding real lace and a picture of her pet dog, a whippet named Emma. The back turned into a conglomerate of things that Tokenblogger holds dear: a piano, the star of David, a blue bicycle, a coffee mug, a container of Earl Grey tea, and a cello. Since she wanted so many images on the back we came to an agreement that it should be a digital collage to make it look best. I’m very happy with how it turned out. It’s better in person than I thought it would be.

She blogged about on at her blog. Check it out to see how I lovingly gift wrap every purchase!! She took pictures even!

Thank you, Tokenblogger, for allowing me to make something so personal for you. Again, I really enjoyed working on this. I am so glad you love it!

Greetings, As in Cards

I just cannot manage to keep my excitement stifled much longer about a project I have going! I hooked up with a greeting card company who is just getting off the ground. They like my designs and asked me to do some animal designs. Not my forte, but why not take on the challenge? Lo and behold they loved my dog and horse designs, too! Woo hoo!

I did paper cut outs of the dogs and horse. One is so cute I want to smooch his little ears! Due to copyright issues I am unable to share the designs with you right now. But I wish I could because they are so cute.

I got final approval for two digital proofs for custom pendants today as well. However, I am going out of town for my bestest friend’s wedding and they will have to wait to get made upon my return. I really enjoy the hard work that goes into doing custom pendants. Working in a one inch by one inch space of my own design is hard enough. Add someone else’s opinion and it gets harder but more fun.

Off to get ready to pack for my trip! I’ll miss you when I’m gone but will try to blog while away.

FREE SHIPPING @ My Etsy Shop

In My Head Studios is offering FREE SHIPPING on all items purchased from November 17 - 30, 2007! Shop and ship in time for the holidays!

Now is also the time to request custom glass collage pendants. They start at $29.99! I can put practically anything in the glass collage pendants: pictures of your kids, pets, vacations, or mementos photographed or scanned… you dream it, I can do it (if it I can make it into a 1”x1” piece of paper). 

Make your mother cry with pictures of her kids or grandkids in a pendant! Give your "cat lady" friend a pendant displaying her precious feline so she can show him/her off to everyone! Send me a picture of you and your sweet heart and show her you are always thinking of her. Big bonus points!! 

Can't beat that with a sharp stick, can you?