Painting Butterfly Kisses and Buying Black

CalligraphyLetteringEngravingBlack History

Feb 13

Written By Stacey

Who’s finding it difficult to surprise your significant other anymore? 🙋🏾‍♀️

In this age where we tend to buy so much online, Amazon addictions run amuck. My Amazon appetite is pretty voracious. But buying gifts online anywhere is difficult when you have a significant other. In fact, you may have what I like to call an ‘Amazon Hawk.’

For those not familiar with the phenomena, it’s when your honey is constantly eyeing the Amazon boxes (or any other boxes) coming for you...like a hawk. 👀

You must understand that surprising a partner that keeps checking for your Amazon purchases is a challenge in and of itself. To all the significant others that do it, relax and just let your person be great! 😂

As for me, I have to find creative ways to surprise my husband anymore...which usually means sneaking a gift here or there. Just call me 007.

You can’t really start Valentine’s Day anything without some pre-planning...

I decided a couple weeks ago to surprise my husband with a Chris Collins scent.

I didn’t know which to choose because I couldn’t smell any before purchasing. The line is not actually on the shelves in Delaware yet. But, I had hopes that the reviews were accurate. Harlem Nights was well-liked...and how cool is it that Valentine’s Day is during Black History Month?!

Black history is all year round. And I’m aware that most of us (including myself) question that our color is always put before any role we play in society…You’re not a teacher, an actress, or an author…You’re a black teacher, a black actress, or black author.

The politics on that run deep.

But, I still enjoy using this month to find out new facts I didn’t know about my own people. I also use it to purposefully find and support a Black-owned business because they tend to be more obscure to the average consumer.

Black American arts, culture and music in Harlem, New York flourished during the 1920’s and 1930’s. The Harlem Renaissance showed how Blacks had a profound influence on American culture as they continued to struggle for civil and economic equality. I knew getting my husband a scent that celebrates Black History for Valentine’s Day would be pretty alright.

There were only a couple places I could order this in my area...Sephora and Nordstrom (note to self....pitch to Sephora too). Nordstrom Rack was able to get it here sooner, so they got my money. But, just in case, I wanted to hedge my bets...

I also did some bottle painting at Nordstrom on Saturday...

I was scheduled to be there from 12 pm to 4 pm in the afternoon. When I got there, the table was so beautiful! 😍 And, this may not need to be said....but, I think it’s important to note that all the folks at all the Nordstrom stores are super-friendly. 🥰 They make what could be a stressful time for event artists so much more relaxing. Love them! ❤️

As for the event, I wish we had a few more customers. Most asked if I’d be back on Tuesday...which made me think they probably wanted the recipient there to see or decide what they wanted on the actual holiday. Still, the few I got squealed over their bottles! That’s always a good sign. One lady loved hers so much, she asked me to sign hers!

Painting on bottles is not the easiest thing to do. I always pray hard to be able to get past the slick surface and produce something that resembles flowers. This time was no different..and I must say, I’m thankful God answers prayer! 🙌🏾

There are different styles of painting bottles...If I had to characterize the styles I’ve seen, I’d say:

minimal
bold
decorative patterning
masculine
romantic
painterly
rendered line
realism

There are likely more…and I could probably categorize these with subsets and the like. But, meh…I think they’re pretty clear for the most part.

I think I would like to experiment more with a bolder style some day. I’d also like to explore more masculine designs for colognes. But, I really love the delicate and romantic right now. If flowers could be little, butterfly kisses, that’s what I wanted for the ladies scents and simple, minimal for the colognes since most of the men I know are no muss, no fuss.

But, I also think if these were white peacock feathers with a blue-green, orangey brown eye, that wouldn’t have been too fussy...🤔 I smell a practice coming up!

At any rate, the only downside to the love is that the clients are so excited to take their bottles, they grab them up so quickly! 😂 The fact that they love to take them immediately is a compliment. But, the other side of that is passersby don’t get to see the possibilities. So, I’m going to have to invest in more bottles to have ready to show for when that happens. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Unfortunately, my current collection of fragrance bottles is..ahem, a little too well-engraved. There’s no space for painting. At all.

Which reminds me...I took my engraver along because I like to be prepared...While I can’t carry everything, I want to be able to reasonably accommodate their clients expectations, if I can. Fortunately, there were a few that requested engraving and I didn’t carry it along for naught.

But, back to my husband’s gift...

At the Nordstrom event, just to be sure I had a little something in case the Chris Collins delivery was delayed, I wound up getting him one of those heavenly-smelling bottles of Elixir by Dior at Nordstrom. Thank You, God, for that scent!

It comes in a black bottle, which I think looks great with a stark white, minimal design. You can see for the bottles above, I used it on the bottle and the box.

Later that evening, I also got notice that the Chris Collins fragrance I ordered could be picked up from the local Nordstrom Rack in my area. Sweet! I had time for one more customization this weekend…

I hope he enjoys this scent too! I didn’t spray it since, technically, it’s not new after that.