What Are Your Thoughts On This Old Box?

[kiavonne]

Shangas' dream box (which can be seen here and makes me drool) reminded me of this box which I've had for a few years but of which I never really posted pictures. It has seen a lot in its "history." Whatcha think?

 

 

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope01.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope02.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope03.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope04.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope05.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope06.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope07.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope08.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope09.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope10.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope11.jpg

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/poplarslope12.jpg

[curiouslizard]

Kiavonne,

 

That is a beautiful writing box! I absolutely love the blue leather inlay. Your Renaissance Arts journal and G. Lalo paper look quite happy nestled in their comfy spaces. The wood looks to be perhaps oak or pine?

 

Can you share some history? All of these writing box threads have me scouring the web looking for a treasure to call my own.

[stefanv]

Beautiful! I'm just in the process of building a pen storage box from scratch (basically, like a cigar box, but with better workmanship). Now you've got me wanting to build a writing box.

[karinh]

That's lovely! The blue colour of the leather is really pretty. I would like a writing box I could use - we have a very nice antique one but I'm not allowed to use it.

[reprieve]

What a beautiful find! The leather is in great shape. Did you have it restored?

[Horseknitter]

I'm on the lookout for just such a box. Yours is in excellent condition which is my first criteria (and why I don't have one yet!). The wells etc can be added or not. But I'll keep looking. Nice example!!

L

[Shangas]

Writing boxes were the laptop computers of their day. And that one looks nice and compact and beautiful! Is that leather on the top? Or...what? It looks like a lovely box. What's the history behind it?

[kiavonne]

Thank you all for your lovely comments! It really makes me very happy and has made my day after a brutal 12-hour shift. I do mean that. /sniff

 

True confessions time.

 

Athough it already has a little bit of a history, the old in this box is 3 years.

 

Like everyone else, once I figured out what I was missing, I had to have one. Or two. The problem was that I was only finding the gorgeous antiques with horrendous price tags, or the ones in fair condition but were overseas with shipping costs over my head, or the fleabag fix 'er uppers and I am so not into restoration. My touch is not golden. So, I went looking for someone who might be able to build me a writing slope.

 

I found Dan and Deb McBride of Arizona Woodman (www.azwoodman.com). Now, 3 years ago, they had not seen a writing slope before, either. With no plans or specs and only the pictures on various websites to go by, they agreed to make a prototype writing slope for me. It would be unfinished, that was left to me. After several exchanges of info, this is what they came up with:

 

 

 

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Writing%20Boxes/Poplar%20Writing%20Slope/Poplarslope.jpg

 

 

Yep, this is my box, the one in the pictures above.

 

It is made of poplar, and was inexpensive. Now, this is a pretty darned good first try if you ask me. However, there were some tweaks that had to be made. I didn't explain myself clearly on what the pen tray area should be, and so there was a very deep area with a lid instead of a tray. So I took that piece and cut a couple of sections from it to fit inside the area to serve as the shelf for a tray. I asked Dan to make me a tray to spec, and now I have a nice tray and still have a nice area beneath for secrets. The inkwell area was made to hold a 3-oz bottle of Noodler's. Works well.

 

The other problem we had was the rest for the lower panel. Originally, it rested on two screws that were on either side of the inside of the compartment. That wasn't working. So I took another piece of the original tray/lid and cut it into smaller pieces to put in the corners of the compartment for the panel to rest on. That worked. All I needed to do was finish the box.

 

Well, I decided I wanted the box to have an old and well used feeling to it, but one that still suggested care without being a real fancy box. One that felt like home, if you know what I mean. I chose to use a red mahogany stain with urathane overcoat. I used two coats of stain. I sanded in between to try and give it an older feel. I got carried away in one corner on the lid, but I left it as I figured it just fit in with the whole scheme. I also left the two-drip oopsie on one side, as it too seemed to just fit. The panels had a lovely cherry veneer on one side, unfortunately it was the side that gets the leather writing surface. That's ok, the panels are still lovely on the underside as well. I was in the process of covering the new pen tray Dan made for me with a faux leather bookbinding material, until disaster hit.

 

In the summer of 2009, a tornado flew over and wiped out my north bedrooms. My box was one of just a few pieces I was able to salvage from the wreckage before the disaster cleanup crew threw everything that was left out. Unfortunately, the panels were badly warped by the moisture and humidity. It took a long time to get them back into useable shape. They are still a little off, but they now fit into the box properly again.

 

The leather surface is the third that was designated for the box. The first piece was a beautiful piece I'd ordered from Just Desk Leathers in Canada. Unfortunately, desk leathers come with excess and need to be trimmed. I made a major oopsie on the trimming of that first piece and rendered it unusable. The second piece was from a skiver I ordered off the bay. I cut one piece from it that I used on the portable writing surface for the Twain box I had made for a friend (again by Dan and Deb McBride) and was getting ready to use it on the slope panels, but the rest of the skiver was gobbled up by the tornado. I only recently purchased a new piece of embossed leather from White Chapel Ltd. Finally, a writing surface. Well, there were a few small issues but I finally got it installed. That is when I made another big mistake. The panels are still slightly warped. I used an extra piece of leather on the edges of the panels to be used as tabs. Oops. Too tight. With the leather pieces, the panels stuck tight, and I broke the leather pieces trying to raise them. I had to pry up the panels, and in the process kind of made a mess on the edges of the desk leather (which really showed up in my photos, that my eye couldn't really see before). I'll fix that, though.

 

So, anyway, I felt after all had been said and done that I'd finally achieved my goal of a box that felt old and well used, as well as feeling like "home." I love using this box. It really is near to perfect. I do have another slope that Dan and Deb made for me in Rosewood that they finished for me (they are now specializing in exquisite and beautiful writing slopes), but this little slope is really just right, being a little more portable and weighing much less.

 

Anyway, thanks again for the comments. I do appreciate them. It's been 3 years, but I think my little slope is happy in home and use, now.

[stefanv]

Brava!

[pelman]

Very nice. I think you just gave Dave and Deb some business from this thread. See if you can get a commission

[Kendra]

That is GORGEOUS! Perhaps you could even use it for storage of special letters you receive too! Where did you find such a fantastic box, if you dont mind my asking?

[Beechwood]

Is there a hidden compartment, perhaps under the red pen and accessed from the lower compartment?

[karinh]

You did a fantastic job getting it to look like that and I think that all it has been though in its short life so far only adds to its meaning and value for you. I'm admiring it all the more after hearing its story.

[kiavonne]

That is GORGEOUS! Perhaps you could even use it for storage of special letters you receive too! Where did you find such a fantastic box, if you dont mind my asking?

 

I had it made. Dan and Deb McBride of Arizona Woodman. And yes, it holds some special things.

 

 

Is there a hidden compartment, perhaps under the red pen and accessed from the lower compartment?

 

Yes, there is an area under the pen tray, but not accessed by the lower compartment. I just lift out the tray. At the time, we were concentrating more on the plain design of the box. Dan makes boxes with drawers, now, but no true hidden comparments yet - that I'm aware of.

[professionaldilettante]

I THOUGHT THAT'S WHO MADE IT.

I have been talking to them extensively, as I wanted a writing slope really bad, but also wanted a box that would fit a 50ml Lamy bottle. The configuration was so familiar, as I've been tweaking things with them. After about 2 weeks of planning, I've finally worked everything out with them for a walnut slope, also unfinished. It's really great that I happen to chance on this, as now the circle is complete as now I know where they started. Very interesting. Hopefully in a month's time, I'll have a review up, after it's all finished and nice looking.

That is GORGEOUS! Perhaps you could even use it for storage of special letters you receive too! Where did you find such a fantastic box, if you dont mind my asking?

 

I had it made. Dan and Deb McBride of Arizona Woodman. And yes, it holds some special things.

 

 

Is there a hidden compartment, perhaps under the red pen and accessed from the lower compartment?

 

Yes, there is an area under the pen tray, but not accessed by the lower compartment. I just lift out the tray. At the time, we were concentrating more on the plain design of the box. Dan makes boxes with drawers, now, but no true hidden comparments yet - that I'm aware of.

[WendyNC]

That is a lovely box and it already has a great history (although I'm sorry you experienced that disaster along the way). Perhaps someday you'll put that history somewhere out of the way, in the box, as 50 years from now, it will be an even better story.

[kiavonne]

I THOUGHT THAT'S WHO MADE IT.

I have been talking to them extensively, as I wanted a writing slope really bad, but also wanted a box that would fit a 50ml Lamy bottle. The configuration was so familiar, as I've been tweaking things with them. After about 2 weeks of planning, I've finally worked everything out with them for a walnut slope, also unfinished. It's really great that I happen to chance on this, as now the circle is complete as now I know where they started. Very interesting. Hopefully in a month's time, I'll have a review up, after it's all finished and nice looking.

 

I will be looking forward to your review! Dan and Deb are terrific folks, so helpful and so dedicated to their craft. Just avoid any and all storms. /nod

 

 

That is a lovely box and it already has a great history (although I'm sorry you experienced that disaster along the way). Perhaps someday you'll put that history somewhere out of the way, in the box, as 50 years from now, it will be an even better story.

 

That's a neat idea. Maybe I'll put it on a small scroll for the "secret" area under the pen tray. I would hope the box would find another good home after I'm gone. It deserves a writer.

[Shangas]

Hi Kiavonne, it may interest you to know, I did a "History of Writing Boxes" article on my blog under "Pens & Paraphernalia" section.

[kiavonne]

Great article, Shangas! Thank you for sharing, and for promoting the treasures these boxes are. No writer should be without one.

[Raiche58]

Must.......resist........additional........addiction.........