Stock Trouble.

So I was kinda freaking out for the past few days. One of my good customers is having a Bar Mitzvah in 2 weeks. She asked me to make her a bunch of gifts for the families in town who are hosting her out of town guests. After going back and forth she settled on the Cream Rose Small Pitcher which would be personalized and then wrapped in cellophane with ribbons and raffia. One family in particular, she wanted me to make an expensive piece/set since they would be hosting everyone for Shabbos day lunch. One of my favorite sites to get gorgeous expensive crystal is Badash.  We perused the catalog together and she really like  the extra large gold wave bowl with these gold salt and pepper shakers. The only problem was that they were out of stock when I ordered them before Pesach. They told  me to not worry that they should be getting new stock soon, but they still did not have them after Pesach. OY!

Come today, I was really sweating, what was I going to do? I had nothing to give to this client!  She of course knew about the stocking issue and was also worried. There is nothing worse than a client  and a designer freaking out! I needed to go to Michaels this morning and right next door to the crafting paradise is one of my other favorite stores....PIER 1 IMPORTS. Thank god my salvation. I found this extra large serving bowl and this accenting small bowl. I knew immediately she would love the pieces.

 So here are the pieces before I started painting. What I loved about them was the texture and the vibrant colors.  It was all encased in gold leaf that was tinged red.




I then took my gold paint and painted scrolls all around each of the bowls. I wasn't sure if I should do it sideways or straight up and down, but when I played around with it I think what I got was the right effect I was looking for.

She had originally wanted the salt and pepper shakers so I decided to included a mini set in the gift, but slight problem, the tops were silver. I decided to sponge paint them with gold and then added some scroll work design.

When it was all done I baked the pieces and PRAYED that they would not crack from the heat of the oven. Since I had never used these glass pieces before I was worried that after spending so much time and effort it would all be wasted!

When it came out of the oven these are what the pieces looked liked all together.

Now all that needed to be done was wrap up the pieces in cellophane- which unfortunately lent itself to another problem. It was a large round bowl that I wasn't sure how to wrap it. Should I make a huge poof at the top, create a nice smooth top? After trying both and getting no where I just created a smooth top and added ribbons. The top was so large it looked so empty so I got out my paints and actually painted the cellophane and added more and more ribbons and raffia!!! Here's the end and FINAL result.

I give the pieces to her tomorrow. I really hope she likes them! What do you think???