Cartwright's Creations, Inc.

03/08/2024

This is probably one of the coolest products we have ever had made that unfortunately won’t be for sale. We commissioned the talented Greg Cartwright withCartwright's Creations, to create these pens made from the floor of our storefront. We handed these out to a few folks that help with early renovations! I have since started a collection of them they are so unique and each one tells an incredible story. If you haven’t you should check out his work. It is super impressive.

09/07/2023

I have been collecting historic and sentimental woods from around West Virginia for several years. I currently have wood from 52 of the 55 West Virginia counties – that is all of them except Jefferson, Logan, and Wyoming. I have a number of historic woods from sources such as the Philippi Covered Bridge; buildings from WVU, Wesleyan, Alderson Broaddus, etc; The International Mother’s Day Shrine, the grounds of the State Capitol building, several covered bridges around the state, and may others.

As a retired educator, I have an affinity for school buildings and have wood from dozens of schools (some closed and some still open) from around the state. My personal favorite is a floor beam from a one room school in Upshur where my father, my older brother and I all attended.

If you are interested in wood from a specific county, please send me an email at cartwrightscreations@gmail and I will send you a copy of a list of the woods from that county. Once you have selected a piece of wood, you can select the style of you want.

I am always looking for more wood sources. If you find wood of interest to me, I will make arrangements to get it from you and I will make you a free pen from that wood in the style of your choosing. I also enjoy making pens from special woods that you might have like “Grandpa’s barn” or an old piece of furniture. In these cases, please send me a picture of the wood.

11/08/2021

A huge thank you to all my customers at Mountaineer Week this past weekend. It was a great show. On Tuesday, November 16, I will be at Artistry on Main in Buckhannon from 10 am to 6 pm. If you can, stop in and see me.
While I was in Morgantown, I got a really cool piece of new wood and plan to have a couple of pens made from it by the 16th. It is apple wood from Brooke County and is from an apple tree that descended from one of the apple trees that Johnny Appleseed planted in Brooke County. How 'bout them apples?

11/05/2021

I will be at Mountaineer Week in the ballroom of the Mountainlair.
Fri, Nov 5: 11am - 8pm
Sat, Nov 6: 11am - 8am
Sun, Nov7: 11am - 4pm
I hope to see you there!
Go Mountaineers!

10/08/2021

I will be at The Pumpkin Festival in Milton, WV this weekend. It runs through Oct 10th! Stop by and see me!

07/27/2021

05/26/2021

I have gotten a couple of new woods that I would like to share. A friend from Calhoun County got me wood from the Spencer Stockyards in Roane County.
I met a gentleman who gave me wood from the Madison Ice House in Boone County. It burned a few years ago and he had some wood which he graciously shared. He also had wood from the Mountaineer Dinner Theatre in Putnam County.
On Saturday, a local friend gave me some maple flooring left over when the new Scotty Hamilton Gymnasium was part of a major remodel at Grafton High School. Scotty was the first WVU All-American in basketball in 1943 and an alumnus of Grafton High School. I have attached a picture of the pens I have already made from that wood.

None of these are on my webpage yet so let me know if you are interested.

03/17/2021

Although my primary business is wooden pens made from historic or sentimental woods, I also make other turned items such as seam rippers. I recently got the following from a fellow artisan who also has her work at Artistry on Main in Buckhannon.
I can make them (just like I can pens) using nearly all of the woods in my collection of about 450 different WV woods or a wood special to you.
"I just wanted to let you know how pleased I am to have one of your wonderful seam rippers! As you know I am a long time textile artist who, unfortunately, must all too often remove problem stitches. My thanks to you for making such a sharp, sturdy, comfortable and beautiful tool! It is hands-down the best one I have ever had!
Most sincerely,
Suzan Morgan"
I recently made the fifth one from the loom used by the family's grandmother and built by her husband. They are very special gifts.

01/16/2021

I will be in Buckhannon at Artistry on Main on Tuesday, Jan 19 from 10:00 until 6:00.

Stop by and you can see my entire inventory.

That will include new pens made from doors rescued from Ritchie County schools. One was from Ritchie County High School and the other from Ritchie County Middle School. They join my wood from Berdine's 5 and Dime in my Ritchie County collection.

12/15/2020

Another new wood! Compton Lanes in Clarksburg served bowlers in the Clarksburg and surrounding areas for nearly 40 years before closing in September of 2020 due to Covid-19. A good friend of mine (and also an avid bowler) snagged a piece of one of the lanes for me after the building was sold. Bowling lanes are made of maple and this is some really nice maple. I have made a couple of pens but it will be a little while before I get them posted on my web page. If you are interested, call me at 304-266-5207 or e-mail cartwrightscreations@gmail.com.

12/09/2020

I will be at Artistry on Main in Buckhannon on Friday, December 11 from 10am to 6pm. I always have some of my pens on display there for sale. The one day a month that I work there, I always take my inventory of several hundred pens made from historic and/or sentimental woods from 45 of the 50 WV counties. If you are in Buckhannon, please stop by and say hi and take a quick look at my pens. I hope to see you Friday.

11/27/2020

I decided NOT to go to Charleston tomorrow for the Town Center Mall show. Decided to stay home and be safe. Good luck to those who chose to attend.

11/25/2020

On Saturday, Nov 28 I will be doing my first craft show in a very long time. From 11am until 3pm we will be set up in the hallway outside the old Macy's store in the Charleston Town Center Mall. Remember I have over 400 pieces of wood from 50 WV counties. This weekend I will be featuring pens made from woods from WVU, Marshall, Charleston Civic Center and the grounds of the State Capitol. I am attaching this picture from last year's Pumpkin Festival in Milton so you get an idea of my inventory for a show in case you haven't seen me at one. If you are in the area, please stop in and say HI!!

11/14/2020

This maple was reclaimed from a chair in the conference room where students are informed whether they will be admitted into Med School. I had met a doctor from WVU who was fascinated with my collection of woods. He did not work in the building housing this conference room. He instead worked at the Chestnut Ridge Hospital situated right behind the main instructional building for med students. One day as he was headed home, he spied a pile of chairs that were being thrown away. He quickly put one in his car and called me as soon as he got home. I met him the next day for a cup of coffee and he proudly presented me with a nice stack of pieces from one of the chairs. Of course, he got a free pen for his efforts. You too can get a free pen if you provide me with a piece of wood I want for my collection.

I also really enjoy pens from wood with family sentimental ties. I have made dozens over the years from “grandpa’s barn” or “grandma’s loom” or other pieces with family sentiment. Let me help you make special family gifts.

Pens and pencils are available in a variety of styles and hardware colors as shown in the chart. They can be ordered from my website at www.cartwrightscreations.com or by contacting me directly at 304-266-5207 or cartwrightscreations@gmail.com. Pens and pencils are $40 each or $50 when personalized. Please let me know if you have any questions.

11/13/2020

Woodburn Hall is the most iconic building on the downtown campus, in fact, of all WVU buildings in my opinion. I was the second building built and was built between 1874 and 1876. Its square based dome houses the famous Seth Thomas clock which originally was in the cupola of Martin Hall. It is the centerpiece of the Woodburn Circle which consists of Martin, Woodburn and Chitwood Halls. Woodburn was first named New Hall and later renamed to salute the Woodburn Female Seminary which sat in the area of the Woodburn Circle. It is the most recognizable building and is used in many of WVU’s promotional materials.

Pens and pencils are available in a variety of styles and hardware colors as shown in the chart. They can be ordered from my website at www.cartwrightscreations.com or by contacting me directly at 304-266-5207 or cartwrightscreations@gmail.com. Pens and pencils are $40 each or $50 when personalized. Please let me know if you have any questions.

11/12/2020

Many of us remember the good ole days when Stansbury Hall was called the Field House. It was the home of WVU basketball during the era of Rod Thorn, Hot Rod Hundley, and Jerry West. It was recently demolished to make room for a new Business and Economics built to be erected on the site. I think I hit my first golf ball in a PE class in the Old Field House (it probably should have been my last).
Pens and pencils are available in a variety of styles and hardware colors as shown in the chart. They can be ordered from my website at www.cartwrightscreations.com or by contacting me directly at 304-266-5207 or cartwrightscreations@gmail.com. Pens and pencils are $40 each or $50 when personalized. Please let me know if you have any questions.

11/11/2020

The Creative Arts Center holds a special place in my WVU memories. It was built in the late 1960s while I was an undergraduate at WVU. My grandfather was the construction superintendent working for Baker and Coombs, Inc. as the main boss over all aspects of the construction of the CAC. He got me a job as a union laborer in the summers. Being the low man on the totem pole and also the big boss’ grandson, I seemed to be the one who got some of the more undesirable jobs but the wages of $2.25 an hour were much better than my wages back home on the farm.
A few years ago, I was vending at a show in Buckhannon and met a gentleman who was intrigued with my WVU collection of woods and told me he was a retired professor from the School of Music. I challenged him to find me some wood from the CAC. He responded with several pieces of mahogany for a piano and a couple of legs from piano stools, all from the CAC. As is my practice, he got a free pen (or two) from the wood. I chose to highlight the mahogany ones since mahogany is such a beautiful wood and one that I don’t have much of since it isn’t used nearly as much as other more common woods.
A special thanks to Dr. William Skidmore, Professor Emeritus, for this addition to my collection.
Pens and pencils are available in a variety of styles and hardware colors as shown in the chart below. They can be ordered from my website at www.cartwrightscreations.com or by contacting me directly at 304-266-5207 or cartwrightscreations@gmail.com. Pens and pencils are $40 each or $50 when personalized. Please let me know if you have any questions.

11/10/2020

Today’s feature is the WVU Coliseum. This maple was reclaimed from the floor of the Coliseum which opened in the fall of 1970 on the Evansdale campus and replaced the Old Fieldhouse (later named Stansbury Hall) as the home of WVU basketball. I have two cards about the coliseum – one that celebrates the first public event held there, a Grand Funk Railroad concert, and another which salutes Levi Phillips, a Charleston High star, who make the first basket ever made in a basketball game as a freshman on December 1, 1970. I will enclose a copy of each card with the purchase of any coliseum pen.
While a player at WVU, Coach Huggins made over 80% of his free throw shots. He was named Head Coach for WVU men’s basketball in 2007, thirty years after he graduated from WVU.
Pens and pencils are available in a variety of styles and hardware colors as shown in the chart below. They can be ordered from my website at www.cartwrightscreations.com or by contacting me directly at 304-266-5207 or cartwrightscreations@gmail.com. Pens and pencils are $40 each or $50 when personalized. Please let me know if you have any questions.