2009 Gilt Glass Holiday Ornament

~22 Karat Gold Leaf~

~Hand Blown Glass~

Our Gilt does Change Seasonally here at The Studio!…

For this time of year, we want to introduce our Gilt Glass Holiday Ornament Collection, designed  to help gracefully express your holiday spirit and uniquely commemorate fond memories with a one-of-a-kind touch.

Each Gilt Glass Ornament is individually made: Hand Blown, Hand Gilded and Hand Etched with the year and is chronology within the collection, consisting of 100 ornaments.

We hope that the symbolism of the 2009 Gilt Glass Holiday Ornament design will bring elegance to your home and peace to you heart in conveying our theme:

“Quality of Life”

While exercising Balance, we indulge with Luxury

Welcome to The Gilt Studio, where our Gilt is your Pleasure!

Happy Holidays,

~Palmer

I met many of you on this very occasion just last year, and look forward to opening our doors once again for this community wide open house event, though this year will be a little different.

As all doors to every art studio in Austin’s “East Side” of town this weekend in November, so will The Gilt Studio’s. But, this year Patrick Puckett, a very talented and creative artist and painter, will be hosting our space introducing his art: Paintings, Stamps, Photography, Graphic Designs, and may even spin some of his fun Mix Music Masterpieces…

We are serving our favorite Tito’s Vodka and Pineapple Martini, yummy snacks and creatives galore…and invite you to come by The Gilt Studio to meet Patrick in person and enjoy the creativity of his talents…Though, you each are already familiar with and repeatedly report enjoying his work!…How so?!?!!!

Patrick designed our logo and crest for The Gilt Studio!!!

We look forward to seeing you and happy “E.A.S.T’ ing” (Nov 13 & 14 and Nov 20 & 21)

-Palmer

Just because it’s doing the dirty work, doesn’t mean your liquid dish soap has to look the part?! Take out that manufactured plastic bottle of soap from under your kitchen sink, and dress up the dispenser to let your kitchen style shine!… Spotlessly, Effortlessly and virtually Cost Free!

Re-dispense your soap into that previously enjoyed, funky, now empty bottle from your favorite Wine? …Salad Dressing?…Liquor?!…  Whatever?! Pop on a spout top (found in most home bars, olive oil bottles, or at The Container Store) and dress your kitchen counter to make your cleaning work look like play.

Not only are you sprucing up your household chores, but you will also be sprucing up your contributions to today’s recycling efforts! (that is assuming you toss your old  “Reggie Miller” dispenser in the “Blue Bucket”)

Hope you Enjoy!… your way to the Happy Plate Club haha

-Palmer

She’s Got it! and Graciously shares it with Family, Friends, and Clients…

Her name is: Heater Beckle

Her role is: My friend. My Blessing. My Adviser… My Goodness!

She is smart, savvy, established, achieved, down right creative… and the triple bonus… she is so much fun! Always dressed to say “sassy”, she speaks with an eloquence of intellect and sophistication, yet her message is comfortingly simple: to encourage, achieve and most of all, ENJOY!

Heather stumbled into my home as a guest of a guest to my “Taste Testing” party last spring. Little did I know that behind her interrogation of a conversation, she was sizing me up with intent to take my hand as I begin this journey of debuting The Gilt Studio. As it would be, Heather is truly a PR veteran and opened I&O Communications here in Austin with her business partner of  3 years.

Since we met, Heather not only graciously advises me and The Gilt Studio in growing structurally through volunteering her time instigating such blessings as consultations with the likes of  Ines Rode, COO of America Retold. She also enthusiastically opens our eyes to the unique and entertaining events Austin has to offer: Fete*Ish Party and my favorite… Her Birthday Party!!!

It was a traditional affair, a cocktail party, with a quirky twist, A Wig Party! haha Heather asked her guests to cheers with her in High Heels and Lace whilst sporting the locks of your desired alter ego. One couple even showed up as “The Whig Party”!… The funniest part was having to “re-meet” everyone  at the end of the night once the wigs came off!

Thank you Heather for being such a creative and giving person. You truly have become and integral part of our growth at The Gilt Studio!

The Junior League of Austin asked The Gilt Studio to donate our Gilding Repair Services for a broken shipment of Resin Cast Antlers to be used as decoration for this year’s annual fundraiser that is A Christmas Affair.

This year’s theme is “it’s a wild holiday”- an African Safari, lends itself to dress the Palmer Event Center with such fantastics as exotic animal prints and far out florals. All decorations are designed to not only set the mood for the holliday shoping spirit, but to also be re-sold to in helping raise proceeds to be donated back to the Austin Commuity.

These three foot resin cast antlers are to hang above the wine bar bringing an exotic elegance to the table.  After two shipments of broken Resin Cast Antlers later, the Junir League found it better to ask The Gilt Studio to repair the four less broken of the series, rather than waist more time and money shipping back and forth, only to see no improvement.

My Birthday is the day before Halloween, so I never knew if everyone was celebrating me, or just the occasion with such “pizazz”. Regardless, it has always made for a “drop in the bucket” when it comes to throwing entertaining and creative B-day Parties!

In my recent years, I have come to rather enjoy hosting pumpkin carving parties, especially for those who don’t have children (myself included) and tend to get excluded from or simply let the more juvenile  traditions of this season go by the wayside.

This year, back in July, we planted our own Pumpkin Patch with the intention to invite my B-day guests to come pick their own pumpkin from our own patch and carve their Jack-O-Lantern over Cocktails and Popcorn. Unfortunately, due to just barely surviving our most detrimental Drought here in Austin since the 1950’s, I don’t have enjough pumpkins to serve all of my guests…actually… I don’t have any, that will be ready, that is.

I do have two beautiful healthy baby pumpkins that are steadily taking their turn (from Green in color, to Orange). Though they wont be ready to carve by Halloween, we have had so much fun tracking their growth: from a buried seed in the ground, to the first sprout of leaf peaking through the dirt, to the monster it has become of giant leaves, strangling vines and blossomed flowers… Even more entertaining?!… Hunting for the pumpkins amidst the vines and actually finding out that one has grown!… and being able to say I have my own pumpkin patch! haha

I could very much see this becoming a fun and memorable tradition for children and adults alike! Though it did take some time to clear out the area, planting and tending to my pumpkin patch has been quite effortless, timelessly entertaining, and costing no more than the 10 cents I paid for my packet of seeds.

Next year you should try it! They say the best day to plant for the perfect Halloween Pumpkin is July 4th. I was a few weeks late on that deadline this year (we had a party to attend), but next year I will remind you all ahead of time so you may enjoy a patch of your own, as well!

Within seconds  make your own decorative and intricate Homemade, not Handmade, Paper for invitations, note cards etc… using nothing other than what is already in your home: Found Objects and a Copier Machine.

I, along with three other bride’s maids, were in the honorable position to host our Bride’s first wedding shower. Unique in her own personality, our party theme was one-of-a-kind, in turn, as a This Couples “Favorite Things” shower. Rather than holding her guests hostage to registry for the traditional desirables of Crystal Clears and Lacy Linens, our Bride and Groom- to -Be preferred their friends shower them with what we each independently and personally found relative to their start: Hand carved salad bowl? Pillow made of retired linen napkins? Bottle of wine?

Needless to say, finding a pre-made invitation to suit was taking more time then just making our own…so I did, and easily at that! All it takes is a few found object relative to your “subject” and a copier machine.

First, I made my invitation. I then gathered construction paper and leftover fabric, assembled them in to place behind my invitation, and one trip to the neighborhood copy store later, I had 35 unique and “homemade” invitations, $0.35 each, ready to send out to set the unique, one- of- a- kind tone for our celebration to come!

If you want to make your own stationary etc, simply place a blank sheet of paper in front of your designs (instead of the invitation) where you would like to write in the future, and copy away!…

What I like about this concept, artistically, is that it creates an intriguing look of contrast from the three dimensional textures and shapes captured on a one dimensional  sheet of paper, as well as replicates the festivity of design detail from the objects being photo- copied!

I look forward to seeing what you all use to copy your own custom paper… Toy soldiers? Jewelery? Flowers?…

Enjoy!

-Palmer

Airstream Trailer eateries may be old hat here in Austin, TX, but apparently there is room for one more as Gourdough’s Donuts is nothing less than Briliantly Unique.  My sister and I deemed it a “Gourmet” if ever a Donut could be.

Each made fresh on the spot per order, this real estate broker, Paula Samford, has done donuts “proper”. Inspired from hours on end of unsatisfied cravings due to touring with clients and showing homes, Paula ,with the help of family and friends, developed and created the extensive three foot tall menu that rests perched upright against the silver airstreem parked in the gravel courtyard along South Lamar.

We ordered and devoured the “Funky Monkey”, a Banana’s Fosters  meets beniet style Donut. Don’t you worry about those trepid sticky fingers, this $3.25 sweet treat can surly satisfy up to three or four mouths each, or just keep it all for yourself?!

Just across from Alamo Draft House, we both thought it would make excellent for an after movie date…can’t wait for mine!…again

Enjoy!

-Palmer

It rained all day Saturday, so my photographic resource library is a bit limited, but you’ll get the idea. This weekend  Ross and I rode our bikes every day to the 3-day, 8 staged, 130 band music festival in Austin’s once grassy now muddy Zilker park. Not knowing where to start in my report, I’ll say just celebrating the spirit of live music, happy people and the (inner city) great outdoors paid for our tickets alone! (some weathered conditions excluded:)

It is almost impossible to stick to your pre-planed show list, but the unexpected musical discoveries of new band faves is half of the brilliance that is ACL. Previously known or unknown alike, we celebrated to the Lyrics of ‘The Kings of Leon”, the Spunk of “Flogin’ Molly”, the Rave of “Girl Talk”, and a proud moment, the Electricity of my friend Jason Mozersky.

Over Prickly Pear Pink Lemonades served by my buddies at Main Root Root Beer, Ross and I watched our friend, Jason, set the tone and rock out an enthusiastic crowd of thousands as Ben Harper’s lead guitarist for his new band Relentless 7. Certainly it was way cool to see a personal pal celebrated on such a stage and his talents projected across two 15′ (est.)Screen T.Vs, but even more so it was inspiring. Jason was my neighbor when I introduced The Gilt Studio to Austin, which at the time was no more than extra space in my apartment garage. At the time Ben Harper was a mere topic on our List of Dreams. Now, Jason’s dreams are a matter of business and it only reminds me that “It” can happen. “It” is happening. “It” has already happened… and “It” is for any one’s taking…

Thank you ACL.  Thank you Ross.  Thanks “My Neighbor Jason!!!” and Good luck to you all!!!!!

-Palmer

Upon request The Gilt Studio is now offering classes! But, of course, this is no ordinary education…

Join us at The Gilt Studio for a 4-week in studio workshop, learning how to Gild on Glass with 22Karat Gold Leaf to make Water Gilded Vere Eglomise art tiles. We will indulge in our favorite aperitif dishes, and share our crafty cocktail delicious, while learning the history of and how to apply this traditional art form to your custom designs in today’s modern world.

We will make two art tiles. The first of which will be a design provided in teaching these skills, and the second will be one of your choice, be it your own artwork or found design. Gilt Art Tiles are unique and custom expressions for Home Accents?! Custom Gifts of Art?! They may be converted into Coasters, Mosaic Tiles, whatever you wish. You may also give the class itself as a gift in the form of a “Gilt Certificate”.

Our next class is projected to begin Thursday evenings beginning November 5th (excluding Thanksgiving).  However, we  also invite you to organize your own group of three or more people and schedule classes on a series of dates that work best for you!

For further information and to register, please e-mail Palmer@GiltStudio.com or call us at 512-732-0662. Must have 3 people for classes to proceed. Please allow 1 week to order materials.