Retirement? What's that?

Even before I retired from my more than full-time position at the University of Illinois in 2019, I knew I would stay busy. Even though I still do some business work, I really wanted to open up my creative side.

In 2020, I purchased my first trailer load of slabs of a variety of woods. It takes a lot more work than people may realize to prepare each slab by hand; removing bark (at times), flattening with my router sled, cutting, and sanding. This is needed just to get it ready for custom wood crafts and engravings.

Also in 2020, I purchased my first laser engraver (5W) that I upgraded to a 40W in 2022 in order to improve the quality and speed of my engravings.

Even though there is a lot of work that goes into each project, it is both fun and satisfying to have the ability to create unique craft items.

Scott Morris, Owner & Creator

What is Rustic Blend?

The “rustic” part of my process is to use different varieties of live edge wood for my creations. Some of these varieties include Ash, Hard Maple, Walnut, Cedar, Hickory, and Spalted Maple.

The “blend” comes from incorporating various other materials. One of my favorites is wrought iron, but may include black pipe, glass, ceramic, wine bottles, or other antique or reclaimed materials.

Projects include both wood or engraving creations from my own design, as well as commissioned work requested by customers. In many cases, customers send photographs that they wish to have engraved or request that a special wood product be made.