Yeah, so, I'm famous.

USAA wrote an article about entrepreneurship and I'm featured in the fourth installment!!!

Check it out here!

Returning soon!

Oh so close.

So the move is almost complete, and my new production center is almost set up. Just need a few more touches, like lights above the lathe and electricity within reach of the tools.

The funniest part from posting this picture on the Pen Turner’s facebook page were all the comments about how clean it looked! So I guess it is time to make a mess. Still need to get my new Shop Smith brought up from the in-laws’ house before I can start drilling, but I brought a few pre-drilled or partly completed pens with me.

Really looking forward to turning these acrylic blanks I made with my new pressure pot. I also have a vacuum pot on the way to make some stabilized wood with funky colors mingled into the grain and filling voids. I wonder what termite-tunneled wood filled with colored resin would look like? Hmm… Have to find some of that and find out!

So be on the lookout in the near future for some new things from Hope & Grace! Oh, and don't forget, I'm still honoring the "PATRIOTSGET10" coupon code for a limited time!

Aaaaaand we're BACK!

Ok, we're not entirely back.

After a marathon 42-hour trek from Japan to Virginia, we arrived exhausted but happy to be once

Grace and I endure a 42-hour journey home.

again with family. As we spend our days getting through jet lag and trying (not too successfully) to get sleep schedules assimilated, the gross of packages we mailed to ourselves from Iwakuni are slowly rolling in.

So far two boxes of the Hope & Grace Pens inventory have arrived, mostly the ring boxes with a few other sundries like the clocks and some coin racks. As the packages roll in, I'll keep putting what has arrived back up for sale. Of course, this might happen at 4 a.m. since my body's still tuned to Japan time. So keep checking back for your favorite items!

And to help get things started again, I'll honor the PATRIOTSGET10 coupon code to anyone for a limited time for 10% off any order.

Hope excited to be almost home (with her ninja sleep mask).

Moving Sale!

Guess who's moving?

Yes, our wonderful three years in Iwakuni have come to an end. We've loved every minute of it, but the lifestyle of Marine families dictates that it's time to move on.

I've really enjoyed visiting sites and being enriched by this proud, ancient culture. And I've been lucky enough to bring back some souvenirs along the way. I brought down a branch of cedar from near the top of Mount Misen on Miya Jima, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's an ancient, holy island with much to see and do, including one of the oldest eternal flames in the world.

I also brought back a small piece wood from Mount Shosha, another site literally covered with temples and statues and 1,000-year-old holy places. They filmed part of The Last Samurai here, and little wonder because it's one of the most beautiful and most intrinsically Japanese places we were honored to visit.

We've visited many places and done many things and I've always tried to bring back a small piece of wood to work into a pen to commemorate the visit. I've even been lucky enough to have a friend give me a piece of the actual Kintai Bridge, another national treasure, from the 1953 renovation.

So the movers have come and gone with most of our things. The express shipment folks come in a few days. We have a week here in a hotel before we fly out, but I'm trying very hard to keep my Etsy and Articents stores open until the last minute because who knows when I'll be able to open them again?

But to reduce the cost of mailing all my 100+ items home, I hoped to reduce inventory a little by offering 20% off anything in the stores. If you're an Etsy shopper, use the code "MARINESMUSTMOVE" when you place your order to get the discount. Of course, I prefer the no-fee Articents store and if you'd like to shop there, simply contact me by e-mail, telling me what you'd like to order, and I'll happily take off the 20% for you.  And if you have any other offers or codes (like any provided through this blog or other sites), I'll be happy to honor them in conjunction with this one.

This offer will be available until I have to put the stores in "vacation" mode about June 26, so if you've been thinking of placing an order, now's the time!

Thanks to everyone who's stuck with us through our journey and I hope to see you again on the other side!