wed with wood; celebrate love now

e.e. cummings is one of my favorite writers. His obscure punctuation choices, his lack of capitalization, his spontaneous line breaks, all contribute to his unorthodox writing style.  But mostly what I love about his writing is the natural rhythm of his verse, despite the absence of traditional structure. e.e. cummings is to poetry what Simply Wood Rings is to the wedding ring industry: inventive, non-traditional, and organically beautiful. We listen to the natural rhythm of the world around us, and use it in our craft. And so on Valentine's Day, in celebration of all types of love, I leave you with an e.e. cummings poem, anyone lived in a pretty how town. In the context of our wooden rings, this poem seems to embody the preciousness of the life cycle, and the idea that we hold dear: love is to be celebrated now. 

anyone lived in a pretty how town (with up so floating many bells down) spring summer autumn winter he sang his didn't he danced his did Women and men(both little and small) cared for anyone not at all they sowed their isn't they reaped their same sun moon stars rain children guessed(but only a few and down they forgot as up they grew autumn winter spring summer) that noone loved him more by more when by now and tree by leaf she laughed his joy she cried his grief bird by snow and stir by still anyone's any was all to her someones married their everyones laughed their cryings and did their dance (sleep wake hope and then)they said their nevers they slept their dream stars rain sun moon (and only the snow can begin to explain how children are apt to forget to remember with up so floating many bells down) one day anyone died i guess (and noone stooped to kiss his face) busy folk buried them side by side little by little and was by was all by all and deep by deep and more by more they dream their sleep noone and anyone earth by april wish by spirit and if by yes. Women and men(both dong and ding) summer autumn winter spring reaped their sowing and went their came sun moon stars rain

Salvaged Rose Wood Ring

The rosewood that we incorporate into our wood rings was salvaged from a local Chicago man who had barrels of it in his garage. He had worked for a company that made xylophones out of rosewood. The thing about making xylophones is that you have to cut the wood to the right dimensions, then test it to see if it will make the proper note it was intended to make. If it didn't make the right note, the wood was scrapped. This particular gentleman couldn't stand to see such a beautiful wood tossed into the trash. So he took it home, and it sat very well preserved in his garage until Gustav bought it from him. Rosewood is now an endangered species. Other folks can't buy this rosewood anywhere. This rarity is what makes people want it even more, let alone the fact that it is a gorgeous, rich-hued wood. We still have these materials that have already been harvested from the earth, and are now disregarded as scraps, ready to be tossed in landfills. Instead of looking for new shiny materials, or trees to cut down fresh, we want to face forward. We can draw out the beauty of this wood that was saved from the landfills. Rosewood has been harvested to near extinction. All we have is what we've salvaged from other people's harvests, and we are able to take this unwanted material, and give it the status of precious, rare, sought after. This rosewood will one day find its way back to the earth; we hope to give it a noble life until then. Simply Wood Rings

We are pleased to present: Simply Wood Rings Behind the Scenes

We recently had a video made for us by one of our own Simply Wood Ring customers and filmmaker, Maren Wickwire. It means a lot to us to be able to show you who makes your rings, and let you know how much we love it! Hope you enjoy getting an inside look into the wood shop!

Barefoot & Beautiful - Chad & Christine Eco-Friendly Wedding

The entire wedding party went barefoot for the majority of the day and the pair went DIY-tastic by designing and making their own invitations,  logo and napkins. Click to see Chad & Christine eco-friendly wedding.

Simply Wood Rings in Garth Johnson new book

Simply Wood Rings is in Garth Johnsons new book due out this November. If you are interested in having your very own copy you can reserve yours here. Garth also maintains a blog called Extreme Craft which is a must see. Oh wait this guy also does this amazing pottery check it out at wondabread.com. Where he gets the time I don't know, but I would like to thank him for highlighting my work.

1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse
Remake, Restyle, Recycle, Renew
Garth Johnson

What Knot to Wear - Wood Bracelet

I learned at a very young age what wood could do, and my new work is not it. I am excited to introduce a new limited-edition piece that has kept me busy for the last couple of weeks. This piece is very simple in design, but for me it holds wondrous promise, promise in the way a young boy learns what can be done by working with wood, promise in the way it is

constructed. Each of my new bracelets are hand-crafted in an eco-friendly way with 80% less waste than the traditional method of wooden bracelet construction. Each piece will be signed and numbered.

gustav