The Enchanted Forest

A pop up card made from cutting and folding a single sheet of stock depicts a stag standing framed by the convergence of rows of trees receding into the distance. The branches overhead form whirls and spirals. The background is a green textured paper (momigami) with the white card backlit against it.

The Enchanted Forest 2023 holiday card.

A pop up card made from cutting and folding a single sheet of stock depicts a stag standing framed by the convergence of rows of trees receding into the distance. The branches overhead form whirls and spirals. The background is a green textured paper (momigami) with the white card backlit against it.
Welcome to the Enchanted Forest!
Rows of Enchanted Forest pop up cards.
Rows of Enchanted Forest pop up cards.

Godar Blot Skull Pins

Godar Blot skull pins – hardwood inlay skull pins from white oak, walnut and, padauk. The white oak is dominant on one pin and the walnut is dominant on the other.

I didn’t post the wood inlay Mastodon logo pins I made a couple years ago but, they came out so well that I periodically think of other things that would make good pin designs. In the spirit of the season and, since I rarely get around to the “spooky season” projects I envision these days, I made some skull pins inspired by my old Godar Blot design.

There are two variants: one where white oak is dominant, with walnut for the eyes and nose and, padauk for the spiral on the forehead and, another where walnut is dominant with white oak for the eye and nose and, padauk for the spiral.

I was making these for friends and family but, I ended up making a few extras. They are up in the shop, if you want one (light or dark).

Godar Blot skull pins – hardwood inlay skull pins from white oak, walnut and, padauk. The white oak is dominant on one pin and the walnut is dominant on the other.
Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pins with some Celtic style.
Godar Blot skull pin – white oak skull with inlaid walnut eyes and nose with a padauk spiral on the forehead.
Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pin with some Celtic style.
Godar Blot skull pin – walnut skull with inlaid white oak eyes and nose with a padauk spiral on the forehead.
Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pin with some Celtic style.
Godar Blot skull pins – hardwood inlay skull pins from white oak, walnut and, padauk. The white oak is dominant on one pin and the walnut is dominant on the other. A bottle cap slightly smaller than the pins is provided for scale.
Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pins with some Celtic style. Bottle cap for scale.
Godar Blot skull pins – hardwood inlay skull pins from white oak, walnut and, padauk. The white oak is dominant on one pin and the walnut is dominant on the other. A bottle cap slightly smaller than the pins is provided for scale and, the light pin is held between an index finger and thumb.
Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pins with some Celtic style. Bottle cap and fingers for scale.

Two minute making-of video:

Reputation Tracker

Reputation tracker - a wooden box with a list of names on the face, each with a row of holes that accept cribbage pegs.

Kira of Cryptid Dicecraft asked me to make a “reputation tracker” for their Victorian era fae-themed table top role playing game (TTRPG). I made a few changes and expanded on their rough design to make this.

Overall, it is 10cm square and about 3.2cm tall and, made of walnut hardwood. After a fair amount of sanding, I finished it with a few layers of wipe-on polyurethane, lightly sanded between layers.

The bottom is a box to contain the cribbage pegs used for tracking and, connects to the top with magnets.

The engrave on the face is filled using silver acrylic paint. I glued a piece of nice black card stock to the back of the top piece. I lined the lower box and put a gasket between the parts with cork.

I took some photos on my tarnished silver tea service and, made a short making-of video.

Reputation tracker open with pegs in some of the holes.
Reputation Tracker
Reputation tracker - a wooden box with a list of names on the face, each with a row of holes that accept cribbage pegs.
Reputation Tracker
Back side of the reputation tracker showing the Evermore ambigram engraved in the center.
Back side of the reputation tracker showing the Evermore ambigram engraved in the center.
Reputation Tracker open with pegs.
Reputation Tracker open with pegs.
The Reputation Tracker open and empty.
Reputation Tracker (open)
The inside surfaces of the Reputation Tracker - the top backed with a matte black cardstock and the bottom lined with cork.
The insides of the reputation tracker.
Reputation tracker sanded but, not finished.
Reputation tracker sanded but, not finished.