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.

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!

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.

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 :)

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.