Panel carving.

Having no seats to carve up, I worked on several other small projects tonight. First, I chipped off my dated carvings from the kitchen cupboard doors and repainted them. (Cheryl got bored of the old grape vine carvings) Then I cleaned up my room and emptied the dust collector. ( a very messy, dirty, dusty, job!) I burned the dust with some scrap wood. Then finally I carved up one of the salvaged cupboard doors that have been in the garage for several months now. I think it turned out pretty good, and I'll finish painting it tomorrow. I wanted to do some bluejays on an oak stump, like a painting I saw once. I thought I could come up with some better bluejay positions for the size I had to fit them into . so I downloaded a couple pictures off the web and free handed the oak leaves. It should look better when it is completely painted.

Slow Weekend.

Ah well, I've had enough vacation time now. Sold only 3 this weekend! I've had too much down time and it's driving me crazy! I'm about to start carving some stray pieces of wood. It's funny how many tigers We've been selling. Just when I was about to give the design up, suddenly it seems everyone wants one. I wonder what other designs will come back into style soon.

Makework day

Today is one of those days where you feel like you should do something, but really do not have anything you HAVE to do. So I have only one seat to do this weekend. and that will wait till Sunday, But in the mean time, We have too many bills to pay and not enough money left over to justify buying more wood for boxes or seats for new designs. So, I have been trying to mess around in my shop to make something out of my scrap pieces of Oak. Since most of the scraps are just that, they are proving to be a challenge to make anything that looks presentable. I decided to try my hand at a new style of box tonight, and, once again, it's proving to be quite the challenge. It was going to be a sliding box so I could cut out the hardware. but it's a challenge cutting and hiding the slot. Ah well. At least the cats are keeping me company. They make even blogging a challenge. Here's why....

Working for the weekend!

An easy night tonight. I was happy that I sold one of my Heraldic seats tonight. ( the unicorn) I was very proud of those but it seemed that no one else was interested. I feared they were destined for the burn pile. But Alas! one sold! The customer only wanted one minor change: to have a blue eye. Easy enough!

Origami Pegasus. The full metal!

I tried out my new paper tonight and I seem to have found some of it's limitations. Its great in that it folds well and is very difficult to rip. It has the consistency of paper money. BUT it folds about as well in that it is thick for finer creasing. Ah well. It was fun to work with. As with other fabric paper, it still gradually unfolds. My guess is that I should stick to easier models. I'll need to find either thinner metallic paper for those complex ones. In other news, Cheryl and I finished the complete series and movie finale of the FULL METAL ALCHEMIST! Cheryl is quite addicted. Lucky break for me since she does not like Anime as much as I do. With this series, she has become a fan! ( as in the crazy FANATIC /Trekkie type.) she bought the disks and music and posters! It IS a great anime series that you can totally immerse yourself in. I would highly recommend it to any and all anime fans. You will laugh and cry!

Origami paper from Japan!

We could only find one elongated seat tonight, so I was limited to carving only two seats. I'll have to wait till the stores get resupplied. But the exciting news is that my WASHI paper arrived from Japan today! I'm so excited! I can't wait to try it out! Washi paper is hand made paper that is used by many origami pros. I have not made up my mind if I want to use it all on one project, or divide it up into several. Its rather large, and my small 6 inch sheets limit the number of complex models I can try. Cheryl also threw in some Hello Kitty paper for me. I'm not sure how it will fold either. Can't wait to try it!

Sunday night catch up!

Only carved up 7 seats tonight. I still need to find the last couple of seats. We are missing one elongated and one standard. I noticed that we sold a few fish this week. Fish have not really been in style for two years now. A few years ago, Trout, bass, pike, and bluegill were all the rage. Even the koi and salmon! But then they just dropped off the radar. It's too bad because I love doing the fish. I used to be a fanatic fisherman, aquarium enthusiast, agriculturist, and fisheries biologist. Now I just carve, but still love fish. I hope the trend continues.

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.

Carving the boxes!

After a wonderful visit to the bookstore this evening, I carved and stained up the boxes. Almost done! All that is left is to cut the lids off, glue in the inserts and paint the tops. Finish and add hinges and it's off to the Etsy show room! I'm quite happy with how they turned out. There are still a lot of designs out there that need to be put on a box. If you follow this blog, you will probably notice several designs that have been put on the toilet seats. Why waste time trying to find new ones when these are tried and true. Cheryl also got a new sewing machine tonight. She says it works SO smooth and well, that she had to figure out how a "good" machine works. No pulling, pushing, yanking, or broken thread. It must be tough. The bad news is that she needed it right away to work on some purses tonight. So she could not get the Hello Kitty one she yearns for.

A Broken Sewing Machine?

Finished two seats tonight and finished gluing up the boxes for carving tomorrow. Friday is bookstore day, so I will probably carve later in the evening. I still have not mapped out all of my designs I want to put on the boxes. Tonight I had to fix Cheryl's sewing machine..again. I think it is time for her to get a new one. She has her eye on this "Hello Kitty" one that Target offers. The thread keeps getting caught on a small jagged piece of broken metal. I had to totally take it apart and file it down to keep the thread from getting caught. I'm hoping Joann fabrics will have a replacement part available. Otherwise she will have to deal with the "jerry rigged" version that I offer. At least it works..mostly. Anyway, I have had to fix this machine 4 separate times. I'm not sure this version of sewing machine was made with "full time sewing" in mind. I'd like to think that Cheryl's constant use has caused this. I think it is time for an upgrade.