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

I don't think we are in Kansas anymore, Toto....

I can't believe it has been so long since i did a post, and i apologize! time is in warp drive here it seems and going faster as the holidays approach!
we are very busy at the studio with custom orders and with making stock to keep that part available for the coming holidays as well. we want to remind everyone about sipping to out of the US for holidays, we will need any custom orders for the holidays BY THIS WEEKEND and customs orders in the US for the holidays by the end of this month. also , for just regular shipping to out of the US leave 3-4 weeks for holidays to be sure your package arrives, unless you wish to pay for upgraded priority shipping...convo us for a quote on that, we are happy to do that for you as well.

Something we have been really glad about is that our box of wood pieces are selling! we thank you who have already bought them, as we are loathe to throw out those pieces, but our shop had become overrun with them and we were in a quandry! we are glad that perhaps boy scouts, instrument makers, hobbyists who may never need a piece of ebony large enough to pay for an entire board are getting to use these lovely pieces!! thank you so much, we will continue to offer them as long as they continue to sell!

NEW WOODS ARE HERE!!!

WE have had several requests for apple wood, and after much searching have acquired a beautiful piece that is suitable to make hairforks!!! it really is lovely, there seem to be lots of colors in it, and it looks chatoyant all the way through...it is hard to tell until we get one to a finished point but we think it is going to be really beautiful in a hairfork! we also got a new piece of Zircote, and it has mostly heart wood, very little of the lighter sap wood, and a new piece of figured cocbolo wood..YUMMmmmmm...i am anxious to get forks going on these new woods!!...since the Apple wood piece is fairly small, i would like to hear from those of you who wanted an apple wood fork, so i know what styles to cut out! In the mean time, we have to make a few so we can see and show off the wood graining!

This fork with the antennae on it is something we have been wanting to do for months , and now that we are closing in on holidays, they are finally made! this was so fun to wear, so animated and lightweight! this would be alot of fun for costume accessory, or teachers, or even for Christmas wear!  we have already had a custom request for this in different wood with eyes on the ends so if your heart is aching for something just ask!!!

On a new note, i have acquired a set of hair braids from Puppycatmeow and  I am SO pleased with them!! Tressa was wonderful to work and communicate with, and although you should ask for color swatch samples for a really good match, we did mine with only a few photos and here is the result! this is one braid, wrapped around my hair in a high ponytail for a "Jeanie" type look..i secured the braid to my ponytail with an elastic, wrapped and tucked the ends and used one of our wooden hair forks to hold it all in place!  it makes me feel like a queen and i am sorely tempted to get a few more different ones now!!! she is very busy this time of year, but the quality is amazing , the prices are so reasonable and they really can help give an updo the little boost it needs, or the outlandish look you want for halloween!

Although i have waist length hair, it is layered and i am unable to do a pretty braid, so these were exactly what i wanted..next i am going pippy longstocking style with one on each side LOL
THe wood fork helped not just hold the braid in place but give the weight of the updo support. It worked fabulously!  i wore this most of the day yesterday and really forgot i had anything other than my hair on!!
Thank you so much, Tressa, for the fabulous color match and the quality of work you do! i am looking at some rosettes next......HMmmmmm

Happy Sunday!

We hope you are having a lovely and relaxing day of rest today! We have just listed alot of new forks this week and have amny more on the way, many with fall or autumn themes, we got a new batch of glass evil eyes for the Halloween season and we have ordered some new wood at the request of many customers..Apple wood! we also found a beautiful piece fo zircote that we believe will make some exotic and amazing new forks...

We have to set a cut off date for our custom orders for the holidays so we wanted you to be able to plan for that now. Our international customers will need to have thier custom orders placed by Oct 15th, and for domestic or inthe US orders, by Oct 30th...we need 2-3 weeks to complete them, depending on what they are and then of course shipping times are much slower after that time..so we want to allow for that as well. We are able to offer expedited shipping for an extra fee and if you are interested int hat please send us an email or convo, we will respond very quickly to you!

There are so many fun findings out there, i hope you find something you love in what we have chosen to decorate our hairforks with and we gladly take custom requests for whatever you would like on them!

we tend to go with earthy and bizarre on our own, so if you are looking for something different , please feel free to ask! i wil do my best to find it ,or you can send us what you want on your fork and we will work with youto accomplish that as well.

The safety and health of your long locks is very important to us, and we have designed our forks to be different that what has been available, to be strong and not break with hair pressures, and to be organic and unique, crafted to be heirloom quality and last you through all hair lengths. If you have any questions about our hair art, or about hair in general, please feel free to ask that as well, and we will do our best to get you fitted to the right fork for your hair, help you with any hair issues you may have or send you to the right people to get answers!
Please be sure to check out the shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/nightblooming for hair treatments that are resotrative and healing as well as fabulous smelling!
ANd, i have ablog post coming this week about another fabulous item for hair fun that i found at http://www.etsy.com/shop/puppycatmeow  and there will eb pictures to demontrate the fun as well.
FOr now, have a lovely day and take care of those tresses! i hope you enjoyed the pictures here!

Today we would like to know what YOU want to see...

Usually i am sharing something with you about Love or about our studio, our process of making hair forks....but today, i want to put a call out to all of our fans and followers and any of thier friends who want to answer!

We want to know, what do you want to see in your hairfork makers? what is missing in the hair toy industry? what makes our forks your favorite, or your least favorite? what would YOU do different, or want us to do better for our hair forks?

We LOVE long hair, and we make these hair forks to help you have a sturdy, long lasting heirloom quality hair fork or stick that is functional and yet as beautiful as a piece of art in your hair!  When you have very long hair, keeping it up hleps keep it healthy and safe. It also gives you tons of styling options!! LOng hair is NEVER boring!!! just check you tube for long hair updos, you will be bombarded!!

so, today we want to know what we are lacking that you are looking for!!Or what we do that you love and do not want to see change!

Thank you so much for your patronage, your encouragement and your continued support..also for commenting here, and be honest!! we are ready to start a new pattern, a new design, and want your input!
Much love and thanks in advance to you all!
Kimi & Stacy

Our Labor day holiday, the day after labor day

Believe it or not, we really don't like crowds. When you are younger, it seems like if life could be a rock concert, all would be well..then , somehow it reverses and you start to enjoy quiet, and peace and aloneness...well, we moved out here for the alone-ness factor, and the opportunities for it are great! But, summer time holidays weekends, all the alone places are PACKED with screaming families in campers....so, having the beautiful job of working at home, we took our day off for the week on Tuesday, and everyone was passing us going down the mountian with thier campers, we were driving up...

There were no signs of fall yet, i thought perhaps the aspens would have a tinge of yellow to them, but they did not.

Our original hopes were to see the salmon migrating upstream in thier bright red glory, but alas, there were NO fish to be seen in the stream at all..but we did find this beautiful vine with the seeds from the sacred tree of Pandora!

This is looking up the stream where the salmon migrate, or spawn..they are not natural to this body of water and were brought in years ago.

We drove down in to a campground and there was a pack of mountiain goats! We had never seen them in person since we moved west, and there they were! ( Are they packs, herds, groups, flocks, ...i don't know but) there was a bunch of them, several collared and tagged. But this handsome fellow was sure to keep his eyes on us. We sat by the stream and had lunch with our pups. One of the goats, i think the momma , kept a bit away from us but growled loud enough to make me have visions of being on those shows where stupid people try to pet the bears at national parks...i wanted to get in the car but Stacy thought we were far enough away, and sure enough i worried for nothing. The dogs never even barked at the goats at all!

Loving the beautiful landscape here makes us take pictures of rocks, lots of rocks. This one looked fairly normal until you see me in the picture...it looked like it was balanced on the tiniest bit of stone, as if a breeze could knock it over so of course i had to go stand in its shadow...:D

A bit farther out on our way back we saw MORE goats! after not seeing any ,it was a boon day for goats, and we only saw one deer. Usually we see lots of deer and elk on this drive..but only goats this trip. You can see the beautiful red rock cliffs behind the trees in this picture..

Then, we were almost home... we are always so inspired to get back to creating after a trip up the mountain. ALthough no fall colors were evident, we did feel the coolness in the air and it was lovely.
I hope you enjoyed a tiny peek at our Labor Day adventure and enjoyed the scenery as much as we did!
Love to you all
Kimi & Stacy

Hide-A-Heart and our Anniversary!

Hi Everyone! I wanted to share with you about our wedding anniversary that we celebrated this week.

It starts with Country Magazine...several years ago we read a lovely story about a couple who would hide SHMILY around the house for eachother as a game, for the other one to find..SHMILY refering to "See How Much I Love You" and that would be a small reminder to each of them that the other one was truly in love with them all the time, even when it wasn't said out loud, or didn't seem to show...you know those times...
well..we started to play this game! At first it was a pencil writing on the wall in various places...then my crafty husband made me a piece of wood and inlaid SHMILY in the wood oval and we would hide it back and forth..but i found this place...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/HideaHeart

They actually MAKE glass hearts for this very game! I was so excited when they agreed to make me a SHMILY heart for our anniversary!

The heart comes BEAUUUUTifully packaged with the story to the hide a heart, and adorable little flowers and hearts confetti, a baggie with a card and a little heart on a string too! Now, yours won't say SHMILY, but they have a range of options for saying and are open to custom orders! it is such a fun way to keep love alive, as we all know life, work, kids, jobs, stress can get in the way of sharing your love for your spouse, and what is more important?!?! we need to keep the love alive, get the divorce rate down and the happy spouse rate UP! and i believe this is one way you can add a little spark back into your marriage!  i would keep it above small hands reach, and make it a fun secret game that noone else in the house knows about, so it can be a romantic little get away for you when you find your hide a heart..your spouse may be at work and it will bring you a smile, a butterfly in your tummy, or inspiration for a welcome home from work evening together:0)

Even if you have a great marriage, this can just add to the love...i hope you will go see thier options, read thier story and become thier fan on facebook as well!
 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grah-Toe-Studio/202833224024?v=wall#!/HideaHeart?ref=sgm

Love to you all
Kimi

We are getting faster !

we have been making hair forks for almost  2 years now! in November it will be our 2 year anniversary on Etsy! and we have learned alot, changed alot, and gotten much faster at a lot of what we make..so...for YOU..we have changed our pricing on some items that may please you and your wallet and your hair! The items we can now do alot faster have better , more affordable prices! There are still some things that just take time, no matter what, like sword handles, and 5 tine forks,...but our biggest sellers, the 3 tine lillis are going to be more affordable in the exotic woods! also the 2 prong mermaids tails forks! WHOOHOO!!
SO, a big thank you to all of our customers who have given us so much practice :D and we hope you will continue to support that practice while enjoying the new prices!! we love you all dearly, for real, and love that you can have a useful, sturdy, hair fork or stick to keep your hair safe and growing long!!

WE are also listing some forks on Artfire through the holidays, so be sure to check both of our shops, they will have different hair toys in them!

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!

AHHhh , Laquer and scotch tape, the smells of the holidays...

Well, let me explain that title. FOr years we have been making snowflakes for the Holidays. For so many years, that i now equate the smell of the laquer we use on the snowflakes with the coming of the holiday season! and scotch tape, well, that has always made me think of the holidays , becuase of gift wrapping! we are working on our new batch of snowflake/ stars and i wanted to share a little about them with you.

Stacy makes thes out of six pieces of wood each. They are cut to a specific angle on each side, and then cuts are made on all four sides of the diamond shaped piece. Some are made on the table saw, some on the router. Then after all the cuts are made, we glue the 6 pieces together to form a sort of log. Its very tense and tough thing to do, but we have come up with a system over the years! we end up with "logs" of snowflakes! once those are cured, we slice them off into the snowflakes you see. They then have to be sanded on each side and BOY is that fun...yes, skinned fingertips galore! after they are all sanded, we put the finish on them.

That also involves alot of time and tedious efforts, to which we have come up with a plan, but it still just has to be done...a labor of love , these are!, for the effort, we are rewarded with these!

SO, thats the tale of the snowflakes from our end of it! ...but heres the real tale:

Wooden Snowflakes

In the spring, about the time that Scrying Lake dissolves into shimmering mirrors, the trees on planet Gratoe come into bloom. Most beautiful of all the flowering trees, however, is the SnowStar whose feathery-white blooms have six petals that shimmer like  daybreak on new snow. As the air warms soft breezes carry the heady scent of these flowers far and wide, signaling that warmer times have come again.


Beauty in nature is transient, and as spring gives way to summer and the trees ready themselves to bear fruit the SnowStars fall. The flowers coat the ground and for a time it seems that it has snowed in summer. Soon enough the SnowStars grow ridged and lose their centers, but retain their delicate six-pointed shape, taking on an uncanny similarity to a snowflake.

These the children gather and hang as winter solstice decorations, both a celebration of winter and a portent of spring when the SnowStars will bloom again.
(This is a tale that was written for us by Nightblooming on Etsy.)
Hope you enjoyed another  little peek into the Grah-Toe Studio workings!

The Hummingbirds are here..it worked!

THEY ARE HERE!!!I finally cought one on film in flight! and they are buzzing allaround our back yard! i am pretty sure that they are back on thier way south for the fall. But while they are here i am going to totally enjoy them! they are most active here in morning and evening and this was one of 3 that were flying around our porch yesterday!

Aren't they just beautiful! YEA!!!

The hummingbirds never came to our house...

We usually get lots of hummingbirds through the summer and it is one of my great joys.. ilove the special chittering noise they make, and how the "sentinel" ones defend "their" territory...i love thier colors and sounds...but this year, they didn't come...we put the feeders out, changed the food when it got hot....i think an incident i had at the very beginning of summer cursed the blessing of the hummers away.....

I had just gotten a new tye-dye shirt with a large purple mushroom-ish shape in the center of it, i was standing on the porch looking and one zipped right up to me! i was so shocked and taken aback i swatted at it thinking it was a wasp becuase of the noise....i instantly realized it was not a wasp and cried out my apology, and my wish for them to grace our porch again...nothing. i even put that shirt on sometimes and stand out there with my coffee...but alas....now, about a week ago, a few showed up! the Rufus' and the ruby throats and the black and white ones, i am not sure which kind they are or maybe they are the females..but i am not a pro photographer, and believe it or not, there is a hummer in the above picture! he is hovering in front of a trumpet, but hes green....look really close....

the best shot i could get so far is below...

 

*sigh* so i put out an apology to the great wide world that i am sorry for swatting and would you PLEEEZE come back to my porch little hummer, i love watching you SO much...pleeeeze?!?!?

A picture of our message...

Add caption

A friend of ours was on vacation and wrote this in the sand! I wanted to show the world, and hope youwill go see the rest of thier pictures and read about the trip this was written during...Thank you for spreading our message , even in the sand!

Fairy wog-dog and Queen drip-slobber...

The word "love" has many meanings. In describing the enjoyment of ice cream some would say, "I love butter pecan." And in describing their deepest and most intimate feelings some would say, "I love my fiancée." Love is a little word with lots of implications


Love is too large, too deep ever to be truly understood or measured or limited within the framework of words. M. Scott Peck

Love talked about can easily be turned aside, but love demonstrated is irresistible. W. Stanley Mooneyhan
Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new. Ursula K. Le Guin

Acting in kind and loving ways causes us to experience kind and loving feelings. Stephen Covey

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love". I Corinthians 13:13

Let love and kindness take WING in your heart today!

P/S i just read Watership Down-Richard Adams , again and am now reading the tales from Watership Down, the title is inpsired from this book ....its fabulously entertaining!

A fellow artist who ROCKS! Must share ...

As most of our readers know, we are longhairs. We love long hair and we love to make things to hold long hair up. For years, i had no idea there were ways to keep my hair long and have something that would hold it. The stores have clips for "long thick hair" HA! my hair would spit them out immediately, broken in pieces. So i would cut it,sadly....well, after one such cut i found a place for long hairs and they talked about hair forks of wood..YES! finally a way to hold it all up, and keep my hair! so we made me a few forks and realized, there aren't many people doing that..so we shopped around to avoid any semblance of copying, and started with our patterns! well, along the way in this wonderful, dream fulfilling journey, we have met many artists who are also long hairs and have had the same experience and gone with thier take on the way to hold lots of heavy, long hair while using thier creative juices. Once such person is the owner and creator at Ravenscroft on etsy. SHe makes the most amazing Moons that are hair sticks, unless you want to have them as horns! This was one of the best boxes i ever got! it smelled divine when i opened it, and was beautifully colored tissue paper all around..

then, to my heart pounding joy, the beautiful purple box contained a cloud with stars and my moon!

OH, i was thrilled to my toes! and it looks fabulously fun in my hair, and everyones hair i have seen them in!

She does this as a hobby for the love of wood working and relaxation, not for business or full time like we do. her profile on Etsy says:

"Hello! Thank you for visiting my Etsy Shoppe!

I started working with wood after I got a Dremel for my birthday in April '08. I have very long hair (knee length now) and wanted to learn to make cool looking hair toys for myself.

I sort of became obsessed and started working with exotic hardwoods, as well as domestic, and feel like I have finally found my calling. So, to support my habit, I opened up shop to share my creations with other longhairs and longhair lovers. ♥ :D
I hope you will enjoy the items I make as much as I enjoy making them.

Thank you very much for visiting!
~Cedahne"

Her work is top notch, her communication is excellent and fun, and she is delightful to work with. SHe does not take custom orders so when you go over there, if you see something that makes your heart pound you best grab it fast!! and i recommend this shop highly!!!
Thanks so much, Ravenscroft, for being such a joy to me and blessing me with such a wonderful creation to help keep my locks beautifully in control!
You Rock!

Church Bulletin bloopers to make you laugh!

Just thought i would share a few funnies with you all for a change! Hope you enjoy the typo-bloopers!

*Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.*

*The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.*
 
*The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."*
 
*Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands.*
 
*The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.*
 
*Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.*
 
*Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help*
 
*Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass ! this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.*

*For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs *
*Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons *

Hope this gave you a smile to share and lift to your heart. Know that you are SO loved!

New WOOD or Unborn Hairforks

We got some new Pink Ivory Wood! and , JUst to show everyone howmuch woods can vary, here are 3 pictures of the 2 pieces we got...one of the pieces is very pale, almost light slamon in color and one is dark pink, almost with a purple color to it! it will look much different shaped, sanded and polished but the color difference is so evident here, i wanted to share!This wood is so nice to work on, it is dense and polished beautifully, has such pretty color and texture...
Hope you enjoyed this little peek into the Grah-Toe Studio workings...
Love to you all
Kimi

Love on Tuesday...

"A new command I give you:  Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By

this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

( John 13:34-35 *NIV )

Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to

one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
( 1 Peter 4:9-10 )

Above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." ( 1 Peter 4:8 )
Love is a glorious thing, it has saved our souls, it gives us hope and inspiration, and allows us to be kind to eachother
Much love to you all today..i think its a pizza day....