A special birthday box

Dear reader,

I don't know about you but for me the big 30th birthday seems to be creeping ever closer whispering in my ear WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING GIRL? Where's the good job, the security and all that sorted-ness that is meant to come with those two seemingly innocent numbers 3 and 0? 

Anyway, time to stop this self indulgence, this post is not about me. 

Back in March a lovely lady had a special birthday and this dear friend and her wonderful family kindly came to me with a birthday box request. To be precise, a jewellery box, one that was fit for this special birthday. Those of you who know me will know how much I love making boxes. I love their delicacy and the accuracy that they require; it is so refreshing after working on a large scale most of the time. So, with the brief in mind I sought out some of my very favourite timber - wych elm* and scurried to my local haberdashery** for some felt to compliment this elm. Whilst I pondered over the details of the box my eye wandered to my stash of reclaimed mahogany***and with that glance I was sold. So it would be, a wych elm box with mahogany handle, mahogany insert tray, finished with brass pins and a moss green felt. 

Top down view

Handle detail. The lid is a lift off lid.

Mahogany tray with brass pins.

Tray

A lovely example of the grain pattern in the elm.

* You can read more about the wych elm here. I love it for its tight, twisted grain that polishes up so beautifully and for the mesmirising green streaks and swirls that run through it.

** A proper haberdashery is hard to find these days. They are now squirreled away in corners of large department stores. My 'local' haberdashery used to be local until I moved workshop. It is still the best I have found for my purposes. It is called Fabrication and can be found on Main Street, Haddington you can find contact details here. 

*** An aside on the mahogany.

On a beautiful weekend spent with the lovely man's parents his dad asked if I would have any use for some planks of mahogany? Lets be accurate here, these are 6 ft plus long, 1 1/4" thick, beautifully straight and dry mahogany boards.

HAVE ANY USE I thought, this is like asking a pig if he'd like to roll in some fresh, sweet, smelly mud! I jumped at it. My slight hesitation being how on earth I'd get it home in my rather small and full of c**p car (hence why half of it is still with my lovely man's parents). 

The mahogany we discuss was cunningly saved from the skip at a school clearance. The mahogany that now makes up the tray and handle of the box was once a humble school gym bench... it makes me smile even writing about it.

A massive thank you to Rachel for the gorgeous photos. You can see more of her lovely photography and read all about her and husband Chris's fabulous and much admired secret supper club here.