Marketplace: Four Favorites and Two New Votive Lamp Designs

I’m getting things ready for the farmers market this weekend and made six “replacement” votive lamps. Yay, the cat people found me!

They’ve been pretty popular, and those four on the top row in this photo, Stained Glass Cats, Inscrutable Cats, 22 Cats are always favorites with people who foster or have lived with many cats, or as gifts for those people. and Lucy the Most Exceptional Kitten is, of course, popular with black cat lovers.

After several years of these I’ve added two new votive lamp designs to the collection.

Bath, Interrputed Votive Lamp

I’ve had the idea to add a few new designs but no time to work things out until now. Of course, if Sienna has a votive lamp made from her painting “Draw Me Like One of your French Cats” so she can show her belly and her sweetness, then Mariposa should also have a votive lamp to show her attitude and remarkable beauty (everyone remarks on it( with “Bath, Interrupted.” Mariposa’s painting wraps around the jar and I’ve detailed the clear glass areas with amethyst glass paint, and in the future I may use turquoise or a lighter pink just for a change.

Stained Glass Feline Family Votive Lamp

You might remember this unique portrait from 2019…

The woman who commissioned me really liked the sketch “Stained Glass Cats” and wanted a portrait of her cats in that style. She has fostered for years and didn’t want to have the cats in the portrait represent her current cats or past cats, but cats that she loved all rolled together and shared a photo of fabric cat-shaped pillows that were different colors but just silhouettes. She would have a space in the kitchen she and her husband were renovating that would look like a window, and the cats would be looking out that window. That determined the size and shape. As with Stained Glass Cats I was channeling glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany of the famous Tiffany stained glass windows and lamps.

I asked her a few years ago if she would mind if I used her portrait on gift items and she said that was fine with her. I had originally thought of making suncatchers with this design, and I may still do that, but I knew I’d want to do a votive lamp, and finally, it’s here! I’ve detailed the clear glass areas with a leafy green, and in the future I may use blue or orange or yellow, just for a change.

What the heck is a votive lamp?

I started out making small votives, including my Custom Pet Memorial Votives, and from there moved to larger purchased votives and also upcycled glass jars.

I made those with little LED tealights but as I made them bigger they needed more light. Like everything else I make I’ve worked on the design and production of my upcycled glass jar votives, and one of the things was changing from small LED votive candles to battery-operated light strings, then going with LED light strings, and then changing them all over to light strings with timers.

These lights are brighter and more colorful, and you can use them as lamps that turn on and off automatically. And going with the timers—geez, I got so tired of turning lights off and on, with all the votives I have on display, and I used the timed strings around the house.

In fact, I have the lamps in the house and in my display, but I’d never used one until we had a full-day power outage after a storm and I put one in each room. Wow, they are really bright!

How I make my votive lamps

• I print the design on a clear frosted vinyl label and burnish the label onto the jar.  The label is colorfast if kept out of direct sunlight and regular handling will not smear or rub off the design.
• I finish the design by embellishing the curved areas with alcohol inks, glass paint or acrylic paint. In some cases I’ll frost the interior or exterior to better diffuse the light.
• I choose a set of string lights that fits the lamp and illuminates the design in the best way. The battery pack fits inside the jar but they all have a length of cord between the battery pack and the first light so that you can put the pack outside the jar if you prefer to access the switch more easily. Don’t screw the lid all the way down or it will damage the cord, just set the lid on top and press down so it pressure fits. Never let the battery pack get wet.
• To set the timer on most light strings: turn the lights to “timer” or to “6 hr” when you want them to come on each day. They will turn off automatically six hours later, then turn on automatically at the time you turned them on originally. I get four to six weeks out of a set of batteries.

CARE AND USE

• The votive lamp can be used indoors or out if they battery pack is kept inside the jar in a covered outdoor setting and can take a little dampness without damage. The lights themselves are waterproof, but the battery pack is not. Excessive heat or cold may cause the label to peel.
• It can be gently washed with mild dish soap, just be sure to take the light string out, and make sure the interior is completely dry before you replace it.

Where to find the votive lamps

You’ll find all the votives I have in stock on the Votives page on Portraits of Animals. Right now I haven’t added “Bath, Interrupted” or “Stained Glass Feline Family” though I will after the farmers market on Sunday. I have a stock of jars, many the same, many really different, so each votive lamp is unique.

 

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Marketplace

Take a look at other new merchandise and featured artwork.

Marketplace is a feature on The Creative Cat to share the latest coming out of my studio with my readers. Once a week on Thursday I feature something new in my “shop”.

Read about creating custom items

Find out more about creating custom items for your own home using the images you see here. Visit the “Ordering Custom Art” page to see samples and read bout how to order.

Find out about events and festivals where you can find me and my work.

Sign up for my e-newsletter (below), check the widget on the sidebar on my home page, or sign up to receive posts on Portraits of Animals Marketplace. I plan on plenty of events this coming summer in the Pittsburgh area.

It’s all done under the close and careful supervision of my studio cats!

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Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

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Weekly schedule of features:

Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life

Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters

Tuesday: Rescue Stories

Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork

Thursday: New Merchandise

Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy

Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats

And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!

 

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