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     This 750 ml bottle of Louis XIII was done for a previous Ken Brown customer who wanted to honor her son-in-law on achieving the title of Master Sommelier. 
    The bottle has 32 shots of a 1.5 ounce pour....just a taste!  At a cost of $4000. for the bottle, tax included, that makes it $125. a shot. 
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     This regular Ken Brown 'Wine Groupie' came to a recent MARKET STREET event and purchased this 1.5 liter SEGURA bottle of sparkling wine for her landscape architect's 40th birthday.  These are the most elegant bottles on the shelf and always make fabulous gifts when personalized.  The retail price was around $50. for the bottle.  Of course at these events, the engraving was compliments of the supplier and Market Street.  See upcoming events where and when the engraving is free on any wine bottle purchased in the host store.

For a family wedding gift, I chose this crystal wine chiller from a local gift store.  I turned it upside down on a smooth table for the baseline of the lettering.  I positioned a Sharpie Ultra-Fine permanent marker in my hand, resting on the table top, and held the marker tightly in my fist in the precise position where I wanted the line to be.  When my and and pen were 'locked' in place, I merely spun the piece up against the marker point and got a perfectly level line for the engraving.

     This bottle of Spanish sparkling wine is beautiful and pretty good bubbly to tickle your tonsils.  I've probably engraved more of this bottle than any other in all my years of what I do.  The silver crest in the center of the bottle, and the metal band around the bottom make it a sophisticated and classy choice for special gifts.  In addition to its handsome appearance, it's cheap.  I've never seen it over $25. and often it is under $22.
     These three wedding gifts for one customer were all done with a #6 round carbide; lettering filled with silver paint.
     

     The Dallas office of a national accounting firm called recently wanting three bottles of Johnny Walker Blue for new retirees.  They had been given my name by a recipient of a wine bottle gift.        These bottles of premium Scotch whisky retail for pennies under $200. each.  


     MEDIEVAL TIMES is a cool place in Dallas and other cities where you're seated in view of a huge arena where men are dressed, as the name of the places suggests, in the medieval costumes of knights on horses, also adorned with festive dress. In their gift shop various beautiful swords are for sale as mementos of an evening of unique entertainment.  Occasionally, the front office of the place will honor a group or special individual guest with an engraved sword.  The pieces are gorgeous, and moreso when personalized.

     

     Around 2005, I attended a Donna Dewberry gathering of OneStroke™ painters she had trained over the years.  It was held in Orlando, Florida, and attended by several hundred people.  I was there to teach my Calligraphy method to her decorative art students, using flat brushes.  

Ken helps Cheri from north Texas with her wine glass project in the Professional Engraving Workshop.  Cheri returned for a refresher about 4 years after her initial class.  Several interruptions caused her to be away from her engraving so the refresher helped get her back up to speed quickly.  Cheri has a small business where engraving is a great tool for personalizing some of her items for gifts.

Several years ago a customer brought this vase and asked if I could engrave Hebrew.  My answer was yes, if I had a large copy of each letter for reference.  I used a CONE bur for the Hebrew and a round carbide #2 and 3 for the rest of the numbers and letters.

 Although the image and Calligraphy below is not engraving, this is a favorite example of where the art and Calligraphy collaboration began with Gail and me. 
    In early 1983, we connected with HOME INTERIORS & GIFTS in Dallas, Texas.  This piece below was done around 1994 and was one of the most successful ones in the line.  The inspiration for it came from THE FOOTPRINTS OF GOD that we had done for HI in 1984.  It was the top-seller of all time for our work and was in their catalog about 30 months.  From that we created GOD'S HANDPRINT.  As with the Footprints piece, I wrote the poem and Gail illustrated it with tiny brushes, countless hours, and a lot of love.  It, too, became a well-received in their line and remains one of our favorites.  Over two dozen inspirational designs are available with Gail's watercolor and my Calligraphy.

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