Map Case, 29"

Earlier this year I made a map case for a fellow and just before the holiday crush he reached out to have a similar case made with two changes: it needed to be 29" long instead of 19", and he wanted a luggage handle installed on the body.  I found what I thought were the photos from his original order and pulled the aesthetic specs from that.

It turns out I made two 19" map cases back to back and I'd grabbed photos of the wrong one for the specs.  So I'd made the case in the wrong color and didn't include some decorative stitching around the periphery.  Even worse, I didn't figure this out until the client received the case.  That was pretty embarrassing.  I redressed the situation by producing and shipping another case as soon as the holidays allowed.

Map Case, Leylines

As far as I can figure this was intended as a gift for an avid dowsing fan.  It has a pouch for the dowsing rods (button stud closure), shoulder strap, and an additional pouch for a compass.

Map Case, MtG Angel

The client had some very special angelic Magic maps to carry around so we came up with this suitably celestial case.  The lid has the White MtG logo and the front spells out MAGIC in Enochian characters.

Map Case, Feather

The client wanted to be able to carry around their very modern water bottle without looking out of place at a ren faire next month.  A new map case is a pretty good way to solve that problem.  At their request I replaced the usual handle with a cross-body strap and added a silver feather across the body.  Looks pretty snazzy!

Scroll Case, Extra Long

I don't think I ever found out what was going to be carried in this case but it needed to be 20" long to fit it.  This case also has a detachable shoulder strap so it can be carried over the shoulder.

Scattering Tube Case & Leggings

I was initially contacted by the client back in Feb to see if I'd be comfortable taking a commission that would ultimately be used to transport human ashes.  The client was arranging a memorial service for a loved one who'd recently passed and as part of that service they would carry the remains over a long hike.  The ashes would be contained in a scattering tube but they needed a case to carry the tube in.  

The deceased had been an artist and they requested some of that art be added to the case.  Additionally they'd wanted a couple of leggings with the art for the deceased's daughter to wear.  As it turned out the art couldn't have possibly been better for leather carving.  The way he used color and lines was ideal for leather.  They added the deceased's name to the art as well (which I've blurred in the photos to protect their privacy) which seemed really fitting for a memorial.

This was a challenging commission from an engineering standpoint.  Purpose-fit tubes don't have a lot of tolerance and if a seam is half a millimeter off in its diameter the result could be too tight or too loose.  I addressed some of that by adding a splice up the back of the tube which also allowed me to install the handle directly opposite the art.  Leather being leather though, it stretched and contorted a bit during the carving and assembly.  Not enough to impair anything but just enough to make the opening just a bit loose.  My testing seemed to indicate that would still friction-fit but in hindsight I wished I'd included a direct connection between the body and the lid.

It was an honor and a privilege to be able to play a small role with this.  I don't personally know any of the persons involved but it's just so... human.

Giant Order of D&D Awesome

I have a few awesome clients who keep coming back to snag more and more and this guy's one of them.  They moved this summer and had the opportunity to set up a dedicated game room which meant loads of new goodies.  This order started with the map case and coaster set but we added the Ehlonna chain pull while the others were being produced.  It's now hanging off ceiling fan in the finished game room.

Scroll Case, Nordic Hnefatafl

Hnefatafl is one of those ancient boardgames that probably gets compared to chess a lot even if the rules don't have much in common.  The client wanted to carry their set in style so we came up with a case that should hold the whole thing.  The body is carved with a pair of nordic runes that should, albeit roughly, translate as something like "battle game".  I left a lot of the chop in the stain to give it that extra weathered look

Giant Scroll Tube

I've been selling a fair few of these map cases lately, mostly for things other than maps.  I think it's great that the pattern's proven so flexible.  I'm not entirely sure what this one was meant to carry (didn't ask) but apparently it's 4" wide and 19" long.  Makes for a pretty big tube and a weird frankenbox to ship it in.

Map Case, Narrow

As I recall, the client had an historical scroll they were transporting back to Scotland and needed an appropriate case.  I think this might have been the first scroll case I've made that wasn't saddle tan but the most unusual spec was that it's only 2" in diameter.  That's about as small as I can go and still get my hands and needles where they need to go.