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My Journey As A Creative Designer - Woodworking and Beyond

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7M views 13K replies 477 participants last post by  teaklight12 
#1 ·
Beginning this Blog

I recently was referred to this site by Steve Good, who has a wonderful, comprehensive scroll saw forum and blog page. Although I have been doing woodworking for almost fifteen years, I have finally reached a point in my life where I am able to make it the main focus of my activities. Since my life revolves around my woodworking and business, I believe that this blog will reflect that very clearly, although it will also be somewhat personal. But I think that woodworking is very personal anyway.

It has been a long journey to get to this point. There have been many good times and some not-so-good ones, but I appreciate every single step because I think that if even one thing was different, I would not be where I am today or who I am inside. It isn't only the positive events in our lives that make us what we are. Many times it is the negative things that mold and shape us and teach us to look at things in a certain way. I try to remember that when things are tough and move ahead.

I have learned that there is only one thing we can be certain of in life: change. Whether things are good or bad, we need to hold on and appreciate the moment, as we can be certain that things will be different before long. This helps us to not only appreciate the good days and things we have now, but also hang on when things are not so good, as we know that they will be different soon. I like this philosophy.

I liked reading about the new contest offered by this site in the newsletter. Fluidity. It is a perfect theme for projects because our existence itself is fluid. I am anxious to see what interpretations are going to be, as I am sure everyone else is. It will be an adventure for all of us for sure.

So why am I starting this blog? The other day I received a call from a customer who had a question for me. He kept saying how surprised he was that I answered my own phone. I have worked as a Contributing Editor for Creative Woodworks and Crafts Magazine for the past 13+ years and I guess in the scroll saw community, many people have heard of me. It seemed so odd to me that he would think I would have a secretary or staff. We kind of laughed about it, but it really got me thinking about his interpretation of my life. We all tend to form opinions of others from very limited information. We see the outside of a person as they are presented to us and many times are very quick to categorize that person in our minds. I do it myself.

But in my years of talking with and dealing with many people from many different places, I have come to realize that people are like icebergs. We only see the tip of them and below the surface is a vast, complex side of them that is the basis of their actions and thinking.

Everyone has a story. Everyone has traveled a journey. No two people have traveled identical paths. Thus, we are all unique in our thoughts, actions and creative processes. I enjoy hearing others stories. I think that listening to others and hearing their experiences helps us to understand each other. With that understanding, we learn.

I have used the phrase "Knowledge Is Power" in my signature since I have been on the web. Once someone told me that they thought it was quite arrogant of me to say that. He thought that I was implying that I knew more than anyone else and he found that offensive. I told him he couldn't be more wrong. My interpretation of the phrase is that our QUEST for knowledge EMPOWERS us to make better decisions about things in our lives. We are never finished learning. I learn every single day from my friends, colleagues, fellow woodworkers and students. We never know when we will learn something new. Sometimes you can learn from even a seemingly insignificant event. I feel the key is that we need to be open to learning.

Everyone has a story.

So I will close today with those thoughts. I don't know how often I will post here, but I hope to make it a habit. I don't know if anyone will even read this, but somehow it doesn't matter. Writing is a key in self-awareness. By writing things down we categorize our actions and it helps (me anyway) to keep my life organized. Organization leads to peace as far as I am concerned.

I am quite overwhelmed with the scope of the site here. I am still getting my footings and lurking around. I think for the first several days or maybe even weeks I will be more of a passive observer while I find my comfortable position among the others here. I want to upload the new things I am working on here. Like everyone else, I am anxious to see the response they get. I love seeing others projects and could spend my days just looking.

Although it is quite intimidating, the forum looks like it is full of friendly, knowledgeable and wonderfully creative people.

I think I am going to like it here.
 
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#4,432 ·
Wandering Thoughts

This final week of the year seems to have really gone by quickly. It is hard to believe that it is Friday already as I look back in retrospect.

I am feeling a bit better, but still not quite myself. I truly appreciate all the nice thoughts and comments that you all have sent me and I assure you that I am well on the road to recovery.

I made good headway with my drawings yesterday, and hopefully I will be able to finish up drawing that project today. While I tried to spend most of the day at the computer, my head still wasn't one hundred percent there. I found my mind drifting and I couldn't really concentrate like I wanted to. So finally I gave it up after dinner and watched some History Channel episodes on the great Sphinx and ancient Egypt.

Egyptian art has always been a fascination of mine. When I was 13 years old, the King Tutankhamun exhibit was brought to the Field Museum in Chicago where I lived. I remember the Sunday paper had an entire section which highlighted many of the incredible artifacts that would be on display. Even as a young teen, I was enchanted with the craftsmanship and ability that they had to create those beautiful pieces over 4000 years ago. It was mind-boggling to me. Alas, my parents didn't share my enthusiasm and did not want to make the trip downtown to see the exhibit, but I poured over the newspaper article and hoped that one day I would be able to see some of the beautiful pieces in person.

A few years ago, my dream came true. In 2005 I went back to Chicago for my son's wedding, and coincidentally once again the King Tut exhibit was once again on tour at the Field Museum there. My son, who inherited my own love of art and nature, purchased us tickets and we all saw the exhibit together.

To say it was 'magnificent' would be an understatement. Just about everything that was displayed was placed on pedestals surrounded by thick glass. This meant that you could see each piece from all sides. You were also literally within inches of each item and could see the incredible detail and craftsmanship. Piece after piece of beautiful objects made of stones and precious metals and gems. They literally took my breath away. I found a picture of one of my favorite objects:

Arthropod Insect Dishware Serveware Symmetry


It is a Scarab Pectoral with the King's Throne Name. I remember vividly how amazing the colors and workmanship was on this particular piece. I couldn't stop looking at it.

So how does this relate to woodworking? I do believe that reading about these items when I was a child and learning about them had a profound impact on me and my life. Since the beginning of time, we as humans want to create beautiful things. Many of these things are functional. Many are symbolic and represent our beliefs. But all of them leave behind a legacy to pass down to our children and grandchildren.

Thinking back, I knew at a very young age that I wanted to spend my live creating things. It was something that I have felt for as long as I could remember. I wonder sometimes why it is so important to some of us to do so and not so much to others. I suppose we are all different that way. I feel very fortunate that I am able to follow my heart and be able to do what I have always wanted to do.

Seeing these artifacts reminded me just how long ago this desire was born within me. And it renews my need to create even more. Whether it be patterns for others to use, or my own creations, I feel that I am on the path that I was meant to take in this life. And I am very fortunate.

I wish you all a wonderful day.
 

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#4,433 ·
Wandering Thoughts

This final week of the year seems to have really gone by quickly. It is hard to believe that it is Friday already as I look back in retrospect.

I am feeling a bit better, but still not quite myself. I truly appreciate all the nice thoughts and comments that you all have sent me and I assure you that I am well on the road to recovery.

I made good headway with my drawings yesterday, and hopefully I will be able to finish up drawing that project today. While I tried to spend most of the day at the computer, my head still wasn't one hundred percent there. I found my mind drifting and I couldn't really concentrate like I wanted to. So finally I gave it up after dinner and watched some History Channel episodes on the great Sphinx and ancient Egypt.

Egyptian art has always been a fascination of mine. When I was 13 years old, the King Tutankhamun exhibit was brought to the Field Museum in Chicago where I lived. I remember the Sunday paper had an entire section which highlighted many of the incredible artifacts that would be on display. Even as a young teen, I was enchanted with the craftsmanship and ability that they had to create those beautiful pieces over 4000 years ago. It was mind-boggling to me. Alas, my parents didn't share my enthusiasm and did not want to make the trip downtown to see the exhibit, but I poured over the newspaper article and hoped that one day I would be able to see some of the beautiful pieces in person.

A few years ago, my dream came true. In 2005 I went back to Chicago for my son's wedding, and coincidentally once again the King Tut exhibit was once again on tour at the Field Museum there. My son, who inherited my own love of art and nature, purchased us tickets and we all saw the exhibit together.

To say it was 'magnificent' would be an understatement. Just about everything that was displayed was placed on pedestals surrounded by thick glass. This meant that you could see each piece from all sides. You were also literally within inches of each item and could see the incredible detail and craftsmanship. Piece after piece of beautiful objects made of stones and precious metals and gems. They literally took my breath away. I found a picture of one of my favorite objects:

Arthropod Insect Dishware Serveware Symmetry


It is a Scarab Pectoral with the King's Throne Name. I remember vividly how amazing the colors and workmanship was on this particular piece. I couldn't stop looking at it.

So how does this relate to woodworking? I do believe that reading about these items when I was a child and learning about them had a profound impact on me and my life. Since the beginning of time, we as humans want to create beautiful things. Many of these things are functional. Many are symbolic and represent our beliefs. But all of them leave behind a legacy to pass down to our children and grandchildren.

Thinking back, I knew at a very young age that I wanted to spend my live creating things. It was something that I have felt for as long as I could remember. I wonder sometimes why it is so important to some of us to do so and not so much to others. I suppose we are all different that way. I feel very fortunate that I am able to follow my heart and be able to do what I have always wanted to do.

Seeing these artifacts reminded me just how long ago this desire was born within me. And it renews my need to create even more. Whether it be patterns for others to use, or my own creations, I feel that I am on the path that I was meant to take in this life. And I am very fortunate.

I wish you all a wonderful day.
good morning shiela. glad you are on the road to recovery. I saw this exhibit in Washington DC 40 yrs ago?? and i still remember it. It was totally awesome & inspiring. Happy new Year….
 

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#4,438 ·
A New Year's Wish to You All!

And so another year is tallied in the books and we come to the close of 2011. l have always liked New Year's Eve. Not because it was a reason to 'party' but it was a good time to reflect on the previous twelve months and plan ahead for the year to come. Those of you who read often know how much I enjoy Mondays. And to me bringing in the new year is like bringing in a big, giant Monday - filled with hopes, goals and dreams. It is a fresh start. A new beginning. A chance to take a breath and work toward somehow bettering our lives and making new commitments to ourselves.

To some, I realize, it is just like any other day. Just another page turned on the calendar. But to those like me who live from goal to goal, it is a chance to start fresh and set some new boundaries and plan ahead to achieve new accomplishments. And also to reflect back on the past year to evaluate what we were able to accomplish and also what we feel perhaps needs more work. It is quite a significant day.

Traditionally on this day, I find myself thinking back through the past twelve months. I think of not only the good things that happened, but also of the not so good things. I think of the goals that I have achieved and also of the goals that are still ahead of me and I evaluate the overall year.

I had many wonderful things to remember in the year 2011. The first part of the year was focused on my trip to the States to lecture and teach and reconnect with my family. The middle of the year was focused on my business and designing and also working on the online class here at Lumberjocks. I must admit that I have slowed down a bit in the last few months of the year, as I was beginning to feel anxious and overwhelmed and was going through some things personally that were taking my attention. I don't look at that as a negative though, as I feel it was necessary for me to be kind to myself in order to remain healthy and productive. I think it is important to set goals, but equally important to adjust them to your current situation as necessary to enhance your overall well-being. You may not fully accomplish what you have set out to do, but in the long run, you will have achieved much more than you initially expected and done so in a way that is healthy and have far more lasting effects on your life.

It's all about being flexible and being able to bend your goals in order to fit in with the changes that living every day brings. I don't feel that it is about succeeding or failing. For every step you take towards achieving what you set out to accomplish is a step in the right direction, no matter how small. And for even that small step, we are overall in a better place. Aren't we?

I am the first to admit that I really don't like numbers. Numbers are cold and unfeeling and - well factual. As an artist, I far prefer to look at things from a point of view of feelings and emotions. But as a business person, I realize that it is impossible to view my business from an emotional point of view and make good business decisions. Coming to this realization has taken me many years and has caused me great hardship in the past. My love for what I do many times has overshadowed the practicality of doing it, and as a result my business and my life in general was in despair. I know that many of you also go through this dilemma, as I have read stories of it here and have heard from you personally.

But sometimes, it takes reaching a point where you need to decide just how much you want something and how much you are willing to give to make it work for you. For me, it was a decision that I had to face the numbers that I dreaded and I had to make them work for me or do something else with my life. That was not an easy transition, and I admittedly still struggle with it at times. But I have found that the way to overcome this is to seek advice from others who are successful and try to approach the situation differently. After all, if I didn't change something, how could I expect things to change?

In part that is where this forum has become invaluable to me over the past year and a half. Not only have I heard much welcome advice, but I have also forged many deep and lasting friendships with so many of you who are going through similar things. By opening myself up to you all every morning, I have reaped great rewards by your kindness and willingness to share part of yourself with me. There are too many of you to thank you all personally, but I am sure you know who you are.

I have also been fortunate enough to have found a partner who shares with me in every sense of the word. Keith has a talent and style all his own and although we are quite different from each other in many ways, we tend to compliment each other completely and he brings a whole new dimension to my business and my life. I owe so very much to him and appreciate his kindness, intelligence, creativity and support every single day. (He would kill me if he read this! Good thing he doesn't read my blog often!)

I am thoroughly excited about the upcoming year. I have so many new exciting ideas that I can't wait to implement and introduce. Not only in the scroll sawing aspect, but also in the painting and finishing aspect of work. I still believe in my heart in teaching others to stretch their creativity to the limits of their imagination and hopefully my designs will be the springboard and catalyst for them to do so.

I feel that this past month of 'slowing down' has done me well. It allowed me to enjoy the Christmas season and focus on my family and friends and took me a couple of steps away from 'work'. I truly needed that, as much as I love what I do. I admittedly coasted through the month of December and enjoyed all the things that I had worked for all year. After all, what would be the point of accomplishing things if we don't take time to enjoy them?

So I will start this new year feeling rested and happy and grateful for all that I have. The anticipation that I feel for the new year is in itself intoxicating and I feel filled with hope that it will be a good one.

So to my friends and my customers (who are also my friends) I wish you all the health and happiness that a new year can bring. I encourage you to set your goals high and strive to be the best you can. We are our own destiny. We are the writers in our own stories. Remember that and write the best story your imagination allows.

Rectangle Yellow Font Carnivore Pet supply


Happy New Year to you all!
 

Attachments

#4,439 ·
A New Year's Wish to You All!

And so another year is tallied in the books and we come to the close of 2011. l have always liked New Year's Eve. Not because it was a reason to 'party' but it was a good time to reflect on the previous twelve months and plan ahead for the year to come. Those of you who read often know how much I enjoy Mondays. And to me bringing in the new year is like bringing in a big, giant Monday - filled with hopes, goals and dreams. It is a fresh start. A new beginning. A chance to take a breath and work toward somehow bettering our lives and making new commitments to ourselves.

To some, I realize, it is just like any other day. Just another page turned on the calendar. But to those like me who live from goal to goal, it is a chance to start fresh and set some new boundaries and plan ahead to achieve new accomplishments. And also to reflect back on the past year to evaluate what we were able to accomplish and also what we feel perhaps needs more work. It is quite a significant day.

Traditionally on this day, I find myself thinking back through the past twelve months. I think of not only the good things that happened, but also of the not so good things. I think of the goals that I have achieved and also of the goals that are still ahead of me and I evaluate the overall year.

I had many wonderful things to remember in the year 2011. The first part of the year was focused on my trip to the States to lecture and teach and reconnect with my family. The middle of the year was focused on my business and designing and also working on the online class here at Lumberjocks. I must admit that I have slowed down a bit in the last few months of the year, as I was beginning to feel anxious and overwhelmed and was going through some things personally that were taking my attention. I don't look at that as a negative though, as I feel it was necessary for me to be kind to myself in order to remain healthy and productive. I think it is important to set goals, but equally important to adjust them to your current situation as necessary to enhance your overall well-being. You may not fully accomplish what you have set out to do, but in the long run, you will have achieved much more than you initially expected and done so in a way that is healthy and have far more lasting effects on your life.

It's all about being flexible and being able to bend your goals in order to fit in with the changes that living every day brings. I don't feel that it is about succeeding or failing. For every step you take towards achieving what you set out to accomplish is a step in the right direction, no matter how small. And for even that small step, we are overall in a better place. Aren't we?

I am the first to admit that I really don't like numbers. Numbers are cold and unfeeling and - well factual. As an artist, I far prefer to look at things from a point of view of feelings and emotions. But as a business person, I realize that it is impossible to view my business from an emotional point of view and make good business decisions. Coming to this realization has taken me many years and has caused me great hardship in the past. My love for what I do many times has overshadowed the practicality of doing it, and as a result my business and my life in general was in despair. I know that many of you also go through this dilemma, as I have read stories of it here and have heard from you personally.

But sometimes, it takes reaching a point where you need to decide just how much you want something and how much you are willing to give to make it work for you. For me, it was a decision that I had to face the numbers that I dreaded and I had to make them work for me or do something else with my life. That was not an easy transition, and I admittedly still struggle with it at times. But I have found that the way to overcome this is to seek advice from others who are successful and try to approach the situation differently. After all, if I didn't change something, how could I expect things to change?

In part that is where this forum has become invaluable to me over the past year and a half. Not only have I heard much welcome advice, but I have also forged many deep and lasting friendships with so many of you who are going through similar things. By opening myself up to you all every morning, I have reaped great rewards by your kindness and willingness to share part of yourself with me. There are too many of you to thank you all personally, but I am sure you know who you are.

I have also been fortunate enough to have found a partner who shares with me in every sense of the word. Keith has a talent and style all his own and although we are quite different from each other in many ways, we tend to compliment each other completely and he brings a whole new dimension to my business and my life. I owe so very much to him and appreciate his kindness, intelligence, creativity and support every single day. (He would kill me if he read this! Good thing he doesn't read my blog often!)

I am thoroughly excited about the upcoming year. I have so many new exciting ideas that I can't wait to implement and introduce. Not only in the scroll sawing aspect, but also in the painting and finishing aspect of work. I still believe in my heart in teaching others to stretch their creativity to the limits of their imagination and hopefully my designs will be the springboard and catalyst for them to do so.

I feel that this past month of 'slowing down' has done me well. It allowed me to enjoy the Christmas season and focus on my family and friends and took me a couple of steps away from 'work'. I truly needed that, as much as I love what I do. I admittedly coasted through the month of December and enjoyed all the things that I had worked for all year. After all, what would be the point of accomplishing things if we don't take time to enjoy them?

So I will start this new year feeling rested and happy and grateful for all that I have. The anticipation that I feel for the new year is in itself intoxicating and I feel filled with hope that it will be a good one.

So to my friends and my customers (who are also my friends) I wish you all the health and happiness that a new year can bring. I encourage you to set your goals high and strive to be the best you can. We are our own destiny. We are the writers in our own stories. Remember that and write the best story your imagination allows.

Rectangle Yellow Font Carnivore Pet supply


Happy New Year to you all!
and a Happy New Year to you, Sheila!
 

Attachments

#4,452 ·
Welcoming 2012

I spent the day yesterday in a flurry of activity. Perhaps it was because I was feeling more like myself but I also think that it was because I wanted to tie up some loose ends and start the new year off properly. I found myself full of energy as I tidied up things and organized and put everything in its place. It felt really good to do so after the chaos of the holiday season.

Keith was busy preparing several pens for turning. While he hadn't heard how the three shops that carried his pens did in the month of December, he wasn't really optimistic in regards to having lots of sales. It seems that the economy is just too dismal in our area and without the tourists being brought here by the ferry, the local people can ill afford to splurge on buying expensive pens.

I am pleased to see however that Keith has adopted some of my optimistic attitude. While he is a native to 'black cloud thinking' (by his own admission, mind you!) I believe that consorting with the likes of a 'pink cloud thinker' (me!) has done much to mellow his attitude and soften his hard views.

In other words, he is taking things in stride and has adopted an attitude that he is going to make more higher end pens that he thinks are wonderful and start his own collection of his own work. Whether they sell or not is inconsequential to him. He likes to make them and wants to continue to make them better and better with the first priority to be the sheer joy of accomplishment. (THAT's the spirit!) Nothing could make me happier.

I find that doing things for your own pleasure first is a hand's down win/win scenario. I further find that you can always tell by the quality of someone's work whether they are making things solely for profit, or because they truly love to create. Unfortunately, this is what leads many talented and creative people to underselling their wares, as they tend to settle for much lower wages in order to be able to perpetuate their craft. Depending on the situation, this could be the breaking point for many artists, and has been in the past.

But seeing my partner adopt this attitude of creating for the sake of creating is a wonderful step, I feel. It is a pleasure for me to watch him develop and grow not only as a craftsman, but as a business man also.

The other day, he was in the bank and the teller that was attending him asked him if he was my 'significant other who makes the beautiful pens.' When he replied affirmatively, she asked him if he could bring in some samples for her to see in order to purchase one. While he felt odd doing so, I encouraged him to do so right away and he soon brought his pens back for inspection. When he arrived home, he told me that he had sold no less than FOUR pens! I was so happy for him. I know it will only be a matter of time before word gets out and he finds the right clientele. It only reinforces my thinking that 'things that are worthwhile take time'. I know in my heart when the time is right his pen business will flourish.

I did finish my drawing yesterday and the new project is ready for me to cut today. It has been a couple of weeks since I have been at the saw, so it will be a welcome task for me to do. I am anxious to see the transformation of the design from paper to wood and I think it will be a good one. I know I like it and again, that is the important thing.

I suppose today would be a good day to transform my little tree again from 'Christmas' to 'Winter.' The multi-colored lights will be replaced with white ones for the upcoming season. Unfortunately, I don't have any type of fun ornaments that are just winter themed. (Imagine!!) Well, that will be something that I will certainly have to rectify very soon! You can see how easy it is for me to come up with ideas! I have several in mind already.

What I have been working on is more of a Valentine's theme, as many of you have correctly guessed. We need to update the site in the next week and it made sense to skip over and work ahead to February to give others time to play with the new patterns.

In any case, there is a long list of things for me to accomplish in the upcoming year. I am happy because it seems that I am in a good place creatively and have lots of things to work on. The well here is far from dry.

Last night, I must say that I pooped out somewhere around 11pm. Perhaps I am getting old, but I think it is more because I am in a happy place and feel good about things. I talked to both the kids yesterday and my daughter called again this morning. She had worked until 4am her time (which is 6am my time) and she was still up and saw I was up already. It was a nice long phone visit this time and it is good to hear from her and see what a wonderful young lady she is becoming.

So off to the saw for me. Later on we are having dinner at Keith's parents house - an unexpected and welcome invitation! The menu is baked ham and scalloped potatoes and it will hit the spot after a day of work. It's a good way to start off the year!

I wish you all well and hope you also enjoy the day! Once again - Happy New Year to everyone!

Light Botany Purple Nature Natural environment


May 2012 be your best year ever!
 

Attachments

#4,453 ·
Welcoming 2012

I spent the day yesterday in a flurry of activity. Perhaps it was because I was feeling more like myself but I also think that it was because I wanted to tie up some loose ends and start the new year off properly. I found myself full of energy as I tidied up things and organized and put everything in its place. It felt really good to do so after the chaos of the holiday season.

Keith was busy preparing several pens for turning. While he hadn't heard how the three shops that carried his pens did in the month of December, he wasn't really optimistic in regards to having lots of sales. It seems that the economy is just too dismal in our area and without the tourists being brought here by the ferry, the local people can ill afford to splurge on buying expensive pens.

I am pleased to see however that Keith has adopted some of my optimistic attitude. While he is a native to 'black cloud thinking' (by his own admission, mind you!) I believe that consorting with the likes of a 'pink cloud thinker' (me!) has done much to mellow his attitude and soften his hard views.

In other words, he is taking things in stride and has adopted an attitude that he is going to make more higher end pens that he thinks are wonderful and start his own collection of his own work. Whether they sell or not is inconsequential to him. He likes to make them and wants to continue to make them better and better with the first priority to be the sheer joy of accomplishment. (THAT's the spirit!) Nothing could make me happier.

I find that doing things for your own pleasure first is a hand's down win/win scenario. I further find that you can always tell by the quality of someone's work whether they are making things solely for profit, or because they truly love to create. Unfortunately, this is what leads many talented and creative people to underselling their wares, as they tend to settle for much lower wages in order to be able to perpetuate their craft. Depending on the situation, this could be the breaking point for many artists, and has been in the past.

But seeing my partner adopt this attitude of creating for the sake of creating is a wonderful step, I feel. It is a pleasure for me to watch him develop and grow not only as a craftsman, but as a business man also.

The other day, he was in the bank and the teller that was attending him asked him if he was my 'significant other who makes the beautiful pens.' When he replied affirmatively, she asked him if he could bring in some samples for her to see in order to purchase one. While he felt odd doing so, I encouraged him to do so right away and he soon brought his pens back for inspection. When he arrived home, he told me that he had sold no less than FOUR pens! I was so happy for him. I know it will only be a matter of time before word gets out and he finds the right clientele. It only reinforces my thinking that 'things that are worthwhile take time'. I know in my heart when the time is right his pen business will flourish.

I did finish my drawing yesterday and the new project is ready for me to cut today. It has been a couple of weeks since I have been at the saw, so it will be a welcome task for me to do. I am anxious to see the transformation of the design from paper to wood and I think it will be a good one. I know I like it and again, that is the important thing.

I suppose today would be a good day to transform my little tree again from 'Christmas' to 'Winter.' The multi-colored lights will be replaced with white ones for the upcoming season. Unfortunately, I don't have any type of fun ornaments that are just winter themed. (Imagine!!) Well, that will be something that I will certainly have to rectify very soon! You can see how easy it is for me to come up with ideas! I have several in mind already.

What I have been working on is more of a Valentine's theme, as many of you have correctly guessed. We need to update the site in the next week and it made sense to skip over and work ahead to February to give others time to play with the new patterns.

In any case, there is a long list of things for me to accomplish in the upcoming year. I am happy because it seems that I am in a good place creatively and have lots of things to work on. The well here is far from dry.

Last night, I must say that I pooped out somewhere around 11pm. Perhaps I am getting old, but I think it is more because I am in a happy place and feel good about things. I talked to both the kids yesterday and my daughter called again this morning. She had worked until 4am her time (which is 6am my time) and she was still up and saw I was up already. It was a nice long phone visit this time and it is good to hear from her and see what a wonderful young lady she is becoming.

So off to the saw for me. Later on we are having dinner at Keith's parents house - an unexpected and welcome invitation! The menu is baked ham and scalloped potatoes and it will hit the spot after a day of work. It's a good way to start off the year!

I wish you all well and hope you also enjoy the day! Once again - Happy New Year to everyone!

Light Botany Purple Nature Natural environment


May 2012 be your best year ever!
Happy New Year Sheila. I am an early tiser and I always look forward to seeing your blog.
 

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#4,456 ·
Better Late Than Never

The site was down earlier today and I was unable to post my blog. I did write it before I headed out to the gym and this is the first time that I was able to post. (To those of you who wrote - thanks for missing me! :D)

I had a great start to the new year yesterday. I spent much of the day at the scroll saw, cutting out my new designs. What I have drawn up is a set of Valentine Conversation Heart ornaments that can be used in many different ways. I love cutting letters, and it was fun to make the different little sayings on each ornament. Since the letters are cut as 'negatives' (the letters are removed from the pieces) they are a bit easier to do. Every once in a while, I did get lucky and the waste from the letter came out 'whole.' While this isn't at all necessary, it is fun when it happens and it shows you just how strong the maple that I was working with is.

Hand Plant Gesture Finger Thumb


In order to make the ornaments look more interesting, I chose to bevel cut them so that the center of each heart is slightly pushed back. I did this by drilling a small entry hole and tilting my scroll saw several degrees to the outside of the piece, which allowed the center to slide back just a bit. This is the same method that I use on my candle trays to make the edges of the tray raise up a bit from the table. Overall, I think it gives an interesting effect and makes the pieces look much nicer.

Font Material property Ornament Art Heart


I stack cut these ornaments for a couple of reasons. The first was because the outer design is identical on all of them and it would help things move along a bit faster. The second was because I prefer cutting at least two layers deep when cutting thin wood such as this (the ornaments are about 1/8" each) and it gives me more control of the tiny blade and stability. I used 1/8" birch ply for one layer and 1/8" maple for the other. I plan on staining the plywood ornaments and leaving the maple ones natural. Of course, I separated the pieces before I cut the bevel on them.
I got about half of the ornaments finished and plan on cutting the other half today. I am keeping this short, because there are some problems with the Lumberjocks site today and I am having trouble posting here. I will have some additional pictures for you tomorrow.

I hope you all have a wonderful day! Have fun and play safe!
 

Attachments

#4,457 ·
Better Late Than Never

The site was down earlier today and I was unable to post my blog. I did write it before I headed out to the gym and this is the first time that I was able to post. (To those of you who wrote - thanks for missing me! :D)

I had a great start to the new year yesterday. I spent much of the day at the scroll saw, cutting out my new designs. What I have drawn up is a set of Valentine Conversation Heart ornaments that can be used in many different ways. I love cutting letters, and it was fun to make the different little sayings on each ornament. Since the letters are cut as 'negatives' (the letters are removed from the pieces) they are a bit easier to do. Every once in a while, I did get lucky and the waste from the letter came out 'whole.' While this isn't at all necessary, it is fun when it happens and it shows you just how strong the maple that I was working with is.

Hand Plant Gesture Finger Thumb


In order to make the ornaments look more interesting, I chose to bevel cut them so that the center of each heart is slightly pushed back. I did this by drilling a small entry hole and tilting my scroll saw several degrees to the outside of the piece, which allowed the center to slide back just a bit. This is the same method that I use on my candle trays to make the edges of the tray raise up a bit from the table. Overall, I think it gives an interesting effect and makes the pieces look much nicer.

Font Material property Ornament Art Heart


I stack cut these ornaments for a couple of reasons. The first was because the outer design is identical on all of them and it would help things move along a bit faster. The second was because I prefer cutting at least two layers deep when cutting thin wood such as this (the ornaments are about 1/8" each) and it gives me more control of the tiny blade and stability. I used 1/8" birch ply for one layer and 1/8" maple for the other. I plan on staining the plywood ornaments and leaving the maple ones natural. Of course, I separated the pieces before I cut the bevel on them.
I got about half of the ornaments finished and plan on cutting the other half today. I am keeping this short, because there are some problems with the Lumberjocks site today and I am having trouble posting here. I will have some additional pictures for you tomorrow.

I hope you all have a wonderful day! Have fun and play safe!
whew…had me sweating bullets there for awhile…glad to see your ok…love the valentines, yea when the letters stay whole that is good cutting also…save them for something down the road.., that's my problem in my shop…i save that small piece of walnut that is just to beautiful to burn…my pile is getting to big…well enjoy your day..glad your not gone…i dont think i could handle that…grizz
 

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#4,464 ·
Some Intricate Cutting Tips

I am on the final day of cutting my new little Valentine's day ornaments. While it is a bit slow going, it isn't at all unpleasant, and I have been enjoying making them very much.

Since I am cutting these pieces several layers high (four to be exact) and using a very small blade in order to make the detailed cuts necessary, it is very much a lesson in patience, and I have to resign myself to the fact that I am not going to be zipping around the pieces at the speed I do when only cutting one layer.

I have no problem doing this, but I fear that others may find this to be much too slow for their personal preference. Of course you could easily remedy this by removing one or more of the layers, but then you would be doing twice the work in order to receive the same result.

One of the most beneficial reasons to stack cut pieces such as this (besides the obvious reason of cutting multiple pieces at a time) is the remarkable amount of precision that you can achieve.

Plant Finger Wood Material property Font


The above picture shows the cutaway side of one of the sets of ornaments. The top two layers are maple and the bottom two are 1/8" Baltic birch. The maple pieces are slightly thicker than 1/8" but that is inconsequential for these purposes. The blade that I used is a #2 regular reverse-tooth blade by Olsen, which is the second smallest size that I typically utilize. (the 2/0 reverse tooth being smaller).

I initially started cutting the first pieces using the Olson Mach blades in a #3 size, but I found that spinning the piece for the ends of the curls brought me a bit wider than I wanted to be and I had to work a bit harder to stay where I needed to go. So I opted to go down a size, knowing that it would also slow my progression a bit, in order to be at the level of precision that I was striving for.

When cutting pieces such as this, where precision is the number one priority, it is also quite important not to 'force' the wood through the blade and allow the blade to do the work for you. Pushing too hard and forcing the piece through the blade will not only cause excess heat build up and premature breaking of the blade, but also distortion of the design - especially on the lower pieces - due to flexing of the blade from excess pressure. These blades are quite thin as you can see:

Wood Gesture Finger Thumb Creative arts


The teeth on them are tiny.

Wood Gesture Flooring Tints and shades Nail


While this allows you to maneuver very accurately, you do need to give them a chance to work and not force the issue. They need to have a good amount of tension on them too, as any flex in them will in all probability distort the design on the bottom and give you undesirable results on your lower pieces.

The trick here is to find the right amount of resistance that will slow things down enough for you to have the control you need to accomplish the design. If I were to cut only one layer, I find that the tiny blade goes through the wood like a hot knife through butter and it is much harder to control the cutting. Since I am making two full sets of these twelve ornaments (one set in plywood to stain and the other in maple which will be natural color) I found that cutting all four at once was not only possible, but a very relaxing way to do things. It may have taken me a bit longer, but in the end, the results was very good and I am very happy with it.

Here is a shot from the back of the pile. You can see that the curls are all in good shape and the design is true.

Wood Cross Art Font Symbol


Now I need to separate the pieces and reassemble them in pairs so that I can cut the lettering into the centers. I had stacked the pieces with the two maple layers on the top and the two plywood on the bottom, instead of alternating them maple-plywood-maple-plywood. I had done this because there was a very slight cupping in the maple pieces and it gave me a better chance of holding together well by stacking them this way. Now that the cutting relieved most of the tension in the small pieces, there should be no problem at all stacking the maple with the plywood. I will simply use the hot melt glue gun to re-glue the layers together in pairs of two for the lettering. I will also probably drop down one blade size to the 2/0 reverse tooth blade size for the small lettering.

I hope that this gives you a little bit better idea of what to consider when doing cutting of this type. It really isn't difficult at all. As with much of woodworking, it is knowing how to set up your work and what wood tolerates which blade size and all the stuff that comes from "practice".

I was considering shooting a video of setting some things up like this and showing how easy it is to control the blade and cut these out. I was pretty focused on finishing though yesterday and didn't get to it. If some of you think it would be helpful, just let me know and I will see what I can do. I think once you see how easy it is to control things when set up properly, you will give it a try.

So it is back to the saw for me today. It's a good way to spend the day I think!

Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!
 

Attachments

#4,465 ·
Some Intricate Cutting Tips

I am on the final day of cutting my new little Valentine's day ornaments. While it is a bit slow going, it isn't at all unpleasant, and I have been enjoying making them very much.

Since I am cutting these pieces several layers high (four to be exact) and using a very small blade in order to make the detailed cuts necessary, it is very much a lesson in patience, and I have to resign myself to the fact that I am not going to be zipping around the pieces at the speed I do when only cutting one layer.

I have no problem doing this, but I fear that others may find this to be much too slow for their personal preference. Of course you could easily remedy this by removing one or more of the layers, but then you would be doing twice the work in order to receive the same result.

One of the most beneficial reasons to stack cut pieces such as this (besides the obvious reason of cutting multiple pieces at a time) is the remarkable amount of precision that you can achieve.

Plant Finger Wood Material property Font


The above picture shows the cutaway side of one of the sets of ornaments. The top two layers are maple and the bottom two are 1/8" Baltic birch. The maple pieces are slightly thicker than 1/8" but that is inconsequential for these purposes. The blade that I used is a #2 regular reverse-tooth blade by Olsen, which is the second smallest size that I typically utilize. (the 2/0 reverse tooth being smaller).

I initially started cutting the first pieces using the Olson Mach blades in a #3 size, but I found that spinning the piece for the ends of the curls brought me a bit wider than I wanted to be and I had to work a bit harder to stay where I needed to go. So I opted to go down a size, knowing that it would also slow my progression a bit, in order to be at the level of precision that I was striving for.

When cutting pieces such as this, where precision is the number one priority, it is also quite important not to 'force' the wood through the blade and allow the blade to do the work for you. Pushing too hard and forcing the piece through the blade will not only cause excess heat build up and premature breaking of the blade, but also distortion of the design - especially on the lower pieces - due to flexing of the blade from excess pressure. These blades are quite thin as you can see:

Wood Gesture Finger Thumb Creative arts


The teeth on them are tiny.

Wood Gesture Flooring Tints and shades Nail


While this allows you to maneuver very accurately, you do need to give them a chance to work and not force the issue. They need to have a good amount of tension on them too, as any flex in them will in all probability distort the design on the bottom and give you undesirable results on your lower pieces.

The trick here is to find the right amount of resistance that will slow things down enough for you to have the control you need to accomplish the design. If I were to cut only one layer, I find that the tiny blade goes through the wood like a hot knife through butter and it is much harder to control the cutting. Since I am making two full sets of these twelve ornaments (one set in plywood to stain and the other in maple which will be natural color) I found that cutting all four at once was not only possible, but a very relaxing way to do things. It may have taken me a bit longer, but in the end, the results was very good and I am very happy with it.

Here is a shot from the back of the pile. You can see that the curls are all in good shape and the design is true.

Wood Cross Art Font Symbol


Now I need to separate the pieces and reassemble them in pairs so that I can cut the lettering into the centers. I had stacked the pieces with the two maple layers on the top and the two plywood on the bottom, instead of alternating them maple-plywood-maple-plywood. I had done this because there was a very slight cupping in the maple pieces and it gave me a better chance of holding together well by stacking them this way. Now that the cutting relieved most of the tension in the small pieces, there should be no problem at all stacking the maple with the plywood. I will simply use the hot melt glue gun to re-glue the layers together in pairs of two for the lettering. I will also probably drop down one blade size to the 2/0 reverse tooth blade size for the small lettering.

I hope that this gives you a little bit better idea of what to consider when doing cutting of this type. It really isn't difficult at all. As with much of woodworking, it is knowing how to set up your work and what wood tolerates which blade size and all the stuff that comes from "practice".

I was considering shooting a video of setting some things up like this and showing how easy it is to control the blade and cut these out. I was pretty focused on finishing though yesterday and didn't get to it. If some of you think it would be helpful, just let me know and I will see what I can do. I think once you see how easy it is to control things when set up properly, you will give it a try.

So it is back to the saw for me today. It's a good way to spend the day I think!

Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!
Wow!
 

Attachments

#4,470 ·
Progress Report

Winter has arrived here in Nova Scotia.

While we had a bit of snow just in time for the Christmas holiday, it only lasted for two days and was just enough to make it look pretty. Even then though, the air was warm and calm.

This morning however, we awoke to a blanket of white and biting winds. As I write now, there are large flakes of snow accumulating and everything around is grey. The air is bitter, too and for the first time we need to dress in layers.

But I am ready. For the past couple of months I have been hoarding my winter supplies. We have plenty of cat food and litter, canned goods and dry goods and even bottle water that will get us through whatever mother nature will send our way. While my partner Keith teases me about my hoarding, I feel pretty good about it now knowing that I am prepared. "Bring it on!" I say.

I realize that I am posting a bit late again this morning. It wasn't because I decided to sleep in or anything like that, but rather it was because Keith decided he is going to get up earlier. I don't know if it is a new year's resolution of his or if he plans to make it a habit, but it certainly disrupted my schedule a bit. (Not in a really bad way - it just mixed things up a bit!) Usually, I am the one who falls asleep somewhere around 10:30 pm. This allows me to get up sometime after 5am. I have always been like that and as most of you who read in the morning know, that is the time I take to write and what I call my quiet time.

Keith on the other hand is a night owl. He likes to stay up sometimes to 1 - 3am. Because of this, he doesn't usually awake until between 8-9 in the morning. This is fine with me, as it give us both some 'space' and we each have some time to ourselves in our little place. But there are days that are just 'off' and this seemed to be one of them.

So we got dressed early and headed to the gym and ran to get milk early. I thought that I would be most efficient that way and Keith was agreeable to going in early. I am glad I did because now it is around 9am and our footprints from this morning are already covered over and it is snowing harder than ever. But we are prepared. :)

I had a wonderfully fun day yesterday. I cut the lettering into all my little heart ornaments. I know it may sound silly but it was so much fun to do so. There is something that brings so much satisfaction when everything is set up properly and you accomplish. It is sometimes hard to describe. I have used the tag line "Knowledge is Power" for many years now and yesterday was one of those times when I really felt the impact of those words. While the project that I am creating isn't what would be seen as 'easy', I truly feel that anyone can accomplish it with a little knowledge and using the right techniques. It really makes me want to share with others and show them how to do this. Perhaps it is the teacher in me.

I am really thinking about doing a video to show how to do these little hearts. I think that the technique can be applied to lots of different things and can be generally helpful for scroll sawyers. Once again, I am wishing for that 24 hour day!

Today I am at the point where all 24 hearts are cut out and I need to finish peeling the patterns off of them and sand and finish them.

Textile Tablecloth Dishware Headgear Art


I want to stain the plywood hearts too for a variation. I have already had several people ask me about the patterns so I need to work on getting them finished as quickly as I can. But more important to me, I need to take my time and do a good job on them. There were a few 'tweaks' in the line work that need to be done and I want to make sure that everyone can make achieve them easily.

So with that said, I had better get to work. At this point I will be able to continue on working on them even if I lose power. So I am in a good place.

I wish you all a wonderfully productive day too. Keep thinking warm thoughts!
 

Attachments

#4,471 ·
Progress Report

Winter has arrived here in Nova Scotia.

While we had a bit of snow just in time for the Christmas holiday, it only lasted for two days and was just enough to make it look pretty. Even then though, the air was warm and calm.

This morning however, we awoke to a blanket of white and biting winds. As I write now, there are large flakes of snow accumulating and everything around is grey. The air is bitter, too and for the first time we need to dress in layers.

But I am ready. For the past couple of months I have been hoarding my winter supplies. We have plenty of cat food and litter, canned goods and dry goods and even bottle water that will get us through whatever mother nature will send our way. While my partner Keith teases me about my hoarding, I feel pretty good about it now knowing that I am prepared. "Bring it on!" I say.

I realize that I am posting a bit late again this morning. It wasn't because I decided to sleep in or anything like that, but rather it was because Keith decided he is going to get up earlier. I don't know if it is a new year's resolution of his or if he plans to make it a habit, but it certainly disrupted my schedule a bit. (Not in a really bad way - it just mixed things up a bit!) Usually, I am the one who falls asleep somewhere around 10:30 pm. This allows me to get up sometime after 5am. I have always been like that and as most of you who read in the morning know, that is the time I take to write and what I call my quiet time.

Keith on the other hand is a night owl. He likes to stay up sometimes to 1 - 3am. Because of this, he doesn't usually awake until between 8-9 in the morning. This is fine with me, as it give us both some 'space' and we each have some time to ourselves in our little place. But there are days that are just 'off' and this seemed to be one of them.

So we got dressed early and headed to the gym and ran to get milk early. I thought that I would be most efficient that way and Keith was agreeable to going in early. I am glad I did because now it is around 9am and our footprints from this morning are already covered over and it is snowing harder than ever. But we are prepared. :)

I had a wonderfully fun day yesterday. I cut the lettering into all my little heart ornaments. I know it may sound silly but it was so much fun to do so. There is something that brings so much satisfaction when everything is set up properly and you accomplish. It is sometimes hard to describe. I have used the tag line "Knowledge is Power" for many years now and yesterday was one of those times when I really felt the impact of those words. While the project that I am creating isn't what would be seen as 'easy', I truly feel that anyone can accomplish it with a little knowledge and using the right techniques. It really makes me want to share with others and show them how to do this. Perhaps it is the teacher in me.

I am really thinking about doing a video to show how to do these little hearts. I think that the technique can be applied to lots of different things and can be generally helpful for scroll sawyers. Once again, I am wishing for that 24 hour day!

Today I am at the point where all 24 hearts are cut out and I need to finish peeling the patterns off of them and sand and finish them.

Textile Tablecloth Dishware Headgear Art


I want to stain the plywood hearts too for a variation. I have already had several people ask me about the patterns so I need to work on getting them finished as quickly as I can. But more important to me, I need to take my time and do a good job on them. There were a few 'tweaks' in the line work that need to be done and I want to make sure that everyone can make achieve them easily.

So with that said, I had better get to work. At this point I will be able to continue on working on them even if I lose power. So I am in a good place.

I wish you all a wonderfully productive day too. Keep thinking warm thoughts!
Great looking hearts, and a very good job on the scroll work as usual. I was 49 degrees F yesterday and
should get to 51 today here in balmy Missoula, Mt. The weatherman keeps hinting that we might get some
winter, but I am getting impatient. Glad to hear you are all set with plenty of supplies and work in the shop
to keep you busy.
 

Attachments

#4,475 ·
Valentine Ornaments are Just About Finished!

I had another good day yesterday, and pretty much finished the work on the new Valentine ornaments I was working on. I am happy to report that I didn't even break any of the small pieces while I was sanding them and cleaning them up. All the scrollers out there know what a plus that is when doing something like this. It seems that sometimes breaking off small pieces is just part of the project at times.

I find when I do break stuff, that the new Gorilla wood glue is excellent for putting the pieces back together. I had never known they had a wood glue until the contest that was held here on Lumberjocks last year (see- the advertising worked!) and after hearing about it I sought it out here in Canada and finally was able to find some.

I always admired the strength of the original Gorilla Glue, but the 'growing' aspect of it was a bit of a turn off for me because of the type of projects I do. I find with the wood glue though that it offers the strength without the 'growth' and it dries nearly invisible. The glue is in all probability stronger than the wood it is gluing I expect - especially with the delicate fretwork I do. It has already saved more than one projects of mine and no one will ever be the wiser (Shhhh! Don't tell!)

I also wanted to mention that I found a wonderful glue bottle at Lee Valley tools. I am sure that many of you have had the experience where glue bottles continually get clogged up. This can be quite annoyance - especially when you are trying to make a delicate repair. About six months ago we were making a Lee Valley order and thought we would try this bottle. I give it high reviews. It has proven to be a useful tool and I just ordered another one for my Gorilla wood glue. Here is the picture for it:

Wood Safety glove Nail Mallet Bottle cap


And the link to it is HERE

I promised you all pictures of the new ornaments today so here they are. The first picture is the natural maple ornaments. These were soaked in mineral oil and then sprayed with shellac:

Textile Art Font Ornament Material property


The second picture is of the Baltic birch ornaments. I used the DecoArt Staining and Antiquing medium and Americana Acrylic paints to tint the centers of the hearts in four shades of reds/pinks. They look awesome in person.

Organ Human body Font Pink Magenta


Today I will be taking the 'real' pictures and building the pattern packet. I think I am going to include all 12 in one pattern. I should have the project officially posted up here at Lumberjocks in a day or so.

I have lots to think about today. There are many deadlines that are looming for the new year. Soon my catalog deadline will be upon me and also my third and final installment for the the calendar project that I need to do for the magazine. I also need to write a few articles and do a video or two to show some of these procedures that I used to make these. I have had some good questions asked too from customers and I think that answering some of them in the form of another lesson for the online class or a tutorial will be appropriate.

And that doesn't even begin to cover painting!

I guess I will be busy and keep out of trouble. At least for the time being. I hope you all have a wonderful day and find the time to do something creative and fun! Enjoy!
 

Attachments

#4,476 ·
Valentine Ornaments are Just About Finished!

I had another good day yesterday, and pretty much finished the work on the new Valentine ornaments I was working on. I am happy to report that I didn't even break any of the small pieces while I was sanding them and cleaning them up. All the scrollers out there know what a plus that is when doing something like this. It seems that sometimes breaking off small pieces is just part of the project at times.

I find when I do break stuff, that the new Gorilla wood glue is excellent for putting the pieces back together. I had never known they had a wood glue until the contest that was held here on Lumberjocks last year (see- the advertising worked!) and after hearing about it I sought it out here in Canada and finally was able to find some.

I always admired the strength of the original Gorilla Glue, but the 'growing' aspect of it was a bit of a turn off for me because of the type of projects I do. I find with the wood glue though that it offers the strength without the 'growth' and it dries nearly invisible. The glue is in all probability stronger than the wood it is gluing I expect - especially with the delicate fretwork I do. It has already saved more than one projects of mine and no one will ever be the wiser (Shhhh! Don't tell!)

I also wanted to mention that I found a wonderful glue bottle at Lee Valley tools. I am sure that many of you have had the experience where glue bottles continually get clogged up. This can be quite annoyance - especially when you are trying to make a delicate repair. About six months ago we were making a Lee Valley order and thought we would try this bottle. I give it high reviews. It has proven to be a useful tool and I just ordered another one for my Gorilla wood glue. Here is the picture for it:

Wood Safety glove Nail Mallet Bottle cap


And the link to it is HERE

I promised you all pictures of the new ornaments today so here they are. The first picture is the natural maple ornaments. These were soaked in mineral oil and then sprayed with shellac:

Textile Art Font Ornament Material property


The second picture is of the Baltic birch ornaments. I used the DecoArt Staining and Antiquing medium and Americana Acrylic paints to tint the centers of the hearts in four shades of reds/pinks. They look awesome in person.

Organ Human body Font Pink Magenta


Today I will be taking the 'real' pictures and building the pattern packet. I think I am going to include all 12 in one pattern. I should have the project officially posted up here at Lumberjocks in a day or so.

I have lots to think about today. There are many deadlines that are looming for the new year. Soon my catalog deadline will be upon me and also my third and final installment for the the calendar project that I need to do for the magazine. I also need to write a few articles and do a video or two to show some of these procedures that I used to make these. I have had some good questions asked too from customers and I think that answering some of them in the form of another lesson for the online class or a tutorial will be appropriate.

And that doesn't even begin to cover painting!

I guess I will be busy and keep out of trouble. At least for the time being. I hope you all have a wonderful day and find the time to do something creative and fun! Enjoy!
Lovely!
 

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#4,494 ·
Picture This

Today is one of those 'in between' days. You all know what I mean. I'm kind of finishing up one thing and starting another. I have been working on the pattern packet for the new ornaments yesterday and that took up most of my time. I played around with the pictures for the bulk of the day, trying to get them just right.

There are so many things involved with taking pictures. I find that I am always learning and as we all know, learning something new takes a bit of time. I would have loved to just 'snap away' at them and get them done in an hour. But it didn't really work out that way.

I sometimes get a picture in my mind as to how I want things presented. I am learning that the photography and presentation of my work is very important in sales and advertising. If I can present thing in an appealing way, then naturally people are more likely to try to make the items themselves. It sounds like it should be a given, but it was only a couple of years ago that I just put stuff on a white towel to shoot pictures and called it a day. I think I have come a long way from that.

So anyway, I had a picture in my head of what I wanted these ornaments to look like. I pictured a soft and swirly background in shades of pinks to accent both the stained and also the maple Valentines. When I looked at my stash of background fabric however, all I had that was even close was the bright red fabric that I used for some of my Christmas candle trays.

While I could have used that and it would certainly had a Valentine's feel to it, I thought it would be too harsh and didn't want to. However, I looked at the accumulating snow outside and I didn't really feel like asking for a ride to the store to pick through and see what fabric would be appropriate. Besides, it would just be more to store here in our little place and I didn't really feel like adding to the pile if I didn't have to.

I then got the idea - why not see what would be available as a 'digital background'? After all - these ornaments were quite small and I could print out a sheet of card stock and use that.

I immediately Googled 'background wallpapers' and found a wealth of free downloads for my enjoyment. There were several sights that had vast selections and was further able to pinpoint my search just by typing in the word 'pink'. I soon found a suitable pattern and brought it up in my own Photoshop program where I was able to further tweak it to exactly what I was picturing in my mind. (Now that was something that I wouldn't be able to do with fabric!) I printed out a sheet on some nice card stock and was in business, as I was able to easily fit the ornaments onto a normal sheet of paper.

I mention this because I think that it is something that you should consider if you are looking for a nice way to photograph your work. I think it is a nice and economical way to show off projects in a professional way.

I played around a bit with lighting and also tried to use the light box that Keith uses for his pens, but I just wasn't getting nice pictures. Again, I don't have a lot of equipment (or room for a lot) so I use the limited resources that I do have here. It was a somewhat dark day out and the colors were just not cooperating with the available light. I finally thought that I would give it a try in the scanner and that gave the best results. I was very happy with how they looked.

Brown Pink Wood Ornament Font


Once that was figured out, it was just a matter of scanning in and adjusting the 24 pictures. I find that when doing ornaments such as these, I like showing them individually best.

I now need to complete the written instructions and the assembly of the packets and they will be ready to go. I realize it seems like a long process, but I found that when I take time and do things right, I feel much better about my work. I have rushed through things in the past and not felt happy about the outcome.

I also decided that I am going to make another set of ornaments that will be somewhat easier than these to cut for Valentine's day. While I do think that most people will be able to accomplish these with a little practice, I realize that they may be a bit difficult for new comers to scrolling and I want to have something to offer them also. So last night instead of writing when I was tired, I began drawing up another set. Hopefully, since they are simpler I will be able to work on them quickly and get them up on the site very soon too. I really don't want to delay the site update because Keith has some nice new stuff to add up there too. I may have to do an initial update and then add the second set in afterwards. That won't be tragic.

I found out that the third and final calendar overlays are going to be due in a couple of weeks to the magazine, so I need to get busy on that too. Things are beginning to come fast and furious and it is time for me to kick into a higher gear and finish working on some of these ideas I have.

Thank you all for the positive remarks regarding these ornaments. It really makes me feel good and your cheering me on helps me tremendously. I am glad you like them and appreciate all your comments and suggestions very much.

Have a wonderful Friday!
 

Attachments

#4,495 ·
Picture This

Today is one of those 'in between' days. You all know what I mean. I'm kind of finishing up one thing and starting another. I have been working on the pattern packet for the new ornaments yesterday and that took up most of my time. I played around with the pictures for the bulk of the day, trying to get them just right.

There are so many things involved with taking pictures. I find that I am always learning and as we all know, learning something new takes a bit of time. I would have loved to just 'snap away' at them and get them done in an hour. But it didn't really work out that way.

I sometimes get a picture in my mind as to how I want things presented. I am learning that the photography and presentation of my work is very important in sales and advertising. If I can present thing in an appealing way, then naturally people are more likely to try to make the items themselves. It sounds like it should be a given, but it was only a couple of years ago that I just put stuff on a white towel to shoot pictures and called it a day. I think I have come a long way from that.

So anyway, I had a picture in my head of what I wanted these ornaments to look like. I pictured a soft and swirly background in shades of pinks to accent both the stained and also the maple Valentines. When I looked at my stash of background fabric however, all I had that was even close was the bright red fabric that I used for some of my Christmas candle trays.

While I could have used that and it would certainly had a Valentine's feel to it, I thought it would be too harsh and didn't want to. However, I looked at the accumulating snow outside and I didn't really feel like asking for a ride to the store to pick through and see what fabric would be appropriate. Besides, it would just be more to store here in our little place and I didn't really feel like adding to the pile if I didn't have to.

I then got the idea - why not see what would be available as a 'digital background'? After all - these ornaments were quite small and I could print out a sheet of card stock and use that.

I immediately Googled 'background wallpapers' and found a wealth of free downloads for my enjoyment. There were several sights that had vast selections and was further able to pinpoint my search just by typing in the word 'pink'. I soon found a suitable pattern and brought it up in my own Photoshop program where I was able to further tweak it to exactly what I was picturing in my mind. (Now that was something that I wouldn't be able to do with fabric!) I printed out a sheet on some nice card stock and was in business, as I was able to easily fit the ornaments onto a normal sheet of paper.

I mention this because I think that it is something that you should consider if you are looking for a nice way to photograph your work. I think it is a nice and economical way to show off projects in a professional way.

I played around a bit with lighting and also tried to use the light box that Keith uses for his pens, but I just wasn't getting nice pictures. Again, I don't have a lot of equipment (or room for a lot) so I use the limited resources that I do have here. It was a somewhat dark day out and the colors were just not cooperating with the available light. I finally thought that I would give it a try in the scanner and that gave the best results. I was very happy with how they looked.

Brown Pink Wood Ornament Font


Once that was figured out, it was just a matter of scanning in and adjusting the 24 pictures. I find that when doing ornaments such as these, I like showing them individually best.

I now need to complete the written instructions and the assembly of the packets and they will be ready to go. I realize it seems like a long process, but I found that when I take time and do things right, I feel much better about my work. I have rushed through things in the past and not felt happy about the outcome.

I also decided that I am going to make another set of ornaments that will be somewhat easier than these to cut for Valentine's day. While I do think that most people will be able to accomplish these with a little practice, I realize that they may be a bit difficult for new comers to scrolling and I want to have something to offer them also. So last night instead of writing when I was tired, I began drawing up another set. Hopefully, since they are simpler I will be able to work on them quickly and get them up on the site very soon too. I really don't want to delay the site update because Keith has some nice new stuff to add up there too. I may have to do an initial update and then add the second set in afterwards. That won't be tragic.

I found out that the third and final calendar overlays are going to be due in a couple of weeks to the magazine, so I need to get busy on that too. Things are beginning to come fast and furious and it is time for me to kick into a higher gear and finish working on some of these ideas I have.

Thank you all for the positive remarks regarding these ornaments. It really makes me feel good and your cheering me on helps me tremendously. I am glad you like them and appreciate all your comments and suggestions very much.

Have a wonderful Friday!
just love it when thing come together.
 

Attachments

#4,499 ·
Lots of Stuff on Scroll Saw Blades

It has come to my attention that some of you are having difficulty finding the Olson scroll saw blades that I frequently talk about here on my blog. While I know there are other brands available that work very well for others, I have tried many types of blades and find that the Olson blades work the best for me.

I especially think it is important to have a good blade that you feel comfortable with when cutting designs such as the one I just finished (my Conversation Heart Valentine ornaments) because the lettering in this project is quite small and you really need to have decent control of the blade in order to accomplish the design. I found that using these blades in conjunction with my Excalibur saw allows me to cut these pieces quite easily.

While I do understand that we all have many different types of saws and equipment, I am often asked what I use and recommend and I am doing so here. That's not to say that your own equipment wouldn't accomplish the same thing. But I can only speak from what I have tried and hopefully, my personal experiences will give you a starting point and you will be able to find your own combination of saw and blade that will make your cutting as comfortable and trouble free as possible.

Last night I received an email from a scroller who was looking for the Olson blades. He told me he found the 2/0 reverse tooth blades for $3.65 for ONE BLADE! I thought that was criminal. There are many places that offer blades for anywhere from $2.30 per dozen (with further discounts if you buy a gross of them!) and up.

Two wonderful and reliable companies that I have personally ordered from are Sloan's Woodshop located in Lebanon, TN and The Wooden Teddy Bear, from Portland, OR. While Sloan's doesn't ship out of the USA, The Wooden Teddy does and usually if you are only ordering blades from them, even international shipping costs are quite reasonable. Both companies are family owned and are honest and have fast and friendly service and will help you with any blade questions you may have. They both offer mix and match quantity discounts too, and have different sampler packs so you can try some different types of blades too. I highly recommend them.

I was also asked how I stored the blades that I have. As many of you know, scroll saw blades can be very small and it is not always easy to immediately identify the exact size of the smaller blades. It is usually necessary to keep them segregated by size in order to have them easily accessible when working on a project.

My partner Keith and I came up with a system that works really well for us. Since our 'workstation' is in our kitchen, we keep our scroll saw on a small cabinet:

Gas Wood Plant Machine Metal


In the bottom section of the cabinet we keep our sandpaper, glues and even a small waste basket that we use when scrolling. The top drawer is great for keeping blades, scissors and tape. We purchased these little plastic storage boxes that are typically used for storing beads and embroidery floss:

Fluid Rectangle Gadget Font Transparency


They only cost a couple of dollars each and we liked them because they weren't more 'small' things that we had to keep track of. As you can see, we labeled them as to which types of blades we put into them. We needed to cut out some of the dividers so that the blades fit, but that was quite easy to do:

Cosmetics Tool Font Chemical compound Paint


For us, this works the best. The boxes fit right in the drawer and are easy to keep clean and at hand, and can be easily carried to the table or wherever we are working. I know a lot of people like using the little plastic tubes to hold their blades and that is fine too, but we prefer to have something that is a little bigger. They stack two levels high in the drawer and we have a total of three of them which is large enough for all the types of blades we use.

I hope this information helps you all a bit. While there are many great ways to organize and store things, this is the one that works best for us.

I was also asked the question recently as to how I knew when it was time to change a blade. (Obviously before it breaks!) I think the best way to answer is to rely on your own intuition and common sense. As you use a scroll saw blade, you will note that it gradually becomes a bit harder to move the blade through the wood. Where you may have only needed a slight amount of pressure to maneuver around your piece, you may find that little by little, you are pushing harder and harder.

There are many factors that contribute to blade dullness - thickness of the wood, density and the amount of moisture that the wood contains are among them. Also, if you are cutting plywood, the amount of glue in the plywood will also affect the life of the blade you are using. You will also find that certain blades dull faster than others. Skip tooth blades tend to last longer because the space in between the teeth of the blade tends to allow more heat to dissipate more efficiently and consequently the blade is running cooler, prolonging its life. Also the precision ground blades tend to have a longer life just by their nature and the materials they are made of. All of these factors should be considered.

For the most part, I use regular skip tooth reverse tooth blades. I think that they are economical and efficient and they give a good long life. The definition of "long" I realize varies with each individual, but since I buy them at the gross price, they typically cost under 30 cents a piece. At that price, it doesn't really bother me to throw them out when dull and they aren't performing and put in a fresh one. Even if a project requires half a dozen blades or more to complete, I still feel that the cost is small for the time and material cost already invested.

One thing that I ask you all to remember - Scroll saw blades are disposable components of the hobby. So many times I see scrollers holding on to old blades and trying to cut with them long after their life has expired. To me, if I spend "x" amount of money on wood and "x" amount of hours of my time on a particular project - doesn't it only make sense to use a fresh and sharp blade? Especially at a cost of around 30 cents each. It isn't like a table saw blade that can cost up to $100 or a band saw blade that you change ever year or so. It is something that has a relatively short life span and it also relatively cheap.

I throw out my blades when I realize that I am 'working' a bit too hard to cut. You can usually feel the blade being to drag and sometimes you can smell if it is starting to burn the wood from heat build up. Sometimes I will push it to the end of the project if I am nearing completion of a cut, but more so than not, by the time I really feel the difference, it is near the end of its life and time to change.

As a habit, I tend to bend the old blades in half and break them as I discard them - just so I know that they are spent and I don't attempt to use them again. But soon you will be able to tell when it is done as you are more experienced and gain confidence in your scroll sawing. You will wonder why you ever held on to those old blades so long and your overall experience of cutting will be greatly improved.

I hope that this information helped some of you who are looking for more information on blades. Besides the scroll saw, I think the blades are the most important tool in success when making your scroll saw projects.

Today I will be finishing up the site update and sending out the new newsletter. If you aren't on my mailing list, I invite you to do so. The link for joining is HERE. I only send out one or two newsletters per month and I also offer some special discounts to newsletter subscribers only from time to time.

I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday and get some time to play in your shop this weekend.
 

Attachments

#4,500 ·
Lots of Stuff on Scroll Saw Blades

It has come to my attention that some of you are having difficulty finding the Olson scroll saw blades that I frequently talk about here on my blog. While I know there are other brands available that work very well for others, I have tried many types of blades and find that the Olson blades work the best for me.

I especially think it is important to have a good blade that you feel comfortable with when cutting designs such as the one I just finished (my Conversation Heart Valentine ornaments) because the lettering in this project is quite small and you really need to have decent control of the blade in order to accomplish the design. I found that using these blades in conjunction with my Excalibur saw allows me to cut these pieces quite easily.

While I do understand that we all have many different types of saws and equipment, I am often asked what I use and recommend and I am doing so here. That's not to say that your own equipment wouldn't accomplish the same thing. But I can only speak from what I have tried and hopefully, my personal experiences will give you a starting point and you will be able to find your own combination of saw and blade that will make your cutting as comfortable and trouble free as possible.

Last night I received an email from a scroller who was looking for the Olson blades. He told me he found the 2/0 reverse tooth blades for $3.65 for ONE BLADE! I thought that was criminal. There are many places that offer blades for anywhere from $2.30 per dozen (with further discounts if you buy a gross of them!) and up.

Two wonderful and reliable companies that I have personally ordered from are Sloan's Woodshop located in Lebanon, TN and The Wooden Teddy Bear, from Portland, OR. While Sloan's doesn't ship out of the USA, The Wooden Teddy does and usually if you are only ordering blades from them, even international shipping costs are quite reasonable. Both companies are family owned and are honest and have fast and friendly service and will help you with any blade questions you may have. They both offer mix and match quantity discounts too, and have different sampler packs so you can try some different types of blades too. I highly recommend them.

I was also asked how I stored the blades that I have. As many of you know, scroll saw blades can be very small and it is not always easy to immediately identify the exact size of the smaller blades. It is usually necessary to keep them segregated by size in order to have them easily accessible when working on a project.

My partner Keith and I came up with a system that works really well for us. Since our 'workstation' is in our kitchen, we keep our scroll saw on a small cabinet:

Gas Wood Plant Machine Metal


In the bottom section of the cabinet we keep our sandpaper, glues and even a small waste basket that we use when scrolling. The top drawer is great for keeping blades, scissors and tape. We purchased these little plastic storage boxes that are typically used for storing beads and embroidery floss:

Fluid Rectangle Gadget Font Transparency


They only cost a couple of dollars each and we liked them because they weren't more 'small' things that we had to keep track of. As you can see, we labeled them as to which types of blades we put into them. We needed to cut out some of the dividers so that the blades fit, but that was quite easy to do:

Cosmetics Tool Font Chemical compound Paint


For us, this works the best. The boxes fit right in the drawer and are easy to keep clean and at hand, and can be easily carried to the table or wherever we are working. I know a lot of people like using the little plastic tubes to hold their blades and that is fine too, but we prefer to have something that is a little bigger. They stack two levels high in the drawer and we have a total of three of them which is large enough for all the types of blades we use.

I hope this information helps you all a bit. While there are many great ways to organize and store things, this is the one that works best for us.

I was also asked the question recently as to how I knew when it was time to change a blade. (Obviously before it breaks!) I think the best way to answer is to rely on your own intuition and common sense. As you use a scroll saw blade, you will note that it gradually becomes a bit harder to move the blade through the wood. Where you may have only needed a slight amount of pressure to maneuver around your piece, you may find that little by little, you are pushing harder and harder.

There are many factors that contribute to blade dullness - thickness of the wood, density and the amount of moisture that the wood contains are among them. Also, if you are cutting plywood, the amount of glue in the plywood will also affect the life of the blade you are using. You will also find that certain blades dull faster than others. Skip tooth blades tend to last longer because the space in between the teeth of the blade tends to allow more heat to dissipate more efficiently and consequently the blade is running cooler, prolonging its life. Also the precision ground blades tend to have a longer life just by their nature and the materials they are made of. All of these factors should be considered.

For the most part, I use regular skip tooth reverse tooth blades. I think that they are economical and efficient and they give a good long life. The definition of "long" I realize varies with each individual, but since I buy them at the gross price, they typically cost under 30 cents a piece. At that price, it doesn't really bother me to throw them out when dull and they aren't performing and put in a fresh one. Even if a project requires half a dozen blades or more to complete, I still feel that the cost is small for the time and material cost already invested.

One thing that I ask you all to remember - Scroll saw blades are disposable components of the hobby. So many times I see scrollers holding on to old blades and trying to cut with them long after their life has expired. To me, if I spend "x" amount of money on wood and "x" amount of hours of my time on a particular project - doesn't it only make sense to use a fresh and sharp blade? Especially at a cost of around 30 cents each. It isn't like a table saw blade that can cost up to $100 or a band saw blade that you change ever year or so. It is something that has a relatively short life span and it also relatively cheap.

I throw out my blades when I realize that I am 'working' a bit too hard to cut. You can usually feel the blade being to drag and sometimes you can smell if it is starting to burn the wood from heat build up. Sometimes I will push it to the end of the project if I am nearing completion of a cut, but more so than not, by the time I really feel the difference, it is near the end of its life and time to change.

As a habit, I tend to bend the old blades in half and break them as I discard them - just so I know that they are spent and I don't attempt to use them again. But soon you will be able to tell when it is done as you are more experienced and gain confidence in your scroll sawing. You will wonder why you ever held on to those old blades so long and your overall experience of cutting will be greatly improved.

I hope that this information helped some of you who are looking for more information on blades. Besides the scroll saw, I think the blades are the most important tool in success when making your scroll saw projects.

Today I will be finishing up the site update and sending out the new newsletter. If you aren't on my mailing list, I invite you to do so. The link for joining is HERE. I only send out one or two newsletters per month and I also offer some special discounts to newsletter subscribers only from time to time.

I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday and get some time to play in your shop this weekend.
Interesting comments and useful information on the blades. I used Olson for a while but switched to Seyco blades on my Porter Cable scrollsaw and the worked best for me, on that saw. Now that I have a DeWalt I find that the Seyco do not work the best for me and I am back to Olson blades. Learning curve I guess. As I, like you, tend to do finde fretwork I want a blade with lots of control and that I know it is going where I want it to go. On the DeWalt the Olsen 2 series have proven to be the best choice.

I, also had hugh probelms with the Porter Cable snapping blades often. The DeWalt has yet to break one.

One issue I have with the DeWalt is that the top clamp (when using the Seyco blades) will crimp or put a curl on the blade. That makes it impossable to feed through the next entry hole. When using the Olsen blade it does not tend to do that.

Thanks for the info.
 

Attachments

#4,509 ·
Back to Drawing

I sit here and wonder if I missed something. Could it be that winter has come and gone so quickly? Although it is only January 8th it feels more like March already. We had some snow last week, but that is long gone and it is quite warm out. While I know that is good for many people, I kind of miss the colder weather. But I know I am not thinking like the masses.

We did have one colder evening last week and we took a nice long walk. The cold air felt nice and refreshing on my face and I really enjoyed it. But yesterday during our walk, I had to unbutton my coat and walk with it open, as I was much too warm to enjoy it. It felt strange because it seems that we barely had any winter at all. I saw on Facebook that my son had a January harvest of brussel sprouts from his garden (he lives near Chicago). That is certainly strange.

I am happy for those who don't do well with the colder weather. This year of mild temperatures is very welcome to them. If it means less pain and discomfort for people, then I am all for it. On that level I am happy about it.

I spent the bulk of the day working on updated the website and getting the January newsletter together and emailed. The more I do that the easier it seems to be. I am learning how to deal with the quirks and issues of the software and it seems to me that it is much less of an effort than it used to be. It is good to know that I can still learn and adapt.

I already began drawing my next pattern packet, too. In making the previous design, I realize that it is not what you would refer to as an 'entry level project'. I want to offer something a bit more simple but hopefully equally attractive that someone newer to sawing can make. Sometimes that is more challenging than the difficult projects.

When I do simpler projects, I sometimes feel that I am short-changing myself. We are taught from the time we are small to always do our best and try our hardest. But sometimes I find that my skills have developed to the point where my best may be too difficult for someone who is just starting out. I don't want to discourage others from trying new things, but I also would like to offer some things that can be done quickly and easily and still be attractive. I sometimes need to remind myself that people are looking for project such as these too and that I sometimes need to back off just a bit so that I can offer stepping stones between what is considered basic and advanced. But as I said, that sometimes takes more effort on my part than going all out.

I am about half way done with the new set that I am working on. In looking at them, I am happy with them. They are cute and fun and I think that there are lots of possibilities and ways to make them work for many levels of scrolling. And I think that is an important thing to remember.

It's at times like these when I really miss the personal interaction of teaching face to face. When standing in the same room with someone and seeing them learning and working on pieces that I designed, it really allows me to see things from their point of view and understand what parts of the pattern are easier and which parts give a bit more difficulty. Sometimes when working here on my own I tend to forget that.

Receiving feedback and questions from customers really does help me remain aware of the fact that there are many levels of expertise among people. That is why I find that keeping in touch with everyone is so valuable to me as a designer.

Thank you all who comment and ask questions. No matter how insignificant you may feel your questions are, they are important in helping me be a better designer. I truly do welcome them and also your ideas and opinions.

I hope you all have a great day today. If it is unseasonably warm in your area, I hope you get some extra time in your shop or time to take a walk and enjoy the mild weather. Have a wonderful Sunday

Icicle Branch Twig Tree Plant
 

Attachments

#4,510 ·
Back to Drawing

I sit here and wonder if I missed something. Could it be that winter has come and gone so quickly? Although it is only January 8th it feels more like March already. We had some snow last week, but that is long gone and it is quite warm out. While I know that is good for many people, I kind of miss the colder weather. But I know I am not thinking like the masses.

We did have one colder evening last week and we took a nice long walk. The cold air felt nice and refreshing on my face and I really enjoyed it. But yesterday during our walk, I had to unbutton my coat and walk with it open, as I was much too warm to enjoy it. It felt strange because it seems that we barely had any winter at all. I saw on Facebook that my son had a January harvest of brussel sprouts from his garden (he lives near Chicago). That is certainly strange.

I am happy for those who don't do well with the colder weather. This year of mild temperatures is very welcome to them. If it means less pain and discomfort for people, then I am all for it. On that level I am happy about it.

I spent the bulk of the day working on updated the website and getting the January newsletter together and emailed. The more I do that the easier it seems to be. I am learning how to deal with the quirks and issues of the software and it seems to me that it is much less of an effort than it used to be. It is good to know that I can still learn and adapt.

I already began drawing my next pattern packet, too. In making the previous design, I realize that it is not what you would refer to as an 'entry level project'. I want to offer something a bit more simple but hopefully equally attractive that someone newer to sawing can make. Sometimes that is more challenging than the difficult projects.

When I do simpler projects, I sometimes feel that I am short-changing myself. We are taught from the time we are small to always do our best and try our hardest. But sometimes I find that my skills have developed to the point where my best may be too difficult for someone who is just starting out. I don't want to discourage others from trying new things, but I also would like to offer some things that can be done quickly and easily and still be attractive. I sometimes need to remind myself that people are looking for project such as these too and that I sometimes need to back off just a bit so that I can offer stepping stones between what is considered basic and advanced. But as I said, that sometimes takes more effort on my part than going all out.

I am about half way done with the new set that I am working on. In looking at them, I am happy with them. They are cute and fun and I think that there are lots of possibilities and ways to make them work for many levels of scrolling. And I think that is an important thing to remember.

It's at times like these when I really miss the personal interaction of teaching face to face. When standing in the same room with someone and seeing them learning and working on pieces that I designed, it really allows me to see things from their point of view and understand what parts of the pattern are easier and which parts give a bit more difficulty. Sometimes when working here on my own I tend to forget that.

Receiving feedback and questions from customers really does help me remain aware of the fact that there are many levels of expertise among people. That is why I find that keeping in touch with everyone is so valuable to me as a designer.

Thank you all who comment and ask questions. No matter how insignificant you may feel your questions are, they are important in helping me be a better designer. I truly do welcome them and also your ideas and opinions.

I hope you all have a great day today. If it is unseasonably warm in your area, I hope you get some extra time in your shop or time to take a walk and enjoy the mild weather. Have a wonderful Sunday

Icicle Branch Twig Tree Plant
I know. Its warm here too. I had the window open in the shop, today and no heating on. Most unusual, but not unwelcome, for January.

I'm familiar with the feeling that we should always strive for better, be that perfection at something easy or greater complexity. However your approach of catering for people of all skill levels, with your patterns, means that others can get a foot on the creativity ladder as well.

Most important of all though is that you continue to enjoy what you're doing.

Carry on designing.
 

Attachments

#4,515 ·
Mindset Really Matters

I really had a good time drawing yesterday. I spent the majority of my day working on drawing another set of ornaments for Valentine's day. My goal was to make something that was a bit easier to cut than the ornament set that I had just completed, but also make them attractive and something that scrollers of all levels would enjoy doing. It took a little bit to get going, but once I got on a roll I really started to have fun with it. I love when that happens.

These are the best type of projects. By that I mean the ones that get under your skin and come from your soul. While I must admit that this one didn't start out that way, for some unknown reason, it transformed into just that thing.

Attitude is so important when designing. At least for me it is. The way I view the job ahead when beginning to draw always seems to greatly affect the outcome. I suppose that carries true with many things we do in our daily tasks in our lives. It always seems that those things we look upon grudgingly are the ones that seem to take the longest and be the most difficult to accomplish. Not that I am saying that this was exactly like that. But by my own admission, I wasn't as enthusiastic as I usually was in the beginning because I was making something that would be the type of design that someone who was perhaps new to scroll sawing can accomplish. I had it stuck in my head that because it needed to be a bit simpler, it wouldn't be as attractive or as fun.

I look now and I think I was wrong.

I find it interesting how things seem to evolve and change from the time I begin a project until I am finished with it. I usually begin with some sort of vision in my head as to what I want the final piece(s) to look like and through a series of developments and changes it comes to be. In taking time to think about it, it is much like the life cycle of a butterfly. It begins as one thing and goes through a metamorphosis until it reaches its final state of being. In some projects this is more apparent than others.

I am enjoying the luxury of being able to take my time with these designs and have this awareness. I feel that my product line is extensive enough that I have a good base of items so there is no real urgency for me to mass produce designs. Having a partner helps in this too. In our recent update, Keith had more new things available to present than I did. It wasn't that I was slacking, but I was working on some Christmas gifts and some projects for the magazine and other things that kept me quite busy. In the past when I was working along, there would have been a void during this time and I would have been concerned about keeping up and keeping people interested. We like to showcase new things every month or so, so that people keep wanting to return to see what we have that is new. It is just good business.

So back to the ornaments . . .

This new set that I am working on is also a set of heart ornaments. One of the obstacles that I encountered while getting started was the restrictive nature of making twelve hearts. A heart is - well - heart shaped. It would be different if I were painting and able to vary them by colour. But I wanted this set to be something that a new scroll sawyer would enjoy so I don't really want to do any painting or staining on them. And as we know, wood for the most part is brown (excluding any exotics) and I also wanted these to be something that would be interesting, but not send a newcomer on a hunt to find obscure materials to make them. We all know how expensive beginning any hobby can be and I wanted them to be able to use scraps or what they may have on hand for these.

As I drew the first piece, I was pleased with it. I fashioned an interesting variation on a heart shape and I really liked the look of it. As I got to the second piece, I decided to do something completely different. It then came to me that even though these are a set, there is nothing that says that they have to be 'cookie cutter' ornaments or look anything like each other. That is when the floodgates opened and my attitude toward them changed.

As I drew on and created each piece, I had fun varying one from the next. I decided that I would add optional small stones or beads embedded into the pieces, much like I did on the snowflake and Christmas tree ornaments that were so popular. People really seemed to like that technique and if they chose not to add the stones, they were free to add decorative holes in their place and the ornaments would look equally handsome. Perfect!

So I took my time and really played around with these designs. I am almost finished, and hopefully I will be cutting today. Here is a little peek at part of one of them for you:

Hand Human body Plant Gesture Thumb


I still have some 'tweaking' to do, but I am very excited to see how they look when they are cut out and finished. It will be a fun and interesting process for me.

There are times when I almost feel guilty because I love what I do so much. I know that sounds crazy, but I find myself thinking that no one should be able to enjoy what they do to the point that I do. Lord knows I am not getting rich from it financially, but I am getting by OK and I feel that the happiness it brings me to be able to do what I do and interact with the people I do on a daily basis is worth so much more. I truly am fortunate and I appreciate it every day.

I wish you all a great Monday. If I learned anything from these past few days, it is that we need to approach the tasks I need to do (even the ones we feel may be mundane) with a good attitude. We may surprise ourselves as to how much we will learn from them and we may actually enjoy them.

"To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
 

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#4,516 ·
Inspiration

Yesterday turned out to be a bit of a change of plans. I had intended to get to the saw and cut out my new ornaments, but the weather was nice and we had some things to do in Yarmouth so we decided to take off and go there instead. I didn't feel too badly about it because we really worked all weekend long. I suppose one of the good things about being self-employed is being able to do that once in a while.

The weather was clear and the roads were too. Besides the small amount of snow we had over Christmas, there hasn't been any on the ground. This morning I awoke to a light dusting and I was happy that we had our trip behind us. There is nothing really threatening as far as I see, but I am glad we got it over with in any case.

Today I plan to stay in all day and cut. I have finished all the 'tweaking' on the new drawings and now comes the fun part - making them. I am excited because I have a couple of more ideas of things I want to do immediately after this project is done. I am eager not only to see how these will come out, but also how everything else will too. It is a good place to be design-wise.

I also wanted to mention that I received a wonderful photograph from a customer of mine the other day. He had used my "Rocking Reindeer" pattern and modified it to make a Christmas Carousel. I thought that this was ingenious and it got my mind going in lots of directions. So often with scroll sawing, we think in only two dimensions. This expands designing to three and I absolutely love the concept of doing more projects such as this. Here is the picture he posted on my wall on Facebook:

Wood Table Coffee table Art Wood stain


I want to thank John Cosens for sharing his wonderful idea with me. I think it is a wonderful example of taking a design and modifying it to your own liking. He truly did an incredible job!

I truly appreciate when customers have fun with my designs. It just goes to show how much we encourage and inspire each other through our communication here online.

I hope you all have a great day today. I truly look forward to having some fun and seeing my drawings come to life!
 

Attachments

#4,517 ·
Inspiration

Yesterday turned out to be a bit of a change of plans. I had intended to get to the saw and cut out my new ornaments, but the weather was nice and we had some things to do in Yarmouth so we decided to take off and go there instead. I didn't feel too badly about it because we really worked all weekend long. I suppose one of the good things about being self-employed is being able to do that once in a while.

The weather was clear and the roads were too. Besides the small amount of snow we had over Christmas, there hasn't been any on the ground. This morning I awoke to a light dusting and I was happy that we had our trip behind us. There is nothing really threatening as far as I see, but I am glad we got it over with in any case.

Today I plan to stay in all day and cut. I have finished all the 'tweaking' on the new drawings and now comes the fun part - making them. I am excited because I have a couple of more ideas of things I want to do immediately after this project is done. I am eager not only to see how these will come out, but also how everything else will too. It is a good place to be design-wise.

I also wanted to mention that I received a wonderful photograph from a customer of mine the other day. He had used my "Rocking Reindeer" pattern and modified it to make a Christmas Carousel. I thought that this was ingenious and it got my mind going in lots of directions. So often with scroll sawing, we think in only two dimensions. This expands designing to three and I absolutely love the concept of doing more projects such as this. Here is the picture he posted on my wall on Facebook:

Wood Table Coffee table Art Wood stain


I want to thank John Cosens for sharing his wonderful idea with me. I think it is a wonderful example of taking a design and modifying it to your own liking. He truly did an incredible job!

I truly appreciate when customers have fun with my designs. It just goes to show how much we encourage and inspire each other through our communication here online.

I hope you all have a great day today. I truly look forward to having some fun and seeing my drawings come to life!
Neat. Have fun cutting today
 

Attachments

#4,526 ·
The Spice of Life

Those of you who know me well know that I am not a 'random' type of person. I generally like to keep everything pretty organized and when I do something, it is done systematically and orderly. I find that as my way to keep my busy life under control. I have always been somewhat like that.

With that said, I realize that doing an assignment or project such as the one I am working on now is something if a stretch for me. It isn't often that I do something that is on this line, where each piece is different. Initially it was hard to get started, but the more I drew, the more freedom I felt and the more fun it got to be. And I am very pleased with the results so far.

After drawing the intricate Conversation Hearts ornament set last week, I wanted something that even a beginner scroller could accomplish. While the Conversation Heart project isn't the most difficult project I have ever made, I think it is a bit challenging and someone who is newer to scroll sawing may have some difficulty making it. I wanted something that would draw a beginner to their scroll saw and in the process, maybe make them stretch just a little bit and try something new and grow as an artist.

While designing these, I tried to include most, if not all of the techniques that I highlighted in my Online Scroll Saw Class here on Lumberjocks. I purposely made these ornaments simpler, yet rich with different techniques so that a newbie could practice the procedures explained in the lessons. Since they are ornaments, each one is what I consider a 'low risk' to cut, as you are only using a small amount of scrap wood and also can complete the average ornament in about 5-10 minutes. I think that will be appealing to lots of people.

Then, to add something more to the mix, I decided to make these ornaments 'embellished'. I had previously made some star ornaments and Christmas trees and snowflakes that were embellished and people really seemed to love the idea. So I designed them with that in mind and left room for people to embellish them with beads (I will be using pearls in my own samples). This will not only dress up the simpler designs, but also teach another valuable technique that people can apply to many other projects. Also, if they don't choose to embellish them, they have the choice of either just drilling holes to add interest or leaving them out altogether and using different wood to create the ornaments. They can even stain or paint them for different effects. The possibilities are very numerous.

To illustrate this scope of options, I chose to use four different species of wood for the samples. Not only did this offer some ideas for people, but it also exemplified the diversity of each of the ornaments themselves. When I was finished cutting yesterday, they looked pretty cool:

Organ Human body Wood Font Art


This picture is just after cutting. They haven't been sanded or oiled yet and as you can see, there are no beads on them (that part is the last thing to do!) They all have the depressions drilled in them so the beads are seated right in the ornament.

Most of them took about five minutes to cut after the initial drilling and set up. The one that took the longest was the lattice heart which had about 20 cuts or so.

Art Wood Creative arts Pattern Symmetry


The wood I used was hickory, jatoba, walnut and cherry. The wood is about 3/16" thick - give or take and the pattern can be adapted to anything you have on hand.

I am going to be finishing these up hopefully today. I have to go to Digby for an eye appointment today so that will take me away for much of the day, but I am going to try to get them done by tonight anyway.

I really look forward to seeing these finished up. They were fun and no stress to create and I think that both the beginners and the seasoned scroll sawyers alike will like them. I suppose I really surprised myself this time. (In a good way!)

I wish you all a great day!
 

Attachments

#4,527 ·
The Spice of Life

Those of you who know me well know that I am not a 'random' type of person. I generally like to keep everything pretty organized and when I do something, it is done systematically and orderly. I find that as my way to keep my busy life under control. I have always been somewhat like that.

With that said, I realize that doing an assignment or project such as the one I am working on now is something if a stretch for me. It isn't often that I do something that is on this line, where each piece is different. Initially it was hard to get started, but the more I drew, the more freedom I felt and the more fun it got to be. And I am very pleased with the results so far.

After drawing the intricate Conversation Hearts ornament set last week, I wanted something that even a beginner scroller could accomplish. While the Conversation Heart project isn't the most difficult project I have ever made, I think it is a bit challenging and someone who is newer to scroll sawing may have some difficulty making it. I wanted something that would draw a beginner to their scroll saw and in the process, maybe make them stretch just a little bit and try something new and grow as an artist.

While designing these, I tried to include most, if not all of the techniques that I highlighted in my Online Scroll Saw Class here on Lumberjocks. I purposely made these ornaments simpler, yet rich with different techniques so that a newbie could practice the procedures explained in the lessons. Since they are ornaments, each one is what I consider a 'low risk' to cut, as you are only using a small amount of scrap wood and also can complete the average ornament in about 5-10 minutes. I think that will be appealing to lots of people.

Then, to add something more to the mix, I decided to make these ornaments 'embellished'. I had previously made some star ornaments and Christmas trees and snowflakes that were embellished and people really seemed to love the idea. So I designed them with that in mind and left room for people to embellish them with beads (I will be using pearls in my own samples). This will not only dress up the simpler designs, but also teach another valuable technique that people can apply to many other projects. Also, if they don't choose to embellish them, they have the choice of either just drilling holes to add interest or leaving them out altogether and using different wood to create the ornaments. They can even stain or paint them for different effects. The possibilities are very numerous.

To illustrate this scope of options, I chose to use four different species of wood for the samples. Not only did this offer some ideas for people, but it also exemplified the diversity of each of the ornaments themselves. When I was finished cutting yesterday, they looked pretty cool:

Organ Human body Wood Font Art


This picture is just after cutting. They haven't been sanded or oiled yet and as you can see, there are no beads on them (that part is the last thing to do!) They all have the depressions drilled in them so the beads are seated right in the ornament.

Most of them took about five minutes to cut after the initial drilling and set up. The one that took the longest was the lattice heart which had about 20 cuts or so.

Art Wood Creative arts Pattern Symmetry


The wood I used was hickory, jatoba, walnut and cherry. The wood is about 3/16" thick - give or take and the pattern can be adapted to anything you have on hand.

I am going to be finishing these up hopefully today. I have to go to Digby for an eye appointment today so that will take me away for much of the day, but I am going to try to get them done by tonight anyway.

I really look forward to seeing these finished up. They were fun and no stress to create and I think that both the beginners and the seasoned scroll sawyers alike will like them. I suppose I really surprised myself this time. (In a good way!)

I wish you all a great day!
Hi Sheila,

For the life of me, I can't imagine how you can come up with so many variations of the same thing.

And each variation looks as good as the first. I guess it's true…

some people have it, and some don't.

YOU DO.

Lee
 

Attachments

#4,534 ·
Have a Heart!

I was gone much of yesterday, but I did manage to finish up my ornaments when I got home. I suppose that I was just too excited to leave them until the next day and couldn't wait to see how they came out. I am really pleased with them and I hope that everyone else likes them too.

After doing a final sanding on them, I dipped them in my usual mineral oil. I am finding this as my favorite method for finishing up fretwork and small pieces like this. It is quick and easy and doesn't have any nasty smell to deal with. Most important - it really brings out the beautiful grain in the wood without making it look drippy or fake.

Again, I used a small shallow dish and I only used a small amount of oil (about 1/8-1/4") I quickly dipped each piece into the oil and used a 3/4" nylon paint brush to make sure the oil covered all the fretwork edges. I then transferred the piece to a small pile of folded paper towels to blot off all the excess oil that I could and placed them on a metal cookie cooling rack to sit.

I let them be for about an hour or so and the oil quickly absorbed into each ornament. Before long they were quite dry. I usually leave them overnight, but since they were dry to the touch and no longer shiny, I felt that they were ready for the next step. Just in case, I took a Q-tip and swiped each depression where the beads were to be seated, just in case there was any residual oil left on the surface. I suppose I could have dipped the q-tip in alcohol to be sure to remove all traces of oil on the surface of the depressions, but it wasn't necessary. I then sprayed the ornaments with light coats of spray shellac on the front and back, allowing about an hour in between coats for things to dry.

When things were no longer sticky and pretty dry to the touch, I took some very fine sanding film and gently sanded the fronts of the ornaments. Due to the fact that I used woods that were quite dense, some of them were a bit more shiny then I wanted. While I wouldn't mind them being slightly shiny in general, I have found that when photographing the pieces for the patterns, if there is too much of a shine on them it makes it difficult to take nice pictures, so knocking down this extra shine was necessary for my own ornaments here.

Then came the really fun part - gluing in all the little pearl beads. I had found these beautiful little pearl beads by Swarovski (the famous crystal people) It may sound silly, but these beads are really much prettier than the run of the mill plastic pearls that you see. They have an almost silvery sheen to them and look really beautiful in person. They cost me $2.75 for a package of 20 and (believe it or not!) this project needed I think 97 pearls. It sure doesn't look like that many! So I got five packages and I was set. I also liked them because the holes in them were teeny tiny and you couldn't really see them at all. It really made a difference.

I proceeded to glue the beads in using regular clear drying wood glue and here is the results:

Organ Font Art Heart Pattern


This of course is just a snap shot of the finished ornaments. I will be spending today writing the pattern packets and also taking nice pictures. I don't know if I will be able to scan these in or not because of the depth of the pearls. I am not sure if it will distort the focus of the scanner or if it will still be sharp. I will certainly let you know by tomorrow.

I am so excited and thrilled with these hearts! Each one looks prettier than the last one. I took lots of pictures along the way and I am going to make this pattern extremely detailed in the instructions and gear it for a beginner scroll sawyer. But I really think that anyone who scrolls will like these ornaments.

What is also nice about them is that each heart is simple enough so that it can be made smaller and possibly used as a pendant. I can see it on a nice cord or chain and when I was shopping for the pearls, I noticed that they had even smaller ones that were just as beautiful and would be suitable accents for smaller sized hearts. I think I will go back and get some today and try one out just to see.

All in all, I really am having a great time with these hearts. They really came out cool looking and I hope that they will be a fun and easy project and inviting enough so that people will give them a try.

Gold Wood Font Ornament Jewellery


What a wonderful little keepsake this will be for someone to give or receive. I hope you all enjoy them.

I wish you all a wonderfully creative day!
 

Attachments

#4,535 ·
Have a Heart!

I was gone much of yesterday, but I did manage to finish up my ornaments when I got home. I suppose that I was just too excited to leave them until the next day and couldn't wait to see how they came out. I am really pleased with them and I hope that everyone else likes them too.

After doing a final sanding on them, I dipped them in my usual mineral oil. I am finding this as my favorite method for finishing up fretwork and small pieces like this. It is quick and easy and doesn't have any nasty smell to deal with. Most important - it really brings out the beautiful grain in the wood without making it look drippy or fake.

Again, I used a small shallow dish and I only used a small amount of oil (about 1/8-1/4") I quickly dipped each piece into the oil and used a 3/4" nylon paint brush to make sure the oil covered all the fretwork edges. I then transferred the piece to a small pile of folded paper towels to blot off all the excess oil that I could and placed them on a metal cookie cooling rack to sit.

I let them be for about an hour or so and the oil quickly absorbed into each ornament. Before long they were quite dry. I usually leave them overnight, but since they were dry to the touch and no longer shiny, I felt that they were ready for the next step. Just in case, I took a Q-tip and swiped each depression where the beads were to be seated, just in case there was any residual oil left on the surface. I suppose I could have dipped the q-tip in alcohol to be sure to remove all traces of oil on the surface of the depressions, but it wasn't necessary. I then sprayed the ornaments with light coats of spray shellac on the front and back, allowing about an hour in between coats for things to dry.

When things were no longer sticky and pretty dry to the touch, I took some very fine sanding film and gently sanded the fronts of the ornaments. Due to the fact that I used woods that were quite dense, some of them were a bit more shiny then I wanted. While I wouldn't mind them being slightly shiny in general, I have found that when photographing the pieces for the patterns, if there is too much of a shine on them it makes it difficult to take nice pictures, so knocking down this extra shine was necessary for my own ornaments here.

Then came the really fun part - gluing in all the little pearl beads. I had found these beautiful little pearl beads by Swarovski (the famous crystal people) It may sound silly, but these beads are really much prettier than the run of the mill plastic pearls that you see. They have an almost silvery sheen to them and look really beautiful in person. They cost me $2.75 for a package of 20 and (believe it or not!) this project needed I think 97 pearls. It sure doesn't look like that many! So I got five packages and I was set. I also liked them because the holes in them were teeny tiny and you couldn't really see them at all. It really made a difference.

I proceeded to glue the beads in using regular clear drying wood glue and here is the results:

Organ Font Art Heart Pattern


This of course is just a snap shot of the finished ornaments. I will be spending today writing the pattern packets and also taking nice pictures. I don't know if I will be able to scan these in or not because of the depth of the pearls. I am not sure if it will distort the focus of the scanner or if it will still be sharp. I will certainly let you know by tomorrow.

I am so excited and thrilled with these hearts! Each one looks prettier than the last one. I took lots of pictures along the way and I am going to make this pattern extremely detailed in the instructions and gear it for a beginner scroll sawyer. But I really think that anyone who scrolls will like these ornaments.

What is also nice about them is that each heart is simple enough so that it can be made smaller and possibly used as a pendant. I can see it on a nice cord or chain and when I was shopping for the pearls, I noticed that they had even smaller ones that were just as beautiful and would be suitable accents for smaller sized hearts. I think I will go back and get some today and try one out just to see.

All in all, I really am having a great time with these hearts. They really came out cool looking and I hope that they will be a fun and easy project and inviting enough so that people will give them a try.

Gold Wood Font Ornament Jewellery


What a wonderful little keepsake this will be for someone to give or receive. I hope you all enjoy them.

I wish you all a wonderfully creative day!
The pearl beads add a very elegant touch. Well done, Sheila.
 

Attachments

#4,538 ·
Have a Heart!

I was gone much of yesterday, but I did manage to finish up my ornaments when I got home. I suppose that I was just too excited to leave them until the next day and couldn't wait to see how they came out. I am really pleased with them and I hope that everyone else likes them too.

After doing a final sanding on them, I dipped them in my usual mineral oil. I am finding this as my favorite method for finishing up fretwork and small pieces like this. It is quick and easy and doesn't have any nasty smell to deal with. Most important - it really brings out the beautiful grain in the wood without making it look drippy or fake.

Again, I used a small shallow dish and I only used a small amount of oil (about 1/8-1/4") I quickly dipped each piece into the oil and used a 3/4" nylon paint brush to make sure the oil covered all the fretwork edges. I then transferred the piece to a small pile of folded paper towels to blot off all the excess oil that I could and placed them on a metal cookie cooling rack to sit.

I let them be for about an hour or so and the oil quickly absorbed into each ornament. Before long they were quite dry. I usually leave them overnight, but since they were dry to the touch and no longer shiny, I felt that they were ready for the next step. Just in case, I took a Q-tip and swiped each depression where the beads were to be seated, just in case there was any residual oil left on the surface. I suppose I could have dipped the q-tip in alcohol to be sure to remove all traces of oil on the surface of the depressions, but it wasn't necessary. I then sprayed the ornaments with light coats of spray shellac on the front and back, allowing about an hour in between coats for things to dry.

When things were no longer sticky and pretty dry to the touch, I took some very fine sanding film and gently sanded the fronts of the ornaments. Due to the fact that I used woods that were quite dense, some of them were a bit more shiny then I wanted. While I wouldn't mind them being slightly shiny in general, I have found that when photographing the pieces for the patterns, if there is too much of a shine on them it makes it difficult to take nice pictures, so knocking down this extra shine was necessary for my own ornaments here.

Then came the really fun part - gluing in all the little pearl beads. I had found these beautiful little pearl beads by Swarovski (the famous crystal people) It may sound silly, but these beads are really much prettier than the run of the mill plastic pearls that you see. They have an almost silvery sheen to them and look really beautiful in person. They cost me $2.75 for a package of 20 and (believe it or not!) this project needed I think 97 pearls. It sure doesn't look like that many! So I got five packages and I was set. I also liked them because the holes in them were teeny tiny and you couldn't really see them at all. It really made a difference.

I proceeded to glue the beads in using regular clear drying wood glue and here is the results:

Organ Font Art Heart Pattern


This of course is just a snap shot of the finished ornaments. I will be spending today writing the pattern packets and also taking nice pictures. I don't know if I will be able to scan these in or not because of the depth of the pearls. I am not sure if it will distort the focus of the scanner or if it will still be sharp. I will certainly let you know by tomorrow.

I am so excited and thrilled with these hearts! Each one looks prettier than the last one. I took lots of pictures along the way and I am going to make this pattern extremely detailed in the instructions and gear it for a beginner scroll sawyer. But I really think that anyone who scrolls will like these ornaments.

What is also nice about them is that each heart is simple enough so that it can be made smaller and possibly used as a pendant. I can see it on a nice cord or chain and when I was shopping for the pearls, I noticed that they had even smaller ones that were just as beautiful and would be suitable accents for smaller sized hearts. I think I will go back and get some today and try one out just to see.

All in all, I really am having a great time with these hearts. They really came out cool looking and I hope that they will be a fun and easy project and inviting enough so that people will give them a try.

Gold Wood Font Ornament Jewellery


What a wonderful little keepsake this will be for someone to give or receive. I hope you all enjoy them.

I wish you all a wonderfully creative day!
Thank you all very much! It was something different but turned out to be a really fun project. :)

Sheila
 

Attachments

#4,544 ·
Winter Is Here!

Yesterday winter arrived here in Nova Scotia with a vengeance! It arrived with a few flakes starting to fall in the early afternoon and within a couple of hours, the snow was blowing sideways and building up in drifts. It made me rather happy.

I am not quite sure why I like the cold and snow so much. I think it has to do with the coziness of curling up with the kitties all wrapped in a blanket. I have good memories of playing in the snow too, and of enjoying outdoor winter sports like ice skating and 'snow football' when growing up on the south side of Chicago. I love how things look too when there is freshly fallen snow - especially since I live in the country in such a beautiful place. The river and the woods are almost magical when they are blanketed with a layer of white snow, and I enjoy the cold crispness of the air when we take our walks on these winter nights.

We walked early yesterday, before the darkness set in. It was quite grey out even at 4pm and the snow was still coming down and blowing almost sideways. I dressed in layers and we chose to walk toward the wind on the way out so the wind would be at our back on the way home. That was a good choice.

The only thing that was cold on me was my face. I wore a scarf, but since this was a wet snow, it got damp very quickly and did little to protect my cheeks and nose from the biting air. We only went about a mile or so and decided to turn around a bit short of our usual distance, as we were not only walking toward the wind, but we were heading gently uphill too. Coming home was pleasant enough though and we weren't at all cold. It was quiet and pretty out and it felt good to stretch and take a break for a while.

When we returned, I went back to working on the pattern packet for the new ornaments. It is all finished now and I have it ready go. I can post the ornaments on the site now and move onto the next project.

I am really proud of this pattern. It may sound silly, but I do like the way it is put together. As I said in my earlier entries, I want this pattern to be very detailed so even new scrollers will be able to make these. In making it such, I included 14 step-by-step photographs so that really show the process of building these ornaments. I wanted it to be a mini-lesson in itself. I hope that even the newest woodworker will be able to read it and go through the process and easily accomplish making these ornaments. To some who are more experienced it may seem redundant, but I feel that I would rather have too much information available than not enough. If someone is already familiar with the process, they always have the option of skipping over the instructions that they already know.

I have been debating on whether to send out another notice to my mailing list regarding this pattern being available. I am not really good at deciding how much contact with my customers is enough and how much is too much and considered 'pestering' them. Typically, we send out one or two newsletters per month. I think that is a good pace considering the number of new patterns we have to offer. But since I have just sent a newsletter out last weekend, I think it may be too soon to send another.

I do have other avenues of advertising that this is available and I think I may try that just to see what the response will be. Many of my regular customer do read my blog here and they will certainly be aware of what I am up to. But I also have some other places that I could post and let those who do not follow regularly that there are some new things.

Today I need to get going on the final part of the calendar series for Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine. I only have about a week to get that out and I need to design the last five months of it and also get the samples cut and mailed out to New Jersey. I will start drawing on those designs today and hopefully they won't take me too long. I pretty much know what I am thinking about doing, so it should move rather quickly.

I also have more designs for Valentine's day that I want to finish, as well as another catalog deadline that will be due at the end of the month. I haven't been good about getting a quantity of designs in the wholesale catalogs, as what they are looking for now are mainly spring and summer patterns and I am still here working on Valentines. It seems like it is always a bit of a battle to keep up.

I suppose it is enough to keep me busy and out of trouble though. I truly enjoy everything that I do and hope that my business continues to grow in the way it has been this past year.

I wish you all a wonderful day today and hope that you are all staying warm and cozy.

Snow Branch Picture frame Twig Tree


Happy creating!
 

Attachments

#4,545 ·
Winter Is Here!

Yesterday winter arrived here in Nova Scotia with a vengeance! It arrived with a few flakes starting to fall in the early afternoon and within a couple of hours, the snow was blowing sideways and building up in drifts. It made me rather happy.

I am not quite sure why I like the cold and snow so much. I think it has to do with the coziness of curling up with the kitties all wrapped in a blanket. I have good memories of playing in the snow too, and of enjoying outdoor winter sports like ice skating and 'snow football' when growing up on the south side of Chicago. I love how things look too when there is freshly fallen snow - especially since I live in the country in such a beautiful place. The river and the woods are almost magical when they are blanketed with a layer of white snow, and I enjoy the cold crispness of the air when we take our walks on these winter nights.

We walked early yesterday, before the darkness set in. It was quite grey out even at 4pm and the snow was still coming down and blowing almost sideways. I dressed in layers and we chose to walk toward the wind on the way out so the wind would be at our back on the way home. That was a good choice.

The only thing that was cold on me was my face. I wore a scarf, but since this was a wet snow, it got damp very quickly and did little to protect my cheeks and nose from the biting air. We only went about a mile or so and decided to turn around a bit short of our usual distance, as we were not only walking toward the wind, but we were heading gently uphill too. Coming home was pleasant enough though and we weren't at all cold. It was quiet and pretty out and it felt good to stretch and take a break for a while.

When we returned, I went back to working on the pattern packet for the new ornaments. It is all finished now and I have it ready go. I can post the ornaments on the site now and move onto the next project.

I am really proud of this pattern. It may sound silly, but I do like the way it is put together. As I said in my earlier entries, I want this pattern to be very detailed so even new scrollers will be able to make these. In making it such, I included 14 step-by-step photographs so that really show the process of building these ornaments. I wanted it to be a mini-lesson in itself. I hope that even the newest woodworker will be able to read it and go through the process and easily accomplish making these ornaments. To some who are more experienced it may seem redundant, but I feel that I would rather have too much information available than not enough. If someone is already familiar with the process, they always have the option of skipping over the instructions that they already know.

I have been debating on whether to send out another notice to my mailing list regarding this pattern being available. I am not really good at deciding how much contact with my customers is enough and how much is too much and considered 'pestering' them. Typically, we send out one or two newsletters per month. I think that is a good pace considering the number of new patterns we have to offer. But since I have just sent a newsletter out last weekend, I think it may be too soon to send another.

I do have other avenues of advertising that this is available and I think I may try that just to see what the response will be. Many of my regular customer do read my blog here and they will certainly be aware of what I am up to. But I also have some other places that I could post and let those who do not follow regularly that there are some new things.

Today I need to get going on the final part of the calendar series for Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine. I only have about a week to get that out and I need to design the last five months of it and also get the samples cut and mailed out to New Jersey. I will start drawing on those designs today and hopefully they won't take me too long. I pretty much know what I am thinking about doing, so it should move rather quickly.

I also have more designs for Valentine's day that I want to finish, as well as another catalog deadline that will be due at the end of the month. I haven't been good about getting a quantity of designs in the wholesale catalogs, as what they are looking for now are mainly spring and summer patterns and I am still here working on Valentines. It seems like it is always a bit of a battle to keep up.

I suppose it is enough to keep me busy and out of trouble though. I truly enjoy everything that I do and hope that my business continues to grow in the way it has been this past year.

I wish you all a wonderful day today and hope that you are all staying warm and cozy.

Snow Branch Picture frame Twig Tree


Happy creating!
Sheila,
What a lovely scene. Creativity, Mother Nature style!
Ellen
 

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#4,556 ·
A Day Without Communication - Making Lemonade from Lemons

So you all thought I took the day off? I suppose that you could say that, although it wasn't a choice of mine. It seems that the black cat must have really put her spell on my on Friday the 13th after all. Around 8pm Friday night the unthinkable happened - my internet went down.

All of a sudden, I was getting the dreaded "server not found" error on my screen. When Keith checked his computer, it was the same thing. We fiddled with our modem a while and then I decided to read (some REAL magazines) for a bit. Soon our neighbor Lee was knocking at our door, as his internet and cable TV were not working (we don't have cable). I felt some guilty relief that it wasn't 'only us' and just decided to call it an early night and not worry about it. After all, I was getting ready to turn in and go to sleep anyway.

When I awoke at my usual time yesterday morning, to my dismay things were still not up and running. Now I was getting antsy. I wanted to write my blog here and had no access. After unsuccessfully playing around a bit and trying to see if I could reboot the modem and coax it into working, I decided to focus on something else and do something productive.

I spent the early part of the morning rewriting my new pattern of the twelve heart ornaments and making one of them into a new 'free' pattern for the site. That would be a nice treat for my customers. I also decided to add into the existing pattern instructions for making the ornaments into small pendants. I experimented with sizes and at first I made them 66% smaller. They still looked big and clunky for necklaces. I then tried to go down to 50% and they looked much better. But would they be able to be cut? Hum . . .

As the morning turned into afternoon and still no internet, I decided to cut the smaller versions of the ornaments out and see how they would do. I had purchased smaller 2mm glass pearl beads on Friday with the thought of trying to make one of the hearts smaller. While I hadn't really considered offering it in the pattern, I figured "why not?" and thought I would give it a try.

There were a few adjustments to be made when cutting the smaller versions. I made a quick 'zero clearance' overlay for my scroll saw table. This helped support the tiny and delicate pieces. I found small pieces of wood in six species this time - ash, jatoba, cherry, walnut, ebony and holly. I decided to make two pieces from each species to give some good variety. It was imperative for me to use tight grained wood for these tiny pieces so that they would be strong enough and hold together well. The only questionable wood that I picked was the ash, but this particular piece had a really tight grain to it and all of them worked splendidly.

I oiled them and finished them and glued all the beads into place and I think they came out nice:

Organ Human body Gesture Finger Art


Here is a picture for scale as to the size compared to the original size:

Cross Religious item Ornament Wood Font


While the smaller versions are a bit more difficult to cut than the original pieces, I think it will be a good stepping stone for someone who is learning. It may be a good incentive for them to try something new and develop their skill. I found no real problem with cutting these smaller pieces. The key with doing tiny work like that is to slow down and be patient. I actually found it quite relaxing and fun. And I love the way the smaller pieces look! They are cute and delicate and very pretty.

Around mid-day Keith took a drive over to his parents to see what was up. We still didn't have any communication, as our phone line is through the computer so it was also non-functional. Keith had a cell phone, but last week he accidentally left it in his pants pocket and it went through not only a wash cycle, but also the clothes dryer (DOH!) Needless to say it is dead.

When he called our internet provider from his parents, there was a recorded message that all of Meteghan River, Meteghan and Bangor were out and they were 'working on it.' It may sound bad but I found some comfort in the fact that we weren't the only ones having problems. With things such as that, I tend to hope for a big problem because if it was only our line, I am sure that fixing it would take much longer.

I went to bed with the line still down, but I think I handled it pretty well. I got over the urge to check to see if it was back every 12 seconds and adopted a 'whatever will be will be' attitude. I suppose what bothered me the most was not being able to fill orders from the site or answer customers' questions right away. I didn't want them to think I was ignoring them or being lax.

But I awoke this morning and once again the green light was merrily dancing on the router. Oh Joy! As I looked on the table, I saw the 12 little pendants that I made yesterday and felt good about making good use of my 'time off'. From lemons, I made some wonderfully tasty lemonade and all is well again.

Thanks to those who missed me. I can assure you that nothing sinister had become of me. It just seems that the black cat of Friday the 13th was twitching her tail at me after all. But she had her fun and all is well again.

Have a wonderful Sunday!
 

Attachments

#4,557 ·
A Day Without Communication - Making Lemonade from Lemons

So you all thought I took the day off? I suppose that you could say that, although it wasn't a choice of mine. It seems that the black cat must have really put her spell on my on Friday the 13th after all. Around 8pm Friday night the unthinkable happened - my internet went down.

All of a sudden, I was getting the dreaded "server not found" error on my screen. When Keith checked his computer, it was the same thing. We fiddled with our modem a while and then I decided to read (some REAL magazines) for a bit. Soon our neighbor Lee was knocking at our door, as his internet and cable TV were not working (we don't have cable). I felt some guilty relief that it wasn't 'only us' and just decided to call it an early night and not worry about it. After all, I was getting ready to turn in and go to sleep anyway.

When I awoke at my usual time yesterday morning, to my dismay things were still not up and running. Now I was getting antsy. I wanted to write my blog here and had no access. After unsuccessfully playing around a bit and trying to see if I could reboot the modem and coax it into working, I decided to focus on something else and do something productive.

I spent the early part of the morning rewriting my new pattern of the twelve heart ornaments and making one of them into a new 'free' pattern for the site. That would be a nice treat for my customers. I also decided to add into the existing pattern instructions for making the ornaments into small pendants. I experimented with sizes and at first I made them 66% smaller. They still looked big and clunky for necklaces. I then tried to go down to 50% and they looked much better. But would they be able to be cut? Hum . . .

As the morning turned into afternoon and still no internet, I decided to cut the smaller versions of the ornaments out and see how they would do. I had purchased smaller 2mm glass pearl beads on Friday with the thought of trying to make one of the hearts smaller. While I hadn't really considered offering it in the pattern, I figured "why not?" and thought I would give it a try.

There were a few adjustments to be made when cutting the smaller versions. I made a quick 'zero clearance' overlay for my scroll saw table. This helped support the tiny and delicate pieces. I found small pieces of wood in six species this time - ash, jatoba, cherry, walnut, ebony and holly. I decided to make two pieces from each species to give some good variety. It was imperative for me to use tight grained wood for these tiny pieces so that they would be strong enough and hold together well. The only questionable wood that I picked was the ash, but this particular piece had a really tight grain to it and all of them worked splendidly.

I oiled them and finished them and glued all the beads into place and I think they came out nice:

Organ Human body Gesture Finger Art


Here is a picture for scale as to the size compared to the original size:

Cross Religious item Ornament Wood Font


While the smaller versions are a bit more difficult to cut than the original pieces, I think it will be a good stepping stone for someone who is learning. It may be a good incentive for them to try something new and develop their skill. I found no real problem with cutting these smaller pieces. The key with doing tiny work like that is to slow down and be patient. I actually found it quite relaxing and fun. And I love the way the smaller pieces look! They are cute and delicate and very pretty.

Around mid-day Keith took a drive over to his parents to see what was up. We still didn't have any communication, as our phone line is through the computer so it was also non-functional. Keith had a cell phone, but last week he accidentally left it in his pants pocket and it went through not only a wash cycle, but also the clothes dryer (DOH!) Needless to say it is dead.

When he called our internet provider from his parents, there was a recorded message that all of Meteghan River, Meteghan and Bangor were out and they were 'working on it.' It may sound bad but I found some comfort in the fact that we weren't the only ones having problems. With things such as that, I tend to hope for a big problem because if it was only our line, I am sure that fixing it would take much longer.

I went to bed with the line still down, but I think I handled it pretty well. I got over the urge to check to see if it was back every 12 seconds and adopted a 'whatever will be will be' attitude. I suppose what bothered me the most was not being able to fill orders from the site or answer customers' questions right away. I didn't want them to think I was ignoring them or being lax.

But I awoke this morning and once again the green light was merrily dancing on the router. Oh Joy! As I looked on the table, I saw the 12 little pendants that I made yesterday and felt good about making good use of my 'time off'. From lemons, I made some wonderfully tasty lemonade and all is well again.

Thanks to those who missed me. I can assure you that nothing sinister had become of me. It just seems that the black cat of Friday the 13th was twitching her tail at me after all. But she had her fun and all is well again.

Have a wonderful Sunday!
My fingers are too big. Cool
 

Attachments

#4,566 ·
Sharing Ideas through Photographs

It seems that most of yesterday was spent catching up with things and getting back to normal. Being offline for the day caused me to really get behind in my emails and computer things. While I accomplished a lot on the saw Saturday, there was a lot of stuff that I needed to do on the website that took a bit of time.

One area on the site that I can't seem to keep up with is the place where I show other customer's photos. I have decided to look into a way to simplify how that page on my site is set up because I think that seeing what others do with my patterns is a great way to spark the creative juices in others.

Yesterday I received a picture from a customer named Patty.

Serveware Wood Rectangle Art Indoor games and sports


She had emailed me several weeks ago and was looking for some thin veneer to make the little quilter's ornaments that I had a pattern for. I was able to hook her up with Lee Valley, where several years ago I had purchased a box of various veneers for a really reasonable price. I was happy to see that they still have that offer going and the box of veneer is still a great value. (if you are eve in need of veneer for smaller projects, you can check it out HERE) Although the price went up a little since 2004 when I got my box, it is still a great value. You get a large pizza box that is crammed full of many, many species of veneers. Most of the pieces are at least 10" wide and there is just about any color and species of wood included. These are great for using on the backs of ornaments or plaques, or lining boxes, etc. There is certainly enough of most pieces so you can use it in a nice project or projects. I hope I live long enough to use my supply up to the point where I have to order more!

Another thing that I noticed in Patty's picture (besides her wonderful cutting!) was that she used a flameless candle for the candle holder. Last year I had purchased several of these with the intention of designing some projects around them. To be honest - I never really thought of using them with the candle tray patterns that I designed. But seeing how nice hers looked with the tray, it not only made sense, but I liked the look a lot.

There are many people who don't like burning real candles for one reason or another. Some don't like the smell of candles in general. Others have small children or mischievous pets and don't want to leave something burning that may be toppled over or accidentally left burning. In any case, I think that this is a great option and something that I should somehow illustrate to my customers who like the candle tray designs, but aren't particularly fond of candles.

Sometimes just receiving a photograph from a customer can spark an array of ideas and variations of how to use my designs. This I feel is one of the great residuals of networking with each other. It seems that the more my little company grows, the more photographs I receive from people sharing their ideas and showing their take on the designs. This is very valuable not only for me, but I think for other customers who are looking for different ways to work with the designs and use them. I think having a photo gallery would benefit everyone.

It always seems that I find more things to do.

When the kids were growing up, I used to always say 'I wish I were twins' because i wanted one of me to do things and take care of them and the other one to do the housework and crafts and the other stuff. As they grew up and things shifted into other directions, I had thought that it would 'quiet down' and I would find the time to do all the things I wanted to accomplish. But it seems that over the years, I just find more and more to keep me busy and I still long for that 48 hour day so I can accomplish everything that I set out to accomplish. But the realist in me knows that the more I get done, the more I find to do and I don't think I will ever 'catch up.'

I don't think that is a bad thing though. The longing for more time is something that keeps me hungry for discovery and trying new things and it means that I will always have something new and exciting to look forward to. That is a good way to live, I believe.

I want to thank Patty and all of you who send me the pictures of your wonderful work. It is truly satisfying for me to know that what I do with my designing is liked and appreciated and somehow inspires you to be creative. Seeing others make my patterns and variations from them really fuels the fire as far as my designing. It means a great deal to me and makes me want to do better.

Today I am working on the third part of the calendar series for the magazine. I need to spend the day drawing and get that project finished up. There is a new layer of snow on the ground and more is gently falling. The sun is just coming up, but it already looks like it will be a good day.

I wish you all a wonderful Monday too!
 

Attachments

#4,567 ·
Sharing Ideas through Photographs

It seems that most of yesterday was spent catching up with things and getting back to normal. Being offline for the day caused me to really get behind in my emails and computer things. While I accomplished a lot on the saw Saturday, there was a lot of stuff that I needed to do on the website that took a bit of time.

One area on the site that I can't seem to keep up with is the place where I show other customer's photos. I have decided to look into a way to simplify how that page on my site is set up because I think that seeing what others do with my patterns is a great way to spark the creative juices in others.

Yesterday I received a picture from a customer named Patty.

Serveware Wood Rectangle Art Indoor games and sports


She had emailed me several weeks ago and was looking for some thin veneer to make the little quilter's ornaments that I had a pattern for. I was able to hook her up with Lee Valley, where several years ago I had purchased a box of various veneers for a really reasonable price. I was happy to see that they still have that offer going and the box of veneer is still a great value. (if you are eve in need of veneer for smaller projects, you can check it out HERE) Although the price went up a little since 2004 when I got my box, it is still a great value. You get a large pizza box that is crammed full of many, many species of veneers. Most of the pieces are at least 10" wide and there is just about any color and species of wood included. These are great for using on the backs of ornaments or plaques, or lining boxes, etc. There is certainly enough of most pieces so you can use it in a nice project or projects. I hope I live long enough to use my supply up to the point where I have to order more!

Another thing that I noticed in Patty's picture (besides her wonderful cutting!) was that she used a flameless candle for the candle holder. Last year I had purchased several of these with the intention of designing some projects around them. To be honest - I never really thought of using them with the candle tray patterns that I designed. But seeing how nice hers looked with the tray, it not only made sense, but I liked the look a lot.

There are many people who don't like burning real candles for one reason or another. Some don't like the smell of candles in general. Others have small children or mischievous pets and don't want to leave something burning that may be toppled over or accidentally left burning. In any case, I think that this is a great option and something that I should somehow illustrate to my customers who like the candle tray designs, but aren't particularly fond of candles.

Sometimes just receiving a photograph from a customer can spark an array of ideas and variations of how to use my designs. This I feel is one of the great residuals of networking with each other. It seems that the more my little company grows, the more photographs I receive from people sharing their ideas and showing their take on the designs. This is very valuable not only for me, but I think for other customers who are looking for different ways to work with the designs and use them. I think having a photo gallery would benefit everyone.

It always seems that I find more things to do.

When the kids were growing up, I used to always say 'I wish I were twins' because i wanted one of me to do things and take care of them and the other one to do the housework and crafts and the other stuff. As they grew up and things shifted into other directions, I had thought that it would 'quiet down' and I would find the time to do all the things I wanted to accomplish. But it seems that over the years, I just find more and more to keep me busy and I still long for that 48 hour day so I can accomplish everything that I set out to accomplish. But the realist in me knows that the more I get done, the more I find to do and I don't think I will ever 'catch up.'

I don't think that is a bad thing though. The longing for more time is something that keeps me hungry for discovery and trying new things and it means that I will always have something new and exciting to look forward to. That is a good way to live, I believe.

I want to thank Patty and all of you who send me the pictures of your wonderful work. It is truly satisfying for me to know that what I do with my designing is liked and appreciated and somehow inspires you to be creative. Seeing others make my patterns and variations from them really fuels the fire as far as my designing. It means a great deal to me and makes me want to do better.

Today I am working on the third part of the calendar series for the magazine. I need to spend the day drawing and get that project finished up. There is a new layer of snow on the ground and more is gently falling. The sun is just coming up, but it already looks like it will be a good day.

I wish you all a wonderful Monday too!
I always enjoy (gess others does it tooo ) to see what people get out of your designs
twisted or not from your original so keep let the pictuers come :)

have a great evening
Dennis
 

Attachments

#4,570 ·
New Opportunities

Yesterday was one of those days that seemed to be over just after it began. It seemed like I was just getting warmed up when it started to get dark and the sun was setting.

I spent much of the day working on the next installment of the calendar project that I am doing for the magazine. This is the third and final part of a calendar topper that I am creating with interchangeable figures that are held on with magnets. The idea is to keep the base of the topper (which the calendar hangs from) and change the overlay pieces to coincide with the month you are on.

The first part included the base of the topper along with the first two months of the year. The second part was the characters for the next five months, and this final part will be the figures for the last five months of the year. I also want to offer some different little pattern packages so that people can have some special 'themes' to work with. While they won't be published in Creative Woodworks and Crafts, they will be available on my site for a very small cost so that people can fill in or change their own calendars to suit their own personal tastes.

Some of the ideas I was thinking about would be a birthday theme, a horse or western theme, cats, dogs, anniversary, or some themes that were more 'generic' than the regular holidays that I chose for the magazine article. Since the magazine is mainly distributed in the United States, I chose an Independence Day theme for the month of July. However, I realize that there may be others out there that are from other places that don't necessarily want their calendars to show the red, white and blue them for the month. While it is suggested in the article that they could easily use the garden and flower theme that I created for May, I thought that offering these add-ons would be a bit more practical and something that would appeal to many. The cost for the additional themes would be nominal (I am thinking about $1 per set) and it would allow the customers to really customize their own calendars to their own tastes.

I don't really have any good drawings to show yet because they are all 'in progress' and at a point where they still need to be refined and 'tweaked' before I cut them out. Hopefully I will finish the drawing process today and I can get to cutting them out tomorrow.

I also have been asked to join a group of scrollers to do a series of short articles for Advanced Machinery (http://www.advmachinery.com/) Advanced Machinery manufactures and distributes Hegner scroll saws and I have known the owner, Hanns Derke for many years. In addition to scroll saws, they sell many other high quality woodworking tools and machines. I find the company honest and helpful and I am happy to have this opportunity to contribute to promoting scroll sawing in this way.

AMI will be sending out a newsletter monthly which will have an article by myself or another designer from the scroll saw industry and we are to offer some helpful hints for someone who is perhaps considering learning to scroll saw or is just starting out. Even the veteran scroll sawyer may pick up some information that he hadn't known about before.

I look at this as a great opportunity to gain some interest in scroll sawing and woodworking as a whole, and I look forward to writing the articles (and also reading the articles that my colleagues have written.) I think that any way we can promote woodworking in general is a good thing and will benefit everyone.

As time goes on, it seems that I am finding more and more to do. My list is long and I am trying not to be overwhelmed by all that is in front of me. I am grateful that I have so many good opportunities and also that I have a lot of new ideas that I want to see implemented in the upcoming year.

I wish you all a wonderful day today. Have a great day and find some time to be creative and do something you like.
 
#4,571 ·
the add to the calender is a good idea Sheila
I hope you already years ago have made a to do idea book with all your maybee ideas/thoughts in
in a size you can cary around to write/draw up the many things you get inspired from
that was one thing I found very good when I did some serious photography both the ideas and
and what /how I made the different pictures /series and I still carry around a little block of paper
with the memmery I have its nessery for me to write things down …. LOL
as well as I use the favorite botton on L J as a memmery since my drawing skills sucks
I know Mads have one with him all the time as well :)

have a great day I´m of to the night shift :-(

Dennis
 
#4,576 ·
Still Drawing

I am still working on drawing up the new sets for the calendar project. I spent the majority of the day doing as much and I am making good progress. Hopefully, I can finish up today and then tomorrow will be a day of cutting the pieces out and then on to writing the instructions. I made a little sample picture to show you:

Vertebrate Botany Plant Leaf Organism


Today is just one of those days that I am short on words. I don't know if that is a bad thing, or a good thing. I am quite focused on completing this assignment and as a result, there is nothing exciting or fascinating other than the small progress picture that I have shown you. Some days are just like that.

For those of you who are used to reading with your coffee in the morning, I have something for you. A very talented friend of mine who is a painter and teacher showed this really cool puzzle program on her Facebook page yesterday. I am not one who is big on computer games, but I found myself fascinated with this site and I made some of my paintings into puzzles. It is totally free and you can use any picture you have and use many different configurations and difficulty levels. If you make an account with them, it saves your work so you can come back to it at any time and finish. Great for when you have only a couple of minutes here and there to relax. And no lost pieces!! :) I must admit that Keith even got hooked and did one of my puzzles with me, and then later I saw him doing his own. I think some monsters were created!

In any case, I painted this bear on wood so it kind of fits. Have fun playing!

preview210 pieceAmericana Bear

I was thinking that I could put one of these on my site on the Free Stuff page and have a picture of one of the new patterns. I think that would be quite a fun way to advertise the new items to people. Whatcha think??

I hope you have a great Wednesday today. It appears our two days of winter is over and we are now into muddy spring-like weather. I think I have to psych myself up to enjoy spring and summer as much as I do fall and winter.
Besides, I am drawing shells and beaches. I can always dream of that day last summer when I brought my office to the ocean. There. That's better!

Have a wonderful day! Enjoy the puzzle!
 

Attachments

#4,577 ·
Still Drawing

I am still working on drawing up the new sets for the calendar project. I spent the majority of the day doing as much and I am making good progress. Hopefully, I can finish up today and then tomorrow will be a day of cutting the pieces out and then on to writing the instructions. I made a little sample picture to show you:

Vertebrate Botany Plant Leaf Organism


Today is just one of those days that I am short on words. I don't know if that is a bad thing, or a good thing. I am quite focused on completing this assignment and as a result, there is nothing exciting or fascinating other than the small progress picture that I have shown you. Some days are just like that.

For those of you who are used to reading with your coffee in the morning, I have something for you. A very talented friend of mine who is a painter and teacher showed this really cool puzzle program on her Facebook page yesterday. I am not one who is big on computer games, but I found myself fascinated with this site and I made some of my paintings into puzzles. It is totally free and you can use any picture you have and use many different configurations and difficulty levels. If you make an account with them, it saves your work so you can come back to it at any time and finish. Great for when you have only a couple of minutes here and there to relax. And no lost pieces!! :) I must admit that Keith even got hooked and did one of my puzzles with me, and then later I saw him doing his own. I think some monsters were created!

In any case, I painted this bear on wood so it kind of fits. Have fun playing!

preview210 pieceAmericana Bear

I was thinking that I could put one of these on my site on the Free Stuff page and have a picture of one of the new patterns. I think that would be quite a fun way to advertise the new items to people. Whatcha think??

I hope you have a great Wednesday today. It appears our two days of winter is over and we are now into muddy spring-like weather. I think I have to psych myself up to enjoy spring and summer as much as I do fall and winter.
Besides, I am drawing shells and beaches. I can always dream of that day last summer when I brought my office to the ocean. There. That's better!

Have a wonderful day! Enjoy the puzzle!
Interesting design… top of post…

As far as the Bear being in the FREE group, sounds like it might work… Try it… see what happens…

Won't cost you much will it?

... might draw more Sales…

If they can be attracted to it… without looking very hard, it would be better…

Let us know how it goes… OK?
 

Attachments

#4,582 ·
One More Day of Drawing . . .

Even though I spent most of the day yesterday drawing, I am still not finished with the last sets of designs for the calendar. I really wanted to be, but it just didn't happen. I took time choosing my subjects and it wasn't as easy as I initially would have thought. I still have the months of November and December to finish up and I hope to do so today.

Sometimes when I have too many choices it gives me more of a problem then when I am not sure what I will be doing. With so many different fun and cute subjects for October, it really slowed me down a lot. I found myself panning through my folders of reference materials and my mind wandering to all the new things I want to do for the upcoming year and I fount it very difficult to focus and actually pick some things that I will include in the calendar. I finally came to some decisions, and I am going to stand by them. October is one of the cutest months yet, and while I could have gone in so many directions, I chose what I chose and I am sticking to it. :)

Here is a segment of the design:

Nose Hair Head Hand Eye


It is going to be fun and simple and something that everyone can cut. One thing that I made sure to do with this set was to include four somewhat 'generic' sets of overlays so that if people aren't interested in a particular holiday, they don't have to display it. For example, the winter set for January can be used for December, January and even February if you don't want to show Christmas or Valentine's Day. The May flower theme can be used all through spring and even into summer. I am sure you get the point.

The closer I come to finishing this project though, the more I can see a need for some add-on packs. Yesterday Katie (MrsN) suggested a birthday theme. I think that is a great idea and exactly what I am talking about. There can also be themes for things like fishing or perhaps a western theme with horses for those who love horses and have a southwestern decor. And I have to make a bear theme for Grizzman! I like having fun with this idea and I think that lots of customers will have fun too.

This morning, I got up a bit early and I decided to tackle getting that Customer Showcase page updated on the site. I have been receiving many wonderful pictures from customers and I really wanted to share them with everyone. You can visit the new page HERE and see all the great ideas that people come up with and wonderful ways that they use my patterns for springboards to their own ideas.

It took me a bit to figure out how to do this and make it consistent and also be able to update it quickly, but I think that I have a good idea now and it looks quite nice. It shows the many variations that you can do on a pattern and also shows off some of the great work that my customers do. I am going to try very hard to keep up with it and hopefully I will be able to do so without too much of a problem. I truly appreciate the time people take to send me the pictures and I love to see others use my patterns in different ways. It's one of the best parts of what I do.

So with that said, I am going to get back to work. I hope you take the time to stop over and look at the new page. Hopefully I will finish up these last couple of drawings today and by later on I can begin cutting.

Have a great Thursday!
 

Attachments

#4,583 ·
One More Day of Drawing . . .

Even though I spent most of the day yesterday drawing, I am still not finished with the last sets of designs for the calendar. I really wanted to be, but it just didn't happen. I took time choosing my subjects and it wasn't as easy as I initially would have thought. I still have the months of November and December to finish up and I hope to do so today.

Sometimes when I have too many choices it gives me more of a problem then when I am not sure what I will be doing. With so many different fun and cute subjects for October, it really slowed me down a lot. I found myself panning through my folders of reference materials and my mind wandering to all the new things I want to do for the upcoming year and I fount it very difficult to focus and actually pick some things that I will include in the calendar. I finally came to some decisions, and I am going to stand by them. October is one of the cutest months yet, and while I could have gone in so many directions, I chose what I chose and I am sticking to it. :)

Here is a segment of the design:

Nose Hair Head Hand Eye


It is going to be fun and simple and something that everyone can cut. One thing that I made sure to do with this set was to include four somewhat 'generic' sets of overlays so that if people aren't interested in a particular holiday, they don't have to display it. For example, the winter set for January can be used for December, January and even February if you don't want to show Christmas or Valentine's Day. The May flower theme can be used all through spring and even into summer. I am sure you get the point.

The closer I come to finishing this project though, the more I can see a need for some add-on packs. Yesterday Katie (MrsN) suggested a birthday theme. I think that is a great idea and exactly what I am talking about. There can also be themes for things like fishing or perhaps a western theme with horses for those who love horses and have a southwestern decor. And I have to make a bear theme for Grizzman! I like having fun with this idea and I think that lots of customers will have fun too.

This morning, I got up a bit early and I decided to tackle getting that Customer Showcase page updated on the site. I have been receiving many wonderful pictures from customers and I really wanted to share them with everyone. You can visit the new page HERE and see all the great ideas that people come up with and wonderful ways that they use my patterns for springboards to their own ideas.

It took me a bit to figure out how to do this and make it consistent and also be able to update it quickly, but I think that I have a good idea now and it looks quite nice. It shows the many variations that you can do on a pattern and also shows off some of the great work that my customers do. I am going to try very hard to keep up with it and hopefully I will be able to do so without too much of a problem. I truly appreciate the time people take to send me the pictures and I love to see others use my patterns in different ways. It's one of the best parts of what I do.

So with that said, I am going to get back to work. I hope you take the time to stop over and look at the new page. Hopefully I will finish up these last couple of drawings today and by later on I can begin cutting.

Have a great Thursday!
Looks like fun, Sheila.
 

Attachments

#4,589 ·
Today It's Your Turn - I Would Like Your Input

I pretty much finished up my drawings yesterday. I just have a little tweaking to do today and then I can start cutting. So the day is pretty mapped out for me and I should have something to show for it tomorrow.

I do have a question for you all though . . .

Lately, I have been asked quite a bit about which glue to use in the smaller type of projects that I frequently do. I am looking for your input on this.

I am going to ask you to tell me about your favorite glue for smaller applications (boxes, scroll work, indoor vs. outdoor, etc.)

Perhaps you could comment and let me know what you like best. Use the brand names if you can and let me know if it dries clear or not and which applications you use it for. (Also, if you are located outside the USA, which country you are from - many of the people that ask are from Europe, Australia and other countries and your input would be really valuable!)

It doesn't have to be long, but I think it would make a good discussion and we can all learn a lot from each other.

I would really like to hear your thoughts! Thanks so much!

Have a wonderfully creative day!
 
#4,590 ·
I like Titebond III because of its all around everything thing glue, and it has a longer open assembly time. I've had good luck with it. Here is a copy of what Titebond says about it: Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue is the first one-part, water cleanup wood glue ever offered that is proven waterproof. The waterproof formula passes the ANSI/HPVA Type I water-resistance specification and offers superior bond strength, longer open assembly time and lower application temperature.

Titebond III is non-toxic, solvent free and cleans up with water - safer to use than traditional waterproof wood glues. It provides strong initial tack, sands easily without softening and is FDA approved for indirect food contact (cutting boards). The ultimate in wood glues - ideal for both interior and exterior.
 
#4,607 ·
Wood Glue Review

I am really pleased with all the responses that I received yesterday on glues. There are so many different types of glue out there, that one can go crazy just trying to figure out which one is the best for the job at hand.

Before I begin, I want to say that I am not affiliated with any of these companies that I will be mentioning. This was a completely informal poll that I took because I wanted to see what products that you feel are tried and true for your different gluing needs. As woodworkers, we ALL need to use glue at one time or another. And as for myself, I don't like the idea of experimenting on projects that I put a lot of time and effort into. I find that I am less likely to blindly try a new product without some idea as to how it will preform. Hearing personal testimonials from each of you really helped me out a lot, and I think that many other readers feel the same.

As I stated yesterday, many times I am asked to recommend a type of glue for a certain application or type of project. While I do have my own ideas and opinions as to what works for me, I don't for a minute think that what I use is the only good product available. Since I live here in Canada, the same products aren't always available to those who live elsewhere. Since those of you who responded are from all over the world, it give us all a nice array of products that will fill our need and if one isn't available, chances are we will find another that is also suitable.

After reading all of your comments and preferences for glues, I will try to give a summary of what you generally liked and used successfully. I realize that everyone has their own personal preferences and I am just putting the options out here for you to see so that if you are looking for a better way to glue up your projects, you will have a starting point as to what you may want to consider. I will list the specific brands of glue that were most frequently mentioned, along with links to their main sites so you can read a bit more about what each type has to offer and see if it is something you may like to try. Following are what you talked about the most:

Aleene's Tacky Glue

Brown Liquid Fluid Bottle Personal care


The original formula has been around for years and still seems to be a favorite of woodworkers for general purpose gluing needs. It's high-tack formula dries quickly and clear and is a good choice for applications where you need a good bond quickly. Good for medium-duty gluing of projects and like scroll work, segmentation and intarsia. It remains flexible when dry, which may be beneficial in some instances. It is not waterproof.

Elmer's Wood Glue

Liquid Bottle Fluid Bottle cap Plastic bottle


Lots of people liked this glue for general woodworking. Many who responded didn't specify whether they used the white glue or the wood glue specifically formulated for gluing wood. The glue all dries clear and the wood glue dries a bit hazy. Both are best for porous materials like wood and particle board. Good for boxes and construction of small pieces. Both are for indoor use only and not waterproof.

CA Glue or Superglue

Liquid Lipstick Material property Tints and shades Cosmetics


I was surprised at how many of you use Superglue in your woodworking applications. While no particular brand was specified as being above and beyond the other, we have all probably used this type of glue one time or another for many different projects. My own personal uses of it have been for the most part as small repairs on scroll saw pieces that may have chipped or broken. I never really considered it as something to use for larger applications and felt that its strength was an issue. But from what I read from your responses, many of you also have had lots of success in using it for assembly of delicate projects that aren't going to be handled too much or gluing small pieces of veneer. It also seems to be to 'go to' choice for gluing corian and other non-porous materials.

Gorilla Glue

Liquid Bottle Fluid Ingredient Food


Like many people, while I liked the strength of the original Gorilla Glue (the clear amber coloured stuff) I didn't like the fact that it had a mind of its own and 'grew' after it was drying. Many of my own uses for it were on decorative woodworking, and the overgrowth of it was unsightly and very difficult to remove and clean up after it was dry. It did however show me the incredible strength of this product, and I found myself wishing that I could find a product that had that kind of holding power without the mess.

After the contest here last year on Lumberjocks, I was made aware that Gorilla Wood Glue was now available. I remember wondering why they would have a contest using the original glue, when it proved to be so messy, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that this other product was now being made. It took a while for me to find it here in Canada, but I finally found some last autumn at Home Depot, so hopefully it will be more available to people here too.

Although it doesn't dry completely clear, it is nearly clear and only has a bit of a haze. It is waterproof, strong and good for gluing most things that require construction, such as boxes. I find its holding power to be excellent, and while it is not as thick and tacky as the Aleen's, it is thicker than the Elmer's and has better holding power and is waterproof. I find it a good choice for most of my gluing needs on projects.

Titebond III

Liquid Bottle Green Bottle cap Product


This is another overwhelming choice of many woodworkers for many applications. Many of the characteristics of this glue are very similar to the above Gorilla Glue for wood. The Titebond III has holding strength, is waterproof and is a great glue for building and strength. I think that you would not be disappointed if this was your glue of choice for many of your woodworking projects.

2-Part Epoxy

Liquid Packaging and labeling Electric blue Font Magenta


Many people like to use 2-part epoxy for many applications. I find it to be very useful when gluing on hangers to the back of scroll saw projects and gluing Rare Earth Magnets into place and on places where strength is critical. LePage makes great glue products (I have seen them a lot here in Canada) and I have used their 5-minute epoxy frequently. Although I must admit, lately I have been getting similar sized tubes at the dollar store for a fraction of the price and they preform equally well. The advantage of using the 2-part epoxy glue is that is is great on non porous surfaces such as metal (hangers, metal washers and magnets) and slick finishes. I also like that it dries clear and is waterproof and moisture proof. The disadvantage is that it sets up very quickly, which means that it is best used on small areas at a time.

Selleys

Rectangle Font Electric blue Parallel Brand


I only had one respondent from Australia, and they spoke highly of products by Selleys. I went to their web site, and it seems that they have a full range of products available in most types of glues that were discussed here. While I can't personally recommend them, I think it will be a good starting point for you if you live in Australia and are looking for glues. Any additional feedback on these products, or others available in Australia would be most welcome.

Clear Silicone

Liquid Fluid Drink Cylinder Paint


While no one mentioned it, I wanted to add one of my own choices in the mix. I frequently use clear silicone adhesive when gluing things such as lettering onto a plaque. It is also great for non-porous surfaces that may allow other glues to peel off when cured. It is easy to find, clear, waterproof and the gel-like consistency allows for expansion and contraction of the wood. Since it is thick, it also makes a great bond with surfaces that aren't completely flat and may cup or warp a bit due to humidity. The gel fills in any gaps the wood may have and it won't crack when dry. When I glue lettering, I am able to take an exacto knife when I am done and gently scrape any oozing that may have occurred without much trouble. I buy this in small tubes like the one pictured and it last a long time. There are many brands of this available, and I found no one brand to be better than the next. It is something that you may want to try if you have a need.

Well, that just about does it for now. While I know that this review in no way covers everything, I do think that it may help some of those of you who are new to woodworking and scrollsawing find a starting point to fill your gluing needs. Click on all the links and read in depth about all the products that are mentioned to help you find which glue is right for your own application and project. Chances are you will like several of them and find many of them useful.

Again, any additional feedback is welcome. As always, it is great to hear about first-hand experiences. It helps us all make better decisions. Remember - "Knowledge is Power!"

Have a wonderful Saturday!
 

Attachments

#4,608 ·
Wood Glue Review

I am really pleased with all the responses that I received yesterday on glues. There are so many different types of glue out there, that one can go crazy just trying to figure out which one is the best for the job at hand.

Before I begin, I want to say that I am not affiliated with any of these companies that I will be mentioning. This was a completely informal poll that I took because I wanted to see what products that you feel are tried and true for your different gluing needs. As woodworkers, we ALL need to use glue at one time or another. And as for myself, I don't like the idea of experimenting on projects that I put a lot of time and effort into. I find that I am less likely to blindly try a new product without some idea as to how it will preform. Hearing personal testimonials from each of you really helped me out a lot, and I think that many other readers feel the same.

As I stated yesterday, many times I am asked to recommend a type of glue for a certain application or type of project. While I do have my own ideas and opinions as to what works for me, I don't for a minute think that what I use is the only good product available. Since I live here in Canada, the same products aren't always available to those who live elsewhere. Since those of you who responded are from all over the world, it give us all a nice array of products that will fill our need and if one isn't available, chances are we will find another that is also suitable.

After reading all of your comments and preferences for glues, I will try to give a summary of what you generally liked and used successfully. I realize that everyone has their own personal preferences and I am just putting the options out here for you to see so that if you are looking for a better way to glue up your projects, you will have a starting point as to what you may want to consider. I will list the specific brands of glue that were most frequently mentioned, along with links to their main sites so you can read a bit more about what each type has to offer and see if it is something you may like to try. Following are what you talked about the most:

Aleene's Tacky Glue

Brown Liquid Fluid Bottle Personal care


The original formula has been around for years and still seems to be a favorite of woodworkers for general purpose gluing needs. It's high-tack formula dries quickly and clear and is a good choice for applications where you need a good bond quickly. Good for medium-duty gluing of projects and like scroll work, segmentation and intarsia. It remains flexible when dry, which may be beneficial in some instances. It is not waterproof.

Elmer's Wood Glue

Liquid Bottle Fluid Bottle cap Plastic bottle


Lots of people liked this glue for general woodworking. Many who responded didn't specify whether they used the white glue or the wood glue specifically formulated for gluing wood. The glue all dries clear and the wood glue dries a bit hazy. Both are best for porous materials like wood and particle board. Good for boxes and construction of small pieces. Both are for indoor use only and not waterproof.

CA Glue or Superglue

Liquid Lipstick Material property Tints and shades Cosmetics


I was surprised at how many of you use Superglue in your woodworking applications. While no particular brand was specified as being above and beyond the other, we have all probably used this type of glue one time or another for many different projects. My own personal uses of it have been for the most part as small repairs on scroll saw pieces that may have chipped or broken. I never really considered it as something to use for larger applications and felt that its strength was an issue. But from what I read from your responses, many of you also have had lots of success in using it for assembly of delicate projects that aren't going to be handled too much or gluing small pieces of veneer. It also seems to be to 'go to' choice for gluing corian and other non-porous materials.

Gorilla Glue

Liquid Bottle Fluid Ingredient Food


Like many people, while I liked the strength of the original Gorilla Glue (the clear amber coloured stuff) I didn't like the fact that it had a mind of its own and 'grew' after it was drying. Many of my own uses for it were on decorative woodworking, and the overgrowth of it was unsightly and very difficult to remove and clean up after it was dry. It did however show me the incredible strength of this product, and I found myself wishing that I could find a product that had that kind of holding power without the mess.

After the contest here last year on Lumberjocks, I was made aware that Gorilla Wood Glue was now available. I remember wondering why they would have a contest using the original glue, when it proved to be so messy, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that this other product was now being made. It took a while for me to find it here in Canada, but I finally found some last autumn at Home Depot, so hopefully it will be more available to people here too.

Although it doesn't dry completely clear, it is nearly clear and only has a bit of a haze. It is waterproof, strong and good for gluing most things that require construction, such as boxes. I find its holding power to be excellent, and while it is not as thick and tacky as the Aleen's, it is thicker than the Elmer's and has better holding power and is waterproof. I find it a good choice for most of my gluing needs on projects.

Titebond III

Liquid Bottle Green Bottle cap Product


This is another overwhelming choice of many woodworkers for many applications. Many of the characteristics of this glue are very similar to the above Gorilla Glue for wood. The Titebond III has holding strength, is waterproof and is a great glue for building and strength. I think that you would not be disappointed if this was your glue of choice for many of your woodworking projects.

2-Part Epoxy

Liquid Packaging and labeling Electric blue Font Magenta


Many people like to use 2-part epoxy for many applications. I find it to be very useful when gluing on hangers to the back of scroll saw projects and gluing Rare Earth Magnets into place and on places where strength is critical. LePage makes great glue products (I have seen them a lot here in Canada) and I have used their 5-minute epoxy frequently. Although I must admit, lately I have been getting similar sized tubes at the dollar store for a fraction of the price and they preform equally well. The advantage of using the 2-part epoxy glue is that is is great on non porous surfaces such as metal (hangers, metal washers and magnets) and slick finishes. I also like that it dries clear and is waterproof and moisture proof. The disadvantage is that it sets up very quickly, which means that it is best used on small areas at a time.

Selleys

Rectangle Font Electric blue Parallel Brand


I only had one respondent from Australia, and they spoke highly of products by Selleys. I went to their web site, and it seems that they have a full range of products available in most types of glues that were discussed here. While I can't personally recommend them, I think it will be a good starting point for you if you live in Australia and are looking for glues. Any additional feedback on these products, or others available in Australia would be most welcome.

Clear Silicone

Liquid Fluid Drink Cylinder Paint


While no one mentioned it, I wanted to add one of my own choices in the mix. I frequently use clear silicone adhesive when gluing things such as lettering onto a plaque. It is also great for non-porous surfaces that may allow other glues to peel off when cured. It is easy to find, clear, waterproof and the gel-like consistency allows for expansion and contraction of the wood. Since it is thick, it also makes a great bond with surfaces that aren't completely flat and may cup or warp a bit due to humidity. The gel fills in any gaps the wood may have and it won't crack when dry. When I glue lettering, I am able to take an exacto knife when I am done and gently scrape any oozing that may have occurred without much trouble. I buy this in small tubes like the one pictured and it last a long time. There are many brands of this available, and I found no one brand to be better than the next. It is something that you may want to try if you have a need.

Well, that just about does it for now. While I know that this review in no way covers everything, I do think that it may help some of those of you who are new to woodworking and scrollsawing find a starting point to fill your gluing needs. Click on all the links and read in depth about all the products that are mentioned to help you find which glue is right for your own application and project. Chances are you will like several of them and find many of them useful.

Again, any additional feedback is welcome. As always, it is great to hear about first-hand experiences. It helps us all make better decisions. Remember - "Knowledge is Power!"

Have a wonderful Saturday!
Sorry I was a little late in posting today. This took a while to write. :)

Sheila
 

Attachments

#4,623 ·
Getting to the Finish Line

Did you ever have one of those projects that seems to go on and on (and on) and you find yourself wondering if you will ever be finished with it? I am afraid that is what I have been going through with the project that I am currently working on (the calendar topper).

Perhaps it is because it has been a three part series and I started working on it in September that it seems like it is never ending. Now you all know that it hasn't been all I have been working on, or even the main focus of my attention for all that time, but I think that perhaps because it has been lurking in the back of my mind that it just feels like I have been dealing with it in one way or another for far too long.

With that being said, I am glad that I am in the home stretch and if all things go well today, by early tomorrow afternoon, the third and final installment of the calendar will be safely on the Purolator truck and headed for publication in New Jersey. "Barring all disasters." (Why does that phrase always make me smile?)

I put in a LONG day yesterday. I got a late start because my writing took me a bit longer than usual and there was lots of set up for the many pieces that needed to be cut at the saw.

Blue Azure Textile Organism Art


Again, I am cutting the pieces in three layers - two for the magazine (one to be left natural and one stained) and one for my own calendar topper that I will have here. I must admit, I started using mine last week and it is really nice! It is fun to be able to change the top pieces and I think it is much nicer than the frame that I used to have.

I went through a lot of emotions with this project. Over the course of the months, I think I wound up over thinking some parts of it, and this past week I have felt like I was trying to run through a foot of mud when working on it. I only really started working on this last five months of pieces since Monday though, and when I look at the pile of pieces that I have cut, I realize that a lot of thought went into creating them.

I think the most difficult part of the project was choosing which characters to create for the corresponding months. Some months were easier than others, but some I spent a lot of time making decisions and trying to figure out what will work best and look the best both stained and left natural color. I find that sometimes leaving the wood natural (which is preferable to many scroll sawyers) is sometimes a difficult task, as you only have the thin cutting lines and holes to give the pieces character and dimension. With the stained pieces, you can rely on color changes to do that, but when the wood is all the same color, it can be a bit more difficult to make it look good.

After all the time it took to find the right pieces of wood and set the pieces up, I finally sat down at the saw somewhere around 2pm - much later than I anticipated. I spent the rest of the afternoon cutting until about 8pm when my body just had enough. I find the older I get, I can only sit in one place for so long. I do make a point when I am cutting many pieces such as this to only drill the entry holes for one piece at a time. That forces me to get up and stretch and walk over to the drill press and does help a lot.

I only have about an hour of cutting left today, so that shouldn't be bad at all. I just knew I had to call it quits because I was losing my concentration and didn't want to mess things up. I think it is important to know when you have had enough. Below is a picture of my day's accomplishment:

Leaf Wood Font Metal Creative arts


The good thing that happened was that all the anxiety that I have felt over getting this project done was quickly removed when I saw the pieces being cut. Many times scrolling projects are like that. You look at them on the computer screen and then on paper for so long and you think "meh" and they are quite unimpressive. Then when you actually cut them out, they magically go through a strange metamorphosis and come out much nicer than you expected. What a wonderful phenomena!

At the end of the day, I looked at the pile of pieces and thought to myself "These are CUTE!" And they aren't even sanded or finished yet. My excitement returned in regards to this project and I am once again proud of it and will be excited to see how everything will look when it is finished. It is quite a different feeling than I had just 24 hours ago.

I don't really understand it, but I don't think that I have to. I am just going to enjoy what is in front of me and have fun finishing these pieces up and making them look even better.

Leaf Wood Font Creative arts Art


I see the finish line in front of me now, and it is a good feeling. I am looking forward to having a fun day of cutting and sanding and staining and even writing out the instructions. It is going to be a good day.

I hope you all have a wonderful day too. Have some fun finishing up something that you may have lost interest in. You may surprise yourself and make something you really do like after all.
 

Attachments

#4,624 ·
Getting to the Finish Line

Did you ever have one of those projects that seems to go on and on (and on) and you find yourself wondering if you will ever be finished with it? I am afraid that is what I have been going through with the project that I am currently working on (the calendar topper).

Perhaps it is because it has been a three part series and I started working on it in September that it seems like it is never ending. Now you all know that it hasn't been all I have been working on, or even the main focus of my attention for all that time, but I think that perhaps because it has been lurking in the back of my mind that it just feels like I have been dealing with it in one way or another for far too long.

With that being said, I am glad that I am in the home stretch and if all things go well today, by early tomorrow afternoon, the third and final installment of the calendar will be safely on the Purolator truck and headed for publication in New Jersey. "Barring all disasters." (Why does that phrase always make me smile?)

I put in a LONG day yesterday. I got a late start because my writing took me a bit longer than usual and there was lots of set up for the many pieces that needed to be cut at the saw.

Blue Azure Textile Organism Art


Again, I am cutting the pieces in three layers - two for the magazine (one to be left natural and one stained) and one for my own calendar topper that I will have here. I must admit, I started using mine last week and it is really nice! It is fun to be able to change the top pieces and I think it is much nicer than the frame that I used to have.

I went through a lot of emotions with this project. Over the course of the months, I think I wound up over thinking some parts of it, and this past week I have felt like I was trying to run through a foot of mud when working on it. I only really started working on this last five months of pieces since Monday though, and when I look at the pile of pieces that I have cut, I realize that a lot of thought went into creating them.

I think the most difficult part of the project was choosing which characters to create for the corresponding months. Some months were easier than others, but some I spent a lot of time making decisions and trying to figure out what will work best and look the best both stained and left natural color. I find that sometimes leaving the wood natural (which is preferable to many scroll sawyers) is sometimes a difficult task, as you only have the thin cutting lines and holes to give the pieces character and dimension. With the stained pieces, you can rely on color changes to do that, but when the wood is all the same color, it can be a bit more difficult to make it look good.

After all the time it took to find the right pieces of wood and set the pieces up, I finally sat down at the saw somewhere around 2pm - much later than I anticipated. I spent the rest of the afternoon cutting until about 8pm when my body just had enough. I find the older I get, I can only sit in one place for so long. I do make a point when I am cutting many pieces such as this to only drill the entry holes for one piece at a time. That forces me to get up and stretch and walk over to the drill press and does help a lot.

I only have about an hour of cutting left today, so that shouldn't be bad at all. I just knew I had to call it quits because I was losing my concentration and didn't want to mess things up. I think it is important to know when you have had enough. Below is a picture of my day's accomplishment:

Leaf Wood Font Metal Creative arts


The good thing that happened was that all the anxiety that I have felt over getting this project done was quickly removed when I saw the pieces being cut. Many times scrolling projects are like that. You look at them on the computer screen and then on paper for so long and you think "meh" and they are quite unimpressive. Then when you actually cut them out, they magically go through a strange metamorphosis and come out much nicer than you expected. What a wonderful phenomena!

At the end of the day, I looked at the pile of pieces and thought to myself "These are CUTE!" And they aren't even sanded or finished yet. My excitement returned in regards to this project and I am once again proud of it and will be excited to see how everything will look when it is finished. It is quite a different feeling than I had just 24 hours ago.

I don't really understand it, but I don't think that I have to. I am just going to enjoy what is in front of me and have fun finishing these pieces up and making them look even better.

Leaf Wood Font Creative arts Art


I see the finish line in front of me now, and it is a good feeling. I am looking forward to having a fun day of cutting and sanding and staining and even writing out the instructions. It is going to be a good day.

I hope you all have a wonderful day too. Have some fun finishing up something that you may have lost interest in. You may surprise yourself and make something you really do like after all.
hummm ….

something finished
what a concept

i have the manual for that
somewhere in the shop

but first need to find the manual
about how to look for manuals

great work sheila
these look fantastic !
 

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#4,633 ·
One More Day

Well, it wasn't because of lack of effort that I didn't finish yesterday. With looking ahead at what I need to accomplish today to finish, I think it was much more my usual nemesis - underestimation - that is to blame.

It is funny how I always do this. Perhaps it is because of my optimistic 'pink cloud' thinking that I choose to embrace. I really and truly try to be realistic with my time lines, but it is yet to be an ability that I have mastered. I must admit that sometimes I even double my original time estimates and that isn't enough. It just isn't a strong point of mine.

I worked hard yesterday and kept extremely focused, too. I finished cutting the pieces out in under an hour (I was good on that time estimation!) but when I began separating the layers and looking at the number of pieces that I needed to clean up and sand, the grim reality began to set in. It wasn't until after 5pm when I figured out that there was no way on Earth that I was going to finish. While I was nearly done at that point with the delicate process of sanding the pieces, I still needed to bathe them in mineral oil, allow that to soak in, spray them with a coat or two of shellac (again allowing them to dry in between applications) and the staining them and applying a final finish. Only then could I glue on the metal washers to the backs and pack them up for transport.

Who was I kidding?

But in looking at the large amount of pieces in front of me, I took comfort in the fact that they looked good and were done properly. I sanded them with great care and attention. So while I failed in my own estimation of time, I succeeded in a much more important aspect. They look good. I'll take that victory any day.

Somewhere around five when I finished the sanding process, I took a break for dinner. We then took our nightly walk and it felt good to clear my head. The air was cold and crisp and it felt good to stretch and get away for a bit. When I returned to apply the oil, I felt good in seeing the great accomplishment I did for the day. I actually enjoyed bathing each piece in oil and seeing them come to life. By 8:30 they were all oiled and set to dry. This is what my table looks like this morning:

Wood Gold Font Pattern Cuisine


I only had one 'mishap' when by my own fault, I snapped one of the 'October' pieces in half. I didn't panic though, as the lettering gets glued to the oval bases and I was sure it would be OK.

This morning, I used some CA glue and quickly repaired the piece. You can't even detect where the break is:

Bottle Drink Finger Font Nail


The break was between the 't' and the 'o' along the grain. Since the sepele has somewhat of a speckled grain anyway, it can't be seen at all. Once it is mounted to the back plate, it will be supported and the break will be inconsequential.

Hand Finger Gesture Wood Thumb


The oil has soaked into the pieces so they are quite dry. They are certainly ready for a coating of shellac. I will spend the day taking my time and choosing colors and staining two of the three sets of them. I am actually looking forward to this part of the process, as it will be fun to see how they look with some color on them.

While initially I wasn't happy with not being able to finish, I have convinced myself that there is no shame in not being able to do so. I could have pushed on and stayed up late and probably had things ready to go out today, but I already put in a long day and I was tired. As with the previous night, I knew it was time to quit and come back the following day when I was fresh and up for the task. After all - what good would it be if I were to ruin things and get sloppy after all the time I spent so far making these pieces look really nice?

So while I may never be great at estimating time frames, I am at least smart enough to know when to stop and rest and come back to something. I think that should count for something.

You all know by now what is on today's agenda for me. I am going to enjoy myself and have fun with finishing this project up and seeing it finally completed. And it will be something that I can be proud of.

I wish you all a good day today, too. I have already noticed that it is getting lighter earlier and staying lighter a bit longer in the evening so for those of you who don't like winter, there is hope. Enjoy your Monday.
 

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#4,634 ·
One More Day

Well, it wasn't because of lack of effort that I didn't finish yesterday. With looking ahead at what I need to accomplish today to finish, I think it was much more my usual nemesis - underestimation - that is to blame.

It is funny how I always do this. Perhaps it is because of my optimistic 'pink cloud' thinking that I choose to embrace. I really and truly try to be realistic with my time lines, but it is yet to be an ability that I have mastered. I must admit that sometimes I even double my original time estimates and that isn't enough. It just isn't a strong point of mine.

I worked hard yesterday and kept extremely focused, too. I finished cutting the pieces out in under an hour (I was good on that time estimation!) but when I began separating the layers and looking at the number of pieces that I needed to clean up and sand, the grim reality began to set in. It wasn't until after 5pm when I figured out that there was no way on Earth that I was going to finish. While I was nearly done at that point with the delicate process of sanding the pieces, I still needed to bathe them in mineral oil, allow that to soak in, spray them with a coat or two of shellac (again allowing them to dry in between applications) and the staining them and applying a final finish. Only then could I glue on the metal washers to the backs and pack them up for transport.

Who was I kidding?

But in looking at the large amount of pieces in front of me, I took comfort in the fact that they looked good and were done properly. I sanded them with great care and attention. So while I failed in my own estimation of time, I succeeded in a much more important aspect. They look good. I'll take that victory any day.

Somewhere around five when I finished the sanding process, I took a break for dinner. We then took our nightly walk and it felt good to clear my head. The air was cold and crisp and it felt good to stretch and get away for a bit. When I returned to apply the oil, I felt good in seeing the great accomplishment I did for the day. I actually enjoyed bathing each piece in oil and seeing them come to life. By 8:30 they were all oiled and set to dry. This is what my table looks like this morning:

Wood Gold Font Pattern Cuisine


I only had one 'mishap' when by my own fault, I snapped one of the 'October' pieces in half. I didn't panic though, as the lettering gets glued to the oval bases and I was sure it would be OK.

This morning, I used some CA glue and quickly repaired the piece. You can't even detect where the break is:

Bottle Drink Finger Font Nail


The break was between the 't' and the 'o' along the grain. Since the sepele has somewhat of a speckled grain anyway, it can't be seen at all. Once it is mounted to the back plate, it will be supported and the break will be inconsequential.

Hand Finger Gesture Wood Thumb


The oil has soaked into the pieces so they are quite dry. They are certainly ready for a coating of shellac. I will spend the day taking my time and choosing colors and staining two of the three sets of them. I am actually looking forward to this part of the process, as it will be fun to see how they look with some color on them.

While initially I wasn't happy with not being able to finish, I have convinced myself that there is no shame in not being able to do so. I could have pushed on and stayed up late and probably had things ready to go out today, but I already put in a long day and I was tired. As with the previous night, I knew it was time to quit and come back the following day when I was fresh and up for the task. After all - what good would it be if I were to ruin things and get sloppy after all the time I spent so far making these pieces look really nice?

So while I may never be great at estimating time frames, I am at least smart enough to know when to stop and rest and come back to something. I think that should count for something.

You all know by now what is on today's agenda for me. I am going to enjoy myself and have fun with finishing this project up and seeing it finally completed. And it will be something that I can be proud of.

I wish you all a good day today, too. I have already noticed that it is getting lighter earlier and staying lighter a bit longer in the evening so for those of you who don't like winter, there is hope. Enjoy your Monday.
Great looking - and OPPS on that '"snapping" part. I have only done that once and, also, was able to fix it.
 

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#4,637 ·
Done. (complete. through. ended. ready. finished)

I had a rough night last night. For some reason I couldn't really sleep. I think it was because I was thinking about packaging things up and calling for the parcel to be picked up by Purolator to go on its way.

For those of you who haven't been following along, the last week was a bit of a struggle for me. I am not sure why, but finishing up this project took more effort than it should have. Perhaps I am a just a bit tired or out of sorts.

I was up several times during the night and finally around 4am came out to the couch for a change of scenery, thinking that I would be able to perhaps sleep some more. But it is raining out and you can hear the wind gusting. I dozed a bit, but finally gave in and decided to get up and get moving. Perhaps there will room for a nap a bit later.

I took some quick pictures for the blog here just to show the finished product. I need to take better ones in a bit when the sun is up before I pack everything up and send it on its way. While I made myself a set that stained with color, I don't have my own set of natural pieces for the patterns, so I need to take them if I want to have them on hand.

Without further delay, here are the pictures of the finished pieces:

Brown Wood Flower Font Rectangle


Brown Flower Textile Rectangle Font


Brown Textile Wood Creative arts Font


Wood Plant Font Vegetable Peach


Brown Flower Rectangle Plant Font


As I said, they aren't the best of pictures. But at least you can get an idea of what each of the months look like. I will probably be spending the morning wrapping this project up - both figuratively and literally and finish writing up the instructions for it. I am sure that with the impending nap will fill up my day today.

All in all, I am happy with the result and I think that it came out cute. The second installment will be coming out in the magazine soon and I am anxious to see how it will be presented. By the time the third part is published and I am able to offer it on my site, I will once again look at it with excitement and I should also have some additional patterns available for special occasions like birthdays, hunting, etc. It will be good.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project come to life. I appreciate all the encouraging words from you along the way.

Have a great Tuesday.
 

Attachments

#4,638 ·
Done. (complete. through. ended. ready. finished)

I had a rough night last night. For some reason I couldn't really sleep. I think it was because I was thinking about packaging things up and calling for the parcel to be picked up by Purolator to go on its way.

For those of you who haven't been following along, the last week was a bit of a struggle for me. I am not sure why, but finishing up this project took more effort than it should have. Perhaps I am a just a bit tired or out of sorts.

I was up several times during the night and finally around 4am came out to the couch for a change of scenery, thinking that I would be able to perhaps sleep some more. But it is raining out and you can hear the wind gusting. I dozed a bit, but finally gave in and decided to get up and get moving. Perhaps there will room for a nap a bit later.

I took some quick pictures for the blog here just to show the finished product. I need to take better ones in a bit when the sun is up before I pack everything up and send it on its way. While I made myself a set that stained with color, I don't have my own set of natural pieces for the patterns, so I need to take them if I want to have them on hand.

Without further delay, here are the pictures of the finished pieces:











As I said, they aren't the best of pictures. But at least you can get an idea of what each of the months look like. I will probably be spending the morning wrapping this project up - both figuratively and literally and finish writing up the instructions for it. I am sure that with the impending nap will fill up my day today.

All in all, I am happy with the result and I think that it came out cute. The second installment will be coming out in the magazine soon and I am anxious to see how it will be presented. By the time the third part is published and I am able to offer it on my site, I will once again look at it with excitement and I should also have some additional patterns available for special occasions like birthdays, hunting, etc. It will be good.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project come to life. I appreciate all the encouraging words from you along the way.

Have a great Tuesday.
Great job, Sheila.
These are one of a kind and should be a big hit.
Ellen
 

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