Vy Nguyen
Ceramic artist at Pepple Studio
- ceramic pet urns
- hand-sculpted figurines
- stoneware fired at 1200°C
- pet memorials
- keepsakes
Vy Nguyen is the ceramic artist behind Pepple Studio's memorial urns and keepsakes. Each piece starts with photographs of a customer's pet, which Vy builds into a three-dimensional clay figurine by hand — no moulds, no 3D printing — before the finished urn is fired at 1200°C.
The articles here come from the workbench rather than a content calendar: how stoneware behaves in the kiln, how urns are sized and sealed, which materials survive burial, and what makes a sculpted likeness actually look like the animal it remembers.
Pepple Studio is based in Ho Chi Minh City and ships worldwide. Every sculpture is approved by its owner from a photograph of the raw clay before it goes anywhere near the kiln.
Articles by Vy Nguyen (29)
- New Puppy Owner Gifts: What to Give Now and What to Wait For
A sculpted likeness of a puppy records a stage that lasts only months. What to give a new puppy owner now, what to save for later, and which pieces survive a chewer.
Buying Guide · 1 October 2026
- Sitting, Sleeping or Standing: Choosing Your Pet's Figurine Pose
The pose and the small objects on the lid are the two choices that shape a sculpted urn most. What each design offers, what a personal object adds, and when to decide.
Buying Guide · 28 September 2026
- Why Losing a Pet Hurts So Much, and Why Others Miss It
Research now shows grief for a pet can match grief for a person. Why it hurts this much, why others may not see it, and where to find support that takes it seriously.
Pet Loss · 24 September 2026
- Custom Pet Keychain From Photo: Hand-Sculpted in Ceramic
A hand-sculpted ceramic charm of your pet, from USD 42. What fits at that size, how it wears in a pocket, and who it suits better than an urn.
Buying Guide · 19 September 2026
- How to Make a Pet Memorial Without Ashes
No ashes came home, or someone else kept them. A pet memorial still works: what it can hold instead, and why a sculpted likeness needs only your photographs.
Memorial Guide · 15 September 2026
- How Much Does a Custom Pet Urn Cost?
A custom pet urn from Pepple Studio costs USD 173 to 303. What moves the price, what costs nothing, and what the figure does not cover when it crosses a border.
Buying Guide · 10 September 2026
- Personalised Pet Gifts for Christmas: Order by 1 November
A hand-sculpted pet gift takes four to seven weeks, so Christmas orders close on 1 November. What to choose, what it costs, and how to get photos without spoiling it.
Buying Guide · 7 September 2026
- How Accurate Is a Hand-Sculpted Pet Figurine?
A hand-sculpted pet figurine holds build, posture, coat colour and markings. What clay carries at 8 to 13cm, what it cannot, and when you can still change it.
Behind the Kiln · 4 September 2026
- Why a Custom Pet Urn Takes Four to Seven Weeks
A custom pet urn takes 21 to 35 days to make plus 7 to 14 in transit. Where every stage of that goes, why drying cannot be rushed, and what to do if you need it sooner.
Buying Guide · 1 September 2026
- What Are Pet Urns Made Of? Six Materials Compared
Ceramic, wood, metal, stone, glass and biodegradable urns compared: which stay non-porous, which survive burial, and how each one actually closes.
Buying Guide · 29 August 2026
- Can You Divide Pet Ashes Between Family? Yes, Here's How
Yes, and it is more common than people think. How to do it safely, how much each keepsake holds, and how to handle the family conversation.
Memorial Guide · 11 August 2026
- Cat Urns vs Dog Urns: Does It Matter?
There is no structural difference, only size and proportion. Why cat urns are almost always size S, and where the real distinction actually lies.
Buying Guide · 11 August 2026
- The First Anniversary Without Your Pet
Why the first anniversary often lands harder than people expect, what tends to help on the day, and permission to do nothing at all.
Pet Loss · 11 August 2026
- How Much Does Pet Cremation Cost?
Typical pet cremation prices in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, the difference between communal and private cremation, and the charges people do not expect.
Pet Loss · 11 August 2026
- How Long Does Pet Cremation Take?
The burn itself takes 45 minutes to 3 hours depending on weight. Getting ashes back usually takes 1 to 3 weeks. Why the gap, and what you can ask for.
Pet Loss · 11 August 2026
- How to Choose a Pet Crematorium
The questions that separate providers: what private actually means, whether you can witness, how they identify remains, and what the vet route costs you.
Pet Loss · 11 August 2026
- How to Tell a Child Their Pet Has Died
Use the word died. Why euphemisms backfire, what to expect at different ages, and how to handle the questions children actually ask.
Pet Loss · 11 August 2026
- From Photo to Figurine: How We Sculpt Your Pet by Hand
What actually happens between sending us a photograph and receiving a ceramic figurine of your pet — the sculpting, the drying, the firing, and why it takes weeks.
Behind the Kiln · 11 August 2026
- Is It Safe to Keep Pet Ashes at Home? Yes, and Here's Why
Yes. What cremated remains actually are, why they carry no health risk, what containers suit them, and the one situation where care is genuinely needed.
Pet Loss · 11 August 2026
- Pet Lover Gifts Under $50
Gifts for people whose pet is very much alive. What actually gets used, what gets quietly rehomed, and how to personalise without guessing.
Buying Guide · 11 August 2026
- How to Choose the Right Pet Urn Size
Pet urn sizing explained: the one-cubic-inch-per-pound rule, a weight-to-volume chart in kg and lb, and what to do when your pet falls between two sizes.
Buying Guide · 11 August 2026
- The Rainbow Bridge: Where the Poem Came From
The Rainbow Bridge poem has comforted pet owners since the 1980s and nobody is certain who wrote it. What it says, where it came from, and why it endures.
Pet Loss · 11 August 2026
- Should You Get Another Pet After Losing One?
There is no correct interval and no disloyalty either way. Questions worth asking yourself, and the three reasons that tend to go badly.
Pet Loss · 11 August 2026
- What to Do With Your Pet's Ashes: 9 Options
Nine things people actually do with a pet's ashes — keeping, scattering, dividing, burying, memorial jewellery — and how to decide when you are not ready to.
Pet Loss · 11 August 2026
- What Photos We Need to Sculpt Your Pet
Three or four ordinary phone photos, from specific angles, showing specific things. What makes a photo useful, and what to do if you only have a few.
Buying Guide · 11 August 2026
- What to Give Someone Whose Pet Is Dying
Anticipatory grief is its own thing, and most sympathy advice does not fit it. What helps before the loss, and what to avoid.
Pet Loss · 11 August 2026
- Why Some Breeds Are Harder to Sculpt Than Others
Ears that must stand up, tails that must not touch, coats built curl by curl. What makes one breed a day of work and another three.
Behind the Kiln · 11 August 2026
- Why We Fire at 1200°C
What vitrification actually does to clay, why porosity matters for an urn, and how high-fired ceramic differs from the earthenware most decorative pottery is made from.
Behind the Kiln · 11 August 2026
- Creating a Pet Memorial Corner at Home
How to choose the spot, what to put there, humidity and sunlight considerations for ceramic keepsakes, and how to handle a memorial in a shared home.
Memorial Guide · 20 July 2026
