A few recent creations at GTS!  Lignum Hair Fork in our Etsy shop

WOW! Is it really November!?!

Many apologies for not posting here for 11 months, its been busy all the way and time slipped away!

Grah-Toe Studio is starting a new website, which has a blog page and a shop and portfolio and several other interesting things that will replace this blog. I may be able to get some of these posts over there, still setting up. you can check it out here, its not done by any means, we plan to unveil jan1,2014...
http://grahtoestudio.indiemade.com/store

We are getting ready for the holidays, still taking custom orders! International customers, your orders will need to be shipped very soon if they are for gift giving!
we look forward to seeing you ALL at our new website and shop and thank you for following us around in this web!
much love and blessings to you all
Grah-Toe Studio

a Hair Journey...

SO, i have been reading The Hobbit..again...:D and thinking about journeys...

A hair journey...you may not think you are on one, but you are!! our life is a journey and your hair has been with you since you got here!! hopefully you love your hair, but most of us have gone through stages of love/hate/like/divorce with our hair and back again.....i wanted to share a little about my hair journey with you!!
i actually had my hair extremely short until i was about 22 years old, and when i started to let it grow out i realized, i have curly hair!!  my curls were long and loopy so they didn't show up until my hair was about to my  chin, and that was long for me!!  there are many childhood stories and hair battles that i could share, but for today i am sticking to this time line :D several times i grew my hair out to about the middle of my back, but it was so thick and heavy i couldn't find anything to do with it, anything that would hold it, and so i would cut it, either shorter or layer it. Temporarily i liked it and it was fun, but it wasn't what i wanted and it was frustrating!! i wanted long hair!! so i finally discovered a long hair community meeting place on line and realized there were things to hold long thick hair called hair forks!! not many people were making them and so we decided to make our own version of them, and i was in love!! I decided to grow my hair until it stopped, or got to its terminal length. That is the hair journey i am on right now!

 This picture is my hair, about a year after i started to grow out my last layered hair cut. my curls are very subdued as we were living in an arid climate,and they all but went away while we lived out there! it was so strange, i actually had to curl my hair, and found ways to do it without heat so there was minimal damage to my hair and beautiful results too.

This picture is about a year later, still trying to get the layers out and trimming as the "point" in my hair hemline got too severe for me . During this time i was also quite ill and on some not very nice medications that made me lose quite a bit of my hair. Thankfully i had very thick hair, so losing half of it made it seem very thin to me, but normal to most other people. i still had to use a hair fork to put it up and it was fun learning new updos as i changed lengths.
all along the way there was support from the long hair group, and i felt like such a short haired person there, but i was so glad i could grow hair and that it was still there.

Many of the updos that you can do at shoulder length hair, you can not do once your hair gets to the middle of your back, and so its an ever changing menu of what can be done, what updos i am aiming at and trying to learn how to do . This is a fun and challenging part of my hair journey!!
I will continue to share more again, but for now, where are you in your hair journey? do you love your hair? do you have goals or are you happy where you are?!?!  we would love to hear your hairy stories!!!
and just for some fun, here are some updo videos for you that are for shorter hair, to start with!!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtVXOCtezRc&list=PLKnzSRSefynkzY-T9LLDO8rXDyxjjEusU&index=2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-K9CidKTfA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfikMsYtge4
Have a great week, and love your hair!!  check this out if you are interested in a great group of support for growing or maintaining healthy hair!you don't have to have long hair or even want to grow your hair longer than it is to be a part of this community!
http://www.untamedtresses.com/content/

New Dymond Wood Limited Edition Hair Forks!

Hey everyone!! well, the New Years announcements are late but here they are!!

We will be offering limited edition Dymond wood hair forks this year!! we will not be able to take custom orders for colors, possibly for sizes though. This wood has been very requested and we finally decided to give it a try and the results are spectacular!

Because of our method of making hair forks and the sizes of wood we need, this wood is quite costly and hard to find for our needs. We are not going to be able to stock all the colors or even more than one at a time, as we can only find large and thick enough pieces very sporadically. Most workers of this wood use turning blanks or very thin pieces, and as our fans know, our forks don't fit into those categories at all! :D To get our classic shapes and these extraordinary patterns we need quite thick and large pieces, and they are expensive and hard to find.


We will let you know on our Facebook page as new colors and forks are going to be available, but one color now might be the last time we see it!! so these are going to be grab while you can forks!!

Another thing we are changing is how we take custom orders. We are only going to be taking CO requests by email or on FB, not through etsy or artfire. This will help eliminate lost messages and having to spend so much time hunting for messages daily!

We look forward to many beautiful hair forks, new updos and special requests in a more timely and organized manner! We send out many apologies for the last month as we have both been ill, and it seems many people all over the globe are having quite a bad flu season. We are praying for a healthy new year for all of us, so that we can all enjoy our locks, grow them ever longer, and always keep them in a beautiful updo with lovely handmade hair art lovingly holding them in place :D

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to message us on FB, or on email through our website comments and requests page!!
http://www.grahtoestudio.com/contact-us.html

 we appreciate any input you have, as always, and we adore your custom requests and thrive on them!!
much love to you all and happy,healthy and prosperous 2013 for all!

New Year New Joys!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

We had big plans for a new years announcement, and like so many others we have been bombarded with a nasty flu bug LOL...that sort of put us back a a bit, but we are on the way up and the new announcements will be a few days late , but coming right up!! i can tell you a few new things are happening with the custom order procedure  , and we have a new product to introduce too! we hope you are all going to love it!

We would like to share a goal with you for this year. We would like to get more people who think they can't grow their hair long to our shop!! we know that when you have very thick or what seems to be unruly hair, you just tend to cut it, even when you want to grow it long. Hair forks saved my hair and they can save yours too!! there IS hope for thick long hair! you can have it up without headaches, without breaking everything you try to put it up with!!  Throw out the plastic jaw clips that dig into the scalp and break your hair!! Try a new updo, and try our wood or antler hair forks!!
We enjoy getting to know you and your hair before we recommend the right fork for you and your lifestyle, and we take the time to do that as well as to make them heirloom quality!

If you didn't know about our  F.O.G. program (friend of Grah-Toe) here it is again! When you send someone to us and they tell us you referred them, they get 10% off their first purchase and you get a $5 credit!  so lets see how many people we can help save their hair this year!! WOOT!

We appreciate all our clients so very much,and look forward to much growth for your hair this year, as well as to making exciting new hair art for your gorgeous locks!!  sending you all love, health and prosperity wishes for this new year!!♥

New tutorial on Long hair Updo, the Tunnel Bun

A new updo video for you!! i just reached classic length YIPPEE!! and all of a sudden i needed a new way to secure my hair fast and easy for daily wear!! so, i modified and came up with the tunnel bun!!
love to hear your comments and see your action shots too!!

Merry Christmas

We just wanted to wish you all a blessed Christmas, and a Happy coming New year !!!

Thank you all for your support of our micro business this year, we love doing this and pray we can continue in 2013!

We have some new designs and surprises coming right up for you very soon :D
Many blessings and may your hair grow ever longer!!!
love Stacy and Kimi

FREE SHIPPING! Nov 21-Nov 28

Hello Grah-Toe Fans, friends and followers!! 

we want you to know, we appreciate you so very much!! 
we are gifting free shipping to all sales that happen between November 21, today, and November 28th!!  

A few pieces in the Artfire Studio are not eligible for free shipping, but there will be discount on them, including the crochet blankets and stone sculptures.
We send our best blessings and love to you all for a wonderful family holiday and shopping week ! 

Supporting small, handmade business is so important right now, we just can't tell you enough how we appreciate your patronage!! we are also still taking custom orders :D Love to hear from you anytime, here, on Facebook, Etsy, Artfire or by email! 

Front page of Etsy!

We want to thank Sickfeet for making the beautiful camping hiking treasury that was featured on the front page of etsy this morning featuring our compass!!
you can see the treasury to the left of this post right here!!

we appreciate you so much!! and congratulations to everyone!

Hide-A-Heart Blog Featured us as Artisans this Month!

Have you ever wanted to just add a little romance to your relationship with just a little time money and effort? the Hide-A Heart is a perfect little way to put a touch of fun and romance back into your relationship!! The little glass hearts are colorful, pocket sized, but big enough to be noticed on a desk or dresser! Check them out here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HideaHeart
We have one of these , and they customized it for us!! we have also given them as gifts. Their packaging is a total joy, then the heart itself is wonderful!!  Please check out their shop and give a heart!

They also have a great blog that helps Etsy and handmade sellers with all kinds of great information on marketing and running your shops! This month they have featured us as artisans on their blog and we are so proud to know them and have the opportunity to share about our studio.

http://hideaheart.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/grah-toe-studio/

Love to hear any comments you have, and hope that you will enjoy reading lots of things they have on their blog as well as visiting our interview!!
Thank you , MCatherine and Hide-A-Heart for all you do for handmade and for others!

Avalon Tusk Hair Forks

Hello fellow long hair lovers!!

 We have a name for our newest hair fork design, the Avalon Tusk! the above picture is one in holly wood in action. The picture below is a 3 prong version in Spalted Pecan wood.

 We are making this fork in 2 tine pairs, 3 prongs will be available in the shop in a variety of sizes, and 4 prongs will be on special order only.

 Having an extra prong or 2 on the inside of your very large updo , as well as along the head, is a great help in holding lots of hair!!  This brilliant design by Stacy also adds a little extra volume to your updo without adding pull.

 We are very proud to offer our newest creations to you in our Artfire and Etsy studio shops !!!

 As always, we welcome requests and custom orders, and look forward to the ideas you will all be coming up with for this hair fork topper, we know we have lots of ideas and they are coming as fast as we can make them! they will have carved toppers, inlaid stones and marbles, and all kinds of fun things!
The holidays are coming up fast too, and we offer gift certificates if you don't know what your favorite long haired friend needs!
Also, a new feature on Artfire, some items have a comment for coupon button, its an opportunity to get a little extra off our new great prices!!
sending out love to you all, and may your hair grow ever longer!!

SALE ALERT!

Hey Everyone!! sorry for being away for so long! 

We have had some big things going on at Grah-Toe Studio and we are sharing an anniversary celebration with you by offering 30% off coupons until saturday 8- 18-12..Use the code  anniversary30  BEFORE you check out on either Artfire or Etsy. Custom orders, snowflakes and compass' are not included.

we have also designed and named a new hair fork! it comes in a pair of 2 prongs set, a 3 prong and a 4 prong, and its name is the Avalon Tusk. The 4 prong version will be custom order only. This tulip wood 3 prong will be available in the shop this weekend, or you can send me a message if you would like it! we will have more 2 prong sets for listing next week! Congratulations to the 2 winners of the naming contest!

Beautiful Tendrils hair sticks

https://www.etsy.com/listing/99983970/macadamia-nut-wood-and-brass-tendrils

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!

Newest Lost our Marbles Hair Fork

https://www.etsy.com/listing/100061042/lignum-vitae-wood-lyria-2-prong-hair
Newest in the "lost our Marbles" collection! a 2 prong Lyria hair fork with a handmade cab by Steampunkglass on Etsy!

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/100031556/antler-hair-forkscurly-koa-wood-and

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!

Ebony Wood Mermaids Tail Antler Hair Stick Gold wire Grahtoe Handmade - $85.00

A real mermaids tail graces the top of this fantastic hair stick!

Well,actually....

This hair stick is made from an antler tine and a piece of Ebony wood carved into the shape of a mermaids tail ,which caps the top end. (No Mermaids were harmed in the making of this stick!)



The tips of the tail are fragile so you must insert the stick holding the antler, not the tail.

The tips of ...

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!

Antler Hair Forks Curly Koa Wood Grahtoe Handmade - $48.00

What a pretty and unique pair of shed antler hair sticks! We capped this pair with Curly Koa wood. It has beautiful flash in a golden wood.



These antlers have beautiful smooth pebbled texture with some ivory white on them and browns in the colored parts.They are BOHO Chic for all kinds of funky summer updos!!!



Antler is an incredibly strong material.These are virtually indestructible! ...

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!