The eyes made me put the box down and just look.

We wanted something from our daughter's sketchbook that she could still recognise years from now. Her drawing was a rabbit in a long coat, with one button roughly twice the size of the others. I mentioned it so it wouldn't get tidied up. When she opened the package she laughed at that button first. We put the carving on a shelf next to the original sketch, and I like seeing both there. The drawing is still playful, while the wood gives all that empty space around the rabbit a little weight.

I sent a sketch of a fish with boots. The question back was whether the pencil marks around the boots were part of it. They absolutely were. I appreciated being asked, and the carving kept the drawing's scruffy charm.

Beautiful on the walnut console, especially under the evening lamp.

The reference was taken on a phone, with one side of Alba’s face almost in shadow. The finished carving kept that contrast instead of trying to even it out. I think that's why the eyes have so much life.

The hands were what I cared about most. They’re beautifully done.

The foreground grasses were such a nice surprise.

Juniper’s sleepy little face is all there.

I chose this for the small wall beside our bookcase. The design is spare enough that it doesn't compete with the shelves. At night the reading lamp picks up one band of texture I barely see in the morning.

From the doorway it reads as one clean shape. Close up, completely different.

The path in my reference was half obscured by shadow. I didn't want it brightened too much, just readable. It came through as a thin break in the dark foreground, which is exactly how I remember seeing it.

It still looks like our boy’s drawing, right down to the enormous feet.