Under the Ancient Cedar Tree

David and I had the absolute pleasure of working with these two beautiful women. One is a doctor, the other a midwife.  That's pretty cool in itself. They have also given of their time and expertise to Doctors Without Borders.  My communications with Dominique and Terra have been so easy and delightful ... I feel as though their love for each other just spills over into everything they do.  

When they received their rings they wrote; 

"We just wanted to let you know that we think they are absolutely beautiful, much nicer then we even expected. And they fit and feel amazing. We love them! They are so special!    It was great working with you both Nicola and David. David is an amazing craftsman, and Nicola, your the nicest and loveliest person to exchange ring emails and ideas with. Altogether you are an amazing pair! We also really enjoyed your many photos and updates. Hats off to you both for your commitment to a green and off the grid lifestyle."

To which David and I can say only; "The pleasure was all ours! Though our time working together was all too brief given the spontaneous nature of your decision to elope :)"
and then, this email ...  
"Dear Nicola and David.  We wanted to share our happiness and pictures with you. We eloped in an old grove forest and got married under a 1000 year old Cedar tree. It was a magical autumn day. It was perfect. Just the way we wanted it! The rings you made for us are amazing and were such a wonderful part of our ceremony. They mean a lot to us. Each time I look at it I remember these magic moments under that old cedar.  Thank you for your amazing work and lovely emails throughout the process."

 

I am often overwhelmed by the beautiful souls who reach out to David and I, and who so enrich our lives. We are incredibly blessed.

The icing on the cake, so to speak, was the woman they hired as their photographer.  All the photographs on this post are Tracie's work and she, and Terra and Dominique, have been gracious enough to allow me to post them here.  Tracie Howe is a Seattle based wedding and  portrait photographer.  Tracie's  website is as warm and lovely as her photography.  And, she loves to travel too. In her intro, Tracie writes: "If you’re planning a destination wedding or you live in the Seattle area and are looking for a destination wedding photographer then you have found her!  "Give me a tent and a breathtaking destination for your wedding, and I’m golden." 

 

 Terra and Dominique ~ David and I thank you both so much for the opportunity to work with you on the wee wooden symbols of your love for each other, and we wish you both tremendous happiness in the days and years ahead.

 

And thanks again to Tracie Howe for allowing me to share her photography of this magical day.

Hawaiian Wood Rings

When we work with folks through the design process I often send emails with mini-showcases of one particular wood to show a range of colour and figure in a wood that someone is considering using in their design.
The 'figure' of a particular piece of wood is, in part, due to its grain and in part due to the cut, or to innate properties of the wood.  Here is a good example of 'figure' in this Walnut wood ring with birds eye maple interior and Koa wood inlay. The Koa in this inlay is highly figured.

I've put together an extended showcase of David's work with Hawaiian woods and primarily Hawaiian Koa wood.

David introduced Koa in his earliest wooden rings.  We have always asked that folks choose this wood mindfully.  The Hawaiian Islands are a unique and fragile ecosystem. The same can be said of our whole planet of course. We treat all the woods we work with as precious. Woods that aren't from our own property or from pruning piles in friends orchards, come primarily from our clients. 

We have a client friend on Hawaii who is an arborist and so we have been the happy recipients of a variety of Hawaiian woods that would otherwise be  landscaping waste, or some other woodworkers treasure.  Such a tiny bit of wood is used in the creation of a Touch Wood ring, that a little goes a long, long way. 

Hawaiian Koa Wood, in my humble opinion, rivals any precious metal for beauty! 

Koa varies from a gold and reddish brown to very dark brown with streaks of black. Finished Koa is lustrous, with beautiful hues of gold, red, and brown. There is tremendous depth to this wood. 

Here's a little Hop-Scotch array of custom designed and hand crafted Touch Wood Rings featuring Hawaiian Koa Wood ~ Enjoy!  

Another Hawaiian wood that I just love for it's figure and depth of colour is Kamani. 

David created this set of rings using Kamani and Hawaiian Kou woods.  Here is a close up of how they began; two uncut boards and a bag of sand.

As always, thanks so much for dropping by.  

We love to hear from you ~ please drop us a line anytime at nicola@touchwoodrings.com

Falling in love

Ask anyone who has known me since I was about 5 years old.  I fall in love all the time; with people, places, ideas...  It just so happens that the work David and I do has over the years amassed a community of people who are imminently loveable. Here is one small family I had the pleasure of falling in love with this year.

 

Marcie first contacted us in January.  Marcie and Dan make their home in the beautiful Columbia Valley of British Columbia.  Dan makes maps for Kootenay and Yoho Parks so they spend lots of time in the mountains.  Marcie was working on Chinook and Coho salmon projects with DFO but now she's very happy to be the primary caregiver to their beloved son; River.  River is just over a year old now and what a beautiful family they are.

This from Marcie's initial letter:  "My partner Dan and I are getting married this year and were going to forgo rings until I came across Touch Wood Rings.  The rings David creates are absolutely beautiful!  We are excited to find something that resonates with us and fits with our lifestyle and our values.  We hope that you are able to make a couple of rings for us."

And off we went...   Marcie and I talked for a few months about different ideas for their rings, what woods they might want to use and design ideas. And we talked about all sorts of other things too.  Rocks and gardens and children, birds and beavers and the changing seasons; that kind of thing.  Her emails always felt like sitting down and having a coffee together.

In the end, they decided to have David craft them rings of Pacific Yew Wood  with Birch and Walnut.

Dan and Marcie each wrote us beautiful letters after they received their rings.  This first one from Dan:

"Hi Nicola,  Just writing to say Thank you both with all our hearts for the beautiful rings. I picked them up today. The pictures you sent of them were fantastic and got us very excited, but in our hands they are just gorgeous.

David, you have an amazing talent and you both are extremely creative. Thanks for learning your artisan trade so well and providing a perfect option for so many people who don't want the traditional gold and diamond ring. The detail is stunning, the pieces of wood you use are so very interesting. I love that there is a unique grain in the wood, and some distinct markings that I'll get to know, memorize and love over time. By the way, despite the multiple sizings and sizes we received, the rings are a perfect fit!
We feel very lucky to have stumbled across your website, and more-so that you are relatively local.   Nicola, it's been wonderful looking over Marcie's shoulder to read your emails and look at the wonderful pictures you sent as winter unfolded into spring. It would be even more wonderful to meet the two of you in person one day. We look forward to the chance of it happening. Keep us in mind if you ever travel through our area as well. We'd love to have you as visitors.    All the best, Dan"

And from Marcie ...

"Hi Nicola    I just wanted to thank both you and David for our beautiful rings.  I know Dan already sent you a note, but I also wanted to say thanks.
David truly is an amazing artist; we marvel at the skill and craftsmanship of the rings.  He chose the wood very well and we feel they just glow.  He must be a very patient fellow to do such fine work - it seems exceedingly difficult to me.  We will cherish these rings.  Having wood rings is very meaningful to us, but more so because they were made with such obvious love and passion.  I feel the rings will hold the warmth and love that both David and you put into them.
I have truly enjoyed our emails and getting to know you.  We will stay in touch for sure, and will come by to say hi when we get a chance to travel to your area.
Take very good care.  Marcie"

Dan and Marcie are happily married now ~  they were very happily unmarried too :)  Marcie dropped a note just this past week with a few of pics from their summer celebration and a bit of an update.  She tells us it was a lovely at home wedding.  My side note : As anyone who has done an at home wedding knows; while it sounds oh so simple and easy, it really is a tremendous amount of work.  Hats off to you both!!

They had about 40 family and friends join them and had a celebration and feast that lasted two days.  Poor River fell sick though, and was a tad overwhelmed by the deluge of people but he made it through :) 

And Marcie wrote: "Before we exchanged rings, I took a moment to explain the significance of our rings to everyone and told them about you too.  Everyone was very impressed by them.  Our wedding commissioner was impressed too - not only has he never seen wood rings, he said he has never heard anyone talk about their rings before.  Of course I had too, because they are so special.  Thank you!"

 David and I are humbled and honoured to have played a small part in a special moment in your lives together Dan and Marcie and River.  And to work with you to create these symbols of your love for each other. It has been our absolute pleasure dear friends.  

Onward ever onward.