Customers' Scrap Book #6

Big-Old Drawer Case for Knives:

Not the biggest drawer case I've ever made -but perhaps the biggest one I've made for a counter-top. It's about 32" wide and 20 inches high & deep. It's for Mark's knife collection down Dallas way. Oak, black felt drawer linings, fully cased drawers and provincial stain.

Many Shadow Boxes:

Interesting how things come in waves. Lately it's been one shadow box after another. A while back, it was Shaker-style coffee-tables in cherry. Don't know why this happens. I suspect it has to do with the ebb & flow of the internet. Anyway, here we see a passel of shadow boxes for -as I understand it-Venetian carnival masks, model cars, a daughter's wedding memorabilia, and a knife & gun collection.

'Robin-Hooded' Arrows:

My brother-in-law is an accomplished hunter. My sister claims they don't buy meat. It all comes from Dave's efforts. (Don't know for sure, but every time I have a meal with them, it's something wonderful and interesting.) He uses rifles, shotguns, and -sohelpmeGod- bows & arrows. He was out dong target practice one day and Robin-Hooded one arrow into the other. (That's what these archer chaps call it. Kind'a the equivalent of a hole-in-one for golfers.)

Here it is on their mantle. Notice the three of four parts of good home-museum story-telling. The object, a little eye candy -the pictures- and some documentation -he had his buddies sign a scrap of paper witnessing the event. All that's missing is a title, but everyone who sees it is apt to know what it's all about anyway.

Museum Display Cases.

From time to time, I do work for real museums. These two giant shadow boxes are examples of such work. They are going to up-state New York to the Ten Mile River Scout Museum. Oak on oak on an off-white box. Acrylic shelves and a lock. The shelves are almost invisible in the photo -but invisibility is sort of the point in a museum display -to showcase the items on display and all. The lock is almost invisible too, but only because it is so small. Bottom left corner of the doors on the right.

Wedding Shadow Box.

This is from Chandel and is a special shadow-box she made all about her wedding. I LOVE doing shadow boxes for this sort of thing and I think it came out beautifully.

My Booth at the Brass Armadillo:

The Brass Armadillo is a huge antique mall / consignment store down the road a short piece from my workshop. It's been nice to have a p lace to put excess inventory, as well as a place to sell one of a kind / made for fun pieces / experimental & prototypic pieces.

BTW -if you find your self in Denver, and like antiques, or just want to get a piece of my work at a great price, drop in. It's just off I-70 and a few miles from I-25 Here's the map...

I have a new hobby -displaying ordinary things and then lying about them. Note my comments below.

Here we see the dress Jackie Bouvier was wearing the night she met JFK on the right. Just to the left is a broken part of the Jamaican bob-sled which crashed in the 1988 Olympics. None of this is true of course, but I did make the various shadow boxes & display cases.

Various small shadow-boxes with frames & stands. All sitting on a cherry coffee table display. Look closely to the back and you can see my collection of jewelry recovered from the Titanic !

drawer cases

Here are some drawer chests and Riker-Mount cases I made. Note the shadow box at the top of the picture below. It's Elvis Presley's blue-suede-shoe dressing and the old fruit jar that held his corn squeezing's.

A disappointing picture, but here we see an oak coffee table display sitting on top of a oak sofa-table display.

Apothecary's Chest:

Well, not really, but that's 20 little tiny drawers with cherry drawer-fronts in a black stained case. And an open-able top display area. Lined in felt no less--and I don't like fiddling about with fabric.

Piano-Bench Coffee Table

This is from a friend of my sisters who made her own coffee-table display. Out of a piano bench no less! It is for her mother's Wedgwood porcelain tea set. Beautiful.

Mad Max & his Sawed-off:

I must begin by saying it's not a real shot-gun. It's a movie prop. In fact, it was made by my customer who ordered a shadow-box to hold it and then give it as a gift.

Indulge me a little more sermonizing about effective home-museum-like showmanship. First is the actual item -the gun, Then we see supporting props -the shotgun shells. Finally there is documentary evidence combined with eye-candy. You see the gun in both the poster AND the Doll. Nice work Tim & Bentley !

Dad's Baseballs:

I got these pictures literally the day the world learned of the death of Osama bin Laden. Read on to learn why this is so very timely.

This is a series of 5 small shadow boxes I made for Christopher of Fairfax Virginia. A few words about his family to put it all in perspective. He has 5 brothers and three served in the war on terror. His dad served as well and died in Iraq in 2004. He tells me he came across 5 signed baseballs that used to belonged to his dad and clearly he came across a lot of other stuff too. Then he got to thinking.

Look closely at these pictures. The baseballs figure prominently in each collection but notice the other things. A pair of eyeglasses, an old wallet, a cigarette lighter, and even an old Kodak camera. And military patches & MEDALS! Clearly his dad was a man not to be trifled with. Finally, look at the pictures. I like the one of the soldier, (Christopehr's Dad), with the helmet and microphone sticking his head out of a tank turret in the last shadow-box.

Notice Christopher has subtly included the three elements of good curatorial showmanship. First he has the artifacts -the baseballs and glasses --the 'things.' Next he has some 'eye-candy'--the photographs. Finally he has some documentary proof, perhaps informal documentation, but the various medals, patches, name tags etc. are the sort of things that prove it all is real.

Chris's mom now has not less than 10 grandkids -the 10th born just a couple of weeks ago. These kids will have a real connection to Christopher's dad and perhaps understand that thier own dads have gone through. Now THIS is what shadow-boxes & home-made memorials are for!

Good work Christopher. I'm proud to have been able to add my little part.

Watch Fobs -lots of Watch Fobs!

This antiqued maple case is for a nice couple--Larry & Debbie--of Tennessee for their collection fob watch fobs. Notice the glass top. This is so they can swap drawers around and display their favorite of the day. Now, however, it is displaying my famous collection of C' clamps. It's 15 interchangeable drawers, the bottom three are a little deeper than the top 12, but they swap around too.

. drawer case w/ window top drawer case w/ window-top

Now this is a nice change. Jason, an officer in the US Army. has actually sent me pix of his collection before I sent him the product ! (Usually I have to nag my customers to get them to send me the pix (But not Kim below. She is a photographing crazy-lady.))

I'm looking forward to working with Jason and his collection. Anyway, I'll let him describe his collection in his own words:

I have attached a grouping that belongs to one man that served in my Great Grandfather's regiment, some Baden German ribbon bars. The one on the bottom belongs to Oscar Schneider. I have also given you some pictures of a tunic that I just acquired. The man's name is Manfred von Hohenberg. I have a taste for Baden units from Baden Leib Grenadier 109 and Reserve Infantry Regiment 109 (Great grandfather's regiment. I initially started my collection as just getting some things here after starting research on my Great Grandfather who immigrated to the US in 1923. Since the hobby is quite expensive, I have limited my collection to a few units, all regiments that my family served in. My two rare pieces are my Pour le Merite (1940 copy) and my Red Eagle Order 3rd Class with swords and of course the tunic. The only one that I have seen from this unit in the pre-war configuration (blue) has been in a museum, so I am lucky to have it.

More from the Newley-weds:

I sent a couple of Riker mounts & frames to Kim from down-south and she sent me more pix of her home and her husband's collection. Looking good!

Please compare this picture to the one below. This is what happens when you put a piece of nice fabric in on to[p of the Riker's padding.

More about my Niece:

Remember I told you to keep an eye out for the names Bonnie & Loren Brandon in the 2012 Olympics swimming events? I was not just out-gassing about my nieces. Here is the proof. Uncle Billy was asked to find a way for Bonnie to display her medals. (Her ribbons are in a big old box -too many to bother with.) I dutifully showed up with a nice big shadow box. Came to find she has just a little over 150 medals. The shadow-box went back into inventory and I designed & built this display. It has 6 removable slanted boards covered with polyester fleece. Some of the smaller medals are pinned to this fabric, but the big ones--the ones with ribbons--are thumb-tacked to the back and draped over the slats.

These two pictures demonstrate...

1. The difficulty shooting black on black, &

2. This slanty business of the boards the medals hang from.

Another gift for a Husband. (I write these from the bottom up. Read the next one.)

Amy's husband's grandfather had this little fiddle that was passed on down. Amy ordered a shadow box from me and mounted it up herself. Came out beaurifully and the report is that husband Josh loves it.

A Gift for a Boy Friend -and now Husband.

I've made a lot of things for wives to give husbands, and vice-versa. This coffee able started out for a boyfriend, and by the time it got there, (one of those jobs that had a lot of silly niggly things interfering with the end-game -most particularly bad weather), it was for Kim's husband! He collects arrow heads, and Kim -of the Big Easy -and clearly of a Big Heart- wanted to give him a special birthday gift. Arrived late for his birthday, but make it on time for their wedding!