Wooden Photo Pendants

I haven't been doing a good job with keeping up on blogging lately, but I have been busy behind the scenes. I've been working on new items, like the ornaments I shared on Monday, and these adorable photo pendants!

I carried photo pendants when I first started engraving and for some reason let them expire out of my shop. Thanks to the request from a fellow blogging friend, Sharla at Beaded Tail, I reintroduced these pendants this week. And I've upgraded to a new design and chain style.

I currently have the baby/person pendants available in my shop and will be adding pet pendants as well. Sharla had her beautiful Sadie engraved and I just love how she turned out!

Christmas is just around the corner and these little pendants make great gifts! Contact me for special shapes or sizes.

Keepsake Boxes

I recently made three more Keepsake Boxes all with different styles and photo compositions. I love that these can be used for so many things and that the ideas for the styles are endless!

The first box didn't have a photo, but had a simple and sweet message on the top of the box. Then, on the inside, a special quote/poem for the recipient. How sweet :)

The second box had a photo that had heads already partially cut off. Photos like this can be hard to work with when engraving. I added the oval border to keep the heads from "floating" on the box. I really like how it turned out!

I used the same idea for the third box and like how the border just draws everything together. I added this photo (as well as the previous one) to my listing to show that you can have any number of people in the photo being used. This photo has 5 people and looks just as great as the box that just has one person.

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The recipient of the last two boxes loved them so much that he ordered two more :) He said his sister cried when she received her box and had the idea to make memorial boxes of their dad with a quote on the inside of the lid. I ♥ this idea :)

I'll be sure to show those when I get them done!

More Cuties

I've been having more fun engraving Custom Photo Ornaments! Every photo I get just makes me go "Awwwww" :) I love editing these and making them come to life! Check out my latest group of cuties :)

Just look at those eyes!!!

I ♥ this one of Mommy & Daddy holding their new bundle of joy!!!

I'm going to miss Christmas season most because I won't be making as many ornaments. I have several ideas in the works for after the first of the year to hopefully keep these selling. Thank you for all the ideas I have received so far! Keep them coming :) What would you like to see on these ornaments, or what else do you think they could be used for?

Open Season

Here in SW Iowa, hunting season is in full-force. First and second deer seasons have come and gone and there will be a doe season later in the year. While some hunt just for sport, many people in this area hunt for the meat. With beef prices so high lately, venison is a good substitute.

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I was recently asked to engrave some hunting photos and I love how they turned out. And since guys are always so hard to buy for...these make great gifts!

I know some of my readers aren't big fans of hunting, but in such a rural area, it is actually necessary to keep the animals from becoming over-populated. People hit deer with their cars everyday...I totalled my car this way! So I hope no one takes offense to these photos :)

More Great Engraved Ornaments

Last week I showed you some super cute Engraved Baby Ornaments. If you missed that post, or just want an "Awwww" moment...check it out here :)

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Along with adorable babies, I've been engraving other fun ornaments as well. One of my favorites was this double sided ornament with photos of a couple's trip to Greece. Here is the Parthenon and the Colosseum.

Just look at the detail in these photos!!!

I also did 4 company logo ornaments.

Another favorite is this kitty :) We didn't have the greatest photo to work with, but I think it turned out nice :)

I'd like to find other fun ways to use/sell these after the holidays. If you have any ideas, I'd LOVE to hear them :)

Engraved Photo Ornaments

I've been having so much fun making my Engraved Photo Ornaments! Photos are my favorite thing to engrave...I love watching them while they laser :) And having such cute subject to work with makes it even more enjoyable :)

Here are some of the recent ornaments I've made...just look at these faces!

I bet you can tell why I love engraving these so much :)

Custom Keepsake Box

I was recently asked by a coworker to make a memorial box for his brother. He wanted something special to give his dad to keep his brother's ashes in. I thought it was a wonderful idea and I love that I was asked to create this for him!

I showed it to him last week...and he loved it! I can't wait for his dad to receive it at Christmas so I can hear his response as well :)

I think it turned out awesome!

Though this box was used as a memorial box, it has so much potential!

What about:

• Keepsake Box
• Photo Storage Box
• Pet Keepsake Box (collar, id tag, favorite toy, etc.)
• Jewelry Box

What other ideas can you come up with?

And I can create these in several sizes to fit any need :)

Ready to Start the Week

I'm not usually a "Monday person", but today I'm ready to start the week! I have so many projects I'm working on that have me so excited :) I had a great, productive weekend and I'm hoping this week is much of the same!

I currently have 38 Custom Name Albums on order...WHOA! They consist of *20 Sorority Albums (my first wholesale order)

*12 Girl Scout Albums

*And 6 separate albums that will be given as Christmas gifts

Over the weekend I got an order for 39 Wine Glasses and 8 Coaster Sets from one person! The wine glasses will go in sets of two along with a bottle of wine as a company gift. I'm etching the company's logo on the glasses for them :) And the owners sister ordered the coasters to give as wedding and Christmas gifts! I'll be sure to blog about this more as I get it completed!

And I got a sample Etched Pint Glass done to send to my mom's employer. They give pint glasses in sets of 4 for service award gifts with their company logo on them. If they like the sample, they'll be ordering 100 Glasses in February!!!

I've also been getting quite a few orders at work as well. I've sold 11 glasses in varying designs and 5 Engraved Wood Photos. I'm also going to make a box for a coworker that he'll give his dad with his brothers picture on it. His brother passed away a few years ago and he wanted something special to keep his ashes. I was so honored when he asked me to make the box for him :) I'll definitely be blogging more about this as well!

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How did your weekend go? Are you ready for the new week?

Just Around the Corner

I know it's not even fall yet, but before we know it Christmas will be just around the corner!!! I have already started receiving a few orders for Christmas presents! I think people are trying to spread out their shopping this year and are starting earlier :)

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I recently started making Custom Photo Ornaments

I have already sold one of these at my first craft show last weekend and hope they do well on Etsy as well :) Everyone loves custom items and this one is extra special with the photo :) I know it would be my favorite ornament!

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What holiday items have you started listing?

Pet Portrait Giveaway!!!

I'm so excited to be hosting a giveaway over at Beaded Tails' Blog!!! I'm giving away one of my newest creations...a Custom Engraved Pet Portrait!

To enter, visit Beaded Tail and leave a comment. It's that easy!

The Importance of a Good Picture

One of my favorite things to do with my laser engraver is to engrave photos! I've sold quite a few Engraved Wood Photos off Etsy and have received great feedback :) They make such great gifts! One thing I have to be sure of is that the original photo is of good quality. It needs to be a high resolution digital image or a good quality print that I can scan at a high resolution. The better the photo, the better the engraving. I can play with settings in photo editing software, but the original photo is important. While getting ready for the open house at the winery, I wanted to have a sample photo to set out. I scanned a favorite family photo and did my needed adjustments and lasered away. The results were less than stellar as you can see here: When I scanned the photo, I didn't realize it had scanned as an 8.5x11 screen size making the actual photo a small size. You can see how the detail gets lost and the image is dark. After scanning it again to a true photo size and raising the resolution, the second results were much better :)

You can see much more detail. The engraving is beautiful! I got lots of complements on this photo at the open house and I'm so glad I tried again and fixed my mistake. But I'm glad to have the "mistake" photo to show people how important it is to have a good photo to start with. What "mistakes" have you learned from lately?

When All Else Fails...Read the Instructions!

I've had some success with engraving photos and was pretty happy with the results. I had a friend at work order a custom photo plaque and I was happy to take on the task. He emailed me his photo, I did the necessary photo editing and started engraving. Here are the results...

I was SO disappointed when this was done! It was too light, there was no contrast to the engraving...it was a mess! And I couldn't even attempt to sell this to him! I remembered I had printed off a tutorial a while back for engraving photos on wood. Off I went to read the instructions and try again! There were just a few minor adjustments I needed to make to the original photo and I was ready to give it another try. Here is the second try after reading the tutorial...

Isn't it awesome!!! It is by far the coolest engraving I've done so far! I'm very proud of the results and I hope his girlfriend loves her gift! Now my mind is racing with other things I can make out of engraved wood photos!!! You'll be seeing more of these soon!