Seat carving catchup!

Finished carving the remaining seats tonight. We are going to have to move quick on that wholesale seat gig, because all the stores seem to be running out of solid wood seats. Well, I might have a few more seats on deck for tomorrow, but for right now, I'm all caught up! yesterday I listed one of my hummingbird cupboard doors, I have not gotten to list the second one, but for now I'm just too tired. As for keeping the anime theme going, Here's the closing of Karau, Phantom memory! I love this song, Moonlight! Enjoy!

What a wonderful customer! Happy Anniversary Cheryl and Eth!

First of all, today was our anniversary, ( July 20th, 13 years!) And to kick it off, a dissatisfied customer sent back his seat. And to make it all really wonderful....It was totally destroyed in shipping because they just threw it back in the box and sent it. Nice! Then! He sent a snarly comment that we did not inform him of our return policy ...are you ready? Get this. ON THE VERY EMAIL PRINT OUT MY WIFE SENT HIM WITH THE POLICY ON IT! Well, we were not going to let that ruin our day, so we just want that sale behind us. The rest of the day we spent as usual, but decided to finish off and paint the outdoor furniture. So far it's looking pretty good. It was unfortunate that we could not sit in them and enjoy the cool night air while they were drying. Second coat comes tomorrow! Will take daylight pictures then. Have a good one!

What happened to all the elongateds?

It was an exercise in frustration tonight, chasing around to two cities, four stores and finally settling for less than expected. That is, we are still missing one elongated seat. Anyway, I did manage to carve up 8 seats tonight, and get a base coat of paint on them. But it is late and it took all of my motivation to get that far. So I will finish painting them tomorrow and with a little luck, the stores will RESTOCK! Com'on Keep up the supply, guys! Because I have not posted any origami as of late, here is a new bird, based off the french guy that does origami. It's easy and has a wonderful rounded shape. Enjoy!

Great Lakes shipping

Another five seats tonight. Several of them I have not done for a long time. Namely, lion, koi, and the brown trout. Tomorrow is looking like an easy day so far, with only three seats, but hopefully we will sell a few more. We still have a HUGE Ebay bill to pay off! Anyway, we had some time to visit the beach and see the sunset, Even thought it was raining most of the day. I was hoping to capture a rainbow, but instead I got one of the great lakes ships that deliver either coal, fuel or gravel to Grand Haven. My money is on Coal to the power plant. Anyway, the ship was almost as long as the pier! They don't come in very often, but it's a site when they do, especially when you are standing on the Pier as they come in!

Another Origami Pegasus

I could only get 4 seats tonight, so I had to push two seats off until tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day with deliveries and we have to go to Grand Rapids for a couple of new tires! Hopefully we Will pick up a couple of seats there and perhaps a new spare. Otherwise, I have finally found a Pegasus design that I like. One of the reasons is probably because I created it myself and I do not have to follow a complex folding pattern to get it. But second is that I think of all the previous patterns, this one looks the best. I can't believe it is Tuesday already! Have a great Night!

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.

Display case #2

This time I took a few pictures as I went along. I was able to finish it all in one day! It took less time now that I was knowing where I was going with each step. I think this one turned out better than the first one.
Here's a close up of the crosses, I had to cut them each individually so they would fit nice and tight.
Here's a close up of the notch cutting for the crosses.
They slipped into place and were able to be glued as is with out clamps.
Then I clamped on the back and screwed it into place. And that was it! I snapped a quick pic of it side by side with the first one. Cheryl painted it tonight and will put a second coat on tomorrow. I was also able to carve up 4 seats tonight. Some of the pictures will give you an idea of just how small my shop is. I have to move everything to one side or the other just to turn the case. What a fun experiment! Cheryl is thrilled with it and now has the confidence to conscript me into several new projects! (YEAH!) I'm glad I'm winning her trust. I still have to convince her to allow me to add a carving or two to the furniture. I might have a opening with the next project.

Weekend round up!

Caught up with the weekend seats tonight, leaving my Monday open for the second Display shelf construction. I know it might be hard to believe, But I just love carving. I procrastinate from time to time, but as soon as I start carving, it all floods back to me on why I'm doing this for a living. Oh! Just a small point that I thought I would show off. The wolf seats ( for some reason , the wolf seat seems to be a VERY popular design lately) are one of those designs that I will never make EXACTLY the same. it's just impossible to blend the whites, grays, and blacks to perfectly match the original every time. However, since there are no two wolves the same in the wild, I feel that this small difference is acceptable. I do try to get them at least close to the original. As for the shelves. Cheryl put on the second and hopefully last coat of paint on them tonight. I snapped a quick pic just to show it off. I really like the way it is turning out. Here is a picture of the original inspiration piece. Minus the bottom drawer, Cheryl did not want that part, and I was happy to comply.

Another Odd ball day

I'm not complaining! I'm happy for the sales. I just needed a subject to write about. The "rare" seats tonight were the dolphin, manatee, and clown fish. They all sound like they should be common but alas they are not. I like the clown fish one but it seems to sell less often then the other two. ( even manatee!) The Shop Cats were all in good form this evening. Luckily, they bothered, er I mean "helped" Cheryl instead of me. Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

Odd ball Tuesday

Odd ball in that it is one of those days where there are no similar seats to carve and paint. I guess you just have to do it to know what I mean. Basically, all the seats and their color pallet are different and thus, I have to use every paint color at my disposal and wait for them to dry. It takes a long time to do fewer seats. This doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it means a late night for me. ( It's 6 am as I write this. And I still need to sleep!) Ah well, I'm off! I still have two more for tomorrow, And we are out of boxes! ( Yippee!) So only Mondays and one seat from tonight will be going out in the morning. ( err, afternoon, depending on how you look at it, Even I'm confused! Oh! And before I forget, I may have a project in the works for this weekend! Cheryl wants me to build a set of bookshelves. The fancy kind! I can't wait to take a crack at it.

Productive weekend.

Carved up a couple of seats and worked on some boxes. I only carved up three boxes tonight, and since we got a large order of seats for tomorrow, I doubt I will be able to finish them. At least I can always work on them during my "down" time. I surfed through my inspiration folder tonight and found a couple of designs I have filed away and never used What better time to try them out than on a box? I thought the "Jurassic park" one turned out pretty good. I can't wait to see how it finishes up.

Crazy sales!

What in the world? 12 seats in one day??? So I wake up thinking I'll be able to leisurely finish my boxes when Cheryl informs me that we have a gazillion seats to carve up! Well, 12 actually. I carved and painted 4 tonight along with the boxes. The plan is to finish 8 for tomorrow if we can get the last two seats. ( still short one elongated and one standard) I managed to finish the four easier ones leaving the rather complicated ones for Sunday. At least the boxes are finished. 'I'm not too thrilled with the turtle as it is rather drab in color. We'll see if other people feel the same way. This morning we had one of the black squirrels come visit the window. I have not taken a picture of one this close till now. He was kinda shy but friendly. The cats were enchanted.

Thursday night seats

Last couple of days has been a craving frenzy! Well, busy anyway. Yesterday and tonight I carved up 7 seats and 6 boxes. I'm aiming on the seats going out tomorrow, so I put the boxes on the back burner as far as painting and finishing goes. I'm not sure why tiger has sold so often lately. Friday is out usual day out, so I probably will take it easy and paint the boxes then. My plan is to have them done and ready to list before Sunday. I want the boxes to get done even if I have a bunch of seats to do. By the way, the table saw is a dream! I am kicking myself for not buying one earlier. I'm such an IDIOT! The table saw makes the cuts straight and clean and easy. Since I purchased it, I have not had any need to set up my chop saw. Ah well, live and learn. I was so afraid of spending money on a tool I might not use. Now I cant see how I could have gotten along without it! On a different note, I folded an origami Dragon, and I'm quite happy the way this one turned out. I used 6" paper, so I did not bother trying to fold the legs that would be too small to see anyway. I did get his jaw an eyes to look really cool though.