I love creating new custom memorial products! Every now and then I get to design show pieces for our display. These are unique memorials that cannot be found anywhere else. In fact, we even copyright them!

Sometimes it is tough to know what to put on display. But, by looking at trends, we are able to project what customers will want to see in the store.

People are always surprised to learn that there are “trending” memorial designs. That’s right! Headstones do have trends! Think about it- everything changes in our society. Of course, just like fashion changes over time, so do headstones.

Now, popular memorial styles are more creative than ever before. A truckload full of my new custom memorial pieces just arrived, and I can’t wait to show you what is on it!

The Compassionate Memorialist, Alison Raymer, logs in new, custom memorials
The Compassionate Memorialist, Alison Raymer, logs new custom memorials into inventory

Trends in 2021 include black granites and textured carvings. In fact, right now black granite (and varying shades of black) is the most popular color we sell.

Black granite is great for custom memorials because we can use several different engraving styles to achieve our desired design. The solid black granite does not have any color variation in the grain of the stone. It also has amazing contrast between the natural color and polished color of the stone. This makes black granite incredibly versatile.

One thing I love about black granite custom memorials is that they are eye-catching in the cemetery. And my new custom memorial is certainly eye-catching!

The Lady Guadalupe is trending with memorials this year. And with good reason- she is absolutely beautiful! Families often choose to have her on their custom memorial because she has religious & cultural importance. While that importance varies from person to person, she is very special.

If you are not familiar with Lady Guadalupe, I suggest you read more about her and her symbolism here.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – MARCH 3, 2015: The mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dormition abbey by monk and artist Radbod Commandeur from the Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach.

Designing Our Lady Guadalupe Memorial

Because her design is intricate, a standard sandblasting technique often results in lost detail. Keeping that in mind, we want to create a unique Lady Guadalupe memorial that incorporates all of her intricate details.

Any time I create a custom memorial I first start by visiting with our incredible designer. Collaborating is my favorite part of this process! I love bringing my ideas to the artist and seeing how they evolve.

The second step in the process is sketching our design. Our designer drafts the most beautiful memorials . One recent example is our stunning angel memorial. While most designs are done by computer, our custom designs are sketched by hand.

Hand sketching a memorial helps us communicate the textures of the stone. In our hand sketch below you can see the texture of the light rays, the polish and the carved Lady. Isn’t it beautiful?!

Hand Drawn, Custom Lady Guadalupe Memorial

This custom memorial features a hand-carved, bass relief of Lady Guadalupe. A bass relief allows our Lady Guadalupe to have dimension and really “pop” on the stone. It is the perfect technique to achieve our look!

After sketching and scaling the design, we determine this memorial is the perfect size for honoring either one person or for two. For one person we will engrave the name, dates of life and inscription in the polished area. For two people we will stack individual names and dates of life one on top of the other.

The next step is to colorize our design. Oh, it is looking so good!

Textures in Stone

I love adding texture to stone. Many of my custom memorials feature beautiful texture, setting them apart from others. One great example of texture in memorial work is found with my cute little squirrel. You can click here to see how texture makes a big difference.

My Lady Guadalupe memorial is no different- texture really makes her stand out! The curves in the stone, the detail in her face and hair- everything about her is just gorgeous! The precision and craftsmanship it takes to do this is astounding!

hand carved bass relief Lady Guadalupe memorial

I am so proud of this custom memorial. To finish this we will add a base for it to sit on. While the tablet is beautiful, the base will provide stability when it is in the cemetery.

Isn’t this memorial gorgeous?! I love this side profile view. It really shows all of the texture and depth in this custom memorial.

To get started on a custom memorial for someone you love, check out my FREE Memorial Creation Journal. This journal will walk you through the creative process and help your custom memorial be amazing. Click here for your free, downloadable copy.

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