Custom Baby Name Art

I think it's pretty safe to be sharing these pics by now of this order I made for a customer just before Christmas...

The customer knew of my work, as her sister and her husband had bought some of my work 2 years prior at the OOAK Show.  Now that they've had their first baby, the sister found me at OOAKx15 to place an order for her new little niece, Hannah!

So my customer was really taken with the sample ABC artwork I had on display at the show, and requested her order to be made in very same colours.  I think I did a pretty good job...what do you think?

Place your custom name order today for your son or daughter, niece or nephew, grandchild...a thoughtful, personalized keepsake for years to come!  I can match paint swatches, images of decorated rooms, or any other decor item that sets the tone for their room such as bedding or other artwork.  You can even pick what to have represent each letter...typically this would be something that begins with the letter (such as a ball for "b"), but the choice is yours!

Custom names (max. 7 letters):
$20 / letter + $35 / frame + 13% HST

Custom ABC art:
$600 + 13% HST

Need some ideas?...
a - ant, alligator, airplane, apple, alarm clock, arrow, abacus
b - bicycle, baseball, bumble bee, bulldozer, bear
c - car, circle, crown, cat
d - dinosaur, dragonfly, doughnut, digger, dog, dump truck, drill, doll
e - Earth, eggs, eel, elephant, eagle
f - fish, frog, flower
g - grapes, gift, giraffe
h - hippo, helicopter, hat, hot air balloon
i - igloo, ice cream
j - jigsaw puzzle, Jack-in-the-box
k - kangaroo, kitten, kite, kayak, koala bear, key
l - ladder, lamp, lollipop, lady bug, lamb, lion, lobster
m - monkey, mouse
n - nuts, neck tie, numbers
o - ostrich, octopus, owl
p - pig, parrot, pineapple, present, puppy, penquin
q - question mark, quilt, quill
r - robot, rooster, rabbit, rain, rain cloud, rug, rice, rose
s - skis, snake, swan, snail, screw driver
t - train, tree, tomato, tiger, truck, turtle, teddy bear
u - umbrella, unicycle, unicorn
v - volcano, volley ball, violin, vine, van
w - whale, walrus, wagon, wheel, wrench, wheat, watermelon
x - x-ray, xylophone
y - yo-yo, yarn
z - zebra, zipper

Contact me by email or phone:
karen@subtledetails.ca
416-931-8598

"ABC"

It was time to make another one...for my littlest one, Lucas.  Well, it was time some 12 months ago, as my baby is now a whole year old!  Where did the time go?

So after months of attempts, a couple interludes in the form of a wedding show & craft show, I did finally get this one done, only to change my mind & keep it for display & sale, rather than hang on my son's wall!  Does this sound mean?  On the surface maybe, but really it's just the product of my fussiness.  While I love this one, it's not how I envisioned setting the tone for my little Luke's room.  So another is underway, with subtle changes and a slightly less broad colour range, lol!  I even have the accompanying "Luke" that matches this one (sorry, no photos as yet) that will also be added to my samples for sale.  As I type this I am gazing anxiously over my new balls of clay and 1.5" squares on which to base his very own ABC art. 

Along the way, I also made this little piece, "Logan"
Sadly, in my haste to complete it on short notice for my customer, I forgot to name and sign it (a little detail that just crossed my mind last night)...and I didn't manage to get a photo of it in it's frame...perhaps I can persuade it's new owner to take a picture of it on his wall :) 

"Sing With Me"

Another image of my latest ABC art, this time as it hangs in Evan's bedroom...


Finally got it hung up yesterday and I am so thrilled! Makes me want to finish the curtains for his window, LOL!

The beautiful baby blanket hanging over the chair back was crocheted by my mom. Here's the link to the free pattern: http://www.caron.com/projects/ss_eco/sseco_circles_stripes_squares_throw.html

The chair was a find on Kijiji. You can't really see it in this photo, but it's a 70's retro rocker-swivel chair in green velvet and I absolutely love it!...mostly because it doesn't take up half the room, visually or physically.

Well, that was a bit of a ramble...bye for now,

-Karen

what I accomplished over Christmas...

It's amazing what can be done when there's little else to do!

While visiting my mom (she lives two and a half hours away), I decided to spend some time on my website. Of course, it helped that my mom helped out A LOT with Evan...changing his diapers, keeping him content, walking my dog!

All it took was about a day and a half of sold, (virtually) uninterrupted computer time, and a little extra when I got home (adding photos, etc.).

There's still a couple pages that need some work, but I'm thrilled with the progress I made in so short a time!

Have a look...

www.subtledetails.ca

for my little monkey man...

sweetie-pie, honey-bunny, little man, precious...
he has so many names, but his official name is Evan!

Couldn't tell you how long this Li'l Art piece took me. Between fussing over the shades of yellow, orange, green, and teal blue, and deciding on what characters to represent each letter (only a few differ from the first ABC piece I made for my niece last March), struggling through the return of fatigue through my third trimester, and lastly giving birth to my precious little one...well, let's just say *sigh* it's finally done!

"Sing With Me"

Followed closely with...

"Evan"

Another labour of love completed!

Together with much "help" from my husband (he'll really be doing all the work, I'll just be picking out the photos and music) I'll be making a new Youtube video (finally!) featuring this latest ABC Li'l Art piece, so stay tuned!

Now I know my ABC's

The first of a new idea...well, not so new, it's not like I invented ABC art!...but new for me & my Li'l Art framed sculpture.


This piece was finished on Sunday morning, just in time for my sister's baby shower (in true Karen fashion, I completed my work on time, though JUST in time!).

I'm very happy with the results! The idea came to me back in November I think, when I was thinking about making a special from-the-heart shower present for my sister, but it took a little longer to decide on the size & arrangement of the squares. You wouldn't believe how frustrating it was, for someone like me who likes things to be "just so", to be working with an alphabet that has 26 letters! Somehow, miraculously, it came to me at the last minute that, yes, the "y" & "z" could be combined on one square, making it a perfect 5 x 5 arrangement. Really, you have no idea how much I agonized over this! And the solution was SO SIMPLE!

My second challenge was working out the colours for the background. I had originally thought to mix the colours (having prepared an whole wack of oranges, corals, pinks, and greens)...but when put them together, began to fuss...finally resolving on the 3 shades of green...ironically enough, just like some of my more visually simplistic jewellery pieces. I guess sometimes lessons do need to be learned more than once!

The third & final challenge was picking out fun animals, food, instruments, plants, WHATEVER seemed appropriate for a child's room ABC art. I must add here that I got some help from various images found on-line (in all forms of media), and even from other artists work, as I found myself wondering what an owl looked like!

After all this was settled, the piece came along quite nicely...but the design did take some prep work.

Now I find myself brainstorming and even scanning through dictionaries to find other THINGS that may be represented in clay & become representatives for the letters of the alphabet...the follow-up to this design will be letter squares personalized to children's names...so I need all the THINGS I or YOU can think of...I welcome your strokes of genius!


Visit & join my Facebook Fan Page (link on the right side of your screen) for more photos...I will be adding a new folder to include the image above & individual images of each letter.