Join or Die

Scrimshaw is the art of making small scratches in a piece of ivory, bone or antler, then adding ink to the scratches to make them stand out. Its is a age old craft, practiced by many people in history. For my attempt at scrimshaw, I made a powder horn. Powder horns were the means by which powder was carried before cartridges,with both bullet and powder, were invented. Powder horns were often inscribed with scrimshaw. Having always been interested with history, and more specifically the American Revolution (a time period when powder horns would have been in their glory days). So, it was a treat for me to work on this.

For the actual picture I scrimshawed, I chose a cartoon created by Ben Franklin that was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. The cartoon has always been a favorite of mine, and it corresponds to the time period of powder horns, so it seemed like a appropriate pick. The cartoon depicts a snake, cut into segments, with each segment labled with initials of the colony it represents. Under the snake, in bold are the words Join, or Die.

This bit was the hardest part, getting the wood ( a lovely tiger maple) flush with the cow horn was  difficult.
I then added eight brass brads to keep the wood plug in place.

'Rob Roy' style sporran numero dos

A sporran is the traditional pouch worn at the front of the Scottish kilt. The word 'sporran' is in fact Scots Gaelic for 'purse'. The purpose of the sporran is rooted in necessity, not decoration.  After all, a kilt has no pockets, meaning if you want to carry the typical necessities such as car keys, a wallet etc. something of the pouch/satchel/manpurse variety is needed, and this was how the sporran came about. Of course, over the years there have been dozens of styles and designs, some flashy, some simple and plain. For my second attempt at sporran crafting I opted for a traditional, simple 'Rob Roy' style. (So named for the famous/infamous cattle thieving Highlander hero.) But, enough rambling, here are pictures!

You can see from this picture the double drawstring,that draws the material together in a pleat like fashion.

A good view of the brass eyelets.

The capacity of the sporran bag is huge, I can fit it over my head!