When Death Becomes Art

Coping with death can be one of the hardest things you’ll ever face. Accepting that you’ll never see, talk to, or touch a person you love is a long and enduring process for family members and friends. Grieving can be a very hard road, and one that many people walk for weeks, months, and even years.

A big part of grieving for many people involves paying tribute, whether through a community event or with a memorial such as a park bench or garden. More and more people are getting creative with memorial works of art and personal memorials that are kept at home and can easily be visited in times of sadness and joy.

When a standard gesture may not be enough families are now turning to the artistic skills of glass artist that specialize in memorial art glass that actually incorporates some of the cremated ashes. With a beautifully-crafted work of art from Cremation Solutions, you can keep your loved one’s ashes alive forever in your memory, your heart, and your home.

Creating the Perfect Memorial

Ashes in glass
From Ashes Comes Art

When you lose some one special, finding an appropriate way to pay homage to their life can take a little creativity. Blown glass cremation statues are handcrafted and unique to you, providing a one of a kind keepsake that you can cherish forever.

Whether you wish to capture a creative spirit gone too soon or would like to develop a physical representation of a loved one, our inventory can help you find a touching tribute to those who matter most. We know that no two souls are exactly the same, which is why we offer dozens of options to help you embody the love and life of the beautiful person you want to remember.

Made from both recycled and non-recycled glass, our touching selection provides the choices necessary to truly celebrate those who have passed on.

The Beauty of Blown Glass

Glass blowing is an incredibly challenging discipline, requiring patience, skill, and attention to detail to execute properly. Each Cremation Solutions piece is handmade specifically to your order, ensuring a custom creation carrying a little piece of someone you love and cherish.

In order to create blown glass pieces, our artisans start with a crucible of hot liquid glass. This glass is then gathered on the end of a hollow steel blow pipe, and then rolled on a hard metal table to create a smooth, rounded shape. In order to keep the glass hot and malleable, the craftsman will continue to place the blow pipe into a roaring furnace.

To shape and expand the glass, the artist will physically blow into the end of the pipe. If necessary, powders, glass sticks, and other elements can be incorporated into the design to add color, texture, and shape. Glass can also be pulled and sculpted with the use of tongs and other tools.

Throughout this process, the cremation ashes you provide to us will be added to the glass piece, incorporating the spirit of your loved one into your handmade creation. Blown glass requires a temperature of over 2000 degrees, higher than that of initial cremation. This extreme heat burns off all carbon deposits, leaving brilliant white ashes that are spread throughout the glass.

Ashes in Turtle glass
Turtles are some of the oldest creatures on earth. The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle, known as “Honu,” symbolizes good luck, endurance and long life. Turtles can show up as a person’sguardian spirit, known as “Aumakua.” ornaments, paperweights, decorative flowers, sculptures, and other keepsakes, providing the perfect fit for whatever you envision.

Once a piece is finished, it will be transported to a 960 degree oven. Over the course of the next 14 to 24 hours, the oven temperature will drop, allowing the blown glass to cool naturally without the risk of cracking or warping.

Placing Your Order

When you’re ready to memorialize the loss of someone you love, Cremation Solutions is here. Our catalog features over one hundred unique designs.

Once you select a piece and place your order, we will send you a kit to safely mail the ashes you would like to contribute. The ashes will be sent directly to the artist that will be creating your blown glass memorial. All packages are stringently tracked and organized, ensuring the integrity of the remains that you provide. After the ashes are received, work can begin. Your custom handcrafted sculpture will be mailed to you within three to four weeks.

Cremation Glass
The Incredible “Skyward” Sculpture

All of the sculptures, including our stunning Skyward piece shown above are hand-crafted in the USA by one of our master artists.

Why We’re Different

When you would like to keep the strength and spirit of a loved one alive forever, we can provide a beautiful memento fitting for your emotional journey.

If you’re mourning the death of a friend or family member, Cremation Solutions is here to provide you with a caring, compassionate experience.

Dichroic Glass with Ashes
Glass Artist Also Create Jewelry That You Can Wear.
CLICK HERE – Every piece we create is fully customized to your wants and wishes, offering a treasured opportunity to celebrate the beauty within the circle of life.

If you’re seeking the perfect opportunity to memorialize a loss, a glass blown cremation sculpture is a beautiful, unique, and completely customizable way to bring your love to life. Whether you are seeking a creative and abstract piece of artwork or something traditional and whimsical or a cremation urn, we will help you find the ideal way to pay your respects forevermore.

For more information on Skyward, our award-winning showpiece, or any of our other cremation glass keepsakes, we encourage you to contact us at 877-365-9474. One of our experts will guide you through your options, helping you to make a decision that’s truly right for you and your loved one.

From Ashes Comes Art

Ashes in glass
From Ashes Comes Art

Grief over the loss of a loved one can be a life-changing experience. In most cases, people may cease crying or even get used to a new life routine, but they never stop missing their loved one who has passed on. Cremation glass urns and keepsakes help people feel close to their lost loved ones in a way that is uniquely beautiful and incredibly comforting. Cremation Solutions offers glass memorial art that features a small amount of a loved one’s ashes that have been carefully incorporated into the glass during the production process. The result is an eye-catching work of art that can forever remind you that the essence of your beloved family member or pet is always close.

Ashes into Art

History is associated with various rituals and practices associated with the use of memorial ashes. Some family members prefer to keep their loved one’s ashes in tradition urns in their home. Others choose to bury their loved one’s ashes or scatter them at a location that was special to their loved one. In recent years, families have opted to transform some of their loved one’s ash into an imaginative work of glass art where their loved one’s ash may be seen swirling within the glass itself. These extraordinary keepsakes offer families a dynamic way to marry the essence of a loved one with a custom-made glass object that can be placed in mantles or even bedroom nightstands.

Creating a Custom Glass Keepsake

Enduring Fountain
Enduring Fountain

Cremation Solutions offers a myriad of memorial glass art styles. Once a customer decides on a style and color for their glass urn or keepsake, they contact the company. At this point, Cremation Solutions will send out a special kit that informs that customer how much ash is needed to showcase in their glass art. All ash is kept strictly separate, so customers need never worry about any mingling of ash during the entire process. Any extra ash will be securely returned along with the complete glass art.

Life Galaxy

 

 

To create the beautiful glass orbs and sculptural glass memorials, Cremation Solutions works with a team of highly skilled glass artisans and artists, one of whom will be creating your custom artwork. During the creation process, glass artists will hand-blow your orb or other selected glass keepsake and carefully infuse it with your loved one’s ashes. During the process, temperatures run extremely high—higher even than the cremation process. The result is that the carbon is burned off the ashes so that they turn a breathtaking white, which can be seen swirling within the glass itself. Once the object is completed, the artisan will allow it to cool, which takes anywhere from 12-48 hours, depending on what size object you’ve commissioned.

Selecting Your Glass Urn or Keepsake Style

Cremation Solutions offers more than forty different styles for customers to select from when commissioning a glass orb or glass keepsake memorial. Styles are available in recycled as well as non-recycled glass. The recycled glass orbs will be created in emerald green, as these are made from 100% recycled glass from wine and beer bottles. Non-recycled glass memorial art objects can feature other colors like jewel tones available in shades of amethyst, ruby, sapphire, and many more.

Glass art from ashes
Glass Flowers For Giving…

Customers can specify their color of choice for any of the presented styles. Cremation Solutions offers sculptural shapes like glass ornaments, flower stems, hearts, and icicle shapes even turtles and frogs. They also feature orbs and fountain-style glass objects. If selecting a style is difficult, talk to other family members or close friends of your loved one. The customer representatives at Cremation Solutions are also extremely helpful and can offer some advice to help you finalize your selection.

Once you do settle on your custom art object, you can be assured of the care and skilled workmanship that goes into every glass work. Unlike other forms of art that may fall in and out of fashion, these objects are true heirlooms that offer a timeless memorial to someone special and dear to you. Our customers report how comforted they feel once their glass art arrives and they can display it where it can offer solace and remind them that some wonderful essence of their loved one is still with them.

Our Featured Glass Sculptural Memorials

Ashes made into a turtle
A Sculpture Representative of The Cycle of Life…

We invite customers to spend time viewing our custom glass remembrances. Each presented style is one you might choose to memorialize the ashes of your loved one or even beloved pet. Our fountain styles our available in two sizes; one stands 4 inches high and the other stands 5.5 inches high. These elegant glassworks have the look of vintage hand-blown paperweights that can be featured in glass hutch or even placed on your desk so that it’s there with you whenever you sit down to work.

 

We also offer breathtaking flame art glass that makes for a dramatic display of hand-blown glass and ash. These objects showcase the tremendous skill of our team of artisans. Our glass orbs and hearts are also popular shapes to consider. Within these figural objects, the ashes are enveloped in their center. Our Timeless Sphere Ornament Collection features ornaments that can be hung in windows

or anywhere you want to show off their beauty.We even figure animals shapes like frogs and turtles that are simply stunning and perfect for families whose loved one enjoyed nature. Be sure to see our figural flower stems that are truly breathtaking memorials. In the end, we want you to choose the style that is right for you and your family. We also feature mahogany bases that are outfitted with LED lights—perfect for displaying your custom art glass memorial.

Glass Encasements
Objects of Meaning Can be Preserved in Glass

 

 

 

Be sure to contact Cremation Solutions for help selecting your glass urn or keepsake or if you have any questions about the ordering process or glass-making process. We’ve tried to keep our ordering platform simple and streamlined, but we want you to contact us if you have questions regarding any aspect of your custom glass creation. We’re here to assist you in any way we can!

Glass Artists Are Creating Art with Cremation Ashes

Art Made From AshesGlass memorial tributes — an art that was just recently featured on the Today Show — are beautiful, custom, one-of-a-kind keepsakes and jewelry that will be cherished for generations to come.  This jewelry and these glass keepsakes are carefully hand-crafted with the incorporation of the cremation ashes of your loved one or beloved pet by highly-skilled and talented glass artists.  Glass memorial tributes are a wonderful way to honor your lost loved one or pet.

Glass memorial tributes are available in both recycled and non-recycled glass, with the recycled glass counterparts being made in an emerald green shade and the non-recycled glass made in a wider variety of beautiful jewel tone colors.  However, both are equally stunning and beautiful.  Easily select a preset keepsake style color combination or create your own unique custom color with different color combinations and styles.

Art Made With AshesHow Glass Memorial Art is Created

Glass memorial art keepsakes and jewelry are hand-blown and then carefully and skillfully sculpted right here in the United States by skilled glass artists and then hand-signed.  During this process, glass is heated to temperatures reaching well over 2000 degrees, melting it into a molten glass state.

When glass is molten, as it cools it is plastic-like and shape-able.  Once the glass is in a molten state, the ashes of your loved one are then carefully incorporated into the glass.  Because the molten glass is hotter than the ashes, carbon is burned off, which then in turn turns the ashes into a brilliantly white color within the glass.

After the sculpture is artistically made, it is then put into an annealer to cool down.  Cool-down generally takes over 12-48 hours and will vary depending upon your memorial tribute’s size.

Cremations Solutions Keepsakes and Jewelry

Ashes inside JewelryGlass cremation jewelry is available CremationSolutions.com in a wide-variety of glass cremation pendants and each pendant is made with a small amount of cremation ashes.  Pendants are available in the Cross Pendant, available in four colors; the Helix Pendant, available in four colors; the Loving Memory Hearts, available in eight colors; the Precious Metals Heart – Gold, available in eight colors; the Precious Metals Heart – Silver, available in eight colors; the Rhombic Pendant, available in four colors; and the Swirling Galaxy Memory, available in six styles.

Keepsakes are available in the Embrace Orb, the Galaxy Orb, the Swirl Orb and the Keepsake Heart.  You have the option of choosing two beautiful colors for the inside of the cremation urn glass.  Colors that you’ll choose from include: eternal purple, sea-foam aqua, sky blue, ocean blue, forever green, antique red, perfect pink, radiant orange, everlasting gold, apricot/marmalade, daffodil yellow, slate grey, mystic black, ivory white, aged bronze or a simple crystal clear.

Ashes Globe
Shown With "Wave Wrap"

When customizing your keepsake, you have the option of also including a wrap for your urn in the color of your choice.  The wrap will then become a permanent part of your urn and cannot be removed later.  You can also put the globe on a stand. The stands have an led light that adds a warm glow to your keepsake globe.  Choose one of two mahogany stands.  Each stand is hand-crafted and will include a brass plaque for two lines of engraving.

How the Order Process Works

To order, simply go on our website and select the keepsake or jewelry that you wish to order.  Cremation Solutions will then send you a kit to collect and saftly send us the right amount of ashes. You might be worried about sending something so precious through the mail as cremation ashes, but rest assured that all orders are tracked from the time that they leave your hands at the post office to the time that your final piece arrives to you. The records for that label are then kept in a company database and these records accompany each and every order throughout the entire creation process of your keepsake or jewelry.  Ensuring that you, your loved one and the memorial that is being created for you in their honor is treated with the utmost respect and care.

To Learn More about Glass Cremation Tributes

To learn more about creating a beautiful glass art memorial to honor the memory of your loved one or beloved pet, contact Cremation Solutions today.  Cremation Solutions has been a trusting provider of cremation products and cremation services for over seven years, with many more years to come.

Cremation Solutions is located in Arlington Vermont, owned by Jeff and Stacie Staab who have a goal of not only providing exceptional cremation products and cremation services, but also in helping to guide families who have lost loved ones in the creation of exceptional funeral and memorial events with the motto “Live, Love, Remember.”

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Questions About Scattering Ashes and Scattering Urns and Keepsakes

“Just scatter my ashes and have a big party” We hear it a lot these days. Such celebrations of life are easy and parties are fun, right? It should be easy, but without some thoughtful planning, survivors are faced with many unanswered questions.

Often the scattering may be put off because of all the unanswered questions (“Do I need a scattering urn?”, “What’s the best way to scatter ashes?”, etc.)and the ashes can end up on that top shelf in the hallway closet indefinitely. Helping people learn how to have a creative and meaningful scattering ceremony is a large part of the reason that Cremation Solutions exists.

Scattering ashes outdoors is on a piece of land with significance to the deceased is often selected by their families.

Families are grateful to learn that they can create a meaningful event and still follow the persons request to “just scatter me”. Scattering ashes is often the final act of love that survivors can participate in. Scattering is nothing less than a committal service, it is an event that should contain ceremony and ritual. It is important for family and friends to experience a meaningful and memorable final tribute.

People who choose to have their ashes scattered do not consider scattering to be any less respectful or meaningful than any other disposition option. In fact, families that have scattered are experiencing a higher level of satisfaction. They consider scattering to be a more natural way to return loved ones to the earth. Scattering also allows families the flexibility of choosing a site that is personable and has special meaning to the deceased and the survivors. Sites with natural beauty or familial significance are also often selected.

Ash scattering is becoming fairly common in North America with more than half of all cremated Americans and Canadians choosing the scattering of ashes. In fact scattering is now the most common disposition of cremated remains in the United States and Canada. And the number of people selecting cremation continues to grow, not only in North America, but also internationally in such areas as Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

However, funeral professionals are the only ones that aren’t catching on. Most funeral professionals consider scattering a dirty and unprofitable choice of final disposition. They will eagerly help with a burial, an interment, or the planning and creation of funeral and memorial events, but when the choice is to scatter, they will help you as far as the door!

Some of the more progressive funeral homes now offer special urns for families that choose to scatter the ashes, but that’s about as far as it goes. Cremation Solutions was started when our founder, a funeral director for over twenty years noticed how those who choose to scatter have been so neglected by the funeral professionals in general. He created Cremation Solutions to be an informative and authoritative source of information for those choosing to scatter.

Here are some things to consider when planning a scattering ceremony. Hopefully a funeral or memorial event will take place before the scattering ceremony. Planning these events are what funeral professionals are really good at. Even if you’re not having public viewing and or visitation, you should still give survivors the chance to gather and celebrate the life that was lived. This helps survivors not only with the healing process but also to continue important relationships with each other and to support those who really need it.

For the scattering ceremony you should consider first if you want a public ceremony or will it just be the family gathering. For a public ceremony, you might want the scattering to follow the memorial event, just like when a procession follows to the cemetery for committal services.

  • Will more than one person scatter the ashes or will there be a chance to share in the scattering of ashes?
  • Will the gathering be at the place of the scattering or somewhere else, either before or after?
  • Will there be more than one scattering if there are relatives or friends in another part of the country? If people know the date and time the scattering will occur, they can then take that time to honor the memory of the deceased in their own way.

As the popularity of scattering ashes has grown, new options for remembrance have been created. Three popular product types that relate specifically to families that desire to scatter are scattering urns, keepsakes, and keepsake jewelry.

Families often scatter ashes over water during scattering ceremonies.

Scattering urns can be displayed at services, creating a focal point and sense of reality. Urns allow the cremated remains to be easily disbursed while adding dignity to the process. The location of the scattering sometimes determines the style of scattering urn to be used. The most popular location is over water and there are many water soluble urns that are specifically designed for this purpose.

The second most popular location is on the family property. Birdhouse memorial urns are a great option for these families because they are scattering urns that will convert into a memorial birdhouse, providing comfort for the years to come. Some scattering urns can be kept as an art piece or provide a place to keep mementos of the deceased or be used as a vase.

Because scattering is irreversible, keeping some of the ashes can be very important to the family that chooses to scatter. If families relocate, they can be left with feelings of abandonment. Keepsake urns and jewelry help provide the comforting knowledge that part of the earthly remains can always be kept close. They come in many sizes and styles and can usually be ordered match the style of the scattering urn. Keepsakes can be used to contain the ashes as well as jewelry, hair or other mementos of the deceased.

Scattering is not new a new practice: it has been happening for over a thousand years, but it has lost much of its ritual, most of which never made its way into modern times. Research tells us that today’s families still want meaningful celebrations of life with ceremony and personal memorable tributes.

Many families are hiring or consulting with funeral celebrants to help create and a more meaningful and memorable event. Funeral celebrants are ceremony specialists who have a sound background in the history of ritual, ceremony and funeral traditions in many cultures and religions. Funeral Celebrants have been drawn to this work by a strong realization that every life has meaning and deserves to be celebrated and celebrated well. Many have experienced grief themselves. All are convinced that funerals can be a valuable source of healing. Nothing can take away the grief, but a genuine, well prepared tribute may ease the pain. Whether your family is secular, religious, spiritual or interfaith, or if you simply wish to express yourself in a manner of your own, choosing a Celebrant can help to create a meaningful, memorable, fitting end of life tribute.

If you have any question about scattering ashes, cremation urns, scattering urns, or anything else, please feel free to contact Cremation Solutions for further info.

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