Kang-oala Commission

I love a little project, and I'm always getting commissions for special one offs, but the latest one has gotta go down as one of my faves...

Bianca is one of my many wonderful customers who LOVES a good handbag, and having got herself quite a collection of Hetty & Dave customised bags now, decided she needed something pretty special for her imminent travels down-under:

'I'm hoping to go exploring abroad in a few months and I was wondering if there'd be any chance of me 'commissioning' an Australia inspired design, like Koalas or Kangaroos for me to take along with me?'

Having bought a bag from the high street, Bianca sent it to me, and I got my pencil and paper out, and doodled a design to go on the front. Here's what I came up with:

Yup, a koala climbing up a kangaroo's tail, in a heart shape.

Once Bianca had okay-ed the design, I got snipping with the leather and stuck down the various shapes...

 On went the eyes and noses...

Then the koala came on board...

I added some greenery in the shape of eucalyptus leaves for the koala to chomp on, and added a Batik style fabric background, to fully embrace the Oz theme... 

Then I started stitching...

Once all the stitching was complete, it was ready to put onto the front of the bag...

And here's the final result...

And this was Bianca's reaction: 

Eeeps I love it!! You are fantastic! x

A pretty good reaction I'd say!!

If you would like to commission your very own bag, or whatever you like really, just get in touch via email zoelarkins@gmail.com and we'll see what I can rustle up!

Kang-oala Lovings

xx

Commission Accomplished

Lately, it seems I have been inundated with commissions... here's what I've been up to.

Inspired by her pooch Freddie, a rather gorgeous Lakeland terrier...


...here's Donna's Doggy Bag...


A cello brooch for a cellist, whose name I've forgotten- oops!


Some Jimmy's Iced Coffee brooches for our lovely friends at, yep, you've guessed it, Jimmy's Iced Coffee!


Another dog brooch, Poppy- possibly the trickiest commission so far!

Now today's job... a rugby playing hedgehog brooch! I'll keep you posted on this one!

Spikey Lovings

xx

Handy Fun

Okay gang, the severed hand plush is now available to buy online...

£10 TO THE FIRST 10 LUCKY BUYERS!!
£15 THEREAFTER

You can use it as a pin cushion...


Keep your rings safe and tidy...


(Please note, the tobacco ISN'T mine- I don't smoke, and nor should you!)

...or just have it peeking outta the sofa cushions to disturb your guests...


Three brilliant uses, for a severed hand... complete with bloody stump and bone sticking out.

£10 TO THE FIRST 10 LUCKY BUYERS!!
£15 THEREAFTER

QUICK!! Buy yours here!!


Gruesome lovings

xx

Commission Missions

I regularly get asked whether I make commissioned pieces, and the answer is yes, I do! In fact, I generally love doing one off pieces, as its usually designs I'd never really thought of, and sometimes inspires a whole new train of thought. So here's a little story on how commissions come about...

Recently I was contacted on Etsy, by a sea-loving lady called Breezy Brenda, who had been looking for a mermaid necklace for some time. Having discovered Love From Hetty and Dave, she decided commissioning a mermaid was the way forward...


Brenda gave me some ideas of what she wanted: aquamarine or seafoam colors with maybe peach, mango, kiwi, silver or gold accents, flesh tones for arms and face, light brown hair, flower in her hair etc. and she wanted her to be flashy with sequins and pearls, in a horizontal swimming mode instead of a vertical one.

So the next step was finding an image to work from, and putting together a selection of colours...
This was what I came up with:


The metallic aquamarine snake print leather was perfect for this project.

Next I cut out and stuck the leather pieces together, to make up the basic mermaid shape:



At this point, I had the design okayed by Brenda, and then it was time for the stitching and embellishment to commence.

It's surprising how different it looks after stitching:



So now, this little Mermaid is leaving the seaside in Bournemouth, to live on Brenda's neck in Nashville, Tennesee. And as a jeweller herself, Brenda will attach a chain of her choice once she receives her mermaid, so I look forward to seeing her photos of it all finished.

So if there's something special you would like made up, don't be scared to contact me to commission a one-off personalised piece. Just send an email to zoelarkins@googlemail.com

Here are some more examples of bespoke pieces I have made, to get you excited...

A lovers handbag...


'Faithful' and 'Unfaithful' keyrings. Not sure what the story was behind these!


Cupcake brooches for DJs Amy & Susan


Wedding date keyrings

Commissions start from £25 and up.

Bespoke Lovings

xx