Mother’s Vision Becomes a Tribute of a Lifetime

Some memorials start with a simple idea. Others begin with a mother who knows exactly what feels right for her child. Jacob’s family came to us with a clear vision: a Guitar Pick urn, styled with a Green Day inspired design that reflected his personality and musical heartbeat of their son.

This wasn’t a standard urn request and that’s exactly why we were the right fit.

How the Vision Took Shape

Jacob’s mother knew the imagery she wanted. Their family friend, a graphic designer, created a custom label that captured Jacob’s style and the band aesthetic he loved. Our job was to build the vessel:
a sculpted, full-size guitar pick–shaped urn, cast in ceramic, refined by hand, and finished to hold that deeply personal design.

When their artwork arrived, we integrated it into the piece with care, adjusting sizing, surface prep, and sealant finishes so the image sat clean, crisp, and protected. The result was a collaboration across love, craft, and creativity — a mother, a designer, and our hands bringing one singular tribute to life.

A Reel That Says It All

A few days ago, Jacob’s mother shared a Facebook Reel of her unboxing the package.
She talked through her experience, the care in the packaging, the thoughtful details, the business cards — and then the reveal of the piece itself. She shared what inspired the design, how the piece reflects her son’s spirit, and how deeply she loves and misses him.

Those moments remind us why we do what we do.

When Any Regular Urn Just Won’t Do

Families come to us because their person wasn’t “generic.” Their urn shouldn’t be, either.

Every life carries its own signature, and sometimes the best way to honor that is with a form that speaks their language ... a shape, image, color, or reference tied to who they were.

Jacob’s Guitar Pick urn is exactly that: a memorial with personality, meaning, and honest heart behind it.

Craft Meets Personal Meaning

This piece reflects how custom work often unfolds:

• A family brings the spark of the idea.

• We collaborate together on the perfect design.

• We shape, build, and finish the vessel.

• Together, the final memorial becomes something truly one-of-a-kind.

  
  Our role is to bridge grief and art...to help families translate their love into something they can hold, memorials as unique as they were.
  

For Families Exploring a Custom Piece

If you’re considering a custom memorial, here are a few thoughts to keep in mind:

• Start with symbols that mattered to them: music, tools, hobbies, shapes, colors, themes.

• Don’t worry about having everything figured out.

• A single image, object, or phrase is often enough to begin building the concept.

We work with sketches, stories, photos, or even small ideas that need shaping. Custom pieces take time, patience, and collaboration, but the outcome is always worth the effort.

Gratitude

To Jacob’s family: thank you for trusting us with something so personal, and for sharing your reaction with others. Your Reel touched us deeply, and it will help other families see what’s possible when they follow their heart in choosing a memorial.

Blessings to your family.

On a Personal Note: Life, Family & the Work We Love

This year has brought its share of unexpected turns. Most recently, we experienced a significant family health emergency when Jamaica’s dad suffered a serious heart scare that led to triple bypass surgery. For the past several years, her parents have kept their travel trailer on our property for extended visits with our family in the country. They happened to be with us during this episode, so his cardiac care is now local to our home. Thankfully, he’s recovering here with us, and we’re grateful every day for his strength and continued healing.

We’re still a little emotionally raw, experiencing this just four months after losing Rob’s sister, Jamie, to a fatal heart attack in our home. It’s been a lot to process, but it deepens our gratitude for health, family, and the time we have together.

For more than a dozen years, Rob worked in the medical field, and now our way of life here allows us to care for our elders when needed. It’s one of the reasons we’re so drawn to this work—creating memorials with intention, love, and humanity. We’re honored to do what we do, and that includes showing up for family when it matters most.

That said, these recent weeks have naturally delayed our usual production pace. We appreciate the grace and patience of those waiting for their memorials. Please know that we’re back in the studio now, doing the careful, heartfelt work we’ve always promised—with the same dedication that’s guided us from the beginning.

From our family to yours, thank you for trusting us in such meaningful moments. It’s never taken lightly.

With appreciation,

Jamaica & Rob

Creative Guitar Urn with Wings – A Unique Tribute to Aunt Jamie

Over the last couple of years, our teenage son has quietly been learning the ropes of our urn-making process—watching, listening, getting his hands in the clay, and developing his own creative voice. When we lost our dear Jamie, his Aunt and Rob's sister, it hit us all hard. But for him, it sparked something deep: a desire to create something meaningful, personal, and full of heart. With guidance from us and a whole lot of intention, he brought a new vision to life—a heartfelt variation of our Guitar Picker YURN, now with wings.

He wanted to make something just for her, something that honored who she was: bold, sparkly, and totally original. Jamie had that rock-n-roll energy—she loved animals, horror movies, stickers, glitter, music, and laughing loud. Pink was her color, and life for her was always full of personality and punch. Just a few months before we lost her, she went with him to his first concert with his favorite band—his birthday surprise—and that night will always be one of his most treasured memories. So he built this memorial piece with wings to help it soar, adding touches like her signature, plus a special guitar pick and custom stickers that Jamie’s daughter—his cousin—had made and shared at her memorial service. Every element meant something and represented Jamie's spirit.

We’re proud of what he created—not just as a beautiful tribute to Jamie, but as a step forward in his own journey. This piece gave him space to process, to remember, and to contribute something real. In his words, "it just felt right."

Power of Personalization: Zuni Bear

 

We created this custom Naive American influenced Zuni Bear in memory of our neighbor lady, Jan. This memorial was inspired by a tattoo that she had and her love of Native culture.

Power of Personalization: Gibson Dove Custom Guitar Urn

 

Custom, hand built ceramic guitar cremation urn.  In memory of a local Texas musician who loved his Gibson Dove acoustic guitar.  We had the honor of hand-delivering it to his widow outside of Austin.

Power of Personalisation: Custom Guitar for Lee Villaire

We were contacted by Roger shortly after the unexpected passing of Lee.  Separately and together, they wrote music and lyrics. He was looking for a special memorial that represented her lifelong love of music and singing.

To give us a connection to who Lee was, he emailed us some photos of her and some of their most recent songs.

Video of Lee and Roger performing "Worth the Wait" together

Roger decided he would like a guitar urn modeled after the guitar she had played the last 10 years... her curvy Yamaha Compass cut-away. 

Extra special and sentimental touches were added... a raised microphone adornment, engravings of song lyrics they wrote, and a love note in her handwriting. One song he sent with us was "Walk You Through", a song about losing a loved one.  We shared with him this moment of engraving her handwritten inscription...

Prior to completing Lee's guitar, we received the most thoughtful package from Roger that included 5 CDs of their music <3  We deeply appreciated his sweet words and the kind gesture given to us, even in his time of grief.

His note enclosed read:

Hello Jamaica & Rob,

Please find a small token of appreciation from Lee and I for the kindness, the personal touch and the love you have provided. Such a rare commodity these days. Service.

In the box are 3 early recordings of Lee, including her Canadian release. Also included are my only recordings with Lee helping, and Lee's last recording (solo that is), "Victory Dance".

Hope you enjoy,
Roger (& Lee)

We LOVED getting a chance to listen to a collection of Lee's music dating back nearly 20 years.  As well as, hearing Roger sing- we love his folky, soft-rock style.

We were honored to create this piece in her memory, finding connection through her music, and offering Roger some comfort with a tribute handmade with love.