Sweet 16 Metal Rose

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The sweet 16 rose was commissioned by a young man who had a girlfriend that was turning 16 and he wanted to make it super special. I wish I had a boyfriend that was this romantic for me at this age and now lol!

I was given full creative control other than it had to have a 16 instead of a heart (because that was just too much love for him) and the base had to be similar to the wood in look.

I typically do these pieces with a thick piece of wood on the bottom but I was out and we had one day to get this piece done. So we opted for a metal base which I used 3/4" round bar on the edges and 16G plate for the top.

When it came time to do the 6, I used my hand roller so that it looked as smooth as possible. I think I was able to accomplish that, and the 1 was easy straight cuts.

I formed the rose as I normally do but I left the stem a bit longer because I wanted to try and weave it through the numbers. I had to do a lot of bending of the stem and torquing the numbers to get it to look just right and then I fully welded everything in place.

I opted for a rose gold glitter for the base and then a clear coat over everything. It took 18 hours to complete and I worked into early hours to ensure I had it read for departure by 8am. They were very appreciative of my hard work and were in awe of how it turned out. It was loved by all and those are the moments as a creator that I live for. Making special moments and making them last forever!

Sweet 16 Rose