More ornaments

These are some of the custom ornaments I have created this season.  Folks who are spending Christmas with their whole family wanted to have a memento of the event.

But, they also wanted special ornaments for their children.

Me?

I took a chance and entered my temple chest in the Ninth International Art Competition for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  This competition is really incredible, with exquisite work submitted from all over the globe.  Hundreds of people submit their work, and if you're really lucky, your work is chosen for the exhibit in the beautiful church museum on Temple Square.  Other awards are possible in addition to the exhibit, as well. I received notice this week, that my piece had been accepted to be juried in the final round of judging, and that I needed to ship my chest of drawers to Salt Lake City in January!  I screamed.  And screamed.  How can this be?  I am beyond thrilled, and now just have to figure out how to ship it out.

Christmas Ornaments

I have been busy making Christmas ornaments; some generic and some custom orders.  Here are some pix:

How would you like a personalized sign for your business?

I would custom design, burn, and paint a sign for your business by copying your logo or creating a new look.

Temple Chest

For a year and a half I have been working on my most prized piece.  It is a chest of drawers with a temple theme.  Each drawer has a picture of an LDS temple on it that is special to our family:  Washington, D.C. where my husband and I were sealed, Boston which is our current temple, Newport Beach, Sacramento, and Mt. Timpanogos where our children were sealed, and the Manhattan temple which is housed in the same building where my husband was baptized. The lyrics to the song, "I Love to See the Temple" are on each drawer and other quotes about temples are on the sides of the chest with other designs.  On the top of the chest is a sunstone which are on the Nauvoo temple and the sentiment, "Families Can Be Together Forever" is included in the design.

It was a beautiful experience for me to work on this piece that is so personal for our family, and to think about the special covenants that were have made in those houses of the Lord.  I am very happy with the way it turned out.

Aloha!

I was asked to make a plaque for a new baby whose parents love Hawaii.  It was great fun to investigate flowers of Hawaii and design a sea scape incorporating those beautiful flowers.  I hope Kai learns to love Hawaii, too.

All creatures great and small

My dear friend is an animal freak.  No really, don't step on a spider in her presence!  I thought the perfect frame for her would be a representation of her pets.  (Note, not all of them!)  Her house is also full of colors that are reflective of her heritage, so the colors needed to be vibrant.  She was very happy to have a permanent tribute to some of her animals.

Being a brother is better than being a superhero.

Creating a plaque for a dear friend who just had a baby was a delight.  The baby shares a room with his older brother and it has been decorated with adorable printed fabrics.  My friend wanted the plaque to match as much of the decor as possible, so I went to town with chevrons, elephants and stripes.  I found a great quote for brothers, too.  What fun.

Mexico City

I've been trying to figure out what kind of plaque to make for my wonderful brother and sister in law, when it came to me, Mexico City! They served a mission there for my church and were in charge of the visitors' center which was next door to the Mexico City temple, which is the focal point of the plaque.  I wanted to write the sentiment in Spanish (my first!) and I investigated flowers grown in Mexico.  This may be my favorite plaque so far.  I hope they like it as much as I do!

New Baby!

My niece just had a new baby and her name is Presley!  I thought that I needed to create a name plaque for someone with such a cute name.  Her room is pink (natch) and I love polka dots.  I'll post this on my Etsy account, too.

My most recent plaques

Monsters revisited

Remember the monster plaque I made for my friends' baby, Max?  Well it's his first birthday and they have asked me to make a name plaque to match.  It was so fun to go back and rethink this.

Temple wedding

A dear friend, who I have know since she was born was married this spring in the LDS temple in Manti, Utah. For their wedding gift, I thought a picture of that beautiful temple would be perfect and of course "Families are Forever" would be the sentiment. She and her husband also requested the accent colors that are their favorites.

Wedding gift

As I just mentioned in my last post, my daughter got married July 2 and she loves all things nautical. So, I designed a plaque for her and her new husband with that in mind. (I hope he likes nautical stuff, too!) I used the New Haven lighthouse as the inspiration for the theme of the plaque. By the way, the semaphore flags spell "Eternity".

Wedding ornaments

My baby girl got married in July! In creating ornaments for the trees, I thought dream, love and eternity were perfect themes for a wedding, and they added such a fun touch to the many beautiful trees in the beautiful yard.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to those who commented on Caitlin Creer's blog and won three of my original pieces! Here are the winning items. I'll be doing more giveaways in the future, so keep your eyes open.

GIVEAWAY!

Head on over to Caitlin's amazing blog to enter my giveaway. Don't forget to become a follower here (scroll down to the bottom) to be entered!

I'm offering 3 of my favorite pieces to choose from. You don't want to miss this.

I hope you win!

Doggies

Don't you love this quote?

I've been wanting to design a plaque using this quote for awhile, and after reading Pioneer Woman and about the antics of her dog, Charlie, I knew I wanted to design a plaque with his picture on it. I hope she likes it. Do you have a pooch you'd like honored on a plaque like this?

New Baby Plaque

I was invited to a shower for two very dear friends who are having a baby, and I was very excited to create a plaque for them. I found out their nursery palette and using a patchwork theme, designed this plaque for them. I really like the freshness of it.

Wear the old coat and buy the new book.

Our family has always read lots of books -- together, apart, whatever. For the final piece (the combined bookcase and desk) to be designed in my daughter's bedroom, I chose a book theme. The sides of the bookcase itself are filled with quotes about books and the sides of the desk are filled with book titles and authors. These are all favorites of my family. I asked them all what titles and authors they would most like to have burned into the piece, and that's what I did. Now, it really belongs to all of us.

Etsy!

We have opened an Etsy account! Check it out, by clicking "Etsy" at the top of the page.

Let's design a plaque for you!

Now that you have seen the many styles of plaques I create, let's think about one customized just for you.  Think about the sentiment you'd like:  scripture, quote, lyric, book title, child's name, funny saying.
Think about the art you'd like:  place, flowers, book illustration, animals
Think about your palette: what will go in your house, child's room, whimsical, elegant, muted, bright

Either comment here, or send me an email at ootwdesign@gmail.com and we'll discuss a custom design and palate just for you.

Baby Plaque

I've decided that plaques for babies' rooms are my favorite to make. The themes are so fun, and to be able to match the colors in the nurseries is exciting. My friend whom I have known since she was 5 years old is having a baby, and loves Dr. Seuss books. She and her husband are such delightful people and I wanted to design an especially fanciful plaque for their baby shower. I think we'd all like to invite our babies to go many places and see wonderful things. I loved this theme.