We've Won an Award!

Rocki, of RockisRocknBeads, has given our blog the "Butterfly Award"!  We are so honored and hope you will all take a little time to go check out her blog :)

Thank you, Rocki!

Fiddleback Maple Cameo Tatting Shuttle

This type of wood grain pattern is often called "Fiddleback" because it is used in making expensive violins. It is also refered to as Tiger Stripe Maple or Curly Maple.

Dave handcrafted this 2 5/8 inch tatting shuttle out of this beautifully grained maple and inset a resin cameo. It has been initialed and dated by Dave, the maker.

Please click here to view more photos of this tatting shuttle.

Wood and Celluloid Lace Bobbin Divider Pins

Dave has been busy lately making these gorgeous little gems! These lace bobbin divider pins were handcrafted from either Rosewood or Ebony and various colors of celluloid. All of these little beauties are up for auction on Ebay. Clicking on the photo above should open a larger view on a new page.

Smith Rock State Park

Our son is home for the Thanksgiving holiday and we thought we'd take a break from the turkey and go for a little sightseeing trip today.

Smith Rock State Park is located in central Oregon near Terrebonne, which is about 9 miles north of Redmond.  It is a very popular rock climbing spot and we were fortunate enough to get to watch as two climbers were making their way up the face of one of the Dihedrals.

Ebony and Ruby Red Lace Bobbin Divider Pin

This is a larger bobbin divider pin nearly 3 3/4 inches long (approx 95 mm). Dave made this one from Ebony and a beautiful Ruby Red and Black swirl celluloid. 

Carved Antler Lace Bobbin Divider Pin

This is a larger bobbin divider pin nearly 4 inches long (approx 100 mm).  Dave made this one from dark East Indian Rosewood and deer antler. The little carved wise owl will watch over your lace work. It is initialed by Dave, the maker.

Where do we get our deer antler?

We use shed antlers which naturally fall off the animal each year after the breeding season. They grow back during spring and summer and are fully developed again by the fall breeding season. After that, they are shed and the process repeated again for the next years growth. 

Ivory Doesn't Grow on Holly Trees

Ilex aquifolium (Holly, or European Holly to distinguish it from related species) is a species of holly native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia.

It is an evergreen tree growing to 10-25 m tall and 40-80 cm (rarely 1 m or more) trunk diameter, with smooth grey bark. The leaves are 5-12 cm long and 2-6 cm broad, variable in shape; on young plants and low branches, with three to five sharp spines on each side, pointing alternately upward and downward; on higher branches of older trees with few or no spines except for the leaf tip, often entire.

The wood is heavy, hard and white; one traditional use is (together with ebony) for chess pieces, with holly for the white pieces, and ebony for the black. Other uses include turnery, inlay work and as firewood.

Now that you (you know who you are) know what Holly wood is, let me educate you on what it isn't. Although someone must have told you that ivory comes from Holly trees, it does not. Ivory comes from mammals. The Holly wood bobbin divider pin with the pyrography art work that you keep having removed from Ebay, is not made from ivory--remember, wood and ivory are two completely different materials. If you don't believe me, go read up on Holly wood at Wikipedia.

As we did the last time you maliciously reported our items, we have turned this matter over to Ebay and they are now monitoring your activity. If you plan on continuing to do business there I suggest you spend your time in a more constructive way, like working on your own craft. Of course, if you are hoping for a vacation from Ebay, I guess your activity is a quick way to get one.

Oh, and one more thing, Dave says to tell you that he is flattered that you think his burn etching in Holly wood looks so much like scrimshaw on ivory!

Update!  Dave just received an email from Ebay apologizing for wrongly removing his listing!  They acknowledged that this person reported it maliciously--wonders never cease ;)  

Scrimshaw Mammoth Ivory Scissor Fob

Dave made this inspirational scissor fob by scrimshawing (etching with ink) on a ingot of ancient woolly mammoth ivory. I beaded it using 49 strand platinum professional beading wire with Butterfly Swarovski crystal beads and round rose quartz beads. The overall length is about 4 ½ inches long. The scissors in the photo are for display purposes only.

This scissor fob is currently up for auction on Ebay!

Teak Wood "Top Banana" Tatting Shuttle

Why “Top Banana”? Well, this shuttle has spent part of its past life as a banana!! Here’s the story. Dave and I like to browse the local “Neat Repeat” second hand store where donated garage and attic items help support the local senior center. On one trip Dave spied a old dusty carved teak wood banana (you may have seen these carved wooden fruits in a wooden bowel as a table center piece). He noticed the beautiful wood grain pattern and color and said “your coming with me to spend the rest of your life as a tatting shuttle making beautiful lace” (when the opportunity presents itself, he always likes to “re-purpose” items for a useful life as something else).  To accent it, he cut and inlayed a diamond shaped piece of ancient woolly mammoth ivory.  

So, Dave made this 2 5/8 inch shuttle from the wooden banana and dubbed it his “Top Banana” shuttle!  To view more photos of this tatting shuttle, please click any of the links above which will take you to the Ebay auction listing.

"Gift from the Sea" Mahogany Tatting Shuttle

Dave carved this 3 ¼ inch flat shuttle from some of his prized mahogany which was a gift from the sea. We found an old ships timber washed up on the beach a few years ago, and after cutting away the barnacles and weathered wood Dave found an extremely hard wood center in the timber. It is the hardest wood he has ever worked with and will last several lifetimes.

As being a gift from the sea, he was inspired to decorate it with a burn etched island native motif. He left one point a little longer and fashioned it into a pick.