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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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#7,249 ·
Phase 1 of the New Tray Complete

I had a wonderfully productive day of finishing up phase 1 of my new tray yesterday. As the day before, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the saw and seeing the tray come to life was a fun experience.

I was also pleased with the good response that I received from everyone regarding the design. There were lots of inquiries as to when the pattern would be available, which is a good indicator that it will be popular.

While I will not be able to sell the pattern until after the May issue of Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine runs its course, I will certainly be working on many other similar designs that I will be able to sell immediately.

I sometime wonder if I should even show what I am working on for the magazine because I hate to disappoint people who want the patterns right away. But I think it is both good publicity for Creative Woodworks as well as a great way to preview what is to come. The magazine is a great value to customers still, as for the price of one or two patterns, they receive anywhere from 15 to 20 nice projects from a variety of designers. While one may not like every single design presented, hopefully they will feel that they will at least get their money's worth and have several things that they plan to make. Not to mention the nice articles that they provide.

I know the print magazines are hurting now, as everything is digital, but for myself, I still enjoy paging through real paper copies of magazines and reading them that way. I know that it will be only a matter of time when paper magazines are obsolete, but until then I still plan to collect issues of my favorites.

Back to the new pattern.

I had cut the design out of a beautiful piece of solid birch. The wood was about 1/2" thick and for the most part, I used a 2/0 blade. While birch is fairly hard, the 2/0 worked fine on it and I was able to cut very accurately. For a moment, I thought that I would use a size 2 blade, but I found it cumbersome when cutting all the sharp corners and edges and quickly reverted to the smaller 2/0. I didn't speed through the project, but cut at a nice relaxed pace and thoroughly enjoyed myself, letting the blade do the work and barely pushing the wood through. I finished the entire project using one blade, so I think the small size is fine for working on this.

Here is the finished results:

Drinkware Light Cup Serveware Dishware


I decided to use a shorter jar candle, which is more squared up on the bottom edge than the tall jars. This made the fit into the 4" center of the tray a bit snug, but it still worked. I suppose that I need to mention that in the instructions so that adjustments can be made if necessary so that this type of candle fits properly. I may still tweak the pattern before sending it off to the magazine.

The pieces are staked in with dowel rods:

Wood Art Creative arts Natural material Font


While I wasn't sure how this would look, I don't think it looks bad at all. The process is easy to do and the pieces are held on securely and not falling all over. I think with all that is going on with the design, the dowels aren't really even noticed.

I plan to also make a colored version of this project. While many hard core woodworkers don't like to paint, there are many others who do and enjoy the simple process with these trays. I like to give the option at least and they can always leave theirs natural. I do like the warm look of the piece here though and I must say I am torn right now as to which one I would like better. I suppose i will have to wait and see.

It appears that I finally got my snow. We had our first real hit of it overnight and as the sun is just coming up now, it is quite the blizzard outside with the snow blowing fiercely. But that is OK. It is Sunday and I have a nice pot of turkey vegetable soup to and my kitties to keep me warm and cozy. Even if we lose power, I have painting to do and I plan to start drawing the next design. This one will be able to be sold right away.

I hope you all have a wonderful day today. Stay warm and have fun! :)
 

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#7,250 ·
Phase 1 of the New Tray Complete

I had a wonderfully productive day of finishing up phase 1 of my new tray yesterday. As the day before, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the saw and seeing the tray come to life was a fun experience.

I was also pleased with the good response that I received from everyone regarding the design. There were lots of inquiries as to when the pattern would be available, which is a good indicator that it will be popular.

While I will not be able to sell the pattern until after the May issue of Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine runs its course, I will certainly be working on many other similar designs that I will be able to sell immediately.

I sometime wonder if I should even show what I am working on for the magazine because I hate to disappoint people who want the patterns right away. But I think it is both good publicity for Creative Woodworks as well as a great way to preview what is to come. The magazine is a great value to customers still, as for the price of one or two patterns, they receive anywhere from 15 to 20 nice projects from a variety of designers. While one may not like every single design presented, hopefully they will feel that they will at least get their money's worth and have several things that they plan to make. Not to mention the nice articles that they provide.

I know the print magazines are hurting now, as everything is digital, but for myself, I still enjoy paging through real paper copies of magazines and reading them that way. I know that it will be only a matter of time when paper magazines are obsolete, but until then I still plan to collect issues of my favorites.

Back to the new pattern.

I had cut the design out of a beautiful piece of solid birch. The wood was about 1/2" thick and for the most part, I used a 2/0 blade. While birch is fairly hard, the 2/0 worked fine on it and I was able to cut very accurately. For a moment, I thought that I would use a size 2 blade, but I found it cumbersome when cutting all the sharp corners and edges and quickly reverted to the smaller 2/0. I didn't speed through the project, but cut at a nice relaxed pace and thoroughly enjoyed myself, letting the blade do the work and barely pushing the wood through. I finished the entire project using one blade, so I think the small size is fine for working on this.

Here is the finished results:

Drinkware Light Cup Serveware Dishware


I decided to use a shorter jar candle, which is more squared up on the bottom edge than the tall jars. This made the fit into the 4" center of the tray a bit snug, but it still worked. I suppose that I need to mention that in the instructions so that adjustments can be made if necessary so that this type of candle fits properly. I may still tweak the pattern before sending it off to the magazine.

The pieces are staked in with dowel rods:

Wood Art Creative arts Natural material Font


While I wasn't sure how this would look, I don't think it looks bad at all. The process is easy to do and the pieces are held on securely and not falling all over. I think with all that is going on with the design, the dowels aren't really even noticed.

I plan to also make a colored version of this project. While many hard core woodworkers don't like to paint, there are many others who do and enjoy the simple process with these trays. I like to give the option at least and they can always leave theirs natural. I do like the warm look of the piece here though and I must say I am torn right now as to which one I would like better. I suppose i will have to wait and see.

It appears that I finally got my snow. We had our first real hit of it overnight and as the sun is just coming up now, it is quite the blizzard outside with the snow blowing fiercely. But that is OK. It is Sunday and I have a nice pot of turkey vegetable soup to and my kitties to keep me warm and cozy. Even if we lose power, I have painting to do and I plan to start drawing the next design. This one will be able to be sold right away.

I hope you all have a wonderful day today. Stay warm and have fun! :)
This is really nice Sheila. It would sure set the mood on a cold. wintery day for sure. As always, your scrolling is amazing.
 

Attachments

#7,256 ·
Completed Dragonfly Tray

I am going to keep this short today because I have lots to do and need to get moving. I had a good day yesterday and not only did I finish the tray that I showed in yesterday's post, but I made good headway on drawing up the pattern for the next project.

I am on a roll . . .

I loved the way the little dragonfly tray came out, but I also wanted to offer some suggestions to add color for those who wish. I can't decide whether I like the colored version or the natural version better. I often get like that - especially when the wood grain looks so pretty.

I like adding just a bit of color, and not solidly painting everything in. I decided to paint just part of the top surface of the tray, as well as only the fronts of the dragonflies. This way, the natural wood shows through both on the sides and the backs and makes it look a bit more interesting (at least to me it does.)

I am not a fan of painting around the edges in projects like this. I think it is a great deal of unnecessary work and the results can make the piece look "flat". By leaving the edges the natural color of the wood, it keeps the dimension of the piece in tact and I think looks rather nice.

But as always, it is up to the customer to decide what they like best. I only offer suggestions based on my own taste and preference.

So without further babbling, here are my results.

I decided to keep the coloring simple. The dragonflies' bodies were done in a medium green and the wings were done in a really cool looking opalescent medium grey-green pearl called "Moss Green Pearl". That way they resembled the translucent color that they are. I did a LIGHT shading around the body and wings with a deep, semi-transparent blue. Very light and simple. The result were pretty nice:

Hand Pollinator Insect Finger Gesture


For the base, I simply used the Staining and Antiquing Gel mixed with the same green paint for the leaves and with a nice, strong yellow for the flowers and did not choose to shade. I wanted to keep things as simple as possible.

The results were also pretty nice:

Dishware Drinkware Cup Serveware Tableware


I fought with myself as to whether I should paint the backs of the dragonflies or not. While they would look nice painted on both sides, I don't really feel it is necessary, and again, it gave a better contrast and helped keep the piece from looking too busy. It is just my personal preference.

Body jewelry Creative arts Natural material Art Jewellery


Overall, I really enjoyed doing the project. As I said yesterday, it helped open a floodgate of ideas and variations that I can create using this process. I think I will be having a lot of fun with this in the near future.

I'll end with that today. As I said, I am running late and need to get out and do some errands before everything closes. Most places are closing early.

It has been a great week, and even better year. Thank you all who have followed me throughout this year. We have an incredible and exciting journey ahead of us in 2013, and I look forward to it very much.

Be safe and smart and have a wonderful day!
 

Attachments

#7,257 ·
Completed Dragonfly Tray

I am going to keep this short today because I have lots to do and need to get moving. I had a good day yesterday and not only did I finish the tray that I showed in yesterday's post, but I made good headway on drawing up the pattern for the next project.

I am on a roll . . .

I loved the way the little dragonfly tray came out, but I also wanted to offer some suggestions to add color for those who wish. I can't decide whether I like the colored version or the natural version better. I often get like that - especially when the wood grain looks so pretty.

I like adding just a bit of color, and not solidly painting everything in. I decided to paint just part of the top surface of the tray, as well as only the fronts of the dragonflies. This way, the natural wood shows through both on the sides and the backs and makes it look a bit more interesting (at least to me it does.)

I am not a fan of painting around the edges in projects like this. I think it is a great deal of unnecessary work and the results can make the piece look "flat". By leaving the edges the natural color of the wood, it keeps the dimension of the piece in tact and I think looks rather nice.

But as always, it is up to the customer to decide what they like best. I only offer suggestions based on my own taste and preference.

So without further babbling, here are my results.

I decided to keep the coloring simple. The dragonflies' bodies were done in a medium green and the wings were done in a really cool looking opalescent medium grey-green pearl called "Moss Green Pearl". That way they resembled the translucent color that they are. I did a LIGHT shading around the body and wings with a deep, semi-transparent blue. Very light and simple. The result were pretty nice:

Hand Pollinator Insect Finger Gesture


For the base, I simply used the Staining and Antiquing Gel mixed with the same green paint for the leaves and with a nice, strong yellow for the flowers and did not choose to shade. I wanted to keep things as simple as possible.

The results were also pretty nice:

Dishware Drinkware Cup Serveware Tableware


I fought with myself as to whether I should paint the backs of the dragonflies or not. While they would look nice painted on both sides, I don't really feel it is necessary, and again, it gave a better contrast and helped keep the piece from looking too busy. It is just my personal preference.

Body jewelry Creative arts Natural material Art Jewellery


Overall, I really enjoyed doing the project. As I said yesterday, it helped open a floodgate of ideas and variations that I can create using this process. I think I will be having a lot of fun with this in the near future.

I'll end with that today. As I said, I am running late and need to get out and do some errands before everything closes. Most places are closing early.

It has been a great week, and even better year. Thank you all who have followed me throughout this year. We have an incredible and exciting journey ahead of us in 2013, and I look forward to it very much.

Be safe and smart and have a wonderful day!
Normally I am not a huge fan of painted parts on wood but this design is very three dimensional and kind of busy and I think without it the adorable dragonflies would get lost completely. I really, really like the painting on this.. it still definitely looks like wood, and it was a good move to keep the edges natural.
 

Attachments

#7,267 ·
Turning a Page

And so we begin another year.

With all this talk of resolutions and promises that people make to themselves, it got me to wondering. Why is New Year's Day such a special day to invoke all of these changes?

Is it because somehow there is closure in tearing off that last page of the calendar? And that looking at each new page represents a fresh start and new beginning? Or is it just a good time for reflection on the past 365 days and think of how we would have perhaps done things differently and had a better outcome?

Cat Felidae Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers


(Cat calendar available HERE)

When I was younger, I used to fall into this way of thinking too. Each New Year's Eve, a friend of mine and I would make a list of 10 things we wanted to accomplish in the following year. We would also review the list from the previous year and see how successful we were on those resolutions.

Usually, we found we weren't able to accomplish many of them at all. For setting lofty goals that would be accomplished over an entire year was far too complex for any reasonable human to achieve. In looking at the lists, there came a time when I realized that one would have to be 'Superman' or 'Superwoman' to even come close to reaching our objectives. And instead of feeling good closing out the year, I felt rather dejected and disappointed in myself. Failure was for the most part inevitable.

After a while, I began to wonder why I put myself up to this self-torment every December 31st. I began to have a different perspective on things and wonder why I would ask myself to go through such a self-demeaning and demoralizing process. Was I that bad of a person that I needed to rework myself into this imaginary ideal human who ate all the right things, did everything that was "good" for me and never lost my temper? How boring would that be! (And how impossible!)

I began to try to look at things a bit more realistically from both sides of the equation.

Was I really that bad? Would losing that 10 pounds really make me a better person? Was I less of a human because I stopped going to the gym three weeks after purchasing a year membership?

Of course I wasn't!

While it would be good for me and healthy to do these things, I found out it was wrong for me to tie myself to these year long promises without considering in the least the many curve balls that everyday life could throw our way.

After all, these habits didn't develop overnight. It would be foolish of me to think that overnight I would be able to change my way of thinking completely and all of a sudden do all the 'right things.' It would be crazy.

As I get older, as each year passes and is tallied in my calendar of life, I find myself not reflecting on what I didn't accomplish over the previous year, but what I DID achieve and what I have yet to accomplish in the future. I look back and look around and I realize how lucky I am that I still have all my parts and nothing fell off, ran out or malfunctioned over the year. My mind is still (reasonably) clear and while there is definitely some additional forgetfulness and fatigue in my body, for the most part it still works pretty well and I am quite happy about that.

The idea of every 365 days making monumental promises on how to improve life is simply ludicrous to me. It just doesn't work.

So here is an idea I had . . .

Why wait until the end of the year to reflect on your past and decide what to change in your life? Why wait until that last page of the calendar is turned to do things a bit differently?

There is an end to each week. And you can give yourself 52 chances each year to reach your goals. If you fail, I would think that missing a week long goal would be a lot easier to digest than one that you took on for the entire year. Just start over on the next week and try again. Every journey begins with one step.

And why stop there? For each day we turn a page in our lives and each day is a fresh start and new beginning. There is nothing said that if we have a bad day, the following day will be bad also.

I wake up each morning with a clean slate and fresh start. Whether the previous day was hideous or wonderful, each time the sun rises I look upon it as a chance to make something good of the day. By doing that, I can plan accomplishments that are attainable and while many of them are small building blocks to reaching greater goals, achieving each small piece is just as positive as if I moved a mountain. And it makes me feel good about myself. And that positive attitude is what fuels me further and helps me get through those not so good days.

If I happen to have a bad day and miss, there is always a new day right around the corner. Instead of spending the remainder of the day admonishing myself, I begin to plan as to how I will tackle things tomorrow. As long as those tomorrows keep coming, there is hope.

To me, this is a kinder and gentler way to treat yourself. It not only allows for us to trip up every now and then, it allows us to be human. And that, my friends is something that is a great privileged.

So there are no new resolutions this January 1st. They are the same ones that I wake up with every day. I try to be patient. I try to be kind. I try to treat others with honesty and compassion, and give others inspiration and a reason to smile . But most of all, I try to make each day happy, because I know that no one else can bring me happiness except me. And that is a responsibility that we all owe ourselves.

Have a wonderful Happy New Year! Make this year your best year yet!

Cat Hat Felidae Carnivore Textile


It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come. - Dalai Lama
 

Attachments

#7,268 ·
Turning a Page

And so we begin another year.

With all this talk of resolutions and promises that people make to themselves, it got me to wondering. Why is New Year's Day such a special day to invoke all of these changes?

Is it because somehow there is closure in tearing off that last page of the calendar? And that looking at each new page represents a fresh start and new beginning? Or is it just a good time for reflection on the past 365 days and think of how we would have perhaps done things differently and had a better outcome?

Cat Felidae Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers


(Cat calendar available HERE)

When I was younger, I used to fall into this way of thinking too. Each New Year's Eve, a friend of mine and I would make a list of 10 things we wanted to accomplish in the following year. We would also review the list from the previous year and see how successful we were on those resolutions.

Usually, we found we weren't able to accomplish many of them at all. For setting lofty goals that would be accomplished over an entire year was far too complex for any reasonable human to achieve. In looking at the lists, there came a time when I realized that one would have to be 'Superman' or 'Superwoman' to even come close to reaching our objectives. And instead of feeling good closing out the year, I felt rather dejected and disappointed in myself. Failure was for the most part inevitable.

After a while, I began to wonder why I put myself up to this self-torment every December 31st. I began to have a different perspective on things and wonder why I would ask myself to go through such a self-demeaning and demoralizing process. Was I that bad of a person that I needed to rework myself into this imaginary ideal human who ate all the right things, did everything that was "good" for me and never lost my temper? How boring would that be! (And how impossible!)

I began to try to look at things a bit more realistically from both sides of the equation.

Was I really that bad? Would losing that 10 pounds really make me a better person? Was I less of a human because I stopped going to the gym three weeks after purchasing a year membership?

Of course I wasn't!

While it would be good for me and healthy to do these things, I found out it was wrong for me to tie myself to these year long promises without considering in the least the many curve balls that everyday life could throw our way.

After all, these habits didn't develop overnight. It would be foolish of me to think that overnight I would be able to change my way of thinking completely and all of a sudden do all the 'right things.' It would be crazy.

As I get older, as each year passes and is tallied in my calendar of life, I find myself not reflecting on what I didn't accomplish over the previous year, but what I DID achieve and what I have yet to accomplish in the future. I look back and look around and I realize how lucky I am that I still have all my parts and nothing fell off, ran out or malfunctioned over the year. My mind is still (reasonably) clear and while there is definitely some additional forgetfulness and fatigue in my body, for the most part it still works pretty well and I am quite happy about that.

The idea of every 365 days making monumental promises on how to improve life is simply ludicrous to me. It just doesn't work.

So here is an idea I had . . .

Why wait until the end of the year to reflect on your past and decide what to change in your life? Why wait until that last page of the calendar is turned to do things a bit differently?

There is an end to each week. And you can give yourself 52 chances each year to reach your goals. If you fail, I would think that missing a week long goal would be a lot easier to digest than one that you took on for the entire year. Just start over on the next week and try again. Every journey begins with one step.

And why stop there? For each day we turn a page in our lives and each day is a fresh start and new beginning. There is nothing said that if we have a bad day, the following day will be bad also.

I wake up each morning with a clean slate and fresh start. Whether the previous day was hideous or wonderful, each time the sun rises I look upon it as a chance to make something good of the day. By doing that, I can plan accomplishments that are attainable and while many of them are small building blocks to reaching greater goals, achieving each small piece is just as positive as if I moved a mountain. And it makes me feel good about myself. And that positive attitude is what fuels me further and helps me get through those not so good days.

If I happen to have a bad day and miss, there is always a new day right around the corner. Instead of spending the remainder of the day admonishing myself, I begin to plan as to how I will tackle things tomorrow. As long as those tomorrows keep coming, there is hope.

To me, this is a kinder and gentler way to treat yourself. It not only allows for us to trip up every now and then, it allows us to be human. And that, my friends is something that is a great privileged.

So there are no new resolutions this January 1st. They are the same ones that I wake up with every day. I try to be patient. I try to be kind. I try to treat others with honesty and compassion, and give others inspiration and a reason to smile . But most of all, I try to make each day happy, because I know that no one else can bring me happiness except me. And that is a responsibility that we all owe ourselves.

Have a wonderful Happy New Year! Make this year your best year yet!

Cat Hat Felidae Carnivore Textile


It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come. - Dalai Lama
Well put Sheila. I have never been a fan of resolutions I go with two concepts-
" To continually explore the world around me, and strive for excellence in everything I do"
"Don't Dream it, Be it"

I have found that over the years I have tried to go with these two sayings that the level of excellence does fluctuate depending on the day, my mood and what it is I am doing. But I am not happy unless I am happy with the outcome of whatever it is I am doing.

I look forward to reading your blog in this new year and learning some new stuff both from you and all of the LumberJocks. Thanks.

CtL
 

Attachments

#7,280 ·
A Good Start

Yesterday was an incredibly good way to start the year. We spent the day doing a variety of 'busy' tasks that tied up a lot of loose ends and also allowed us to begin a new chapter for our business.

This year's theme for Sheila Landry Designs is "Recognition." As we break away from the big company that we had issues with last autumn, we realize that we need to expand our visibility and presence in the pattern market. With the capabilities of the internet, we know that there are many avenues that we have yet to approach which will not only help get our name out there, but also bring us some new customers to help keep us growing. There are many choices to consider, and we need to evaluate what will bring us the best return without requiring a huge amount of time.

We know that once customers come to us directly for patterns, they will see the many advantages that we have over the print catalog company. Not only will they get the original, full versions of our patterns (NOT the butchered down versions that were being sold previously!) but they will also have the advantage of our personal service to help them with any questions or issues they may have. I think this is an important factor that was missing when our information was stripped off of our patterns, and we think that once people try buying from us directly, they will prefer it and come back again when in need.

In looking at the options, we decided to see how we do with opening an Etsy store. Their fees were among the lowest, and the flexibility of the listings seemed to suit our needs.

Keith spent the majority of the day opening our store - SheilaLandryDesigns - and added a couple of products there. He began with sets of patterns for the most part, as it gave a good variety without having to create a huge amount of product numbers at this point.

We really don't know how it will do, but we figure it is worth a try and while we certainly don't intend to have it set up as a second website, it could reach a different audience than we reach now and perhaps bring new business to our site in the future. We figure it is worth a shot.

Hopefully, if people stumble across us there and buy patterns from there, they will decide to stop by the site and do some shopping there too. It will be interesting to see how well we do there.

In other things, I needed to cut a couple of kits that were ordered that need to be mailed out today. I had several orders to be shipped over the weekend and got them prepared to be sent out today. It takes long enough to ship on a good day, let alone on a holiday week and I want to get them into the mail as quickly as possible.

I also worked on the next project for the magazine. Even though the dragonfly tray is finished, I still need to do the accompanying instructions and photographs, as well as an article that I am writing for the May issue. I probably will try to work on that today too, and hopefully get it buttoned up for the most part.

Finally, I changed over my little "all season tree" from Christmas to the Winter Wonderland theme. In my travels this year when we went to Dartmouth and Halifax, I came across these amazing ornaments that I thought would be perfect for January.

I love polar animals in general, and I decided that the theme of my tree for January would be "Winter Wonderland." I found some incredible aqua colored shiny beads and I thought that the icy blue along with silver would be a lovely color scheme for theme. I also found some small (1.5") ornament sets in each color which matched perfectly.

But the best thing I came across were these beautiful polar bear and penguin ornaments. They were somewhat like they were 'flocked' but instead of being soft material, they were glass based and the covering was a bit more rigid and had somewhat of a shimmer to it. They just looked beautiful. The bears were a bit large (about 4 - 5") so I only bought one set of four pieces and the penguins were a bit smaller and came in a set of 8. I thought it was just the perfect amount to fill my little tree.

I also came across some beautiful glass icicles that are about 6" long at the store near us. They actually look real and catch the white lights of the tree and look as if they are illuminated. The overall effect of them is stunning.

I took some pictures of the tree this morning to share with you:

Christmas tree Christmas ornament Light Holiday ornament Branch


Christmas tree Christmas ornament Plant Holiday ornament Branch


Christmas tree Christmas ornament Branch Organism Twig


Light Christmas ornament Fawn Teddy bear Carnivore


I used to be so sad when it was time to remove all the Christmas decorations from the house. Everything seemed so empty. I think that is why I love my little tree so much. As I look at it now in all its beauty, it makes me happy. The first thing I do when I awake is light it up and I spend the first couple of hours here writing and working with its soft glow. Somehow, it brings me peace.

People don't like winter because they say it is drab and bleak. As with anything, things are what we make them. I choose to look for the beauty in all seasons and focus on that part of them, and somehow the bleakness goes away. This is one of my favorite versions of my tree to date. I don't know how I will change it come February when I have Valentines to put on it. Maybe I can let a polar bear or penguin stick around for that holiday too. After all - it is my tree. ;)

Have a great day today. I hope you find beauty in whatever you do!
 

Attachments

#7,281 ·
A Good Start

Yesterday was an incredibly good way to start the year. We spent the day doing a variety of 'busy' tasks that tied up a lot of loose ends and also allowed us to begin a new chapter for our business.

This year's theme for Sheila Landry Designs is "Recognition." As we break away from the big company that we had issues with last autumn, we realize that we need to expand our visibility and presence in the pattern market. With the capabilities of the internet, we know that there are many avenues that we have yet to approach which will not only help get our name out there, but also bring us some new customers to help keep us growing. There are many choices to consider, and we need to evaluate what will bring us the best return without requiring a huge amount of time.

We know that once customers come to us directly for patterns, they will see the many advantages that we have over the print catalog company. Not only will they get the original, full versions of our patterns (NOT the butchered down versions that were being sold previously!) but they will also have the advantage of our personal service to help them with any questions or issues they may have. I think this is an important factor that was missing when our information was stripped off of our patterns, and we think that once people try buying from us directly, they will prefer it and come back again when in need.

In looking at the options, we decided to see how we do with opening an Etsy store. Their fees were among the lowest, and the flexibility of the listings seemed to suit our needs.

Keith spent the majority of the day opening our store - SheilaLandryDesigns - and added a couple of products there. He began with sets of patterns for the most part, as it gave a good variety without having to create a huge amount of product numbers at this point.

We really don't know how it will do, but we figure it is worth a try and while we certainly don't intend to have it set up as a second website, it could reach a different audience than we reach now and perhaps bring new business to our site in the future. We figure it is worth a shot.

Hopefully, if people stumble across us there and buy patterns from there, they will decide to stop by the site and do some shopping there too. It will be interesting to see how well we do there.

In other things, I needed to cut a couple of kits that were ordered that need to be mailed out today. I had several orders to be shipped over the weekend and got them prepared to be sent out today. It takes long enough to ship on a good day, let alone on a holiday week and I want to get them into the mail as quickly as possible.

I also worked on the next project for the magazine. Even though the dragonfly tray is finished, I still need to do the accompanying instructions and photographs, as well as an article that I am writing for the May issue. I probably will try to work on that today too, and hopefully get it buttoned up for the most part.

Finally, I changed over my little "all season tree" from Christmas to the Winter Wonderland theme. In my travels this year when we went to Dartmouth and Halifax, I came across these amazing ornaments that I thought would be perfect for January.

I love polar animals in general, and I decided that the theme of my tree for January would be "Winter Wonderland." I found some incredible aqua colored shiny beads and I thought that the icy blue along with silver would be a lovely color scheme for theme. I also found some small (1.5") ornament sets in each color which matched perfectly.

But the best thing I came across were these beautiful polar bear and penguin ornaments. They were somewhat like they were 'flocked' but instead of being soft material, they were glass based and the covering was a bit more rigid and had somewhat of a shimmer to it. They just looked beautiful. The bears were a bit large (about 4 - 5") so I only bought one set of four pieces and the penguins were a bit smaller and came in a set of 8. I thought it was just the perfect amount to fill my little tree.

I also came across some beautiful glass icicles that are about 6" long at the store near us. They actually look real and catch the white lights of the tree and look as if they are illuminated. The overall effect of them is stunning.

I took some pictures of the tree this morning to share with you:

Christmas tree Christmas ornament Light Holiday ornament Branch


Christmas tree Christmas ornament Plant Holiday ornament Branch


Christmas tree Christmas ornament Branch Organism Twig


Light Christmas ornament Fawn Teddy bear Carnivore


I used to be so sad when it was time to remove all the Christmas decorations from the house. Everything seemed so empty. I think that is why I love my little tree so much. As I look at it now in all its beauty, it makes me happy. The first thing I do when I awake is light it up and I spend the first couple of hours here writing and working with its soft glow. Somehow, it brings me peace.

People don't like winter because they say it is drab and bleak. As with anything, things are what we make them. I choose to look for the beauty in all seasons and focus on that part of them, and somehow the bleakness goes away. This is one of my favorite versions of my tree to date. I don't know how I will change it come February when I have Valentines to put on it. Maybe I can let a polar bear or penguin stick around for that holiday too. After all - it is my tree. ;)

Have a great day today. I hope you find beauty in whatever you do!
Full speed ahead. Good luck to you, Keith, and 2013
 

Attachments

#7,287 ·
Perspective

I spent much of the day yesterday drawing the new design. It was one of those that I drew one way, than after spending several hours trying to get things to work one way, I decided it would be better to approach things from an entirely different direction.

It wasn't exactly like starting from square one again, but maybe from square two or three.

It is funny how I get these ideas and can picture them in my head, but they aren't quite clear yet. Sometime getting them to reality can be as easy as putting the pen to the mouse pad and drawing. An hour or two later I am looking at exactly what I had envisioned. Other times it isn't quite that simple and figuring out just how to make what is on paper translate to wood can be a bit of a challenge.

I am liking this next project that I am making. Around 2pm yesterday afternoon I can honestly say that I had my doubts. After spending a great deal of time on a concept, reality hit me that what I was drawing just wasn't going to work. I was a bit exasperated.

But I took a minute and changed gears for a bit and did some emails and other things and I had another idea about how to approach things. It meant reworking things quite a bit and redrawing things, but the concept was much clearer and would be much easier for others to do. I was encouraged.

I finished my drawings around dinner time. And as I looked at them, I felt good because what was on paper closely resembled the ideas that I had in my mind. I think it will be a good save on the idea.

Here is a sample of what I am working on:

Organism Gesture Art Font Rectangle


I went from cutting the design in a positive fashion, where the subject is left and the areas around it cut, to a negative design, where the subject (in this case, the snowflakes) are cut from the piece, leaving the 'background' in tact.

This will work out much better for the design, and make it look the way I intended.

Today I will be cutting, which all of you know will make me very happy. I am still figuring out some of the logistics of how this will look, but for the most part I feel as if I am on the right track. I know already that it will be a good day.

Sometimes we need to remember to look at things from a different perspective.

Cat White Black Felidae Carnivore


We need to remember that there are many ways to view things and many possibilities.

White Cat Black Plant Felidae


It can sometimes be amazing just how different the same concept or design can look if we only stretch our imagination a bit and think it things in a different way.

Vertebrate Felidae Cat Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats


I think that this concept works not only in designing, but it also applies to many different aspects of our life. It seems that those around us who are the most flexible and are able to look at things in several different ways are the ones that seem to cope with life a little better than those who are set fast in their thinking. Allowing our minds to accept different ways of thinking and looking at things through different perspectives can only help to enhance our thought process and gives us many more options than we may have thought. It also helps us grow as artists and be more creative.

I wish you all a wonderfully creative day.
 

Attachments

#7,288 ·
Perspective

I spent much of the day yesterday drawing the new design. It was one of those that I drew one way, than after spending several hours trying to get things to work one way, I decided it would be better to approach things from an entirely different direction.

It wasn't exactly like starting from square one again, but maybe from square two or three.

It is funny how I get these ideas and can picture them in my head, but they aren't quite clear yet. Sometime getting them to reality can be as easy as putting the pen to the mouse pad and drawing. An hour or two later I am looking at exactly what I had envisioned. Other times it isn't quite that simple and figuring out just how to make what is on paper translate to wood can be a bit of a challenge.

I am liking this next project that I am making. Around 2pm yesterday afternoon I can honestly say that I had my doubts. After spending a great deal of time on a concept, reality hit me that what I was drawing just wasn't going to work. I was a bit exasperated.

But I took a minute and changed gears for a bit and did some emails and other things and I had another idea about how to approach things. It meant reworking things quite a bit and redrawing things, but the concept was much clearer and would be much easier for others to do. I was encouraged.

I finished my drawings around dinner time. And as I looked at them, I felt good because what was on paper closely resembled the ideas that I had in my mind. I think it will be a good save on the idea.

Here is a sample of what I am working on:

Organism Gesture Art Font Rectangle


I went from cutting the design in a positive fashion, where the subject is left and the areas around it cut, to a negative design, where the subject (in this case, the snowflakes) are cut from the piece, leaving the 'background' in tact.

This will work out much better for the design, and make it look the way I intended.

Today I will be cutting, which all of you know will make me very happy. I am still figuring out some of the logistics of how this will look, but for the most part I feel as if I am on the right track. I know already that it will be a good day.

Sometimes we need to remember to look at things from a different perspective.

Cat White Black Felidae Carnivore


We need to remember that there are many ways to view things and many possibilities.

White Cat Black Plant Felidae


It can sometimes be amazing just how different the same concept or design can look if we only stretch our imagination a bit and think it things in a different way.

Vertebrate Felidae Cat Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats


I think that this concept works not only in designing, but it also applies to many different aspects of our life. It seems that those around us who are the most flexible and are able to look at things in several different ways are the ones that seem to cope with life a little better than those who are set fast in their thinking. Allowing our minds to accept different ways of thinking and looking at things through different perspectives can only help to enhance our thought process and gives us many more options than we may have thought. It also helps us grow as artists and be more creative.

I wish you all a wonderfully creative day.
I've found that a lot of times if I just walk away from something for a little while my whole perspective changes.
You are truly a talented Lady.
 

Attachments

#7,293 ·
Creative Drilling

I kind of had a change in plans yesterday. It was one of those 'flexibility' things that I was talking about that happens. But it was a good thing and one of the best parts of being your own boss and being on deadline with the things that you need for everything else means that you can switch things up rather quickly without too much of an issue.

Early in the day I received an order for several of the painting kits that we offer. We usually keep a couple of each of the kits pre-cut and in stock, but since we are just starting out with this type of thing, we don't get too far ahead. Many of you have seen the small size of our place. There just isn't room enough to store a great deal of stuff. So my plans changed a little bit and I needed to cut them.

What felt great was that we still had a great deal of wood all prepped and ready to go. Having half the steps completed really made things nice and easy. All I did was print the pattern onto the self-adhesive labels and stick them on and cut. Things couldn't have gone smoother.

I really like how the labels have worked for applying the pattern. If I have any gripe whatsoever, it is that I have a small degree of difficulty getting the backing off of the printed sheets. The particular labels I have are scored once in the back, with the score line going down through the center of the sheet. But as I cut the pieces apart to better place them on the wood, there are pieces that have no scoring and I find it a bit fussy to get the backing started to peel it off. I use a small paring knife (what would I do without that tool!) and it helps, but it is still somewhat tedious at times.

I have seen labels that are scored with several lines per sheet and in my article that I am in the process of writing regarding them, I will certainly recommend that those should be the ones used if they are available. Maybe I am being picky, but it would have made the process go much quicker.

Removing the labels after cutting was simple and quick. It may be slightly slower than the double sided tape, as the tape is slightly thicker and 'gives' a bit, being less likely to tear, but it certainly comes off easy enough and I do give the process a thumbs up.

I finished the order and packaging everything sometime around dinner, which left little time to work on my new candle tray. However, I was anxious to know if what I was planning would work, so I took some time and cut out one of the snowflake pieces that would be used to see if it would be possible to do what I was thinking.

I chose the most intricate snowflake of the bunch, knowing if that worked out well, I was home free.

Since the snowflakes are to be posted with small 1/8" dowels running through them, I wondered how they would tolerate the drilling and how the small dowel running through would affect the overall look of the design.

Naturally, they needed to be drilled prior to cutting on the scroll saw. There would be no way that the piece would be successfully drilled after cutting. To do this, I first needed to set the patterns up so that they pieces would have a flat surface to stand on for drilling. Since I want the snowflakes to look natural, I don't want them all standing neatly as if they are soldiers. I want them randomly rotated so that they give the effect of falling and look more natural.

I cut the perimeters of the pieces so that the side opposite to the side which is to be drilled would be flat. This would make a stable base and make drilling easy. I used 1/2" ash for the project (I like the light color of the ash) and I will be using and 1/8" bit and dowel rod to post the snowflakes. This should give enough support so the snowflake will hold together, even with the hole bored through it.

The drilling went easy and according to plan:

Wood Font Handwriting Art Metal


You could see by the dotted line that the drilling would just graze some of the edged of the snowflake. Keith saw this and had his doubts, and said that it wouldn't work and the snowflake would fall apart. But in my mind I thought about it and I figured there would be enough material left in the thickness that would support the edges of the piece. Besides, when the dowel was glued in, it would be even stronger and wouldn't be an issue at all.

He then thought it would look unattractive because it was unavoidable to do this without the dowel showing through somewhat. While I realize that this would be the case, I felt that your eyes wouldn't even notice the dowels when the pieces were finished, much like the dragonfly tray where the pieces take over and the dowels rather blend in. (At least I hoped!)

The only way to really tell was to cut the piece out. I purposely picked the most intricate snowflake because I knew if this worked, I would be home free.

Below is the resulting piece:

Creative arts Art Symmetry Pattern Craft


As you can see, the hole goes through the bottom, and does indeed leave some of the sides of the snowflake missing. But it is such a small percentage of wood missing, it is barely noticeable:

Gesture Font Creative arts Wood Art


A closer picture of the bottom:

Finger Wood Thumb Creative arts Natural material


I inserted the dowel, and I truly feel that the result is fine. Even looking straight on at this piece, the dowel doesn't really detract from the snowflake. When it is mounted on the tray, it will be even less visible, as you will rarely be looking at it at eye level. Besides, I have some other little things in store and I don't think you will notice it at all.

Art Creative arts Material property Natural material Metal


I called it a day yesterday knowing that I am definitely on the right track. I believe that you could even have wood thinner than 1/2" and be successful with this process. I have drilled 1/8" Baltic birch plywood to insert the screw-type eye pins for ornament hangers in the past successfully and had no issues doing so. The trick is to drill before you do the scroll cutting and be sure your drill bits are sharp and that you have a stable base to set the piece on for drilling. In a pinch, with larger pieces, I have turned my drill press sideways and turned it so the bit is suspended over the side of the table and you just have to 'eyeball' it. But trust me, it works well that way too with a little practice.

I can't wait to get at things and finish up today. This is the exciting part of what I do! I see a great deal of potential in this type of design and I can't wait to get at it.

Today is Friday already it seems. It came quickly after the holiday weeks and it feels good to be back on schedule again and back to making new designs.

I hope you all have a wonderful day! :)
 

Attachments

#7,294 ·
Creative Drilling

I kind of had a change in plans yesterday. It was one of those 'flexibility' things that I was talking about that happens. But it was a good thing and one of the best parts of being your own boss and being on deadline with the things that you need for everything else means that you can switch things up rather quickly without too much of an issue.

Early in the day I received an order for several of the painting kits that we offer. We usually keep a couple of each of the kits pre-cut and in stock, but since we are just starting out with this type of thing, we don't get too far ahead. Many of you have seen the small size of our place. There just isn't room enough to store a great deal of stuff. So my plans changed a little bit and I needed to cut them.

What felt great was that we still had a great deal of wood all prepped and ready to go. Having half the steps completed really made things nice and easy. All I did was print the pattern onto the self-adhesive labels and stick them on and cut. Things couldn't have gone smoother.

I really like how the labels have worked for applying the pattern. If I have any gripe whatsoever, it is that I have a small degree of difficulty getting the backing off of the printed sheets. The particular labels I have are scored once in the back, with the score line going down through the center of the sheet. But as I cut the pieces apart to better place them on the wood, there are pieces that have no scoring and I find it a bit fussy to get the backing started to peel it off. I use a small paring knife (what would I do without that tool!) and it helps, but it is still somewhat tedious at times.

I have seen labels that are scored with several lines per sheet and in my article that I am in the process of writing regarding them, I will certainly recommend that those should be the ones used if they are available. Maybe I am being picky, but it would have made the process go much quicker.

Removing the labels after cutting was simple and quick. It may be slightly slower than the double sided tape, as the tape is slightly thicker and 'gives' a bit, being less likely to tear, but it certainly comes off easy enough and I do give the process a thumbs up.

I finished the order and packaging everything sometime around dinner, which left little time to work on my new candle tray. However, I was anxious to know if what I was planning would work, so I took some time and cut out one of the snowflake pieces that would be used to see if it would be possible to do what I was thinking.

I chose the most intricate snowflake of the bunch, knowing if that worked out well, I was home free.

Since the snowflakes are to be posted with small 1/8" dowels running through them, I wondered how they would tolerate the drilling and how the small dowel running through would affect the overall look of the design.

Naturally, they needed to be drilled prior to cutting on the scroll saw. There would be no way that the piece would be successfully drilled after cutting. To do this, I first needed to set the patterns up so that they pieces would have a flat surface to stand on for drilling. Since I want the snowflakes to look natural, I don't want them all standing neatly as if they are soldiers. I want them randomly rotated so that they give the effect of falling and look more natural.

I cut the perimeters of the pieces so that the side opposite to the side which is to be drilled would be flat. This would make a stable base and make drilling easy. I used 1/2" ash for the project (I like the light color of the ash) and I will be using and 1/8" bit and dowel rod to post the snowflakes. This should give enough support so the snowflake will hold together, even with the hole bored through it.

The drilling went easy and according to plan:

Wood Font Handwriting Art Metal


You could see by the dotted line that the drilling would just graze some of the edged of the snowflake. Keith saw this and had his doubts, and said that it wouldn't work and the snowflake would fall apart. But in my mind I thought about it and I figured there would be enough material left in the thickness that would support the edges of the piece. Besides, when the dowel was glued in, it would be even stronger and wouldn't be an issue at all.

He then thought it would look unattractive because it was unavoidable to do this without the dowel showing through somewhat. While I realize that this would be the case, I felt that your eyes wouldn't even notice the dowels when the pieces were finished, much like the dragonfly tray where the pieces take over and the dowels rather blend in. (At least I hoped!)

The only way to really tell was to cut the piece out. I purposely picked the most intricate snowflake because I knew if this worked, I would be home free.

Below is the resulting piece:

Creative arts Art Symmetry Pattern Craft


As you can see, the hole goes through the bottom, and does indeed leave some of the sides of the snowflake missing. But it is such a small percentage of wood missing, it is barely noticeable:

Gesture Font Creative arts Wood Art


A closer picture of the bottom:

Finger Wood Thumb Creative arts Natural material


I inserted the dowel, and I truly feel that the result is fine. Even looking straight on at this piece, the dowel doesn't really detract from the snowflake. When it is mounted on the tray, it will be even less visible, as you will rarely be looking at it at eye level. Besides, I have some other little things in store and I don't think you will notice it at all.

Art Creative arts Material property Natural material Metal


I called it a day yesterday knowing that I am definitely on the right track. I believe that you could even have wood thinner than 1/2" and be successful with this process. I have drilled 1/8" Baltic birch plywood to insert the screw-type eye pins for ornament hangers in the past successfully and had no issues doing so. The trick is to drill before you do the scroll cutting and be sure your drill bits are sharp and that you have a stable base to set the piece on for drilling. In a pinch, with larger pieces, I have turned my drill press sideways and turned it so the bit is suspended over the side of the table and you just have to 'eyeball' it. But trust me, it works well that way too with a little practice.

I can't wait to get at things and finish up today. This is the exciting part of what I do! I see a great deal of potential in this type of design and I can't wait to get at it.

Today is Friday already it seems. It came quickly after the holiday weeks and it feels good to be back on schedule again and back to making new designs.

I hope you all have a wonderful day! :)
Sheila,

The snowflake looks great! Of course I have no idea how this will fit into the rest, but standing on it's own I would have imagined the dowel would go through one of the areas in between the larger "arms" of the snowflake. I suppose it had to go through the arm on the slightly off angle that it did, right?

Thanks as well for the advice on the stickers - I just might be ordering a pack of these!

-bob
 

Attachments

#7,300 ·
The Process

As usual, I am the queen of underestimation when it comes to time. Thank goodness my job and life are fairly flexible and the things that I do aren't completely reliant on my own estimations as to how much time a particular project would take. If that were the case, I would be lost.

In trying to figure out why this happens so often and why I just can't seem to get over the hurdle of accurately judging how long something will take me, I have come to the conclusion that it probably happens this way because I enjoy what I do so much. We all know it never seems like things take a long time to do when we like doing them. Time passes quickly in our minds and it seems as if it takes a great deal less to complete things that are pleasant for us to do.

So there. I have taken a potentially negative trait and turned it into a somewhat positive one. At least in my head. My conclusion is that I like what I do so much it seems like it takes no time at all to accomplish certain tasks, when in reality, the clock keeps ticking.

My hopes were to finish my cutting on the new project yesterday. I must admit that I didn't start until mid-afternoon, as there were other business things that needed to be done before I settled down at the scroll saw. In looking at the drawings that I had made, I thought there would be no trouble at all not only completing the tray itself, but also the add-on snowflakes. So I coasted through my morning tasks without worry or a single thought of time.

As I began cutting, I once again fell into a nice rhythm and thought about how much I appreciated my saw. I am not sure if it is because of the Excalibur or the comfort of feeling as if I knew what I was doing or a little bit of both, but things hummed along just fine. As always, it was a thrill for me to see the design unfold on the piece of ash as the small pieces of wood fell to the floor, one at a time. I turned the piece over to look at the back countless times, as you could really see it unfolding that way and appreciate the beautiful grain. It was like unwrapping a gift, one layer at a time and with each cut made I was more excited.

As I continued cutting though, I did also realize that finishing up the tray would take the better part of the day. While the cuts were not particularly difficult, they were small and many of them were fussy. Snowflakes can be like that. It is sometimes difficult to remember that everything you do on a snowflake is multiplied by six. Even if there are only three inside cuts per arm, that means the entire flake has 18 inside cuts. I was glad that I only decided to pepper the tray with 'occasional' snowflakes, filling in the rest with swirls which gave them movement and interest. When the design is completed you will see why I did things this way.

(As I side note, did I ever mention how it bothers me when I see 8 sided snowflakes?? There are no such things that naturally occur in nature and it is a pet peeve of mine when I see them. Just a random thought!)

Back to the tray . . .

I think it really came out nice:

Dishware Rectangle Serveware Body jewelry Font


The snowflakes on it are not the easiest cuts, but with some time and patience (and a 2/0 Olson scroll saw blade) they were not difficult at all. Perhaps a bit time consuming though. Remember - just because things take a bit more time, doesn't mean that they are difficult. I think people confuse the two. I like to enjoy the process.

Plant Wood Art Creative arts Font


And here is a shot of the random swirls.

Brown Wood Font Pattern Hardwood


I am not good at "random" things. My head tries to constantly organize things and my random stuff usually turns out like wallpaper, where a design that appears to be random in actuality is a repeat of the design in some form or another. It was truly more difficult for me to draw the swirls and make them look how I wanted than to draw the snowflakes themselves. How crazy is that?

Today, I have several more individual snowflakes to cut out. By the time I was finished with this, it was dinner and there was stuff to do around here that needed attending. So I thought instead of pushing it I would finish the cutting up today. No harm in that.

I am liking this quite a bit, and I think it will look good knowing what I still have in store for it. But you will have to wait and see what else I have up my sleeve. ;)

On a final thought, I did want to post a reminder that Lee Valley tools has their Free Shipping on orders $40 or more for two more days. (And let's be honest - what order there ISN'T under $40??) I just thought I would let you all know in case you are in need of anything or have any extra Christmas money to spend. With shipping costs as they are, it would save you a good amount.

I hope you like the progress report. To me, it is rather fun seeing this design evolve. All the while that I am cutting, I am designing in my head and thinking of the next projects to make.

And so the cycle continues . . .

Have a great Saturday!
 

Attachments

#7,301 ·
The Process

As usual, I am the queen of underestimation when it comes to time. Thank goodness my job and life are fairly flexible and the things that I do aren't completely reliant on my own estimations as to how much time a particular project would take. If that were the case, I would be lost.

In trying to figure out why this happens so often and why I just can't seem to get over the hurdle of accurately judging how long something will take me, I have come to the conclusion that it probably happens this way because I enjoy what I do so much. We all know it never seems like things take a long time to do when we like doing them. Time passes quickly in our minds and it seems as if it takes a great deal less to complete things that are pleasant for us to do.

So there. I have taken a potentially negative trait and turned it into a somewhat positive one. At least in my head. My conclusion is that I like what I do so much it seems like it takes no time at all to accomplish certain tasks, when in reality, the clock keeps ticking.

My hopes were to finish my cutting on the new project yesterday. I must admit that I didn't start until mid-afternoon, as there were other business things that needed to be done before I settled down at the scroll saw. In looking at the drawings that I had made, I thought there would be no trouble at all not only completing the tray itself, but also the add-on snowflakes. So I coasted through my morning tasks without worry or a single thought of time.

As I began cutting, I once again fell into a nice rhythm and thought about how much I appreciated my saw. I am not sure if it is because of the Excalibur or the comfort of feeling as if I knew what I was doing or a little bit of both, but things hummed along just fine. As always, it was a thrill for me to see the design unfold on the piece of ash as the small pieces of wood fell to the floor, one at a time. I turned the piece over to look at the back countless times, as you could really see it unfolding that way and appreciate the beautiful grain. It was like unwrapping a gift, one layer at a time and with each cut made I was more excited.

As I continued cutting though, I did also realize that finishing up the tray would take the better part of the day. While the cuts were not particularly difficult, they were small and many of them were fussy. Snowflakes can be like that. It is sometimes difficult to remember that everything you do on a snowflake is multiplied by six. Even if there are only three inside cuts per arm, that means the entire flake has 18 inside cuts. I was glad that I only decided to pepper the tray with 'occasional' snowflakes, filling in the rest with swirls which gave them movement and interest. When the design is completed you will see why I did things this way.

(As I side note, did I ever mention how it bothers me when I see 8 sided snowflakes?? There are no such things that naturally occur in nature and it is a pet peeve of mine when I see them. Just a random thought!)

Back to the tray . . .

I think it really came out nice:

Dishware Rectangle Serveware Body jewelry Font


The snowflakes on it are not the easiest cuts, but with some time and patience (and a 2/0 Olson scroll saw blade) they were not difficult at all. Perhaps a bit time consuming though. Remember - just because things take a bit more time, doesn't mean that they are difficult. I think people confuse the two. I like to enjoy the process.

Plant Wood Art Creative arts Font


And here is a shot of the random swirls.

Brown Wood Font Pattern Hardwood


I am not good at "random" things. My head tries to constantly organize things and my random stuff usually turns out like wallpaper, where a design that appears to be random in actuality is a repeat of the design in some form or another. It was truly more difficult for me to draw the swirls and make them look how I wanted than to draw the snowflakes themselves. How crazy is that?

Today, I have several more individual snowflakes to cut out. By the time I was finished with this, it was dinner and there was stuff to do around here that needed attending. So I thought instead of pushing it I would finish the cutting up today. No harm in that.

I am liking this quite a bit, and I think it will look good knowing what I still have in store for it. But you will have to wait and see what else I have up my sleeve. ;)

On a final thought, I did want to post a reminder that Lee Valley tools has their Free Shipping on orders $40 or more for two more days. (And let's be honest - what order there ISN'T under $40??) I just thought I would let you all know in case you are in need of anything or have any extra Christmas money to spend. With shipping costs as they are, it would save you a good amount.

I hope you like the progress report. To me, it is rather fun seeing this design evolve. All the while that I am cutting, I am designing in my head and thinking of the next projects to make.

And so the cycle continues . . .

Have a great Saturday!
Hi Sheila I think I see myself as faster than I am
I also underestimate the time on a project that
I may think is just up my street. Cant be an age
thing as I'm only 21ish LoL
I think those who do 8 sided flakes do it because
it is easier than spacing a 6 sided one? Maybe?
Jamie
 

Attachments

#7,303 ·
The Process

As usual, I am the queen of underestimation when it comes to time. Thank goodness my job and life are fairly flexible and the things that I do aren't completely reliant on my own estimations as to how much time a particular project would take. If that were the case, I would be lost.

In trying to figure out why this happens so often and why I just can't seem to get over the hurdle of accurately judging how long something will take me, I have come to the conclusion that it probably happens this way because I enjoy what I do so much. We all know it never seems like things take a long time to do when we like doing them. Time passes quickly in our minds and it seems as if it takes a great deal less to complete things that are pleasant for us to do.

So there. I have taken a potentially negative trait and turned it into a somewhat positive one. At least in my head. My conclusion is that I like what I do so much it seems like it takes no time at all to accomplish certain tasks, when in reality, the clock keeps ticking.

My hopes were to finish my cutting on the new project yesterday. I must admit that I didn't start until mid-afternoon, as there were other business things that needed to be done before I settled down at the scroll saw. In looking at the drawings that I had made, I thought there would be no trouble at all not only completing the tray itself, but also the add-on snowflakes. So I coasted through my morning tasks without worry or a single thought of time.

As I began cutting, I once again fell into a nice rhythm and thought about how much I appreciated my saw. I am not sure if it is because of the Excalibur or the comfort of feeling as if I knew what I was doing or a little bit of both, but things hummed along just fine. As always, it was a thrill for me to see the design unfold on the piece of ash as the small pieces of wood fell to the floor, one at a time. I turned the piece over to look at the back countless times, as you could really see it unfolding that way and appreciate the beautiful grain. It was like unwrapping a gift, one layer at a time and with each cut made I was more excited.

As I continued cutting though, I did also realize that finishing up the tray would take the better part of the day. While the cuts were not particularly difficult, they were small and many of them were fussy. Snowflakes can be like that. It is sometimes difficult to remember that everything you do on a snowflake is multiplied by six. Even if there are only three inside cuts per arm, that means the entire flake has 18 inside cuts. I was glad that I only decided to pepper the tray with 'occasional' snowflakes, filling in the rest with swirls which gave them movement and interest. When the design is completed you will see why I did things this way.

(As I side note, did I ever mention how it bothers me when I see 8 sided snowflakes?? There are no such things that naturally occur in nature and it is a pet peeve of mine when I see them. Just a random thought!)

Back to the tray . . .

I think it really came out nice:

Dishware Rectangle Serveware Body jewelry Font


The snowflakes on it are not the easiest cuts, but with some time and patience (and a 2/0 Olson scroll saw blade) they were not difficult at all. Perhaps a bit time consuming though. Remember - just because things take a bit more time, doesn't mean that they are difficult. I think people confuse the two. I like to enjoy the process.

Plant Wood Art Creative arts Font


And here is a shot of the random swirls.

Brown Wood Font Pattern Hardwood


I am not good at "random" things. My head tries to constantly organize things and my random stuff usually turns out like wallpaper, where a design that appears to be random in actuality is a repeat of the design in some form or another. It was truly more difficult for me to draw the swirls and make them look how I wanted than to draw the snowflakes themselves. How crazy is that?

Today, I have several more individual snowflakes to cut out. By the time I was finished with this, it was dinner and there was stuff to do around here that needed attending. So I thought instead of pushing it I would finish the cutting up today. No harm in that.

I am liking this quite a bit, and I think it will look good knowing what I still have in store for it. But you will have to wait and see what else I have up my sleeve. ;)

On a final thought, I did want to post a reminder that Lee Valley tools has their Free Shipping on orders $40 or more for two more days. (And let's be honest - what order there ISN'T under $40??) I just thought I would let you all know in case you are in need of anything or have any extra Christmas money to spend. With shipping costs as they are, it would save you a good amount.

I hope you like the progress report. To me, it is rather fun seeing this design evolve. All the while that I am cutting, I am designing in my head and thinking of the next projects to make.

And so the cycle continues . . .

Have a great Saturday!
That is just some super fine scrollin.
 

Attachments

#7,309 ·
Snowflake Candle Tray

I had a nice relaxing day of cutting yesterday. Among other things, I finished cutting out the pieces to my new snowflake candle tray.

Everything went well, except if I were to do it again I would make sure that I left a bit more waste area on some of the smaller snowflakes so that they would be easier to handle on the scroll saw. More than once the blade grabbed the wood and it started me when it slammed it on the table. Nothing broke however and my reaction was quick, but I am not used to cutting things that small and I should have known better to leave bigger pieces of wood so I could easily hold and maneuver things.

But in the end, all turned out well. The finished set looks like this:

Dishware Rectangle Serveware Petal Font


As you can see from the picture, the dowel rod that is inserted into each of the snowflakes, barely shows through.

I decided to place the vertical snowflakes in a 'random' pattern. I didn't want them to look too on purpose. So I scattered them about around the center just a bit.

Dishware Serveware Font Rectangle Body jewelry


With the candle, I think it looks lovely.

Dishware Wax Drinkware Cup Serveware


Today I will be writing the pattern packet for this project. We are going to do a site update in the next couple of days and I want to include it in the new offerings. I also am working on two articles for the magazine - one is the instructions for the dragonfly tray and the other is for the article on applying your pattern to the wood. I did come up with some interesting thoughts on things in trying different methods of applying the pattern when making the past couple of projects and I need to organize my thoughts on things and get the article written.

It is snowing lightly today, and looks very 'wintery' outside. I suppose it is a good day to be making snowflakes in the warmth of my place here with my cats strewn at my lap and feet. It will be a relaxing day, and if I get these few things accomplished, I will be quite happy.

I hope you all have a good day planned today. The first weekend after the holidays is a relief for many. It's a good time to work on those winter projects and spend some time doing things for yourself.

Have a great one!
 

Attachments

#7,310 ·
Snowflake Candle Tray

I had a nice relaxing day of cutting yesterday. Among other things, I finished cutting out the pieces to my new snowflake candle tray.

Everything went well, except if I were to do it again I would make sure that I left a bit more waste area on some of the smaller snowflakes so that they would be easier to handle on the scroll saw. More than once the blade grabbed the wood and it started me when it slammed it on the table. Nothing broke however and my reaction was quick, but I am not used to cutting things that small and I should have known better to leave bigger pieces of wood so I could easily hold and maneuver things.

But in the end, all turned out well. The finished set looks like this:

Dishware Rectangle Serveware Petal Font


As you can see from the picture, the dowel rod that is inserted into each of the snowflakes, barely shows through.

I decided to place the vertical snowflakes in a 'random' pattern. I didn't want them to look too on purpose. So I scattered them about around the center just a bit.

Dishware Serveware Font Rectangle Body jewelry


With the candle, I think it looks lovely.

Dishware Wax Drinkware Cup Serveware


Today I will be writing the pattern packet for this project. We are going to do a site update in the next couple of days and I want to include it in the new offerings. I also am working on two articles for the magazine - one is the instructions for the dragonfly tray and the other is for the article on applying your pattern to the wood. I did come up with some interesting thoughts on things in trying different methods of applying the pattern when making the past couple of projects and I need to organize my thoughts on things and get the article written.

It is snowing lightly today, and looks very 'wintery' outside. I suppose it is a good day to be making snowflakes in the warmth of my place here with my cats strewn at my lap and feet. It will be a relaxing day, and if I get these few things accomplished, I will be quite happy.

I hope you all have a good day planned today. The first weekend after the holidays is a relief for many. It's a good time to work on those winter projects and spend some time doing things for yourself.

Have a great one!
Sheila that is very nicely done, I think that
they can also be a nice winter ornament not
just for Christmas. I like celebrating ALL the
seasons. I've just printed out your medium size
ornaments, so I'm hoping to start up this old
scroll-saw. Fingers crossed.
Enjoy a nice walk in the snaw
Jamie
 

Attachments

#7,317 ·
Snowflake Tray - Version 2

I had a good day yesterday finishing up my new snowflake candle tray and getting some instructions written. I know the tray looked finished yesterday, but I wanted to see how it would look with a little tint and - yes - some sparkles added to it. I was certainly not disappointed.

I had purposely used ash to cut the tray because of its light color. While maple can be light in color like the ash, I find that sometimes the grain is very nondescript and when I use stain or color on it, it is lost completely. While some projects look good with less grain, I wanted this one to have the grain showing through. The simplicity of the swirling design on the tray would look better (I felt) with the grain of the ash visible.

I used the DecoArt Staining and Antiquing gel to make the color very transparent and help it to move as I applied it. This way I was able to achieve a very sheer hint of color without the piece looking 'painted.' I used a light blue paint for the base of the tray and dabbed on white for the snowflakes. This coloring was very subtle and still allowed the beauty of the wood to show through.

I then wanted to add just a hint of sparkles, as it was supposed to replicate ice and snow and needed to have some shimmer to it. For the swirls on the tray, I used the DecoArt Glamour Dust Glitter Paint in a pretty blue. The Glamour Dust paint has very finely ground glitter and the base is very slightly tinted. I mixed it with the Staining and Antiquing so that it would be very subtle and just gently brushed it on over the swirls. This gave a shimmer without actually seeing chunks of glitter.

For the snowflakes however, I chose to use some Crystal Craft Twinkles, again by DecoArt. The Craft Twinkles are different from the Glamour Dust in that they are much larger pieces of glitter suspended in a clear base. While this may seem to be a trivial difference, it really affects the overall look of the piece.

I was tossing back and forth as to whether I wanted to use the clear Craft Twinkles or the silver on the snowflakes. I wanted them to stand out from the rest of the piece - especially on the tray. But while I wanted them to sparkle, I didn't want them to look too gaudy.

In the end, I went with the clear (Crystal) Craft Twinkles, which have a rather iridescent shimmer to them. They are a bit more subtle and really made the tray look nice.

While I liked the natural colored piece, I really feel that adding this bit of color greatly improved the overall look. It gave it that "wow!" effect without smothering the wood grain. So you could still see that it is made from a beautiful piece of wood.

And you need to believe me when I say this takes NO SKILL at all! You simply brush the colors over the areas. No lines. No neatness required. The colors I used are so transparent that if you make a boo boo, it is easily fixed. And the products are so cheap (around $1.50 for a 2 oz bottle of each of the paints/mediums) that your total investment in purchasing the paint/colors for this project would be well under $10. That is one thing that I really love about these DecoArt products. Not only are they easily found (and you can get them online at their website) but they are very cost effective too. I am sorry if I sound like I am doing a commercial for them, but I really think that they have great products and I do use them all the time.

In any case, below is the finished tray:

Window Textile Wood Dishware Font


Dishware Font Art Creative arts Rectangle


Dishware Serveware Beige Wood Jewellery


I think you can see how soft and subtle the color is. You can barely see the shimmer from the Craft Twinkles. Here is a little better picture:

Dishware Wood Serveware Art Motif


I hope it gets the idea across. Besides . . . subtle is good, isn't it?

Well, that's it for today. I am still working on the pattern for this and the site update. Hopefully I can get the newsletter out by this evening. We have several new things to up there and more fun yet to come.

Monday already? It will be different to have a 'normal' week again. But good. I hope you all have a graeat day! :)
 

Attachments

#7,318 ·
Snowflake Tray - Version 2

I had a good day yesterday finishing up my new snowflake candle tray and getting some instructions written. I know the tray looked finished yesterday, but I wanted to see how it would look with a little tint and - yes - some sparkles added to it. I was certainly not disappointed.

I had purposely used ash to cut the tray because of its light color. While maple can be light in color like the ash, I find that sometimes the grain is very nondescript and when I use stain or color on it, it is lost completely. While some projects look good with less grain, I wanted this one to have the grain showing through. The simplicity of the swirling design on the tray would look better (I felt) with the grain of the ash visible.

I used the DecoArt Staining and Antiquing gel to make the color very transparent and help it to move as I applied it. This way I was able to achieve a very sheer hint of color without the piece looking 'painted.' I used a light blue paint for the base of the tray and dabbed on white for the snowflakes. This coloring was very subtle and still allowed the beauty of the wood to show through.

I then wanted to add just a hint of sparkles, as it was supposed to replicate ice and snow and needed to have some shimmer to it. For the swirls on the tray, I used the DecoArt Glamour Dust Glitter Paint in a pretty blue. The Glamour Dust paint has very finely ground glitter and the base is very slightly tinted. I mixed it with the Staining and Antiquing so that it would be very subtle and just gently brushed it on over the swirls. This gave a shimmer without actually seeing chunks of glitter.

For the snowflakes however, I chose to use some Crystal Craft Twinkles, again by DecoArt. The Craft Twinkles are different from the Glamour Dust in that they are much larger pieces of glitter suspended in a clear base. While this may seem to be a trivial difference, it really affects the overall look of the piece.

I was tossing back and forth as to whether I wanted to use the clear Craft Twinkles or the silver on the snowflakes. I wanted them to stand out from the rest of the piece - especially on the tray. But while I wanted them to sparkle, I didn't want them to look too gaudy.

In the end, I went with the clear (Crystal) Craft Twinkles, which have a rather iridescent shimmer to them. They are a bit more subtle and really made the tray look nice.

While I liked the natural colored piece, I really feel that adding this bit of color greatly improved the overall look. It gave it that "wow!" effect without smothering the wood grain. So you could still see that it is made from a beautiful piece of wood.

And you need to believe me when I say this takes NO SKILL at all! You simply brush the colors over the areas. No lines. No neatness required. The colors I used are so transparent that if you make a boo boo, it is easily fixed. And the products are so cheap (around $1.50 for a 2 oz bottle of each of the paints/mediums) that your total investment in purchasing the paint/colors for this project would be well under $10. That is one thing that I really love about these DecoArt products. Not only are they easily found (and you can get them online at their website) but they are very cost effective too. I am sorry if I sound like I am doing a commercial for them, but I really think that they have great products and I do use them all the time.

In any case, below is the finished tray:

Window Textile Wood Dishware Font


Dishware Font Art Creative arts Rectangle


Dishware Serveware Beige Wood Jewellery


I think you can see how soft and subtle the color is. You can barely see the shimmer from the Craft Twinkles. Here is a little better picture:

Dishware Wood Serveware Art Motif


I hope it gets the idea across. Besides . . . subtle is good, isn't it?

Well, that's it for today. I am still working on the pattern for this and the site update. Hopefully I can get the newsletter out by this evening. We have several new things to up there and more fun yet to come.

Monday already? It will be different to have a 'normal' week again. But good. I hope you all have a graeat day! :)
That stands out Sheila. Just a subtle hint though
I saw the pic before reading and thought that is a nice
touch like looking through a prism with those rainbow tones.
Good thinking and as always good tase
Jamie
In Drizzly Scotland
 

Attachments

#7,329 ·
Site Updated

I am a tad late in posting today, but the new patterns are ready to go and the site is updated. I finished writing the instructions yesterday for both the SNOW word art

Sleeve Font Creative arts Motif Pattern


and also the Winter Wonderland Dimensional Candle Tray

Dishware Serveware Tableware Cup Beige


Today's goal is to get my newsletter out to let people know about the new products and also about the new specials we have on our Specials page. We decided to put all of our designs with "hearts" on them on special so people can get a head start on cutting for Valentine's gifts.

I still need to work on my article for the magazine too. I am nearly finished with it, but I need to button it up and get it to my editor.

So it is a busy day as always.

With that said, I will keep it short here and get moving. I wish you all a really great day!

Sheila
 

Attachments

#7,330 ·
Site Updated

I am a tad late in posting today, but the new patterns are ready to go and the site is updated. I finished writing the instructions yesterday for both the SNOW word art

Sleeve Font Creative arts Motif Pattern


and also the Winter Wonderland Dimensional Candle Tray

Dishware Serveware Tableware Cup Beige


Today's goal is to get my newsletter out to let people know about the new products and also about the new specials we have on our Specials page. We decided to put all of our designs with "hearts" on them on special so people can get a head start on cutting for Valentine's gifts.

I still need to work on my article for the magazine too. I am nearly finished with it, but I need to button it up and get it to my editor.

So it is a busy day as always.

With that said, I will keep it short here and get moving. I wish you all a really great day!

Sheila
Celebrate the snow season Sheila.
I have not seen many Penguins or Polar Bears this year
Are they out of Fashion?
My youngest is a Valentine Baby. They are coming up to
Scotland for it.
Yours
Jamie
 

Attachments

#7,337 ·
Just Stuff

Today will be a rather run-of-the-mill day, if there is such a thing for a designer. We finished the site update yesterday and everything new is posted and the newsletter is out and all is well. That always feels like a good accomplishment.

Now it is time to turn my attention to finishing up the stuff for the next magazine articles. I need to work on the instructions for the dragonfly tray and also sort through all the information that I have on applying patterns to the wood and compiling a nice and comprehensive article. I pretty much know what I want to say, but presenting my thoughts in an organized fashion will be the key. I'll feel good when everything is done though and I can move on to my next drawings.

So for today, I am keeping this short and just stopping by to say 'hi' to you all.

Tableware Cat Carnivore Felidae Serveware


Time to get to work!

Have a great day everyone! :)
 

Attachments

#7,338 ·
Just Stuff

Today will be a rather run-of-the-mill day, if there is such a thing for a designer. We finished the site update yesterday and everything new is posted and the newsletter is out and all is well. That always feels like a good accomplishment.

Now it is time to turn my attention to finishing up the stuff for the next magazine articles. I need to work on the instructions for the dragonfly tray and also sort through all the information that I have on applying patterns to the wood and compiling a nice and comprehensive article. I pretty much know what I want to say, but presenting my thoughts in an organized fashion will be the key. I'll feel good when everything is done though and I can move on to my next drawings.

So for today, I am keeping this short and just stopping by to say 'hi' to you all.

Tableware Cat Carnivore Felidae Serveware


Time to get to work!

Have a great day everyone! :)
Time to play, not, work… lol
 

Attachments

#7,347 ·
Juggling Act

The first week of 2013 has been really busy and exciting for us. It seems that all the hard work and effort we are putting into the business is slowly paying off and sending us in new directions. And that is good.

The catalog company that we are no longer doing business with released its latest issue this past week or so. It was the first time in probably 15 years that I didn't have one design represented in it. That alone was quite scary because up until this point, we had become a substantial part of their business, and they ours. Naturally both Keith and I felt a bit of apprehension because for us, it was a very traumatic thing to break ties. But we knew that we needed to do it. And no matter what the consequences were for us financially, we knew that it was the right thing for us. It isn't always about money. It is about integrity and trust and doing what we feel was the thing to do.

Sometimes when two parties don't see eye to eye on things, it is just best to go their separate ways. This was one of those times, I believe.

But looking at the good side of things (as I often try to do) I looked at it as an opportunity for us to expand on our own. Perhaps we had become somewhat complacent in our thinking and were getting a bit lazy. Yes, we were working and designing, but we had neglected many of the avenues that we need to take to expand our business and get word out to others that we exist. While we spent a great deal of time designing, we seemed to spend little time on marketing ourselves and working on marketing out website. But that is changing.

Keith has spent the last week investigating the many avenues of marketing that are available to us on the internet. Unlike in the past, there is a whole array of avenues to take that can help establish a small company. We are trying our hand at different advertising places such as Facebook and Google, and also some other cross linking with different sites. We have also set up Etsy and Ebay accounts to sell our patterns, and additionally we are investigating the possibility of selling our patterns on Amazon. While none of these avenues will probably be the a huge place for sales, little by little we are chipping away and getting our name out there. Hopefully if someone buys even one pattern from one of these sites, they will enjoy it and come to us directly on our own site, and we will earn a new customer.

Building our customers one at a time is a good thing. It allows us to keep our business professional, yet personal too. I still fill each order personally, and I plan to continue doing so as long as time will allow. I want our customers to know that they are dealing with real people and that when they order, it is either Keith or myself that is taking care of them. While we want to grow, we also want to hold on to that personal level of service as long as we can.

We have had pretty good results on Ebay so far. We only tested a couple of our patterns there, but they are already selling. Since we are here most of the time and the computers are always on, we are able to give our usual fast response and they have their orders very quickly after being placed. That will only help us in the long run. We hope to continue on these and our already established avenues to keep things going in this positive direction, and are both willing to work hard to do so.

In between all of this, we are still designing and writing articles and talking to customers. While this behind the scenes activity may not be the most interesting thing to blog about, when I started writing here I explained that I would discuss all aspects of the business, and this is a part of it. I still maintain that we are all like icebergs, and people only see a small portion of what we do (even if we blog about it nearly every day!)

I share this information because several people ask me "how do I get started in a business like yours?" When I am asked that, I just don't know where to begin. There are so many layers of different types of tasks and work that are involved that it is a truly complex process. Even for our small business. It is so much more than just drawing and cutting out projects. While many people seem to think that it is that easy, that is only a small portion of what makes a business like ours successful. Just like the iceberg, you only see a small portion of things.

But it is all good. And we are both very happy that we have such great support and are finding our way in this world. We both look forward to seeing our business grow and even if it is by baby steps, it is going in the right direction. What more could we ask for?

So it is back to juggling for me today. I am finishing up writing an article and that set of instructions for the magazine today. I have many wonderful ideas of projects that I am going to make and I will be getting to them as soon as time permits.

Thanks again to all of you for your ongoing support. Both Keith and I know that we wouldn't be where we are now without you. We look forward to a great year of new ideas and watching our little company grow and having fun doing so. We hope you stay with us for the ride.

Art paint Art Pink Creative arts Carnivore


"Juggling Cat" by Ann Marie Hoff. You can purchase her artwork HERE

Have a great Thursday!
 

Attachments

#7,348 ·
Juggling Act

The first week of 2013 has been really busy and exciting for us. It seems that all the hard work and effort we are putting into the business is slowly paying off and sending us in new directions. And that is good.

The catalog company that we are no longer doing business with released its latest issue this past week or so. It was the first time in probably 15 years that I didn't have one design represented in it. That alone was quite scary because up until this point, we had become a substantial part of their business, and they ours. Naturally both Keith and I felt a bit of apprehension because for us, it was a very traumatic thing to break ties. But we knew that we needed to do it. And no matter what the consequences were for us financially, we knew that it was the right thing for us. It isn't always about money. It is about integrity and trust and doing what we feel was the thing to do.

Sometimes when two parties don't see eye to eye on things, it is just best to go their separate ways. This was one of those times, I believe.

But looking at the good side of things (as I often try to do) I looked at it as an opportunity for us to expand on our own. Perhaps we had become somewhat complacent in our thinking and were getting a bit lazy. Yes, we were working and designing, but we had neglected many of the avenues that we need to take to expand our business and get word out to others that we exist. While we spent a great deal of time designing, we seemed to spend little time on marketing ourselves and working on marketing out website. But that is changing.

Keith has spent the last week investigating the many avenues of marketing that are available to us on the internet. Unlike in the past, there is a whole array of avenues to take that can help establish a small company. We are trying our hand at different advertising places such as Facebook and Google, and also some other cross linking with different sites. We have also set up Etsy and Ebay accounts to sell our patterns, and additionally we are investigating the possibility of selling our patterns on Amazon. While none of these avenues will probably be the a huge place for sales, little by little we are chipping away and getting our name out there. Hopefully if someone buys even one pattern from one of these sites, they will enjoy it and come to us directly on our own site, and we will earn a new customer.

Building our customers one at a time is a good thing. It allows us to keep our business professional, yet personal too. I still fill each order personally, and I plan to continue doing so as long as time will allow. I want our customers to know that they are dealing with real people and that when they order, it is either Keith or myself that is taking care of them. While we want to grow, we also want to hold on to that personal level of service as long as we can.

We have had pretty good results on Ebay so far. We only tested a couple of our patterns there, but they are already selling. Since we are here most of the time and the computers are always on, we are able to give our usual fast response and they have their orders very quickly after being placed. That will only help us in the long run. We hope to continue on these and our already established avenues to keep things going in this positive direction, and are both willing to work hard to do so.

In between all of this, we are still designing and writing articles and talking to customers. While this behind the scenes activity may not be the most interesting thing to blog about, when I started writing here I explained that I would discuss all aspects of the business, and this is a part of it. I still maintain that we are all like icebergs, and people only see a small portion of what we do (even if we blog about it nearly every day!)

I share this information because several people ask me "how do I get started in a business like yours?" When I am asked that, I just don't know where to begin. There are so many layers of different types of tasks and work that are involved that it is a truly complex process. Even for our small business. It is so much more than just drawing and cutting out projects. While many people seem to think that it is that easy, that is only a small portion of what makes a business like ours successful. Just like the iceberg, you only see a small portion of things.

But it is all good. And we are both very happy that we have such great support and are finding our way in this world. We both look forward to seeing our business grow and even if it is by baby steps, it is going in the right direction. What more could we ask for?

So it is back to juggling for me today. I am finishing up writing an article and that set of instructions for the magazine today. I have many wonderful ideas of projects that I am going to make and I will be getting to them as soon as time permits.

Thanks again to all of you for your ongoing support. Both Keith and I know that we wouldn't be where we are now without you. We look forward to a great year of new ideas and watching our little company grow and having fun doing so. We hope you stay with us for the ride.

Art paint Art Pink Creative arts Carnivore


"Juggling Cat" by Ann Marie Hoff. You can purchase her artwork HERE

Have a great Thursday!
What I have enjoyed, most of all, is the personal service you provide before, during and after the sale. Having been in customer service for about 35 years, I know how important that is to building your business. Thanks, guys, for all you do.
 

Attachments

#7,354 ·
Advertising

After my recent posts on our different types of marketing we are doing on Ebay, Etsy and Amazon, I have had several people ask me to keep you all posted as to how things were going.

As most of you realize, these avenues (like any other advertising campaign) all take some time to develop and bring returns. I think that many people expect to go try one or two avenues and have immediate or near-immediate success. This just isn't the case.

In the past weeks, we have not only explored Ebay, Etsy and Amazon, but we have also advertised on Facebook and Google. Those of you who have even explored one of these methods of marketing realize that it takes a decent amount of research and learning to figure out each of these separate entities. We have also been refining our website from the inside out so that our rankings will be increased by the search engines. There are so many small things that can be done that customers don't even see that help with this a great deal.

Keith has done much of this work in between his regular designing. He is far better at the computer than I am and much of what he is learning and knows I don't even begin to understand.

I suppose what I am saying is that it is a long and complex process that will be ongoing throughout the life of our business. Not only do we need a great product and excellent customer service, but we also need to let people know that we are here so that they can give us a try.

In the short time that we have been doing this, we do see some positive returns from our efforts. While Etsy seems to be rather slow, it is the cheapest of the avenues so the risk is low. However, not only are we not getting sales for our patterns there, but we are barely getting people to look. I am sure that the number of people that even viewed our items was mostly due to my link here in my blog last week and overall we are getting lost in the shuffle of the many people that are selling there. I wonder how others do there, as it seems that it is mostly a community of people who buy finished things rather than patterns to make things themselves.

But as I said, it is a low risk and it has only been a week, so we need to see what happens after a little more time. People who are selling finished wood products may do a bit better than we are there.

Ebay has shown us a greater rate of return. In the few days we have been there, we have sold several pattern, even though we only have a few things listed. This is good because on all of these sales, we are getting excellent feedback and comments and we believe that the customers who buy one or two patterns from Ebay would come to visit our site to see our full line of patterns there and make future purchases. The cost of the listings is reasonable, and while it is a bit of a learning curve to list products, once done they can very easily be re-listed with little trouble. For selling patterns like we do, this is ideal and it is actually cheaper advertising that Google or Facebook. We don't have to sell many patterns for these listings to pay for themselves.

The Facebook and Google listings are both pay-per-click types of ads. This means that there is a lot of trial and error as to the right amount you wish to pay for someone to click on the ad and come to the site. Much research needs to be done as to keywords and what groups you want to see the ads. While you want to have a lot of people click through, you want those people to be qualified and really be sure that they are interested in what you are selling. It doesn't pay to have lots of clicks and people come to the site if they are really interested in other types of woodworking. It not only wastes their time and money, but also your own. Finding the right formula and price you are willing to pay to bring a customer to your site is something that may take a bit of time.

As far as Amazon goes, that seems to be the trickiest of all. The fees are more stringent than the other venues and there are more rules such as shipping fees, etc. that may not make it cost effective for some of you to try selling that way. Right now we are waiting for approval to list products without UPC codes, as they are required unless they approve otherwise. That alone would eliminate many of you who read this, as most of you who hand craft items don't apply for UPC codes for your products. There are exceptions though and we are going to give it a chance. We may have one or two patterns there just to see how things work.

As you can see, there are many complex choices you can use to advertise your products. I also want to mention that since we are selling patterns and many of you are selling actual finished products, we are comparing apples and oranges here. You may find you do better (or worse) than we do in a certain market just because what you are selling is probably geared to an entirely different audience.

If I have any advice at all to you, it is that you need to be PATIENT. My initial thoughts on all of these ways of advertising is that there is probably not one particular avenue that will sustain a business on its own. I think that a combination of several of them is needed to make a decent impact, and you need to be wiling to invest not only money into your own business, but also the time it takes not only to set up these accounts, but also to maintain them.

(That is part of the reason why my blogs here have been a bit bland lately!)

All these things take time. And even though we have only been at it for a just over a week, we do see a difference in our traffic to the site. Our mailing list is growing daily and our sales are doing good and we are starting the year off well. But a big part of that is because we have taken the time to do the homework and also take a risk with trying new things. (Knowledge is power!)

I suppose that is what I love so much about the business. It isn't just drawing and cutting out patterns. It is all the many, many facets that keep things interesting and fun. Learning every day and figuring things out, as well as being able to express creativity and meet wonderful customers make all of this work worth it. Having a business is like a diamond, with each facet as interesting and as beautiful as the next.

Reptile Terrestrial animal Lizard Snout Creative arts


But it is our job to keep them sparkling!

Have a great Friday!
 

Attachments

#7,355 ·
Advertising

After my recent posts on our different types of marketing we are doing on Ebay, Etsy and Amazon, I have had several people ask me to keep you all posted as to how things were going.

As most of you realize, these avenues (like any other advertising campaign) all take some time to develop and bring returns. I think that many people expect to go try one or two avenues and have immediate or near-immediate success. This just isn't the case.

In the past weeks, we have not only explored Ebay, Etsy and Amazon, but we have also advertised on Facebook and Google. Those of you who have even explored one of these methods of marketing realize that it takes a decent amount of research and learning to figure out each of these separate entities. We have also been refining our website from the inside out so that our rankings will be increased by the search engines. There are so many small things that can be done that customers don't even see that help with this a great deal.

Keith has done much of this work in between his regular designing. He is far better at the computer than I am and much of what he is learning and knows I don't even begin to understand.

I suppose what I am saying is that it is a long and complex process that will be ongoing throughout the life of our business. Not only do we need a great product and excellent customer service, but we also need to let people know that we are here so that they can give us a try.

In the short time that we have been doing this, we do see some positive returns from our efforts. While Etsy seems to be rather slow, it is the cheapest of the avenues so the risk is low. However, not only are we not getting sales for our patterns there, but we are barely getting people to look. I am sure that the number of people that even viewed our items was mostly due to my link here in my blog last week and overall we are getting lost in the shuffle of the many people that are selling there. I wonder how others do there, as it seems that it is mostly a community of people who buy finished things rather than patterns to make things themselves.

But as I said, it is a low risk and it has only been a week, so we need to see what happens after a little more time. People who are selling finished wood products may do a bit better than we are there.

Ebay has shown us a greater rate of return. In the few days we have been there, we have sold several pattern, even though we only have a few things listed. This is good because on all of these sales, we are getting excellent feedback and comments and we believe that the customers who buy one or two patterns from Ebay would come to visit our site to see our full line of patterns there and make future purchases. The cost of the listings is reasonable, and while it is a bit of a learning curve to list products, once done they can very easily be re-listed with little trouble. For selling patterns like we do, this is ideal and it is actually cheaper advertising that Google or Facebook. We don't have to sell many patterns for these listings to pay for themselves.

The Facebook and Google listings are both pay-per-click types of ads. This means that there is a lot of trial and error as to the right amount you wish to pay for someone to click on the ad and come to the site. Much research needs to be done as to keywords and what groups you want to see the ads. While you want to have a lot of people click through, you want those people to be qualified and really be sure that they are interested in what you are selling. It doesn't pay to have lots of clicks and people come to the site if they are really interested in other types of woodworking. It not only wastes their time and money, but also your own. Finding the right formula and price you are willing to pay to bring a customer to your site is something that may take a bit of time.

As far as Amazon goes, that seems to be the trickiest of all. The fees are more stringent than the other venues and there are more rules such as shipping fees, etc. that may not make it cost effective for some of you to try selling that way. Right now we are waiting for approval to list products without UPC codes, as they are required unless they approve otherwise. That alone would eliminate many of you who read this, as most of you who hand craft items don't apply for UPC codes for your products. There are exceptions though and we are going to give it a chance. We may have one or two patterns there just to see how things work.

As you can see, there are many complex choices you can use to advertise your products. I also want to mention that since we are selling patterns and many of you are selling actual finished products, we are comparing apples and oranges here. You may find you do better (or worse) than we do in a certain market just because what you are selling is probably geared to an entirely different audience.

If I have any advice at all to you, it is that you need to be PATIENT. My initial thoughts on all of these ways of advertising is that there is probably not one particular avenue that will sustain a business on its own. I think that a combination of several of them is needed to make a decent impact, and you need to be wiling to invest not only money into your own business, but also the time it takes not only to set up these accounts, but also to maintain them.

(That is part of the reason why my blogs here have been a bit bland lately!)

All these things take time. And even though we have only been at it for a just over a week, we do see a difference in our traffic to the site. Our mailing list is growing daily and our sales are doing good and we are starting the year off well. But a big part of that is because we have taken the time to do the homework and also take a risk with trying new things. (Knowledge is power!)

I suppose that is what I love so much about the business. It isn't just drawing and cutting out patterns. It is all the many, many facets that keep things interesting and fun. Learning every day and figuring things out, as well as being able to express creativity and meet wonderful customers make all of this work worth it. Having a business is like a diamond, with each facet as interesting and as beautiful as the next.

Reptile Terrestrial animal Lizard Snout Creative arts


But it is our job to keep them sparkling!

Have a great Friday!
Good morning Sheila,
We have an Etsy site but we let it go a couple of years ago because of no sales. Just got tired of throwing money at it without any return at all. We had all kinds of lookers and friends on but no sales. We may try again now that I have retired but not certain about that. Kathie wants to start her own site on Etsy because she has been doing a lot of knitting and making scarves and other items that do not go with the Scroller and Toler, so we will see.
Rick
 

Attachments

#7,363 ·
Taking it Slow

I want to start out today by thanking everyone who sent input regarding sales and advertising on places like Ebay, Etsy and Amazon. It really helps the rest of us to hear from other people's experiences and hear what works best for then.

While I don't feel that there is a 'magic formula' that dictates whether a venue is successful or not, certainly assessing the information that others offer from their experiences helps us make our own decisions as to what may be the most helpful to our own business.

Something that I am seeing as even more important than advertising your small business is how you treat your customers once they arrive on your site or make a purchase. While getting people to your site or store is the first step, once they are there and how you treat them is definitely going to dictate whether or not they will become a regular customer and return.

From the beginning, I have run my business from the standpoint that I wanted to treat my customers how I would like to be treated. While that sounds like a simple philosophy, there are many (many) places of business that have lost that way of thinking and no longer practice that philosophy.

There are many reasons that I see this occurring. While it is easy to offer good service when your business is small and you are dealing with customers on a one to one basis, as the business grows and the customer base and sales grow, it gets increasingly difficult to spend the amount of time on each and every sale. There just aren't enough hours in the day. It takes a conscious effort and a great deal of thought to keep things running smoothly when things are going well. And while anyone who is in business for themselves will welcome growth, they need to take the necessary steps to prepare for it and keep things running smoothly and quality levels high as their business expands. It doesn't just happen.

A year or so ago I wrote about my bank in Chicago being taken over by one of the "big banks." I had been a customer of the smaller neighborhood bank for over ten years and I was very happy with their personal attention and customer service. Whenever I needed anything, I was able to talk to people whom I had personally met and had developed a business relationship with, and I felt as if as a customer, no matter how small, I mattered.

Now though, whenever I have a question or if anything is amiss, I have to call a main phone number and I am thrown into a web of choices, rerouting and menus. There is no way that I can even talk to a real person without being on the phone probably anywhere from five to ten minutes and going through several choice menus. When I finally do reach a customer service representative, it is only at times when they are able to help me, and many times they send me back into the 'system' to be helped by another department. It is quite frustrating.

In the mean time, the bank fees continue to rise, for services that we never realized that we had or used or needed. It is a good example of where getting 'too big' and business growth is not a good thing. It may be good for the company, but it leaves the customers out in the cold.

I suppose that the moral of this post is that we need to be aware of our growth as a business, and take the necessary precautions to ensure that no matter how much we expand, we still offer excellent services to our customers as well as excellent products. For that reason, I think that growing slowly is far preferable to being an 'overnight success', as it allows us to really adjust with the changes that growth brings and learn from our experiences. I know for myself that some days I feel a bit 'frazzled' because there are many things that need my attention and only so many hours in the day (and I am only one person!) I try my best to give personal service to everyone, but some days it takes a bit longer to get back to people than others. And it doesn't leave a lot of time for the other parts of the business, like designing new patterns.

I am not complaining, mind you. I truly enjoy my interactions with my customers. There are just some days when I don't feel that my own goals here have advanced as much as I would have liked. But then I look at the big picture and I don't think I would do things any other way.

It is going to be an interesting year ahead for our company. As we watch our company grow, I am sure that there will be many new challenges that we have to face as a result of that growth. But going slow and taking our time to make the best decisions we can, as well as listening to others around us who have successful businesses and offer advice will be an important part of our own success. And that is where places such as this are invaluable.

Thank you all for your comments and input. I am sure that not only Keith and I appreciate your thoughts, but also the many others who have their own businesses who read here as well. Together we can all help each other grow.

Fawn Snout Tail Companion dog Pet supply


Have a great Saturday.
 

Attachments

#7,364 ·
Taking it Slow

I want to start out today by thanking everyone who sent input regarding sales and advertising on places like Ebay, Etsy and Amazon. It really helps the rest of us to hear from other people's experiences and hear what works best for then.

While I don't feel that there is a 'magic formula' that dictates whether a venue is successful or not, certainly assessing the information that others offer from their experiences helps us make our own decisions as to what may be the most helpful to our own business.

Something that I am seeing as even more important than advertising your small business is how you treat your customers once they arrive on your site or make a purchase. While getting people to your site or store is the first step, once they are there and how you treat them is definitely going to dictate whether or not they will become a regular customer and return.

From the beginning, I have run my business from the standpoint that I wanted to treat my customers how I would like to be treated. While that sounds like a simple philosophy, there are many (many) places of business that have lost that way of thinking and no longer practice that philosophy.

There are many reasons that I see this occurring. While it is easy to offer good service when your business is small and you are dealing with customers on a one to one basis, as the business grows and the customer base and sales grow, it gets increasingly difficult to spend the amount of time on each and every sale. There just aren't enough hours in the day. It takes a conscious effort and a great deal of thought to keep things running smoothly when things are going well. And while anyone who is in business for themselves will welcome growth, they need to take the necessary steps to prepare for it and keep things running smoothly and quality levels high as their business expands. It doesn't just happen.

A year or so ago I wrote about my bank in Chicago being taken over by one of the "big banks." I had been a customer of the smaller neighborhood bank for over ten years and I was very happy with their personal attention and customer service. Whenever I needed anything, I was able to talk to people whom I had personally met and had developed a business relationship with, and I felt as if as a customer, no matter how small, I mattered.

Now though, whenever I have a question or if anything is amiss, I have to call a main phone number and I am thrown into a web of choices, rerouting and menus. There is no way that I can even talk to a real person without being on the phone probably anywhere from five to ten minutes and going through several choice menus. When I finally do reach a customer service representative, it is only at times when they are able to help me, and many times they send me back into the 'system' to be helped by another department. It is quite frustrating.

In the mean time, the bank fees continue to rise, for services that we never realized that we had or used or needed. It is a good example of where getting 'too big' and business growth is not a good thing. It may be good for the company, but it leaves the customers out in the cold.

I suppose that the moral of this post is that we need to be aware of our growth as a business, and take the necessary precautions to ensure that no matter how much we expand, we still offer excellent services to our customers as well as excellent products. For that reason, I think that growing slowly is far preferable to being an 'overnight success', as it allows us to really adjust with the changes that growth brings and learn from our experiences. I know for myself that some days I feel a bit 'frazzled' because there are many things that need my attention and only so many hours in the day (and I am only one person!) I try my best to give personal service to everyone, but some days it takes a bit longer to get back to people than others. And it doesn't leave a lot of time for the other parts of the business, like designing new patterns.

I am not complaining, mind you. I truly enjoy my interactions with my customers. There are just some days when I don't feel that my own goals here have advanced as much as I would have liked. But then I look at the big picture and I don't think I would do things any other way.

It is going to be an interesting year ahead for our company. As we watch our company grow, I am sure that there will be many new challenges that we have to face as a result of that growth. But going slow and taking our time to make the best decisions we can, as well as listening to others around us who have successful businesses and offer advice will be an important part of our own success. And that is where places such as this are invaluable.

Thank you all for your comments and input. I am sure that not only Keith and I appreciate your thoughts, but also the many others who have their own businesses who read here as well. Together we can all help each other grow.

Fawn Snout Tail Companion dog Pet supply


Have a great Saturday.
Although I've never owned a business or ever plan to have one, your blogs have been educational, thank you.

Obviously you have the customer in mind and that is good. I retired from a large trucking co a few years ago and it was amazingly customer focused. Roadway Express catered to the little customers rather then the large corporations. They also treated their workforce as internal customers and I was happy to work for them. This was accomplished by letting the individual local terminals as entities of their own. Sure, there were guidelines and corporate goals, but we had local control. I was a local driver with an assigned route. I served my customers and the customers saw me as the face of Roadway and the company encouraged me to make non money decisions based on my knowledge of the customer's needs. Life was good.

Then Roadway went by way of most the giant corporations. They merged with Yellow and became YRC. The local feeling went away and I became a driver. The customers still had great respect for me, but the company turned me into just another driver. I could no longer make my delivery and pick up decisions based on traffic, customers' break schedules or freight type (when loading you need to think of weight distribution, fragility or strength of the boxes, freezable items etc.). It got so bad I began to hate my job. The company was laying off the younger drivers and forcing long hours on us, so after taking my last 3 weeks vacation, I called them 2 hours before returning to work and told them I was done.

My point is large does not have to be a bad thing as long as management remembers their base - both external and internal customers.
 

Attachments

#7,371 ·
New Directions

Another weekend has quickly passed us by. Most of the snow has melted here, and there are only remnants of the piles that were left from plowing only last week. The weather has settled into that dull and dreary pattern of not really cold, but definitely not warm either. Could winter be over already?

My weekend went quickly. I made a conscious effort to focus on the two articles that I was working on for Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine and I am happy to say that I reached my goals with them and they are finished. It is funny how I can write here off the top of my head each morning and present what is actually a 'mini-article' many times, yet when I have to formally do one for the magazine it sometimes takes me days. You would think that it would be much like writing here and after an hour or so I would be done, but there is something with me that takes a great deal of effort to organize my thoughts and present them in an effective way for the magazine. Perhaps one day I will figure it out.

In any case, it was late afternoon when I finished and I decided to take the rest of the evening to goof off and do silly things that I wanted to do that had nothing whatsoever to do with the business. Even that is hard to do sometimes because as most of you know I eat, sleep and breath with my business in mind most of the time. Doing other things is sometimes much more like work than actual working for me.

But I needed a small break and it felt good to bask in the sense of accomplishment that I was feeling after completing these articles. I rewarded myself with spending some time playing one of my favorite hidden object puzzle games for a bit without any guilt whatsoever.

With today being Monday, it is a great day to start new things. I have a great idea for some new patterns that I am going to do for my painting people, as well as some more new scrolling patterns. I am going to work on both of them this week and I am anxious to see them come to life.

On the painting front, believe it or not it is time for me to starting thinking about the autumn and Halloween seasons already. Here we still have snow on the ground and I need to start focusing on those seasons for the Artist's Club. I would love to have a couple of additional patterns represented there for this year. We truly enjoyed the variety of doing the production work for them last year and hope to have some success with it this year too.

I have many new ideas for the painting kit side of the business that I need to develop. It seems like a while since I painted and I miss it and want to be sure to offer new things in that area too.

So much to do . . .

It's all good though. Keith came up with another new design yesterday that he cut out and I think it is awesome! Every time I see his new designs, I am in awe. It is great to have such a creative partner to work with. There are often times when we have different ideas as to what we are doing and how things should be, but I believe that in our business that is a benefit, not a liability. It gives our business so much more dimension and helps us offer patterns that will appeal to a much broader customer base. And that is a good thing.

So I will sign off for today. I am anxious to get started on the new things ahead. I am excited about all the new directions we are heading and I can't wait to get started. It is going to be a wonderful week!

Happy Monday!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Water Cat Felidae Carnivore Comfort
 

Attachments

#7,372 ·
New Directions

Another weekend has quickly passed us by. Most of the snow has melted here, and there are only remnants of the piles that were left from plowing only last week. The weather has settled into that dull and dreary pattern of not really cold, but definitely not warm either. Could winter be over already?

My weekend went quickly. I made a conscious effort to focus on the two articles that I was working on for Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine and I am happy to say that I reached my goals with them and they are finished. It is funny how I can write here off the top of my head each morning and present what is actually a 'mini-article' many times, yet when I have to formally do one for the magazine it sometimes takes me days. You would think that it would be much like writing here and after an hour or so I would be done, but there is something with me that takes a great deal of effort to organize my thoughts and present them in an effective way for the magazine. Perhaps one day I will figure it out.

In any case, it was late afternoon when I finished and I decided to take the rest of the evening to goof off and do silly things that I wanted to do that had nothing whatsoever to do with the business. Even that is hard to do sometimes because as most of you know I eat, sleep and breath with my business in mind most of the time. Doing other things is sometimes much more like work than actual working for me.

But I needed a small break and it felt good to bask in the sense of accomplishment that I was feeling after completing these articles. I rewarded myself with spending some time playing one of my favorite hidden object puzzle games for a bit without any guilt whatsoever.

With today being Monday, it is a great day to start new things. I have a great idea for some new patterns that I am going to do for my painting people, as well as some more new scrolling patterns. I am going to work on both of them this week and I am anxious to see them come to life.

On the painting front, believe it or not it is time for me to starting thinking about the autumn and Halloween seasons already. Here we still have snow on the ground and I need to start focusing on those seasons for the Artist's Club. I would love to have a couple of additional patterns represented there for this year. We truly enjoyed the variety of doing the production work for them last year and hope to have some success with it this year too.

I have many new ideas for the painting kit side of the business that I need to develop. It seems like a while since I painted and I miss it and want to be sure to offer new things in that area too.

So much to do . . .

It's all good though. Keith came up with another new design yesterday that he cut out and I think it is awesome! Every time I see his new designs, I am in awe. It is great to have such a creative partner to work with. There are often times when we have different ideas as to what we are doing and how things should be, but I believe that in our business that is a benefit, not a liability. It gives our business so much more dimension and helps us offer patterns that will appeal to a much broader customer base. And that is a good thing.

So I will sign off for today. I am anxious to get started on the new things ahead. I am excited about all the new directions we are heading and I can't wait to get started. It is going to be a wonderful week!

Happy Monday!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Water Cat Felidae Carnivore Comfort
Thnx for the Monday inspirations. And thnx for that awesome Mark Twain quote. Have a good Monday, and a gr8 week.
 

Attachments

#7,379 ·
Many Choices for the Same Project

I spent the bulk of yesterday organizing and getting started on the next project. As usual, as I was thinking it through, several other ideas came to mind. I find that this happens often when developing a new idea.

While it can be a good thing, it also tends to slow me down. It is as if you go into a candy shoppe and see fifty different types of candy - each one delicious in their own way, and you are told that you can have only one or two pieces. How in the world do you choose?

Brown Cat Vertebrate Felidae Carnivore


There comes a point when I have to just shut off my mind and focus on the task at hand. I find that there are days when I look at a a basic idea and think to myself "I could do this with these!" . . . "Oh! And I can do this too!" . . . "And I can even do them this way!" . . .

Before long, I find that I overwhelm myself with choices and wind up going in circles with my thinking. And that isn't really very productive.

So it comes to a point where I have to just stop thinking and start drawing. Since you can't draw more than one thing at a time, you have to make a choice and put the pen to the paper (or the pen mouse to the tablet in my case) and just start pushing it around to create something. And go from there.

While it seems easy to say, it isn't always as easy as you would think. I find that these different 'versions' of a certain idea can muddy up the water enough to really slow things down. I am constantly looking for things to make both my painting people happy as well as my scroll saw people. Many designs can be (somewhat) easily done in a version to please each of these groups, but there are times when I don't know which one to do first.

So yesterday in my thinking about the next project, I began with designing a new pattern for the painters. I think this may be another design that the Artist's Club would be interested in and it will be a great candidate for one that I will offer in kit form for the painters who don't scroll.

But as I was drawing, I got to thinking - "How COOL would this look scrolled?" and my mind wandered off in that direction too. I then found myself completely side tracked and thinking in another direction. Then there were the variations on that. And before I know it the day was just about done and while I was full of ideas, there was little that I actually drew on the computer.

I wouldn't at all consider it a wasted day though. In fact, sometimes these types of days are predecessors to some of my best projects. In the many years that I have done this (designing) I have learned that the unseen internal work of planning is equally, if not more important than the actual drawing. While there are times when some projects seem to just create themselves, more often than not they are offspring of other ideas that started out in one direction, and through refinement and thinking have gone through a type of metamorphosis and turned into a decent project.

Felidae Wood Fawn Art Painting


"Catterfly" by the artist Evana is available as an art print

So for today, I am ready to spend the day drawing. The work that I will do may seem to others like it comes quickly, but that is only because of the time that I spent yesterday thinking things through and getting my plan laid out in my mind.

It will be both satisfying and fun to see things come to light. And I look forward to seeing the project develop over the rest of the week. In all its different forms. :)

Have a great day today.
 

Attachments

#7,380 ·
Many Choices for the Same Project

I spent the bulk of yesterday organizing and getting started on the next project. As usual, as I was thinking it through, several other ideas came to mind. I find that this happens often when developing a new idea.

While it can be a good thing, it also tends to slow me down. It is as if you go into a candy shoppe and see fifty different types of candy - each one delicious in their own way, and you are told that you can have only one or two pieces. How in the world do you choose?

Brown Cat Vertebrate Felidae Carnivore


There comes a point when I have to just shut off my mind and focus on the task at hand. I find that there are days when I look at a a basic idea and think to myself "I could do this with these!" . . . "Oh! And I can do this too!" . . . "And I can even do them this way!" . . .

Before long, I find that I overwhelm myself with choices and wind up going in circles with my thinking. And that isn't really very productive.

So it comes to a point where I have to just stop thinking and start drawing. Since you can't draw more than one thing at a time, you have to make a choice and put the pen to the paper (or the pen mouse to the tablet in my case) and just start pushing it around to create something. And go from there.

While it seems easy to say, it isn't always as easy as you would think. I find that these different 'versions' of a certain idea can muddy up the water enough to really slow things down. I am constantly looking for things to make both my painting people happy as well as my scroll saw people. Many designs can be (somewhat) easily done in a version to please each of these groups, but there are times when I don't know which one to do first.

So yesterday in my thinking about the next project, I began with designing a new pattern for the painters. I think this may be another design that the Artist's Club would be interested in and it will be a great candidate for one that I will offer in kit form for the painters who don't scroll.

But as I was drawing, I got to thinking - "How COOL would this look scrolled?" and my mind wandered off in that direction too. I then found myself completely side tracked and thinking in another direction. Then there were the variations on that. And before I know it the day was just about done and while I was full of ideas, there was little that I actually drew on the computer.

I wouldn't at all consider it a wasted day though. In fact, sometimes these types of days are predecessors to some of my best projects. In the many years that I have done this (designing) I have learned that the unseen internal work of planning is equally, if not more important than the actual drawing. While there are times when some projects seem to just create themselves, more often than not they are offspring of other ideas that started out in one direction, and through refinement and thinking have gone through a type of metamorphosis and turned into a decent project.

Felidae Wood Fawn Art Painting


"Catterfly" by the artist Evana is available as an art print

So for today, I am ready to spend the day drawing. The work that I will do may seem to others like it comes quickly, but that is only because of the time that I spent yesterday thinking things through and getting my plan laid out in my mind.

It will be both satisfying and fun to see things come to light. And I look forward to seeing the project develop over the rest of the week. In all its different forms. :)

Have a great day today.
Love the pic of the Angelcat!
 

Attachments

#7,385 ·
Anticipation

Several days ago when I was working on cutting out one of my candle trays, I had an idea. I am not really sure where it came from, as it was completely unrelated to anything that I was working on at the time. But as I was cutting away and listening to some music, it just appeared out of nowhere, and I got somewhat excited.

I always find fascinating how our minds work. As a designer, there are days when I am driven and inspired, and other days when the well of ideas just seems dry. On the dry days, even the ideas that may have seemed incredible just a day or two before somehow lose their luster and no longer seem to be good. How the heck does that happen?

The worse thing is when I am really trying hard to think of something to fill a certain task or deadline that I have to meet and come up dry. While there are times when I can come up with a decent idea quickly, there are others when the pressure of having to do so somehow interferes with the creative process and for the life of me I can't think of anything interesting to do. It is at these times when I pull out my little book where I jot down all the extra ideas that I think of while working on something else. Some of these are silly and others are down right crazy, but occasionally there are some in there that have merit and give me a starting place for something new.

I find that on the "stuck" days it is best not to dwell on meeting deadlines and just trying to do something to push the pile or to pick one of the less spectacular designs and work on that for a bit. Usually when I stop trying so hard to think of new things and relax my mind a bit, the better ideas creep up on me and take me by surprise. If I can train myself to let go of the conscious effort when I am stuck and allow this process to occur, I usually wind up in a better place.

I think that this was one of those times it happened that way.

The past couple of days, I have been working on a new pattern. As with most other times, the mapping of things out in my head and the initial organization of the pattern are not only the most important part, but also probably the most boring part for those on the outside of my head looking in. Even Keith who is right here with me can't see what I see in my head as the vision for how this design will come out. I long ago stopped trying to explain these ideas beyond a general description of what they will be. I have found that my ability to describe what I see inside my head is nowhere near adequate for what I am actually thinking. I just need to do it to show you.

With that said, the process has begun and yesterday I accomplished some drawing and cutting. While I usually show bits and pieces of what I have cut, right now it is so unremarkable that I don't think it warrants doing so.

You just have to wait.

I see this design in three versions. One to paint, one to cut on the scroll saw as a scrolling project, and one in a new way that may also be considered 'painting'but is a bit different again. I am equally excited about all three, which is why I was in a bit of a muddle earlier this week. But yesterday I put my foot on the path and took that first step in one direction, and I am so far pleased and excited with the outcome.

I promise to show more tomorrow. But for now you just need to trust me. It is not yet time to show my hand, but the time will come soon. And hopefully the anticipation will only add to the project and it will be a wonderful surprise.

Head Headgear Eyelash Masque Snout


Have an incredible Wednesday!
 

Attachments

#7,386 ·
Anticipation

Several days ago when I was working on cutting out one of my candle trays, I had an idea. I am not really sure where it came from, as it was completely unrelated to anything that I was working on at the time. But as I was cutting away and listening to some music, it just appeared out of nowhere, and I got somewhat excited.

I always find fascinating how our minds work. As a designer, there are days when I am driven and inspired, and other days when the well of ideas just seems dry. On the dry days, even the ideas that may have seemed incredible just a day or two before somehow lose their luster and no longer seem to be good. How the heck does that happen?

The worse thing is when I am really trying hard to think of something to fill a certain task or deadline that I have to meet and come up dry. While there are times when I can come up with a decent idea quickly, there are others when the pressure of having to do so somehow interferes with the creative process and for the life of me I can't think of anything interesting to do. It is at these times when I pull out my little book where I jot down all the extra ideas that I think of while working on something else. Some of these are silly and others are down right crazy, but occasionally there are some in there that have merit and give me a starting place for something new.

I find that on the "stuck" days it is best not to dwell on meeting deadlines and just trying to do something to push the pile or to pick one of the less spectacular designs and work on that for a bit. Usually when I stop trying so hard to think of new things and relax my mind a bit, the better ideas creep up on me and take me by surprise. If I can train myself to let go of the conscious effort when I am stuck and allow this process to occur, I usually wind up in a better place.

I think that this was one of those times it happened that way.

The past couple of days, I have been working on a new pattern. As with most other times, the mapping of things out in my head and the initial organization of the pattern are not only the most important part, but also probably the most boring part for those on the outside of my head looking in. Even Keith who is right here with me can't see what I see in my head as the vision for how this design will come out. I long ago stopped trying to explain these ideas beyond a general description of what they will be. I have found that my ability to describe what I see inside my head is nowhere near adequate for what I am actually thinking. I just need to do it to show you.

With that said, the process has begun and yesterday I accomplished some drawing and cutting. While I usually show bits and pieces of what I have cut, right now it is so unremarkable that I don't think it warrants doing so.

You just have to wait.

I see this design in three versions. One to paint, one to cut on the scroll saw as a scrolling project, and one in a new way that may also be considered 'painting'but is a bit different again. I am equally excited about all three, which is why I was in a bit of a muddle earlier this week. But yesterday I put my foot on the path and took that first step in one direction, and I am so far pleased and excited with the outcome.

I promise to show more tomorrow. But for now you just need to trust me. It is not yet time to show my hand, but the time will come soon. And hopefully the anticipation will only add to the project and it will be a wonderful surprise.

Head Headgear Eyelash Masque Snout


Have an incredible Wednesday!
Look forward to the "Three in One" Sheila

Have a Happy Day

Jamie
 

Attachments

#7,391 ·
Never Lose Site of What You Dream

I had fun yesterday, although it was a day of trial and error. As I see the ideas that I had been working on come to be, I experienced feelings of both excitement and some apprehension.

I think we all go through times of when we envision something that we are making, only to have it come out not exactly as we pictured it in our heads This isn't always a bad thing, as sometimes it comes out even better than we imagined. But sometimes it just comes up a little bit different than expected, and as we are working on it, we wonder if we will like the results at all.

I suppose it is part of the not knowing until we try. It is also part of trying new things and stretching our boundaries a bit and exploring new techniques. I think that people have in their minds that for some people, there is little they do that doesn't work out for them. I know that I look upon certain designers with expectations of only good things coming from them. Their track record stands before them and to others on the outside, designing new things seems to come easy and natural for them.

But for those of us who really know other designers and have friends who design, we know it isn't always the case. Many designers are good enough to share not only their victories with others, but also their struggles and even their failures. I think that is why forums and places like this are important. By seeing not only the successes of each other, but also sharing the times when things didn't go particularly well, it brings back a kind of 'humanizing' factor into our work and helps us understand that these little hiccups in our process are something that is considered normal among our peers, and even expected.

Knowing that motivates us to continue on whereas if we were working on our own, we may have given up long ago. I think it is very valuable.

My painting group was like that. Even though we all did our own different projects and worked at our own pace, I can think of many times when we were there to encourage and support each other. If someone had trouble with a particular part of their project, the rest of us were there to help out and even make light of the error. There were many times when we actually belly-laughed about certain mishaps, and even added a little good-natured teasing. One of our favorite sayings was "It looks good if you are driving by at 25 mph!"

That kind of friendship and acceptance really made learning new things fun. Even if none of us had tried a certain technique, between us all we managed to figure things out and we all learned from each other. It was a great thing.

Now we have graduated to 'cyber groups.' While we are no longer to get together in person, we have the next best thing - our computers - that allow us to socialize and visit and create with each other. Like anything, it has its plusses and minuses. While we are unable to sit in the same room with our fellow artists, we find that our classroom is much larger, and we are able to communicate with those all across the globe. And there are times when that feedback is just as valuable as when one was sitting by our side.

In any case, I did accomplish some things yesterday.

I was able to finish part of the first phase of this idea that I had. I had decided that I wanted to make some interesting and beautiful Venetian style mask ornaments. I don't know why I liked this idea so much, but for some reason it came to mind and stuck with me.

As I stated in earlier posts, there are going to be several versions of this idea, all geared to different people. You will see the other two come to be shortly

The first version is for the painters in the group. The masks are simple scroll sawn pieces cut from 1/8" Baltic birch. They measure approximately 4" in diameter and can be used as ornaments, garlands or even magnets. On this group, I decided to use some of the textured MUD from Margot Clark (www.margotclark.com) that I had used on the Hoiday Bell ornaments. The MUD comes in both black and white and is a great way to add dimension and interest to these types of design. The first three that I created are as follows:

Art Gold Symbol Font Crest


Eyewear Electric blue Font Masque Art


Body jewelry Font Jewellery Eyelash Pollinator


As you can see from the pictures, the overall painting of these pieces is quite simple. For the top mask (the black and gold one) I only used two colors of paint - (black and gold) and I used some black MUD to add some textured scrolls. After the MUD dried (it dries very hard) I was able to lightly brush it with the gold paint, giving it an antiqued look. I then simply glued on a couple of gold rhinestones and the feathers and it really dressed the simple piece up a lot.

The second mask, I chose to go for a different look. It is also quite simple to do, and would be easy to create even for a beginner. I blocked in the mask colors with pearlescent paint, and then piped in the dividing lines in white MUD. The only shading on the piece was on the white pearl, which I lightly shaded with gold to give an antique look. Again, I added some rhinestones and feathers for interest.

I debated whether or not to brush some silver metallic paint over the white MUD, but for now, I chose not to. I still may do so later on, but I didn't want to go overboard.

And finally, I made a third mask in a harlequin theme. For this version, I chose to paint a white and copper metallic pattern on it for the base, again shading only the white with gold. I wanted a good contrast on the details, so I again used the black MUD and when it was dry brushed it lightly in gold. This gave a sense of strong contrast, yet a continuity to the piece. I kept to using clear crystals on this one, as any other color may have just made the piece look too mish-mosh. The black feather balanced the light and dark nicely, I though.

That is as far as I got. It may not have been as far as I would have liked, but it was a start. I have in my head so many beautiful color combinations that would really look nice and it was hard to sort them out and just stick to one at a time. It certainly is fun though.

After all three of these were finished and dry, I sat back and just looked at them for a bit. There were moments when I was painting and creating when I had my doubts about this project, and I felt discouraged. What if I am the only one who likes them? What if they aren't something that anyone else would want to do?

I had a moment of wondering why I wanted to make these pieces so much, and what was driving me to do so. There are just some projects that I need to make. I don't know what drives me sometimes other than the fact that I like them.

But then I snapped out of it and came to my senses and pulled on what I have been saying here all along.

"Pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you." ― Maya Angelou

This is one time that I need to take my own advice. I never want to lose sight of that way of thinking.

I hope you have a wonderful day.
 

Attachments

#7,392 ·
Never Lose Site of What You Dream

I had fun yesterday, although it was a day of trial and error. As I see the ideas that I had been working on come to be, I experienced feelings of both excitement and some apprehension.

I think we all go through times of when we envision something that we are making, only to have it come out not exactly as we pictured it in our heads This isn't always a bad thing, as sometimes it comes out even better than we imagined. But sometimes it just comes up a little bit different than expected, and as we are working on it, we wonder if we will like the results at all.

I suppose it is part of the not knowing until we try. It is also part of trying new things and stretching our boundaries a bit and exploring new techniques. I think that people have in their minds that for some people, there is little they do that doesn't work out for them. I know that I look upon certain designers with expectations of only good things coming from them. Their track record stands before them and to others on the outside, designing new things seems to come easy and natural for them.

But for those of us who really know other designers and have friends who design, we know it isn't always the case. Many designers are good enough to share not only their victories with others, but also their struggles and even their failures. I think that is why forums and places like this are important. By seeing not only the successes of each other, but also sharing the times when things didn't go particularly well, it brings back a kind of 'humanizing' factor into our work and helps us understand that these little hiccups in our process are something that is considered normal among our peers, and even expected.

Knowing that motivates us to continue on whereas if we were working on our own, we may have given up long ago. I think it is very valuable.

My painting group was like that. Even though we all did our own different projects and worked at our own pace, I can think of many times when we were there to encourage and support each other. If someone had trouble with a particular part of their project, the rest of us were there to help out and even make light of the error. There were many times when we actually belly-laughed about certain mishaps, and even added a little good-natured teasing. One of our favorite sayings was "It looks good if you are driving by at 25 mph!"

That kind of friendship and acceptance really made learning new things fun. Even if none of us had tried a certain technique, between us all we managed to figure things out and we all learned from each other. It was a great thing.

Now we have graduated to 'cyber groups.' While we are no longer to get together in person, we have the next best thing - our computers - that allow us to socialize and visit and create with each other. Like anything, it has its plusses and minuses. While we are unable to sit in the same room with our fellow artists, we find that our classroom is much larger, and we are able to communicate with those all across the globe. And there are times when that feedback is just as valuable as when one was sitting by our side.

In any case, I did accomplish some things yesterday.

I was able to finish part of the first phase of this idea that I had. I had decided that I wanted to make some interesting and beautiful Venetian style mask ornaments. I don't know why I liked this idea so much, but for some reason it came to mind and stuck with me.

As I stated in earlier posts, there are going to be several versions of this idea, all geared to different people. You will see the other two come to be shortly

The first version is for the painters in the group. The masks are simple scroll sawn pieces cut from 1/8" Baltic birch. They measure approximately 4" in diameter and can be used as ornaments, garlands or even magnets. On this group, I decided to use some of the textured MUD from Margot Clark (www.margotclark.com) that I had used on the Hoiday Bell ornaments. The MUD comes in both black and white and is a great way to add dimension and interest to these types of design. The first three that I created are as follows:

Art Gold Symbol Font Crest


Eyewear Electric blue Font Masque Art


Body jewelry Font Jewellery Eyelash Pollinator


As you can see from the pictures, the overall painting of these pieces is quite simple. For the top mask (the black and gold one) I only used two colors of paint - (black and gold) and I used some black MUD to add some textured scrolls. After the MUD dried (it dries very hard) I was able to lightly brush it with the gold paint, giving it an antiqued look. I then simply glued on a couple of gold rhinestones and the feathers and it really dressed the simple piece up a lot.

The second mask, I chose to go for a different look. It is also quite simple to do, and would be easy to create even for a beginner. I blocked in the mask colors with pearlescent paint, and then piped in the dividing lines in white MUD. The only shading on the piece was on the white pearl, which I lightly shaded with gold to give an antique look. Again, I added some rhinestones and feathers for interest.

I debated whether or not to brush some silver metallic paint over the white MUD, but for now, I chose not to. I still may do so later on, but I didn't want to go overboard.

And finally, I made a third mask in a harlequin theme. For this version, I chose to paint a white and copper metallic pattern on it for the base, again shading only the white with gold. I wanted a good contrast on the details, so I again used the black MUD and when it was dry brushed it lightly in gold. This gave a sense of strong contrast, yet a continuity to the piece. I kept to using clear crystals on this one, as any other color may have just made the piece look too mish-mosh. The black feather balanced the light and dark nicely, I though.

That is as far as I got. It may not have been as far as I would have liked, but it was a start. I have in my head so many beautiful color combinations that would really look nice and it was hard to sort them out and just stick to one at a time. It certainly is fun though.

After all three of these were finished and dry, I sat back and just looked at them for a bit. There were moments when I was painting and creating when I had my doubts about this project, and I felt discouraged. What if I am the only one who likes them? What if they aren't something that anyone else would want to do?

I had a moment of wondering why I wanted to make these pieces so much, and what was driving me to do so. There are just some projects that I need to make. I don't know what drives me sometimes other than the fact that I like them.

But then I snapped out of it and came to my senses and pulled on what I have been saying here all along.

"Pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you." ― Maya Angelou

This is one time that I need to take my own advice. I never want to lose sight of that way of thinking.

I hope you have a wonderful day.
Sheila no worries those are wonderful
You have opened up a whole new category that has a lot
of potential for Scrollers . Lots of fancy dress balls and other fun
occasions. Your head must be bursting with variations.
You deserve some Tea & Scones.

Have a wonderous day

Jamie
 

Attachments

#7,397 ·
Slowly but Surely

We have all heard the saying "Good things take time." As I work on these new ornaments, I am finding that statement to be true. While in my mind I start out thinking that they could all be done in a day, in reality, they cannot. I still have too many ideas jumbled up in my head and I have to do all I can not to be overwhelmed by them. There are only so many directions that I can think of at once without being completely stopped from overload.

I found that for me the best thing I could do is not think past right where I am at the moment. When looking at a dozen blank pieces of wood, it is easy for me to get in a muddle as to what I will be doing next. This may sound silly, but if you all knew the amount of time I have wasted in the past because I am thinking about several things at once and as a result paralyzed because I don't know where to start. When this happens, I need to just take one piece, put the others away, and start to paint or draw.

It's that simple.

I found myself in that very predicament yesterday as I began working on these. But once I realized I was in that place and did indeed focus on one piece, things started moving. As a result, I finished the first three ornaments of the set that I am going to call "Haunted Masquerade." Here are pictures of them for you to see:

Clothing Head Eye Eyewear Pollinator


Picture frame Art Font Motif Electric blue


Font Pollinator Arthropod Art Symmetry


So far, so good.

Once I got rolling on them, they really started to take shape. There will be 12 in the set altogether, and they will all be Halloween themed.

I find that photographing them was quite a challenge, as they are all finished with pearl, iridescent or metallic paint. They also all will have rhinestone studs accenting them as you can see. After spending quite a bit of time trying different lighting and settings on my camera and being quite unsuccessful, I remembered that we had the wonderful light box that Keith had built and it worked beautifully. (Sometimes I can't see the nose in front of my face!)

I found though that I have on hand a limited quantity of rhinestones on hand, and it caused me to do some online research prior to writing this post to find a distributor that I could both order from and recommend in the pattern for others.

I think I hit the jackpot, as I found a company that is out of Canada, but ships to the USA too. Their variety of rhinestones is amazing, as is their prices. They ship the same day too and the cost for shipping the tiny stones is minimal. I am going to place an order as soon as I am done writing here this morning, as I want to have a quantity on hand for not only the rest of these, but other designing too. I find that many people love my embellished ornaments and projects and it is so easy to add some "bling" to them using rhinestones. I am going to be like a kid in a candy store!

I will let you all know how I do with them. I think I am going to hold off adding the rhinestones to the following pieces until my shipment arrives. I would rather wait and have a better variety to choose from.

Well, it's Friday already and we are supposed to get a really cold spell here in our parts for the next few days. We have to run out and do some errands today, but after that we can settle in for a nice productive weekend. Hopefully I will get the rest of these done in the next couple of days. I hope you like what I have here so far.

Have a great Friday.
 

Attachments

#7,398 ·
Slowly but Surely

We have all heard the saying "Good things take time." As I work on these new ornaments, I am finding that statement to be true. While in my mind I start out thinking that they could all be done in a day, in reality, they cannot. I still have too many ideas jumbled up in my head and I have to do all I can not to be overwhelmed by them. There are only so many directions that I can think of at once without being completely stopped from overload.

I found that for me the best thing I could do is not think past right where I am at the moment. When looking at a dozen blank pieces of wood, it is easy for me to get in a muddle as to what I will be doing next. This may sound silly, but if you all knew the amount of time I have wasted in the past because I am thinking about several things at once and as a result paralyzed because I don't know where to start. When this happens, I need to just take one piece, put the others away, and start to paint or draw.

It's that simple.

I found myself in that very predicament yesterday as I began working on these. But once I realized I was in that place and did indeed focus on one piece, things started moving. As a result, I finished the first three ornaments of the set that I am going to call "Haunted Masquerade." Here are pictures of them for you to see:

Clothing Head Eye Eyewear Pollinator


Picture frame Art Font Motif Electric blue


Font Pollinator Arthropod Art Symmetry


So far, so good.

Once I got rolling on them, they really started to take shape. There will be 12 in the set altogether, and they will all be Halloween themed.

I find that photographing them was quite a challenge, as they are all finished with pearl, iridescent or metallic paint. They also all will have rhinestone studs accenting them as you can see. After spending quite a bit of time trying different lighting and settings on my camera and being quite unsuccessful, I remembered that we had the wonderful light box that Keith had built and it worked beautifully. (Sometimes I can't see the nose in front of my face!)

I found though that I have on hand a limited quantity of rhinestones on hand, and it caused me to do some online research prior to writing this post to find a distributor that I could both order from and recommend in the pattern for others.

I think I hit the jackpot, as I found a company that is out of Canada, but ships to the USA too. Their variety of rhinestones is amazing, as is their prices. They ship the same day too and the cost for shipping the tiny stones is minimal. I am going to place an order as soon as I am done writing here this morning, as I want to have a quantity on hand for not only the rest of these, but other designing too. I find that many people love my embellished ornaments and projects and it is so easy to add some "bling" to them using rhinestones. I am going to be like a kid in a candy store!

I will let you all know how I do with them. I think I am going to hold off adding the rhinestones to the following pieces until my shipment arrives. I would rather wait and have a better variety to choose from.

Well, it's Friday already and we are supposed to get a really cold spell here in our parts for the next few days. We have to run out and do some errands today, but after that we can settle in for a nice productive weekend. Hopefully I will get the rest of these done in the next couple of days. I hope you like what I have here so far.

Have a great Friday.
I can hear the Zydeko music playin in my head. Very nice masks
 

Attachments

#7,407 ·
New Supplier for "Bling"

I am afraid that I don't have any additional pictures to show you on the new project just yet. Yesterday was a day that I had to do errands and other things that took up the majority of the day. But that is OK though. I am finally getting the snow I like so much and we are well-prepared to bunk it in here for the weekend. I should make good progress the next couple of days.

One of the things that I did accomplish yesterday was that I found a great company right here in Canada that I could order crystal rhinestones from Those of you who read often know how I love adding a bit of "bling" to my projects, and I know that many of you are just like me. Finding a place that could supply things that I could use in my designs that my customers can order from too is not always easy to do. Especially here in Canada. But in looking for a mail order company to supply me with rhinestones for decorating my projects, I came across a potentially awesome company. They are called Rhinestones Canada and so far I am really happy with their service. I will do a better report on them in a couple of days when I receive my order, but so far I am really impressed with them. They had a nice variety of rhinestones in three different "grades" and prices - so you didn't have to get the more expensive ones if you didn't want them, but they were available if you did.

I spent a while making up a pretty big order. After all - I am a designer and I can think of so many uses for these crystals. Up until now, I only had flat-backed rhinestones that I got way back (I don't even remember from where) They are plastic stones and while they kind of do the job, they don't have the shine and color that I would have liked. Up close they look . . . well . . . plastic. The only ones that I had that were real crystal were the clear ones that I have been using, and you could really see the difference in the shine and sparkle.

The site advertised "same day shipping" if my order was placed by 2pm. I liked that because like everyone else in the world, when I order something I would like it to arrive here yesterday, please. Knowing that a company makes an effort to get that order out the door is a plus.

Since they are located in Canada, there is no import fees or duty on the products, and that is another plus. Since moving here from Chicago, I can really appreciate finding companies to order from where I don't have to pay import fees. While when things going from Canada to the USA don't have fees, they certainly do coming this way. It is just part of living here, I suppose.

When making up my order, the list became quite long (really, really long as a matter of fact!) The prices per gross of these stones was very reasonable, and you would be surprised how many stones you could use in a single project. I think my SLD301 Embellished Christmas Tree Ornaments pattern set took over 125 stones. That's almost a gross right there for a set. And while I used round beads and drilled a small depression for each of these decorations on this pattern, They could have easily been decorated with flat backed rhinestones.

Below is a picture of one of the ornaments:

Christmas tree Botany Plant Wood Terrestrial plant


For these trees, I used 3mm round beads. In order to set the beads on the ornaments, I needed to pre-drill depressions for them to fit into to hold them, as well as the glue. This worked out fine, but I also think that this would look nice with mulit-colored crystal rhinestones. It would just make a different look for it altogether. The 3mm rhinestones cost only about $1.75 for a gross of them for the DMC middle grade, and only $1.25 a gross for the Korean grade stones. (I ordered both types to see if I could tell the difference. I also found that not all colors were ordered in all grades, so sometimes that dictated which type I ordered.) They are all leaded crystal though, so no matter what, I am hopeful that they will be nicer than the plastic stones or beads that I had used previously.

I also ordered this:

Circuit component Automotive lighting Amber Electrical wiring Cable


It is a hot-fix applicator wand to apply the stones. Apparently the DMC and also the Korean stones come pre-glued. You could still use your own glue, but this glue is activated with heat so you could use your own iron, or this nifty wand to heat the stones and set them into place. I can't imagine getting them to stay where you want with a household iron though, as to me it would seem impossible to place them properly. The wand only cost $15.75 and to me it seemed well worth the money. It comes with the stand and applicator tips to fit many sizes of stones, and they say the glue is pretty strong. You are even supposed to be able to affix them to fabric such as T-shirts with it, so hopefully it will hold on painted wood OK.

After futzing around with a toothpick and the E6000 glue that I used on the masks that I made already, this will be a welcome appliance if it works like it is supposed to. While the E6000 stuck well, it was very thick and jelly-like and I had problems with very long and thin "strings" coming from the puddle of glue to where I glued the stone. What a pain to get rid of too! I don't know about you guys, but the older I get the worse my eyes are and the more tedious of a task this becomes. Not to mention having too much glue stick to the backs of these if you dip them (which is the method that I did find worked best.) Overall, it just seems easier and cleaner to use this tool. Again, I promise a full report when I get to play a bit after my supplies arrive.

I found communication with the company to be wonderful. I placed the order around 10am my time and received a confirmation from them before 1pm. This was pretty good considering that they are located in British Columbia, which is all the way the other side of Canada and four hours difference. They were out of one of the styles of storage trays that I ordered, but they suggested very acceptable alternatives and were able to send them too. Of all the stones that I ordered (again - there were MANY!) they were only out of one kind, and were able to send me an alternative in a different grade. That was also great. The owner of the company (Linda) called me and we made sure the order was correct. By the afternoon, I received a tracking number and the entire order was shipped and on its way. I couldn't see how the company could do any better.

Now it is up to Canada Post. It went out priority, so hopefully by the end of next week it will be here. In the mean time, I won't be using any more of the plastic crystals that I have here for my masks. I will wait for the good ones to arrive. I may also try to pick the others off of these so I can put the good one on there too, but I am not sure about that. We will see . . .

I love finding new companies that have their act together. I am hopeful that the products are as good as they seem. If they are, I will certainly recommend them as a source in my patterns. I love sharing good news with you all. :)

So that is it for today. I have coffee brewed and nine more blank masks to play with and paint this weekend. The cats are curled up at my feet and the snow is still falling outside. Even if we lose power, I will be able to keep painting.

It's going to be a good weekend!

Have a wonderful weekend yourself. Keep warm and do something to make you happy. Life is short. It is best when you are able to enjoy whatever comes your way.

Hair Hand Cat Eye Felidae


Be happy and have fun!
 

Attachments

#7,408 ·
New Supplier for "Bling"

I am afraid that I don't have any additional pictures to show you on the new project just yet. Yesterday was a day that I had to do errands and other things that took up the majority of the day. But that is OK though. I am finally getting the snow I like so much and we are well-prepared to bunk it in here for the weekend. I should make good progress the next couple of days.

One of the things that I did accomplish yesterday was that I found a great company right here in Canada that I could order crystal rhinestones from Those of you who read often know how I love adding a bit of "bling" to my projects, and I know that many of you are just like me. Finding a place that could supply things that I could use in my designs that my customers can order from too is not always easy to do. Especially here in Canada. But in looking for a mail order company to supply me with rhinestones for decorating my projects, I came across a potentially awesome company. They are called Rhinestones Canada and so far I am really happy with their service. I will do a better report on them in a couple of days when I receive my order, but so far I am really impressed with them. They had a nice variety of rhinestones in three different "grades" and prices - so you didn't have to get the more expensive ones if you didn't want them, but they were available if you did.

I spent a while making up a pretty big order. After all - I am a designer and I can think of so many uses for these crystals. Up until now, I only had flat-backed rhinestones that I got way back (I don't even remember from where) They are plastic stones and while they kind of do the job, they don't have the shine and color that I would have liked. Up close they look . . . well . . . plastic. The only ones that I had that were real crystal were the clear ones that I have been using, and you could really see the difference in the shine and sparkle.

The site advertised "same day shipping" if my order was placed by 2pm. I liked that because like everyone else in the world, when I order something I would like it to arrive here yesterday, please. Knowing that a company makes an effort to get that order out the door is a plus.

Since they are located in Canada, there is no import fees or duty on the products, and that is another plus. Since moving here from Chicago, I can really appreciate finding companies to order from where I don't have to pay import fees. While when things going from Canada to the USA don't have fees, they certainly do coming this way. It is just part of living here, I suppose.

When making up my order, the list became quite long (really, really long as a matter of fact!) The prices per gross of these stones was very reasonable, and you would be surprised how many stones you could use in a single project. I think my SLD301 Embellished Christmas Tree Ornaments pattern set took over 125 stones. That's almost a gross right there for a set. And while I used round beads and drilled a small depression for each of these decorations on this pattern, They could have easily been decorated with flat backed rhinestones.

Below is a picture of one of the ornaments:

Christmas tree Botany Plant Wood Terrestrial plant


For these trees, I used 3mm round beads. In order to set the beads on the ornaments, I needed to pre-drill depressions for them to fit into to hold them, as well as the glue. This worked out fine, but I also think that this would look nice with mulit-colored crystal rhinestones. It would just make a different look for it altogether. The 3mm rhinestones cost only about $1.75 for a gross of them for the DMC middle grade, and only $1.25 a gross for the Korean grade stones. (I ordered both types to see if I could tell the difference. I also found that not all colors were ordered in all grades, so sometimes that dictated which type I ordered.) They are all leaded crystal though, so no matter what, I am hopeful that they will be nicer than the plastic stones or beads that I had used previously.

I also ordered this:

Circuit component Automotive lighting Amber Electrical wiring Cable


It is a hot-fix applicator wand to apply the stones. Apparently the DMC and also the Korean stones come pre-glued. You could still use your own glue, but this glue is activated with heat so you could use your own iron, or this nifty wand to heat the stones and set them into place. I can't imagine getting them to stay where you want with a household iron though, as to me it would seem impossible to place them properly. The wand only cost $15.75 and to me it seemed well worth the money. It comes with the stand and applicator tips to fit many sizes of stones, and they say the glue is pretty strong. You are even supposed to be able to affix them to fabric such as T-shirts with it, so hopefully it will hold on painted wood OK.

After futzing around with a toothpick and the E6000 glue that I used on the masks that I made already, this will be a welcome appliance if it works like it is supposed to. While the E6000 stuck well, it was very thick and jelly-like and I had problems with very long and thin "strings" coming from the puddle of glue to where I glued the stone. What a pain to get rid of too! I don't know about you guys, but the older I get the worse my eyes are and the more tedious of a task this becomes. Not to mention having too much glue stick to the backs of these if you dip them (which is the method that I did find worked best.) Overall, it just seems easier and cleaner to use this tool. Again, I promise a full report when I get to play a bit after my supplies arrive.

I found communication with the company to be wonderful. I placed the order around 10am my time and received a confirmation from them before 1pm. This was pretty good considering that they are located in British Columbia, which is all the way the other side of Canada and four hours difference. They were out of one of the styles of storage trays that I ordered, but they suggested very acceptable alternatives and were able to send them too. Of all the stones that I ordered (again - there were MANY!) they were only out of one kind, and were able to send me an alternative in a different grade. That was also great. The owner of the company (Linda) called me and we made sure the order was correct. By the afternoon, I received a tracking number and the entire order was shipped and on its way. I couldn't see how the company could do any better.

Now it is up to Canada Post. It went out priority, so hopefully by the end of next week it will be here. In the mean time, I won't be using any more of the plastic crystals that I have here for my masks. I will wait for the good ones to arrive. I may also try to pick the others off of these so I can put the good one on there too, but I am not sure about that. We will see . . .

I love finding new companies that have their act together. I am hopeful that the products are as good as they seem. If they are, I will certainly recommend them as a source in my patterns. I love sharing good news with you all. :)

So that is it for today. I have coffee brewed and nine more blank masks to play with and paint this weekend. The cats are curled up at my feet and the snow is still falling outside. Even if we lose power, I will be able to keep painting.

It's going to be a good weekend!

Have a wonderful weekend yourself. Keep warm and do something to make you happy. Life is short. It is best when you are able to enjoy whatever comes your way.

Hair Hand Cat Eye Felidae


Be happy and have fun!
Sheila you have a great weekend as well.
Poor cat, that is what the kids do with my whiskers LoL
Have a pattern drawn for my first scrollsaw project, wish
me luck.
Jamie
In a Sunny & Snowy Scotland
Life is Gtreat
 

Attachments

#7,418 ·
Pushing the Pile

Yesterday I had some unexpected things thrown my way. For some reason, my body decided to show its age in a somewhat nasty way. While getting up, it seems that something went awry with one side of my lower back, causing me a great deal of discomfort. There was no warning with this and I was just standing up when it happened. I didn't lift anything heavy and I was fresh out of the shower, so my muscles were warm. I am completely confuzzled as to how this occurred, and I wouldn't believe that it could have even happened but for the sharp pain in my lower back when I move.

Poopie! :(

I had Keith rub the area for me and took some Ibuprofen and had to take it quite easy yesterday. It was pretty much impossible for me to paint, because of the way I sit when I do so. It just wouldn't work with this going on.

I was able to sit at the computer a bit, as long as I got up to move around periodically (which usually meant removing several cats from around my legs and warm blanket!) We had fortunately just purchased a new couch this past year where the two seats on the end recline and it is quite supportive and comfortable. Fortunately, it is where I typically sit while on my computer here, so that is good.

In the afternoon I was getting quite antsy and I decided to change gears and even though I abandoned the idea of painting for now, I still wanted to do a version of the masks that were scrolled. So I drew.

I got the first one done, and I am quite pleased with it. I took my time and as I said, I stopped frequently to get up and walk around and stretch. Here is a little sample of the drawings:

Vertebrate Nature Botany Organism Mammal


While I realize that resting is something that I need to do, so is creating. One good part about working in many directions is that it gives you lots of alternatives to do something that is comfortable to do at the time when something like this happens. It isn't as if I have the flue and my whole body feels horrid. It is only my back and then too it is only when I move around and sit certain ways. Once I am comfortable, I am good for a while. So why not make good use of that time and push the large pile of ideas along a little bit?

Today I am going to go slow. If I hadn't seen any improvement, I would have headed to the doctor, but while I am not "all better" just yet, I do feel much better than yesterday. What baffles me the most is I just don't know what I did to trigger this. We do sit a lot in our various part of work, but we also do go to the gym three times a week to keep ourselves somewhat fit. I hope it was just a fluke and something got pinched or something like that.

In any case, I am slowing it down for a couple of days.

But that doesn't mean I won't still be a little bit productive. I have a couple of "girl" movies in mind to watch today. as Keith will be out for a while and I have some cats here to keep me company and I can draw here for a bit and work on the scrolled part of these designs while I wait for my crystal rhinestones to arrive. So all is good. :)

At least the pile will move forward a bit, even though it will be a bit slower than I originally intended.

Our snow turned to rain yesterday and once again we have a muddy mess on our hands. Reports from my friends that are west of me say that colder temperatures are on their way in the next few days. It is a good time to stay warm and cozy here anyway. So that is what I will do.

I wish you all a wonderful day today. Have fun and enjoy some time being creative!
 

Attachments

#7,419 ·
Pushing the Pile

Yesterday I had some unexpected things thrown my way. For some reason, my body decided to show its age in a somewhat nasty way. While getting up, it seems that something went awry with one side of my lower back, causing me a great deal of discomfort. There was no warning with this and I was just standing up when it happened. I didn't lift anything heavy and I was fresh out of the shower, so my muscles were warm. I am completely confuzzled as to how this occurred, and I wouldn't believe that it could have even happened but for the sharp pain in my lower back when I move.

Poopie! :(

I had Keith rub the area for me and took some Ibuprofen and had to take it quite easy yesterday. It was pretty much impossible for me to paint, because of the way I sit when I do so. It just wouldn't work with this going on.

I was able to sit at the computer a bit, as long as I got up to move around periodically (which usually meant removing several cats from around my legs and warm blanket!) We had fortunately just purchased a new couch this past year where the two seats on the end recline and it is quite supportive and comfortable. Fortunately, it is where I typically sit while on my computer here, so that is good.

In the afternoon I was getting quite antsy and I decided to change gears and even though I abandoned the idea of painting for now, I still wanted to do a version of the masks that were scrolled. So I drew.

I got the first one done, and I am quite pleased with it. I took my time and as I said, I stopped frequently to get up and walk around and stretch. Here is a little sample of the drawings:

Vertebrate Nature Botany Organism Mammal


While I realize that resting is something that I need to do, so is creating. One good part about working in many directions is that it gives you lots of alternatives to do something that is comfortable to do at the time when something like this happens. It isn't as if I have the flue and my whole body feels horrid. It is only my back and then too it is only when I move around and sit certain ways. Once I am comfortable, I am good for a while. So why not make good use of that time and push the large pile of ideas along a little bit?

Today I am going to go slow. If I hadn't seen any improvement, I would have headed to the doctor, but while I am not "all better" just yet, I do feel much better than yesterday. What baffles me the most is I just don't know what I did to trigger this. We do sit a lot in our various part of work, but we also do go to the gym three times a week to keep ourselves somewhat fit. I hope it was just a fluke and something got pinched or something like that.

In any case, I am slowing it down for a couple of days.

But that doesn't mean I won't still be a little bit productive. I have a couple of "girl" movies in mind to watch today. as Keith will be out for a while and I have some cats here to keep me company and I can draw here for a bit and work on the scrolled part of these designs while I wait for my crystal rhinestones to arrive. So all is good. :)

At least the pile will move forward a bit, even though it will be a bit slower than I originally intended.

Our snow turned to rain yesterday and once again we have a muddy mess on our hands. Reports from my friends that are west of me say that colder temperatures are on their way in the next few days. It is a good time to stay warm and cozy here anyway. So that is what I will do.

I wish you all a wonderful day today. Have fun and enjoy some time being creative!
Sheila take it easy, chill and enjoy your movie
The new mask looks great.
Jamie
 

Attachments

#7,430 ·
Slow and Steady

I want to begin by thanking everyone for their advice and good wishes. I really appreciate it a great deal and take everything you suggest to heart.

I realized as I awoke this morning and felt slightly better than what had occurred in an instant would take a while to heal. While I am not thrilled at this prospect, it does not upset me. For as long as I see improvement, no matter how small, I will be happy. And I definitely see improvement.

My range of motion is much better than it was yesterday. That is a plus and also a good indication that I am on the right track for treating this mishap properly. It encourages me to continue to follow the path that I have taken and gives me hope that soon I will be back to normal. Just how soon though remains to be seen.

I have come to the conclusion that what I did was pinch a nerve. I don't believe it is my sciatic nerve, because my leg is unaffected. The main area that bothers me is my lower back, just on one side, and the pain is very isolated, yet sharp. Fortunately, when I sit or lay still in most positions, there is no pain whatsoever. It is only when I move that I feel it, which again leads me to believe that it is not a pulled muscle, which would be constantly sore.

While this may not sound good, it does allow me to function and concentrate and 'forget' that there is a problem - as long as I behave. Getting up to walk around and also taking breaks and changing positions helps a great deal too, and I am sure to do so in order to remain supple. It slows me down a bit, but it is workable. I'll take it.

I promise to keep respecting what my body is telling me and not to overdo. I am on a minimal amount of pain killers (over the counter) and with that, if I do too much I will be rudely reminded by the pain. At this point I don't see a need to go to the doctor, but if things go south or stop progressing, I certainly will make the trip. But since this seems to be working, I don't feel the need.

I am happy to say that yesterday I was able to accomplish some drawing. And good drawing it was. I actually had fun with it and I am up to three designs of the scroll sawn masks at this point. And they look decent.

They will not be for the faint of heart though, as they are quite intricate and lacy. However, they are certainly possible and with a bit of patience, they should not be difficult at all to accomplish. One hole at a time, and all.

Here is a sample from mask number two:

Eye White Organ Human body Line


This type of scroll cutting is so much fun! I am very anxious to see how they will turn out in wood, and I think they will be very nice. I am not sure how they will be received, but they are something that I want to do. Sometimes I need to design just for myself and let the sawdust fall where it may.

Since these are so intricate, I believe that a set of six will be sufficient for the pattern packet. The truth of the matter is that I can't wait to begin cutting and I think that will be a good stopping point. They will be approximately 5" from end to end and varying heights depending on the design. I can think of many ways to finish these, and of course, I will pepper at least some of them with rhinestones.

Today's goal is to finish drawing the final three. Now that I have started, I am getting into a rhythm and I should be able to achieve that goal.

It is Monday already, and quite warm out. We are due to get a cold front passing through soon, although I don't know exactly when. It is a strange winter here in Atlantic Canada. Just like it is most other places. It is almost eerie to see the climate changes happening so quickly. But it is rather hard to deny.

I wish you all a good day today. And for those of you in the United States, happy Martin Luther King Jr. day.

"Whatever career you may choose for yourself - doctor, lawyer, teacher - let me propose an avocation to be pursued along with it.
Become a dedicated fighter for civil rights.
Make it a central part of your life. It will make you a better doctor, a better lawyer, a better teacher.
It will enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can. It will give you that rare sense of nobility that can only spring from love and selflessly helping your fellow man.
Make a career of humanity.
Commit yourself to the noble struggle for human rights.
You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in." - Martin Luther King Jr.
 

Attachments

#7,431 ·
Slow and Steady

I want to begin by thanking everyone for their advice and good wishes. I really appreciate it a great deal and take everything you suggest to heart.

I realized as I awoke this morning and felt slightly better than what had occurred in an instant would take a while to heal. While I am not thrilled at this prospect, it does not upset me. For as long as I see improvement, no matter how small, I will be happy. And I definitely see improvement.

My range of motion is much better than it was yesterday. That is a plus and also a good indication that I am on the right track for treating this mishap properly. It encourages me to continue to follow the path that I have taken and gives me hope that soon I will be back to normal. Just how soon though remains to be seen.

I have come to the conclusion that what I did was pinch a nerve. I don't believe it is my sciatic nerve, because my leg is unaffected. The main area that bothers me is my lower back, just on one side, and the pain is very isolated, yet sharp. Fortunately, when I sit or lay still in most positions, there is no pain whatsoever. It is only when I move that I feel it, which again leads me to believe that it is not a pulled muscle, which would be constantly sore.

While this may not sound good, it does allow me to function and concentrate and 'forget' that there is a problem - as long as I behave. Getting up to walk around and also taking breaks and changing positions helps a great deal too, and I am sure to do so in order to remain supple. It slows me down a bit, but it is workable. I'll take it.

I promise to keep respecting what my body is telling me and not to overdo. I am on a minimal amount of pain killers (over the counter) and with that, if I do too much I will be rudely reminded by the pain. At this point I don't see a need to go to the doctor, but if things go south or stop progressing, I certainly will make the trip. But since this seems to be working, I don't feel the need.

I am happy to say that yesterday I was able to accomplish some drawing. And good drawing it was. I actually had fun with it and I am up to three designs of the scroll sawn masks at this point. And they look decent.

They will not be for the faint of heart though, as they are quite intricate and lacy. However, they are certainly possible and with a bit of patience, they should not be difficult at all to accomplish. One hole at a time, and all.

Here is a sample from mask number two:

Eye White Organ Human body Line


This type of scroll cutting is so much fun! I am very anxious to see how they will turn out in wood, and I think they will be very nice. I am not sure how they will be received, but they are something that I want to do. Sometimes I need to design just for myself and let the sawdust fall where it may.

Since these are so intricate, I believe that a set of six will be sufficient for the pattern packet. The truth of the matter is that I can't wait to begin cutting and I think that will be a good stopping point. They will be approximately 5" from end to end and varying heights depending on the design. I can think of many ways to finish these, and of course, I will pepper at least some of them with rhinestones.

Today's goal is to finish drawing the final three. Now that I have started, I am getting into a rhythm and I should be able to achieve that goal.

It is Monday already, and quite warm out. We are due to get a cold front passing through soon, although I don't know exactly when. It is a strange winter here in Atlantic Canada. Just like it is most other places. It is almost eerie to see the climate changes happening so quickly. But it is rather hard to deny.

I wish you all a good day today. And for those of you in the United States, happy Martin Luther King Jr. day.

"Whatever career you may choose for yourself - doctor, lawyer, teacher - let me propose an avocation to be pursued along with it.
Become a dedicated fighter for civil rights.
Make it a central part of your life. It will make you a better doctor, a better lawyer, a better teacher.
It will enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can. It will give you that rare sense of nobility that can only spring from love and selflessly helping your fellow man.
Make a career of humanity.
Commit yourself to the noble struggle for human rights.
You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in." - Martin Luther King Jr.
Sheila it is all a balancing act
Love the scroll-saw masks can you let me know
when the pattern is ready so that I can buy a copy
My Sister can do the decoration. :) She loves the idea
and it will be great to try on my newish scroll-saw
Jamie
Have a Sublime day

Love the quote I shared it in FaceBook
 

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#7,436 ·
Ready to Cut

I had a good day yesterday. I took things slowly and the good news is that I am feeling a bit better each day. Even better is that I finished drawing up the six mask patterns for scrolling on the scroll saw and will hopefully be able to begin doing some cutting today.

Sitting at the saw is not at all a strain on my back. I sit very comfortably with a nice padded stool at a good height so I won't be hunched over or anything like that. Still, I am going to take it slowly and when my body says "rest" I will do just that. In between I can even paint and plan the pieces for the painters.

There is certainly enough to do to keep me busy.

Keith is at a stage in his designing where he also is ready to use the saw, so we will probably alternate and take turns throughout the day. This will also slow me down a bit and help me not to do too much in a stretch.

I am going to keep this short today, as there is little more to show you than another sample shot of one of the pieces.

Organ Organism Font Rectangle Art


Hopefully I can show you some of the real things tomorrow.

Have a great day! :)
 

Attachments

#7,437 ·
Ready to Cut

I had a good day yesterday. I took things slowly and the good news is that I am feeling a bit better each day. Even better is that I finished drawing up the six mask patterns for scrolling on the scroll saw and will hopefully be able to begin doing some cutting today.

Sitting at the saw is not at all a strain on my back. I sit very comfortably with a nice padded stool at a good height so I won't be hunched over or anything like that. Still, I am going to take it slowly and when my body says "rest" I will do just that. In between I can even paint and plan the pieces for the painters.

There is certainly enough to do to keep me busy.

Keith is at a stage in his designing where he also is ready to use the saw, so we will probably alternate and take turns throughout the day. This will also slow me down a bit and help me not to do too much in a stretch.

I am going to keep this short today, as there is little more to show you than another sample shot of one of the pieces.

Organ Organism Font Rectangle Art


Hopefully I can show you some of the real things tomorrow.

Have a great day! :)
sure am glad your slowly getting better, your doing good, you know your body and when it says its OK to work you do, when it says ease back you do…its pretty simple if you listen to your body, the hard thing is, we usually want to write checks our body's cant cash..but you know how to manage everything,,,grizz
 

Attachments

#7,442 ·
Moving Right Along . . .

I am happy to say that yesterday turned out to be a very productive day. While Kieth and I both needed scroll saw time, I had plenty to do while he was cutting to keep me busy. I spent the morning working on the final touches for the article that I wrote on different methods to apply the pattern to the wood for scroll sawing (which will be featured in the May issue of Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine) and picked my wood piece for the set of masks that I was scrolling out.

I chose a piece of what I think is hickory for my project. I liked the beautiful color and the nice tight grain would be perfect to hold the delicate scroll lines. Any open grained wood such as oak would probably be a bit fragile for a project such as this, as well as softer woods like poplar and pine. But the nice, even, tight grained wood such as maple, cherry, and even walnut would be wonderful candidates for this type of cutting.

Since the wood piece that I was using was about 3/16" thick, I thought it would be good to stack cut a layer of 1/8" plywood underneath it. This would not only give me more resistance and stability, making it easier to control my cutting, but it would also give me two sets of completed pieces - one to leave natural and one to decorate as I saw fit. There are going to be many options with this project and I would like to demonstrate as many as I can to give some wonderful ideas and inspiration to others.

I went back on the site where I ordered the rhinestones from (Rhinestone Canada) and I saw that they also have small aluminum stud nailheads available. Like the rhinestones, they have a glue on the back which will allow you to affix it to your project with the heat tool. I was rather kicking myself for not ordering these in the first place, as they may be a bit easier to use on ornaments and such than embedding round beads like I have done in the past. I can see another order on the horizon already, but first I will wait to see if I "forgot anything" when my first order arrives.

I am very anxious to receive it, and can't wait to use the stones on some of these pieces. It went out the day I ordered it, but even with priority mail, Canada Post takes "up to 9 days" to deliver it here. Hopefully I will have it by the beginning of next week sometime.

In the meantime, I will just keep moving in a positive direction.

I cut three of the masks yesterday. I am going to offer six in the set altogether. Since they are more intricate, I think that is a good size for a set. I am also going to offer them in a couple of sizes, so that people can cut them small, as I did here, or use the larger ones for wall hangings or other uses. I think that the larger version will be especially fun to decorate, and a little easier to cut too.

The cutting process went without a hitch. Below are the results of my efforts:

Art Font Creative arts Motif Pattern


While I stacked the 3/16" hickory with one layer of 1/8" birch plywood, I could have easily stacked it with two, giving another set in the process. I used an Olson regular reverse-tooth blade in size 2/0 and everything went splendid. THIS is the kind of cutting that I love to do! There were swirls and turns and nothing at all was particularly difficult. With that thickness of wood and blade, it was very easy to control.

I want to say that each of these little masks took probably an hour or so to cut. For this set, each mask measures approximately 4.5" from end to end. Here is a picture of me holding it so you can see the size relative to my hand:

Art Font Ornament Pattern Logo


Remember there is no finish on them at all at this point. I did lightly sand them using my Makita 1/3 sheet orbital sander and a foam pad. They are much stronger than they look, which is a great part of this type of design.

I hope you like seeing the progress. I will be working on the other three today, as well as getting back to the painted versions.

So much to do! But it is all so much FUN! :)

I hope you like seeing the pieces. Remember - this is only the beginning. I have lots more planned for these. You will just have to stop back and see . . .

Have a great Wednesday!
 

Attachments

#7,443 ·
Moving Right Along . . .

I am happy to say that yesterday turned out to be a very productive day. While Kieth and I both needed scroll saw time, I had plenty to do while he was cutting to keep me busy. I spent the morning working on the final touches for the article that I wrote on different methods to apply the pattern to the wood for scroll sawing (which will be featured in the May issue of Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine) and picked my wood piece for the set of masks that I was scrolling out.

I chose a piece of what I think is hickory for my project. I liked the beautiful color and the nice tight grain would be perfect to hold the delicate scroll lines. Any open grained wood such as oak would probably be a bit fragile for a project such as this, as well as softer woods like poplar and pine. But the nice, even, tight grained wood such as maple, cherry, and even walnut would be wonderful candidates for this type of cutting.

Since the wood piece that I was using was about 3/16" thick, I thought it would be good to stack cut a layer of 1/8" plywood underneath it. This would not only give me more resistance and stability, making it easier to control my cutting, but it would also give me two sets of completed pieces - one to leave natural and one to decorate as I saw fit. There are going to be many options with this project and I would like to demonstrate as many as I can to give some wonderful ideas and inspiration to others.

I went back on the site where I ordered the rhinestones from (Rhinestone Canada) and I saw that they also have small aluminum stud nailheads available. Like the rhinestones, they have a glue on the back which will allow you to affix it to your project with the heat tool. I was rather kicking myself for not ordering these in the first place, as they may be a bit easier to use on ornaments and such than embedding round beads like I have done in the past. I can see another order on the horizon already, but first I will wait to see if I "forgot anything" when my first order arrives.

I am very anxious to receive it, and can't wait to use the stones on some of these pieces. It went out the day I ordered it, but even with priority mail, Canada Post takes "up to 9 days" to deliver it here. Hopefully I will have it by the beginning of next week sometime.

In the meantime, I will just keep moving in a positive direction.

I cut three of the masks yesterday. I am going to offer six in the set altogether. Since they are more intricate, I think that is a good size for a set. I am also going to offer them in a couple of sizes, so that people can cut them small, as I did here, or use the larger ones for wall hangings or other uses. I think that the larger version will be especially fun to decorate, and a little easier to cut too.

The cutting process went without a hitch. Below are the results of my efforts:

Art Font Creative arts Motif Pattern


While I stacked the 3/16" hickory with one layer of 1/8" birch plywood, I could have easily stacked it with two, giving another set in the process. I used an Olson regular reverse-tooth blade in size 2/0 and everything went splendid. THIS is the kind of cutting that I love to do! There were swirls and turns and nothing at all was particularly difficult. With that thickness of wood and blade, it was very easy to control.

I want to say that each of these little masks took probably an hour or so to cut. For this set, each mask measures approximately 4.5" from end to end. Here is a picture of me holding it so you can see the size relative to my hand:

Art Font Ornament Pattern Logo


Remember there is no finish on them at all at this point. I did lightly sand them using my Makita 1/3 sheet orbital sander and a foam pad. They are much stronger than they look, which is a great part of this type of design.

I hope you like seeing the progress. I will be working on the other three today, as well as getting back to the painted versions.

So much to do! But it is all so much FUN! :)

I hope you like seeing the pieces. Remember - this is only the beginning. I have lots more planned for these. You will just have to stop back and see . . .

Have a great Wednesday!
I am loving their mascaras Sheila! They are beautiful, then I want to see them finished! Congratulations!
 

Attachments

#7,451 ·
More Masks

I need to make this entry short and sweet because I am already behind for the day. I was having an issue with my USB hub this morning that meant that not only did my tablet mouse not work, but I was also unable to transfer images to the computer from my camera.

I spent the first two hours of my day first crawling around playing with wires. I couldn't understand it because even though my tablet is four years old, usually things like that just don't 'quit' without incident (I said "usually." I know that it is possible.)

My lovely cat Coco had chewed through the wires on it right after I got it and I had to do one of my expert splicing jobs before the tablet was a month old. I wondered if there was something up with that because the light was on and flickering, just no response.

So I desperately played around with it, even to the point of unwrapping the knob of electrical tape which repaired the four tiny wires and insulation sheath. All looked well however. I had figured it was just its time to die and began searching for the cheapest/quickest way I could have one here. I thought it meant a trip to Yarmouth in the freshly fallen snow, which I am sure Keith would not be thrilled about. I even planned to bribe him with taking him to lunch. ;)

Finally, I gave up and decided I needed to get on with the blog here and my day in general and I took the pictures for today's post. As I began to transfer them to the computer, again things weren't connecting or working. I kept getting errors.

I checked my Device Manager in the control panel of my computer and there indeed was a USB bus problem. (By the way, through the course of this whole incident, I rebooted my computer several times!) Of course the help from Windows to troubleshoot it was useless. So I did what I should have done in the first place - unplugged the USB hub and plugged it in again. (By the way - I did try the tablet directly into the one port in front of my computer, but I had forgotten that it was the only one on my computer that didn't work properly. With the port and the five others, it didn't matter)

Well, rebooting the hub did the trick. Instantly my tablet worked again and also the camera was able to transfer the pictures. That saved me about $300 that I was going to spend on the new tablet, not to mention the day of chasing and the anxiety.

So all is well again. Crisis averted.

It is just after 8am and there is still plenty of time to save the rest of the day. Getting up early pays off I suppose.

Yesterday, I spent the day cutting the other three masks. Before I began the cutting process, I redrew one of the masks, because I wanted to save one of them for another set, as I had another idea for a little different direction for them.

The results of my cutting is pictured here:

Font Art Creative arts Motif Ornament


I was really pleased with how they came out too. I had a great time cutting them. They were a bit of a challenge, and I plan on grading the pattern Intermediate to Advanced because of the level of cutting. There is little room for error on some of the pieces.

I think that my favorite of them all was the one I drew up yesterday. It reminded me of a harlequin. Cutting it was not for the faint of heart though:

Font Pattern Metal Fashion accessory Hair accessory


To show the overall size of these (approximately 4.5" again) here is a picture of me holding one:

Headgear Insect Font Art Natural material


In the pattern packets though, I am going to include two sizes of the masks, which will make cutting the larger sizes quite a bit easier. That way if my customers want to give it a go, they can try it on the larger size first if they are unsure of their abilities and work their way to the smaller size. Of course they will be able to size them anything in between. With the smallest size being the most difficult, having cut them myself I know that they can be easily accomplished with a little patience and the proper set up.

I may cut out one of the larger versions, just to show the difference in the pattern, but I am not sure that it is necessary. I have to see how it goes.

Oh, and I also need to correct myself form yesterday's post. I had stated that I thought the wood that I was using for these was hickory, but it was not. It it solid birch. I had forgotten that we had purchased and planed some of it down and it is also a great candidate for this type of cutting, as you can see how well it holds the detail of the tiny curls and lines.

Again I used my 1/3 sheet orbital sander on all of these pieces without incident. They are quite sturdy and as long as it is supported from underneath (I use a small foam pad) it is fine.

I hope you like these pieces as much as the ones I did yesterday. I am not done with these yet. There is still more to come. Thanks for all the nice comments yesterday. It sure encourages me to do better. :)

Happy Thursday!
 

Attachments

#7,452 ·
More Masks

I need to make this entry short and sweet because I am already behind for the day. I was having an issue with my USB hub this morning that meant that not only did my tablet mouse not work, but I was also unable to transfer images to the computer from my camera.

I spent the first two hours of my day first crawling around playing with wires. I couldn't understand it because even though my tablet is four years old, usually things like that just don't 'quit' without incident (I said "usually." I know that it is possible.)

My lovely cat Coco had chewed through the wires on it right after I got it and I had to do one of my expert splicing jobs before the tablet was a month old. I wondered if there was something up with that because the light was on and flickering, just no response.

So I desperately played around with it, even to the point of unwrapping the knob of electrical tape which repaired the four tiny wires and insulation sheath. All looked well however. I had figured it was just its time to die and began searching for the cheapest/quickest way I could have one here. I thought it meant a trip to Yarmouth in the freshly fallen snow, which I am sure Keith would not be thrilled about. I even planned to bribe him with taking him to lunch. ;)

Finally, I gave up and decided I needed to get on with the blog here and my day in general and I took the pictures for today's post. As I began to transfer them to the computer, again things weren't connecting or working. I kept getting errors.

I checked my Device Manager in the control panel of my computer and there indeed was a USB bus problem. (By the way, through the course of this whole incident, I rebooted my computer several times!) Of course the help from Windows to troubleshoot it was useless. So I did what I should have done in the first place - unplugged the USB hub and plugged it in again. (By the way - I did try the tablet directly into the one port in front of my computer, but I had forgotten that it was the only one on my computer that didn't work properly. With the port and the five others, it didn't matter)

Well, rebooting the hub did the trick. Instantly my tablet worked again and also the camera was able to transfer the pictures. That saved me about $300 that I was going to spend on the new tablet, not to mention the day of chasing and the anxiety.

So all is well again. Crisis averted.

It is just after 8am and there is still plenty of time to save the rest of the day. Getting up early pays off I suppose.

Yesterday, I spent the day cutting the other three masks. Before I began the cutting process, I redrew one of the masks, because I wanted to save one of them for another set, as I had another idea for a little different direction for them.

The results of my cutting is pictured here:

Font Art Creative arts Motif Ornament


I was really pleased with how they came out too. I had a great time cutting them. They were a bit of a challenge, and I plan on grading the pattern Intermediate to Advanced because of the level of cutting. There is little room for error on some of the pieces.

I think that my favorite of them all was the one I drew up yesterday. It reminded me of a harlequin. Cutting it was not for the faint of heart though:

Font Pattern Metal Fashion accessory Hair accessory


To show the overall size of these (approximately 4.5" again) here is a picture of me holding one:

Headgear Insect Font Art Natural material


In the pattern packets though, I am going to include two sizes of the masks, which will make cutting the larger sizes quite a bit easier. That way if my customers want to give it a go, they can try it on the larger size first if they are unsure of their abilities and work their way to the smaller size. Of course they will be able to size them anything in between. With the smallest size being the most difficult, having cut them myself I know that they can be easily accomplished with a little patience and the proper set up.

I may cut out one of the larger versions, just to show the difference in the pattern, but I am not sure that it is necessary. I have to see how it goes.

Oh, and I also need to correct myself form yesterday's post. I had stated that I thought the wood that I was using for these was hickory, but it was not. It it solid birch. I had forgotten that we had purchased and planed some of it down and it is also a great candidate for this type of cutting, as you can see how well it holds the detail of the tiny curls and lines.

Again I used my 1/3 sheet orbital sander on all of these pieces without incident. They are quite sturdy and as long as it is supported from underneath (I use a small foam pad) it is fine.

I hope you like these pieces as much as the ones I did yesterday. I am not done with these yet. There is still more to come. Thanks for all the nice comments yesterday. It sure encourages me to do better. :)

Happy Thursday!
These are quite beautiful and attractive and will appeal to a lot of people. Good job on designing/scrolling these.
 

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