My wife came to me with a "commission" request ; to carve a first wedding anniversary gift for a good friend and work colleague. I have a lot going on, to be honest, but I haven't taken on any real carving challenges for a while, so I said yes. My wife is a designer of jewelry, so she contributed the design. The first looks were more like jewelry (surprise) and a little detailed for my talents and time allowance. After a few discussions and re-works of her design, we came up with something that satisfied us both. She wanted to combine a few elements of Ecuador, their home country. She requested several native woods that I no access to, but I did look up woods of Ecuador and found mahogany on the list, which I did happen to have on hand. The design incorporates a heart (it is a love spoon after all), Andean Condor wings and the flower, dahlia. I don't think they'll get another anniversary gift quite like this one.