Tweaking nature

I've posted before about how I have recently taken up whittling.  I just have to show off this beautiful before and after shot of how a bit of carving can transform a piece of wood.

This is the before shot.  It is oak.

It's a branch.  It fell from a tree and laid on the ground until I found it.  It doesn't look like anything special, but I picked it up because in spite of how much it doesn't look like much, it does have some potential.  I liked the pieces that stuck out, because those always look interesing when you trim and sand them.

This is the after shot.  This is after I whittled away the bark and trimmed the pieces that stuck out.  This is after I carved the 1" section for a WPI tool.  This is after hours of very gently pulling the best out of what had been nothing more than a branch.

It was sanded and sanded and sanded again, with an increasingly fine paper from 100 to 600 grit.  It was rubbed and polished with a homemade beeswax polish.  Yes, it really is that shiny!!

I drilled a small hole in the top to put a little eyelet in so that a wrist strap could be added if desired.  What it is is a nostepinne - a tool for wrapping yarn into neat little center-pull balls.  With a wrist strap, it can also be used as a wrist distaff.  The stone is a wire-wrapped rose quartz.

I'm at a loss for how to price this.  It takes a lot of care to bring out the best in a piece of wood like this.