A new project of mine

[Magickdancer]

Hi folks -

I've been a little hesitant to show you guys what I've been up to lately, only because well, I'm not sure at all how
you will react. I have taken two things that I love very much - arts and crafts, and playing the whistle - and
combined them in to what you see in the photos. I may sell these whistles if people like them enough, and
one of my underlying goals is that I'm am thinking this is a fun way to expose kids to musical instruments
and learning to play them.

The photos are of some whistles that I bought (two generations and a feadog), and then painted and decorated
in themes - fairy, dragon and pirate. They are all D whistles, and still play well after I finished everything. I have
some other ideas that I'll flesh out later, but for now these are the first three I've done.

So.... do you like them, or am I going to get trounced here for tampering with them??

Kristen

[Brent Lyons]

Oooooooo.... Pirates! Very pretty indeed! Maybe I should have you do this to my Walton LBW so it would have at least *one* redeeming quality.

[Magickdancer]

Oooooooo.... Pirates! Very pretty indeed! Maybe I should have you do this to my Walton LBW so it would have at least *one* redeeming quality.

Whew.... someone likes them! I suppose I could do that for you. Hadn't thought of it, yet.

Kristen

[Latticino]

Not really my cup of tea, but at the right price you would be able to sell the heck out of those at a Renaissance festival.

[maki]

Nice work!
Have you tried selling on Etsy?
Just the place for hand crafted goodies.

[MTGuru]

Not my cuppa either ... But decorating found or everyday objects is a long and venerable tradition.

I'd seriously worry about the bling just below the whistle head, if it might interfere with tuning or be likely to come off.

two generations and a feadog

I don't recall seeing a black Gen head before. What whistle is that?

[mutepointe]

The world needs more bling. We were teasing Doug in a thread a while back. Lasers and fire would rock. You really outdid yourself with the skull.

[Magickdancer]

The world needs more bling. We were teasing Doug in a thread a while back. Lasers and fire would rock. You really outdid yourself with the skull.

I think that means you like them? Yay! Yes, I am a girl and I love bling, but for some reason that skull makes me very, very happy. It's actually a brass base covered in real silver - I got it from my local bead store, which has some of their stock custom-plated in silver and copper. The eyes are Swarovski crystals, as are the other gems.

On the fipples, well, I used something that I hope will be okay - it's a color spray that was made to recolor plastic items. I felt it was the only choice I had to color the fipple the way I wanted, and still have the color stay on plastic. It seems to be okay right now in my playing so far. No weird smells, my lips aren't going numb or anything, and there are no marks on the fipple - not that I'm trying to chew on them or anything, but I want to make sure the paint doesn't, well, chip off. That would be bad and I would have to abandon the idea of coloring the fipples, or just buy only brass whistles with black fipples, like Dixon.

Yes, I have been eyeing the ren faire market for these, as I have booths at the large California ones already. : ) I haven't seen anyone else doing this, so I might have a good shot at it. I also just set up an Etsy store, since it was really easy to do, and makes it easy for folks to look at the photos. Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/whistlemagick

One of my next airbrush techniques to learn is flames, and then... I want to paint realistic flames on a whistle. You've read my mind, mutepointe!

Lasers, eh? How would you do that?

[MTGuru]

On the fipples, well, I used something that I hope will be okay - it's a color spray that was made to recolor plastic items.

Ah, OK. But if the spray is paint-like and not a dye of some kind, and is applied to the blade and inside the window (as it seems), that could have a serious effect on the voicing and playability of the whistle, no? Fun bling is perfectly fine, but not if it compromises the musical integrity of the instrument, IMO. That would be my concern with tampering with the heads.

[Katharine]

and there are no marks on the fipple - not that I'm trying to chew on them or anything

If you're going to be marketing them to kids, you might want to chew on it! You know they will be. Might as well know in advance what happens.

I am all about the flames.

[Dreamer]

Yay, fairies! I thought that whistles couldn't look any better after they came out with the pink feadog, you proved me wrong!

At the right price you would be able to sell the heck out of those at a Renaissance festival.

I agree with this, and it is a great way to get kids interested in the instrument.

[Latticino]

If you want a black head, why not just use either a black Feadog or Oak whistle as the basis for your creations?

[cai-shao-yang]

so beautiful！！ it is feadog？ excellent！！
i like the skull!

[Infernaltootler]

I think you've done something pretty original and creative and it will definately appeal to lots of people, although not necessarily those here.

I know my kids would love a whistle that looks fancy. I can't keep my 10 year old off my Harper for exactly this same reason - it has a pretty pattern on it and looks like a whistle an elf might use.

Definately go on Etsy.com to test your market and don't forget Pintrest.

[Magickdancer]

If you want a black head, why not just use either a black Feadog or Oak whistle as the basis for your creations?

I'm rethinking that part - the thing is, I love the Generation sound, and unfortunately the Feadog I bought recently doesn't sound as clean to me. I also would really like to do different color fipples to go with the different design themes, but I also know that you have to be really careful in how you treat them, because I do understand that the fipple is really what gets the sound right. I am also looking in to using Dixon brass ones with the black plastic fipples, because I could get them wholesale and the price wouldn't be so high for my material cost. I love the Dixon sound the best, of all the cheaper brass whistles.

I have put the whistles up on Etsy - the store name is Whistlemagick - but I don't have a Pinterest board... I'm getting a little over-saturated with these things, and occasionally have to take long breaks from Facebook, so I'm very loathe to get into Pinterest.

Infernaltootler - would your kids be interested in a decorated whistle, if it had less "stuff" on it, which would then bring the cost down?

I'm also designing a simple display holder for them (hubby is working on them), where two hooks made from copper are held in place by a rectangle piece of wood with routed edges, and the copper hooks are bent to show off the whistle in a horizontal position - it won't be expensive, and it's more for those who would buy the whistle as a piece of art, besides being able to play it.

Kristen