Carving on daylight savings time!

A total of 7 seats tonight! YEAH! And now for the bad news, First, We were shocked and appalled when we found out that the store that supplies our seats raised their prices $2! The closest store raised it $3! ( can you say goodbye to profits!) Well, not goodbye,,,,but it will cut in to them. We took almost all year to finally raise our price to where we were getting into the black. Now we will have to gradually creep the price up once again. The second bad news is that I broke my Guenevere. That is the hand sanding unit that fits onto a bench grinder. I use it to remove old finish and sand small boxes and carvings. It works great because it is gentle on the carving. Well, that's $70 gone! I was wobbling ever since I first got it and I guess it just finally broke cleanly off. I have rigged up my WeCheer as a substitute for the moment. The cats have finally warmed up to the new cat furniture. ( Ethan 3, Cheryl Zero!) Cheryl has been threatening to move the new pole out into the garage or outside and bring back the old ragged one. It was finally sealed when I got Cheryl's cat to join the crowd! As for Red, who has been most supportive, He still remains my shop cat and sleeps on the table saw whenever I'm in my workshop painting.

Bug!, Bees and Beetles

So the cat furniture is officially done now. I even put the computer on the lower shelves. The cats have not been hanging out on it much yet. But I'm sure that will change. At least red posed with it for a couple of publicity shots. I also worked on the boxes ( remember those...three weeks ago!) I cut out the inserts and glued them up. That is pretty much all. Waiting for glue to dry is not fun. So then I worked on a few more bugs using the blinzt bird base as my starting point. I even took a stab at a hornet/ bee. I should have picked a better color though.

Another day, another carving

Well, I finally finished painting the cat furniture. I now have to add the scratchers and carpet tot he shelves. Cheryl has pointed out the crappy job I did of painting it, but showing me all the missed spots that she can see from below. ( Must be nice being that short!) Anyway, I'm done painting. She can touch it up at her leisure. I carved up 5 seats tonight. I was surprised to carve up the zebra! I have sold it only one other time. Maybe African or safari themes are coming back. What a differance a little color makes! I decided to add a little origami to the post tonight. It has been a while and I have been exploring the "insect" theme once again. I am quite happy with my ant. I took an existing pattern and added a couple of my own folds to it to give it a better shape. I still might work on that one some more. I still have trouble with the dragonfly, but I think I have the various beetles down. Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

Painting the cat furniture

I'm taking a "break" tonight and concentrated on painting the Cat pole. It is a bear to get the underside all painted. Usually, Cheryl volunteers for this job. But tonight she is sewing wristlets for her shop. I decided to paint it in my room, which shows off just how small my room is ....

Sunday night carving

It was a busy weekend for me. I finished the cat pole, but it took longer than I thought. It still needs to be painted and have the carpet cut for each level. you can see the "old" cat pole beside it. ( it's getting kinda ragged looking) I was going for a contemporary look that would match the rest of the display stands I made last week. I also made some adjustments for the CPU to fit on the bottom shelf. so we can have more leg room under the computer desk. I'll add some better pictures after it has a coat of paint on it. As for now...the cats seem to enjoy it just fine. As for seats, I carved up 8 tonight. We are out of boxes, so they will not be shipped out tomorrow. But it is nice to have them done and ready for Tuesday. Red, the shop cat, has discovered that my table saw makes for a great nap stand. Yes, yes, I made sure it is unplugged when not in use. and No I would not dream of scaring my furry little friend.