Photo slot

01 — Leather

Cut, then pushed.

Leather carving is not cutting a picture into a surface — it is moving the surface itself. A swivel knife opens a line; a stamp pushes the leather down around it; the portrait rises because everything around it has been lowered.

We work on 3 mm vegetable-tanned shoulder, dampened to the right point and carved in one sitting while it is still workable. Then it dries, gets burnished, waxed, and starts the slow darkening that makes a carried piece look better at year three than at week one.

Vegetable-tanned, no chrome, no plastic finish
Hand-burnished edges and waxed linen thread
No laser, no print, no heat transfer

Photo slot

02 — Wood

Grain is part of the portrait.

Bas-relief carving works by removing everything that is not your animal. We start with a solid blank — walnut for depth, cherry for warmth, maple for fine detail — and cut until the face sits 8 to 14 mm proud of the background.

Hardwood moves. A piece carved in January is not quite the piece you hold in June, and the grain will run through the fur in a way no drawing can predict. That is the trade-off, and it is the reason no two are identical.

Solid hardwood, never laminated or resin-cast
Oiled and waxed, not lacquered
Chisel marks left visible on figurines

Photo slot

03 — Silver

A graver, not a laser.

A laser burns a line into metal. A graver cuts a channel and lifts a ribbon of silver out of it, which is why hand engraving catches light differently from every angle and laser engraving does not.

For paw prints and nose prints we cast rather than engrave — a print kit goes out in the post, you take the impression at home, and the ridges of your animal’s actual foot end up in the metal.

Solid 925 sterling, never plated
Hand-engraved portraits, cast prints
Satin, polished or oxidised finish

Photo slot

04 — Felt

Wool, needled by hand.

Needle felting builds a portrait one fibre at a time. Barbed needles catch dyed merino and corridale wool and lock it into a linen ground or a solid wool core — no glue, no mould, no stitching.

Because we blend carded wool the way a painter mixes pigment, subtle brindle coats, calico patches and greying muzzles can be matched in exact colour as well as relief.

100% dyed merino and corridale wool
Hand-blended fur shades, no printed backing
Soft-edged, tactile and unbreakable

The bench

Why it takes four to six weeks.

Because one person does all of it, and because we do not start cutting until you have said yes to a drawing.

3 daysTo your pencil sketch

2Revision rounds

9–40 hBench time per piece

1Maker, start to finish

Commission a piece Browse ready designs

Where it is made

Everything is carved in a small workshop in mainland China and shipped direct to the customer. That is worth saying plainly: the price reflects a workshop, not a gallery, and there is no importer between the bench and your door.

Shipping to the United States, Canada and Australia runs on DHL or UPS Express with tracking — typically 8 to 12 business days once a piece leaves the bench. Duties and taxes are prepaid on our side for these three markets, so nothing is collected at delivery.

What we will not do

We will not copy another maker’s design or carve a portrait of someone else’s animal as your own.
We will not use a customer’s photographs for marketing without written permission — and never for a memorial piece.
We will not take a commission we do not think we can do well. If the photos are too poor or the request is outside what hand tools can achieve, we say so before you pay.

How the name happened

Orange & P is named after two cats. 橘子 came first — an orange tabby with strong opinions about where the tools should live. 小P arrived later and immediately claimed the drawings. Neither has ever helped with a single commission, and both are consulted on every sketch anyway.

Material & Craft Comparison

Which material suits your pet’s photo?

Side-by-side specifications across all four materials and how true bench handwork compares to factory laser-engraved products.

Material	Raw Specification	Relief & Technique	Bench Hours	Price Range (USD)	Best Suited For
Merino Wool Felt	100% Australian merino & corridale wool	2D flat painterly (1.5–3 cm) or 3D high-relief (6–9 cm) with custom glass eyes	12 – 40 hrs	$68 – $296 USD	Lifelike fur colour blending, multi-pet frames, long-haired breeds & memorials
Tooled Leather	3.0–3.5 mm vegetable-tanned shoulder hide	Swivel-knife carving, dual-side embossing & layered hand brushwork	9 – 18 hrs	$128 – $158 USD	Everyday bag charms, keychains, parrot/bird oval frames & durable gifts
Solid Hardwood	American black walnut, cherry, maple & basswood	8–14 mm bas-relief or full-round 3D sculpture cut with 40+ hand gouges	14 – 35 hrs	$78 – $158 USD	Full-body posture figurines, daisy relief keepsake boxes (for collar/tags) & trays
925 Sterling Silver	Solid 925 sterling silver & vintage brass	Hand-engraved coin relief or lost-wax 3D micro-sculpted head	8 – 24 hrs	$35 – $176 USD	Wearable everyday necklaces, adjustable portrait rings & pocket keyrings

Comparison Dimension	ORANGE & P Artisan Bench	Typical Online “Custom” Factory
How the portrait is made	Hand-carved with gouges/swivel knives or needle-felted fibre by fibre	Automated laser burn, UV surface print, or Photoshop filter
Depth & tactility	True 3D sculptural relief (3 mm to 90 mm projection) you can feel with your thumb	Flat 0.1 mm surface scorch that peels or fades over time
Pre-payment verification	Free photo check & custom pencil sketch in 3 working days ($0 upfront)	Pay 100% upfront at checkout with no preview before production
Likeness guarantee	2 free sketch revisions + unedited bench photo before packing + free remake promise	No returns or remakes once machine-printed

A photograph becomes an object.

Cut, then pushed.

Grain is part of the portrait.

A graver, not a laser.

Wool, needled by hand.

Why it takes four to six weeks.

Where it is made

What we will not do

How the name happened

Which material suits your pet’s photo?