To celebrate over 300 pages of posts and 24,000 visits to Mark the Wilderness Guide I will be publishing a selection of postings on various subjects – all in one place – to browse. These postings and articles date back a couple of years. Every few days a new selection on a different subject will be posted. Today it is ‘crafts’.
‘Crafts’ is a rather broad church that encompasses many of the skills and equipment to extract, process and use the raw resources around us (safely) in order to create useful or pleasing items. Being able to take un-usable raw materials and create something out of them not only helps to exist in the wilderness by helping us access and utilise our environment but it provides a creative interface with nature that is both aesthetically pleasing and spiritually rewarding. Importantly, it also provides a route to understanding the properties and nature of things and helps preserve and pass on the knowledge of for forefathers and foremothers to a new generation – to help them continue to connect with the land around them.
Click on the links below to view the postings.
- making pine pitch glue – nature’s superglue
- magical rowan – yes you can make jelly from it but also makes a great carving wood
- stone age arrow – a step-by-step guide to making an arrow
- homage to arne – a cult spoon
- field maple teaspoon – Stradivari was the first to choose the wood of this tree for his iconic (and very expensive) violins.
- making a leather knife sheath – every knife needs a good sheath
- making a leather belt – every knife sheath needs a sturdy belt
- forest oak gall ink – nature’s ink for scrolls or art! Also how to make a quill
- unicorn honey dipper charm – is it an ornament or a breakfast item?!
- spalted sycamore spoon – a bit about spalting
- celtic dragon cup – Cornwall’s own Kuksa
- trapper snow shoes – foraging and making some snow shoes for deepest winter
- survival (branch) snow-shoes – emergency snowshoes – made very quickly
- quick split root cordage – one of the quickest ways to get lengths of cordage
- kuksa – functional art – we love kuskas – it is a cup or is it art?
- winter solstice ring – a ring with soul
- sharps for christmas? – start thinking about those useful tools for the Christmas list
- wild cherry tea-spoon – cherry is a lovely carving wood
- carving a canoe paddle – is it just a massive spoon or spatula?!
- making a leather axe mask – every nice axe needs a decent mask to protect it and its owner!
- uk knife law – some useful tips before you take your tool into the town square
- the king of rings – oak, we love it.
- i may ring – the magical hawthorn ring
- wildcraft perspectives: ancestral craft
- noggin for new year – always need a toasting cup for the New Year
- one ring to bind them all
- how to carve a spoon
- these sticks are made for walking – walking sticks – things of beauty but also save your knees
- the elder penny whistle – a useful thing to alert people with
- briar rose ring – very runic wood
- primitive forging – bashing metal at the forge
- the humble spoon – it might be humble but diggers are important
- cherry bark container – thick bark, easily peeled makes for a durable container
- a laurel ring for emma – a mini ring for a mini person
- sakura ring – a memorial ring
- bodger’s shave-horse – old bits of wood given a new life
- knife making – sharps…lovely
- making rushlights – poor man’s candles – but easy to make and useful when nights draw in
- biface flint spearhead – the best and biggest biface I have ever made