Posts Tagged ‘collectible ornaments’
Saturday, November 20th, 2010
Art glass is becoming a favorite medium for ornament artists.
Carl Rintz is the owner of 20th Century Glass Pottery Collectibles and has been kind enough to share a little with Ornaments.com about several premier ornament artisans that are using art glass in their designs.
You will find more featured artists and art glass hanging ornaments for sale at Carl’s 20th Century Glass Pottery Collectibles and you won’t want to miss the Christmas figurines and collectibles. The menu on this website is very organized, and you will be able to easily find art glass Santa figurines, angels ornaments, dog ornaments, cat ornaments, nativity scenes, tiles, paperweights, and a host of other art glass items.
20th Century Glass Pottery Collectibles started as a small online store by a husband and wife team in 1998. They put together a collection of ornaments and other art glass items by different individual artists and shipped the products from their home. Their featured ornaments became so popular that they soon outgrew their first location and moved to a house with a very large basement which became their warehouse and shipping department. They outgrew that as well and rented warehouse space where they managed their business until even the warehouse was not large enough. At that point, the husband and wife decided to retire and they sold the business to their nephew who continues to operate it. Carl says that he loves all of the ornaments, but his favorite is the Krivsky Friendship Balls. Below are some of his other choice designers.
Atlantis Design – Specializes in Handcrafted Fused Glass Art. These ornaments have been featured in the Seahurst Art Gallery, the Burien Arts Gallery, and the Burien Spring Art Stoll and Fall Art Walk.
Charlotte Behrens - Kiln fired and lamp worked glass art. All of her ornaments and other works are hand-crafted originals and are noted for the quality of their material, color and composition.
JK Designs - Handcrafted glass balls painted on the inside!! Artist, Joe Kohlbeck, figured out how to paint the balls from the inside where the color would never wear off. Thin layers of pigments and chemicals are applied inside the clear glass ornament through the neck with specially adapted brushes. Multiple firings stabilize them or else they take weeks to dry. Further details are a production secret. He paints each ornament himself. Production time is 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours each. There are no two exactly alike.
Krivsky Glass Ornaments – Czech Republic Glass
Here you will find friendship balls, witch balls, glass hearts and glass eggs. Mr. Krivsky studied glass making in Glass institute in Novy Bor. His first apprenticeship was in the famous Moser Glass factory in Carlsbad. Later on he worked in the Jihlava Glassworks. He studied glass making in Southern Bohemia. Following that he worked in Bavarian Valentin Eisch. Upon return to Czech Republic he realized his lifelong dream and opened his own Glass shop. His work is exported to many countries in Europe and in the USA.
Swinsky Hanging Ornaments - Starting with a mold and liquid porcelain slip, Pat handcrafts each porcelain hanging ornament using 50 plus colors of porcelain. After firing and polishing, each piece is ready for decorating. With a lathe to hold the piece, she uses a tool resembling a hypodermic syringe to apply the glaze design and fire it again. If the design has gold accents, they are added after the second firing and the piece must be fired a third time. All designs are applied freehand, no patterns are used. Each piece is one of a kind and signed. Each piece is individually gift boxed with a hang tag describing her work. She has been working in this medium for 35 years and does all the work herself.
Article and images used with permission from artglass-pottery.com
Tags: Atlantis Design ornaments, Brian Gingas ornaments, cat ornaments, Charlotte Behrens ornaments, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Christmas gifts, Christmas ornaments, collectible ornaments, Czech Republic Art Glass Ornaments, Friendship Balls, glass Ornaments, handblown ornaments, handcrafted ornaments, handpainted ornaments, Krivsky Glass Ornaments, pet ornaments, reverse painted ornaments, Swinsky Hanging Ornaments
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Thursday, November 4th, 2010
When it comes to personalized ornaments, the possibilities are endless.
Shopping for Christmas ornaments at GiftsForYouNow.com presents a delightful menu of choices for your family, teacher, minister, employees, business associates, or just anyone that you want to say a special “thank you” to during the holidays. The folks at GiftForYouNow.com have a large selection of meaningful Christmas ornaments that are suitable for any recipient, whether it be your children, spouse, friends, co-workers or teachers. Christmas ornaments make the perfect gift ideas that are treasured year after year, and all of the ornaments at this well organized site can either be personalized with a single name or the names of your whole family. At GiftsForYouNow.com, you will see many choices for Christmas ornaments that are engraved, painted or printed with unique designs and personalization. Choose from a wide selection of Engraved Oval Glass Ornaments, Printed Round Ceramic Ornaments or Hand Painted Resin Ornaments to find the perfect custom ornament to meet your needs.
Personalized Christmas ornaments are also ideal gifts for grab bags, exchanges, stocking stuffers or any life changing event. You might want to give personalized ornaments to a newlywed couple celebrating their first Christmas together, a mother expecting her first child, someone who has just graduated or to a baby for their first Christmas. More and more, we see gift buyers using custom printed ornaments to mark special occasions and many people order a personalized ornament to celebrate a new baby. Then they continue the tradition by personalizing an ornament for the child each year. All of these unique ornaments are perfect to complement any event. They give you a chance at the end of the year to look back at all of the good times, and the personalized ornaments will remind your gift recipients of these fond memories for years to come. Christmas will take on a new meaning each and every single year when you give personalized Christmas ornaments.
Tags: baby ornaments, baby's first Christmas ornaments, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Christmas gifts, Christmas ornaments, Christmas traditions, collectible ornaments, corporate gifts, family ornaments, handpainted ornaments, keepsake ornaments, memorial ornaments, ornaments, personalized ornaments, teacher ornaments, wedding ornaments
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Sunday, October 10th, 2010
Buy a pink hat ornament – Become part of the cure!
During the month of October, ornaments vendor PersonalizedFree.com has pledged to donate $5 for every pink hat ornament purchased. The proceeds from this drive will be given directly to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to help win the fight against breast cancer. This noble effort of the folks at PersonalizedFree.com is a win-win situation for everyone. You become a part of a great cause and you get a beautiful ornament.
You will find other great perks when you are shopping online at PersonalizeFree.com. There is a wide variety of ornaments that you can have personalized and you can see after looking around online for just a few minutes that the owner takes great pride in the ornaments and in the careful handwriting that is used for each personalized ornament. The owner will not send out an ornament that she wouldn’t want to hang on her own family’s Christmas tree. The personalization is always free, and the shipping is also free for orders totaling $60 or more.
The well organized company is a family owned business started in 1993 by Wendy Simonsen. Her extended family is an important part of this business adventure that she started 17 years ago, and she says that they really step up to the plate and help her so much during her busy seasonal time of the year.
Catch on to Wendy’s enthusiasm for the handcrafted ornaments and her commitment to organizations researching a cure for breast cancer. Buy a pink hat ornament today and honor someone who is battling, or has lost the fight against breast cancer, or give one as a gift to someone who participated in the SGK 3-Day Race for the Cure.
Article and images used with permission from PersonalizedFree.com
Tags: breast cancer, Christmas decorations, Christmas gifts, Christmas ornaments, collectible ornaments, Crafts, handcrafted ornaments, handpainted ornaments, personalized ornaments, pink ornaments, Susan G. Komen Foundation
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Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
Cool Cajun Christmas Ornaments
The name Cajun is derived from les Acadiens, and usually refers to the French descendants of Canadian exiles who migrated south to the Gulf of Mexico area in the 19th century. The Cajun culture is delightful, and makes up an important part of Louisiana’s customs and traditions. The ornaments that you will find at CajunOrnaments.com are a colorful reflection of Cajun life.
In 2002, Jackie & a friend made the shellfish ornaments to raise extra money for Jackie’s son’s 8th grade school trip. The Cajun Christmas ornaments were so popular that the fishermen/ornaments artists decided to continue making them as a business. The ornaments are sold online and at Louisiana stores that offer traditional Cajun arts and food. You will find the ornaments locally in Lafayette at Vermillionville, Prejean’s Restaurant, and Louisiana Hot Stuff. If you happen to be in Henderson, Louisiana, you’ll see the ornaments at the Cajun Palette Art Gallery. Another outlet is Crawfish Town USA in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Don’t you just love the names? They pretty much guarantee a fun shopping experience.
The artisans at Cajun Ornaments handcraft the ornaments from crawfish, garfish scales, redfish scales, and crabs, all of which they usually catch themselves, so all of the raw materials are part of Louisiana’s coastal life. The materials are cleaned and then hand painted and tooled to match the original ornament design. The owners of CajunOrnaments.com seem to have the design and production down to a joyful science.
The website CajunOrnaments.com is fun and full to the brim with information about Louisiana and the surrounding area. While you are shopping for ornaments made of crustacean shells, you can also check on the latest news about the Gulf oil spill, get the current weather report for the Gulf area, and view several fishing trip videos. They even tell you where to find the best Cajun seafood and the places you don’t want to miss if you visit Louisiana. If you want to learn to make your own Cajun garlic shrimp, they have a great recipe for you which includes a demonstration video.
By the way, if you look closely at the ornaments, you will see the unique shape of the garfish scales which were used as arrowheads for hundreds of years. Garfish fossils have been collected in the Gulf area which give evidence that these still-living fish have remained unchanged for millions of years. How wonderful to be able to enjoy a beautiful ornament resulting from man’s creativity and nature’s tenacious beauty.
Article and images used with permission from CajunOrnaments.com
Tags: Cajun ornaments, Christmas decorations, Christmas gifts, Christmas ornaments, collectible ornaments, ethnic ornaments, handcrafted ornaments, handpainted ornaments, seashell ornaments, Shell Ornaments
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Friday, August 13th, 2010
The workmanship of some of the traditional Navaho ornaments is matchless.
We stumbled upon Robert Charley in the Four Corners area of the United States in May. We traveled down a little dirt road at the point where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet on the Navaho Indian Reservation. It was a beautiful clear day which we were told was a rare thing in that area as they get a lot of dust storms. At the end of the narrow road, there were a few vendors set up with traditional Navaho art work and we spent a nice afternoon chatting with Navaho ornament artisan Robert Charley who has literally carved his own niche in the world of Native American ornaments with his arrow ornament designs.
Mr. Charley learned to make arrows from his grandfather who traded with other tribes to get the obsidian that he needed for the tips of the arrows. A process of flaking is used where the obsidian is hit at an acute angle and chipped away. The obsidian becomes even sharper than a metal blade. The native tribes in that area also used jasper, chalcedony, basalt and other hard minerals for the arrow tips which were struck with antlers, bones, wood or other rocks so that they were fractured into the shape and size needed for the arrow. Once the tip was shaped, it was carefully chipped or ground, and today Robert Charley actually dulls the obsidian for the ornament arrows because of the safety issue.
The Native American ornaments also have a spiritual significance to the Dine or Navaho culture. It is said that the hand painted arrows hung over the doorway of your home offer protection for your family and all who enter. Each ornament decoration has a different meaning with a lot of symbolism attached especially to color. An arrow with a black feather can mean male as well as night or darkness. Blue stands for female, sky or water. An ornament hand painted in green signifies earth or rain. Red represents sunset, and yellow is the symbol of day and sunshine. Dots painted on an ornament symbolize day and night. The four colors used to make the ornaments are also a symbol of protection from all four directions.
East – Black or Red South – Turquoise West – Yellow North – White
Robert Charley says that he can sell all of the arrow ornaments that he can make and he doesn’t have a web site. However, he did say that he welcomes calls to 970-739-2503 from individuals as well as stores that might have wholesale needs. You may also contact him by email at RobertCharley@ymail.com .
Article and images used with permission from Robert Charley
Tags: collectible ornaments, ethnic ornaments, hand crafted ornaments, hand painted ornaments, handcrafted ornaments, handpainted ornaments, Indian ornaments, native american ornaments, Navaho ornaments, ornament symbolism, Southwestern ornaments
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Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Local Montana artists displayed an extensive array of handcrafted ornaments.
Our search for unusual ornaments lead us to the National Folk Festival in mile high Butte, Montana last week. We were pleased to see so many local artists with one-of-a-kind ornaments made from a variety of materials ranging from art glass to buffalo horns. It was a delightful assortment of designer ornaments, and the artisans were so willing to share their techniques and ideas with the folks who crowded around their booths.
Many of the artists spend the cold winter months coming up with fresh ornament designs and producing ornaments in preparation for the various fairs and festivals in the summer months. The National Folk Festival is a real favorite for the ornament artists partly because the Butte community is so supportive and attendance at the festival was around 200,000 people over a three day period.
Our first stop was at the Folk Art of Norway booth where we had a nice chat with ornament artist Patti Jo Meshnik. Patti Jo uses the traditional Norwegian art of Rosemaling to hand paint her colorful glass ornaments. Rosemaling began in the 1600′s when Norwegians began painting their walls and furniture with summer flowers to brighten their homes during the cold winter. Another favorite from Norway are ornaments depicting birds and the Kornband. A Kornband or sheaf of wheat is saved from the harvest to be set out for a Christmas Feast. A native of Montana, Meshnik says that her Norwegian heritage influenced her style of painting and that it took several years to learn the art of Rosemaling. Every ornament at Folk Art of Norway is signed and recorded in a log and some of her art has the logged number secretly embedded in the painting.
There were also wonderful wearable ornaments created by Kevin and Valerie Pourier using buffalo horns. Oglala Lakota, the Pouriers were the recipients of the 2006 Archibald Bush Foundation Artist Fellowship and the 2005 Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Visiting Artists Fellowship as well as many other awards for their buffalo artforms. Recognized world wide by collectors, their wearable ornaments are displayed in several museums, including the Smithsonian National Museum and the Royal Museum of Scotland. Using traditional techniques of the buffalo people, the artists work together to shape and carve their jewelry and wearable ornaments into the predetermined design. The intricate process is lengthy and comes only with years of practice. The artform is completed when they inlay the buffalo horn with semi-precious minerals. You will want to read more about these charming artists at KevinPourier.com.
Our third visit was with Leonda of Browning, Montana who uses colored glass to create vibrant ornaments. She says that her favorite ornament is the red buffalo which has real buffalo fir for the tail. She cuts the colored glass into the shape that she wants, and then she uses copper to enclose that shape for a finished look. She often uses copper for the tails and manes of the animal ornaments. Leonda has a great assortment of ornaments mostly depicting Montana life and animals. The pretty blue horse above is so nice that we brought it home to display in our office. An experienced artist who has worked with art glass for many years, she will create custom ornaments for you if you call her at 406-338-3158.
Thanks to the citizens of Butte, Montana for supporting the arts.
Article and images used with permission from the artists
Tags: artglass ornaments, buffalo horn ornaments, buffalo ornaments, Butte, Christmas decorations, Christmas gifts, Christmas ornaments, collectible ornaments, Crafts, ethnic ornaments, Folk Festival, folk ornaments, glass Ornaments, handcrafted ornaments, Kevin Pourier, Lakota ornaments, Montana ornaments, native american ornaments, Norwegian ornaments, rosemaling, wearable ornaments
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Friday, May 28th, 2010
These beautiful glass ornaments were once reserved for princes.
The handblown glass ornaments made by the artists at Sama Ornaments reflect a grace that has been handed down for many generations. 
The ancient craft of glass blowing was developed in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the 2nd millennium BC and has evolved into a modern and efficient technique that allows the beautiful ornaments to be sold today at an affordable price. Once cost prohibitive for everyone except for princes and the very wealthy, most of the ornaments now are sold for under $20 US. The staff at Sama Ornaments has also written an excellent history of Egyptian ornaments.
The hand-made glass ornaments are made in Egypt using a high quality heat resistant glass and 24k gold to embellish the details of the glasswork. All of the designs are created in house with more than 200 new ornament and perfume bottle designs every year. The artisans at Sama Ornaments are also willing to design new shapes with new dimensions to please their clients.
During the glass blowing process, there are several quality control points, assuring that the design that is taking form is the intended size and shape. Completing the glass ornaments involves several steps and each of the steps may be performed by a different artist or technician. A glass blowing technician begins heating and shaping the glass and does not use any molds. There may be several pieces that are worked on, depending on the intricacy of the design. The craftsmen begin etching the ornaments and the artisans paint the designs. Now the ornaments are ready to be heated for 5-6 hours to set the colors. After cooling, the Egyptian ornaments are painted with gold and then heated again. Subsequent quality checks for bubbles, color and over all design are made before the ornament is ready to be packaged by Sama Ornaments.
Article and images used with permission from SamaOrnaments.com
Tags: Christmas decorations, Christmas gifts, Christmas ornaments, collectible ornaments, Egyptian ornaments, glass Ornaments, handblown ornaments, handpainted ornaments, handrafted ornaments, history of ornaments, how to make ornaments
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Friday, May 14th, 2010
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
It was around 400 BC that Plato said necessity is the mother of invention, but that maxim could easily apply to the early days of FMH Collectibles. Self taught artist and owner Frances McFarland began painting ornaments because she wanted to give Christmas presents to her family and friends at a time when her funds were very limited. What was unlimited was her creativity and passion for art, and that boundless artistic ability took shape in the form of beautiful handpainted glass ornaments. There seemed to be no end to Frances’ resourcefulness.
Frances McFarland Horne still credits her family with planting the seeds for this thriving ornaments business. Her mother suggested she create custom ornaments for family members one Christmas, just after Frances had finished grad school and money was too tight for Christmas shopping. From then on, Frances painted ornaments and tailored them to each family member. A few years later, her brother started pushing her to go into business after she gave him an ornament representing his fraternity, and her father extolled the advantages of e-commerce.
Frances finally followed her family’s advice in 2009. She applied for licensing from several Greek-letter organizations and began building her website, and a family tradition became an online business. FMH Collectibles was “invented” out of the need to create personal ornaments as gifts. Although much of her made-to-order work is for fraternities and sororities, the handpainted glass ornaments can be personalized for wedding favors, birthday gifts, graduation gifts and class reunions.
Custom ornaments are available at the FMH Collectibles website for anywhere from $15.00 to $30.00. Discounts are available for larger orders, and a wholesale program is available for retailers. Visit the site to order your ornament, and become a fan of her page on Facebook to receive updates.
Article and images used with permission from FMHcollectibles.com.
Tags: Christmas, Christmas gifts, Christmas ornaments, collectible ornaments, corporate ornaments, fraternity ornaments, glass Ornaments, graduation ornaments, handpainted ornaments, keepsake ornaments, logo ornaments, personalized ornaments, sorority ornaments, wedding ornaments
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Friday, May 7th, 2010
Personalized ornaments are a great way to honor graduates of all ages.
The staff at OrnamentsAndMore.com is very enthusiastic about expanding their site and adding new and exciting products. Right now, they say that it’s time to celebrate Spring! 
Graduation ornaments are a big seller this time of year. Add Pomp and Circumstance to a recent graduate”s Christmas tree this season with a graduation ornament from Ornaments and More. Browse through their selection of graduation Christmas ornaments to find the one that is perfect for the graduate in your life. Mark this important milestone in a student’s life with a graduation ornament personalized with the graduate’s name, school or university that they graduated from, and the year of graduation.
The traveling Ornaments.com team has noticed an increase in ornaments being used to decorate offices, homes, vehicles, and schools year round. Ornaments are becoming very popular as gifts for all occasions, and personalized graduate ornaments are in vogue as gifts for everyone from high school graduates to doctoral candidates. Retailers are noticing the trend too, as evidenced by more ornaments vendors online as well as the extra space that brick and mortar stores are consigning to ornaments now.
Consider a graduation ornament to honor and commemorate a graduate’s achievements and a job well done! A treasured keepsake personalized graduation ornament helps the graduate remember his high school and college graduations with great pride and a real sense of accomplishment for many years to come. “ConGRADulate” someone who has just earned a degree from law school, medical school, nursing school or pharmacy school with a meaningful ornament from Ornamentsandmore.com. The best part is that the graduation Christmas ornaments you order will be professionally personalized FREE of charge by one of their highly-skilled calligraphers with the utmost care. The ornaments are delightful and the personalization is the “icing on the cake.”
OrnamentsAndMore.com also offers one of kind Baby’s First Christmas ornaments, Engagement & Wedding ornaments plus many more unique gift ideas! Be sure to check out their newly added “Best Sellers”, “What’s New for 2010?” and “1st Christmas Ornaments” categories. You will find exceptional quality at an affordable price and your personalized ornament will be remembered and enjoyed for a life time.
Article and images used with permission from OrnamentsAndMore.com.
Tags: collectible ornaments, college ornaments, graduation, graduation gifts, graduation ornaments, high school graduation, keepsake ornaments, personalized ornaments, school ornaments
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Friday, April 30th, 2010
The name Catch an Image gives you a glimpse as to what you might expect from this versatile ornament business. The only limitation to the ornament design is your imagination. Owners Danny and Mindi Searcy run the photo ornament business in which they put logos, pictures, wording of all kinds on sports and family ornaments. Danny modestly says that he makes pretty cool ornaments. I think you will agree that the Searcys have developed an interesting method of creating ornaments that has evolved from the scientific into the artistic.
They say that the process is pretty simple, but that it takes some practice to get it right. The ornaments at Catch an Image are made from pvc plastic with an air valve inside the ornament. The ornaments are not breakable, so there are no trips to the emergency room to get brightly colored glass out of your bare foot. The process involves capturing an image through taking a picture with an ordinary or digital camera, or using an image a customer emails, or using a printed photo which the staff scans onto a computer. Any image can be put on these ornaments, and the Searcys have designed ornaments for their customers that include everything from baby pictures to sports teams to weddings.
After the image is scanned to the computer, it is either inserted into a simple program template, or a new design is created especially to suit the image. Once the design is finished, it is printed on a special printer that uses transfer paper. The image is printed out in reverse so that when the image is placed on a ball or ornament, it is facing the right way. After the image is cut to size and taped to the ornament, it is put in a heat press, using various pressures. Next, the ornament is fitted with the hanger and sprayed with either a matte, or glossy finish. Now the ornament is complete.
Danny and Mindi both have full time jobs, but they really enjoy making ornaments and sports balls for businesses and individuals. Many of their customers put images of their pets on ornaments, and Danny says that he and his wife have even been asked to attend family reunions to make ornaments for entire families. For golden wedding anniversaries, they have had people bring them vintage pictures of their parents and ask him to design ornaments depicting the couple 50 years ago and another ornament with a present day image of the anniversary couple.
New parents send in their baby photos to put on ornaments and then send in a new photo each year, eventually filling the entire tree with pictures of their children from newborn to grownup. Now, that is a gift that Grandma would love.
Article and images used with permission from catchanimage.com
Tags: baby ornaments, baby's first Christmas ornaments, Christmas decorations, Christmas ornaments, collectible ornaments, corporate ornaments, how to make ornaments, ornaments, personalized ornaments, pet ornaments, photo ornaments
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