The Perfect Christmas Gift Returns to Grand Junction

From time to time you'll see an artist with amazing calligraphy and hand engraving skills working around the valley. Who is she? Well, she's coming back to town, and just in time for Christmas. Take a look at this highly skilled person in action.

Her name is Pat Schabel. Last year she was spotted engraving bottles at Fisher's Liquor Barn in Grand Junction. Does she do this often? Yes, all the time.

When she last visited the valley, I took the opportunity to have her engrave a handful of bottles. I gave these as gifts to various friends and family. Adult beverages are always a great gift, but they're a thousand times better when the bottle has been custom engraved.

Does she only engrave booze? Not at all. Perfume bottles, glasses, wine bottles, and more. If it's made of glass, it seems she can engrave it.

She will be back in town next week. You can catch Pat engraving Jim Beam products at Fisher's Liquor Barn at 2438 Patterson Road in Grand Junction on December 19 and 20. Simply drop your bottles off, and Fishers will call you when they are ready. This service is courtesy of Jim Beam and Fisher's Liquor Barn. In other words, there is no charge. On those two days, only Jim Beam products will be engraved.

What if you want to have a bottle engraved, and it's not a Jim Beam product? Well, in that case, Pat will engrave most any bottle on Saturday and Sunday. Please note: bottles to be engraved must be glass. In addition, there are some alcohols which are, oh, shall we say..... explosive. Those products cannot be engraved. Put simply, it breaks down like this:

• Non-explosive bottles = can be engraved
• Explosive bottles = cannot be engraved

When I last saw her at the store, I asked if you could engrave a Jim Beam bottle with a message for Grand Junction's Desert Flyer Band. The band was celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Mark II version of the group.

As you can see in the video, Pat has a little pep in her step, a little pride in her stride, and a little dip in her hip. In other words, she works quickly. She knocked out this bottle in a matter of minutes.

Personally, I thought she was going to faint when she saw the message to be engraved on the bottle. It was pretty lengthy and included the names of the band members. She didn't bat an eye. Here's the final result.

Pat does magnificent work. Giving a gift is one thing. Giving a custom engraved gift is something entirely different. It's hard to imagine a better Christmas gift idea.

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