Every day I design, make and sell many different gift items featuring my artwork and photography—that’s how the votives came to be and got me started making custom pet memorial gifts.
Most of these I make with my cat art, my own cats from my 45 years of rescue and foster. At vendor shows and online people buy them as gifts for themselves or others, and sometimes those are remembrance gifts.
At a recent Sunday farmers market here in my home town a family of four adults saw my cat artwork and stopped in to look over the dishtowels and tiles, keepsake boxes and garden flags as well as the Custom Pet Memorial Votives, Suncatchers and Garden Flags. I introduced myself as the artist and told them all the cats here had been with me at some point in the past 45 years, either as a foster or one who stayed.
Catching bits of their conversations it seemed they got the idea to look for a gift for someone special to all of them from my feline gift items.
I share many, many stories with other cat lovers at the farmers market, and I asked their permission to share this one in particular because of the painting that inspired it and the extraordinary coincidences between my sweet Peaches and another dilute calico named Sugar, and involving the keepsake above. They gladly gave me the permission.
Peaches and Sugar
The group of people stopped by my tent and looked in, saw kitty things, and decided to look around, some stepping in and others looking from outside. I always greet people who show that level of interest in cats saying, “I’ve rescued and fostered cats for 45 years, and here are all those cats.” Then I usually continue, “This is all my own artwork, based on cats I’ve rescued, known loved and sometimes they stayed with me for one reason or another, and maybe add, “I’ve lived with a big variety of cats so you’re likely to find a cat who looks like yours.” And sometimes, “Yes, these are all real cats, no stock photos, no AI!” That’s a lot of talk, but it’s all true, and it’s very engaging because at that point I usually start hearing stories and even seeing photos of the cats in question and it’s all great fun.
One of them first saw “Peaches and Peonies” on the garden flag in my display and remarked to each other how much that looked like a certain cat, someone else’s cat, maybe a friend or family member. Peaches is very popular and in addition to the garden flag I have her image on a tile, a keepsake, a votive lamp, greeting cards, a refrigerator magnet, and when I have framed or single prints she’s there too. One person was looking at everything on the table and I knew I didn’t need to tell her she would find that artwork on other things. She found the tile and they agreed that was better for “him” than the garden flag. And then they found the keepsake.
“I can’t believe, this looks just like her!” she said. “And this would be so good for him.” They all agreed with her and she turned to me and said, “We’ll get this. Our father just lost his old kitty two months ago. She was his heart cat and he’s kind of lost without her.” People often buy the keepsakes for pets they’ve lost or as gifts for others and I didn’t need to explain that to her, she already knew. I wrote up her receipt, ran her transaction and handed her the keepsake in a bag as they all talked among themselves.
“But you really wouldn’t believe how much this cat looks his cat,” she said, “let me show you a photo.” Scrolling on her phone she found one and showed me.
This cat had Peaches’ exact face! That little mask that I remembered! Little round face, pink nose, I couldn’t believe it!
Pointing to the peach-colored area on Peaches’ shoulder on the garden flag she said, “That area is just the same as on his cat, she has that too,” and she mentioned all the white.
“What was his kitty’s name?” I asked “Sugar,” she replied.
“And this is Peaches! So close!” I said.
“And she was 21 years old too, that was a long time,” she told me.
I was speechless for a moment and told them, “My Peaches was 21 too!” I told them that Peaches had come to me as a foster with her sister after their person had died and a mutual friend was taking care of her house and asked me. Peaches’ sister only lived 10 months, but little Peaches went on. “I forget she was only with me for six years, it still seems like a lifetime she was with me,” I told them.
We all laughed and said it was too much coincidence, it was meant to be. “We’ll have to tell him all this too. I really think it will help him knowing about Peaches,” one of them said.
“That’s why I do this,” I said. “Tell him I’ll remember his Sugar whenever I look at Peaches.”
Okay, so I had a few tears on my face. I’m an easy cry. But I just had to share that story, so that you know of Sugar too.
About the keepsake boxes
Nearly all of my keepsake boxes are made from new wooden cigar boxes, thanks to my cousin who worked in a cigar store for several years. Others have been made from very well-loved vintage cigar boxes along with some newer ones, and here and there an unfinished cardboard keepsake box.
I add my artwork to the top surface with a waterproof vinyl label and preserve as much of the artwork and embellishments already on the cigar boxes as I can but cover up the cigar information just about everywhere with washi tapes, cut vinyl, painted detailing and even bits metal bling from jewelry and other things that coordinate with the art and the box.
I generally make a big batch of them at the beginning of the season and let them all sell, but if popular ones sell I’ll make another of that design.
You can check what’s available in keepsake boxes on my ecommerce site Portraits of Animals on the keepsakes page. They retail for $20.00 each (in person).
I mentioned above that I have a large selection of handmade gift items made with my cat artwork. Read about Other Memorial Gifts, Animal Sympathy Cards and Commissioned Pet Portraits and follow links to find out more information or contact me by email.
If you’re local maybe I’ll see you at one of my local events. Check my schedule for where I’ll be this spring and summer.
And now, about that painting…visit “Featured Artwork: Peaches and Peonies, and a Cat Named Sugar” on The Creative Cat.
All images and text © 2022-2025 Bernadette E. Kazmarski • www.custompetmemorialvotives.com
All images and content are copyrighted and may not be used or reproduced in any way without my written permission. Please contact me if you are interested in using any of my content.
