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.

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.

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.

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.

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.