carved wooden heart, love heart, wedding favour, Scottish gift, burl heart, i love you, valentines heart

I have had my eye on some rare Burr Lime that came from a Highland Estate, about 15 miles North of Inverness, for nearly 5 years now. I have only used it to make a couple of pieces so far. It is such a beautiful wood that i want to do it justice. European Lime is orangey brown with streaks of mid brown, a super intricate burr pattern and, to top all off, flashes of vibrant iridescent golden yellow.
These hand carved hearts are the perfect example of why people love wood. I carve and sand until they are tactile in the hand and feel nice in the palm.
An interesting fact about European Lime is that is has the pleasant smell of stem Ginger when being worked and this can still be smelt from the heart even after adding my finish.
My carved wooden hearts are always popular and one of my most requested items probably due to the fact that they are a timeless “token of love”. They would also lend themselves well to Wedding favours and a simple but elegant “i love you” gift.
I have finished the wood with Shellac sealer and Cellulose thinners to make the colour pop, fill the pores in the wood and to provide a stable base. I then apply three coats of Danish Oil, a traditional, relatively hard wearing wood finish that accentuates grain and colour.
The heart is suspended by 6mm vibrant red ribbon with a loop circumference of approximately 50mm. As with all my pieces i have used Pyrography to add my “UBC” logo, in this case, in the crease of the heart.
Hearts measure approximately 55mm wide x 42mm high and 16mm thick.