Life is what happens when you're busy making plans!

Summer 2017.

Always when I plan for the perfect summer life overtakes my plans and has its own path for me to take into the unknown. Taking a step back and listening to my inner self sometimes helps. I spent a lot of time in my studio this summer coming up with new ideas for my work and goals. Is it too late to set my self new goals? My studio Is my refuge, I realized it's what makes me, me. Its the only place i can design, mess up and still be able to create in my space. I am greateful that I have a place that relaxes my inner self.

I have a few shows coming up this Fall. The Galaxy of Glass opens up in two weeks at the Fallbrook Art Center in FallBrook CA.The show features 26 Regional artists and its a great show! Hope to see you there. My Fall 2017 collection pieces will also to available to purchase at the show and shortly after they will be available at AmazonPrime.

As always Appreciate all the support I have got from you, Sometimes just a word of encouragemeant helps. Funny how even likes to a post can cheer you up. Hope you have a great rest of summer!

Engraving Event for Corzo Tequila 10/28/2016

Lovely Corzo Bottles engraved.

On-site Engraving Event for Corzo Tequila  Fallbrook, Ca

I drove up to Fallbrook last week for an on-site engraving event. With the change in weather light rains were expected so I figured traffic would be a mess and left home quite early. Well the day started was quite gloomy but the location of the event up in the hills in Fallbrook was just divine. The pictures below tell it all...

I was set up right next to the bar area which was beautifully decorated with fresh flowers and the very best decor. The tables were made by Beverage Props. Beverage props is located in Fallbrook, Ca. They supply custom pieces for large scale restaurants. 

 The Corzo bottle is more like a large perfume bottle but makes a great collectible item once engraved. I really enjoyed the clients and engaging with them. I has a great time with the most amazing view and a perfect party location. 

Corzo tequila bottles ready to engraved...

Hello November...

Macy's San Bernadino Engraving Event 10/21-10/22

Last Friday morning I packed my engraving equipment and headed up to San Bernadino which is about and hour and half away from my home. I have worked at this location before so I was quite happy to be back with Team Gucci on location. J C Penny had their grand opening that day so the Mall was packed to capacity! I was set up and ready to go by 11:30 and we were off to a great start. 

Gucci Bamboo is one of my personal favorite fragrance with its soft yet intense sensual composition..I had a great two days getting to meet lots of new people and personalizing their purchases as well! 

Below are some fun pictures of the event..

Finding Nemo and my Voice!

       It's Been almost six months since I last blogged. I always felt like my blog had to please you. Well not anymore. It's all about me now. I have been engraving for quiet a long time now and I express myself through my blog. Everyone had an opinion on what I was writing about and so I kept it that way but I soon found out I hated it so much. I love engraving with all my heart. It's a talent I have that no one can take away from me. They can kill your spirit and drive but they can't take away your talent. I have the talent. 

In the past few months I have had the opportunity to be part of a show that I hold dear to my heart. The Beverly Hills Art Show. I participated in May and loved every minute of the two day show. What an awesome experience to be able to live my dream again. It was awesome. I had a great show. This year I did not take part in the annual Laguna Art A Fair show. That was quiet a relief as it gave me back my summer. For 3-4 years that I have been part of the show I have missed out on the lovely sun and committed my whole summer to the show. I have missed out on being with my daughter over the summer. This year I was glad to spend the whole summer with her. We did not do much but we were around each other every day and I actually got to really spend each waking day with her growing up and measuring her height playing basketball and just learning more about her. I thoroughly enjoyed it. She goes back to school this week and I am so happy for her and she is a happy camper. She had a great summer. So did I. 

      I have in the last few months quiet evolved in the pieces that I am currently working on. I have done a few collaborative pieces with Buzz Blodgett whose work is astounding, to say the least. He is quiet easy to work with and I love the pieces we have come up with together. I met Buzz through Fallbrook Art Center and was completely mersmerised by his work and Talent. I have a few of the collaborative pieces below to show you. Hope you enjoy them. I have also spent quiet sometime in the studio learning about myself, the engraving process and where I would like to see myself in the next four to five years...it's been a long metamorphosis and I am ready for a life long CHANGE! 

Below are some of the pieces that I have collaborated with Buzz...

Jack Daniels Industry Night 4/11/2016 Carondelet Los Angeles

Carondelet Los Angeles 

I was asked to engrave at the Jack Daniels 150th Anniversary Party which took place at the Carondelet Los Angeles. Carondelet was built in 1928 as an Italian villa.The venue is right in the middle of downtown Los Angeles, and features hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, exposed beam ceilings, and a fireplace it's quiet trendy and has a romantic feel to it.

I arrived 45 minutes before the event started and was set up in the patio area ready to go in about ten minutes. I had a quick look around before the guests arrived. There were different rooms which meant that the guests would be in seperate rooms throughout the evening...Max the organizer was so detail oriented and his staff were very welcoming. I started work promptly at 7 and everyone was quiet pleased with the Jack Daniels Rock glasses which were complimentary. All the guests signed in with me and I engraved the glasses with their first and last names and the glasses were then placed by the exit so as they left the glasses were ready for them to pick up all in alphabetical order as they left the venue.  

I was done promptly at 11:00 PM and ready for a long drive home. 

Below is a sign made for me by Max and his team...Really loved it! 

Thank you again for the opportunity to work with you...

Akoko

 

Sundance 2016 Here I Come! #Buyaladyadrink

Late December I was invited to engrave at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in Utah for Stella Artois.I had never been to Utah before so I was quite excited. The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the Sundance Institute, is an American film festival that takes place annually in Utah. With 46,731 attendees in 2012, it is the largest independent film festival in the United States. Utah weather was quite a shocker to me as it was ice cold. 

I arrived at around mid day and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by huge posters advertising the Sundance 2016 festival all over the airport walls! Since I did not know where I was headed to this made me comfortable that at the very least I had landed in the right place.

The festival occurred January 20-31st. 

I had an hour to get to hotel and up to Park City Utah in time for my first event. Quiet a tight schedule but I made it. The location was up in the slopes and superbly cold. I hauled my bag full of my equipment up the cabriolet and headed up the slopes. 

Below are pictures going up to the Stella Artois airstream. 

 

  Stella Artois has three limited edition chalice this year. One is Designed by Kenyan artist Wini Awuondo’s. The chalice shows graceful hands accessing safe water. Buy a chalice & join in support of @Water. #BuyALadyADrink 

I was super proud to see Wini Awoundo's chalice being Kenyan myself!

Since 2015, Stella through Buy A Lady A Drink campaign, helped Water.org provide more than 290,000 people in the developing world with 5 years of clean water, and in 2016 we’ve partnered again with Water.org to help more people around the world who don’t have access to it.We believe it’s important for all of us to leave a mark. For every limited-edition Chalice sold, we can help provide 5 years of clean water for 1 person in the developing world. Please help this cause by purchasing a Chalice. 

#Buyaladyadrink #LeaveyourMark 

The three chalice that are available 

Engraving Events and Fall Season Happenings

Over summer I had the pleasure of engraving at wedding held at the Prestigious W Hotel in Beverly Hills.  The guests got to enjoy  stunning views of Los Angeles and Hollywood in the comfort of your own W lounge chair or private luxury cabana during cocktail hour.  The main reception was indoors and everything was planned out to the tee. 

The engraving started once the guests had dinner and each guest came up and write down the names they wanted to be engraved. After engraving the glasses the bride and groom had provided a little brown bag for the guests to place their  glass in! Every detail again was taken into consideration. I was able to complete all the glasses by 11PM and had a little fun with the bride at the photo booth. The videographer by the way was one of the best in the industry! 

 

Here's a clip of the video...

W Hollywood Hotel Wedding | Cheryl + Kevin

From Anything Everything Productions

Watch “W Hollywood Hotel Wedding | Cheryl + Kevin” on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/137917471

The bride also left me the best review of all and I was quiet touched... Thank you again, Cheryl. 

Here is the review. 

MightyMangs said... 

We hired Akoko to do on-site glass engraving as a wedding favour for our August 2015 reception. We were so excited to find her because we really wanted to give personalised wine glasses as a party favour. We did a lot of research, trying to find someone that would do on-site engraving Southern California. We found three vendors in total (including Akoko). One was WAY too expensive, another one was not very pleasant to deal with but Akoko was just perfect! Here's why: 1. She's experienced. Akoko does a lot of on-site work for big companies like Nordstrom, Macy's, Bloomingdales, Hennessey and Stella Artois where she'll engrave perfume bottles, beer glasses, liquor bottles, etc. 2. She's super nice. We were determined to surround ourselves with nice people on our wedding day because who needs the stress of dealing with meanies and drama queens? Akoko was really responsive and easy to work with from the start, and most importantly, was very friendly and sweet to all our guests throughout the night. 3. She's reasonably priced. Bear in mind that this is a specialized service. But at the end of the day, the cost-per-guest still worked out to be within our budget. 4. Her work is solid. Everything is hand-done. The "font" is like an elegant calligraphy. How We Made It Work: We purchased stemless wine glasses with our names imprinted on them (we went through DiscountMugs.com). The glasses were then placed at each guest's place setting at the reception. Throughout the night, guests had the opportunity to go up to Akoko's station to get their glasses engraved on the spot. We got a ton of compliments after the wedding about the personalised party favours! We ended up having her engrave names on musical jewelry boxes for our flower girls as well (I dropped the boxes off with her and then picked them up about 2 weeks later). If you're looking for something unique for your wedding... Akoko is your girl!

Below is a hand sculpture that I did this morning on Silver. Really liked the way it turned out...this was a commission that Was brought to me after the client had visited several engraving places and they had told her that it was impossible to get it engraved..I absolutely agree that laser engraving cannot work on hard to reach areas but that's where hand engraving comes in handy!