As a young man, Chuck followed in his father’s footsteps and became interested in both woodworking and rock collecting. In his teen years, a teacher who later became a family friend encouraged his rock collecting and lapidary interests, and while still in high school organized and headed up a gem and mineral show, which continued for 3 years during his community college days. Chuck went on to study geology, eventually earning a Masters degree. He continued rock hounding during his graduate years and met his wife Melody who shared his love for gems and minerals. During his professional career he continued with woodworking, but left behind his interest in lapidary, but still occasionally collected rocks. He became an accomplished programmer in several languages, developing new and innovative software and traveling to various locations teaching software application usage to the company geology staff. During this time Chuck and Melody were introduced to Renaissance Faires, which we have attended regularly for the last 35 years. Melody worked in a shop for several years, and our son was in the performance company for several years before his enlistment in the military. After this involvement they were on the lookout for something unique they could use to become a Renaissance Faire vendor, and eventually found wooden three dimensional puzzles. After several years doing weekend craft shows throughout the area and learning of the tremendous educational opportunities presented by puzzles, they were eventually accepted as vendors at Sherwood Forest Faire in Texas. When Chuck finally retired from his second career as an over the road truck driver, they began to expand their product line to include fossils and minerals, bringing them back to their original enjoyment. They now enjoy teaching their customers, especially children, about how fossils and minerals are created and what they represent as well as the challenges and educational benefits of the puzzles, not to mention the fun of family games that do not require batteries to work. The website also contains numerous items from a close friend who interest is working with fiber. She spins using various techniques, weaves, and crochets numerous items using primarily natural fiber. All of her creations are one of a kind as she never uses a pattern. She is also an accomplished fantasy artist and you may see some of her art work here as well as some of Chuck’s wood working. We are committed to giving you great benefit for value, and what you see is what you get with few exceptions. For example, the wood grain on the puzzles and games may be different than in the image and in rare cases the mineral or fossil samples are exceedingly similar. In these cases, we will clearly identify that this is a sample image. In the case of most fossils and minerals they are unique and what you see is the image of the piece you will purchase. We do not purchase fossils and minerals sight unseen; we personally select each and every specimen and choose only those we would be willing to put in our personal collection. Yes, it takes time but this way we know that each piece we sell is excellent quality for the price. Yes we do sell some fossil reproductions which are clearly identified as such, we do this so you can have an example of a great fossil without having to mortgage your house. If we can assist you in finding a special piece that we do not have on our web site, please feel free to contact us and we will work with you to locate exactly what you want.
