A New little peek into Grah-Toe Studios

Hi Everyone! Well, you wanted to see more about the making of hair forks and here is one little peek! Stacy is working at his station with his visor and light on, one more step bringing the forks closer to completion! They go through ALOT to get from "Unborn Hairforks" to what you see listed in the shop and get in your boxes of goodies in the mail!

This is where I do the polishing, weighing of boxes for shipping and taking all the photos in the light box. We made the light box very simply, from directions on the Strobist blog. This one is our second one, always striving to be better, right!?

And here is one of the results of the labors! This beautiful fork is not quite finished, but the inlay is lovely and i wanted it to be the example here. The fork gets drawn on, then Stacy carves it out, does the inlay, rough sands it and it comes to me for finsihing! this designis classical and elegant, silver inlaid with lapis around and in the leaves, an heirloom quality and designed fork!

Well, we hope you enjoyed this mini-tour...off to do more sanding!

Much love and appreciation to all of you!
Kimi

Happy Friday night!

WEll, Friday night for us is working on hair forks! we are always making stuff, and usually were even before this was our job, it is also our love. SO for anyone else out there at the computer on Friday night heres a little piece of encouragement,no matter what today held for you, rest in this...

BE POSITIVE EVERY DAY

Life is a mixture of moments---
some happy, some sad and most in-between.
Make the most of each day as it happens.
Don't listen to those whispers of doubt;
ignore any voice that says you can't do something.

You're worthy, and you can go as far as you dare to dream.

Life will lead you according to your perceptions.

Let your viewpoint be filled with hope,

and keep your eyes focused on the positive.

I did say there would be a part 2 for the peek into the workings and goings on here in Grah-Toe Studio, and there will be..but i have to come up with the pictures and the words first! it is brewing and stewing and should not be long, so hold on and don't give up on me!! Perhaps it will be the BANG for our fourth of July post and surprise!
Have a blessed evening and weekend, see you soon!
Love to you all
Kimi

It was SO exciting to accidently come upon....

SO, this morning i grabbed my coffee and went to the computer, like ususal, and when i got to the etsy link, i was at this treasury...
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c1b785bb2d48eef44484ce7/oranges-oranges-she-went-mad-for-those
 and i thought, well, that's wierd, i didn't go to treasury, so, still not awake obviously, i typed in the etsy shop again and there it was....and then it hit me, the treasury we are in is ON THE FRONT PAGE OF ETSY! I screamed! DH came running in fear for my life...i was so ..jubilant! it was like a prayer answered, a dream come true..who would ever think we would make it to the front page....YIPEEEEEEEEE!!!
3 cups of coffee later and lots of dancing and spreading the word, i am back to earth now and praying that we get more business from it as well as the exposure! 
That made my day!

 On a new item note, we introduced our new pocket / purse mirrors today! they are going to be available by themselves, and some will be in sets with a dainty detangler, or a fork or comb! Right now the only woods we have them in are cherry, walnut, padouk and zebrawood. As you can see, they are not nearly the size of our first mirrors, these are hand sized, and will come in thier own sleeping bag for safe carrying! thie one pictured had a knot that we filled with malachite. The others will be customizeable, we can woodburn or engrave or carve or inlay your monogam or whatever your heart desires on the backs of them! butterflies, hearts, names, anniversary dates, whimsical woodland leaves and vines..whatever we can dream up together!
As with our big mirrors, these are made so that the if they are laid glass down the wood will be what is touching the surface, to help reduce scratching on the mirror. They are really cute and we are proud to offer them to you!
Thank you all, for helping us get as far as we have in our career. We look forward to new and exciting designs, and a furthering of our handmade love affair with hair art!
Love to you all
Kimi

The day after Monday....

The way to happiness: keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Fill your life with love. Scatter sunshine. Forget self, think of others. Do as you would be done by. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.

There is a time to let things happen and there is a time to make things happen. Hugh Prather
Love to you all,Kimi

Hair Swords....Yes, i said swords...

As you all know, we love to make hair toys. Hair toys that are made especially well, to hold very long and/or thick hair. Hair Forks and sticks that are unique, and have our character built into them.Stacy wanted to make some wood hair swords for hair sticks. Cool, ok, lets do it! Well, Stacy aslo loves to make little things that are detailed. The wood hair swords were a hit!

Then, we decided to wrap the handles, with wire or leather. That was a hit as well, they are really fun and cool looking!

Then, we got a request for a detailed, miniature japanese katana, ray-skin wrapped handle and all. We got pictures and off to the garage Stacy went! He made the little tiny metal parts that go around the blade and hilt gaurd, he watched tutorial videos on authentic Japanese sword handle wrapping. and we went in search of the right materials to do this process, tiny. Since then our swords have been a big hit, and they are getting better and better everytime! we now carry some pairs of katana wrapped pairs, that have the look of katanan wrap but are not toally authentic in their beginning and ending, but it keeps the cost down a bit.
Then, the order that tickled Stacy to no end, was for a hair sword, metal blade in a sheath that could be worn in the hair. THe blade would be invisible while sheathed, and it would look like just a large stick was holding the hair. For this order, he made a display stand like the real swords are often see on.

Then when the sword orders continued he decided to make the little stands to go with any sword that was over $100. It looks really cool, and it is our very special free gift to you. When Stacy puts WAY too much time into these amazing swords already, this is a real treat, becuase the swords are amazing. His craftsmanship is very detailed and fine, and he works on these swords until they are really well done, wether it takes 2 or 3 times the amount of time he thought, he is going to make it right!

Now i was a little put off by the idea or using ray skin...that is sting ray leather. I ADORE sting rays. I think they are one of the most beautiful creatures ever. I have a sterling silver bracelet made with a stingray as each link! But the truth of the matter is, the villagers who catch these rays for food, make money selling the skins as well, and they are going to continue to eat a very reliable food source for them and why waste the parts?! honestly, i am not being cheeky here, i thought long and hard about this. They have been using this material on sword handles for ages. IT makes them look very authentic and cool, and it helps support the people making thier living off of fishing in small villages all over the world.

SO, our sword brag is now at a close for the day, i am just so proud to offer these beautiful and amazing hair sticks to our customers, i wanted to give a little background, tell you about the sword stands and why we send them with some and not with others....and we will sell them as well if requested.

Thanks to all of our customers, we would love to see hair sword action pictureson our facebook page!!

Love to you all

Kimi

.

Today...

Today we decided to drive to Nine Mile Canyon. It is on the national scenic byways and it is a cool place, but getting there is quite a drive. It is 48 miles of almost completely dirt,washboard pot holed oil field roads. But the rocks, the towering spires, then the desstination with the petroglyphs is worth the dusty drive. We listened to a book on cd and enjoyed the animals and flowers along the way. Yes, the desert blooms!

It was a sunny beautiful day, and the walk was lovely. We saw lizards and antelope, prairie dogs, chipmunks and something that looked like a lemur, but i am pretty sure it wasn't...we did not drive THAT far! HEEHEE

As i have told you before, we like to take a picture of our feet when we go places, just for fun, and here is us! in the desert, you can see the bottom of my trusty walking staff too.

Lastly, we had to get a picture of my hair in this beautiful place. No hair fork today, silly me, but i felt like having it down since it was a day for my husband and he loves to look at my hiar, but i did not want it all knotted up..so if anyone is interested, i did an english braid with the top half of myhair. then i put the bottom half up in a ponytail under the braid, and wrapped that braid around the pony, pinned with decorated amish pins. then i rope braided the ponytail. It looks pretty cool, if i do say so! Having layered hair makes most braids something i cannot pull off, but when i take the top half and the bottom half seperately, i can do some fun stuff! And Husband loved it.

So we had a good day, came home to eat and rest then went back to forkin'!

Hope you enjoyed our adventure pics!

Love to you all,Kimi

The circle of life...

Always remember that problems contain values that have improvement potential.


Move away from past failures and mistakes and go forward without letting them be a weight upon you. Every night when you lie down to sleep practice dropping the day into the past. Look confidently to the future with God.

Choosing not to answer the phone, on selected occasions, can be an empowering decision and can greatly reduce the stress in your home life.

Once again, valuable and timely words from PTD newsletter! I try to do these things to help life in our home be smoother and stress free, but it is a daily thing, we must live each day, IN that day and do our best!
Love to you all
Kimi

Unborn Hair forks...

Part 2 of the behind the scenes of Grah-Toe Studio..these are unborn hair forks! When choosing the woods, we have to make sure the grain is strong in the tines, and beautiful in the top....we have to be sure the arch of the tines has strenght...there is a lot to consider, along with the aesthetics of it all!

and then there are these kinds of final outcomes..

This custom inlay was made with slabs of turquoise, instead of powder. Each petal was shaped and cut by Stacy, and fit until they looked as we needed together, then he had to cut them into the wood! after they were secured in, we had to refinish the fork but the result is just stunning! Over 6 hours of work..what do you think?

Hope you have a blessed Sunday,restful and rejuvenating and see you again soon!
remember to share some love!!!

Love to you all, Kimi

Treasury love...we are so blessed!

A while back i posted about being in a few tresuries on Etsy and what a thrill it is...well, we have been in a bunch more and i am so excited i can only do a little dance around the living room with Stacy praising the Lord! We are so glad that people love our work, as we love doing and making our hair art!
here are the treasuries lately, hope you will pop in and see them,and click on everyones pictures if you have time, there is so much talent out there!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c12b34f264b8eef8fd78c41/my-link-lovies
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c123c5a0a5a6d917a76772e/love-red-love
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c11725d264b8eef3ed86e41/ebony-skies-today
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c117487264b8eefdb1b6f41/egyptian-waters
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c0a91a068f48eef884ccb21/when-i-come-home-relax
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c0933ebab056d919bcef9ce/let-down-your-hair

Now, if we could just get one to go to the front page...HMmmmmm, we were also blessed to be featured in The Storque, Etsy's blog, yesterday! One of our antler hair sticks! WOOT
http://www.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/etsy-finds-beach-blanket-bingo-8758/
 So we are just so excited to be getting this exposure and the love from those who are chosing our items, thank you so much!! we truly appreciate it and look forward to more traffic meaning more sales!!!
Love to you all!
Kimi

A simple suggestion to help simplify your life!!!

I don't exactly think of myself as a goddess, but i do love the simplicity and advice and love that flows from this blog...http://www.goddessguidebook.com/

"Today, your Zen Your Life project is:

Find a box. Put three things in there from your space that you no longer need.

It’s time to find it a new home, dearheart. Either send it on to a friend you know will love it, sell it on ebay, or donate it to charity.

Let your things find their purpose in their world of making someone completely & gorgeously happy… not just stuck with it.
They have a destiny too you know… and it’s not to make you miserable!"

She often has little tips that really make sense, and she helps women know they are beautiful and loved, and we love LOVE!!! handmade love, personal love, spiritual love, the world just needs more of all kinds of LOVE!

Speaking of love, we have been featured in few more treasuries, that is such a good feeling!, but this one is full of love!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c123c5a0a5a6d917a76772e/love-red-love
Hope you will stop by and check it out!! and check out the website to zen your life tips  today too, you just might find some inspiration in a place you never expected!

A peek at the inner workings of Grah-Toe Studio...

We thought perhaps some of you would be interested in the process we go through to get you your pretties for your hair! This is part of my sanding area , we do  alot alot alot of sanding! I wear a mask and safety glasses and do the major sanding  here, then it goes to hand sanding.

The wood does NOT start out looking like you see it , it looks more like this...

WE cut the wood, then lay out the forks to fit the wood grain, get the best pattern and make sure the grains are not going to weaken the fork. This part takes alot of planning and knowing of wood sometimes to get it right, and we don't always get it right!!!

IF you are interested in more of the process, part 2 is coming up next....

Love to you all, Kimi

GIve some love away, its Wednesday!

""We can't live all bright days, but one thing is true, no cloud is so dark that the sun can't shine through.
TODAY make an effort to enjoy whatever you must do..

It is an absolute, demonstrable fact that the person who really practices love---real love---rises so high above fear that it can no longer touch him. Where love is, fear cannot live. Love withers fear.""

THese are both quotes from my Positive Thoughts for The Day letter and it is what i am aiming for! to be so full of love that fear cannot immobilize me, or make me feel sick. SO full of love that no cloud can rain on my parade!
Today,  I AM making that effort, to enjoy all that i have to do...laundry, cooking, dishes, sanding hair forks, editing photos, all of it! Join in with me!
Remember that the most powerful motivation is spiritual motivation. So expose yourself to the spiritual. FOr me, the Bible, the Word of GOd  is the SPiritual motiviation that i look to for this strength and this love!

Happy WEdnesday Everyone, and be sure to give some love away today! You get more back when you give it away!!!
Stop over to kind over matter and get some inspirations from them too! 
Love to you all
Kimi

Like landing on the moon,...in dust...

As you can imagine, what we do generates alot of dust. I mean ALOT.  we are usually covered in dust, head to toe, by the end of the day. And depending on the wood we are sanding, we are quite colorful too! padouk makes the reddest dust, ebony makes it look like we have been mining coal and everything else pretty much looks just brownish...except lignum. It is sticky and green!

ANd here is a picture of my ankle bracelet, Zuzu, following me around at just right the distance...i called her and asked her to smile for me and this is what we got! i thought it was too cute not to share!

and the dust is just becuase i was out back blowing the dust off when we got this picture!!

Hello Beautiful sunshiney Monday...

Joy has healing value, whereas gloom is sickening. That is why Jesus tells us to rejoice. Learn to live the joy way. Take a hopeful and optimistic attitude. Think happy thoughts, say happy things and put joy into people's lives. The more you do this, the more surely you will keep your own spirit high,

To a large degree, the measure of our peace of mind is determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment.


Your life today is a result of your thinking yesterday. Your life tomorrow will be determined by what you think today. John C. Maxwell

THoughts from my Positive thoughts for the day news letter by Charles H. Kennedy

Life is good, and its saturday!

We decided to have a yard sale today a few weeks ago. We placed an ad in the paper, and for a few hours we thought it was going to be a bust but we sold alot of stuff...funny how people buy the things you think won't sell and vice versa, but we got rid of alot of unnecessary things that are cluttering not only our house but our lives. I have been feeling very strongly led to pare down, ALOT. i think it will free alot of time,anxiety and get us a few extra bucks for pizza or something that we usually can't splurge on. Saturday is good! we alos are exhausted from it! i sat all day, except for set up and tear down, how can i be exhausted?!!?!?!? but, i am, well, We are. we have a few large things that still need a new home and i have deicded to part with my beloved beanie babies collection...hoards of them, totes full, all sizes shapes...i am retaining a few that were memorabilia...i have a thing for stuffed animals, OK? there i said it!
On another good note, to all my fellow etsians, if you don't know about http://www.craftopolis.com/ then you should check it out. it is not as thourough as google analytics but it gives you some good stats and has a treasury tracker....we are so blessed, we have been in 20, yes 20 treasuries int he last 2 months!!!! we have not made it to the front page, and a few of them were, well....a bit off the wall, but we can be too sometimes!
It is alot of fun and makes us feel very honored to be in a treasury..and now anyone can make them anytime and it is FUN! give it a try, if you need help i will be glad to try and help, just convo me!

We are so flattered!

We have been featured on a blog again and i am so touched and ...well...proud ... to see that our hair art is so pleasing to so many folks. We have dreamed of being full time artists for ever, and now that it is coming to fruition it feels very surreal...and we love it!
http://hairthereandeverywhere-jessica.blogspot.com/2010/06/grahtoe-studios.html

THis blog talks about lots of other things as well, and if you are interested in growing and caring for you hair, or photography, you should follow. Jessica, the writer is a very caring, intuitive person and i love to read anything she has to say! we don't always agree, mind you, but that is how a solid friednship takes place, as you learn to care for eachother AND your differences, and even because of them. Having a friend with different life experiences will enhance your life, as they have something to offer you that you don't have!
Thank you Jessica, as my Love Language is words of encouragement, you just filled my love tank to the brim!  a Great book by Gary Chapman, if you are interested!
Love to all of you out there, Kimi

SOME TRANQUIL THOUGHTS FOR A WEDNESDAY

If you want things to be different, perhaps the answer is to become different yourself.
If we expect to change and improve our circumstances then we must change and improve ourselves---because we must be something before we can do anything.

***It's important to be compassionate to yourself, to remember that you, too, are human ***

Life is not so short but that there is always time for courtesy. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Love, love ,love, bahdabudddahda....

If I have the gift of prophecy and can


fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,

and if I have a faith that can move

mountains, but have not love, I am

nothing. ( 1 Corinthians 13:2 *NIV )

Stacy and I often travel just the two of us, so wherever we go we take a picture of our feet in that place! it was not our idea originally, but we have adopted it and it adds a really fun picture to all of our photo albums! we remember the weather, what we were wearing and its proof that we had our feet on that soil! Just a fun lthing we like to do, thought i would share that ! and another beautiful ppicture of our trip..

On a crafty note, we have tons of forks that i am WAY behind on listing, so if you are looking for something please convo me , we might have it sitting in line waiting! Stacy does all the cutting and rough sanding and i do all the finish sanding and listing,photographing and online stuff....whew..its alot! and there are days when i want to skip the computer completely and just work on forks, then there are days that i do not feel like sanding at all....we are learning its all about balance...ALL ..not just work, but life! so we are happy to be doing what we love and working from home is our dream come true!!!

Try to have some love in your day and please do not keep it to yourself! love is one of those things that you get more of the more you give it away!! so visit a happy blog like kind over matter, pay something forward, do something kind for someone that is unexpected...like pay for the car behind you in the line at starbucks! and just see what gets started!

Have a love filled day, from Stacy and Kim at Grah-Toe Studio!