This handcrafted hair pin is made from Sapele wood and European Yew wood. The Sapele wood has a deep reddish hue in contrast to the rich coloured Yew wood. Small pale sap wood highlights appear at the tips of the Yew and the overall design is contemporary strong and compact.

Sapele Mahogany comes from West, Central and East Africa.  It is often used in furniture and cabinet making and as a veneer for marquetry. It is also used in the construction of musical instruments, for building boats and as a flooring material.  This piece arrived in its previous life as offcuts of flooring that would have otherwise been thrown away or burnt.

Yew has been used for many centuries.  Longbows were made from Yew in the middle ages.  Pegs or 'treenails' were cut for Viking ships.  Furniture makers use Yew to form the bent parts of Windsor chairs.  Pre-Christian cultures regarded the Yew tree as sacred.  Possibly because of their longevity they became symbols of immortality.  Drooping branches of a Yew can root and form a circle of new trunks around the original tree.  Later the Yew came to symbolise death and resurrection in Celtic culture.  Thanks to research into the properties of the Pacific Yew bark, and a subsequent discovery that the European Yew holds similar properties called alkaloids in its leaves, we now harness these alkaloids for treating ovarian and breast cancer.  It remains one of the longest-lived trees on earth. This piece has been made from the trimmed branches of beautiful ancient tree that still stands strong in a valley near by.

Measurements:

14.2 cm Long

1.8 cm Wide

This pin is finished with natural herb and resin oil and Nutshell wax. The products are eco friendly and non toxic, blending selected beeswax, Larch oil and essential oils to give your hair pin years of protection.  It also uses no  VOC's, formaldehyde or petrochemicals.

We are always striving to improve our processes environmentally.  Hand tools are used over power tools where possible and sanding etc. is kept to a minimum.