Touch Wood and Happy New Year

Welcome to our wooden ring blog on this bright New Years Eve day.

We wish you the very best that life has to offer in 2010 and beyond.

Just for fun; here's a scan of an old family treasure that is pasted in an heirloom autograph book. This is a New Years greeting card from 1873 ~ one of the first greeting cards ever made.


137 years later ~ here we are ~ able to talk to almost anyone from anywhere in an instant! Still with the same warm wishes for a healthy and happy new year.

I want to share a few photos and letters from some folks we've worked with in the last little while. We make so many friends through our work. T'is a wonderful thing.

Jenna and Amanda's Touch Wood Rings created in July 2009:

"The rings were such an important centerpiece to our ceremony. As promised (but long overdue) - here is a nice shot of the rings that you made for Amanda and I, set on our hand-fasting bands. This photo was taken by Blind Photography (Rebecca Hodges and Holleen Lawrence). The hand-fasting bands were woven by my Aunt Connie (Connie Elliott). She's a part of the Contemporary Hand-weavers of Houston guild. Thank you again, we are loving our 'touch wood rings'."
-JennaDavid created a set of braided wood rings in August 2007 and in late November this year we received a lovely email from our old friends Wendy and Marlon.

Hi there Nicola and David We hope you are both well. This is Wendy and Marlon from Golden. You made our beautiful rings for us in 2007. I was just wondering if you had a facebook page? I think it would be a great idea for you to promote your beautiful work on there. I have recently sent a link to your website to all my friends. Our rings are still very beautiful and mean so much to us - one day we may come out to visit you up there in Williams Lake as we have relatives out that way, it would be great to meet you. Take care and kind regards Wendy and Marlon


Here's another recent email from old friends; Clyde and Ashley.

Hello again, I realize it's been more than two years since you've heard from us, but we finally got around to getting engaged (July of 2008), and married last month. It was a pretty long engagement, I suppose. I just wanted to thank you again. I think I may have asked you not to post pictures of our rings so we couldn't have been sneaking a peak ahead of time. Obviously, you can show off our lovely rings now. Thank you for doing what you do. The rings speak a great deal for our general sentiment, and the number of compliments we've received about them is tremendous. Thank you, Clyde and Ashley

This beautiful design was commissioned in November of 09 ~ here is what David wrote after he received his ring.

Hello Nicola and David, We received the ring, and it exceeded our expectations! Maritess and I went to a Thai Vegan restaurant to celebrate the arrival of the ring, and had agreed not to open the package until we arrived at the restaurant. I'm so glad we waited. We loved the presentation of the ring! The ring itself...was beautiful! There are so many details which cannot be picked up by a camera that complete the ring. Thank you very much. It's put a smile on both of our faces, and we will definitely recommend you to others as the first place to look for a ring for this very special time in their lives. Thank you so much! Sincerely, David and Maritess

Thank you so much to everyone who contacts us, thanks to all the folks who work with us and thanks to those who visit our website and blogs and haven't yet been in touch. We look forward to meeting you and welcome the opportunity to work with you in the future.
With our love and our very best wishes!
Happy New Year.
Warmly, Nicola and David.

My Precious

We asked Matt's permission to share his hand written letter that he included with his ring when he 'finally' :~) sent it to back to David for a touch up...

David and Nicola,
I LOVE the ring! It has been hard to part with it to have it refinished but I have managed to let go of "my precious."
Once again, the craftsmanship is incredible, it fits perfect, and I have never been so proud of a piece of handmade art in my life ~ it's amazing!! Everyone I encounter who sees the ring is very impressed too. Great Job!
Thanks again. We love what you have contributed to our lives.
Matt

A Daughter and her Dad

In February of 2009, David and I worked with a lovely young couple from Texas; Felipe and Lauren. These are their custom designed Touch Wood Rings.

As an added bonus we also became acquainted with Lauren's Dad; John. I don't know how it all came down, but I have imagined his beautiful daughter telling her Dad that she and his future son-in-law had decided on wooden wedding rings from a couple who live in the Wilds of British Columbia! I wouldn't be surprised if 'Dad' was a tad curious.

John wrote an email to David and I in December after browsing our website. It was a warm and complimentary note.
As we worked with Felipe and Lauren on their rings, John stayed in touch and recently sent us some beautiful photos from his daughter's wedding in June. I love this collage ~ it was created as the first page of their wedding album.

The work that David and I do is so much about the people we meet and the relationships that are created. It's about feeling however briefly involved in a couple's lives. Sharing some of their hopes and dreams... sharing some of ours with them.
John and Lauren and Felipe; Thank you! It has been our pleasure!

Eucalyptus, Lapis and Quaking Aspens

It seems we are heading into winter up here. It snowed sideways on the weekend. The quaking aspen leaves that didn't drop during our brief fall danced with the snowflakes. It was a very pretty sight.

A fellow I've been chatting with by email mentioned to me that he could not find any examples of eucalyptus on our website or blog so I promised to rectify that oversight. The primary or exterior wood of this design is eucalyptus.

The interior wood (or liners) of these rings is also eucalyptus.

Eucalyptus : one of the strongest healing woods known. It has been used for medicines for centuries as well as for ritual items pertaining to healing. The energy of this wood is good and pure, clean like the earth from which it is born. This wood is highly recommended for any purpose combating illness or promoting good health.


Here's a new design that I asked David to create for me. Lucky me! It's Juniper heartwood ~ that beautiful wood from David's brother's property in the Similkameen Valley. This Juniper heartwood ring features a natural knot with inlaid Lapis Lazuli.

Fall days and Touch Wood Rings

Fall is floating her paintbrush over the aspen leaves and willows, and it has begun.
October on the meadow. Our favourite time of year.

We took time away from the homestead in September. David was scheduled for a long awaited back surgery. We were gone quite a bit longer than we anticipated but we are so pleased with the outcome of what appears to have been a very successful surgery. And we are very happy to be home on the meadow again. The big city is a tad overwhelming to us these days, even though I lived there for more than a decade in my twenties and thirties...

Here are some photos of rings that David has created over the past few months and a few pics of fall days on the meadow.

Full Circle Wooden Rings

We received a lovely letter the other day from Marta and Kevin. They have graciously allowed us to share their letter and these beautiful photographs. David and I think it is so wonderful that they were married near the trees that gave wood for their rings. It's such a full circle.





"... Kevin and I mailed pieces of wood from our land in New Mexico to you and David. He created our beautiful rings from pinion (pine) and juniper that we sent, and some of your own wood. We are in love with our rings (and each other :). We get so many compliments on them. We were married on our land, near the trees that provided branches for our rings.
From our vows:
"I give you this ring as a symbol of my love for you, let it be a reminder that I am always by your side. May our love continue to grow and strengthen like the trees that gave their branches for this ring’s creation."
Thank you again for creating such an amazing piece of love and art. These rings are extensions of us, they hold such energy.
Heartfelt thanks, Marta and Kevin"

Touch Wood Rings for a Vancouver, BC couple

A lovely couple worked with us in April of 2008 to create their wedding rings. In May 09 we received this heartwarming email from them. Thanks so much Leah and Kyle!!


"I wanted to send you a quick note letting you know how much we love our wedding bands.
Our wedding planning was a bit disastrous - the only thing that went smoothly was getting our rings from Touch Wood. You were wonderful to deal with and David's work was beautiful. After our experience with too many people who we felt were just out to make a quick buck out of a day that was so important to us, working with you both was a welcome relief. We can't recommend your work enough and have told many of our friends about your business.
Our rings are gorgeous and we are happier with them than even we thought we would be.
We have had more questions about our rings than any other aspect of our wedding. People are always curious to hear the story behind our rings and we have had nothing but compliments on them. Thank you for giving us such a beautiful memento of our wedding day and for providing an option that was inline with our values."

Sarah and Adie's Touch Wood Rings

Sarah and Adie's Purple heart wood rings with three inlaid bands in a bordered design ~ created November 2007.

May 17th, 2009
Dear Nicola and David.
I hope you are both well. It's been a long time and our rings are still so beautiful, we wear them everyday and regularly get compliments about how striking they are, or someone just catches hold of my hand and stares at the ring!!!

Thank you so much for the care and love that goes into your works of art.

You are truly a blessing in the world of natural jewellery .... ommmm.
With much Love, Sarah and Adie.

Touch Wood Rings with inlays of stone and shell.

Here is some of David's recent work for folks who commissioned wooden rings with inlays of stone. Most often, people will send us the stones that they want to incorporate into their designs, but we do have a nice selection of stones and shell on hand as well.

Doug and Toni's Hawaiian Koa Wood rings with inlays of turquoise and rose quartz.















Perched on a stone with the meadow in the background; Damien's purple heart wood ring design has a center inlay of rose quartz.


















Chris and Tara's Hawaiian Koa wood rings with inlays of African Black wood and green jasper.






















Reagan's Golden Hawaiian Koa Wood Ring with an inlay of BC Jade, and lined with Juniper heart wood.















Susan and Jeff's Black Wood (Grenadilla) rings with inlays of a conglomerate rock of malachite and azurite














Taylor's Birds Eye Maple wood ring with a mother of pearl inlay.

Spring Weddings and Wooden Rings

Touch Wood Rings with a touch of home.
A lovely couple from Tel Aviv, Israel; Mark and Addi, specifically chose the Bethlehem Olive Wood and the Eilat stone for their designs as they "originate from their home country and would give great meaning to their rings." Addi sent along this information in regard to her Eilat stone (also known as King Solomon stone).

Metaphysical Properties: Eilat Stone is purported to excel in healing emotional and physical aspects of heart / lungs and throat. It flushes out or heals hurt, fear, stress, and loss, acting as an antidepressant and has been reported to be good on the sinuses, mouth, bone and tissue regeneration. On the Solar Plexus it aligns the subtle bodies, harmonizes heart, mind, and body promoting wholeness, peace of heart, self-expression, and creativity. It balances yin / yang, draws out pain, inflammation, and fever.

Mark and Addi's Touch Wood rings