Handmade Winter Cards

Dec.24,2019

Handmade Winter Cards by Snazzie Designz

Season’s greetings!

I’m always interested in trying new arts and crafts techniques so this holiday season I found a great youTube tutorial on making handmade watercolour cards by Emma Lefebvre (linked here)and decided to give them a try.

In my case I used inks instead of watercolour paints, and came up with my own design for the polar bear and Northern Lights.

Handmade Deer Winter Card by Snazzie Designz

Handmade Polar Bear Card by Snazzie Designz

Kestrel Plaque Relief Carving

Handmade,Wood Carving by Snazzie

Nov.26,2019

Handmade American Kestrel Bas Relief Carving

This is a handmade, pyrographed (wood burned) and hand carved American kestrel carved from limewood (basswood). It is bas-relief carving carved with hand chisels on the limewood which was cut to shape using a scroll saw. It has a flat back making it suitable to be mounted on a wall.

Below you can see a work in progress picture of the kestrel, already cut out with the scroll saw and with the pyrography (wood burning) and carving started but not yet finished.

Tags : birdofprey, carving, craft, crafts, designz, falconry, handmade, kestrel, pyrography, snazzie, snazziedesignz, wood, woodburning, woodworking

Lindisfarne Handmade Coptic Bound Journal

Handmade,Handmade Books,Handmade Coptic Bound Books by Snazzie

Sep.21,2019

This is a handmade Coptic bound notebook with a map of Lindisfarne Holy Island burned into the cover.

Handmade Lindisfarne Holy Island Coptic Bound Notebook by Snazzie Designz

There are representations of St. Cutbert’s boat in the harbour, a Viking ship from the West, and English and Spanish ships from the Spanish Armada to show the long history of the island. When the tide is low a causeway is exposed so that people can walk out to the island.

The Celtic frame is inspired by one of the designs in the Lindisfarne Gospels ilustrated by St.Cuthbert’s monks on the island circa years 715AD-720AD. The monks who illuminated this book seemed eager to make the border take up a lot of space on the page which I’m guessing was to minimise the amount of detail work in the centre that they would need to do. I needed the opposite and wanted to maximise the space on the cover, so I designed a re-imagined version of the knotwork with the knotwork inside the corners rather than outside to optimise the space on the cover for the map.

Handmade Lindisfarne Holy Island Coptic Bound Journal by Snazzie Designz

More Coptic Bound Books…

Handmade Greenland Coptic Bound Notebook

Uncategorized by Snazzie

May.1,2019

This is a handmade Coptic bound notebook with an ancient map of Greenland and Frisland burned into the cover. I wanted to give it a distressed look as if it was a very old map that had been used over hundreds of years.

Handmade Greenland Coptic Bound Notebook by Snazzie Designz

The map is inspired by the ancient map of Greenland and Frislandia by Vincenzo Coronelli (1650 – 1717).

Interestingly the map contains the island o fFrisland which has been described by some as a “phantom island” since it is no longer there, and hasn’t been for thousands of years. Frisland appears on a number of maps from the 1600s -1700s even though the island had been fully submerged by that stage. It is thought that map makers such as Coronelli and Mercantor used older maps as references when adding in uncharted areas to their maps which then leads to the question who drew the earlier maps and how did they know that Frislandia was there?

More Coptic Bound Books…

Tags : book, bookbinding, burning, coptic, craft, designz, greenland, handmade, journal, notebook, pyrography, snazzie, wood, woodburning

Handmade Faroe Islands Coptic Bound Notebook

Handmade Books,Handmade Coptic Bound Books,Pyrography,Pyrography With Colour by Snazzie

This is a handmade Coptic bound notebook with a map of the Faroe Islands burned into the cover. I wanted to give this a more vibrant look as if the map had been made in the 1600s, but looked brand new.

Handmade Faroe Islands Coptic Bound Notebook by Snazzie Designz

The cover image is actually a compilation of three separate maps; Faroe map by Lucas Debes (1673), Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarium by Olaus Magnus (1539), and a more modern map of the islands found on wiki commons for a more accurate outline of the islands themselves.

In other words this is a modern map done in an ancient style, with sea creatures from the Faroe Isands area of the Mercantor map included, and long s place names.

The burning process on the curved sea creature outlines was a slow process because the wood burning tip is going with the grain and then across the grain and then with the grain again and it takes a subtle pressure control on the tip to not bunr deeper as it goes with the grain than across it making uneven lines.

Handmade Faroe Islands Coptic Bound Notebook by Snazzie Designz

More Coptic Bound Books…

Tags : book, burning, coptic, craft, faroe, handmade, islands, journal, notebook, pyrography, snazzie designz, wood, woodburning

Handmade Dragon Egg Boxes

Clay,Handmade,Handmade / Decorated Boxes,Handmade Box,Other Crafts,Outside the Box by Snazzie

Apr.21,2019

Dragon Egg Box by Snazzie Designz

These are experimental handmade dragon eggs which open and close so that you can keep stuff in them. When they are close the seam follows the scales so it is almost imperceptible unless you know its there.

The first egg was inspired by Drogon’s egg from the “Game of Thrones”. Unlike the TV show replica which has scales which protrude which seems unlikely for an egg, I wanted to make mine more like the book description which is that it looked like red and black stone.

The stone that really inspired me is Eudialyte, a very rare crystal which apart from being spectacularly beautiful is exactly the colours I wanted for my egg. When I looked up further information about eudialyte it turns out that the rich cadmium colour in the stone is referred to by Russian dealers as “Dragon’s Blood” which seemed perfect for a dragon egg.

Also unlike the TV prop, this egg opens and the lid and base slot together so seamlessly that you can hold it by the lid and it will stick together.

With the second experimental egg I tried a different texturing technique which does look more like stone though not quite what I’m looking for. This one has the colouring of Viscerion’s egg which is cream with strips of gold and bronze through it.

On re-reading the Game of Thrones books the scales are described as being very small so I will be experimenting with different textures and scale sizes for the next one.

Dragon Egg Box by Snazzie Designz

Tags : box, crafts, designs, designz, dragon, drogon, egg, handmade, snazzie, snazzy

Holiday Card Project 2018

Handmade,Other Crafts,Pyrography With Colour by Snazzie

Dec.10,2018

Pine Grosbeak Holiday card Project 2018 by snazzie designz

Every year DeviantArt run a holiday card project where they get people from all around the world to make handmade cards which they then distribute over the holiday period to people hospital to brighten their spirits when they can’t be at home for the holidays.

Since it first started in 2004, the project has received nearly 28,000 cards sent in by thousands of deviants from over 60 different countries/political regions. This is my contribution for this year. #HolidayCardProject2018 #HolidayCardProject.

The card is made from card-backed sapele and maple wood with the pine grosbeak and tree branches pyrographed (burned into the wood). I added tints of colour to the bird, berries and snow.

The inside of the card is paper lined and I did up a printout design with a seasonal best wishes message on it.

Click here For more information about the project on DeviantArt

The pine grosbeak cover image which inspired this card was taken by gigi50 on dA.

Tags : card, handmade, HolidayCardProject, HolidayCardProject2018, pyrography, wood, woodburning, wooden

Handmade Re-Refillable A4 Tarot Journal

Handmade,Handmade Books,Handmade Refillable Books by Snazzie

Oct.24,2018

Re-Fillable Wooden covered A4 journal with Tarot themed cover designed, handmade and pyrogrphed (wood burned) by snazzie Designz.

The paper used is high quality smoke lorenzo paper but you can add in lined paper, printed pages or any other type of pages you like.

Handmade Refillable A4 Tarot Journal by Snazzie Designz

To add or remove pages from the book you unscrew the binding posts and then add or remove punched A4 pages and replace the screw binding posts.

The front cover has a maple veneer inlay with a purfling surround, and the cover edges also have a purfling edges.

Handmade Refillable A4 Tarot Journal by Snazzie Designz

To see more re-fillable wooden covered A4 books/journals click here.

Tags : book, craft, custom, designz, handmade, journal, notebook, pyrograph, pyrography, snazzie, strength, tarot, wood, woodwork

Handmade R.A.F. Medal Box

Handmade,Handmade / Decorated Boxes,Handmade Box by Snazzie

Jun.27,2018

This box is of my own unique and one-off design specifically made for a set of R.a.F. medals for a veteran in the R.A.F. The box is entirely handmade made of oak, teak and mahogany and the various parts of the 3D crest individually cut are made of maple, basswood, beech and American walnut.

Handmade RAF Medal Box by snazzie designz

The compartments of the box are specifically sized to each of the medals and have holes in them for the pins at the back so that the medals sit flush in the box. The indentations on the middle tray not only serve as finger holds so that you can lift the tray out, but also make the tray into a cross shape that matches the top of the crown.

Handmade RAF Medal Box by snazzie designz

Per Ardua Ad Astra is the R.A.F. motto pyrographed (burned) into the sides of the lid which loosely translates as Through adversity to the stars.

Handmade RAF Medal Box by snazzie designz

All of the parts were individually cut with a fret/scroll saw including the wings, head body and claws of the eagle. The text on the motto scroll is burned into the wood. the text on the crest is hand painted in gold.

The beak & claws took extra precision cutting as they are each less than 1cm square in size and the talons are about 2mm.

Handmade RAF Plaque by snazzie designz

Inside lid with a maple veneer marquetry inlay of the R.A.F. crest.

Handmade RAF Medal Box by snazzie designz

Since the Eagle Squadrons were for American crew serving in the R.A.F., the eagle’s wings and body are individually cut from American walnut from Seattle.

Handmade RAF Medal Box by snazzie designz

For the keen eyed amongst you, you may notice that the crown on the crest is the King’s Crown rather than the Queen’s Crown since this has been made for an RAF veteran.

Tags : box, craft, custom, eagle squadron 71, handmade, medal, RAF, woodworking

Handmade R.A.F. Plaque

Handmade,Other Crafts,Outside the Box by Snazzie

Jun.18,2018

This is a hand made wooden R.A.F. Eagle Squadron 71 Plaque with a 3D crest.

The base was designed and hand made by me out of sapele wood, and the crest itself is made of multiple cut pieces of various woods perfectly fitted and glued together

Handmade RAF Plaque by snazzie designz

Since the Eagle Squadrons were for American crew serving in the R.A.F., the eagle’s wings and body are individually cut from American walnut from Seattle.

Handmade RAF Plaque by snazzie designz

For the keen eyed amongst you, you may notice that the crown on the crest is the King’s Crown rather than the Queen’s Crown since this has been made for an RAF veteran.

Handmade RAF Plaque by snazzie designz

All of the parts were individually cut with a fret/scroll saw including the wings, head body and claws of the eagle. The text on the motto scroll is burned into the wood. the text on the crest is hand painted in gold.

The beak & claws took extra precision cutting as they are each less than 1cm square in size and the talons are about 2mm.

Handmade RAF Plaque by snazzie designz

The first plaque base I made was made out of beech wood, and it looked quite nice, but it wasn’t dark enough to contrast with the basswood backing of the eagle on the crest, so I made a new one out of sapele instead.

Handmade RAF Plaque by snazzie designz

Tags : RAF Eagle Quadron 71 plaque handmade wood

Design, And Everything Design Related

Handmade American Kestrel Bas Relief Carving

This is a handmade, pyrographed (wood burned) and hand carved American kestrel carved from limewood (basswood). It is bas-relief carving carved with hand chisels on the limewood which was cut to shape using a scroll saw. It has a flat back making it suitable to be mounted on a wall.

Below you can see a work in progress picture of the kestrel, already cut out with the scroll saw and with the pyrography (wood burning) and carving started but not yet finished.

This is a handmade Coptic bound notebook with a map of Lindisfarne Holy Island burned into the cover.

There are representations of St. Cutbert’s boat in the harbour, a Viking ship from the West, and English and Spanish ships from the Spanish Armada to show the long history of the island. When the tide is low a causeway is exposed so that people can walk out to the island.

This is a handmade Coptic bound notebook with an ancient map of Greenland and Frisland burned into the cover. I wanted to give it a distressed look as if it was a very old map that had been used over hundreds of years.

This is a handmade Coptic bound notebook with a map of the Faroe Islands burned into the cover. I wanted to give this a more vibrant look as if the map had been made in the 1600s, but looked brand new.

These are experimental handmade dragon eggs which open and close so that you can keep stuff in them. When they are close the seam follows the scales so it is almost imperceptible unless you know its there.

Re-Fillable Wooden covered A4 journal with Tarot themed cover designed, handmade and pyrogrphed (wood burned) by snazzie Designz. The paper used is high quality smoke lorenzo paper but you can add in lined paper, printed pages or any other type of pages you like.

To add or remove pages from the book you unscrew the binding posts and then add or remove punched A4 pages and replace the screw binding posts.

The front cover has a maple veneer inlay with a purfling surround, and the cover edges also have a purfling edges.

This box is of my own unique and one-off design specifically made for a set of R.a.F. medals for a veteran in the R.A.F. The box is entirely handmade made of oak, teak and mahogany and the various parts of the 3D crest individually cut are made of maple, basswood, beech and American walnut.

Per Ardua Ad Astra is the R.A.F. motto pyrographed (burned) into the sides of the lid which loosely translates as Through adversity to the stars.

All of the parts were individually cut with a fret/scroll saw including the wings, head body and claws of the eagle. The text on the motto scroll is burned into the wood. the text on the crest is hand painted in gold.

The beak & claws took extra precision cutting as they are each less than 1cm square in size and the talons are about 2mm.

Inside lid with a maple veneer marquetry inlay of the R.A.F. crest.

Since the Eagle Squadrons were for American crew serving in the R.A.F., the eagle’s wings and body are individually cut from American walnut from Seattle.

For the keen eyed amongst you, you may notice that the crown on the crest is the King’s Crown rather than the Queen’s Crown since this has been made for an RAF veteran.

This is a hand made wooden R.A.F. Eagle Squadron 71 Plaque with a 3D crest.

The base was designed and hand made by me out of sapele wood, and the crest itself is made of multiple cut pieces of various woods perfectly fitted and glued together

Since the Eagle Squadrons were for American crew serving in the R.A.F., the eagle’s wings and body are individually cut from American walnut from Seattle.

For the keen eyed amongst you, you may notice that the crown on the crest is the King’s Crown rather than the Queen’s Crown since this has been made for an RAF veteran.

All of the parts were individually cut with a fret/scroll saw including the wings, head body and claws of the eagle. The text on the motto scroll is burned into the wood. the text on the crest is hand painted in gold.

The beak & claws took extra precision cutting as they are each less than 1cm square in size and the talons are about 2mm.

The first plaque base I made was made out of beech wood, and it looked quite nice, but it wasn’t dark enough to contrast with the basswood backing of the eagle on the crest, so I made a new one out of sapele instead.

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Re-Fillable Wooden covered A4 journal with Tarot themed cover designed, handmade and pyrogrphed (wood burned) by snazzie Designz.

The paper used is high quality smoke lorenzo paper but you can add in lined paper, printed pages or any other type of pages you like.