What's Up With Hope Studios - the shop?

Things have really started to pick up at The Shop in the last month as Fall weddings come up. Here is just a week's worth of work - some custom and some new things for the shop.

I'm always looking for new quotes that speak to me, and here are a few examples of quotes that did just that:

Love Story



My Heart



I am always looking for inspiration, what is your favorite quote?

Christmas Charity Fundraiser on Ebay

I have saved one of my most popular frames for this Holiday Gift Giving season to auction off on Ebay for charity this week. Have you been searching for a hand crafted Hope Studios Memory Frame only to realize you missed the Christmas deadline?

Well, put your money where your mouth is and bid here to benefit a great charity and get a great gift all at once!

100% of the proceeds from this auction will be donated to Pittsburgh's own Project Bundle Up; Initiated in 1986, Project Bundle-Up is a joint community service effort of The Salvation Army and WTAE-TV Channel 4 (local ABC Affiliate). This unique program, using over 1,000 volunteers each year, provides new winter coats, hats, scarves, mittens and boots to thousands of disadvantaged Western Pennsylvanian children and senior citizens annually. Since its inception, Project Bundle-Up has raised more than $9 million and has provided new winter outerwear to over 190,000 individuals. This charity is so valuable in the cold Pittsburgh winters.

The bids begin at $.99 for my most popular frame and the auction ends in 5 days. Let's get on this and earn some serious money for my charity! Forward this link around to get the word out!

Hope Studios

I forgot to mention that the deadline for Christmas delivery of custom frame orders in my Etsy shop is today. Since I didn't give my blog readers fair warning, I will extend that deadline to Sunday, November 23rd for orders received through my blog this weekend.

Here are some examples of custom orders I have completed this week. To place your own order, please email me at jsneill@zoominternet.net and I can invoice you directly.

Hope Studios This Week

Some photos of the frame orders I've completed this week. I've worked on some new color combos and a custom family plaque. If you'd like to order your own custom frame or special project, you can visit my shop here or you can email me directly at jsneill@zoominternet.net.






20x20 inch Memory frames: $95 + shipping
12x12 inch Memory Plaque: $30 + shipping
11x20 Family Name Plaque: $40 + shipping.

Have a spooky Halloween!

Hope Studios This Week

The winner this week is an old standby, and is my most popular frame: "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." -A. A. Milne in classic Parchment. I made 4 of that exact frame this week for 4 different customers! I never get tired of that quote and I still feel a catch in my throat when I read it. Have a great weekend!







Hope Studios Heartsongs Memory Frames can be purchased for $95 + shipping by contacting me at jsneill@zoominternet.net or visiting my online shop.

My Life Has Become So Colorful!!!

Just look at the fantastic colors I've been able to work with this week!
I couldn't resist photographing all of the frames I finished this weekend all together. It's such a colorful display.

The photo below was an order from a customer who wanted to fill a whole wall with my art. She mailed me a funky fabric swatch to color match and this is what we ended up with! We were able to link the frames by using a common font, and let the quotes and colors reflect the individual personalities. I think she did a fantastic job and wish I could see them in place.

My New Project Unveiled

A brief phone call a few weeks ago has sent my mind spinning as to the possibilities of a new project. The caller recounted the adoption process of their daughter from Taiwan and wished for a special box to keep the few keepsakes that were sent from her family and homeland.

I thought about my own children and the little objects I've kept along their journey in this world...the bellybutton clip, the pregnancy test, the blanket they were brought home in, a tiny diaper... All of these things are dropped into a cardboard box and rarely looked at again. I started thinking about how I could honor the tiny treasures I've collected along the way.

Here is my first attempt at creating what I hope will become an heirloom for her family and a connection to her daughter's past.


My customer gave me the quote and I set to work. The bottom of the box is decoupaged with a map of her daughter's country and inside the lid is an envelope for keeping letters, airplane tickets, and scraps of paper.



These will be made available in my shop very soon and can be customized with your own child's name and significant quote.

I plan for the line to evolve into Wedding Memory Boxes for all of those keepsakes we all hold onto from that special day. The invitation can be decoupaged inside the bottom.

These wooden boxes measure 10x12x3 inches and will retail for $45. For a custom order you can contact me at jsneill@zoominternet.net