Ready to Ship

Well the dog head market stick is ready to ship.  The client left the head unpainted and went for the black horn foot, which were the choices i would have made.  I am very pleased with this stick, it involves several things that i have not done before, a stripped hazel shank (more work than i expected) and a carving on what i like to call the forehead of the stick.  I really like carvings in this spot because i think they stand out and they don't interfere with the utility of the stick.
I know when i have done a really nice job on a stick like this, a custom stick or one with some interesting features, because i don't want to let them go.  This falls into that category, i would be more than happy to keep this stick for myself, just like the wolf head stick from before Christmas.  In the UK many of the traditional stickmakers would sell very few of their sticks.  Instead they would give them as gifts and trade them with other stickmakers.  By the time a nice stick is finished you have put so much of yourself into it that its like selling a friend.  So if anyone out there would like to pay my mortgage and other bills i would be happy to make sticks purely for the love of the work :).  Now its time to get to work on rebuilding my inventory as i am down to about a dozen sticks on hand and that just wont do if i am going to take them to shows this summer.