... and the wife's gift. I didn't make this particular box as I found a nice one in a thrift store for $4 and considering the one above took around 30+ hours (all hand work) to get from raw wood to finished product, I was a bit over it all.
Anyway, this one was bought then modified (full interior and images created, then added)
I sourced the images online as well as the quote and signature (lifted from a signed letter by Ingrid) added the Montblanc logo discretely and voilà .
The fabric for the insert is some suit material I got from a local fabric store (the one above is red crushed velvet from the same place) and I made 2 triangular 'blanks' from 3 or 5 mm MDF to go under the fabric .... I was going to use thin upholsterer's foam under the cloth to give it bounce and importantly, retain tension to keep it all smooth as well as make the edges 'softer' but the foam was too dense, or resilient I guess you could say - so I went with dacron fibre also from the local fabric shop. I also had some sticky-back black flock fabric (Like Contact if members have such a product in their countries - sold by the foot or metre on a roll in a stationery shop) and I added that to the 'gap' in between the two triangles ..... this is all really quite challenging to explain!
Anyway enough of my BS - here's the result .... turned out nicely.
BTW the "MB" is a high-end replica of a Montblanc Bergman La Donna.... not your usual crappy one.
The other pen is a hand made item, made for my mate's 50th birthday, by Curtis pens in Bairnsdale Australia (Australia's only professional pen maker) - David was born in that region and the wood for the box came from his family farm, coincidentally milled and stored since 1961, the year of his birth.
He was blown away by the gift - the wife was happy with hers and uses it daily at her work ... she gets lots of positive comments.
end of my over-long sermon!
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