DIY Calligraphy On Freixenet Wine Bottles

Valentine’s Day is approaching and I want to share a simple but effective gift idea! You can imagine why this would be appropriate…a celebratory toast, some sparkling wine and chocolate or even with a romantic dinner together. The Freixenet company, a Spanish producer of cava and other sparkling and still wines hired me this Fall to letter on their black wine bottles. I was a little surprised that the company asked me to letter with a gold sharpie marker, but after checking out their site, they have devoted a whole section of their website with this nifty little idea. Despite the simplicity of the tool, the impact of the gold on the black bottle is fantastic and people purchased to give as seasonal mini-gifts.

Everyone LOVES personalization on items that they buy. Whether you choose a word, a short phrase and/or names it will be a hit. See what you think from my pictures below. If you have beautiful or clever printing or handwriting, you too, can create a special “I love you” gift for your special someone. I have a tip for you below the photos.

And the tip is……

If you make a mistake, it takes a little work to remove the Sharpie marker, but if you trace over the gold with another layer of the gold marker, then take a slightly damp Magic Eraser (special sponge from grocery store), you can remove the mistake. The second layer of the gold sharpie reactivates the first layer of gold and then it’s easier to erase it. It might take a little time to completely get it off, but I found that it worked pretty well. I hope that helps you!

Thanksgiving Place Cards with quick Brush Lettering

Each year my friends, Tim and Teresa Cleary invite two families to join them for Thanksgiving at their Elk Lake cabin, Chateau Relaxo. It’s a fun several days full of puzzles, games, occasional polar bear leap into the lake, hot tubbing, paint ball, movies & reading, an annual pumpkin toss and just catching up with each other. The Thanksgiving dinner is cooked by all of us, so it’s delicious. We share the cooking load. Teresa reminds me to ‘bring your calligraphy pens’. She provides the colored paper and each year, we try to do something different with the placecards. Here is a sample from this year…I used gold gouache applied with a Kolinsky brush #4 round. Freehand!

IMG_3266And here is one of my favorite pictures from a past pumpkin toss!

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Toss

                             Emily and Josh Monroe, Heidi and Phil Lofton,                                       Mike and Kari Rogers, David Strife, Emily Cleary

The Season of Love

Happy Valentine’s Day to you! This is a wonderful time of year for a calligrapher. Gentlemen and ladies alike come with their proposals and poems of love, so I know first hand of some of the current Cincinnati romances! Letters, flourishes, colors and gold or silver… you can help me design something unique for your special someone!

Above is my Grow Old Along With Me print, by Robert Browning.  My Falling In Love GREETING CARD was reprinted in November (it’s a best selling print, too) and I restocked some favorite Valentine Cards for Son, Wife, Mom and special Love’s.  Papers that my PRINTS are reproduced on have been upgraded to Fine Art paper from the Archival smooth paper!  Inks colors are vivid and the detail precise. Your loved ones can keep these fine art calligraphy prints as long as they like.

As always, call me to set up a shopping day and let me help you pick out something unique for the people you love!