Beautiful Akha Spindles

The Akha style spindle is a new spindle for Grizzly Mountain Arts.  This type of spindle originated with the Akha people, an indigenous hill tribe that live in small villages at high altitudes in the mountains of Thailand, Burma, Laos, China, and Yunnan Province in China.

Dave has crafted the whorls of his Akha spindles from beautiful Spectra-Ply to reflect the bright, colorful textiles created by the Akha people.  He has used birch for the shafts, and brass was used to make the hooks.  Please click on each photo to go to our Etsy shop for more views of each spindle.

We're on Big Cartel!

We think we have found the perfect selling venue for our fossil ivory items! We had originally planned on selling directly from our blog, but having to have separate PayPal payments for each item just wasn't what we wanted for our customers. Enter Big Cartel! Jo had originally used the Grizzly Mountain Arts Big Cartel store for her earthenware jewelry, but it’s been sitting empty filling with cobwebs for some time now.

PayPal is still the payment method, but you can purchase multiple items and only have to check out once, and we've even added a direct link to our store on our Facebook page. Just look for the shopping cart with the word “Store” below it.

In the future, any other fiber art tools such as a spindle with fossil ivory inlay will also be sold at this store.  If you'd like to check it out now, simply click on the "GMA on Big Cartel" tab above.

Handi-Wind Two Tatting Shuttle Set

 Dave has specially designed this "Handi-Wind" tatting shuttle with a screw-in finger hold that aides in loading the shuttle without slipping out of your hand. It is particularly useful for tatters with arthritis and those who just have "all thumbs". To help keep track of the handle, Dave has added an eye and jump ring so it can be worn around the neck with a cord or ribbon.  The cherry shuttle is 2 5/8 inches long, and the mahogany shuttle is 2 3/4 inches in length. The handle was crafted from a beautiful swirled acrylic.

Carved Bone Combination WPI Gauge and Diz

Dave has carved this beautiful combination WPI gauge and diz from bone. He has carved his signature rose and leaf motif on one corner, and polished this fiber art tool to have a wonderfully smooth and high gloss finish.

The overall dimensions of this tool are 2 3/4 inches in length and 1 1/4 inches in width. The holes measure 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4 inch.

New Akha Style Drop Spindles

These Akha drop spindles are a new spindle style for Grizzly Mountain Arts.  The Akha on the top is a rosewood, maple and birch spindle, and the bottom spindle is a mini version that was crafted from padauk, maple and birch.  These spindles were sold in our Etsy shop.

Russian Tibetan Hybrid Support Spindle

Dave has created this Russian/Tibetan support spindle hybrid with speed and efficiency in mind. You get a fast, perfectly balanced spin that Russian style spindles are known for, plus you have the convenience of a Tibetan whorl to aid in building your cop.

The 10 3/4 inches long shaft of this Russian/Tibetan hybrid support spindle was crafted from hard maple, and the 1 1/2 inch whorl was crafted from pau amarillo.

The weight of this spindle is 1.1 ounce (32 grams).

When constructing his spindles, Dave mounts the spindle whorl blank on the shaft, and then turns and shapes the whorl and shaft together to achieve a well balanced spindle.

Double Ended Size G 4mm and Size H 5mm Buffalo Bone and Imitation Tortoise Shell Crochet Hook

Buffalo bone and imitation tortoise shell are the materials used by Dave to craft this gorgeous double ended crochet hook. The hook sizes are G/4mm and H/5mm, and the length of this hook is 7 inches.  Additional photos can been seen in our Etsy shop.

Mini Tiger Maple French Style Support Spindle Travel Set

It's been a while since we've had any new mini travel sets in our Etsy shop!  This beautiful little set was crafted from tiger maple and features Dave's signature pyrographed leaf motif and hard Dymondwood tip.  Also included with this set is one of our handmade ceramic travel size spinning bowls.  The weight of this fiber art tool is 0.5 ounces (15 grams).

New Handi-Wind Tatting Shuttles

Four new Handi-Wind tatting shuttles are now for sale in our Etsy shop.  Dave crafted these newest shuttles from paduak, claro walnut, tiger maple and basswood.  He crafted the handles from maple burl and rosewood.

New Alternative Ivory Druid's Egg Bead Whorl Support Spindles

Dave's newest alternative ivory Druid's Egg bead whorl spindles feature shafts that he crafted from Brazilian ebony, ebony and bloodwood.  Additional photos of these unique handspinning tools can be seen in our Grizzly Mountain Arts Etsy shop. 

Handi-Wind Tatting Shuttles

Dave has specially designed this "Handi-Wind" tatting shuttle with a screw-in finger hold that aides in loading the shuttle without slipping out of your hand. It is particularly useful for tatters with arthritis and those who just have "all thumbs". To help keep track of the handle, Dave has added an eye and jump ring so it can be worn around the neck with a cord or ribbon.  The woods used for these first shuttles are cherry/tulipwood, basswood/walnut, walnut and birdseye maple/thuya burl.

We would like to thank Diane of the Lace-lovin Librarian Blog, for being an awesome beta tester of our first version of our new "Handi-Wind" shuttle.

Hand Carved Alternative Ivory Druid's Egg Support Spindles

The beautiful whorls of these Druid's Egg support spindles were hand carved by Dave from an alternative ivory composite material created by him using a formula of resin, calcium carbonate (powdered limestone) and recycled mammoth ivory dust that he collects from his carvings and sawing of mammoth ivory. He casts the alternative ivory material into turning blanks, turns the egg shape whorl together with the wooden shaft, then hand carves the spirals into the Druid's Egg.  The shaft on the left was crafted from Brazilian ebony, and the right from cocobolo.

Spalted Maple and Walnut Lightweight Top Whorl Drop Spindle

Dave has crafted the 2 1/2 inch diameter notched whorl of this top whorl drop spindle from spalted maple, and the 10 1/2 inch shaft from walnut. A brass hook has been added to the top.  The weight of this beautiful handspinning tool is 0.8 ounces (23 grams).

When constructing his spindles, Dave mounts the spindle whorl blank on the shaft, and then turns and shapes the whorl and shaft together to achieve a well balanced spindle.

New Tatting Picot Gauge Sets

Beautiful redwood burl was used to craft the brass and wood case for the tatting picot gauge set above. Dave crafted the set below from buckeye burl and brass.  Please visit our Etsy shop to see additional photos of these and other fiber art tools.

Brass Picot Gauge Set with Case©

Mini Dimpled Ceramic and Wood Spindle Bowls

Nine new mini dimpled ceramic and wood support spinning bowls were listed for sale in our Etsy shop today.  The woods used were maple, Oregon myrtlewood, mahogany and walnut.  The sparkly blue bowl in the center was crafted from cast resin.  It also has a dimpled ceramic insert.

New Ceramic Druid's Egg Pendants

We have just added some new ceramic Druid's Egg pendants in our Etsy shop.  These unique Celtic pendants are a larger version of our previous Druid's Egg pendants.  Please visit the "Celtic Jewelry" section of our shop to see our selection.

The Druid's Egg Pendant ©