[Sold] Spotted Cat #1 beaded fountain pen

We made this, this first of our Spotted Cat beaded fountain pens, to celebrate the Cape leopard, one of the most magnificent and elusive creatures in the world. We have been fortunate enough to have touched a live leopard – which was unconscious and being collared for research by the Cape Leopard Trust. It was an experience that moved us at a profound level way beyond what we had expected. Big Boy, the leopard, traversed the farm where we have a home in the Cederberg, and is one of only about 30 – 35 adults still alive in that huge wilderness area. It is estimated that there are only roughly a thousand of these cats still living in the whole of the Western Cape.

Our fabulously talented friend Marian Binder, whose art can be found at mademarian.co.za, painted the beautiful card shown in these photographs.

Something I have just learned – the difference in the markings on a leopard versus a cheetah: leopards have rosettes whereas cheetahs have spots. We plan to continue this theme with other Spotted Cat pens in future.

Beaded pens are becoming one of our distinctive trademarks and we have recently upped our game by incorporating beadweaving … each coloured bead is woven into place by hand and there are more than 350 Japanese Miyuki Delica beads on this pen. Beadweaving is like learning to weave spells, only harder. (In my Muggle opinion.)

Note: We have made one pen to start with, but once that is sold we will be happy to make another one specifically for you. Just please allow us a few weeks to get your pen ready … it involves a LOT of different steps.