Wednesday

Scrimshaw on Ivory Celtic Drop Spindle



This is a little spindle Dave has been working on over a period of time. Not exactly your wooden toy wheel and dowel rod spindle, is it?

This is a 1.0 ounce top whorl spindle, with the whorl measuring 1 7/8 inches. The length, not including the brass top hook, measures 7 inches. The wood is a beautiful East Indian Rosewood and the intricate Celtic design has been scrim'd on ancient Russian mammoth ivory. This spindle has been initialed and dated by Dave, the maker, on the bottom of the whorl. This spindle is currently up for auction on Ebay.

Tuesday

We've Been Featured!


I logged into my email this morning and found a wonderful surprise! We've been featured in "Rocki's Rock'N Blog"!

Rocki is a kindred spirit that loves to create using organic and earthy elements in her jewelry. My favorite piece, is her "Even Squares Love Peace" artisan hand formed silver pendant necklace. I spent many a day back in the early 70's wearing "Peace" symbols, but none of them were as wonderful as Rocki's handmade metalwork pendants. Rocki also creates beautiful signature "Elfin Earwires" that she sells in her "Rocki's Supplies" shop, along with handmade clasps.

Thank you SO much Rocki, for featuring us on your blog! Oh, and for the record--NO, he does NOT do dishes nor windows! LOL

Sisters Western and Native American Festival


It's that time of year again! We always look forward to the end of August, not just because it signals the end of summer here in Central Oregon, but because it also means it's time to go to Sisters, Oregon for the Western and Native American Festival! This show will be held in Creekside Park, which is a beautiful venue for this show. The dates for this show are August 30-31, 2008 and admission is free.

We will have a new selection of baskets and earthenware jewelry, so be sure and stop by our booth if you are in the area!

Sunday

Carved Bone Dragonfly Thread Winder


Loose thread can fly away! This little bone dragonfly thread winder is 1 7/8 inches long and initialed and dated by Dave, the maker. You can find this adorable dragonfly currently up for auction on Ebay.

Saturday

Acorn Pattern Pricker


Dave turned this 2 ¼ inch Acorn needle vise/pattern pricker from maple burl and lacewood. The burl wood had some voids in it that he filled with brass inlace, making a very unique and attractive accent.

Lace Bobbin Pin Pusher/Lifter


Dave turned this lace pin pusher/lifter tool from joined Rosewood, Maple Burl and ancient Mammoth Ivory. It is 4 ½ inches long and has been initialed by Dave, the maker.

Brillante Weblog Award


We've been given the "Brillante Weblog Award"! A big "Thank You!" to Laura of Any Occasion Boutique! We really appreciate this! Please take a few minutes and visit her beautiful blog as well :)

Thursday

Fossil Ivory Nalbinding Needles


Rings aren't the only thing Dave has been making lately! Three new Nalbinding Needles have been added to the Fiber Art Tool section of our Etsy shop.

Fossil Ivory Rings

Dave has been busy turning some beautiful pieces of fossil ivory! We had purchased some vintage raw brass adjustable rings a while back, and knew what we wanted to use them for--we just had to find the right pieces of ivory.

We currently have four fossil ivory rings for sale in our Etsy shop, one of which is a gorgeous blue fossil ivory.

Wednesday

Medieval Nalbinding Needle


**THIS IS ELK ANTLER AND FOR SALE IN USA ONLY**

This is a larger 3 ¼ inch Elk Antler Nalbinding Needle typically used for making rugs (aka Toothbrush Weaving). Lay down your plastic tooth brush handles and move back in time when the ancients used antler, bone, horn and ivory needles and tools for weaving and knitting textiles and enjoy this primitive made tool while doing your weaving.

Dave carved this needle from Elk antler. To add novelty and art to this piece, he inlaced it with copper runes and a turquoise double spiral. Using the runic alphabet, Dave has spelled out NADELBINDER with the copper inlaced runes. Its perfect for use while in costume at Ren-Faire or SCA events.

This needle is initialed by Dave on the reverse side.

Tatting Shuttle Fob


Dave just completed this commissioned piece which features a working tatting shuttle carved from fossil mammoth ivory. This miniature 1 1/4" scrimshawed tatting shuttle hangs from a fob beaded with Swarovski crystals. The fob can be removed from the lobster claw clasp on one end, and the other end also has a clasp which can be attached to a picot hook.

Tuesday

Cherry Wood Tatting Shuttle with Tatting Box


Cherry Wood Tatting Shuttle Box Set

Dave made this 2 5/8 inch post shuttle out of Cherry Wood. The Cascade logo is burn etched into the wood. The little tatting box is made from a 4 ½ inch by 3 ½ in oval bentwood craft box. The bottom and top are lined with red imitation tooled leather and we hand painted it with acrylic and liquid gold leaf. The top center piece is a walnut scroll saw cut out Dave had made for GMA by a scroll saw artist friend.

This set is currently up for auction on Ebay.

Monday

Fossil Ivory Cabochons for Tatting Projects


Dave just finished up a custom order for some fossil ivory cabochons for a tatting artist. The photo is of the finished pieces, which turned out to be quite spectacular. As we are not tatting artists, we are continually learning about this fascinating art form and how it is utilized. After looking around the internet, we've found several talented tatters who are combining various cabochons in with their tatting and thought there may be others out there that would like to try using fossil ivory as a medium in their jewelry.

In the near future, we will be offering fossil ivory cabochons in our Etsy supply shop, Grizzly Mountain Cache. Please give us a bookmark if this sounds like an item you would like to incorporate into your tatting :)

Be sure and click this photo to view it full size!

Wednesday

Celtic Tree of Life Lucet


Dave has hand crafted this palm size yarn braiding Lucet from American Cherry wood and inset a pewter Tree Of Life into it. He has also inlayed a colorful piece of celluloid backing giving it a stain glass appearance. It is approx 2 inches wide by 4 inches long and initialed and dated by Dave, the maker.

This unique lucet is currently up for auction on Ebay.

Monday

Dyed Box Elder Burl Wood Bobbin Shuttle


Dave made this 2 ½ inch bobbin shuttle out of dyed box elder burl wood. The natural features in this piece of burl wood makes an interesting diagonal pattern of lines in the shuttle. The floral design is carved and inlaced into the wood with silver, copper and brass. It has a #14 steel crochet hook inset into the nose. The bobbin is a common plastic singer bobbin that I picked up at Walmart in the 4 pack. The tension drag on the bobbin can be adjusted with the brass axel post screw.

This bobbin shuttle has been initialed and dated by Dave, the maker and is currently up for auction on Ebay.

Ebay Policy on Buying and Selling Fossil Ivory Items

Some of you may have noticed recently that one of our Ebay auction items was removed. It has since been relisted, but with United States only shipping.
While it is perfectly legal to buy and ship mammoth ivory internationally, Ebay policy prohibits non-US buyers from bidding on ANY ivory items in the US and prohibits us from offering international shipping. Likewise, this same policy prohibits NON-US SELLERS from offering or shipping ANY ivory items to Ebay buyers located in the US and prohibits US buyers from bidding on ivory items offered by NON-US SELLERS !!! This pertains ONLY to our Ebay auctions NOT our Etsy shop.

Fossil ivory items will still be for sale to our international customers in our Etsy shop and through commissions.
This certainly is disappointing for us, but we want to continue our close relationship with Ebay and will abide by these regulations. It is our understanding that this policy was instituted after wildlife conservation groups alleged that elephant ivory was being sent into and out of the U.S. as fossil ivory. Rather than try to differentiate which ivory was permissible, Ebay chose to ban the international shipping of all ivory regardless of age and species.

Update:  Etsy has now banned the sale of all fossil ivory products.  We will now be selling our fossil ivory items from this site via PayPal.

Sunday

Copper and Turquoise Sewing Needle Case


Dave hand crafted this copper etched needle case and accented it with True Stone turquoise and Cocobolo wood. This needle case is 3 ½ inches in length and initialed and dated by Dave. You can find this beautiful one-of-a-kind piece up for auction on Ebay.

Mammoth Ivory Bodkin Nalbinding Needle with Case



This larger ivory nalbinding needle is 4 inches long and comes with a Rosewood case. Larger needles are used for projects using heavier materials such as for nalbinding rugs. Dave hand carved this out of a shard of ancient woolly mammoth ivory from Siberia Russia. He used a new pen case he had on hand and fashioned a engraved brass needle to mount on the top of the case, making it a neat presentation gift or treat for yourself. The ivory is at least 10,000 years old. It is initialed by Dave, the maker.

You can find this Mammoth Ivory Nalbinding Needle currently up for auction on Ebay.

Saturday

Oregon Cascades Myrtlewood Signature Tatting Shuttle #15


We've just added number 15 of our signature Oregon Cascades Myrtlewood Tatting Shuttles to our Etsy shop!

What is Oregon Myrtlewood?

Oregon Myrtlewood is a broadleaf evergreen native to Southwestern Oregon and Northwestern California. Although different, Oregon Myrtlewood has a lot of similarities to the Myrtlewood growing in the Holy Land. Oregon Myrtlewood became popular for making gift items back in the early 1900’s. Oregon Myrtlewood possesses a wide variety of beautiful colors and grain patterns and is noted by many as being one of the world’s most beautiful woods. The colors range from blond to black with many shades of honey, browns, grays, reds and greens in between. Oregon woodworkers have developed a small cottage industry making handcrafted Myrtle wood products and gifts for visitors. Many beautiful gifts and works of art crafted out of Myrtlewood. In the Bible, the Myrtle tree is of special religious significance, representing fertility and life.

Thursday

Fossil Walrus Ivory Oghams


We've just added some new fossil walrus ivory Ogham pendants to our Etsy shop! The Ogham design on each fossil walrus ivory shard was carved by Dave. The shape of each Ogham was made by the Earth.

This photo is of a "Protection" Ogham which measures about 2 1/4" in length.

The Celtic Ogham alphabet dates from the fourth century. The alphabet is named for Ogmos, the Celtic god of knowledge and communication. The alphabet consists of twenty letters, each named for a different tree believed sacred to the Druids.

Wednesday

Thumbelina Matchbox Tatting Shuttle



This is for that shuttle collector who does not have EVERYTHING yet! This miniature ivory shuttle is nearly the size of a thumbnail and fits nicely in the accompanying matchbox which we decoupage’ with the tiny THUMBELINA theme. The shuttle is approx 1 ¼ inch long and I color scrimshawed THUMBELINA hugging a rose that is larger than she is. The ivory is ancient wooly mammoth from Russia. Mammoth have been extinct for 10,000 years. This shuttle is currently up for auction on Ebay.

Spalted Maple Lace Bobbin


Dave turned this 4 1/8 inch Continental style lace bobbin out of stabalized Spalted Maple with True Stone turquoise and vegetable ivory inserts. Spalted maple is wood that shows patterns of fungi rott. Unstable it is usually soft and "punky". This is maple wood that has been impregnated under high pressure with resin that goes into every wood cell, nook, crack and crany and is very hard and high density. This one of a kind bobbin is currently up for auction on Ebay.

New Vintage Button Cameo Rings


We have added four new vintage button cameo rings to our Etsy shop!

This 1 1/8" diameter adjustable ring features a mother-of-pearl vintage button and a blue vintage bakelite button. A vintage brass finding frames a beautiful resin cameo.

Celtic Tranquility Earthenware Ogham


There are about as many variations of interpretations of the Celtic Ogham symbols as there are interpreters. We hope you enjoy ours!

This "Tranquility" Ogham features a Tibetan Yak bone bead that has been inlayed with coral and turquoise. The earthenware pendant measures about 2" in length.

The Celtic Ogham alphabet dates from the fourth century. The alphabet is named for Ogmos, the Celtic god of knowledge and communication. The alphabet consists of twenty letters, each named for a different tree believed sacred to the Druids.

You can view this and other earthenware Celtic Ogham pendants in our Etsy shop.

The Watched Clock


Dave has been wanting to try his hand at creating a Steampunk design using fossil ivory, and this mammoth ivory grandfather clock is the result!

This piece measures nearly 2 1/2" in length and 2" at it's widest point. The main body of the grandfather clock has been carved from fossil mammoth ivory, as has the inlayed round clock face. The clock's face has been scrimshawed by Dave. Vintage watch gears adorn the front of this unique, one of a kind piece. This piece has been signed and dated by Dave, the artist and can be found in our Etsy shop.

Sunday

A Wonderful Surprise in Yachats!


As some of you may remember, Dave and I are in Yachats, Oregon this weekend for the "Pathways to Transformation" show. Well, the show was going very s-l-o-w-l-y on Saturday when a delightful woman walked into our booth! Anna Phillips, from Tennessee, has been reading our blog and discovered that she and her husband would be vacationing in Yachats at the same time we would be here! What a wonderful coincidence! Unfortunately, Dave didn't have any tatting shuttles for sale, but we had a wonderful visit anyway :)

Anna showed us some lovely examples of her tatting and also a selection of wonderful tatting pattern books and hand dyed thread by several amazing tatters. I wish I could remember all of their names in order to give them all a little "shout out" :)

We seldom get the opportunity to meet any of our customers, so this was very special indeed! Anna, it was such a pleasure to meet and chat with you and your husband! Thanks so much for stopping by to say "Hi!" :)