22 December 2008 b

I was recently asked if I would take on the engraving for NATO, a great honour which I gratefully accepted. so the first job I did was a presentation for MCC Northwood Staff Member of the year 2008. You can see the full script HERE on Nato's website under the above title. Presentation photograph and permission to publish courtesy of NATO, for which I am most appreciative.
I have also been busy engraving all the Suffolk Football Association awards for Women's, under 18 and under16 men, and long service. It is a transition, I believe, to a more modern glass award as opposed to the more traditional ones of ties etc. At least they can be personalised too!

A while back I had spent another day at Darsham teaching glass engraving, a fantastic day once again and well done to all my star pupils (some becoming regular and quite accomplished!) They all succeeded to create mini masterpieces as usual.
CLICK ON THE PICTURES FOR LARGER IMAGES

22 December 2008

Another excellent day was spent in the company of beautiful people and beautiful aromas of Harrods Cosmetics and Perfumes department on Saturday. Being the last weekend before Christmas it was packed and I did not stop engraving practically all day, working much longer than I intended and still turning customers away with one offering to pay double! It really is a lovely idea and I want to thank Harrods for coming up with it and asking me to make it happen over the last 3 weekends. I was so well looked after and much was done to encourage the staff of all the perfume houses to make the service known to the customers who may not have seen me.

Once again a great selection of perfumes, some very challenging bottles, but most challenging were 2 Russian gentleman who had to give me a micro lesson on Russian letters. The bottles were challenging as well, sadly I simply did not have time to take a photo. They were very successful and the gents were very happy.


I will be back again when it is a time for giving again....Valentine's Day seems to be the next in line. It would be good to get there more often but business is as usual during the week and pretty busy it is too. My last Harrods day involved 6 hours travelling and 8 hours engraving....it is quite challenging but so worth it.

Till next time......

19 December 2008

Quick note to tell you all that I will be engraving perfumes in Harrods once again tomorrow Saturday 20th December, the last time before Christmas. From approx 10.30 am to 5pm.

Prices will be the same as before, £15 for a name and little flower/heart/jewel/feather or £25 including an additional short message. Alternatively I will engrave a name with a small floral bouquet for £25.

Make your Christmas gift to that special person not Just a bottle of perfume but a totally unique personalised surprise for them.

Please note that these prices are a special for Harrods ONLY.

Happy Christmas everyone

16 December 2008

Once again Harrods was an experience which words cannot describe, it is so much fun, whilst being very concentrated work, and the people are just gorgeous!! The setting, the aromas, being in one of my favourite departments of cosmetics and perfumes of course! I worked both Saturday and Sunday staying over night in a fabulous hotel a short walk away who decided to upgrade me to a luxury suite...!!?? I was so exhausted it was hard to take it all in, but what an absolute treat with my lounge and staires down to the HUGE bedroom, 2 TVs, bar and snacks, too much to mention!! So I am very grateful to them! It will be sad to have to stay in a little single bed room next time ;-)

I had a grand selection of perfumes to engrave, some quite challenging. But there were usually ways and means...I had one Arab lady who wanted some arabic writing engraved, so I drew up some lines on the bottle for her and got her to write as neat as she can with my pen onto the bottle, I then engraved over her writing and added a couple of hearts as requested, it looked amazing! It is always a delight to see the customers faces when they see the bottles completed.


It is still to be confirmed whether I will be there again this weekend as I have still so much work to do in my workshop.
In the mean time it has been a week since my son left, I simply cannot believe it! They are now in Zimbabwe for a short visit, that is hard to believe too and hard to stomach so I try not to think about it. I don't think it has actually hit me yet that he is not going to come strolling into the lounge in the morning any more....luckily I have been too busy to get a chance to.








Happy Christmas everyone!!!

12 December 2008 - Harrods again

Just a quick one to say I will be back engraving perfumes in Harrods, London, both Sat and Sun (13/14 Dec).
Pricing structure will be different to the last time.

See you there ;-)

7th December 2008

Wow, what can I say, that was an awesome and surreal experience. I would like to thank Harrods for asking me and all the customers who bought perfumes to be engraved. It was non stop all day in fact. I had to escape to an office for a quiet bite to eat and a bottle of water for 10 minutes and then practically escape again to pack up at 5pm, and catch my trains... and what is up with London?? There are SO many people and what credit crunch??. I have very kindly been asked if I will do the same again next Saturday, this will be confirmed during the week.

Otherwise, today I await the arrival of my son Shane and his girlfriend Sian back from their farewell tour, and they will spend tonight with us before heading off to a destination nearer Heathrow to fly off to Africa, and then back home to New Zealand. I have clearly been distracted from feeling too sad, with being so busy in my work, it has been such a dream to be so close to Shane again . Now I have another exciting visit to look forward to, my youngest, Gavin, who will be coming around next April. Life is so precious and I am eternally grateful for all the wonderful things it gives me.

I know I have said this before , but I really wish that all moms who don't see their kids for one reason or another could experience what I have in the last few months.

Life is a journey...enjoy the ride

5th December 2008 - Harrods 6th!

Well I wasn't going to mention this....but....er...I am going to be engraving perfumes etc in Harrods Perfume department, London, for customers tomorrow, Sat 6 Dec. This is a first and quite a challenge, but should also be quite entertaining, a very surreal experience. The cost per item will be £25 for a name and/or very short message , depending on space available on the item the customer wants engraved, also a short name or initials £15. All engraving done will be completely freehand while you wait...or walk around the shop.
Whatever next!!!??? ;-)
I should be starting around 11am (engineering works on the track as per usual) and packing up around 5pm.
Come on George Clooney.... just pop in....

latest news.....we have just agreed that another option we will offer is to engrave your OWN handwritten message on the item. I will give the customer the a suitable pen and they can write / sign the bottle afterwhich I will hand engrave their message/signature forever into the perfume bottle. How about that!!!?