#houston wine bottle engraver etching

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

Fragrance Bottle Engraving - Houston

Engraving fragrance bottles onsite around Houston was not something that I initially embraced over a decade ago. As an introvert, it was not an activity that I saw myself doing. Frankly, I was still developing my skills (and confidence) with engraving and having that out in the open for all to see was intimidating to say the least. The first time that I engraved for a fragrance company was actually not planned. I referred the event to another engraver and they cancelled at the last minute so I was asked to engrave in their place. That was the start of my fragrance engraving career in Houston. True story….

However, what I learned, and what I tell new engraving and calligraphy students, is that confidence comes with time and exposure. I also learned to not take everything so seriously. There are no glass engraving police. They don’t exist. Well yes, you may be engraving a $5,000 bottle of Louis XIII cognac (I’ve engraved quite a few of these over the years) or a $4,000 bottle of Screaming Eagle wine (last Sunday) that you weren’t expecting. But, glass is glass…for the most part. And actually the expensive glass is easier to engrave :). Just whatever you do, do not think “Don’t mess up.” Just do what you always do and keep it moving. It’s just glass.

Cheers!

[pennydswanson]

Houston Calvin Klein Fragrance Engraving Event - Calligraphy Engraver

Fragrance & Cosmetic Bottle Calligraphy Engraving - Houston

Years ago, the prospect of engraving at events here in Houston was one of those ventures that I initially approached with hesitation. At the core, I would consider my personality to lean more towards introversion. I am not shy, but I am an introvert. Granted, people that meet me provide a look of bewilderment when I state this but alas it is true. So the idea of engraving on the spot as clients watched and trying to keep pace with the high volume of requests that can result in a fragrance, grocery or wine shop initially seemed daunting my first year in business. However I will say that over the years, it has become one of the preferred aspects of my business and I think nothing of being watched anymore. Having the opportunity to interact with clients and provide work for them relatively quickly and at a location that is convenient for them creates a perfect synergy for me, my clients and, by proxy, their clients.

I have a genuine passion for ornamental penmanship and Spencerian script. That, or a derivative of that, is the vast majority of what I do & adore. I am grateful everyday that this passion has resulted in a business where I am paid to express my passion. I love the idea of living my life in ornamental letters. It has become my signature in a sense.

The engraved fragrance bottle above by Calvin Klein was engraved at a Macy’s event in Houston last weekend. This particular client simply desired to have her beautiful name engraved on the bottle.

I liked the result with this engraved fragrance bottle for a number of reasons:

1) The desired message was short which allowed for a small ornamental calligraphy flourishes with the entrance and exit strokes. It isn’t ostentatious, but just enough to not be considered as plain. It can easily be distinguished from the engraving or etching that a machine will produce for a fragrance, wine or liquor bottle engraving.

2) Although some people may not care, I believe that the ornamentation provides an aspect of personalization that takes the “human factor” into account.

With the human factor in mind, I have absolutely had events where another engraver engraved at the same location the day before me and there are still tester bottles from their work at the store. I love that I can see someone’s work on an engraved fragrance bottle and know exactly which hand engraver was there. There are only a few hand engravers here in Houston (literally about 4-5) and I KNOW their work. It is our signature. A trademark. I had the pleasure this last weekend of following a seasoned engraver and was in awe of an intertwined monogram that she engraved on a fragrance bottle as she had downtime during the event. Her work was her signature and since it was engraved in glass, it will literally endure forever. How can you not experience chills upon considering this? I love that….

I love the result of this engraved fragrance bottle above and I hope that you do too. Cheers!

Peace & Love while Slinging Ink®

from News About Businesses https://bellagrafiaink.com/blog/2018/10/23/houston-fragrance-engraving-event-calligraphy-engraver

[michaelesegundo]

Houston Calvin Klein Fragrance Engraving Event - Calligraphy Engraver

Fragrance & Cosmetic Bottle Calligraphy Engraving - Houston

Years ago, the prospect of engraving at events here in Houston was one of those ventures that I initially approached with hesitation. At the core, I would consider my personality to lean more towards introversion. I am not shy, but I am an introvert. Granted, people that meet me provide a look of bewilderment when I state this but alas it is true. So the idea of engraving on the spot as clients watched and trying to keep pace with the high volume of requests that can result in a fragrance, grocery or wine shop initially seemed daunting my first year in business. However I will say that over the years, it has become one of the preferred aspects of my business and I think nothing of being watched anymore. Having the opportunity to interact with clients and provide work for them relatively quickly and at a location that is convenient for them creates a perfect synergy for me, my clients and, by proxy, their clients.

I have a genuine passion for ornamental penmanship and Spencerian script. That, or a derivative of that, is the vast majority of what I do & adore. I am grateful everyday that this passion has resulted in a business where I am paid to express my passion. I love the idea of living my life in ornamental letters. It has become my signature in a sense.

The engraved fragrance bottle above by Calvin Klein was engraved at a Macy’s event in Houston last weekend. This particular client simply desired to have her beautiful name engraved on the bottle.

I liked the result with this engraved fragrance bottle for a number of reasons:

1) The desired message was short which allowed for a small ornamental calligraphy flourishes with the entrance and exit strokes. It isn’t ostentatious, but just enough to not be considered as plain. It can easily be distinguished from the engraving or etching that a machine will produce for a fragrance, wine or liquor bottle engraving.

2) Although some people may not care, I believe that the ornamentation provides an aspect of personalization that takes the “human factor” into account.

With the human factor in mind, I have absolutely had events where another engraver engraved at the same location the day before me and there are still tester bottles from their work at the store. I love that I can see someone’s work on an engraved fragrance bottle and know exactly which hand engraver was there. There are only a few hand engravers here in Houston (literally about 4-5) and I KNOW their work. It is our signature. A trademark. I had the pleasure this last weekend of following a seasoned engraver and was in awe of an intertwined monogram that she engraved on a fragrance bottle as she had downtime during the event. Her work was her signature and since it was engraved in glass, it will literally endure forever. How can you not experience chills upon considering this? I love that….

I love the result of this engraved fragrance bottle above and I hope that you do too. Cheers!

Peace & Love while Slinging Ink®

from News About Businesses https://bellagrafiaink.com/blog/2018/10/23/houston-fragrance-engraving-event-calligraphy-engraver

[andrewcharrington]

Houston Calvin Klein Fragrance Engraving Event - Calligraphy Engraver

Fragrance & Cosmetic Bottle Calligraphy Engraving - Houston

Years ago, the prospect of engraving at events here in Houston was one of those ventures that I initially approached with hesitation. At the core, I would consider my personality to lean more towards introversion. I am not shy, but I am an introvert. Granted, people that meet me provide a look of bewilderment when I state this but alas it is true. So the idea of engraving on the spot as clients watched and trying to keep pace with the high volume of requests that can result in a fragrance, grocery or wine shop initially seemed daunting my first year in business. However I will say that over the years, it has become one of the preferred aspects of my business and I think nothing of being watched anymore. Having the opportunity to interact with clients and provide work for them relatively quickly and at a location that is convenient for them creates a perfect synergy for me, my clients and, by proxy, their clients.

I have a genuine passion for ornamental penmanship and Spencerian script. That, or a derivative of that, is the vast majority of what I do & adore. I am grateful everyday that this passion has resulted in a business where I am paid to express my passion. I love the idea of living my life in ornamental letters. It has become my signature in a sense.

The engraved fragrance bottle above by Calvin Klein was engraved at a Macy’s event in Houston last weekend. This particular client simply desired to have her beautiful name engraved on the bottle.

I liked the result with this engraved fragrance bottle for a number of reasons:

1) The desired message was short which allowed for a small ornamental calligraphy flourishes with the entrance and exit strokes. It isn’t ostentatious, but just enough to not be considered as plain. It can easily be distinguished from the engraving or etching that a machine will produce for a fragrance, wine or liquor bottle engraving.

2) Although some people may not care, I believe that the ornamentation provides an aspect of personalization that takes the “human factor” into account.

With the human factor in mind, I have absolutely had events where another engraver engraved at the same location the day before me and there are still tester bottles from their work at the store. I love that I can see someone’s work on an engraved fragrance bottle and know exactly which hand engraver was there. There are only a few hand engravers here in Houston (literally about 4-5) and I KNOW their work. It is our signature. A trademark. I had the pleasure this last weekend of following a seasoned engraver and was in awe of an intertwined monogram that she engraved on a fragrance bottle as she had downtime during the event. Her work was her signature and since it was engraved in glass, it will literally endure forever. How can you not experience chills upon considering this? I love that….

I love the result of this engraved fragrance bottle above and I hope that you do too. Cheers!

Peace & Love while Slinging Ink®

from News About Businesses https://bellagrafiaink.com/blog/2018/10/23/houston-fragrance-engraving-event-calligraphy-engraver

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

Funny Message Engraved in a Wine Bottle - Houston Engraver

As I am often asked what are some of the funniest messages that I have engraved in wine bottles at events around Houston, I thought that it might be easier if I began to show you. Take a peek!

Slinging Ink®

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

Austin Hope Wine Bottle Etching - Houston Engraving

This bottle of Austin Hope has a mildly funny story behind it. I was engraving at an event and interestingly enough and a wine company representative that was working in the store at the time mentioned that he had a family reunion approaching and how it would be great to give his siblings Austin Hope bottles with the location of the reunion engraved as keepsakes. This sounded like a great idea so we etched the wine bottles with the message. Later that night, I received a text that he needed another wine bottle engraved with the same message as he sent a picture of the wine bottles to his wife and she reminded him that he was a sibling shy in his count. Oooops…. So the next day he met me at a completely store that happened to have the same bottle and we engraved a few more. I love it. Cheers!

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

Anniversary - Houston Engraver

an·ni·ver·sa·ry

/ˌanəˈvərs(ə)rē/

noun

1. the date on which an event took place in a previous year

Anniversaries are those occasions that we celebrate every year to commemorate some special event. Some of those events are joyous such as a wedding anniversary and some of them may be more solemn such as a cherished person’s death. All the same, they are important to us and they warrant our attention.

This bottle was engraved at a wine bottle etching event in Clear Lake. A lady was passing by my table and stopped with curiosty as she was unclear as to the purpose of my presence. She asked what I was doing and I informed her that I was engraving wine bottles. She gave me a puzzled look as engraving wine bottles was a foreign concept for her. That’s understandable as it is not exactly a garden variety activity. I pulled up a few pictures on my phone and provided examples that I had etched days before. The concept still really didn’t make sense for her. I asked her if she had friends that enjoyed wine and if she had an upcoming event. She mentioned that she had friends that were having an anniversary party the next day. I told her that there were wine bottles in the store that would engrave beautifully and would make an easy gift to take to the party. She settled on the bottle featured in this picture. Once she saw the process and the end result, she bought 2 more :). I hope that the anniversary party was a splendid time and I am delighted that I helped to solve her gift conundrum. Cheers!

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

OND in Wine and Spirits - Houston Engraver

In the wine and spirit world, there is something that is referred to as “OND”. This stands for October, November, December. For people that work in wine and spirits, it is the busiest time of the year. You figuratively tell your friends and family “good-bye, see you next year”. It is just an insanely busy time as that is when people not only drink and are merry, but they may also very well give wine and spirits as gifts.

When I started out as an engraver, it didn’t really occur to me that that shift in sales involved me. However with each passing year, it became clearer that during OND I was telling my family “see you next year”. My daughter has experienced OND since she was a baby. Funny enough, now she just knows that during November and December she will see a babysitter more than she will see me. It is an insanely busy time for onsite engraving. I usually engrave 2, sometimes 3 events a day, everyday just about 6 weeks straight……and I love it. This year was a first as I am currently in graduate school at the same time. Between grad school, running my business and my daughter, it was ……insane. But it was great and I am grateful. I was able to see clients for whom I have engraved over the years at those wine bottle engraving events. I am honored that they remembered me as I know that I am only a blip on their radar screen of life.

Now in January, life is “normal” again. Normal until OND 2022 :)

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

Rombauer Wine Bottle Engraving Event

HEB

9710 KATY FREEWAY

HOUSTON, TX 77055-6209

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

Maker's Mark Bourbon Whiskey Private Selection Engraving - Houston

Once upon a time when I enjoyed whiskey, I was introduced to bourbon. I quite recall enjoying it immensely. However, interestingly enough, I don’t believe that I had ever had Maker’s Mark. In my 20’s, it seemed to be one of those drinks that you had to mentally prepare for on some level. In my 30’s, I had become enraptured in scotch so it wasn’t on my radar so much. By my mid 40’s, nothing was on my radar anymore :-). With that said, I have engraved a fair amount of Maker’s Mark over the last year. It’s really a cool bottle to engrave…especially the “46” bottle. For us engravers, it’s almost a gift. The bottle designers have graciously provided all of this empty real estate and these particular bottles were presented with the labels removed. Even better.

On this bottle, I was asked to etch first and last names for an event. I had initially planned to go with my usual size of script lettering on wine & spirit bottles with the x-height at roughly 1/6”. However with all of that space dead center in the middle of the bottle, I thought “no, if we are going to do it, then let’s do it.” I decided to make the x-height closer to 1/4”. I think that that was the right call. It gave the lettering a slightly bolder look to go with the feeling that this brand evokes.

So of course, I knew nothing about the Private Selection prior to engraving these bottles. I found a little information about it on their website:

Maker's Mark® Private Selection

At Maker's Mark, our wood-finishing series was created to explore new, unique expressions of our signature whisky. Beginning as fully matured Maker's Mark® at cask strength, Private Selection is created by adding 10 custom wood finishing staves to each barrel. It's then aged in our limestone cellar to extract a unique, flavorful taste profile. Participants in this special barrel program get their say in the selection of these wooden staves. The finishing staves can be any combination of five flavor profiles chosen especially for this program. With 1,001 possible stave combinations, each expression of Private Selection has a customized finish and taste profile that is unique, yet undeniably Maker's®.

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

Send a letter - Houston calligraphy engraver

Oftentimes these days if I am writing, it is actually engraving in glass, wine bottles, fragrance bottles, spirit bottles, mirrors etc. However, this is how it all started. I simply wanted my written correspondence on paper with friends & family to be beautiful. I began to take calligraphy & Spencerian classes around the country like an obsessive along with becoming curious about engraving and here we are….. a full-grown calligraphy & engraving business.

It is so easy to fire off a text, a tweet or an Instagram post. The recipient reads it and understands the message as it is conveyed. However when you send an actual handwritten letter, there is a shift in the perception of the recipient. That person understands that time was set aside specifically for them to convey this message. It doesn’t have to be written in calligraphy for the recipient to love it.

I have a neighbor who has become a dear friend. He has no cell phone, let alone a smartphone. All of our correspondence is outside as neighbors, via his landline telephone or (yes, you guessed it) mail. Actual letters in the mail. He will send a note simply to tell me about someone he met while walking or the happenings of his day. There is something nostalgically beautiful about that that I absolutely adore.

Next time that you want to say hello to a friend, take the time to write a letter. Obviously not everyday, but just try it. They will love you for it. Cheers!

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

Maker's Mark Bourbon Whiskey Bottle Engraving - Houston Engraver

I have engraved a fair amount of Maker’s Mark Bourbon bottles over the years. The glass bottle itself is really simple to etch as the bottle is made of solid quality glass and poses minimal resistance. The label designers were also kind enough to provide plenty of space for engraving. However, I stumbled across the website and learned a bit about the brand and their mantra. We have something in common. We both believe in quality over quantity. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Here’s how they put it:

Making Maker's Mark® Bourbon

There's an old joke at the distillery that goes, "If we could make it any faster, we wouldn't." Because at Maker's Mark, it's one bottle at a time. Every time. That's as true today as it was when our founders filled our first bottle. And since then, it's been a widely held belief around here that character isn't made by machine.

Love it. Cheers!

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

JNSQ Wine Bottle Engraving - Houston

The wine bottle that I engrave in this video is by JNSQ. This bottle is honestly one of the most beautiful bottles that I have seen along with being an engraver’s dream. The shape of the bottle makes it easy to maneuver for engraving. The near flat & wide surface is incredibly close to the same feel that you would experience with engraving on flat glass. There is not much to it. Cheers!

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

Royal Wine Company Bottle Engraving

Randall’s

4800 W.Bellfort Street

Houston, TX 77035

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

Dussé Cognac Bottle Engraver - Houston

In must admit that I never ventured into the world of cognac. For the most part, I’m a creature of habit. I have however engraved an obscene amount of cognac bottles here in Houston. Dussé is one that crossed my engraving table a fair amount. The shape of the 750ml bottle is unique which makes it a perfect candidate for hand engraving. These bottles which are smaller than 750ml were incredibly easy to engrave as the surface was virtually flat. there really wasn’t much to it. Feel free to take a peek at the video.

As far as the cognac itself:

Naturally aged for at least four and a half years, the bold and full-bodied blend of D’USSÉ VSOP Cognac is made from a selection of the finest eaux-de-vie, including some that were carefully matured in the cellars of the Château de Cognac. On the nose, it reveals a powerful bouquet, rich in woody notes layered with touches of cinnamon and floral notes. Distinctively and unexpectedly smooth, each taste reveals hints of spices and almonds with undertones of honey and dried fruits as the grand finale.

Cheers!

[slinginginkcalligraphy]

JNSQ Wine Bottle Engraving Houston

I have often said ¨glass is glass¨ and that is true. However, yes, some glass is smoother than others and some bottles are easier than others. This JNSQ bottle is one of the easiest bottles to engrave as the shape is nearly flat and it is wide. Every person knows where they excel. For me, I love a ¨larger canvas¨. Hence you see me engraving work in large scale mirrors and wine bottles vs rings etc. Larger surfaces suit me. I am always delighted to see this bottle when it is brought to my table at events. It was always a pleasure to engrave.