Having gotten all caught up yesterday, today was a relaxing " do what you want" day. So Cheryl and I decided to avoid the crowded beach and head for the fisherman's pier. It definitely is easier to walk on than the singing sand of the shore. The perch are not in yet, so the pier is still rather sparse. When the perch are "in" the place is quite crowded. It should happen in a week or two. I did work a bit on my tree, but I have to say in the sunlight, I'm rather disappointed with it. I have been working on cleaning up my chainsaw so maybe at a future date, I'll go back and bring the log to me instead of carving back with the bugs! We'll see how it goes.
Just finished carving four seats for the weekend, Not the bonanza we had hoped for, but at least it's something. I have been working on some new origami methods lately, but unfortunately, they have not turned out as well as I had hoped. I don't know about the masters, but do they have to screw up several versions of something before they get a decent presentable sculpture? Well, the only results I have that I can show, is another version of the Samurai head beetle/ rhino beetle. It still needs work, because it's missing one set of legs. It's different from previous versions, but It is probably difficult to tell.
So the sales have been rather small lately. I did carve up two tonight, and we sold another one later for the weekend. Not much to blog about when the sales are this low. The warmer weather has also dampened our spirits. Well, There is always this weekend! I have been working on some new origami lately, but have not achieved any results worth posting. However, I may be onto something big!
It was just too hot to carve outside tonight. So I decided to show off a recent series I have totally gotten hooked on! Claymore! It's an action anime for those who don't mind a little violence and action. Enjoy!
So tonight was seat carving day, but that does not mean we have any money. Basically all the money we got is immediately gone to bills, fees, shipping,, etc. I know what you are thinking...Why not just sell them for more money? Where does all the profit go? We have wrestled with this question for years now and even though our cost go up ( example, the seats cost has doubled since we started 5 years ago) the customer still thinks we are charging too much. And when we do increase out price, our sales drop dramatically. But enough of my complaining, It was a wonderful evening at the beach tonight, and the weather has gotten much warmer. It was one of those" no horizon line" days if you looked in the right place. see the sail boat hanging in the sky? To finish things off today, a little carving video of how things are done in China, or perhaps Thailand. Enjoy!
With the neckline that I carved this weekend, Cheryl then commissioned me to carve up a hand for her bracelets and rings that she will eventually make. This sounded good to me since I wanted some practice craving a human hand for my tree nymphs. And there was a wonderful article in the latest Carving Magazine that I just purchased! ( the pictures were rather lacking though.) Well, since this was an experimental exercise, I used pine again. It took a lot longer than I had thought, but I did not want to split, break, or carve off too much at a time. All in all, I think it looks pretty good, but I still have a few "touch ups" to do as far as sanding. The only criticism I have about it, is that I had to make it only 1and3/4 inches think so it looks rather flat from the top side. ( back of the hand) I also have to thin out the fingers a bit more so they will fit Cheryl's rings at their smallest setting. From the bottom though, I must say it almost looks life like. ( Pats self on back)
Carving! Of coarse! In addition to seats, I worked on the wood nymph and gave her a haircut and worked on her neck and wing a bit. I also finished sanding the jewelry stand for Cheryl's shop. On our beach walk tonight, we found a Brilliant Beetle on the shoreline. I believe it is a tiger beetle, and it was quite large! Unfortunately it was pretty beat up from the water but this was the only picture I could work with. I really don't know what kind of beetle it is, but I could not find a similar picture of it online. Sunset at the shore were very pretty. the warmer weather is bringing out more people to the lake so our visits may be shortened very soon. Hope everyone had a great weekend! Oh! Found the beetle! A fiery Searcher! Read more here!
The Landlord left us some Strawberries today, so Cheryl decided that the best way to eat them is to dip them in chocolate. Perhaps tomorrow we'll have shortcake ( Not the Spongecake...Yech!) Tonight I worked on a simple carving for Cheryl's shop. She asked me to carve a neckline so she could photo her necklaces better. I must say, I'm pleased with the results, even though it is rather simple. I usually over think things, but luckily, she had a photo of something she wanted. It's not finished yet, I still have to sand it down and perhaps stain it. but she could not wait to take some pictures with her jewelry for her shop. Hope you're having a great weekend!
A couple of days ago, we went to the store and saw a car with the "juicer" logo on it. Obviously one of those sucked in by the infomercial of one of those juice making machines. Well, here is one of the greatest examples of those comercials I have ever seen. Remember Living Color? Remember Jim Carry? You'll love it! Enjoy!
I took time to clean up my shop and sharpen a couple of chisels tonight, Stuff that I have been putting off for a couple days while I had those orders going out. Tonight at the bookstore, I was paging through the new Carving Magazine and found a couple of things that I like. Normally, I find it very "beginner friendly" and not really for the serious carver, However, there was a wonderful article on carving the mouth of human face, ( and hands!) Something I have recently been struggling with. Granted, it is about power carving, but the pictures and steps I think will help me with the wood nymph. And since this is a short post. Here is the closing theme to Ah! My Goddess. If you know who the Andrew Sisters were, you will find this theme very familiar. ( They were a WW II group of Swing Singers) Enjoy! I have been humming and whistling the theme all week!
Finally! the last of the seats are all caught up and should be ready to ship out tomorrow. It was not too bad, just some seats that were ordered on Tuesday will go out on Friday. Usually it's a little faster. Regardless, the slate is clean and ready for new orders for the weekend. The sunset was pretty good tonight, A dash of pink and a couple of artistic shadows. It currently is Raining again, but maybe tomorrow I'll be able to work on the wood nymph again. It's been a while since I had the shop cat featured. He has been exploring the outside instead of camping out on my shoulders. And to help finish off the week, Here is the opening theme to Air TV. If it does not capture you....then you didn't listen to it all. It's also a great anime series...Enjoy!
Mark three more seats off the list! Only 4 more to go and I'll be all caught up! The sunset was quite stunning tonight, with the actual sun making an appearance for a change! Only a couple more days before the solstice. It rained most of yesterday and all of today until the final few hours. Hope everyone Else's week is going by splendidly. Oh! I found a picture of a lovely carving I want to try to make on my next tree. I'll have to see how it goes. My goal is to make a ship figure head similar to this one out of laminated pine. All I need is money.....$$$
gotten all caught up yesterday, today was a relaxing " do
what you want" day. So Cheryl and I decided to avoid the crowded beach and head for the fisherman's pier. It definitely is easier to walk on than the singing sand of the shore. The perch are not in yet, so the pier is still rather sparse. 
When the perch are "in" the place is quite 
crowded. It should happen in a week or two. I did work a bit on my tree, but I have to say
in the sunlight, I'm rather disappointed 
with it. I have been working on cleaning up my chainsaw so maybe at a future date, I'll go back and bring the log to me instead of carving back with the bugs! We'll see how it goes.
