Taking care of business..everyday...come on and sing along!

You get up every morning
From your alarm clock's warning
Take the 8:15 into the city
There's a whistle up above
And people pushin', people shovin'
And the girls who try to look pretty
And if your train's on time
You can get to work by nine
And start your slaving job to get your pay
If you ever get annoyed
Look at me I'm self-employed
I love to work at nothing all day
And I'll be...
Taking care of business every day
Taking care of business every way
I've been taking care of business, it's all mine
Taking care of business and working overtime

Our story.....will you dare share yours?!

As most artists out here in the handmade world are trying to get thier name spread around, so are we. One of the things we did recently was apply to be featured on a few blogs and one of them accepted us and did this fabulous interview!

We are pleased at the joy she shares in her blog through the month, with posts about self-compassion and other inspiring, uplifiting helpful things for each of us to incorporate into our lived daily.

Sometimes, it can be discouraging to work for yourself...but we must persevere! i would encourage you to apply on her blog for an interview and see what comes of it...everyone of us has a story , and your customers want to get to know you!

we hope that you enjoyed getting to know us a little more and are still liking us :D

we appreciate your comments here and on JoyCreations blog!
Love and Blessings for a great weekend to you all!

This is a picture of the geological formation of dust we had acquired near our shop tools! we took the picture before we cleaned the shop and added our dust collector system! What a needed upgrade to the shop THAT has been! But,.... it was pretty, huh?

New Hair Toy Reviews Website

For all of you hair toy addicts out there, there is a new web site launched called hairtoy reviews..and we were the first ones interviewed! we are so honored!!
WE hope you will come and check it out, leave a comment and sign up to get on the mailling list for future posts about other hair accessory makers!
Thak you so much, Birdie! WE wish you much success and fun with this hair adventure and look forward to learning about our fellow artisans as well!
WE appreciate you all so much!
Love to you
Kimi & Stacy

Are you in a F.O.G. ?

WEll, i hope you are not in a real fog, but that you will join in with us in the F.O. G. that we are starting!

This is something new for us and we are excited to bring this program to you!

F.O.G. stands for Friends of Grah-Toe Studio.....it is a referral program where you can earn reward credit in our studio by sending friends to shop with us! here is how it will work:

1.You refer a freind to us to buy a hair fork.

2.Friend shops with us, spends $50 or more on in stock items (custom orders are not included ), and leaves YOUR name in the notes with the order.
3.They will get a 10% off refund of that first order and you will get a $5 credit to shop with!!

How fun is that!

We already have a few of you who have done this recently written in "the book", but we look forward to filling our book up with referral names!

AS tomorrow is April 1, and we will be accepting custom orders again, we also have a few changes we want to share with you to the way custom orders will be taken:

1. Each person can have only 2 items on custom order at a time. this helps us get them to you  in a timely fashion as well as allowing others to place custom orders as well.

2.Ice Hairtanas. We will be making 3 a month for the shop, and one pair a month for custom orders. The price will be $185 each. You will have the chance to request colors for your handles on the shop ice hairtanas and on custom ones as well. We do have limitede material for these, and they take over a week(40 hours) to make ONE. WHen the material is gone, that will be the last of the ice hairtanas!

3.If your custom order is under $70, and you are not a first time shopper, we will make it and you can pay when it is listed. If it is very unusual, expensive or personalized you will need to deposit at least 50% for us to begin the project. The second half with shipping will be due when we complete the order.

We appreciate you all so very much, and we cannot ever express our grattitude to you for loving our work . WE wake every morning anxious to start our day, dreaming of new designs and looking forward to talking to you and getting to know your hair!

We hope the F.O.G. program shows you how much we appreciate you in a tangible way and that you are happy enough with your work from us to refer your friends with long hair to our studio!

Love to you all

Kimi & Stacy 

Continuing education on Woods..today is about spalting..

Hey everyone!
Hope you had a Fabulous Valentines day with loved ones yesterday!!

Sorry its been so long since we have done a post on woods, we are going to talk about spalting today!
The deifinition of spalting by Wikipedia says

"Spalting is any form of wood coloration caused by fungi. Although primarily found in dead trees, spalting can also occur under stressed tree conditions or even in living trees. Although spalting can cause weight loss and strength loss in the wood, the unique coloration and patterns of spalted wood are sought after by woodworkers.<sup>["

Knowing this may sound creepy or gross to some of you, but the beauty of nature, even in rot or fungus cannot be discounted, as we have seen in the rare piece of spalted holly that was used for some of our hairforks. HOlly is specifically a wood that must be harvested and dried in an exact manner to get its traditional white pure coloring. The spalting occurring is considered a defect and as far as we can tell when it happens they use this wood to burn...we have been inquiring for it all over and noone has any becuase it would not be bought or sold since it is considered ruined...
SPalting can occur in any wood and is especially beautiful in some cases. it can cause lines, streaks, and colors ranging from light brown to greenand blue or black. it can be spotted, lines, swirled or blotched.


"While pigmentation fungi do not degrade the wood cell wall, this type of decay can lead to a reduction in toughness (amount of energy absorbed before breaking), and increased permeability [8]. Pigmentation can occur on both hardwood and softwood, unlike other types of spalting which are more host specific."
Wikipedia</sup> 


In other words, some spalting is caused by fungi that only change the color of the wood, and some actually degrade the wood, making it soft, flaky or even dust. In these instances those types of spalted wood really are not good for any type of wood working, so the fungi that cause the beautiful splating and do not degrade the wood are creatures with a specific purpose!

While we continue to hunt for the spalted holly, and we look at other types of spalted woods for our hairforks, we cannot order or make these types of natural beauties occur..so please be patient as we hunt for beautiful spalted woods and enjoy our other woods in the mean time!!

Thanks so much for your continues support of our hair art, we create out of love of hair and creating, and are so blessed that others enjoy and can use our hair art well!!!

New year, New look

As we have started a new year, and started with some new sculpted designs for our hairfork line, we wanted to move that new look into our shop as well.  DO what you love, love what you do. Thats what we want you to see!

we have gotten our new banner up in the  shop and would love to have you come see our new clean fresh look! we LOVE it and hope you do too! we wanted a fresh new direction and less words..which our wonderful designer accomplished in a heartbeat after we described our vision. Please stop by and let us know what you think too!  we would love your comments here, on etsy or our facebook fan page too!

Savings alert!

WEll, we have been doing our new packaging on several packages, mostly trying to send it to repeat customers to get thier take on it, and there may be another benefit to this...less shipping weight= less shipping costs!! THe Postal rates are going up this year, so we are trying to keep our costs and yours as low as possible!!
WE are going to start modifying our shipping fees as we figure out what everything comes to with the new packing ..so keep your eyes open, and we are anxious to hear from those of you who are getting the new packaging , how do you feel about it?!?
We appreciate you all so much!!
Love to you
Kimi & Stacy

Trying to be better and still pamper you...

We are changing the way we do our packaging this year in an effort to be more responsible with paper and carboard useage. WE still want to pamper you as you open your box :D but we are going to stop the tissue paper and try to use a box that is better sized to what you are buying.  You are still going to get a sleeping bag for your fork, but it is going to be handmade local (Our local) so we are supporting another handmade business, and if you wanted it could be reused as a gift or snack bag as well!   If you have any comments about this, good or bad, please let us know! We want to be more responsible and still leave you feeling blessed and pampered when you get your box!!
We appreciate you all so very much!!

We have a name for the new fork!

It has been so much fun hearing all the names for the newly designed fork, based on our Lily Pad hairstick. This was not an easy task to narrow it down to one name! all of the names were inspiring and beautiful, some with fabulous german folklore tales attatched to them. As we are highly influenced in our design style by the art nouveau period and love that style, we have chosen "Jugendstil" as the name for the new fork! 

 THank you all!!

 I do need to reach Zuendhuetchen now, so if you could please email us or send us a convo on etsy so we can get your information, that would be great!! 
We will be sending a special coupon to our German customers that they can use when purchasing this hairfork style in  any wood or size!
Happy New year to all!!

Lignum VItae wood is our study subject today

Lignum Vitae wood is a beautiful, aromatic,green and gold colored wood. It grows in the Florida  Keys and is a very dense hard wood. It has been used in the making of bowling balls, false teeth , ships propeller shafts and it was used in the Erie canals locks as hinges.

We of course, use the wood to make beautiful hairforks. I am often asked about the woods we use and this following information was acquired from Wikipedia:

"Lignum vitae is a trade wood, also called guayacan or in Europe known as pockenholz, from trees of the genus Guaiacum. This wood was once very important for applications requiring a material with its extraordinary combination of strength, toughness and density. It is also the Jamacian national flower

The wood is obtained chiefly from Guaiacum officinale and Guaiacum sanctum, both small, slow growing trees. All species of the genus Gayandcum are now listed in Appendix II of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) as potentially endangered species. Demand for the wood has been reduced by modern materials science, which has led to polymer, alloys and composite materials which can take lignum vitae's place (IT IS NOT ENDANGERED YET)

"Lignum vitae" is Latin for "wood of life", and derives from its medicinal uses; lignum vitae resin has been used to treat a variety of medical conditions from coughs to arthritis, and chips of the wood can also be used to brew a tea. Other names for lignum vitae include palo santo (Spanish for "holy wood") and greenheart; lignum vitae is also one of the numerous hard, dense woods referred to as ironwood.

Lignum vitae is hard and durable, and is also the densest wood traded; it will easily sink in water.

Various other hardwoods  may also be called lignum vitae and should not be confused. The best-known is from Bulnesia arborea and Bulnesia sarmientoi (in the same subfamily as Guaiacum) and is known as Verawood or Argentine lignum vitae; it is somewhat similar in appearance and working qualities as genuine lignum vitae."

Many woods have been called the "tree of life" over history and usually it is due to thier medicinal properties. 

I hope that you have found this information about this beautiful wood informative and helpful in your search about the woods we use for hairforks. We re having this post in tandem with Hair, There , and Everywhere today! come see her blog too please!
http://hairthereandeverywhere-jessica.blogspot.com/2010/12/lignum-vitae.html

Next, we are doing Walnut wood!

Today we talk about Holly Wood..the wood..

I have been reading and researching the wood that comes from the Holly tree for this wood information installment, and it has been really interesting! I  learned alot that i did not know.

The wood Industry has long prized Holly wood for its very white color ,tight graining and  fabulous sandability. It takes stain well and is used as a substitute for ebony when stained black. It is classically used as the white side of chess pieces when carved, and ebony as the other side. It is also used as a substitute for ivory on piano keys when needed. Faberge made cases for his famously beautiful enameled eggs out of holly!

Holly has over 600 species of plant and only the largest growing is used in the lumber industry. It is Ilex Opaca. Mostly the holly tree or bush is prized for its leaves and berries and thier beauty and properties. Especially in the winter, the holly leaves and berries are used as decorations. The berries are a very important food for birds.

Holly trees are grown all over the world where the climate and soil are right for them. THey are often grown in stands of soft maples and harvested with them. They grow all along the east coast of the us and are grown for thier foliage mostly, and the lumber is used from the trees that are large enough to get boards from. The wood must be harvested after the sap stops flowing , or the color of it will not be white, but become blue,grey or green from spalting.

WE have been searching for some more spalted holly for our hairforks but it is going to be tough to find since this is regarded as a ruined piece of holly lumber.

Other properties and information for the holly wood I found here . It has been regarded as a powerful protective wood, good against evil spirits, poisons,angry elementals and lightning ( i thought that was very interesting!) It is also associated with dream magick and fertility.

I hope you enjoyed this installment of our wood series and if you have any questions please feel free to ask!

BLACK FRIDAY SALE 15% off

Sale time is here in our Etsy shop! WE are offering 15% off everything through monday! today the code you can use at check out is BLACKFRIDAYNOV2010 and it will take the percentage off your order before you check out!
WE sure appreciate everyone who has come by, we have lots of really beautiful forks left in the shop and to be listed over the weekend!!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Sale time starts tomorrow!

Just a quick post today, we are having a sale in our shop starting tomorrow and running through Monday! each day will have a code to use, you must check in  to our shop, facebook page or here to get  the code for the day! tomorrow and Fridays is BLACKFRIDAYNOV2010, type that in the coupon code box at checkout in our Etsy shop and 15% off your entire order! This sale is not in our artfire shop.
We are Thankful for all of our past and future cutomers, and this weekend we will be saying thank you in the wallet!  Looking forward to seeing you at our Etsy shop!
love to you all
Kimi & Stacy

Get Your Grahtoe On : Awesome Wooden Hair Forks

We are honored to have our hairforks reviewd here ont his video by Autumnmagic! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and your beautiful bountiful hair with all of us! We appreciate you so much!!

A new you-tube review of our work! And, Fork for kitty SOLD!!

We are so excited to tell you that the fork for the broken kitty has sold! YIPPEE thank you so much! and we would like to share another artisans work that is going to help that same kitty, this special piece of work she made just for him is amazing!We also want to share with you a video that was made about our hairforks. We so appreciate that she took the time to share her opinions and experience on a video. SHe has a bountiful amount of hair and has allowed us to make some very special forks for her!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejNu1Meu7dc

We would welcome your comments and your visiting the shop above, which is
http://www.etsy.com/shop/venbead to look at the listing for kitty but while you are there perhaps you will find that special something you have been wanting for yourself or a gift! she has an amazing talent with metal and glass and i own several wonderful pieces from this shop and they quality is top of the line.

It's not snowing outside yet, but snowflake adoptions are available at the studio!

We haven't had any snwo at our place yet, although the mountain peaks are white again....i am not looking forward to shoveling out the drive way! but we have been in high snowflake gears in the studio!

Its the time of year to start thinking about decorations and ornaments again and we have been not only making them but finding them on Etsy! there are so many talented artisans making lovely ornaments for your holidays to be glitzy and bright!

For animal lovers, i found the cutest hedgehog ornament made of clay!

If you love snowmen you have got to see this pair!

Porcelain and personalized ornaments abound on Etsy
ANd , of course, there's one of my faves, a hide-a-heart ornament!

So whatever your heart is looking for, try out etsy and support a real person, instead of the mall or chain stores this year!

My first Curated Front Page Treasury~~

I love to do treasuries! i joined a treasury group, and we make lots of treasuries, our goal, of course to be on the Front Page of Etsy! but also to have fun and promote other artists!
well, this treasury was not one i did under my team guidlines, it was a random pounce on shops with no sales and i wanted to pick the most unrelated items i could! well, it was on the FP on saturday and i didn't even know it!! and , i am so glad , several of the items have sold! WHOOHOOO!!
it is a real thrill to have an item on the FP as well as to have a treasury I made on the FP, WOW!
Congrats to all the great artists in this group, including:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SquidBox
http://www.etsy.com/shop/castawayshall
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleShapes
http://www.etsy.com/shop/itsastitch
http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlebrownpen
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HeartfeltEmbroidery
http://www.etsy.com/shop/muddywheelstudio
http://www.etsy.com/shop/andrewsreclaimed
http://www.etsy.com/shop/uncommoncreatures
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlackBaroque
http://www.etsy.com/shop/StravaMax
http://www.etsy.com/shop/bluebirdheaven
http://www.etsy.com/shop/DannyRoberts
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BugUnderGlass
http://www.etsy.com/shop/velvetmechanism
http://www.etsy.com/shop/angelydia
Hope you will check out these fellow etsians and thier really cool art!
Love to you all
Kimi

Glass Evil Eyes and hair forks and stick, Oh MY!

WE love glass eyes! And this is the time of year for creepy things too! but we think they are fun all year long..hey, who doesn't need an extra eye in the back of thier head, i mean really??
THis is one we did on request , a dark brown eye in silk oak wood on antler....we also had a request for a yellow cats eye in zircote wood on antler and here it is...

WE love making these!!!
When we asked what you would like to see more of some people wanted to see more inlaid forks, but the reason we don't keep alot of those in the shop is that they are expensive to make, and usually someone will say they want one like that one, but with changes..so we try to have one or 2 made and ready to buy but they really work better as a custom order, then you get what you want, in the color and wood you love!

Now, i would love to start putting live treasuries up on here, and i am learning how! i hope to start featruing the treasuries i make and that we are included in as well as honor the makers of the treasuries that include our work, because we really, REALLY appreciate you all so much!!

SO, thats it for today, hope you enjoyed the pictures and remember to read our previous post about the holiday custom deadlines!
Love to you all
Kimi

My Favorite item in our shop!

I absolutely LOVE this hair fork! We ordered the cameo from Rainforest designs, and once we receieved it we designed a special fork to allow the light to shine through the cameo , and enhanced the shape of the fork with the echo of the leaf that the little gecko is sitting on in the cameo! This cameo is exquisitely made, and signed by the artisan that made it! that is another reason we wanted to leave the back open, so the signature was not covered. THis hairfork will come with the papers of authenticity from the Wounaan Indian Tribe of Panama. THe wood we used is Lignum Vitae. It is a green wood, that we thought was perfect for the leaf!
We hope you enjoy it as well and look forward to the special hair that it gets to have a home in!http://www.handmadespark.com/myspark/GrahToeStudio
Thanks everyone!

SALE SALE SALE

We are having an End of Summer sale at our studio! EVERYTHING is 20% off today and tomorrow(Saturday and Sundaay)....and if you will follow us on twitter and/or facebook and mention it with your order, we'll make your discount 25%! WE need to make room for our new fall /winter inventory and new designs!!!
Come on over and grab what your heart has been looking for!