When a custom buckle is more than a buckle....
Julie Franczek
I have people ask me quite often to make all different kinds of custom buckles: using a piece of old jewelry, a logo, even a photo of a tattoo. But, sometimes a custom buckle can have quite a story behind it.
A friend approached me to do a custom buckle for her sister's birthday. Of course I said "Sure, what are you thinking?". What she tasked me with had an extra special meaning behind it. She and her sister had lost their mom unexpectedly at a young age a few years ago. Growing up on Lake Michigan, they used to take walks on the shoreline and and collect beach glass with their mom. To this day, she'll still go for walks and add to her collection, with memories of her mom.
She asked if I could take a hand full of glass pieces she had collected over the years and make a buckle for her and her sister. At first I was a little scared about screwing up and wasting some of the glass. She said to not worry, there was plenty more where this came from. So, I took the pile of glass and worked my magic.
Pieces of the raw glass she had collected over the years.
Once I got started separating the pieces I got excited about how it was all going to come together. I worried that the epoxy I use would take away the frosted look of the weathered glass so I carefully set each piece with minimal epoxy, yet enough to make it durable. I thought I was going to have to add in pearls or beads to fill in the gaps, but only needed a few silver beads to give it a little extra bling.
I was so happy with the final pieces I couldn't wait for her to give it to her sister. They were both thrilled at their new creations and knowing that they can wear a little memory of their mom means the world to me!
"Memories of Mom" custom beach glass buckles.