April- The Forks Forest

[erinlovesjoe]

I am SUPER excited to announce our April Vendor of the month is the Forks Forest!! www.theforksforest.etsy.com
Tena is the artist behind The Forks Forest. I met Tena here on Twilightmoms and then had the opportunity to meet her in person when my husband and I visited Forks in 2009. We became fast friends and she is one of my favorite people. While my bestie Stacie and I were at Tena's house last August we got an awesome opportunity to see some amazing things Tena was creating from the remains of the old Forks highschool that was torn down last summer. Tena has created some of the most unique Twilight items I have ever seen. She actually recovered bricks, copper, and different metals from the highschool ruble and made beautiful collectables. Tena is truly one of the sweetest and creative people I have ever met. Instead of doing the typical interview we always do I am going to let Tena tell you about herself and her beautiful creations.
Tena & Stacie
When I first read twilight what struck me was that I moved to Forks when I was 17 and attended Forks High where I met the love of my life also…(and now my husband for 43 years). Of course there aren’t any werewolves in my love story. We raised 3 sons here and now have 12 grandchildren. They all love to come back to Forks to visit and get a lot of mileage out of the fact they have Forks connections.
Creating has always been part of who I am so in the winter of 2009 when one of my grandsons needed help fundraising for a sports trip to Australia, I had the idea to make the bookmarks out of items collected from the forest around Forks. That’s when I got the idea for the etsy shop and the name for the shop to be the Forks Forest. I have made hundreds of the bookmarks and they are always loved. It’s so fun to collect all the bits from the forest, and then to work it all together and send that little piece of our area around the world.
I have made friends with many fans that come to visit Forks. We’d chat by email and when they came to Forks we’d meet for coffee and get to know each other better. Two twilight moms that I got to know this way were Erin and Staci. The last time they visited and saw some of the new creations I had they both just looked at me and said “Oh, this is so a mockingjay piece” I had not even heard of the Hunger Games before then, so I got the books and read them and “off I go… into the land of Panem.”

In the summer of 2010 when the Forks High School was taken down, being the twilight fan I am, I knew I would never let those bricks go to the land fill. They were part of Forks history and worth salvaging. We own the West Waste and Recycling Center and had the demolished building brought to our facility truck load by truck load. My husband and I spent many nights after work going through the rubble to salvage the bricks from the building. One evening he reminded me he had saved the gym flooring they had pulled out of the old high school gym and had stored it to use in some sort of a project one day as the wood was old growth fir that was sawn from 400-500 year old trees back in the 30’s. What a shame not to utilize it in some way… that’s when a light came on for me. I asked him if I could have it to make boxes and bookends to put the Forks High School bricks in, what a fantastic keepsake they would be. And though he wasn’t convinced anyone would really want them he agreed to give me the wood to use for the boxes and bookends.
I had my nephew, who is a great woodworker design the wonderful box to fit around the bricks. He took the old flooring and removed the finish and made me about 30 boxes. Then I went – “ Why are we taking off the floor finish, it’s part of the history.” Now we leave it on, though we still have some of both. Then we decided to stamp a brass tag to read F. H. S. to mount on the front of the boxes. Next he developed the bookends and they are fantastic. No two are actually alike as the different floor sections had different colors of paint, and most important they are the actual wood and bricks from the Forks High School and are a truly unique treasure from Forks not offered anywhere else in the world…
Tena Let me pick my own brick out!
Stacie pciking out her brick
I hope you all have loved getting to know Tena as much as I have! Tena is offering FREE shipping to Twilightoms! Just enter TMFREESHIP at check out!


Remember Free Shipping For TwilightMoms use code "TMFREESHIP"
www.theforksforest.etsy.com

[txtwihard]

Congrats to The Forks Forest! I have a set of the Forks Forest bookmarks and I absolutely love them! I also love all the Hunger Games inspired stuff. Beautiful!

[sparklingtwilightmom]

Those bookends look great, but I'm sure the shipping to Canada will be a lot. I'll have to check them out, I love supporting companies that recycle and which are small businesses!

[erinlovesjoe]

She is offering free shipping to twilightmoms. Not sure about Canada but I'll ask.

[Bella]

Wow! It's great to get to know you Tena and your wonderful etsy shop The Forks Forest! Such original and creative items! That was a great idea you had to save the materials from the demolition to use in crafts.

[twilight@work]

I was in Forks while they were tearing down the school, it was sad to me I can't imagine what it was like for those that went to the school. It's nice that you save parts of the school so those that buy the bricks have physical pieces to put with their memories. Good job!

[Shimmerskin]

Tena, you are such a delight and you have great ideas. Your work is exquisite.

It's so nice that you've salvaged and upcycled pieces from the school. I am happy I was able to tour the original Forks High in 2008, but I was also sad at knowing I'd be among the last tourists to see it, and that it won't be there when next I come to Forks. Your boxes and bookends are a great way to preserve its Spartan heritage and Twilight influence.

[rainie928]

Yay! I'm so happy to see you as the Vendor of the Month! I've actually placed an order with you before. You're stuff is great! Congratulations!!

[KrisTEnZ]

Wow! I just checked the store on Etsy....it is all so beautiful. I have not read the Hunger Games yet, but it is on my "to read" list, so I'll have to come back to the site after I've read the trilogy

[fourlittlemonkeys]

BEAUTIFUL!!! Such creative and amazing work! Congrats on vender of the month!

[Shimmerskin]

Tena, Tena! I'm so excited. I can't wait to get my order! Thank you for all your help.

[peachy2000]

WOW! I have one of the bookmarks- I love it!

This is so neat!