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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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#9,399 ·
An "Unorganized" Blog

It's getting to be that time of year.

While I don't mind sharing things here in my blog, there are some times when I simply can't. I am working on some secret gift exchanges and I want them to be a surprise.

It makes it hard though, as I kind of put myself out here every day and everyone sees what I am up to. If I don't think ahead, I have little to talk about.

Yesterday I attended a "Penny Sale" for the feral wharf cats in our area that live on the dock by the fish plant. It is an annual event that helps raise money for Adele - who heads the group that cares for them. They give the kitties shelter, food and medical treatment, as well as adopt as many kitties out as possible. The work that they do is long and hard and never finished and they give their heart and soul for the cats.

Table Chair Building Hall Suit


My friend and neighbor Lee is also a great advocate for this cause. He goes to the wharf every single day and makes sure they are all fed and warm and OK. He has a personal relationship with these animals that no one else has, and most of them come up to him and sit on his lap during his visits. He has five cats of his own and likes to take the ones that others may shun - the crippled or old or damaged cats. He has a heart of gold when it comes to them.

I only got to the sale after they started auctioning the items, after it was too late to put my coupons on the ones I wanted. But that didn't matter much to me anyway. The prizes were wonderful, but I am not in need of anything and I attend more for the joy of going than for winning something. I just donated the money I had intended on spending anyway. That was good enough for me. (I found out they raised over $4500 for the cause yesterday!)
I am thrilled for the cats!

When I returned home, I began finishing up on my exchange gift. I had hoped in finishing it, but I am not quite there. I did sand the ornaments that I showed on yesterday's blog and was thrilled that nothing broke. Now it is on to finishing them up today.

I received a call from my dentist's office this morning already (8 am) and they will be able to repair my tooth later on today. So that is a good thing, even though it will break up my day. It is just the way it is going to be.

With that said, I will get to the tasks on hand. I had a nice order for some wood kits that I cut yesterday and I still need to package them so they can go out in the mail today. Yes - it is busy.

I apologize for the "unorganized blog" today. I suppose that sometimes things are just like that. It does replicate my life lately - where I am here and there and doing lots of different things. But it is all good, and I am happy.

I am sure I will have more to show tomorrow. :)

Happy Monday!
 

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#9,400 ·
An "Unorganized" Blog

It's getting to be that time of year.

While I don't mind sharing things here in my blog, there are some times when I simply can't. I am working on some secret gift exchanges and I want them to be a surprise.

It makes it hard though, as I kind of put myself out here every day and everyone sees what I am up to. If I don't think ahead, I have little to talk about.

Yesterday I attended a "Penny Sale" for the feral wharf cats in our area that live on the dock by the fish plant. It is an annual event that helps raise money for Adele - who heads the group that cares for them. They give the kitties shelter, food and medical treatment, as well as adopt as many kitties out as possible. The work that they do is long and hard and never finished and they give their heart and soul for the cats.

Table Chair Building Hall Suit


My friend and neighbor Lee is also a great advocate for this cause. He goes to the wharf every single day and makes sure they are all fed and warm and OK. He has a personal relationship with these animals that no one else has, and most of them come up to him and sit on his lap during his visits. He has five cats of his own and likes to take the ones that others may shun - the crippled or old or damaged cats. He has a heart of gold when it comes to them.

I only got to the sale after they started auctioning the items, after it was too late to put my coupons on the ones I wanted. But that didn't matter much to me anyway. The prizes were wonderful, but I am not in need of anything and I attend more for the joy of going than for winning something. I just donated the money I had intended on spending anyway. That was good enough for me. (I found out they raised over $4500 for the cause yesterday!)
I am thrilled for the cats!

When I returned home, I began finishing up on my exchange gift. I had hoped in finishing it, but I am not quite there. I did sand the ornaments that I showed on yesterday's blog and was thrilled that nothing broke. Now it is on to finishing them up today.

I received a call from my dentist's office this morning already (8 am) and they will be able to repair my tooth later on today. So that is a good thing, even though it will break up my day. It is just the way it is going to be.

With that said, I will get to the tasks on hand. I had a nice order for some wood kits that I cut yesterday and I still need to package them so they can go out in the mail today. Yes - it is busy.

I apologize for the "unorganized blog" today. I suppose that sometimes things are just like that. It does replicate my life lately - where I am here and there and doing lots of different things. But it is all good, and I am happy.

I am sure I will have more to show tomorrow. :)

Happy Monday!
Shelia, Yes, you are a busy busy lady. But, although you feel that on some days things go helter skelter I see you as very organized and preplanning is one of your super attributes. Glad the feline resource did so weel with their auction. You press on with PRIDE today.
 

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#9,403 ·
Making Your Own Rules

To me, one of the best things I find with designing is that the only rules that I have to follow are my own. I think that is one of the main reasons that I became a designer in the first place. I never really followed along with rules.

It isn't that I am not able to do so. Usually I am pretty good at reading instructions and following them to the letter. . My friend Cari and I were "experts" at doing things like putting together projects, toys and furniture (you know - the type like IKEA sells) with ease. We used to joke however how they would always miss listing the most important tool of all to make things work right - a rubber hammer! Give the two of us a flat box of any type of assorted furniture (shelves, desk, etc) and in a couple of hours we would have the thing made - with little or no parts left over. We were a pretty good team. Oh - and we usually had some good laughs along the way!

We also were 'self-taught' when it comes to decorative painting and scroll sawing. I remember my first project that I made on the scroll saw. I modified a pattern from a book by Pat Speilman. It was a fretwork top to a jewelry box and I changed the size from 8" wide to about 22" wide and put a monogrammed letter in the center. This was to be a gift for Cari, as at the time she was remodeling her kitchen and I wanted her to use it as an accent over the sink soffit.

Even though I had never cut anything on the scroll saw before, I thought "how hard could it be?" as I went to the printers to enlarge the patterns (I wasn't good at computers back then either, and I don't know if I even owned one then!) I cut and pasted the monogram in the center of the design and proceeded to purchase a beautiful piece of ash that was about 1/2 - 3/4" thick. I thought it would be a breeze.

I used a #7 scroll saw blade and I can't tell you how much burning occurred on that piece. I also glued the pattern on improperly and when I was finally finished with the LONG process of cutting - struggling all the way - I spent probably a longer amount of time scraping off the pattern and sanding off the burn marks. It was certainly a labor of love and looking back, I rather surprise myself that I ever wanted to scroll saw again.

But even though I struggled with that ambitious project, I got one of my first tastes at "designing" and I was please at the outcome. From that moment on, instructions became mere "suggestions" and I never looked back. The rest - as they say - is history.

In thinking about it, I suppose that I do pretty much the same with everything I do. While in the beginning of my painting career I paid a bit more attention to instructions, soon I found myself changing things and doing my own thing on most of the designs that I was painting. The more proficient that I became in these basic skills, the more I pushed the envelope and branched out using my own ideas. Soon designing entire projects became the norm and even though I have quite a large "collection" of both painting and woodworking patterns (that is STILL GROWING mind you!) I still almost always do my own thing. It is just my nature.

This latest pattern of intricate Damask ornaments is something that I really am enjoying. Like many of my designs, I see several different options possible for them, and I will develop at least a couple for the pattern packet.

Yesterday I finished "phase 1" as I will call it. I had cut a set of flat ornaments out of ash, and I think on their own they are really beautiful. I love making wood look graceful and flowing, and cutting those lines is probably my favorite type of scrolling. I think the results is pretty nice:

Creative arts Wood Finger Ornament Font


(I purposely left a 'stem' on the top so that a beautiful ribbon of choice could be used to accent the pretty ash. I think the effect is nice. )

While I was very happy with the ornaments done this way, I wanted to do something else to really make them outstanding and different. Naturally, I went to my favorite box of "pretty" from Rhinestone Canada and added some wonderfully beautiful crystal rhinestones. I think they brought them from pretty to 'stunning.'

Textile Creative arts Font Art Pattern


I chose to do these ornaments in traditional red (the stone color is called Light Siam)

Creative arts Art Font Pattern Wood


And a beautiful, soft green (Olivine)

Art Wood Table Felidae Pattern


I had matching dotted ribbon to accent these two colors, and it gave them a nice, contemporary look. I wish you could see how they shine!

Together as a set, they look simply stunning.

Textile Creative arts Wood Font Ornament


But I am not done yet . . .

I did cut another version of these ornaments, and I will be working on completing them today. I am going to include both versions in the pattern, which should be ready by the update for the site early next week. I can't wait to see them finished!

I don't know if I have mentioned lately how much I love my job! It is difficult for me to consider it 'work' when I am having so much fun.

Yesterday I finished packing up and shipping out one of the packages for an ornament exchange that I participated in. I am now waiting excitedly for my own ornament to arrive, as I am sure it will be awesome!

I am very pleased with how my work is coming out. As always, there are at least a million more ideas that I have to develop, so I will be busy for a long time to come. I thank you all for your support and friendship and encouragement that I receive every day from you. I know I wouldn't be as happy or enthusiastic without your cheering me on.

So it is time for me to get busy. There is lots that I have to accomplish today, and I can't wait to start.

I suppose the moral of today's post is "Don't be afraid to implement some of your own ideas when making projects - they may be the beginning of something great for you."

I wish you all a wonderful Tuesday and I hope that you have a fun day.

Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
 

Attachments

#9,404 ·
Making Your Own Rules

To me, one of the best things I find with designing is that the only rules that I have to follow are my own. I think that is one of the main reasons that I became a designer in the first place. I never really followed along with rules.

It isn't that I am not able to do so. Usually I am pretty good at reading instructions and following them to the letter. . My friend Cari and I were "experts" at doing things like putting together projects, toys and furniture (you know - the type like IKEA sells) with ease. We used to joke however how they would always miss listing the most important tool of all to make things work right - a rubber hammer! Give the two of us a flat box of any type of assorted furniture (shelves, desk, etc) and in a couple of hours we would have the thing made - with little or no parts left over. We were a pretty good team. Oh - and we usually had some good laughs along the way!

We also were 'self-taught' when it comes to decorative painting and scroll sawing. I remember my first project that I made on the scroll saw. I modified a pattern from a book by Pat Speilman. It was a fretwork top to a jewelry box and I changed the size from 8" wide to about 22" wide and put a monogrammed letter in the center. This was to be a gift for Cari, as at the time she was remodeling her kitchen and I wanted her to use it as an accent over the sink soffit.

Even though I had never cut anything on the scroll saw before, I thought "how hard could it be?" as I went to the printers to enlarge the patterns (I wasn't good at computers back then either, and I don't know if I even owned one then!) I cut and pasted the monogram in the center of the design and proceeded to purchase a beautiful piece of ash that was about 1/2 - 3/4" thick. I thought it would be a breeze.

I used a #7 scroll saw blade and I can't tell you how much burning occurred on that piece. I also glued the pattern on improperly and when I was finally finished with the LONG process of cutting - struggling all the way - I spent probably a longer amount of time scraping off the pattern and sanding off the burn marks. It was certainly a labor of love and looking back, I rather surprise myself that I ever wanted to scroll saw again.

But even though I struggled with that ambitious project, I got one of my first tastes at "designing" and I was please at the outcome. From that moment on, instructions became mere "suggestions" and I never looked back. The rest - as they say - is history.

In thinking about it, I suppose that I do pretty much the same with everything I do. While in the beginning of my painting career I paid a bit more attention to instructions, soon I found myself changing things and doing my own thing on most of the designs that I was painting. The more proficient that I became in these basic skills, the more I pushed the envelope and branched out using my own ideas. Soon designing entire projects became the norm and even though I have quite a large "collection" of both painting and woodworking patterns (that is STILL GROWING mind you!) I still almost always do my own thing. It is just my nature.

This latest pattern of intricate Damask ornaments is something that I really am enjoying. Like many of my designs, I see several different options possible for them, and I will develop at least a couple for the pattern packet.

Yesterday I finished "phase 1" as I will call it. I had cut a set of flat ornaments out of ash, and I think on their own they are really beautiful. I love making wood look graceful and flowing, and cutting those lines is probably my favorite type of scrolling. I think the results is pretty nice:

Creative arts Wood Finger Ornament Font


(I purposely left a 'stem' on the top so that a beautiful ribbon of choice could be used to accent the pretty ash. I think the effect is nice. )

While I was very happy with the ornaments done this way, I wanted to do something else to really make them outstanding and different. Naturally, I went to my favorite box of "pretty" from Rhinestone Canada and added some wonderfully beautiful crystal rhinestones. I think they brought them from pretty to 'stunning.'

Textile Creative arts Font Art Pattern


I chose to do these ornaments in traditional red (the stone color is called Light Siam)

Creative arts Art Font Pattern Wood


And a beautiful, soft green (Olivine)

Art Wood Table Felidae Pattern


I had matching dotted ribbon to accent these two colors, and it gave them a nice, contemporary look. I wish you could see how they shine!

Together as a set, they look simply stunning.

Textile Creative arts Wood Font Ornament


But I am not done yet . . .

I did cut another version of these ornaments, and I will be working on completing them today. I am going to include both versions in the pattern, which should be ready by the update for the site early next week. I can't wait to see them finished!

I don't know if I have mentioned lately how much I love my job! It is difficult for me to consider it 'work' when I am having so much fun.

Yesterday I finished packing up and shipping out one of the packages for an ornament exchange that I participated in. I am now waiting excitedly for my own ornament to arrive, as I am sure it will be awesome!

I am very pleased with how my work is coming out. As always, there are at least a million more ideas that I have to develop, so I will be busy for a long time to come. I thank you all for your support and friendship and encouragement that I receive every day from you. I know I wouldn't be as happy or enthusiastic without your cheering me on.

So it is time for me to get busy. There is lots that I have to accomplish today, and I can't wait to start.

I suppose the moral of today's post is "Don't be afraid to implement some of your own ideas when making projects - they may be the beginning of something great for you."

I wish you all a wonderful Tuesday and I hope that you have a fun day.

Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
They are really beautiful and each has its own from. And you may find this humorus, but I see a face in each one w/ a particular expression, example the lower left one w/green bow appears as a excentric man ragged hair bad frown and not feeling well. Others have smiles of different degrees, some appear as ladies others men. Even though the stones are stunning, I perfer the plain ones. Thanks for sharing.
 

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#9,412 ·
Finished Ornament Pictures! :)

As I am writing this morning, the sky is a very light blue and it is filled with puffy clouds. The bottoms of the clouds are an incredible peachy/orange hue that blends into the peachy/grey tops. If I painted a picture like this, some would think it looked 'fake', as the colors are so unusual. But it is there and it is a beautiful sight to wake up to. I can feel already that it will be a good day.

I made pretty good progress yesterday on my project. The second version of the ornaments that I showed yesterday is done, and I believe that I like them even better than the last. I know there are the purists that may disagree with me - and I can picture them cut from some beautiful exotic pieces - but my own personal opinion is that I love the splash of color that I have applied to them, and that is my first choice.

I wanted these ornaments to be really special. Originally, I had intended on using some gold leafing on the frames of the second version. A very talented painting friend of mine made some beautiful ornaments earlier this week in which she applied some silver leafing around the edges of her ornaments which offset the painted polar animals beautifully. After seeing this technique, I remembered that I had some gold leafing sheets, as well as the adhesive and top coat and had been waiting for a nice project to use it.

I didn't want solid gold coverage though, I wanted a mottled/variegated look. I planned on using intense colors with the metallic gold kind of marbled through it. I thought that perhaps applying the gold leaf would not only make the pieces really special, but introduce a new technique as well.

I was a big shy about using it though, as I had never done so before. I spent some time on YouTube, looking through the various videos to see what I was up against. It looked easy enough, although it was a bit messy. And I began to wonder if it would be possible to achieve the look I was thinking about on such a small area - only the tiny frames of the ornaments.

I followed my own advice (for ONCE!) and decided to TEST the process on a scrap of wood. I must say, this was the smartest move of the day. I am constantly telling others to TEST things first on a scrap, but there are times (I admit) when I am in a hurry and bypass that step. Usually with regret. But I worked so hard on cutting these ornaments and they were sitting here looking really beautiful (even though they were still naked) and I didn't want to take chances on botching them up. It would have broken my heart.

I decided that I needed to shred the sheet of leaf so that I would have little "flakes" to work with. That task alone was a clue that things weren't as easy as they looked. The metal flakes definitely had a mind of its own, and either stuck to my hands like the styrofoam 'peanuts' did, or floated around the table. I already had a little mess on my hands and I hadn't even opened the glue bottle yet.

I tried a few spots of glue and applying my flakes and I was not happy with the results. The flakes stuck wherever they touched - very uneven looking. I tried again to apply the glue with a stipple brush - with the thought that if the glue was staggered, then the flakes would be as well. That didn't work either, as there wasn't enough glue present to hold the flakes at all.

I reached for the "Liquid Leaf" that I had also bought and tried a bit of that, stippling it on for minimum coverage. Besides the horrendous odor it emitted, the color was darker gold than I wanted, and looked more like brass. It was dull and uninteresting.

It was at that point that I decided that it was futile to try to reinvent the wheel. I had in my arsenal of paint several beautiful shades of gold acrylic paint from DecoArt. It was all water based, had no odor and was not only beautiful, but cost very little and was easy to use.

Why was I trying to reinvent the wheel?

The rest of the process went like clockwork.

I used a deerfoot brush to tap the deep colors on the top only edge of the frames of the ornaments.

Wood Circle Fashion accessory Wrist Art


As you can see from the photo, even the deep red paint doesn't spill over to the edge. I have found that using a brush like this to apply paint to the top of a piece is the way to go. The bristles are so stiff that they don't allow the brush to go below the top edge and mess up the side edges. To do this, I use a moderate amount of paint, start in the middle of the section I am painting, hold the brush at 90 degrees from the surface and gently tap the paint into place, moving toward the outside edge. As I get to the edge, I lessen the pressure and as you can see, little or no paint falls over the edge. It makes a beautifully clean line - especially important when painting with a deep contrasting paint like this.

After the deep base colors were dry, I used an airy sea sponge and "SPARINGLY" applied some light gold metallic paint to achieve the marbled effect I was envisioning. The marbling process to only about three minutes. The trick here was not to overdo. LESS IS MORE! :)

After that was done, I sprayed the frames only with a GLOSS varnish - to enhance the metallic gold effect. I then added coordinating crystal colored rhinestones as I had done on yesterday's ornaments - this time using a deeper green and the jeweled tones of sapphire for the blue ornaments and tanzanite for the purple.

Below is the results:

Creative arts Ornament Pattern Art Circle


Creative arts Ornament Natural material Circle Jewellery


Gold Jewellery Symbol Creative arts Metal


Creative arts Font Art Badge Jewellery


I am very pleased with how they look. While natural wood can be very beautiful, I like the combination of the light ash and the painted frames. The best part of this is that the technique is (dare I say?) FOOL PROOF and you need no painting skill at all to accomplish these.

Christmas is about COLOR and SHINE and dazzling to me. From soft shimmers to bright and bold colors, these ornaments fit the bill I think no matter which way you make them. Wouldn't they also look nice in a soft pastel? With over 300 colors of DecoArt acrylics to choose from, I am sure that they would look pretty in a variety of ways.

Today I am going to be working on writing up the packets for these. The pattern that I am making will include both versions of ornaments - those I showed yesterday and those here today. Yes - it takes more time and effort to make several versions of the same project for a packet - but that is what I feel I want to do. As I said yesterday, offering options is something that I believe in.

For those of you who feel these may be too difficult to cut, I am also working on a simpler, yet (hopefully) just as pretty version of some Damask style ornaments. I don't think you will be disappointed.

All of the new patterns will be available for the next site update, early next week. After drawing and cutting the final little set, I need to sit down and write the instructions and create the packets. I hope to have them done by the end of the weekend. (I know people will ask anyway! ;) )

Thank you all for your wonderfully positive feedback and support this week. I have had so much encouragement that I can't begin to thank you all. You all know it really keeps me going (and smiling!)

Have a wonderful Wednesday! I hope your day is filled with fun and creativity. I know mine will be!
 

Attachments

#9,413 ·
Finished Ornament Pictures! :)

As I am writing this morning, the sky is a very light blue and it is filled with puffy clouds. The bottoms of the clouds are an incredible peachy/orange hue that blends into the peachy/grey tops. If I painted a picture like this, some would think it looked 'fake', as the colors are so unusual. But it is there and it is a beautiful sight to wake up to. I can feel already that it will be a good day.

I made pretty good progress yesterday on my project. The second version of the ornaments that I showed yesterday is done, and I believe that I like them even better than the last. I know there are the purists that may disagree with me - and I can picture them cut from some beautiful exotic pieces - but my own personal opinion is that I love the splash of color that I have applied to them, and that is my first choice.

I wanted these ornaments to be really special. Originally, I had intended on using some gold leafing on the frames of the second version. A very talented painting friend of mine made some beautiful ornaments earlier this week in which she applied some silver leafing around the edges of her ornaments which offset the painted polar animals beautifully. After seeing this technique, I remembered that I had some gold leafing sheets, as well as the adhesive and top coat and had been waiting for a nice project to use it.

I didn't want solid gold coverage though, I wanted a mottled/variegated look. I planned on using intense colors with the metallic gold kind of marbled through it. I thought that perhaps applying the gold leaf would not only make the pieces really special, but introduce a new technique as well.

I was a big shy about using it though, as I had never done so before. I spent some time on YouTube, looking through the various videos to see what I was up against. It looked easy enough, although it was a bit messy. And I began to wonder if it would be possible to achieve the look I was thinking about on such a small area - only the tiny frames of the ornaments.

I followed my own advice (for ONCE!) and decided to TEST the process on a scrap of wood. I must say, this was the smartest move of the day. I am constantly telling others to TEST things first on a scrap, but there are times (I admit) when I am in a hurry and bypass that step. Usually with regret. But I worked so hard on cutting these ornaments and they were sitting here looking really beautiful (even though they were still naked) and I didn't want to take chances on botching them up. It would have broken my heart.

I decided that I needed to shred the sheet of leaf so that I would have little "flakes" to work with. That task alone was a clue that things weren't as easy as they looked. The metal flakes definitely had a mind of its own, and either stuck to my hands like the styrofoam 'peanuts' did, or floated around the table. I already had a little mess on my hands and I hadn't even opened the glue bottle yet.

I tried a few spots of glue and applying my flakes and I was not happy with the results. The flakes stuck wherever they touched - very uneven looking. I tried again to apply the glue with a stipple brush - with the thought that if the glue was staggered, then the flakes would be as well. That didn't work either, as there wasn't enough glue present to hold the flakes at all.

I reached for the "Liquid Leaf" that I had also bought and tried a bit of that, stippling it on for minimum coverage. Besides the horrendous odor it emitted, the color was darker gold than I wanted, and looked more like brass. It was dull and uninteresting.

It was at that point that I decided that it was futile to try to reinvent the wheel. I had in my arsenal of paint several beautiful shades of gold acrylic paint from DecoArt. It was all water based, had no odor and was not only beautiful, but cost very little and was easy to use.

Why was I trying to reinvent the wheel?

The rest of the process went like clockwork.

I used a deerfoot brush to tap the deep colors on the top only edge of the frames of the ornaments.

Wood Circle Fashion accessory Wrist Art


As you can see from the photo, even the deep red paint doesn't spill over to the edge. I have found that using a brush like this to apply paint to the top of a piece is the way to go. The bristles are so stiff that they don't allow the brush to go below the top edge and mess up the side edges. To do this, I use a moderate amount of paint, start in the middle of the section I am painting, hold the brush at 90 degrees from the surface and gently tap the paint into place, moving toward the outside edge. As I get to the edge, I lessen the pressure and as you can see, little or no paint falls over the edge. It makes a beautifully clean line - especially important when painting with a deep contrasting paint like this.

After the deep base colors were dry, I used an airy sea sponge and "SPARINGLY" applied some light gold metallic paint to achieve the marbled effect I was envisioning. The marbling process to only about three minutes. The trick here was not to overdo. LESS IS MORE! :)

After that was done, I sprayed the frames only with a GLOSS varnish - to enhance the metallic gold effect. I then added coordinating crystal colored rhinestones as I had done on yesterday's ornaments - this time using a deeper green and the jeweled tones of sapphire for the blue ornaments and tanzanite for the purple.

Below is the results:

Creative arts Ornament Pattern Art Circle


Creative arts Ornament Natural material Circle Jewellery


Gold Jewellery Symbol Creative arts Metal


Creative arts Font Art Badge Jewellery


I am very pleased with how they look. While natural wood can be very beautiful, I like the combination of the light ash and the painted frames. The best part of this is that the technique is (dare I say?) FOOL PROOF and you need no painting skill at all to accomplish these.

Christmas is about COLOR and SHINE and dazzling to me. From soft shimmers to bright and bold colors, these ornaments fit the bill I think no matter which way you make them. Wouldn't they also look nice in a soft pastel? With over 300 colors of DecoArt acrylics to choose from, I am sure that they would look pretty in a variety of ways.

Today I am going to be working on writing up the packets for these. The pattern that I am making will include both versions of ornaments - those I showed yesterday and those here today. Yes - it takes more time and effort to make several versions of the same project for a packet - but that is what I feel I want to do. As I said yesterday, offering options is something that I believe in.

For those of you who feel these may be too difficult to cut, I am also working on a simpler, yet (hopefully) just as pretty version of some Damask style ornaments. I don't think you will be disappointed.

All of the new patterns will be available for the next site update, early next week. After drawing and cutting the final little set, I need to sit down and write the instructions and create the packets. I hope to have them done by the end of the weekend. (I know people will ask anyway! ;) )

Thank you all for your wonderfully positive feedback and support this week. I have had so much encouragement that I can't begin to thank you all. You all know it really keeps me going (and smiling!)

Have a wonderful Wednesday! I hope your day is filled with fun and creativity. I know mine will be!
These look really nice Sheila. I think the paint job highlights them really nicely. Just a small idea for you would be to make one with a hole in the bottom to use as a tree topper.
 

Attachments

#9,424 ·
Drawing for the Next Project - DONE!

I am really thrilled at the overwhelming response of the ornament sets that I featured here over the past couple of days. For someone such as myself who works here from home, it is a great boost to hear so many positive responses from everyone. It lights my fire and makes me want to do even better!

I know that many of you are waiting for me to offer the pattern for those ornaments on my site. Several of you have asked, and I want to say that we are planning a site update for early next week, as soon as I am finished writing the pattern packets for the new items. Keith has some wonderful new plaques as well, and we will be adding his patterns to the site at the same time. If you haven't done so already, you can sign up for our newsletter and you will receive the announcements of our new patterns. ( http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/mailing-list )

Since the ornaments that I had shown were a tad more difficult to cut, I also wanted to design a simpler set that hopefully would be just as nice. I spent the past couple of days drawing and I think I came up with a good mix of Christmas shapes that have Damask motifs cut into them, but aren't as tricky as the previous sets. This way someone who is newer to scrolling or just starting out can give it a try.

I love doing the Damask style patterns. They are fun and pretty and there are a huge variety of ways to finish them. I think they are a good project for beginners because if someone were to cut slightly off the line, who is to be the wiser? The patterns are very forgiving and fun and I think relaxing to cut.

The ornaments set that I drew yesterday is what I call "petite." I kept the ornaments about 2.5" at the longest point because there are so many larger ornaments out there that I find it sometimes difficult to find something that is suitable for smaller trees, wreaths, etc.

One would think that you could just reduce the pattern size if you wanted to make things smaller, but in something that is scrolled, the smaller the pattern, the more difficult it is to cut the design and the more fragile the piece will be. It is for this reason that I started out smaller, keeping the design a bit simpler and I will be offering two sizes of the designs in one pattern packet - the smaller original and one that is 25% larger.

Below is a sample of one of the ornaments.

Hand White Neck Jaw Liquid


I will spend today at my wonderful Excalibur saw cutting. I don't think they will take very long to complete, and hopefully I will also get them finished to show tomorrow. Then I will spend the next couple of days writing up all the pattern packets and getting the site updated.

That's my plan anyway . . .

I have some painting that I want to do and I want to actually finish with all of my instructions by the end of the day Saturday so I can take Sunday as a day of do-anything-that-I-want-to-do-painting. I realize that it has been a long time since I have done that and it is a habit that I want to get back into. I think the day "off" of doing what is expected of me will do wonders for me in the long run. :)

The wind died down here after a very windy day yesterday. It is cool and sunny out this morning. It looks to be a beautiful day.

I hope you all have a wonderful day as well.
 

Attachments

#9,425 ·
Drawing for the Next Project - DONE!

I am really thrilled at the overwhelming response of the ornament sets that I featured here over the past couple of days. For someone such as myself who works here from home, it is a great boost to hear so many positive responses from everyone. It lights my fire and makes me want to do even better!

I know that many of you are waiting for me to offer the pattern for those ornaments on my site. Several of you have asked, and I want to say that we are planning a site update for early next week, as soon as I am finished writing the pattern packets for the new items. Keith has some wonderful new plaques as well, and we will be adding his patterns to the site at the same time. If you haven't done so already, you can sign up for our newsletter and you will receive the announcements of our new patterns. ( http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/mailing-list )

Since the ornaments that I had shown were a tad more difficult to cut, I also wanted to design a simpler set that hopefully would be just as nice. I spent the past couple of days drawing and I think I came up with a good mix of Christmas shapes that have Damask motifs cut into them, but aren't as tricky as the previous sets. This way someone who is newer to scrolling or just starting out can give it a try.

I love doing the Damask style patterns. They are fun and pretty and there are a huge variety of ways to finish them. I think they are a good project for beginners because if someone were to cut slightly off the line, who is to be the wiser? The patterns are very forgiving and fun and I think relaxing to cut.

The ornaments set that I drew yesterday is what I call "petite." I kept the ornaments about 2.5" at the longest point because there are so many larger ornaments out there that I find it sometimes difficult to find something that is suitable for smaller trees, wreaths, etc.

One would think that you could just reduce the pattern size if you wanted to make things smaller, but in something that is scrolled, the smaller the pattern, the more difficult it is to cut the design and the more fragile the piece will be. It is for this reason that I started out smaller, keeping the design a bit simpler and I will be offering two sizes of the designs in one pattern packet - the smaller original and one that is 25% larger.

Below is a sample of one of the ornaments.

Hand White Neck Jaw Liquid


I will spend today at my wonderful Excalibur saw cutting. I don't think they will take very long to complete, and hopefully I will also get them finished to show tomorrow. Then I will spend the next couple of days writing up all the pattern packets and getting the site updated.

That's my plan anyway . . .

I have some painting that I want to do and I want to actually finish with all of my instructions by the end of the day Saturday so I can take Sunday as a day of do-anything-that-I-want-to-do-painting. I realize that it has been a long time since I have done that and it is a habit that I want to get back into. I think the day "off" of doing what is expected of me will do wonders for me in the long run. :)

The wind died down here after a very windy day yesterday. It is cool and sunny out this morning. It looks to be a beautiful day.

I hope you all have a wonderful day as well.
This damask inspired angel looks very beautiful. I know I'll have a nice stock of your damask patterns to work on in the New Year. I'll be starting very early on Christmas 2014! I have the Christmas box to finish and then regretfully I'll have to lock up the workshop until the Spring (which I hope will come early - January would be a good time! :) ) Looking forward to seeing the new set of ornaments.
Sunny but very cool today.
 

Attachments

#9,427 ·
New Ornaments are Cut and Ready to Finish!

It's really amazing how many every day things we take for granted. Sometimes we are just so used to having things one way, we don't appreciate it much until it is gone. I recently had an experience such as this.

A couple of weeks prior to my trip to Chicago, I scheduled an appointment with the new eye doctor in town. I was just about due for my annual checkup, and I was noticing that I was not seeing my computer screen well and making several mistakes on orders. I realized that my eyes probably changed and I was looking to improve my glasses and contact lens prescription.

Previously, I had been seeing an eye doc in Digby, which is about 40 minutes drive away. While I really did like my doctor, I thought that with the new office opening just a couple of minutes from where I lived, it would be easier and more convenient if I switched docs and tried them out. I thought it would save some time.

Well, trying to cut some corners nearly turned into a disaster for me. The doctor did a full exam on my eyes, and I told her that I was having trouble seeing things clearly at a "normal" distance of about three feet away. She measured and tested and wound up fitting me with contacts that helped me see far, but I was still unable to see my computer screen clearly. She said that as I got older my eyes were changing (which I understood) and that perhaps I would need to have TWO different powers of reader glasses to compensate and do close work. One for the computer screen and one for closer work such as scrolling and painting.

While I didn't really agree with this, I figured she knew more than me and gave it a try. Needless to say it was confusing at best. I was constantly hunting for the "right" readers - even though I was already wearing contacts. I was getting headaches every day and I couldn't even read the buttons on the microwave without assistance. I went back and told her that this just wasn't working.

She rechecked, did some adjustments and then tried to have me have one eye seeing close and one seeing far away, telling me that the eyes would get "used" to this and compensate for one another. In the mean time, the office was trying to sell me new glasses - even though they didn't have my prescription fine tuned to the proper power. This was a real red flag for me and I refused to buy new glasses until things were straightened out. It was quite frustrating.

All this happened about two days before we were to leave on our three week trip. I was worried because I not only had to SEE, but I had to TEACH scroll sawing. How could I teach if I couldn't see a clear line to follow?

I dug through my drawer and found a pair of unopened, fresh bi-focal contacts from the previous year. I had tried the bi-focal contacts with my former practitioner and while they did "OK", we both felt that I was better off using single vision toric contacts. I had saved the last pair I had "just in case" I needed them in an emergency. This certainly qualified as far as I was concerned.

I cracked open the lenses and they were not perfect, but they were far better than the ones that were newly prescribed to me. No headaches at all and I could see 'pretty good' from them. The were good enough for the time being.

I took the trip and immediately made an appointment with my Digby doc when I got home from out trip. The waiting time was into December, but I got on a list to come in if there was a cancellation. Last week they called and they had an opening and I was very happy to change my plans and go in. After about 20 minutes, my doctor had me refitted and sent me home with new contacts that I could really see well out of. She also fine tuned my glasses prescription so that the distance of about three feet was near perfect and I left one pair of my glasses there to be changed. She told me that the new glasses prescription still kept me in the perimeters of good vision for driving and that I should be better off on the computer as well.

Yesterday I got the call that both my new glasses and supply of contacts were in. I took the morning to go to Digby and pick them up. I can't tell you all the wonderful difference I see in my eyes - everything is crystal clear and easy to read - even the computer. I am so excited about this I can't even tell you!

I only really wear my glasses now in the morning before my shower and for about an hour before bed. But it was getting so I couldn't read the computer screen without strain and it was very frustrating to me. Even my daily contacts were not performing as they should. I was afraid my eyes were failing and worried a great deal about how I would be able to continue to do my job properly. The 'new' doctor here told me that I may not be able to wear contacts anymore, and I was afraid that I would have to spend the rest of my life switching glasses throughout the day. It was really depressing.

But my regular doc told me that what was happening to my eyes was completely normal for someone my age, and that I was in no immediate danger of losing my sight further. I can't tell you how relieved I am! It feels just wonderful to be able to glance up here at the screen and not have to labor over reading it. Life is really great and clear now! :)

I am so glad that I returned to her. Even if it is a bit more trouble to go back and forth for fittings, it is well worth the time. I almost feel like writing the other doctor and letting her know why I am not going back to her office. I felt as if they were pushing me to buy more glasses and contacts that weren't right for me.

In any case, I got home after 1pm and I immediately got busy cutting. I had a wonderful afternoon at my saw and I was able to get four sets of my new ornaments cut. (48 pieces!) These are the easier versions of the Damask style Christmas ornaments - although these are done in traditional Christmas shapes. Each ornament only has about 4 - 6 inside cuts and I made them simpler so that a scroller with less experience can still be successful with them. I am offering them in two sizes - about 2.5" and about 3.25". I think that they came out wonderful.

Textile Creative arts Wood Font Art


Creative arts Wood Font Art Pattern


As always, cutting on my wonderful Excalibur scroll saw was AWESOME! I absolutely LOVE how it cuts. I can honestly say I never had a saw so nice! I had some Christmas music playing in my head phones and the time really passed quickly. It was so much FUN!

I also wanted to announce that Ray at Seyco told me that Seyco is offering FREE SHIPPING on their Excalibur saws until the end of the year or until their current stock is out. He said they ordered lots of saws for this sale, so there should be a lot of happy people between now and then. It will be a great time for those of you considering getting an Excalibur to take the plunge. All the new saws are black as well, as they are no longer making the green saws. Just go to http://www.seyco.com for details. I know Ray will take good care of you!

I will be finishing these up today and writing the instructions for the next couple of projects. Hopefully they will be on the site by the end of the weekend and I will also have a newsletter coming out on Monday. It is a busy time of year, but also a good one. I hope you are all getting ready for your own holidays and getting a head start on things.

Have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend! :)
 

Attachments

#9,428 ·
New Ornaments are Cut and Ready to Finish!

It's really amazing how many every day things we take for granted. Sometimes we are just so used to having things one way, we don't appreciate it much until it is gone. I recently had an experience such as this.

A couple of weeks prior to my trip to Chicago, I scheduled an appointment with the new eye doctor in town. I was just about due for my annual checkup, and I was noticing that I was not seeing my computer screen well and making several mistakes on orders. I realized that my eyes probably changed and I was looking to improve my glasses and contact lens prescription.

Previously, I had been seeing an eye doc in Digby, which is about 40 minutes drive away. While I really did like my doctor, I thought that with the new office opening just a couple of minutes from where I lived, it would be easier and more convenient if I switched docs and tried them out. I thought it would save some time.

Well, trying to cut some corners nearly turned into a disaster for me. The doctor did a full exam on my eyes, and I told her that I was having trouble seeing things clearly at a "normal" distance of about three feet away. She measured and tested and wound up fitting me with contacts that helped me see far, but I was still unable to see my computer screen clearly. She said that as I got older my eyes were changing (which I understood) and that perhaps I would need to have TWO different powers of reader glasses to compensate and do close work. One for the computer screen and one for closer work such as scrolling and painting.

While I didn't really agree with this, I figured she knew more than me and gave it a try. Needless to say it was confusing at best. I was constantly hunting for the "right" readers - even though I was already wearing contacts. I was getting headaches every day and I couldn't even read the buttons on the microwave without assistance. I went back and told her that this just wasn't working.

She rechecked, did some adjustments and then tried to have me have one eye seeing close and one seeing far away, telling me that the eyes would get "used" to this and compensate for one another. In the mean time, the office was trying to sell me new glasses - even though they didn't have my prescription fine tuned to the proper power. This was a real red flag for me and I refused to buy new glasses until things were straightened out. It was quite frustrating.

All this happened about two days before we were to leave on our three week trip. I was worried because I not only had to SEE, but I had to TEACH scroll sawing. How could I teach if I couldn't see a clear line to follow?

I dug through my drawer and found a pair of unopened, fresh bi-focal contacts from the previous year. I had tried the bi-focal contacts with my former practitioner and while they did "OK", we both felt that I was better off using single vision toric contacts. I had saved the last pair I had "just in case" I needed them in an emergency. This certainly qualified as far as I was concerned.

I cracked open the lenses and they were not perfect, but they were far better than the ones that were newly prescribed to me. No headaches at all and I could see 'pretty good' from them. The were good enough for the time being.

I took the trip and immediately made an appointment with my Digby doc when I got home from out trip. The waiting time was into December, but I got on a list to come in if there was a cancellation. Last week they called and they had an opening and I was very happy to change my plans and go in. After about 20 minutes, my doctor had me refitted and sent me home with new contacts that I could really see well out of. She also fine tuned my glasses prescription so that the distance of about three feet was near perfect and I left one pair of my glasses there to be changed. She told me that the new glasses prescription still kept me in the perimeters of good vision for driving and that I should be better off on the computer as well.

Yesterday I got the call that both my new glasses and supply of contacts were in. I took the morning to go to Digby and pick them up. I can't tell you all the wonderful difference I see in my eyes - everything is crystal clear and easy to read - even the computer. I am so excited about this I can't even tell you!

I only really wear my glasses now in the morning before my shower and for about an hour before bed. But it was getting so I couldn't read the computer screen without strain and it was very frustrating to me. Even my daily contacts were not performing as they should. I was afraid my eyes were failing and worried a great deal about how I would be able to continue to do my job properly. The 'new' doctor here told me that I may not be able to wear contacts anymore, and I was afraid that I would have to spend the rest of my life switching glasses throughout the day. It was really depressing.

But my regular doc told me that what was happening to my eyes was completely normal for someone my age, and that I was in no immediate danger of losing my sight further. I can't tell you how relieved I am! It feels just wonderful to be able to glance up here at the screen and not have to labor over reading it. Life is really great and clear now! :)

I am so glad that I returned to her. Even if it is a bit more trouble to go back and forth for fittings, it is well worth the time. I almost feel like writing the other doctor and letting her know why I am not going back to her office. I felt as if they were pushing me to buy more glasses and contacts that weren't right for me.

In any case, I got home after 1pm and I immediately got busy cutting. I had a wonderful afternoon at my saw and I was able to get four sets of my new ornaments cut. (48 pieces!) These are the easier versions of the Damask style Christmas ornaments - although these are done in traditional Christmas shapes. Each ornament only has about 4 - 6 inside cuts and I made them simpler so that a scroller with less experience can still be successful with them. I am offering them in two sizes - about 2.5" and about 3.25". I think that they came out wonderful.

Textile Creative arts Wood Font Art


Creative arts Wood Font Art Pattern


As always, cutting on my wonderful Excalibur scroll saw was AWESOME! I absolutely LOVE how it cuts. I can honestly say I never had a saw so nice! I had some Christmas music playing in my head phones and the time really passed quickly. It was so much FUN!

I also wanted to announce that Ray at Seyco told me that Seyco is offering FREE SHIPPING on their Excalibur saws until the end of the year or until their current stock is out. He said they ordered lots of saws for this sale, so there should be a lot of happy people between now and then. It will be a great time for those of you considering getting an Excalibur to take the plunge. All the new saws are black as well, as they are no longer making the green saws. Just go to http://www.seyco.com for details. I know Ray will take good care of you!

I will be finishing these up today and writing the instructions for the next couple of projects. Hopefully they will be on the site by the end of the weekend and I will also have a newsletter coming out on Monday. It is a busy time of year, but also a good one. I hope you are all getting ready for your own holidays and getting a head start on things.

Have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend! :)
Sheila that is a lot of cutting.
I hate pushy opticians Specsavers here is very pushy they try and sell
you new frames each year, last ones were unbreakable. Sure thing, broke
in six months. only 30day guarantee. LoL

Have a great day
Jamie
 

Attachments

#9,439 ·
New Projects Completed! Time To Write Pattern Packets!

I will get right down to business this morning because I have a LOT that I want to accomplish today!

I pretty much finished up the new ornaments and today I need to write instructions for the pattern packet, as well as the ornaments that I showed earlier this week and the "Gloria" candle tray that was featured in the holiday issue of Scrollsaw Woodworks and Crafts magazine so I can get everything on the website and do the site update.

Here are pictures of the "Gloria" Candle tray:

Candle White Drinkware Wax Cup


Candle Wax Candle holder Flameless candle Gas


I had made it so long ago (in May I think!) that I almost forgot about it! :)

I really liked how the SLD446 Petite Damask Ornament Set came out. I decided to do them in two sizes and show a couple of different finishing options. The first option is the (approximately) 2.5" diameter set, left in natural maple:

Snake Font Scaled reptile Reptile Art


I liked them a lot, as they do show the beauty of the pretty maple. These are oiled and lacquered and have a nice, warm sheen to them.

But you all know me . . .

I decided to add some beautiful crystal rhinestones from Rhinestone Canada on them to add a little color:

Organism Font Natural material Metal Fashion accessory


I think this really dressed them up a bit. The rhinestones look beautiful catching the lights and give a subtle splash of color.

Finally, I decided to go all out and use a crackle finish, as well as rhinestones on the larger 3.25" set:

Font Art Body jewelry Jewellery Pattern


This as you see offers an entirely different look. Applying the crackle finish was really easy. I did it as I did my "America" and "O Canada" word art letter. The video showing that process is on my site on this page:

http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/painting-videos (It is the second video in the list)

I then float shaded around the outer edges using some beautiful shiny metallic paint by DecoArt (their Dazzling Metallics - available at http://www.decoart.com) and added in the rhinestones.

I wasn't sure if I liked this at first, but after adding the stones, it really pulled things together and I think they look pretty nice:

Hand Plant Tree Gesture Finger


I suppose it is all up to your personal taste. :)

These really are fun ornaments to make. There are only about 4-6 inside cuts in each piece on the average and with the flowing Damask designs, if someone slipped off the line a little bit, no one would be the wiser. Of course, the larger ornaments are a little easier to cut, but the small ones aren't too bad either. Plus they can be stack cut so you can make a load of them pretty quickly. They would make wonderful ornaments for a small tree or wreath or really nice gift tags that would be a cute keepsake.

As I said - today I will be writing the instructions for these three projects and updated my site. Keith has some new projects as well and I plan to get a newsletter out which will announce everything by Monday. If you haven't already done so, please sign up for our newsletter if you want up to date information about all of our new projects and patterns. I know I show many of them here, but I don't usually show all of Keith's and he has some really awesome things as well.

With that said, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I hope you have time to do something fun and creative!

Happy Saturday!
 

Attachments

#9,440 ·
New Projects Completed! Time To Write Pattern Packets!

I will get right down to business this morning because I have a LOT that I want to accomplish today!

I pretty much finished up the new ornaments and today I need to write instructions for the pattern packet, as well as the ornaments that I showed earlier this week and the "Gloria" candle tray that was featured in the holiday issue of Scrollsaw Woodworks and Crafts magazine so I can get everything on the website and do the site update.

Here are pictures of the "Gloria" Candle tray:

Candle White Drinkware Wax Cup


Candle Wax Candle holder Flameless candle Gas


I had made it so long ago (in May I think!) that I almost forgot about it! :)

I really liked how the SLD446 Petite Damask Ornament Set came out. I decided to do them in two sizes and show a couple of different finishing options. The first option is the (approximately) 2.5" diameter set, left in natural maple:

Snake Font Scaled reptile Reptile Art


I liked them a lot, as they do show the beauty of the pretty maple. These are oiled and lacquered and have a nice, warm sheen to them.

But you all know me . . .

I decided to add some beautiful crystal rhinestones from Rhinestone Canada on them to add a little color:

Organism Font Natural material Metal Fashion accessory


I think this really dressed them up a bit. The rhinestones look beautiful catching the lights and give a subtle splash of color.

Finally, I decided to go all out and use a crackle finish, as well as rhinestones on the larger 3.25" set:

Font Art Body jewelry Jewellery Pattern


This as you see offers an entirely different look. Applying the crackle finish was really easy. I did it as I did my "America" and "O Canada" word art letter. The video showing that process is on my site on this page:

http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com/painting-videos (It is the second video in the list)

I then float shaded around the outer edges using some beautiful shiny metallic paint by DecoArt (their Dazzling Metallics - available at http://www.decoart.com) and added in the rhinestones.

I wasn't sure if I liked this at first, but after adding the stones, it really pulled things together and I think they look pretty nice:

Hand Plant Tree Gesture Finger


I suppose it is all up to your personal taste. :)

These really are fun ornaments to make. There are only about 4-6 inside cuts in each piece on the average and with the flowing Damask designs, if someone slipped off the line a little bit, no one would be the wiser. Of course, the larger ornaments are a little easier to cut, but the small ones aren't too bad either. Plus they can be stack cut so you can make a load of them pretty quickly. They would make wonderful ornaments for a small tree or wreath or really nice gift tags that would be a cute keepsake.

As I said - today I will be writing the instructions for these three projects and updated my site. Keith has some new projects as well and I plan to get a newsletter out which will announce everything by Monday. If you haven't already done so, please sign up for our newsletter if you want up to date information about all of our new projects and patterns. I know I show many of them here, but I don't usually show all of Keith's and he has some really awesome things as well.

With that said, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I hope you have time to do something fun and creative!

Happy Saturday!
From someone who really likes natural wood, I find my favourite finish on this set is the crackle finish with the float and second to that, the wood finish with the rhinestones. I'll be looking forward to the site update!
Enjoy your day. Cold and sunny here.
 

Attachments

#9,444 ·
More New Projects for our Site Update

I am just going to post a quick update today, as I still have quite a bit that I want to accomplish.

I am working on writing the pattern packets for the new projects that we are in the process of adding to our site. I finished two of the three packets yesterday and I want to have the third one posted by the end of the day.

Keith has also been working on some new projects that will be included in the update. Below is a picture of an ornament from his new set that he designed. He calls them Elegant Vintage Framed Ornaments (SLDK344) and they are really pretty.

Branch Wood Deer Font Pattern


I am sure they will be a big hit with everyone.

He also has a few new word art plaques that you all may be interested in. As I said - everything should be posted by later on tonight.

We decided to change the sale items on our Scroll Saw Pattern Specials page to include our "Ornaments of Christmas Past". Since it is that time of year when everyone is making ornaments, we thought it would be appropriate to offer most of the ornament pattern sets at discounted prices. We have quite a large variety of styles and themes.

I had planned on painting today, but I am starting to think that won't happen. I am going to spend the morning writing the packet for the Petite Damask Ornaments, but then yesterday I had several requests to offer another painting packet for my "12 Days of Christmas Key Ornaments" (SLDP213) that I had made earlier on this year.

Product Green Font Red Toy


I had decided to not make them into keys, as there were so many key sets available, but I have had many requests to offer both the kits and the instructions so I thought I would do my best to get it done today. I realize that time is ticking and I appreciate the interest so I want to make them available as soon as I possibly can.

So that is the story today. So very much to accomplish! But it is all good and I am happy that the business is going so well and we are so busy.

It's just that time of year!

Both Keith and I are very grateful for all the wonderful support you all have shown us. It is great to see our little business growing every day and we know we are very fortunate.

I hope you all have a wonderful day today.

Have fun and do something wonderfully creative! :)
 

Attachments

#9,445 ·
More New Projects for our Site Update

I am just going to post a quick update today, as I still have quite a bit that I want to accomplish.

I am working on writing the pattern packets for the new projects that we are in the process of adding to our site. I finished two of the three packets yesterday and I want to have the third one posted by the end of the day.

Keith has also been working on some new projects that will be included in the update. Below is a picture of an ornament from his new set that he designed. He calls them Elegant Vintage Framed Ornaments (SLDK344) and they are really pretty.

Branch Wood Deer Font Pattern


I am sure they will be a big hit with everyone.

He also has a few new word art plaques that you all may be interested in. As I said - everything should be posted by later on tonight.

We decided to change the sale items on our Scroll Saw Pattern Specials page to include our "Ornaments of Christmas Past". Since it is that time of year when everyone is making ornaments, we thought it would be appropriate to offer most of the ornament pattern sets at discounted prices. We have quite a large variety of styles and themes.

I had planned on painting today, but I am starting to think that won't happen. I am going to spend the morning writing the packet for the Petite Damask Ornaments, but then yesterday I had several requests to offer another painting packet for my "12 Days of Christmas Key Ornaments" (SLDP213) that I had made earlier on this year.

Product Green Font Red Toy


I had decided to not make them into keys, as there were so many key sets available, but I have had many requests to offer both the kits and the instructions so I thought I would do my best to get it done today. I realize that time is ticking and I appreciate the interest so I want to make them available as soon as I possibly can.

So that is the story today. So very much to accomplish! But it is all good and I am happy that the business is going so well and we are so busy.

It's just that time of year!

Both Keith and I are very grateful for all the wonderful support you all have shown us. It is great to see our little business growing every day and we know we are very fortunate.

I hope you all have a wonderful day today.

Have fun and do something wonderfully creative! :)
Hi Sheila, Keith's vintage framed ornaments look great. looking forward to seeing the set.
Sunny and cool here - ok for a couple of hours in the workshop :)
Enjoy your day.
 

Attachments

#9,448 ·
Working Weekend

I always have the best intentions of taking some time off and doing some things that are not work related. It seems though that more so than not, that doesn't seem to happen very often.

This isn't a complaint, mind you. I don't for a minute want anyone to think that. I honestly love what I do, and most times it is very difficult for me to refer to it as 'work.' I realize that I am very fortunate in thinking about it like that and I know that it is rare for someone to enjoy what they do for a living to the extent that I do. I am very happy in that respect.

I suppose the problem that occurs is that my work and my recreational activities bleed a bit closely together, sometimes making it difficult for me to differentiate one from the other. What starts out as recreation somehow finds its way into work, and vice-versa. It becomes very hard to decide which is which.

So am I always working or always playing? I think I could argue both sides pretty effectively.

The plan for the weekend was to work on the pattern packets for the new designs on Saturday and take the day Sunday to 'do what I wanted.' We had hopes of getting the site updated by Monday or Tuesday, and sending out a newsletter then. Things were going along well, and then I received news that my exchange partner from my painting group received her ornaments from me. I sent her a set of the "12 Days of Christmas" ornaments in key form, as the key ornaments are very popular.

I don't know if you all remember, but last spring when I created the "12 Days" ornament set for Artist's Club and my site, I had debated on whether to do them as keys or as regular ornaments. Since there were so many key themed patterns going around, we decided to do the pattern in traditionally shaped ornaments and forego the keys, as perhaps they had run their course.

But it seems that they are still going strong, for when my partner posted the pictures of her gift from me, everyone on the painting page was really excited. I began receiving several messages and emails asking if and when I would have a pattern packet and kit for the keys available.

Of course, I was thrilled. I had liked my original idea of doing them in key form, as I thought they would have many applications in that format. Wreaths, garlands, etc. just to name a few. I thought they looked pretty cool like that and that it set them apart from other ornament sets with the 12 Days theme.

So when asked, I decided to create a pattern packet in that format and make it available for my painters.

I spent pretty much of the day yesterday redrawing the designs. I had the drawings for the larger ornaments, and I had painted the keys for my exchange, but I had never done finished drawings that would be sufficient for a pattern packet. I suppose that is part of what happens when I experiment with things.

I embraced the task with enthusiasm, and since it was fun to do, I didn't look at it at all like 'work'. It is just part of the creative process and something that I wanted to do. Plus the fact that people really seemed enthusiastic about them.

So I can't really tell you if yesterday was spent "working" or "playing". I suppose it depends how you look at things. We also finished updating the site and I am going to spend at least a portion of today writing and sending out our newsletter announcing our new projects. Besides the new ornaments and candle tray that I showed here, Keith has also added some great new projects. And we also have a new pattern on our Free Patterns and Resources page. It is a sample of the new set of ornaments that I had been showing here. I actually made 13 ornaments in the set so I could offer one for free.

Body jewelry Earrings Creative arts Jewellery Food


I invite you all to head over to the site to download it and give it a try.

I am happy that I got so much done this weekend. Even though I am in Canada, I hope to celebrate Thanksgiving later on this week. It feels really GOOD to have everything on the site caught up and it will feel equally good to have this last pattern under my belt before the holiday. It will allow me to really focus on my friends and family and enjoy the couple of days I will take.

One of the best things about what I do is the flexibility that I have. We were able to take a couple of weeks and travel, and still keep the business running rather smoothly. While it seems that I may work most days, I feel that it isn't really hard to do because I enjoy what I am doing so much. If I didn't design or create in some way, shape or form, I don't think I would know what to do with myself.

As always, I appreciate all the wonderful comments and notes and emails from you all. It really makes everything worth the time we put into things when we can come out of it with not only a decent business, but some genuine friends as well.

Have a wonderful Monday!
 

Attachments

#9,449 ·
Working Weekend

I always have the best intentions of taking some time off and doing some things that are not work related. It seems though that more so than not, that doesn't seem to happen very often.

This isn't a complaint, mind you. I don't for a minute want anyone to think that. I honestly love what I do, and most times it is very difficult for me to refer to it as 'work.' I realize that I am very fortunate in thinking about it like that and I know that it is rare for someone to enjoy what they do for a living to the extent that I do. I am very happy in that respect.

I suppose the problem that occurs is that my work and my recreational activities bleed a bit closely together, sometimes making it difficult for me to differentiate one from the other. What starts out as recreation somehow finds its way into work, and vice-versa. It becomes very hard to decide which is which.

So am I always working or always playing? I think I could argue both sides pretty effectively.

The plan for the weekend was to work on the pattern packets for the new designs on Saturday and take the day Sunday to 'do what I wanted.' We had hopes of getting the site updated by Monday or Tuesday, and sending out a newsletter then. Things were going along well, and then I received news that my exchange partner from my painting group received her ornaments from me. I sent her a set of the "12 Days of Christmas" ornaments in key form, as the key ornaments are very popular.

I don't know if you all remember, but last spring when I created the "12 Days" ornament set for Artist's Club and my site, I had debated on whether to do them as keys or as regular ornaments. Since there were so many key themed patterns going around, we decided to do the pattern in traditionally shaped ornaments and forego the keys, as perhaps they had run their course.

But it seems that they are still going strong, for when my partner posted the pictures of her gift from me, everyone on the painting page was really excited. I began receiving several messages and emails asking if and when I would have a pattern packet and kit for the keys available.

Of course, I was thrilled. I had liked my original idea of doing them in key form, as I thought they would have many applications in that format. Wreaths, garlands, etc. just to name a few. I thought they looked pretty cool like that and that it set them apart from other ornament sets with the 12 Days theme.

So when asked, I decided to create a pattern packet in that format and make it available for my painters.

I spent pretty much of the day yesterday redrawing the designs. I had the drawings for the larger ornaments, and I had painted the keys for my exchange, but I had never done finished drawings that would be sufficient for a pattern packet. I suppose that is part of what happens when I experiment with things.

I embraced the task with enthusiasm, and since it was fun to do, I didn't look at it at all like 'work'. It is just part of the creative process and something that I wanted to do. Plus the fact that people really seemed enthusiastic about them.

So I can't really tell you if yesterday was spent "working" or "playing". I suppose it depends how you look at things. We also finished updating the site and I am going to spend at least a portion of today writing and sending out our newsletter announcing our new projects. Besides the new ornaments and candle tray that I showed here, Keith has also added some great new projects. And we also have a new pattern on our Free Patterns and Resources page. It is a sample of the new set of ornaments that I had been showing here. I actually made 13 ornaments in the set so I could offer one for free.

Body jewelry Earrings Creative arts Jewellery Food


I invite you all to head over to the site to download it and give it a try.

I am happy that I got so much done this weekend. Even though I am in Canada, I hope to celebrate Thanksgiving later on this week. It feels really GOOD to have everything on the site caught up and it will feel equally good to have this last pattern under my belt before the holiday. It will allow me to really focus on my friends and family and enjoy the couple of days I will take.

One of the best things about what I do is the flexibility that I have. We were able to take a couple of weeks and travel, and still keep the business running rather smoothly. While it seems that I may work most days, I feel that it isn't really hard to do because I enjoy what I am doing so much. If I didn't design or create in some way, shape or form, I don't think I would know what to do with myself.

As always, I appreciate all the wonderful comments and notes and emails from you all. It really makes everything worth the time we put into things when we can come out of it with not only a decent business, but some genuine friends as well.

Have a wonderful Monday!
Good morning Sheila,
I just wanted to say thank you for sharing another free pattern along with all of your great patterns (also Keith's). You both make it a lot easier to be scroll artists.
Rick
 

Attachments

#9,453 ·
Making a Difference

Thank goodness for my early mornings!

I was so fortunate that I got so much done early yesterday. As the day progressed, it seemed to be caught in 'fast forward' mode and before I knew it, it was getting dark and night time had arrived. It all happened within a blink of an eye.

I was so happy that I got up early, as I felt that I at least had a jump start on things because I got right to work. My mail box was full of messages and I had wanted to get our next newsletter out which announced our recent site update. And I still had to create that painting pattern that I talked about the last couple of days.

Writing the newsletter is becoming a bit easier than it used to be. The software on our site is somewhat tedious to use, but in the end it produces a nice and professional message. It also pulls the addresses directly from our site where people have signed for our mailing list. That is a great feature and is little effort on my part. It is good about keeping track of who has subscribed for the mailings and who has does not want them. The last thing I want to do is send a newsletter to someone that doesn't want to receive one.

I received an email yesterday from a company who develops web sites. It started off by telling me how "deficient" my own site was and how poorly it was performing. Then it went on to say how they would be able to help me straighten things out - for a fee, of course.

While I know there is need for improvement on the site, I found this email to be a bit offensive. To me, it was as if someone said to me "Mam - your child is quite ugly, but if you use our product(s), it will make them far more socially acceptable. So let us help you." Their approach had a lot to be desired.

Even though I was spinning ten plates, I felt I wasn't too busy to write the company and tell them what I thought of their approach to potential clients. If that is how they are when they are seeking new work, I couldn't imagine how they would be once the obtained the job. It probably fell on deaf ears (or blind eyes if you will) but the few minutes I took to write them and request removal from their mailing list felt pretty good. For some reason I felt obligated to let them know how I felt about their tactics.

That brings me to thinking about something else that happened last week . . .

Keith and I had to bring his dad's car into the Ford dealer to clean it and detail prior to his mom putting it on the market to sell. Since his mom doesn't drive, she has no use for it. Keith's dad kept it in excellent condition, and it was well-maintained and kept nice all the years he had it. It just needed a bit of detailing and cleaning, as it wasn't used much in the past year or so since his dad was sick.

We took the car in and specifically told them that we were selling it and wanted it to look beautiful. It had been parked in an area where the branches from their tree had shaded it and there were some pine needles that had fallen on it and there was some debris along the door and window moldings that we wanted to be sure they cleaned these. I was there when Keith explained this to them and asked them to take care of it.

When we picked up the car last week, it looked OK, but many of these issues were not addressed. At first glance it looked OK, but upon closer inspection, it looked to me like they really did a poor job. (I was the one who drove it home and Keith drove his own vehicle.) Not only were the pine needles still there, but the dash board was still dusty, as were the cup holders, and even the dials and buttons on the front dash panel. This wasn't just 'loose dust' but it was the kind of grit that builds up over time, even in a car that is kept pretty clean. Every corner in the car had little piles of debris in it, and it looked as if they just did a quick job on the surface and that was that. I wasn't happy.

I mentioned this to Keith as I thought we should have pointed this out to them before taking the car home. (We had seen it in the lot on the way in and noticed even then that several of the things he pointed out to them were not done.) He said that there was no point, as they just didn't care and when we got in he paid them and off we went, with the mediocre job of cleaning.

I didn't chime in or say anything, because it wasn't my issue to make. It wasn't my car and I felt that it wasn't my business. So I just stood there and bit my tongue.

But if it WAS my own car, you bet I would have said something. I feel that if you pay someone to do a job and they don't do it correctly, you need to call them out on it. I am not saying that you have to be rude or nasty about it, but I do believe that in order to change the way things are, they first have to be made aware that there is a problem in the first place.

From Ford's point of view, everything was fine. The manager probably didn't even look at the car and the lazy employee that did the 'cleaning' probably thought he got away with doing half a job. And he did. To me, this only perpetuates the laziness and the poor quality of work, and in the end, business will suffer. I know that I will never bring my car to them for service again, as there have been more than one times when they did half a job or didn't fix things properly in the first place. I don't know if it is the management or the employees or a bit of both. After all, people tend to get away with what they can if not policed properly. There are exceptions to this, I know, but in that type of environment, personal pride in doing a job seems to be on the decline.

When I make an error on a pattern, I welcome the feedback from my customers. I am not saying that I am happy about mistakes, but I truly believe that feedback from customers helps make me a better designer. Perhaps it is in the way I explain something or how to put something together. If there is something that is not clear to one person, chances are it isn't clear to the next. I welcome these questions so that I can fine tune my instructions to perhaps better state things so everyone understands. It brings my work up a level.

I don't think my letter to the web designing company will have much impact. I think they probably put out mass mailings to web sites to solicit business. This makes things even more disturbing because in the letter they say how they 'analyzed' my site and found all these horrific problems. It is part of the reason it irked me.

But at least I had my say with them. If any human eyes DO read their mail, perhaps it will click that insulting potential customers in order to gain their business is a tactic that (to some) is unacceptable. And hopefully they will rethink their approach.

Change cannot occur unless we change. Whether the problems are big or small, there is no way we can expect a different outcome to anything if we don't change our own behavior/reactions as well. We need to start small and we need to see that we DO count - even as an individual on one instance.

With that said, I am off to start another busy day. I had a reporter from a newspaper in Yarmouth call me yesterday and he is coming over this morning to interview me, as they somehow heard of my business and work and want to do an article on me. That is exciting and scary at the same time. He will probably be amused that we do so much out of such a small place. I doubt that is what he expects!

I hope he likes cats!

Have a great Tuesday!

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily difference we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee. - Marian Wright Edelman
 
#9,454 ·
Well Sheila the situation of poor attention to detail relates to possibly many causes.

1 Lack of correct knowledge of what a good or expectedand acceptable result is, this may come from basic attitude and aggravated by lack of effective and constructive feedback.

With somebody doing a repetition task, the initial quality of the product in regard to time and acceptable quality level would be low first up but never acceptable again at that level for a repeat performance.

The attitude, An attitude based firmly on self criticism "could I have done it better" and the answer is almost yes, which is then based on the fact that now that the activity has been done once improvements can be introduced if approached constructively.

2 Supervision by a "more Knowledgeable" person again this needs to be approached constructively and responded on in a positive fashion, meaning recognition of the short comings and a want to improve.

Otherwise all the clap trap can be summed up as Simply does not care, and there are a lot of situations out there.
 
#9,459 ·
A Break

I had some personal things arise yesterday that need my attention. I am going to take a couple of days off of blogging here.

I did want to with all of my family and friends in the USA a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving. Have a wonderful holiday and a wonderful day.

See you in a couple of days . . .
 
#9,463 ·
Proceeding With Caution

The last several days have been a bit unnerving for me. In the end, it turns out it was quite a scam, but it was still something that took my attention and troubled me nonetheless.

As many of you know, I have been blogging here for over three years now. What began as a test and a forum for me to explain what I do a bit better to my customers, turned out to be a habit and a personal accounting which has brought me many wonderful friendships.

Looking back on my past blogs (they are all here on www.lumberjocks.com), I see that in the beginning posts, they were pretty much business. As time went on though and I had so many nice, encouraging thoughts, I felt as if I was here having coffee with my friends every morning and things became more 'loose'. I began telling not only of business experiences, but of personal ones as well, as friends sometimes do.

My love of cats and sometimes odd sense of humor took precedent over discussions of woodworking and painting, and many times when I had little or nothing that was exciting to talk about, I dressed up my post with one or two of the thousands and thousands of silly cat pictures found here on the web, or ones I took myself.

These pictures weren't to "sell" anything as those of you who read know. It was to bring a smile to your day and hopefully give you a light start to it in these sometimes hectic and troubling times. I am a firm believer that our attitude towards our lives strongly dictates the outcome. ("We follow where we focus" is one of my favorite sayings.) I can't begin to tell you how many hundreds of emails and notes I receive from strangers who read this blog on a daily basis and say it is part of their morning routine. They also say how much they appreciate the smiles and joy it brings to them each morning and look forward to it. That is what really keeps me writing every day - even on the busy ones when I have a million things to do or not a lot of otherwise interesting information. If I can begin my day with bringing happiness to others - even a small amount - than I am already starting out feeling great.

The other day however, I received a notice from one of the "big" image sites. To make a very long and complicated story short - in it they accused me of using one of their images in one of my posts here almost a year ago. This was not a "legal notice", however they were demanding a large sum of money from me to compensate them for my misuse and profiting from "their" photograph.

You can imagine my distress, as well as Keith's. We had just had our best month ever on the site and things were beginning to roll in a good direction with our business and we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel for all of our hard work and effort. It truly blindsided me.

I am always very careful about using my silly cat pictures, and even the non-silly ones. I try to find the proper attributes to the photographers, and whenever possible, I link back to their sites. I know on more than one occasion, as when I used prints that are for sale, that it has caused readers of my blog to go to their sites and make a purchase. The exposure that I give them is a good thing.

But apparently this company is in the habit of threatening ANYONE for ANY types of uses of some of these pictures. Even though they have not been given exclusive rights to them by the photographer (the picture in question is STILL available on a Flickr site for free download and doesn't even OFFER you a way to pay for it) they have decided to send out thousands upon thousands of demand letters to people, in hopes that it would scare them into blindly paying.

Naturally, both Keith and myself were sick when we received this letter. After all, we weren't making patterns from the photo and making money off of it. It still however shook us to the point of making a trip to our lawyer to see what he would advise.

We had dropped off the letter when Keith made the appointment and fortunately for us he had a time slot open the following day. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep or work done. We spent the day trying to research and see what they were able to do. Of course we immediately removed the image from everything, but we were still concerned that they would seek further damages.

What we found was pretty sickening. It appears that this company sends these threatening letters to thousands of people a week, in hopes of scaring them into paying this "settlement" and avoid further harassment from them. This letter is not from the photographers or even from lawyers, but from the company itself. They rarely have taken further action - and when they did, it was only in a case where someone blatantly used images for advertising and made direct profits off the photos and failed to heed to the take down warnings, but instead they did continue to harass many people to pay the "settlement" even though it was not ordered by a court or any legal means. I am sure that many people DO pay because before we saw our lawyer, Keith and I were ready to pay ourselves.

Our advice from our lawyer was to ignore it. He told us it was a scam as much as those SPAM emails from overseas which tell you that someone left you several million dollars. He said that if we hear again from them, he will deal with it for us but for now he said to not think of it anymore, as it had no legal basis whatsoever and we shouldn't worry about it anymore. We were very relieved.

We also talked to the people here at Lumberjocks.com and they told us the same thing - it was a scam and we should disregard it. They had seen it so many times before they didn't even need to read the letter.

While we felt much better about things, it really did make me think. While I am not profiting from the funny cat pictures that I offer here in the site to entertain you all, I do realize that there were times when I failed to give proper attribution on some of them and it concerns me. As a designer, I see my work all the time in the form of other people's finished projects and while some DO give attribution to me as the designer, some do not. I would never think of approaching them though unless I saw them taking credit for the design as their own. And even then I would hope it would be a just a misunderstanding that could be straightened out easily. Unless they were blatantly selling my patterns.

For a brief moment, I considered stopping the blog here altogether. It does take a bit of time in my morning to write, and if I had to look over my shoulder about everything I posted and wrote, it wouldn't be worth it to me.

But I did miss the people and friendships that I have developed through writing here. For many of you only communicate with me through this blog and it is a wonderful way for people to not only learn, but to have some fun. I also find that by trying to think of inspiring things to talk about with you each morning, I am also inspiring myself to do the best job I can. There are days when I have been discouraged about one thing or another, yet forcing myself to "act positive" in the morning here really helped me turn my own attitude around (WE FOLLOW WHERE WE FOCUS.) By the time I was done writing, I would feel a bit better and as the kind comments flowed in from all of you, it made me happy that I did write after all.

So I am not turning in my keyboard just yet.

I will however, proceed with caution and make sure that every picture that I post is in Public Domain or have a release of sorts so that I am SURE that I am in compliance. I want to be sure that all of those silly cat pictures that I show you are included within the guidelines of the photographer.

Cat Felidae Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers


Public Domain

I will have to get a little "creative". And perhaps I will even have to recruit my own cats into service.

Wheel Vehicle Motor vehicle Style Cart


Public Domain

But after all - creativity is something that I do best. It will just help me think in another direction and expand my abilities. And that is always a good thing.

In any case, it feels good to be back. I hope those of you in the USA had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even though I am here in Canada, I had a full celebration dinner with my Canadian family. It was a wonderful day filled with good food, great company and love.

Have a happy and wonderfully creative Saturday.
 

Attachments

#9,464 ·
Proceeding With Caution

The last several days have been a bit unnerving for me. In the end, it turns out it was quite a scam, but it was still something that took my attention and troubled me nonetheless.

As many of you know, I have been blogging here for over three years now. What began as a test and a forum for me to explain what I do a bit better to my customers, turned out to be a habit and a personal accounting which has brought me many wonderful friendships.

Looking back on my past blogs (they are all here on www.lumberjocks.com), I see that in the beginning posts, they were pretty much business. As time went on though and I had so many nice, encouraging thoughts, I felt as if I was here having coffee with my friends every morning and things became more 'loose'. I began telling not only of business experiences, but of personal ones as well, as friends sometimes do.

My love of cats and sometimes odd sense of humor took precedent over discussions of woodworking and painting, and many times when I had little or nothing that was exciting to talk about, I dressed up my post with one or two of the thousands and thousands of silly cat pictures found here on the web, or ones I took myself.

These pictures weren't to "sell" anything as those of you who read know. It was to bring a smile to your day and hopefully give you a light start to it in these sometimes hectic and troubling times. I am a firm believer that our attitude towards our lives strongly dictates the outcome. ("We follow where we focus" is one of my favorite sayings.) I can't begin to tell you how many hundreds of emails and notes I receive from strangers who read this blog on a daily basis and say it is part of their morning routine. They also say how much they appreciate the smiles and joy it brings to them each morning and look forward to it. That is what really keeps me writing every day - even on the busy ones when I have a million things to do or not a lot of otherwise interesting information. If I can begin my day with bringing happiness to others - even a small amount - than I am already starting out feeling great.

The other day however, I received a notice from one of the "big" image sites. To make a very long and complicated story short - in it they accused me of using one of their images in one of my posts here almost a year ago. This was not a "legal notice", however they were demanding a large sum of money from me to compensate them for my misuse and profiting from "their" photograph.

You can imagine my distress, as well as Keith's. We had just had our best month ever on the site and things were beginning to roll in a good direction with our business and we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel for all of our hard work and effort. It truly blindsided me.

I am always very careful about using my silly cat pictures, and even the non-silly ones. I try to find the proper attributes to the photographers, and whenever possible, I link back to their sites. I know on more than one occasion, as when I used prints that are for sale, that it has caused readers of my blog to go to their sites and make a purchase. The exposure that I give them is a good thing.

But apparently this company is in the habit of threatening ANYONE for ANY types of uses of some of these pictures. Even though they have not been given exclusive rights to them by the photographer (the picture in question is STILL available on a Flickr site for free download and doesn't even OFFER you a way to pay for it) they have decided to send out thousands upon thousands of demand letters to people, in hopes that it would scare them into blindly paying.

Naturally, both Keith and myself were sick when we received this letter. After all, we weren't making patterns from the photo and making money off of it. It still however shook us to the point of making a trip to our lawyer to see what he would advise.

We had dropped off the letter when Keith made the appointment and fortunately for us he had a time slot open the following day. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep or work done. We spent the day trying to research and see what they were able to do. Of course we immediately removed the image from everything, but we were still concerned that they would seek further damages.

What we found was pretty sickening. It appears that this company sends these threatening letters to thousands of people a week, in hopes of scaring them into paying this "settlement" and avoid further harassment from them. This letter is not from the photographers or even from lawyers, but from the company itself. They rarely have taken further action - and when they did, it was only in a case where someone blatantly used images for advertising and made direct profits off the photos and failed to heed to the take down warnings, but instead they did continue to harass many people to pay the "settlement" even though it was not ordered by a court or any legal means. I am sure that many people DO pay because before we saw our lawyer, Keith and I were ready to pay ourselves.

Our advice from our lawyer was to ignore it. He told us it was a scam as much as those SPAM emails from overseas which tell you that someone left you several million dollars. He said that if we hear again from them, he will deal with it for us but for now he said to not think of it anymore, as it had no legal basis whatsoever and we shouldn't worry about it anymore. We were very relieved.

We also talked to the people here at Lumberjocks.com and they told us the same thing - it was a scam and we should disregard it. They had seen it so many times before they didn't even need to read the letter.

While we felt much better about things, it really did make me think. While I am not profiting from the funny cat pictures that I offer here in the site to entertain you all, I do realize that there were times when I failed to give proper attribution on some of them and it concerns me. As a designer, I see my work all the time in the form of other people's finished projects and while some DO give attribution to me as the designer, some do not. I would never think of approaching them though unless I saw them taking credit for the design as their own. And even then I would hope it would be a just a misunderstanding that could be straightened out easily. Unless they were blatantly selling my patterns.

For a brief moment, I considered stopping the blog here altogether. It does take a bit of time in my morning to write, and if I had to look over my shoulder about everything I posted and wrote, it wouldn't be worth it to me.

But I did miss the people and friendships that I have developed through writing here. For many of you only communicate with me through this blog and it is a wonderful way for people to not only learn, but to have some fun. I also find that by trying to think of inspiring things to talk about with you each morning, I am also inspiring myself to do the best job I can. There are days when I have been discouraged about one thing or another, yet forcing myself to "act positive" in the morning here really helped me turn my own attitude around (WE FOLLOW WHERE WE FOCUS.) By the time I was done writing, I would feel a bit better and as the kind comments flowed in from all of you, it made me happy that I did write after all.

So I am not turning in my keyboard just yet.

I will however, proceed with caution and make sure that every picture that I post is in Public Domain or have a release of sorts so that I am SURE that I am in compliance. I want to be sure that all of those silly cat pictures that I show you are included within the guidelines of the photographer.

Cat Felidae Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers


Public Domain

I will have to get a little "creative". And perhaps I will even have to recruit my own cats into service.

Wheel Vehicle Motor vehicle Style Cart


Public Domain

But after all - creativity is something that I do best. It will just help me think in another direction and expand my abilities. And that is always a good thing.

In any case, it feels good to be back. I hope those of you in the USA had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even though I am here in Canada, I had a full celebration dinner with my Canadian family. It was a wonderful day filled with good food, great company and love.

Have a happy and wonderfully creative Saturday.
glad this got resolved sheila

i read your posts over coffee most mornings
and when i can post a comment
or even a cat picture too

i find them on the net too
i have learned that not all will go to my 'photos' cache
to be forwarded
(i'm guessing those have some 'no copy' thing in them)

even our woodworking 'copy-right' works don't hold water it seems
unless we go thru a long legal process
big companies can pay for this privilege
but us artists can't afford these services

we share with the world
but many want to be paid for 'sharing'
even when it is not theirs to 'own'

keep on trucking girl
we are in a storm of greed
from many

but don't need to jump off any cliff
just because the 'lemings' do
 

Attachments

#9,479 ·
Happy Birthday to My Son Phil

I am feeling rather nostalgic today. As we move into the month of December - the final month of the year - I find myself looking back and reflecting on the many things that not only have transpired over the past eleven months, but also over the years.

The first of December is a very special day to me for many reasons. Not only does it mark the beginning of the holiday season, but for me personally, it marks something far more significant. Thirty years ago I became a "mom."

I believe becoming a parent is one of the most significant and life-changing events that one can experience. It is full of wonder and joy and yes - fear. We worry about so many things. Will I be able to provide for my child. Will I make good decisions in his/her upbringing? Will I be able to take care of them properly?

These are all things that went through my mind when I became a mother. I didn't have what you would call a 'perfect' childhood by any stretch. While I have many good memories of when I was young, I didn't really have what was a 'traditional' upbringing in the 1960's and 70's. I will just say that I had a troubled home and leave it at that.

I worried when I had my own children that I would impose some of these issues upon them, and I did my best to make things as 'normal' as possible for them. We always tried to provide them with a caring home where they knew they were loved. We also tried to teach them basic values of honesty and love for self and others. We encouraged them to follow their hearts and dreams - even if we didn't always agree with them - and do the best they could in anything that they pursued. I wanted them to know right from wrong and be happy in their lives. As a parent, I believe that is the best reward you can receive.

Phil was born five weeks early. He just decided to enter this world ahead of time. His first 31 days were spent in the ICU neo-natal unit of the hospital, in an incubator hooked up to several wires and leads. Being early, parts of him weren't ready for the world yet. His lungs were good and developed, but he had trouble digesting any type of food. This meant that he needed to be tube fed for the first several weeks. His weight was good for being so early (5 lbs, 10 oz) but the feeding problems kept him in the hospital through his first Christmas.

It was a difficult time for me and I spent pretty much of that first month at the hospital with him by his side. I didn't want him thinking he didn't have a mom. I remember holding him in the hospital and longing for the day when I could just pick him up without disconnecting 5-10 lead wires from his machines. At 22 years old, it certainly made me grow up quickly and made me into a "parent."

But we got through it and as soon as we got home, Phil began to thrive:

Cheek Skin Head Mouth Comfort


He was barely sick as a child, and not only was he healthy, but he was brilliant as well.

Smile Organ Textile Mammal Gesture


I made the decision to stay at home with Phil and be there to raise him. Financially it was tough, but I didn't want to have a child and not be able to be there with them every day. I never regretted that decision.

I loved my role as a mom and I had a lot of fun with Phil every day.

Tableware Chair Plate Toy Wig


(You can see before I dressed the cats, I used to have fun "playing" with my kids!)

We did crafts and that is really where I began my "crafting" career. I wanted to earn some extra money at home by making things and while he was napping or sleeping at night, I made items to sell. The little amount of extra money helped, but more important it allowed me to be there for him and enjoy my role as a mom and a parent. And that meant more to me than any paycheck.

As Phil grew, it became apparent that he was creative and brilliant in his own rite. At 16 he began his own computer consulting company. He loved computers and technology and could write his own code as a young teen. He also joined the ham radio club and learned Morse code. I believe he won an award as being one of the youngest to reach a certain level in the club. He loved anything to do with computers and electronics and when most parents were worrying about their children drinking or partying, I watched as Phil's fellow ham radio club members picked him up for the meetings and knew that he was safe. All through school his test scores were off the charts. His high school teachers used to call him "young Bill Gates" because he even got a job there setting up the high school's computer security system. You may say I was proud.

But Phil's other dream was to be a police officer. Even though he had a group of doctors that had a Michigan Avenue office in downtown Chicago pull him from high school to work full time and work as their IT Administrator, he always dreamed of being a cop. After working with the doctors for several years at a good salary, Phil decided to try to be a cop. After many applications in the surrounding area, he was accepted by the city of Joliet - a southern suburb of Chicago. (His size and a small medical problem held him back for a bit) He went to academy and learned the ropes of being an officer. One of the scariest things that I witness (via photos) was him getting "maced" as part of his training.

Sky Shoulder Ecoregion Gesture Cloud


But he stuck with things and graduated and realized his dream.

Smile Coat Military uniform Military person Sleeve


I have been so proud of all of his accomplishments and awards!

Smile Military uniform Military person Coat Gesture


In the mean time, he married his high school sweetheart and just this year, they had their first child - my grand daughter, Willow.

Smile Glasses Photograph Eye Organ


So today marks the 30th anniversary of Phil's birth. As I look at him these days, I realize that he is no longer the child that I held in my arms. It seems as if it was only last week that we were taking our wagon to the farmer's market on Saturdays, going to the library to spend the afternoon, or making a trip to the zoo. The time has passed so quickly.

While I miss these times tremendously, I find a great deal of joy in my heart seeing the wonderful man he has become. I see the lives he touches every day though his work. His love of his wonderful wife and daughter, and his dedication and efforts to help make this world just a little better.

I look back at my decision to be a stay at home mom as Phil was growing up and I think it is the best decision that I ever made in my life. I am so happy to have had that time with him and to be such a big part of his young life. It forged a bond that will never be broken between us. Even though we are miles apart, our hearts are never far from each other.

Phil's family is everything to him, and I see that the values that I tried to teach them were well learned. I watch though the eyes of Briana and Willow and I see the love their family has for each other, and I know I did a good job.

Flash photography Lighting Happy Leisure Fun


I want to wish my wonderful son Phil a happy birthday today. No mother could ever be prouder.

I love you, Phil.
 

Attachments

#9,480 ·
Happy Birthday to My Son Phil

I am feeling rather nostalgic today. As we move into the month of December - the final month of the year - I find myself looking back and reflecting on the many things that not only have transpired over the past eleven months, but also over the years.

The first of December is a very special day to me for many reasons. Not only does it mark the beginning of the holiday season, but for me personally, it marks something far more significant. Thirty years ago I became a "mom."

I believe becoming a parent is one of the most significant and life-changing events that one can experience. It is full of wonder and joy and yes - fear. We worry about so many things. Will I be able to provide for my child. Will I make good decisions in his/her upbringing? Will I be able to take care of them properly?

These are all things that went through my mind when I became a mother. I didn't have what you would call a 'perfect' childhood by any stretch. While I have many good memories of when I was young, I didn't really have what was a 'traditional' upbringing in the 1960's and 70's. I will just say that I had a troubled home and leave it at that.

I worried when I had my own children that I would impose some of these issues upon them, and I did my best to make things as 'normal' as possible for them. We always tried to provide them with a caring home where they knew they were loved. We also tried to teach them basic values of honesty and love for self and others. We encouraged them to follow their hearts and dreams - even if we didn't always agree with them - and do the best they could in anything that they pursued. I wanted them to know right from wrong and be happy in their lives. As a parent, I believe that is the best reward you can receive.

Phil was born five weeks early. He just decided to enter this world ahead of time. His first 31 days were spent in the ICU neo-natal unit of the hospital, in an incubator hooked up to several wires and leads. Being early, parts of him weren't ready for the world yet. His lungs were good and developed, but he had trouble digesting any type of food. This meant that he needed to be tube fed for the first several weeks. His weight was good for being so early (5 lbs, 10 oz) but the feeding problems kept him in the hospital through his first Christmas.

It was a difficult time for me and I spent pretty much of that first month at the hospital with him by his side. I didn't want him thinking he didn't have a mom. I remember holding him in the hospital and longing for the day when I could just pick him up without disconnecting 5-10 lead wires from his machines. At 22 years old, it certainly made me grow up quickly and made me into a "parent."

But we got through it and as soon as we got home, Phil began to thrive:

Cheek Skin Head Mouth Comfort


He was barely sick as a child, and not only was he healthy, but he was brilliant as well.

Smile Organ Textile Mammal Gesture


I made the decision to stay at home with Phil and be there to raise him. Financially it was tough, but I didn't want to have a child and not be able to be there with them every day. I never regretted that decision.

I loved my role as a mom and I had a lot of fun with Phil every day.

Tableware Chair Plate Toy Wig


(You can see before I dressed the cats, I used to have fun "playing" with my kids!)

We did crafts and that is really where I began my "crafting" career. I wanted to earn some extra money at home by making things and while he was napping or sleeping at night, I made items to sell. The little amount of extra money helped, but more important it allowed me to be there for him and enjoy my role as a mom and a parent. And that meant more to me than any paycheck.

As Phil grew, it became apparent that he was creative and brilliant in his own rite. At 16 he began his own computer consulting company. He loved computers and technology and could write his own code as a young teen. He also joined the ham radio club and learned Morse code. I believe he won an award as being one of the youngest to reach a certain level in the club. He loved anything to do with computers and electronics and when most parents were worrying about their children drinking or partying, I watched as Phil's fellow ham radio club members picked him up for the meetings and knew that he was safe. All through school his test scores were off the charts. His high school teachers used to call him "young Bill Gates" because he even got a job there setting up the high school's computer security system. You may say I was proud.

But Phil's other dream was to be a police officer. Even though he had a group of doctors that had a Michigan Avenue office in downtown Chicago pull him from high school to work full time and work as their IT Administrator, he always dreamed of being a cop. After working with the doctors for several years at a good salary, Phil decided to try to be a cop. After many applications in the surrounding area, he was accepted by the city of Joliet - a southern suburb of Chicago. (His size and a small medical problem held him back for a bit) He went to academy and learned the ropes of being an officer. One of the scariest things that I witness (via photos) was him getting "maced" as part of his training.

Sky Shoulder Ecoregion Gesture Cloud


But he stuck with things and graduated and realized his dream.

Smile Coat Military uniform Military person Sleeve


I have been so proud of all of his accomplishments and awards!

Smile Military uniform Military person Coat Gesture


In the mean time, he married his high school sweetheart and just this year, they had their first child - my grand daughter, Willow.

Smile Glasses Photograph Eye Organ


So today marks the 30th anniversary of Phil's birth. As I look at him these days, I realize that he is no longer the child that I held in my arms. It seems as if it was only last week that we were taking our wagon to the farmer's market on Saturdays, going to the library to spend the afternoon, or making a trip to the zoo. The time has passed so quickly.

While I miss these times tremendously, I find a great deal of joy in my heart seeing the wonderful man he has become. I see the lives he touches every day though his work. His love of his wonderful wife and daughter, and his dedication and efforts to help make this world just a little better.

I look back at my decision to be a stay at home mom as Phil was growing up and I think it is the best decision that I ever made in my life. I am so happy to have had that time with him and to be such a big part of his young life. It forged a bond that will never be broken between us. Even though we are miles apart, our hearts are never far from each other.

Phil's family is everything to him, and I see that the values that I tried to teach them were well learned. I watch though the eyes of Briana and Willow and I see the love their family has for each other, and I know I did a good job.

Flash photography Lighting Happy Leisure Fun


I want to wish my wonderful son Phil a happy birthday today. No mother could ever be prouder.

I love you, Phil.
really happy for you, nothing beats having children and seeing them grow up and make there own place in ou world, and your son did a fantastic job of things from what you have written, his life has been amazing, im sure many here will want to also wish him a happy birthday and as most of us here are parents, we can feel your happiness in phil's accomplishments,,,enjoy the day.
 

Attachments

#9,488 ·
"Elf" Mode

It's the month of December already and that only means one thing - Elf Mode.

While it appears I am in Elf Mode every day, during the holidays it goes to a new level. Not only do I enjoy making most of the gifts that I give, but I also like to participate in many exchanges that are held from several of the forums that I frequent. Yes - I LOVE to receive small pieces of others' work!

Recently, in my never ending quest to be organized I purchased a nice brush box to hold my paint brushes. Since I have been experiments with different types of paint, I found it necessary to have brushes for each type that I use. I don't mean BRAND of paint, as you can (for example) use your acrylic brushes with any brand of acrylic paint and be fine - but I am more referring to TYPE of paint. You wouldn't want to use the same brushes for different types. (For example - the heat set Genesis paints use no water and are not to be in contact with water, so I wouldn't want to use my acrylic brushes with them, as any paint or water left in them can contaminate the paint, and so on.)

So I am not being just fussy to want different brushes for different TYPES of paint.

But then came the problem - storing three sets of brushes. I wanted something that was both functional and it would be nice if it looked nice as well.

I came across a wonderful small storage chest from Mary Kingslan Gibilisco not too long ago. Mary is someone that I have following in the painting world for years, and I was thrilled a couple of months ago when I found her site and that she has over a hundred online tutorials on painting. Her lessons on theory and techniques are not only wonderful in themselves, but they provide a foundation for painters of ALL levels to use in their own work and designs. I have become an even bigger fan since then.

In any case, I ordered the wonderful brush storage chest along with several brushes. Mary also has her own signature line of brushes which is manufactured by Royal brush and they are high quality and don't cost an arm and a leg. Mary offers several sets that bring prices even lower, including her WOW Set which is an incredible value.

I ordered up.

Last week I received my brush box and brushes. I was really thrilled. The box is plain as it is intended to be painted and customized by me, and I am still thinking as to what I will put on it. I have some ideas though and I hope to have time to do it soon. Below is a picture of the box:

Wood Dishware Tableware Table Hardwood


You can get it here on Mary's site - Brush Box - as well as see the many lessons and supplies she offers. It is a great place for any level of painter!

I had fully intended to break my new brushes in yesterday. Being Sunday, it was to be a Painting/Jammie day. But that didn't really pan out for me.

I decided instead to get out my Christmas decorations and change over my little "All Season Tree" to a "Christmas Tree" as well as the few other decorations that I had throughout our house.

I had fun doing so, and found myself patting myself on my own back because of the EASE of my newly organizational system I had recently set up for my decorations. It made everything quick and fun and instead of hunting for some things and not putting others out, I had everything in front of me in one convenient place.

Among the items, I came across a candle box that I painted a couple of years ago. The design is by Betty Caithness, one of my favorite tole painter pattern designers and it is one of my favorite pieces to date.

Property Window Building Architecture House


Architecture Art Window Plant Painting


Property Window Lighting Plant Wood


Window Green Building Christmas tree Architecture


Christmas tree Property Window Building Tree


I am very happy with how it came out (although it is showing up a little "yellowish" here. I had intended to give it as a gift, but I can't seem to part with it.

In any case, it only fueled my desire to paint even more. I NEED to dedicate at LEAST a day per week to doing some painting. I think I owe it to myself.

I spent the rest of the day finishing up the mail orders that need to go out. We had a LOT of them, and there were many that required me to cut wood pieces for them. I am glad that I am selling more wood pieces, as it somewhat forces me to use my saw more. As a designer, it seems the times I actually get to cut are few and far between. I am happy that word is getting out that I will cut for painting projects as well. It's just another way to have fun. :)

We closed out November with our best month ever in our web sales! I know you may have heard me say that before, but we have beaten our old record four out of the last five months. I am not trying to brag about that (well - maybe a LITTLE!) but we have worked long and hard to be successful and it is wonderful to see it finally starting to "work" for us. We are very proud of our customer service and products and patterns and it is encouraging to know that more people are discovering us. So all is good.

Today will be a busy day as usual. The last of my exchange gifts will go out, and then I need to start working on other "elf" things. I am happy that last week is behind me though and I am happy to be back on track and moving forward.

It's MONDAY - my favorite day of the week! A day to start fresh and plan for new things. I hope you all have a great one!
 

Attachments

#9,489 ·
"Elf" Mode

It's the month of December already and that only means one thing - Elf Mode.

While it appears I am in Elf Mode every day, during the holidays it goes to a new level. Not only do I enjoy making most of the gifts that I give, but I also like to participate in many exchanges that are held from several of the forums that I frequent. Yes - I LOVE to receive small pieces of others' work!

Recently, in my never ending quest to be organized I purchased a nice brush box to hold my paint brushes. Since I have been experiments with different types of paint, I found it necessary to have brushes for each type that I use. I don't mean BRAND of paint, as you can (for example) use your acrylic brushes with any brand of acrylic paint and be fine - but I am more referring to TYPE of paint. You wouldn't want to use the same brushes for different types. (For example - the heat set Genesis paints use no water and are not to be in contact with water, so I wouldn't want to use my acrylic brushes with them, as any paint or water left in them can contaminate the paint, and so on.)

So I am not being just fussy to want different brushes for different TYPES of paint.

But then came the problem - storing three sets of brushes. I wanted something that was both functional and it would be nice if it looked nice as well.

I came across a wonderful small storage chest from Mary Kingslan Gibilisco not too long ago. Mary is someone that I have following in the painting world for years, and I was thrilled a couple of months ago when I found her site and that she has over a hundred online tutorials on painting. Her lessons on theory and techniques are not only wonderful in themselves, but they provide a foundation for painters of ALL levels to use in their own work and designs. I have become an even bigger fan since then.

In any case, I ordered the wonderful brush storage chest along with several brushes. Mary also has her own signature line of brushes which is manufactured by Royal brush and they are high quality and don't cost an arm and a leg. Mary offers several sets that bring prices even lower, including her WOW Set which is an incredible value.

I ordered up.

Last week I received my brush box and brushes. I was really thrilled. The box is plain as it is intended to be painted and customized by me, and I am still thinking as to what I will put on it. I have some ideas though and I hope to have time to do it soon. Below is a picture of the box:

Wood Dishware Tableware Table Hardwood


You can get it here on Mary's site - Brush Box - as well as see the many lessons and supplies she offers. It is a great place for any level of painter!

I had fully intended to break my new brushes in yesterday. Being Sunday, it was to be a Painting/Jammie day. But that didn't really pan out for me.

I decided instead to get out my Christmas decorations and change over my little "All Season Tree" to a "Christmas Tree" as well as the few other decorations that I had throughout our house.

I had fun doing so, and found myself patting myself on my own back because of the EASE of my newly organizational system I had recently set up for my decorations. It made everything quick and fun and instead of hunting for some things and not putting others out, I had everything in front of me in one convenient place.

Among the items, I came across a candle box that I painted a couple of years ago. The design is by Betty Caithness, one of my favorite tole painter pattern designers and it is one of my favorite pieces to date.

Property Window Building Architecture House


Architecture Art Window Plant Painting


Property Window Lighting Plant Wood


Window Green Building Christmas tree Architecture


Christmas tree Property Window Building Tree


I am very happy with how it came out (although it is showing up a little "yellowish" here. I had intended to give it as a gift, but I can't seem to part with it.

In any case, it only fueled my desire to paint even more. I NEED to dedicate at LEAST a day per week to doing some painting. I think I owe it to myself.

I spent the rest of the day finishing up the mail orders that need to go out. We had a LOT of them, and there were many that required me to cut wood pieces for them. I am glad that I am selling more wood pieces, as it somewhat forces me to use my saw more. As a designer, it seems the times I actually get to cut are few and far between. I am happy that word is getting out that I will cut for painting projects as well. It's just another way to have fun. :)

We closed out November with our best month ever in our web sales! I know you may have heard me say that before, but we have beaten our old record four out of the last five months. I am not trying to brag about that (well - maybe a LITTLE!) but we have worked long and hard to be successful and it is wonderful to see it finally starting to "work" for us. We are very proud of our customer service and products and patterns and it is encouraging to know that more people are discovering us. So all is good.

Today will be a busy day as usual. The last of my exchange gifts will go out, and then I need to start working on other "elf" things. I am happy that last week is behind me though and I am happy to be back on track and moving forward.

It's MONDAY - my favorite day of the week! A day to start fresh and plan for new things. I hope you all have a great one!
Wow! You have what they refer to as TALENT!

That is some wonderful painting - I understand why you want to hold onto it.

Have a great Monday

-bob
 

Attachments

#9,496 ·
FINALLY I am Back to Drawing!

After what seems like months (it really wasn't!) I finally got back to drawing and I will be working on a new painting/wood design today.

I know I have said that before recently, but "life" and a busy, growing business just got in the way. Believe me - this is not a complaint. I love being busy doing what I love to do but it seems that there are so many creative things that I like, I have difficulty finding the time to do them.

Several days ago I bought an avocado because I was going to make some home made guacamole and some enchiladas. At the time the avocado wasn't quite ripe yet and I knew I needed to wait a couple of days. Well - the last couple of days I think it has been ready and I have been putting it off so many times that if I don't make it today, I may not be able to use it. Every time I had good intentions but just got caught up in things and dinner time seemed to sail by and I wound up pulling something easy out. Last night I had Ramen noodles for dinner at 9pm because I got so caught up in things. I think I am in a good creative mode though and I know MANY of you that read have been there as well.

What I worked on yesterday was another "Painting With Friends" design which was inspired by Terrye French. I explained this program before, but for those of you who missed it, it is a collaboration with Terrye and a select group of painting designers to develop wonderfully cute and whimsical primitive painting patterns. I was accepted into this group late in the summer and so far I have only completed one design. The good thing about it though is that there are no "deadlines" and we get to work at our own pace - as we all have other things on the go. This will be my second contribution to the group.

I spent yesterday drawing and laying out the design. I think that was the most difficult part for me, as I had several visions in my head as to the direction I wanted to proceed. But I finally settled on a plan, and I spent the day developing my idea and getting everything drawn. Here is a sample of what I came up with:

White Handwriting Line Font Art


(Of course you didn't expect me to show it in its entirety yet, did you??)

Today I will be cutting the wood pieces and I will begin to paint it. I am rather excited about it and seeing it come to life. I hope I do it justice.

With that said, I have a busy day ahead of me. I was playing around on the computer this morning and time got away from me so I am keeping this short.

I promise I will have more to show you all tomorrow. It looks as if I will actually be able to PAINT today! :)

I wish you all a wonderfully creative day. Happy Tuesday!
 

Attachments

#9,497 ·
FINALLY I am Back to Drawing!

After what seems like months (it really wasn't!) I finally got back to drawing and I will be working on a new painting/wood design today.

I know I have said that before recently, but "life" and a busy, growing business just got in the way. Believe me - this is not a complaint. I love being busy doing what I love to do but it seems that there are so many creative things that I like, I have difficulty finding the time to do them.

Several days ago I bought an avocado because I was going to make some home made guacamole and some enchiladas. At the time the avocado wasn't quite ripe yet and I knew I needed to wait a couple of days. Well - the last couple of days I think it has been ready and I have been putting it off so many times that if I don't make it today, I may not be able to use it. Every time I had good intentions but just got caught up in things and dinner time seemed to sail by and I wound up pulling something easy out. Last night I had Ramen noodles for dinner at 9pm because I got so caught up in things. I think I am in a good creative mode though and I know MANY of you that read have been there as well.

What I worked on yesterday was another "Painting With Friends" design which was inspired by Terrye French. I explained this program before, but for those of you who missed it, it is a collaboration with Terrye and a select group of painting designers to develop wonderfully cute and whimsical primitive painting patterns. I was accepted into this group late in the summer and so far I have only completed one design. The good thing about it though is that there are no "deadlines" and we get to work at our own pace - as we all have other things on the go. This will be my second contribution to the group.

I spent yesterday drawing and laying out the design. I think that was the most difficult part for me, as I had several visions in my head as to the direction I wanted to proceed. But I finally settled on a plan, and I spent the day developing my idea and getting everything drawn. Here is a sample of what I came up with:

White Handwriting Line Font Art


(Of course you didn't expect me to show it in its entirety yet, did you??)

Today I will be cutting the wood pieces and I will begin to paint it. I am rather excited about it and seeing it come to life. I hope I do it justice.

With that said, I have a busy day ahead of me. I was playing around on the computer this morning and time got away from me so I am keeping this short.

I promise I will have more to show you all tomorrow. It looks as if I will actually be able to PAINT today! :)

I wish you all a wonderfully creative day. Happy Tuesday!
Let me take a guess at what the word spells…......

Snorkeling?

Snoozing?

OH! I know now!

SNORING!

Cheers!

-bob
 

Attachments

#9,504 ·
(One of) My Happy Place(s)

I often hear from people how much they wish they could be like me every day and just scroll saw or paint all day, every day. While I know that I feel very fortunate to be doing what I am doing, that isn't always the case. Those of you who have been following me for any length of time realize that the actual scroll sawing or painting is only a small part of the process of owning your own business, and that those times are sometimes few and far between.

I am not complaining though, as the other things that I do on a daily basis are for the most part fun and interesting. Through my work I come into contact with countless creative people. Many have questions or need help in understanding something, and many others are an inspiration to me with their ideas, talent and creativity. All of them make me love what I do even more, and it is because of them that I continue to try to climb to a higher level.

As our little business continues to grow, the daily tasks of keeping things running smoothly also increase accordingly. I like to still send out each order personally. (Either myself or Keith) This gives us direct contact with our customers and we write a short message with each order so that they know we are available if they have any questions or issues with their patterns. In these days of automation, that is very important to us. Just yesterday I had more than one customer tell me that they truly appreciated our fast and personal service, and that it was a rare thing in these times. That is not only what will help us continue to grow, but it will also help educate us to our customers' needs and helps us to be a better company and make better patterns. It is part of the business that I want to continue as long as possible.

These administration tasks, along with the logistics of running a business do take time though. In addition to what I mentioned above, there are things like drawing and writing articles for the magazine as well as instructions that don't always allow us as much time as we like to do the actual cutting or painting of our projects. So every time I have the opportunity to do so, I feel that it is even more of a special day.

Yesterday I finally got to do some painting. I say "finally" because I had been trying to get to that point for the past several days (or was it weeks?) and there was always something that was more pressing that came up and I had to switch gears. I had been thinking about a new design that I am working on in collaboration with Terrye French for the Painting With Friends painting group that I have been designing with and I couldn't wait to get started on it.

For those of you who aren't aware of it - "Painting With Friends" is a group of painters who are 'inspired' by Terrye French - an amazingly talented woman who seems to have endless ideas. How it works is Terrye sketches her idea and sends it to one of the several painters in the group. The painter then 'develops' it into a design and pattern in any way she likes. This is a marvelous opportunity not only to work with a fabulous designer, but to stretch our possibilities and creativity. Terrye comes up with the CUTEST ideas (mostly in the Primitive style) and we are encouraged to do just about ANYTHING we want with them.

When the project and pattern are complete, we market the pattern under the "Painting With Friends" label and split the proceeds. It is a win/win for everyone! I feel it is especially good for me, as I am more of a realistic type of painter and not a great 'cartoonist'. Terrye's wonderful and whimsical designs are so much fun to paint and it gives me a chance to develop that side of my creativity. I feel very privileged to be a member of this wonderful organization. The support and friendship and inspiration are just amazing! And Terrye's ideas are a wonderful springboard for us to develop our ideas. It is so much fun to see the different styles from the other artists in the group and how they interpret her drawings.

I had received the sketches for this project before I headed to Chicago. Between then and now, so much has had to be done and it kept being put on the back burner. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but it was as if there was a fog and I couldn't quite envision the project finished. All the while when I was doing other things, this was in the back of my mind and I was thinking about which direction to take. I think that all happened for a reason. Little by little, as it came into focus I felt better and more secure about how I wanted to present it. By the time I first picked up the paint brush, I felt pretty sure where I was heading and things are so far going rather smoothly.

I took some sample photos as I painted yesterday. They aren't color corrected, but you will get the jest of things.

I decided that I wanted to make a sign board. In thinking how I could also offer the surface, I chose to make it in three pieces. With the high cost of postage, having it in sections would not only make it more palatable to mail, but it would also make the painting process easier as well.

I spent a good part of the day mapping out and preparing the surface. I wanted to make sure that everything would work right and good planning was a must. Finally in the late afternoon I got to actually sit down and paint!

I crackled the header and footer, and painted the background in a deep blue, with pearlized swirls of paint to resemble drifting 'snow':

Paint Rectangle Wood Font Material property


As you may have guessed from yesterday's post - it is a snowman themed project. This one is called "Snowman Collector."

Handwriting Wood Art Font Creative arts


What makes Terrye's designs fun is the cute and whimsical details. The little snowman faces add a lot to the lettering, and make it fun and inviting:

Handwriting Font Wood Art Illustration


I added some more details (for now!) of starts and (of course) the snowmen themselves are coated with glittery sparkles that don't show in the photograph. But it looks pretty good as a start:

Wood Textile Art Kitchen utensil Font


Now today the REAL fun begins - doing the main part of the drawing! As I sat at my table last night, I couldn't help but be happy. I took my time and experimented with several different color combinations on scraps of wood to make sure that when I painted on the actual piece it would come out as I envisioned it. Most people wouldn't think that I would have to TEST things, but even though I have been doing this a long time, I am never above testing things out to make sure. That pertains to both painting AND scroll sawing. It is only from experience that I learned that testing is a MUST. After several 'mishaps' and wasting time, it is the easiest way to make certain that you will have the result you want.

That is as far as I got before I called it a night. I wanted to be fresh when I continued on. So far though, so good. I am happy with how it is looking and encouraged at the prospect of what I will accomplish today.

I know I say it a lot, but I truly love what I do. It seems that every day is filled with fun and new adventures, and I don't take that for granted for even a minute.

I hope you all have a wonderful day today. Do something fun that will inspire not only yourself, but others around you as well. You will be amazed at how good it will make you feel.

Happy Wednesday! :D
 

Attachments

#9,505 ·
(One of) My Happy Place(s)

I often hear from people how much they wish they could be like me every day and just scroll saw or paint all day, every day. While I know that I feel very fortunate to be doing what I am doing, that isn't always the case. Those of you who have been following me for any length of time realize that the actual scroll sawing or painting is only a small part of the process of owning your own business, and that those times are sometimes few and far between.

I am not complaining though, as the other things that I do on a daily basis are for the most part fun and interesting. Through my work I come into contact with countless creative people. Many have questions or need help in understanding something, and many others are an inspiration to me with their ideas, talent and creativity. All of them make me love what I do even more, and it is because of them that I continue to try to climb to a higher level.

As our little business continues to grow, the daily tasks of keeping things running smoothly also increase accordingly. I like to still send out each order personally. (Either myself or Keith) This gives us direct contact with our customers and we write a short message with each order so that they know we are available if they have any questions or issues with their patterns. In these days of automation, that is very important to us. Just yesterday I had more than one customer tell me that they truly appreciated our fast and personal service, and that it was a rare thing in these times. That is not only what will help us continue to grow, but it will also help educate us to our customers' needs and helps us to be a better company and make better patterns. It is part of the business that I want to continue as long as possible.

These administration tasks, along with the logistics of running a business do take time though. In addition to what I mentioned above, there are things like drawing and writing articles for the magazine as well as instructions that don't always allow us as much time as we like to do the actual cutting or painting of our projects. So every time I have the opportunity to do so, I feel that it is even more of a special day.

Yesterday I finally got to do some painting. I say "finally" because I had been trying to get to that point for the past several days (or was it weeks?) and there was always something that was more pressing that came up and I had to switch gears. I had been thinking about a new design that I am working on in collaboration with Terrye French for the Painting With Friends painting group that I have been designing with and I couldn't wait to get started on it.

For those of you who aren't aware of it - "Painting With Friends" is a group of painters who are 'inspired' by Terrye French - an amazingly talented woman who seems to have endless ideas. How it works is Terrye sketches her idea and sends it to one of the several painters in the group. The painter then 'develops' it into a design and pattern in any way she likes. This is a marvelous opportunity not only to work with a fabulous designer, but to stretch our possibilities and creativity. Terrye comes up with the CUTEST ideas (mostly in the Primitive style) and we are encouraged to do just about ANYTHING we want with them.

When the project and pattern are complete, we market the pattern under the "Painting With Friends" label and split the proceeds. It is a win/win for everyone! I feel it is especially good for me, as I am more of a realistic type of painter and not a great 'cartoonist'. Terrye's wonderful and whimsical designs are so much fun to paint and it gives me a chance to develop that side of my creativity. I feel very privileged to be a member of this wonderful organization. The support and friendship and inspiration are just amazing! And Terrye's ideas are a wonderful springboard for us to develop our ideas. It is so much fun to see the different styles from the other artists in the group and how they interpret her drawings.

I had received the sketches for this project before I headed to Chicago. Between then and now, so much has had to be done and it kept being put on the back burner. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but it was as if there was a fog and I couldn't quite envision the project finished. All the while when I was doing other things, this was in the back of my mind and I was thinking about which direction to take. I think that all happened for a reason. Little by little, as it came into focus I felt better and more secure about how I wanted to present it. By the time I first picked up the paint brush, I felt pretty sure where I was heading and things are so far going rather smoothly.

I took some sample photos as I painted yesterday. They aren't color corrected, but you will get the jest of things.

I decided that I wanted to make a sign board. In thinking how I could also offer the surface, I chose to make it in three pieces. With the high cost of postage, having it in sections would not only make it more palatable to mail, but it would also make the painting process easier as well.

I spent a good part of the day mapping out and preparing the surface. I wanted to make sure that everything would work right and good planning was a must. Finally in the late afternoon I got to actually sit down and paint!

I crackled the header and footer, and painted the background in a deep blue, with pearlized swirls of paint to resemble drifting 'snow':

Paint Rectangle Wood Font Material property


As you may have guessed from yesterday's post - it is a snowman themed project. This one is called "Snowman Collector."

Handwriting Wood Art Font Creative arts


What makes Terrye's designs fun is the cute and whimsical details. The little snowman faces add a lot to the lettering, and make it fun and inviting:

Handwriting Font Wood Art Illustration


I added some more details (for now!) of starts and (of course) the snowmen themselves are coated with glittery sparkles that don't show in the photograph. But it looks pretty good as a start:

Wood Textile Art Kitchen utensil Font


Now today the REAL fun begins - doing the main part of the drawing! As I sat at my table last night, I couldn't help but be happy. I took my time and experimented with several different color combinations on scraps of wood to make sure that when I painted on the actual piece it would come out as I envisioned it. Most people wouldn't think that I would have to TEST things, but even though I have been doing this a long time, I am never above testing things out to make sure. That pertains to both painting AND scroll sawing. It is only from experience that I learned that testing is a MUST. After several 'mishaps' and wasting time, it is the easiest way to make certain that you will have the result you want.

That is as far as I got before I called it a night. I wanted to be fresh when I continued on. So far though, so good. I am happy with how it is looking and encouraged at the prospect of what I will accomplish today.

I know I say it a lot, but I truly love what I do. It seems that every day is filled with fun and new adventures, and I don't take that for granted for even a minute.

I hope you all have a wonderful day today. Do something fun that will inspire not only yourself, but others around you as well. You will be amazed at how good it will make you feel.

Happy Wednesday! :D
I understand part of your business and I know it is FULL time. You put a lot into it and it shows. This is why I, and others, keep coming back to you. Thanks
 

Attachments

#9,512 ·
"Snowman Collector"

This past summer I had the privilege of joining an incredibly talented and inspiring painter named Terrye French in her group she formed called "Painting With Friends." When painting for the group, we are given rough line drawings or sketches that Terrye drew up and we are then invited to take the idea and run with it. We can develop it in any way we wish, and are encouraged to use our imagination and incorporate our own 'style' into it.

Once we paint it and make it into a packet, it goes into the Painting With Friends system and is presented on the PWF Blog and on the PWF Etsy shop. It is a wonderful experience to be a part of this group, as the talents of Terrye are endless and the friendship and camaraderie of all of those involved is uplifting and inspiring. This is a wonderful opportunity to expand not only my style and reach in the painting world, but also to forge new friendships with some absolutely lovely painters. It is a winning situation from every angle.

Those of you who read know that I have a lot of things on the go at any given moment. However, I wanted to join and participate in this group because I truly love to paint and it not only gave me the opportunity to justify some more painting for myself, but to be part of a larger group of enthusiastic artists who support and encourage each other. And only good things could come of that!

The design that I let you have a peek at in yesterdays' blog was one that I was working on from the Painting With Friends program. I had received the sketch from Terrye several weeks ago and in my mind I was trying to figure out the best way to present the idea. I was given some adorable snowman sketches along with the phrase "Snowman Collector" and needed to take it from there.

I must admit, at first I was a little confuzzled. Although I knew of many people who like to "collect" snowmen, I wasn't sure of the best way to show them AS a collection. I have seen many different projects of groups of snowmen, and while they were nice, they seemed more like a congregation of snowmen rather than a collection. I was a bit stumped.

But I had enough other things to do, so I changed gears and let the idea stew in my mind for a while.

I finally got in my head that I wanted some sort of sign board or plaque for the project. After all, while it would be nice to paint this on a box or basket lid, it would be very unlikely that you would be able to fit the "collection" in that object. The plaque was better, as it indicated that an entire area, room or even HOUSE could be what held the collection. So plaque it was.

The next step was to make these three snowmen look like they were part of a "collection." That was the tough part. How the heck would we depict them as "collectibles?"

In my travels on the web and my recent trip to the USA and Halifax, we visited many shops that had Christmas decorations and trinkets. Among my favorite items in the shops were the beautiful snow globes that you sat on a desk or coffee table or mantle. To me, it appeared that each one told a story. I remember having them as a child as well, with the cute little plastic reindeer and sled and the floating white snow. After thinking about these wonderful memories, I knew I had my binding theme for my "collection!"

I made the sign board in three parts, as I had shown yesterday:

Wood Textile Art Kitchen utensil Font


I decided to make it in three pieces because not only was it easier to cut, but it was also easier and cheaper to ship the pieces, as I plan to sell the surfaces to the painters for this item from my site. After all - why make it so you have to spend a fortune to ship it? I think that because of this type of construction, I should be able to mail it much easier and cost effectively.

I now had a blank canvas to paint the snowmen. I had painted the background using deep blues and frosty wisps which made it look "snowy". It was the perfect backdrop for the snow globes!

I based in the snowmen (these pictures are slightly skewed!):

Paint Art Painting Art paint Liquid


Began to add shading . . .

Painting Paint Art Art paint Calm


And more details . . .

Facial expression Cartoon Vertebrate Orange Art


It was then time to make the "globes." For that I used a wonderful sparkle product from JoSonja called "Opal Dust" which had CHUNKS of iridescent glitter floating in a clear base. It really made it look like they were floating in water with "snow" falling down!

Dishware Tableware Serveware Porcelain Art


Finally, I added more details to the bases, as well as some swirling snow around the bases and some stenciled sparkling snowflakes. I really love how the plaque turned out!

Art Creative arts Happy Rectangle Font


Keep in mind that these pictures are not color corrected at all. They are just snapshots I took along the way when designing. I will be taking better presentation pictures, as well as have better step-by-step pictures that will be included in the pattern packet.

I like these so much, that I think I am also going to offer wood kits for the snow globe pieces so that if people wish, they could make the snow globes as stand alone ornaments. That will really make them FUN! and versatile!

Today I will be working on the written instructions for the Spring Chicks project that I did a couple of weeks ago, along with the accompanying article for stenciling that will be featured in Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine. I can then come back and work on the written instructions for this piece, as several people have asked me when it will be ready to sell. My hopes are to get it done for our site update early next week.

If you want to receive our newsletter which announces all of our new products, you can join our Mailing List and sign up.

I really am having a great time working with the Painting With Friends group! Terrye is so wonderfully talented and having her drawings as a springboard for my own thoughts is a wonderful way for me to explore an area of painting that I otherwise would have trouble with. Her inspiration is amazing and he willingness to share her talent so freely with her fellow artists is a gift to us all!

I hope you enjoy seeing this "Snowman Collection" pattern come to life. It just goes to show that working together with others can be a really wonderful thing where everyone involved comes ahead. :)

Have a wonderful Thursday!
 

Attachments

#9,513 ·
"Snowman Collector"

This past summer I had the privilege of joining an incredibly talented and inspiring painter named Terrye French in her group she formed called "Painting With Friends." When painting for the group, we are given rough line drawings or sketches that Terrye drew up and we are then invited to take the idea and run with it. We can develop it in any way we wish, and are encouraged to use our imagination and incorporate our own 'style' into it.

Once we paint it and make it into a packet, it goes into the Painting With Friends system and is presented on the PWF Blog and on the PWF Etsy shop. It is a wonderful experience to be a part of this group, as the talents of Terrye are endless and the friendship and camaraderie of all of those involved is uplifting and inspiring. This is a wonderful opportunity to expand not only my style and reach in the painting world, but also to forge new friendships with some absolutely lovely painters. It is a winning situation from every angle.

Those of you who read know that I have a lot of things on the go at any given moment. However, I wanted to join and participate in this group because I truly love to paint and it not only gave me the opportunity to justify some more painting for myself, but to be part of a larger group of enthusiastic artists who support and encourage each other. And only good things could come of that!

The design that I let you have a peek at in yesterdays' blog was one that I was working on from the Painting With Friends program. I had received the sketch from Terrye several weeks ago and in my mind I was trying to figure out the best way to present the idea. I was given some adorable snowman sketches along with the phrase "Snowman Collector" and needed to take it from there.

I must admit, at first I was a little confuzzled. Although I knew of many people who like to "collect" snowmen, I wasn't sure of the best way to show them AS a collection. I have seen many different projects of groups of snowmen, and while they were nice, they seemed more like a congregation of snowmen rather than a collection. I was a bit stumped.

But I had enough other things to do, so I changed gears and let the idea stew in my mind for a while.

I finally got in my head that I wanted some sort of sign board or plaque for the project. After all, while it would be nice to paint this on a box or basket lid, it would be very unlikely that you would be able to fit the "collection" in that object. The plaque was better, as it indicated that an entire area, room or even HOUSE could be what held the collection. So plaque it was.

The next step was to make these three snowmen look like they were part of a "collection." That was the tough part. How the heck would we depict them as "collectibles?"

In my travels on the web and my recent trip to the USA and Halifax, we visited many shops that had Christmas decorations and trinkets. Among my favorite items in the shops were the beautiful snow globes that you sat on a desk or coffee table or mantle. To me, it appeared that each one told a story. I remember having them as a child as well, with the cute little plastic reindeer and sled and the floating white snow. After thinking about these wonderful memories, I knew I had my binding theme for my "collection!"

I made the sign board in three parts, as I had shown yesterday:

Wood Textile Art Kitchen utensil Font


I decided to make it in three pieces because not only was it easier to cut, but it was also easier and cheaper to ship the pieces, as I plan to sell the surfaces to the painters for this item from my site. After all - why make it so you have to spend a fortune to ship it? I think that because of this type of construction, I should be able to mail it much easier and cost effectively.

I now had a blank canvas to paint the snowmen. I had painted the background using deep blues and frosty wisps which made it look "snowy". It was the perfect backdrop for the snow globes!

I based in the snowmen (these pictures are slightly skewed!):

Paint Art Painting Art paint Liquid


Began to add shading . . .

Painting Paint Art Art paint Calm


And more details . . .

Facial expression Cartoon Vertebrate Orange Art


It was then time to make the "globes." For that I used a wonderful sparkle product from JoSonja called "Opal Dust" which had CHUNKS of iridescent glitter floating in a clear base. It really made it look like they were floating in water with "snow" falling down!

Dishware Tableware Serveware Porcelain Art


Finally, I added more details to the bases, as well as some swirling snow around the bases and some stenciled sparkling snowflakes. I really love how the plaque turned out!

Art Creative arts Happy Rectangle Font


Keep in mind that these pictures are not color corrected at all. They are just snapshots I took along the way when designing. I will be taking better presentation pictures, as well as have better step-by-step pictures that will be included in the pattern packet.

I like these so much, that I think I am also going to offer wood kits for the snow globe pieces so that if people wish, they could make the snow globes as stand alone ornaments. That will really make them FUN! and versatile!

Today I will be working on the written instructions for the Spring Chicks project that I did a couple of weeks ago, along with the accompanying article for stenciling that will be featured in Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine. I can then come back and work on the written instructions for this piece, as several people have asked me when it will be ready to sell. My hopes are to get it done for our site update early next week.

If you want to receive our newsletter which announces all of our new products, you can join our Mailing List and sign up.

I really am having a great time working with the Painting With Friends group! Terrye is so wonderfully talented and having her drawings as a springboard for my own thoughts is a wonderful way for me to explore an area of painting that I otherwise would have trouble with. Her inspiration is amazing and he willingness to share her talent so freely with her fellow artists is a gift to us all!

I hope you enjoy seeing this "Snowman Collection" pattern come to life. It just goes to show that working together with others can be a really wonderful thing where everyone involved comes ahead. :)

Have a wonderful Thursday!
My, My you are such a wonderfully talented artist! That turned out ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. Your pondering and hesitation in deciding how you wanted to attact this project paid off in spades. I'm sure other painters will gladly purchase this kit. As in military toasts the reply is "Hear; Hear!"
 

Attachments

#9,522 ·
The Time Machine of Designing

I had to switch gears yesterday and jump from snowmen and snow globes to chicks and spring colors. I suppose that is part of what I really enjoy about my job - I am never working on anything long enough to be 'bored' with it.

This is truly an exciting time of year for me. I know that I can say that just about any time of year, but with the holiday season upon us, it seems that I am working on more projects and directions and the days pass by very quickly. I am sure that part of the reason the days seem so short is because we are approaching the time of year where we have the least amount of daylight. It begins to get dark somewhere between 4pm and 5pm in my part of the world and it certainly makes me feel as if the day is over sooner.

I never really mind the darkness though, as I usually have my little tree sitting in the corner of my main room and I enjoy the pretty glow it emits. It reminds me of Christmases past, when I lived in Chicago and used to attend after school tumbling and dance lessons at the local park district. By the time the classes ended (usually around 5pm) we would walk home together through the south side streets of the city and enjoy the beautiful decorations that the neighbors had put up for the season. We were around 10 years old then, and many times my girlfriends and I would stop at houses and sing Christmas carols along the way (we were all in chorus together). We would be bundled up like Eskimos and didn't mind the snow and cold one bit. It made the hot chocolate that awaited us when we returned home taste even better. It is memories such as these that I associate with the cold and dark winter nights, and to me they are warm and comforting.

But working in the world of publishing has a way of rocketing me from one season to the next in the blink of an eye. For as the soft Christmas music plays in the background, I have been busy working on finishing up a project that I designed for the March issue of Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine.

The project is one I called "Spring Chick Word Art" and it consists of a block letter vignette which spells the word "Spring" as well as two delightful and cheery chicks:

Violet Font Art Wood Fashion accessory


It may seem funny, but in the midst of working with the deep, rich colors of Christmas, making a project that uses bright and cheerful pastels is quite refreshing. I not only applied paint to the faces of these letters, but I also played around with a fun stenciling technique to add some elegance and interest. I really think it made a difference in the overall look of the project and made it look finished and professional.

Bird Font Beak Wood Toy


And the chicks! They came out so cute and funny! It was truly something that made me smile.

While I had designed the project a couple of weeks ago, the time has come for the instructions to be at the magazine offices to get them ready for printing. The magazines work far ahead, as it takes a bit of time for them to lay out the articles and get things to the printer in order for it to be ready for delivery on time. We work far ahead on things and are usually about 4-6 months ahead of the actual subscription date. Since I often change things in the course of creating the project, I seldom write the instructions until after it is completely built. While in a perfect world that would happen immediately when I finish, the reality of things is that I move on to other projects and later on come back to what I had submitted several weeks before to write the instructions. This was the case here.

In addition to the project itself, I am also going to be contributing an article on using stencils as a decorating technique for our woodworking projects. This easy technique can make a huge difference in the appearance of the project, yet requires little artistic skill and cost. It is not only fast and easy, but it also has a really beautiful results.

Nose Head Eye Eyebrow Eyelash


Snake Corn Snake Reptile Scaled reptile Serpent


I wanted to show our readers just how fun and easy it is to use this process, and the article does just that.

I am also thinking that I may make a short video that people can refer to as well. While explaining in print is good, it always is nice to have a video reference where others can see things done in real time and really understand the process. I am leaning toward doing that this weekend.

But for the most part, I am done with my writing and besides a little fine tuning on the article, it is ready for submission. I spent much of the day yesterday as well as the evening finishing things up.

So today I get to come back through my time machine and I will be once again working on Snowmen. I have had a tremendously positive response to my project (Snowman Collector) that I showed in yesterday's post and the next step with that is to cut out and create the accompanying snow globe snowman ornaments that will be offered with the pattern. This will not only work well for the cover photograph of the pattern, but it will allow me to recreate the project and take some step-by-step instructional photographs along the way. I hope to have the pattern for this project completed over the weekend, as we are due to have another update on our site and also send out another newsletter.

It's all good.

With that in mind, I had better get started. I have an early appointment and then I need to get busy on the other things mention. Before I know it, the day will be over.

I hope you all have a great day today. As we move through December, it is fun to see what everyone is up to. I have so many wonderfully creative friends, and they all seem to be kicking it into high gear, trying to get their gifts completed for the holidays.

I wish you all a wonderful and productive day. Happy Friday!
 

Attachments

#9,523 ·
The Time Machine of Designing

I had to switch gears yesterday and jump from snowmen and snow globes to chicks and spring colors. I suppose that is part of what I really enjoy about my job - I am never working on anything long enough to be 'bored' with it.

This is truly an exciting time of year for me. I know that I can say that just about any time of year, but with the holiday season upon us, it seems that I am working on more projects and directions and the days pass by very quickly. I am sure that part of the reason the days seem so short is because we are approaching the time of year where we have the least amount of daylight. It begins to get dark somewhere between 4pm and 5pm in my part of the world and it certainly makes me feel as if the day is over sooner.

I never really mind the darkness though, as I usually have my little tree sitting in the corner of my main room and I enjoy the pretty glow it emits. It reminds me of Christmases past, when I lived in Chicago and used to attend after school tumbling and dance lessons at the local park district. By the time the classes ended (usually around 5pm) we would walk home together through the south side streets of the city and enjoy the beautiful decorations that the neighbors had put up for the season. We were around 10 years old then, and many times my girlfriends and I would stop at houses and sing Christmas carols along the way (we were all in chorus together). We would be bundled up like Eskimos and didn't mind the snow and cold one bit. It made the hot chocolate that awaited us when we returned home taste even better. It is memories such as these that I associate with the cold and dark winter nights, and to me they are warm and comforting.

But working in the world of publishing has a way of rocketing me from one season to the next in the blink of an eye. For as the soft Christmas music plays in the background, I have been busy working on finishing up a project that I designed for the March issue of Creative Woodworks and Crafts magazine.

The project is one I called "Spring Chick Word Art" and it consists of a block letter vignette which spells the word "Spring" as well as two delightful and cheery chicks:

Violet Font Art Wood Fashion accessory


It may seem funny, but in the midst of working with the deep, rich colors of Christmas, making a project that uses bright and cheerful pastels is quite refreshing. I not only applied paint to the faces of these letters, but I also played around with a fun stenciling technique to add some elegance and interest. I really think it made a difference in the overall look of the project and made it look finished and professional.

Bird Font Beak Wood Toy


And the chicks! They came out so cute and funny! It was truly something that made me smile.

While I had designed the project a couple of weeks ago, the time has come for the instructions to be at the magazine offices to get them ready for printing. The magazines work far ahead, as it takes a bit of time for them to lay out the articles and get things to the printer in order for it to be ready for delivery on time. We work far ahead on things and are usually about 4-6 months ahead of the actual subscription date. Since I often change things in the course of creating the project, I seldom write the instructions until after it is completely built. While in a perfect world that would happen immediately when I finish, the reality of things is that I move on to other projects and later on come back to what I had submitted several weeks before to write the instructions. This was the case here.

In addition to the project itself, I am also going to be contributing an article on using stencils as a decorating technique for our woodworking projects. This easy technique can make a huge difference in the appearance of the project, yet requires little artistic skill and cost. It is not only fast and easy, but it also has a really beautiful results.

Nose Head Eye Eyebrow Eyelash


Snake Corn Snake Reptile Scaled reptile Serpent


I wanted to show our readers just how fun and easy it is to use this process, and the article does just that.

I am also thinking that I may make a short video that people can refer to as well. While explaining in print is good, it always is nice to have a video reference where others can see things done in real time and really understand the process. I am leaning toward doing that this weekend.

But for the most part, I am done with my writing and besides a little fine tuning on the article, it is ready for submission. I spent much of the day yesterday as well as the evening finishing things up.

So today I get to come back through my time machine and I will be once again working on Snowmen. I have had a tremendously positive response to my project (Snowman Collector) that I showed in yesterday's post and the next step with that is to cut out and create the accompanying snow globe snowman ornaments that will be offered with the pattern. This will not only work well for the cover photograph of the pattern, but it will allow me to recreate the project and take some step-by-step instructional photographs along the way. I hope to have the pattern for this project completed over the weekend, as we are due to have another update on our site and also send out another newsletter.

It's all good.

With that in mind, I had better get started. I have an early appointment and then I need to get busy on the other things mention. Before I know it, the day will be over.

I hope you all have a great day today. As we move through December, it is fun to see what everyone is up to. I have so many wonderfully creative friends, and they all seem to be kicking it into high gear, trying to get their gifts completed for the holidays.

I wish you all a wonderful and productive day. Happy Friday!
Wishing you a great day - sitting at home with snow, sleet and ice all over the Dallas TX area
 

Attachments

#9,529 ·
Re-painting Designs to Create the Pattern

I had a wonderful fun and relaxing day yesterday. Although - my idea of 'relaxing' may not be what you are used to seeing.

I had an early dentists' appointment. The tooth he fixed a couple of weeks ago was having some issues and he needed to do an adjustment on it. I do have a great dentist and he always seems to get me in quickly when I need him. This wasn't an emergency though and I had called a couple of days ago and he was able to see me early yesterday. I was happy but unsure if he would have to freeze the tooth again which would certainly affect my day. He didn't have to freeze it though and was able to fix things up painlessly without too much disruption to my day.

I got home and did a quick cleaning. Since I live in a small place, it is very easy for even a little 'clutter' to add up to chaos. I like to work in a clean environment and feel that I do my best when I do so. Fortunately, I am in the habit of keeping things picked up pretty much and while I won't go as far as to say it is never messy, it wasn't too bad of a task.

I was then ready to dig in.

The project of the day was to re-paint the main pieces from the "Snowman Collector" project that I completed a couple of days ago:

Art Rectangle Happy Creative arts Font


I loved how the project came out, but I wanted to re-paint the three snow globes to take some step-by-step photos for the pattern pack. This way, things would be broken into smaller steps so that even newer painters could enjoy and complete the project.

Besides - I thought that offering the wood pieces to make these three snow globes into ornaments on their own would be a wonderful idea. The snow globes are three different sizes and besides the snowies shown here, they could accommodate just about anything you can think of.

I will be offering the pre-cut wood kit for the sign, as well as a pre-cut wood kit for the snow globes which will contain six pieces - two of each size - so people can make ornaments as well.

While this may seem like another "make work" project that Keith sometimes accuses me of doing, there is truly a rhyme and reason behind it.

When I design a new painting projects - in painting it for the first time, I am kind of 'winging it'. I don't always have a clear vision as to what colors I am going to use or how the final piece will come out. Because of this, it makes it difficult for me to show some orderly steps in recreating it - which is the entire purpose of the pattern.

Once I paint it and it is to my liking, I like to repaint at least the main part of the design so that I can put things in a logical order and also take some pictures along the way. I find that it is very helpful to those who are newer to painting to have these available, and it is even nice for those who have been painting for a while. That way if they ever want to teach the piece, the steps are for the most part already there.

I always look at my pattern packets as "lessons". If people want only line work, then they can just take snapshots off the computer for finished projects and go from there. I realize that many people do that, and I found that fighting that battle is a waste of my time. Where there is a will, there is always a way and the energy I would need to spend to combat it would probably just take me away from creating even more. And then, as I have said in the past, all I would need is one customer to post a head on photo of their finished project and all the jig is up. So I try not to think of that and let those who take patterns off of the net in that manner deal with their own conscious.

So what I like to do is make my patterns have more value to my customers than just "line work." I like to give some tips on techniques and products that they may not know about and guide them through the process - be it a woodworking pattern or a painting one. I also try to keep my costs down so that people think they receive a good value when they buy one of my packets. All of my painting packets include several color pictures which help people achieve the results they want. I have heard over and over from customers who appreciate this, and I am sure it is why our little business is growing.

To me, a huge part of designing is sharing knowledge. It is something that I believe in and I truly strive to do the best job of sharing that I can. It may seem like I am doing a lot of extra or unnecessary work, but I know that when I put a new packet out there, I am offering the best lesson that I can. It is a standard that I set for myself.

Sorry to get off on a tangent, but things like this are very important to me. There are times when I feel that developing a new project and pattern packet take me longer than most people, but when I look back on the results of my work, I am happy with what I see. I am a firm believer in "quality over quantity" and I believe that having high quality work is what will bring my customers back over and over again.

So I spent the day re-painting the little snow globes and taking pictures along the way. It is fun to see the transformation.

Blue Azure Wood Artifact Circle


Toy Art Souvenir Creative arts Wood


Creative arts Souvenir Art Event Ceramic


It also helps me remember exactly how I did things. When writing the instructions, I often refer to my own photos so I don't miss any steps.

So that is where we are at today. I have to do some writing and create the packet for this project, as well as another project that I am preparing for our next website update which will be Monday. Even though it seems like we just had one, Keith has four additional pattern and I have I think three to add. Keith is also working on a completely new catalog of our designs, which is a big task in itself. So I suppose we are pretty busy!

I awoke to a light layer of snow here this morning. I saw it coming, as everyone in North America seemed to be talking about the snow and ice they received yesterday. We don't (I believe) have the ice problem though, and it is pretty and quiet out now.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend planned. It has been such a pleasure to see all my creative friends decorating and making things for the holidays. It seems like everyone is in "elf mode"!

I wish you all a great day today! I hope you accomplish all you want to do, but most importantly, I hope you all have FUN!

Happy Saturday!
 

Attachments

#9,530 ·
Re-painting Designs to Create the Pattern

I had a wonderful fun and relaxing day yesterday. Although - my idea of 'relaxing' may not be what you are used to seeing.

I had an early dentists' appointment. The tooth he fixed a couple of weeks ago was having some issues and he needed to do an adjustment on it. I do have a great dentist and he always seems to get me in quickly when I need him. This wasn't an emergency though and I had called a couple of days ago and he was able to see me early yesterday. I was happy but unsure if he would have to freeze the tooth again which would certainly affect my day. He didn't have to freeze it though and was able to fix things up painlessly without too much disruption to my day.

I got home and did a quick cleaning. Since I live in a small place, it is very easy for even a little 'clutter' to add up to chaos. I like to work in a clean environment and feel that I do my best when I do so. Fortunately, I am in the habit of keeping things picked up pretty much and while I won't go as far as to say it is never messy, it wasn't too bad of a task.

I was then ready to dig in.

The project of the day was to re-paint the main pieces from the "Snowman Collector" project that I completed a couple of days ago:

Art Rectangle Happy Creative arts Font


I loved how the project came out, but I wanted to re-paint the three snow globes to take some step-by-step photos for the pattern pack. This way, things would be broken into smaller steps so that even newer painters could enjoy and complete the project.

Besides - I thought that offering the wood pieces to make these three snow globes into ornaments on their own would be a wonderful idea. The snow globes are three different sizes and besides the snowies shown here, they could accommodate just about anything you can think of.

I will be offering the pre-cut wood kit for the sign, as well as a pre-cut wood kit for the snow globes which will contain six pieces - two of each size - so people can make ornaments as well.

While this may seem like another "make work" project that Keith sometimes accuses me of doing, there is truly a rhyme and reason behind it.

When I design a new painting projects - in painting it for the first time, I am kind of 'winging it'. I don't always have a clear vision as to what colors I am going to use or how the final piece will come out. Because of this, it makes it difficult for me to show some orderly steps in recreating it - which is the entire purpose of the pattern.

Once I paint it and it is to my liking, I like to repaint at least the main part of the design so that I can put things in a logical order and also take some pictures along the way. I find that it is very helpful to those who are newer to painting to have these available, and it is even nice for those who have been painting for a while. That way if they ever want to teach the piece, the steps are for the most part already there.

I always look at my pattern packets as "lessons". If people want only line work, then they can just take snapshots off the computer for finished projects and go from there. I realize that many people do that, and I found that fighting that battle is a waste of my time. Where there is a will, there is always a way and the energy I would need to spend to combat it would probably just take me away from creating even more. And then, as I have said in the past, all I would need is one customer to post a head on photo of their finished project and all the jig is up. So I try not to think of that and let those who take patterns off of the net in that manner deal with their own conscious.

So what I like to do is make my patterns have more value to my customers than just "line work." I like to give some tips on techniques and products that they may not know about and guide them through the process - be it a woodworking pattern or a painting one. I also try to keep my costs down so that people think they receive a good value when they buy one of my packets. All of my painting packets include several color pictures which help people achieve the results they want. I have heard over and over from customers who appreciate this, and I am sure it is why our little business is growing.

To me, a huge part of designing is sharing knowledge. It is something that I believe in and I truly strive to do the best job of sharing that I can. It may seem like I am doing a lot of extra or unnecessary work, but I know that when I put a new packet out there, I am offering the best lesson that I can. It is a standard that I set for myself.

Sorry to get off on a tangent, but things like this are very important to me. There are times when I feel that developing a new project and pattern packet take me longer than most people, but when I look back on the results of my work, I am happy with what I see. I am a firm believer in "quality over quantity" and I believe that having high quality work is what will bring my customers back over and over again.

So I spent the day re-painting the little snow globes and taking pictures along the way. It is fun to see the transformation.

Blue Azure Wood Artifact Circle


Toy Art Souvenir Creative arts Wood


Creative arts Souvenir Art Event Ceramic


It also helps me remember exactly how I did things. When writing the instructions, I often refer to my own photos so I don't miss any steps.

So that is where we are at today. I have to do some writing and create the packet for this project, as well as another project that I am preparing for our next website update which will be Monday. Even though it seems like we just had one, Keith has four additional pattern and I have I think three to add. Keith is also working on a completely new catalog of our designs, which is a big task in itself. So I suppose we are pretty busy!

I awoke to a light layer of snow here this morning. I saw it coming, as everyone in North America seemed to be talking about the snow and ice they received yesterday. We don't (I believe) have the ice problem though, and it is pretty and quiet out now.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend planned. It has been such a pleasure to see all my creative friends decorating and making things for the holidays. It seems like everyone is in "elf mode"!

I wish you all a great day today! I hope you accomplish all you want to do, but most importantly, I hope you all have FUN!

Happy Saturday!
These are so cute! I can also see them painted on glass ball tree decorations. I think they could also be made into gift tags or place settings with the guests' names painted on the stand bit just below the globe. They would make a nice take home decoration for the guests.
Still very cold and sunny here today -5 degrees C. We are not used to these temperatures! We can't complain though when looking at what the rest of the country and Europe is gong through.
Enjoy your evening.
 

Attachments

#9,532 ·
A Free Scroll Saw Pattern and a Contest

I spent much of the day yesterday preparing and writing pattern packets. I am just about done today, but I have a couple of 're-takes' on some of the photographs. Then I will be good to go.

After that, I plan on doing some "elf things" around here that I can't really talk about. Some of the recipients of what I am doing stop in here from time to time to read and I don't want to ruin the surprise. So I have to lay low.

This puts me in a little bit of dilemma. It leaves me (for today at least) with little to talk about in regards to what I am working on. But being around such creative people, I have some other news from therm to share with you that may be of interest. So I will do just that.

First of all, in reading Steve Good's blog yesterday, I saw something that I felt was very nice. Sue Mey - a very talented scroll saw designer - posted a free portrait-style pattern of Nelson Mandela that she created. The pattern is on her web site and the link to it is HERE.

Picture frame Rectangle Smile Art Font


Sue lives in South Africa and I am sure Mr. Mandela had great influence over her. Yesterday Sue posted this thoughful dedication to him:

Nelson Mandela, also known by his clan name "Madiba", one of the world's most revered statesmen, has passed away at the age of 95. Jailed for 27 years, he emerged in 1990 to become South Africa's first black president four years later and to play a leading role in the drive for peace in other spheres of conflict. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He continued traveling the world, meeting leaders, attending conferences and collecting awards after stepping down as president in 1999. He was also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other countries in Africa and elsewhere. After his official retirement, his public appearances were mostly connected with the work of the Mandela Foundation, a charitable fund that he founded. The fight against Aids was one of Mandela's primary concerns and he used his gravitas to raise awareness about the issue on the global stage. In 2004, at the age of 85, Mr Mandela retired from public life to spend more time with his family and friends and engage in "quiet reflection". In November 2009, Mandela's contributions to world freedom were rewarded with a unique gesture by the United Nations General Assembly. The body announced that his birthday, 18 July, would be known as Mandela Day. On his 89th birthday, he formed 'The Elders', a group of leading world figures, to offer their expertise and guidance "to tackle some of the world's toughest problems". He also played a key role in the decision to let South Africa host the 2010 football World Cup and appeared at the closing ceremony. His charisma, self-deprecating sense of humor and lack of bitterness over his harsh treatment, as well as his amazing life story, explain his extraordinary global appeal. I made this pattern from a public domain photo of Madiba in one of his bright and highly patterned print shirts that became known as a 'Madiba shirt'.

Sue Mey

I thought this was a beautiful way to honor someone who was filled with so much kindness and integrity. Feel free to visit Sue's site for some other beautiful scroll saw patterns as well. Her site is filled with great designs and I have long admired her talents. Thank you, Sue for allowing me to share this.

Another site that I visit frequently is having a fun contest. Brenda Griffith is the owner of her company "The Rusty Thimble", which creates fun and whimsical Primitive style pieces. Brenda makes dolls, ornaments, and all types of darling Primitive objects that are so darn cute, you just can't help but smile.

You can visit Brenda's BLOG POST for details on how to enter and see the prizes. Below is an example of one the darling dolls that she sells on Etsy.

Toy Textile Sleeve Doll Paint


Winter Christmas Snow Lady - Available at Brenda's Etsy Store

Each piece is hand created from start to finish, and no two are the same. I have ordered a piece from her recently, and I hear he is "in transport" for him to come and live here with me in Nova Scotia. I am sure that you will be seeing more of him in the future, as I have some wonderful things planned.

Brenda is currently holding a special promotion for a giveaway for some of her items and some gift certificates to her site. All you need to do is post a comment on her blog or share her post for an entry. I think that promotions like this are a great way to "get the word out" about small companies such as these and help them grow.

Small companies such as Brenda's which offer lovingly hand-made items are places I LOVE to promote and do business with. I find that supporting local businesses such as this is a great way to do our part in helping these individuals and helping our local economies as well. Buying from them instead of buying cheap imports will not only help strengthen our economy - but the things we buy from them will be something that we can treasure for a lifetime. I really think that we can change things one purchase at a time. It all adds up, and if we each do a small thing to help keep manufacturing at home, over time it will make a big impact.

I love promoting the small businesses of my many artistic friends. As time goes on, I meet more and more people who are so wonderfully talented and are trying to make it on their own. I know many woodworkers, painters, people who sew and even people who make soap who make absolutely wonderful things and put their hearts and souls into what they do. I LOVE giving their items as gifts, as they are each unique and something that people can't get anywhere else.

I think I am going to take one day a week to promote home businesses here on my blog. Since most of you who read here are creative people, I think that it will be fun for you to see other creative people's work and perhaps consider them the next time you are shopping for something special. I may also include suppliers, as I am constantly being asked where to get supplies for some of the items I make. While some of these companies are larger manufactures, I will throw them in the mix every now and then if necessary.

I believe we need to support each other as craftspeople and designers. In order to keep the crafting industry strong, it is important that we look to our fellow crafters for personal and unique items and gifts. If we each bought even one additional gift from a local crafter or shop this Christmas and Holiday season, it will make a difference. Those items add up and together we can turn the tides and boost our own local economies. One purchase at a time.

I plan to finish up my pattern packets today. I then am going to do some things around my house here that I can't really share. It is cold outside here in Nova Scotia, and while we don't have any snow yet, it looks as if we may have some before the day is out. I have a nice roast beef to pop in the oven today and I look forward to having a great creative day. I wish you one as well.

Have a beautiful Sunday!
 

Attachments

#9,533 ·
Doing Something for Myself - "Reaching for the Stars" Tree Topper

As a "professional designer" and a craft person, it seems as if I am always creating things for someone else. Be it the magazine, items to sell, or gifts to others, it has been somewhat of a struggle for me to be able to justify taking some time to make some fun projects that I want to keep for myself. Especially at this time of year.

But when I changed over my little "all season" tree to a Christmas theme last week, I noticed that I didn't have any type of star or ornament that would make a suitable topper. It looked nice, but the top of the tree was . . . well . . . "NAKED" and I felt it really took away from the overall look.

Every time I entered the store, I looked through the Christmas displays to see if I could find anything suitable. while they had some nice things, they had nothing that would really look nice or go with this year's "theme" that I decided to make my tree.

I had recently done a massive organization of all of my things that were in storage. Since we have a small place, we keep a lot of our storage in Keith's mom's basement. She only lives about ten minutes away from us and it is a nice excuse to stop over and visit more often. But from me moving a couple of times, things there were in disarray and I found I was holding on to far more stuff than I needed. A few weeks ago, we spent the afternoon sorting through things and I really pared down things a great deal. Now everything is in a large plastic container. I have one for each season/holiday which includes all of my decorations for that time of year. It really makes it fast and simple to switch things out. AND - you don't forget anything either!

You would be amazed at the nice things that I found! :)

Among them was a set of "Cozy Cubby" ornaments that I had painted long ago. The design is by Debbie Mitchell - a tole painting designer that I admired much when I started out painting. I had all of her books and loved all of her designs.

Since I had five or six of her ornaments painted, I figured that I would use them on my tree this Christmas season. (I will show pictures of the finished tree tomorrow, as I have several pictures to show here today already.) I also remembered that one of her books had a design for a teddy bear tree topper that would be perfect for the tree.

I worked hard this week and stayed up late writing and working because I needed to reach a certain point in my work so I could justify taking the day Sunday to actually paint something for myself. I was please when I had met my goal Saturday night because I knew that the entire day Sunday would be mine to do as I pleased - guilt free. It is rare that this occurs, but I NEED to do it more!

It felt great to follow another's design instead of having to figure things out myself. It isn't that I mind designing at all - in fact I LOVE it, but it is very relaxing to be able to do something according to someone else's directions and not have to think too much! It turns out that I kind of do my own thing anyway, but the general idea is in front of me and it makes for a very fun and relaxing day.

The Star Tree Topper consisted of a pretty gold star with a little boy bear climbing over the top and a girl bear hanging on the bottom. Both of them had darling jammies on which I always find fun to paint. They reminded me of the saying "reaching for the stars" and perhaps that is part of why I liked the design so much. I got them base coated and began the shading on the clothing:

Christmas ornament Red Holiday ornament Plant Ornament


And they only took me a couple of hours to complete.

Food Ingredient Cuisine Dish Tableware


I then added a beautiful ribbon in the center of the star, which also doubles as a way to attach it to the tree:

Christmas ornament Creative arts Red Gold Holiday ornament


The boy bear has a real bell on his hat:

Toy Dog Textile Fawn Stuffed toy


And the little girl is carrying a string of bells.

Toy Textile Organism Art Sculpture


I did take lots of pictures of my tree, but I didn't want to inundate you all with too many pictures at once. I will certainly post them tomorrow for you all to see. :)

As I sat and painted, in my cozy little place, I couldn't help but feel how fortunate I am. All the work of organizing our shop and home really set me at peace. Our business is having its best year ever. I have so many wonderful and creative friends that share our love of art, woodworking and painting. We have our health. We are not in 'want' of anything.

It's good to feel this content with my life. I am very grateful for my family and my friends that I have met in person, and those I have met through my blog here and through my art.

The best part is that I have what seems like a million other ideas for fun projects - both painting and scroll sawing - and I look forward to sharing them all with you!

I have had some people ask me what I want for Christmas and I can honestly say "nothing." I am truly happy with what I have and the life I live, and I can't think of anything else that would make me happy. It is a great place to be, and I appreciate it so much because it wasn't always this way. Several years ago I was going through some very difficult times and things looks very bleak for me. But I learned how to get myself out of the hole I dug for myself and I am happy that those days are behind me. I don't regret them though, as they are good reminders of how things can be, and they certainly make me appreciate what I have now even more.

Funny how getting older does that to you.

So I will end for today with this thought. Remember that you need to take care of yourself. If you don't, you won't be able to care for those around you. We need to feel content and happy with ourselves in order to be our best. And never stop reaching for your own star.

Vertebrate Dog Toy Mammal Carnivore


I wish you all a very happy Monday.
 

Attachments

#9,534 ·
Doing Something for Myself - "Reaching for the Stars" Tree Topper

As a "professional designer" and a craft person, it seems as if I am always creating things for someone else. Be it the magazine, items to sell, or gifts to others, it has been somewhat of a struggle for me to be able to justify taking some time to make some fun projects that I want to keep for myself. Especially at this time of year.

But when I changed over my little "all season" tree to a Christmas theme last week, I noticed that I didn't have any type of star or ornament that would make a suitable topper. It looked nice, but the top of the tree was . . . well . . . "NAKED" and I felt it really took away from the overall look.

Every time I entered the store, I looked through the Christmas displays to see if I could find anything suitable. while they had some nice things, they had nothing that would really look nice or go with this year's "theme" that I decided to make my tree.

I had recently done a massive organization of all of my things that were in storage. Since we have a small place, we keep a lot of our storage in Keith's mom's basement. She only lives about ten minutes away from us and it is a nice excuse to stop over and visit more often. But from me moving a couple of times, things there were in disarray and I found I was holding on to far more stuff than I needed. A few weeks ago, we spent the afternoon sorting through things and I really pared down things a great deal. Now everything is in a large plastic container. I have one for each season/holiday which includes all of my decorations for that time of year. It really makes it fast and simple to switch things out. AND - you don't forget anything either!

You would be amazed at the nice things that I found! :)

Among them was a set of "Cozy Cubby" ornaments that I had painted long ago. The design is by Debbie Mitchell - a tole painting designer that I admired much when I started out painting. I had all of her books and loved all of her designs.

Since I had five or six of her ornaments painted, I figured that I would use them on my tree this Christmas season. (I will show pictures of the finished tree tomorrow, as I have several pictures to show here today already.) I also remembered that one of her books had a design for a teddy bear tree topper that would be perfect for the tree.

I worked hard this week and stayed up late writing and working because I needed to reach a certain point in my work so I could justify taking the day Sunday to actually paint something for myself. I was please when I had met my goal Saturday night because I knew that the entire day Sunday would be mine to do as I pleased - guilt free. It is rare that this occurs, but I NEED to do it more!

It felt great to follow another's design instead of having to figure things out myself. It isn't that I mind designing at all - in fact I LOVE it, but it is very relaxing to be able to do something according to someone else's directions and not have to think too much! It turns out that I kind of do my own thing anyway, but the general idea is in front of me and it makes for a very fun and relaxing day.

The Star Tree Topper consisted of a pretty gold star with a little boy bear climbing over the top and a girl bear hanging on the bottom. Both of them had darling jammies on which I always find fun to paint. They reminded me of the saying "reaching for the stars" and perhaps that is part of why I liked the design so much. I got them base coated and began the shading on the clothing:

Christmas ornament Red Holiday ornament Plant Ornament


And they only took me a couple of hours to complete.

Food Ingredient Cuisine Dish Tableware


I then added a beautiful ribbon in the center of the star, which also doubles as a way to attach it to the tree:

Christmas ornament Creative arts Red Gold Holiday ornament


The boy bear has a real bell on his hat:

Toy Dog Textile Fawn Stuffed toy


And the little girl is carrying a string of bells.

Toy Textile Organism Art Sculpture


I did take lots of pictures of my tree, but I didn't want to inundate you all with too many pictures at once. I will certainly post them tomorrow for you all to see. :)

As I sat and painted, in my cozy little place, I couldn't help but feel how fortunate I am. All the work of organizing our shop and home really set me at peace. Our business is having its best year ever. I have so many wonderful and creative friends that share our love of art, woodworking and painting. We have our health. We are not in 'want' of anything.

It's good to feel this content with my life. I am very grateful for my family and my friends that I have met in person, and those I have met through my blog here and through my art.

The best part is that I have what seems like a million other ideas for fun projects - both painting and scroll sawing - and I look forward to sharing them all with you!

I have had some people ask me what I want for Christmas and I can honestly say "nothing." I am truly happy with what I have and the life I live, and I can't think of anything else that would make me happy. It is a great place to be, and I appreciate it so much because it wasn't always this way. Several years ago I was going through some very difficult times and things looks very bleak for me. But I learned how to get myself out of the hole I dug for myself and I am happy that those days are behind me. I don't regret them though, as they are good reminders of how things can be, and they certainly make me appreciate what I have now even more.

Funny how getting older does that to you.

So I will end for today with this thought. Remember that you need to take care of yourself. If you don't, you won't be able to care for those around you. We need to feel content and happy with ourselves in order to be our best. And never stop reaching for your own star.

Vertebrate Dog Toy Mammal Carnivore


I wish you all a very happy Monday.
That's precious!

And your painting is fantastic as well.

I'm getting "older" as well and while I don't really NEED anything for the Holidays, I most certainly WANT things - even if it's a new tube of scrollsaw blades or #60 drill bits. It's fun to give relatives and friends a list of things that they have NO idea what the things are. Just to hear them go "uh…......Okay…....sure" when they read your list of stuff you wish. ;-)

Cheers!

-bob
 

Attachments

#9,541 ·
Another Update to Our Site!

Even though Keith and I usually don't feel like we are adding a lot of new patterns, it seems that our product line is growing by leaps and bounds. Our "loose" goal is to put out a newsletter about twice a month introducing our new designs and letting people know what we are up to and while I thought that would be something that would be difficult to maintain, I find that the newsletter are never short of new items or announcements. I guess we are both pretty busy.

I realize that many of you don't see Keith's new things if you don't subscribe to our Mailing List (you should do that!) so I will show them here. His work is really amazing and I find he just gets better and better!

Since his filigree ornaments are so popular, he designed two new sets that are not only suitable for Christmas, but can be used after the holiday season.

The SLDK340 Filigree Instrument Ornaments would be a wonderful gift for a music or band teacher, someone in a choir, or anyone who plays a particular instrument. I think they would even look nice as a theme for a small tree or placed on a wreath, or made larger as wall hangings. There are lots of ways to use this design, even after Christmas!
Musical instrument Textile Font Art Metal


Another filigree pattern that Keith designed is this set of fun and frilly snowman. (SLDK345 Filigree Snowmen Ornament Pattern) Again - they are great for after Christmas decorating when the house looks so empty after taking all the Christmas stuff down. I think that is why so many people get sad in January. They pack up all the festivities and everything is "blah" until spring. I always LOVE "Winter" themed decorations because they brighten up those cold snowy days.

Font Pattern Electric blue Symbol Art


Keith also designed a nice set of Christmas Tealight Candle Holders (SLDK346) that are quick and easy to make, but will make a wonderful little add-on gift or a small gift for someone special that you want to remember. He put all three designs in one pattern packet so you can make just one holder or the entire set. I think they are cute and they are already selling really well on the site.

Light Amber Sleeve Font Tree


As a non-holiday item, Keith designed this beautiful Happily Ever After Plaque or Frame Not only would the plaque be suitable for a wedding or anniversary gift, but it would also be nice as a housewarming or family gift as well. There are two options for the plaque included with the pattern - with and without a photograph - and both are really attractive.

Smile Rectangle Font Circle Happy


As for my own new patterns, I am finally able to release this cool SLD441 Snowflake Damask Self-Framing Plaque. I think it is one of my all time favorite of the popular Damask plaques and I plan to make two more plaques to go with it in the very near future. As with the other plaques like this, I offered a variety of finishing options using some cool DecoArt products and/or crystal rhinestones. It was really fun to make and I think it will be nice to keep it up until spring.

Font Pattern Art Symmetry Circle


I also am offering this simple set of Musical Note Ornaments that are nice and easy to cut. I had several requests for a pattern set such as this, and they will be great to use in several different ways.

Facial expression Wood Font Material property Rectangle


Finally, I am offering the pattern that I have been working on this past week - PWF02 Snowman Collector Painting Pattern. I am happy that people have been so eager to get this pattern, and I am also offering the Sign Board Wood Kit as well as the Snow Globe Ornament Wood Kit. I am finding that the wood kits are 'catching on' and that there are many painters who like them and are ordering them. Offering them as well as the painting patterns has really helped our business grow.

Handwriting Art Font Creative arts Event


Keith is also in the process of finishing up our new catalog of our designs. This time he has completely reformatted the catalog, as the number of products we have is growing by leaps and bounds. He updates the catalog about twice a year, and we realize that in a few weeks, we will have additional products that aren't going to be included as we make new items, but at least it is a good base for our customers to see what we have to offer.

When looking at the catalog of our work, I am very proud. Seeing all of our stuff in one place like that is sometimes overwhelming, as we can't really believe that WE made all of that stuff! And the good part is that there is plenty more to come!

I am very proud of our little business. While it is a lot of work to keep up with things, it is certainly a satisfying way to spend our days. I hope you didn't mind this little preview that I showed here today. I know that some people don't get the newsletter and miss some of the new products and I like to show them here in the blog as well as in the newsletter.

I want to thank you all for your wonderful friendships and support. You all make my days very happy and fun. Both Keith and I are very grateful.

Happy Tuesday to you all!
 

Attachments

#9,542 ·
Another Update to Our Site!

Even though Keith and I usually don't feel like we are adding a lot of new patterns, it seems that our product line is growing by leaps and bounds. Our "loose" goal is to put out a newsletter about twice a month introducing our new designs and letting people know what we are up to and while I thought that would be something that would be difficult to maintain, I find that the newsletter are never short of new items or announcements. I guess we are both pretty busy.

I realize that many of you don't see Keith's new things if you don't subscribe to our Mailing List (you should do that!) so I will show them here. His work is really amazing and I find he just gets better and better!

Since his filigree ornaments are so popular, he designed two new sets that are not only suitable for Christmas, but can be used after the holiday season.

The SLDK340 Filigree Instrument Ornaments would be a wonderful gift for a music or band teacher, someone in a choir, or anyone who plays a particular instrument. I think they would even look nice as a theme for a small tree or placed on a wreath, or made larger as wall hangings. There are lots of ways to use this design, even after Christmas!
Musical instrument Textile Font Art Metal


Another filigree pattern that Keith designed is this set of fun and frilly snowman. (SLDK345 Filigree Snowmen Ornament Pattern) Again - they are great for after Christmas decorating when the house looks so empty after taking all the Christmas stuff down. I think that is why so many people get sad in January. They pack up all the festivities and everything is "blah" until spring. I always LOVE "Winter" themed decorations because they brighten up those cold snowy days.

Font Pattern Electric blue Symbol Art


Keith also designed a nice set of Christmas Tealight Candle Holders (SLDK346) that are quick and easy to make, but will make a wonderful little add-on gift or a small gift for someone special that you want to remember. He put all three designs in one pattern packet so you can make just one holder or the entire set. I think they are cute and they are already selling really well on the site.

Light Amber Sleeve Font Tree


As a non-holiday item, Keith designed this beautiful Happily Ever After Plaque or Frame Not only would the plaque be suitable for a wedding or anniversary gift, but it would also be nice as a housewarming or family gift as well. There are two options for the plaque included with the pattern - with and without a photograph - and both are really attractive.

Smile Rectangle Font Circle Happy


As for my own new patterns, I am finally able to release this cool SLD441 Snowflake Damask Self-Framing Plaque. I think it is one of my all time favorite of the popular Damask plaques and I plan to make two more plaques to go with it in the very near future. As with the other plaques like this, I offered a variety of finishing options using some cool DecoArt products and/or crystal rhinestones. It was really fun to make and I think it will be nice to keep it up until spring.

Font Pattern Art Symmetry Circle


I also am offering this simple set of Musical Note Ornaments that are nice and easy to cut. I had several requests for a pattern set such as this, and they will be great to use in several different ways.

Facial expression Wood Font Material property Rectangle


Finally, I am offering the pattern that I have been working on this past week - PWF02 Snowman Collector Painting Pattern. I am happy that people have been so eager to get this pattern, and I am also offering the Sign Board Wood Kit as well as the Snow Globe Ornament Wood Kit. I am finding that the wood kits are 'catching on' and that there are many painters who like them and are ordering them. Offering them as well as the painting patterns has really helped our business grow.

Handwriting Art Font Creative arts Event


Keith is also in the process of finishing up our new catalog of our designs. This time he has completely reformatted the catalog, as the number of products we have is growing by leaps and bounds. He updates the catalog about twice a year, and we realize that in a few weeks, we will have additional products that aren't going to be included as we make new items, but at least it is a good base for our customers to see what we have to offer.

When looking at the catalog of our work, I am very proud. Seeing all of our stuff in one place like that is sometimes overwhelming, as we can't really believe that WE made all of that stuff! And the good part is that there is plenty more to come!

I am very proud of our little business. While it is a lot of work to keep up with things, it is certainly a satisfying way to spend our days. I hope you didn't mind this little preview that I showed here today. I know that some people don't get the newsletter and miss some of the new products and I like to show them here in the blog as well as in the newsletter.

I want to thank you all for your wonderful friendships and support. You all make my days very happy and fun. Both Keith and I are very grateful.

Happy Tuesday to you all!
Ohh yea. Those band ornaments have NawLeans written all over em. Way kool, as always.
 

Attachments

#9,546 ·
New Free Painting Pattern on My Site

These past several weeks have been passing by like a whirlwind. There have been several deadlines to meet and that alone seems to have made time pass quickly. I usually find myself wondering where the day has gone somewhere around 4pm when dusk starts to settle in.

So many people don't like the winter months. They don't like the darkness, which makes the days appear even shorter. They don't like the cold or the snow and ice. They don't like the cloudy bleakness that is typical this time of year in so many places. I feel a bit out of place because I feel quite the opposite about this time of year.

I don't know why, but I have never minded the winter season. In fact, I rather like it. I much prefer the cold and crisp air to heat and humidity. I don't even mind the grey winter days or early darkness, as I have always found warmth and comfort in soft and gentle light. Perhaps that is why I enjoy my "all season tree" so much. As I sit here in the quiet of the mornings, listing to soft music and planning my day, the warm glow of my tree makes things here pleasant and enjoyable. It is a great way for me to prepare myself for the busy day ahead.

I have always felt that way. Even when I had to rush to work in the morning, I never minded being greeted by a blanket of snow. It did take a bit more time to prepare my car and travel to work, but I just adjusted my routine and I don't ever remember being cross about something as uncontrollable as the weather. Growing up in Chicago, you learn to take what Mother Nature dishes out. Besides, it was wasted energy to think otherwise. It is what it is, and no amount of complaining about it was going to change anything.

In thinking about things, I feel that maybe part of the reason people are so unhappy with winter is because they feel that they lose control of things. These days, people have come to believe that they are in control of just about every aspect of their lives. I am not sure if this is any different than say a hundred years ago, but people today seem to expect to be able to call the shots in just about any situation, and unfortunately for them, weather is something that they just can't seem to get a hold on.

Sure, people can go on holidays and move to places that are warmer and have a pleasant climate year round, but there will always seem to be others who don't have that luxury and are left behind to brave the cold. I think I will always be among them.

I realize that cold weather brings hardship for many. Those with health issues and those that can't get around during the cold weather certainly do have my sympathy. I can understand their frustration and disappointment and I don't negate their feelings at all. I know that for myself however, winter brings back some wonderful memories of my own childhood. I vividly remember walking home from dance lessons with my friends in the snow, ice skating after school, and Christmas caroling through our south side Chicago neighborhood to earn quarters so we could buy others Christmas presents. I think of home made soup for dinner, and how nothing felt better than a hot cup of cocoa and a cat curled up in my lap before I headed to bed, and playing football in the snow and shoveling driveways after storms came through the area and schools were closed. These memories are triggered each time I feel the cold, crisp air and see snow falling out my window.

Now that I live in the country, there is even more beauty to behold, as the forest behind me as well as the river across the road resembles scenes you see on Christmas cards and post cards. I am constantly in awe at the beauty of my surroundings, and winter time is no exception. I will try to take some pictures in the near future and post them here. I am certain that much of the creative inspiration that I feel is due to my surroundings. And I love to share it with you all.

I am sorry for going off on a tangent, but I awoke today to a beautiful picture of my world here and I couldn't help but think about these things.

Cloud Sky Snow Light Plant


What a beautiful way to start the day.

And now for the business side of today's post . . .

As I mentioned yesterday, we just finished another site update. I try to keep everything current on the site, and so far we have been doing a pretty good job of doing so. I realize that there are a few areas that need attention, and I will try to get to them soon, but for the most part, we are happy with how things look.

One thing that I was not happy with was that I haven't posted a new free painting pattern in quite a while. In the past several months, I have been doing more and more painting projects, and that side of my business continues to grow. I have had many new painters sign up for our newsletter and many new customers who have ordered kits and patterns from me. I wanted to add something new for them as a token of my appreciation.

Yesterday I decided to take a portion of my SLDP103 Skating Pond Vignette and offer a couple of the characters as a free sample. Even though I had designed the pond a while ago, when I created it I didn't have hardly any painters following me. It is one of my favorite designs and I feel that I want to do what I can to get it 'out there' and let people enjoy it. I have had several woodworkers ask me for a "scrolled" version of it - without paint, and that is something I am considering in the future as well. But for the mean time, I am offering a free painting packet with two of the pieces (Mr. Snowman and Sonja) as a sample for them to paint.

Hat Gesture Art Happy People in nature


These are two of my favorite pieces, and I hope that others will enjoy them as well. The pattern is available on our Free Patterns and Resources page as an instant download. I hope that everyone enjoys it.

Today I have some personal things to do, and I am putting on my "elf hat" once again. It is sometimes difficult to write here when I have secret projects that fill my day. Thus the rambling on regarding my memories, etc. But it is also nice to share these memories with you.

I hope you have a wonderful day today. Remember to take the time to enjoy the season, whatever it may bring. Every day we spend on this Earth is special, and as for myself, I am very grateful for each and every moment. Even when not so good things happen, I try to look at them as part of life. There are peaks and valleys for all of us every day, and I don't believe we are able to fully appreciate one without the other.

Have an exceptional Wednesday.
 

Attachments

#9,547 ·
New Free Painting Pattern on My Site

These past several weeks have been passing by like a whirlwind. There have been several deadlines to meet and that alone seems to have made time pass quickly. I usually find myself wondering where the day has gone somewhere around 4pm when dusk starts to settle in.

So many people don't like the winter months. They don't like the darkness, which makes the days appear even shorter. They don't like the cold or the snow and ice. They don't like the cloudy bleakness that is typical this time of year in so many places. I feel a bit out of place because I feel quite the opposite about this time of year.

I don't know why, but I have never minded the winter season. In fact, I rather like it. I much prefer the cold and crisp air to heat and humidity. I don't even mind the grey winter days or early darkness, as I have always found warmth and comfort in soft and gentle light. Perhaps that is why I enjoy my "all season tree" so much. As I sit here in the quiet of the mornings, listing to soft music and planning my day, the warm glow of my tree makes things here pleasant and enjoyable. It is a great way for me to prepare myself for the busy day ahead.

I have always felt that way. Even when I had to rush to work in the morning, I never minded being greeted by a blanket of snow. It did take a bit more time to prepare my car and travel to work, but I just adjusted my routine and I don't ever remember being cross about something as uncontrollable as the weather. Growing up in Chicago, you learn to take what Mother Nature dishes out. Besides, it was wasted energy to think otherwise. It is what it is, and no amount of complaining about it was going to change anything.

In thinking about things, I feel that maybe part of the reason people are so unhappy with winter is because they feel that they lose control of things. These days, people have come to believe that they are in control of just about every aspect of their lives. I am not sure if this is any different than say a hundred years ago, but people today seem to expect to be able to call the shots in just about any situation, and unfortunately for them, weather is something that they just can't seem to get a hold on.

Sure, people can go on holidays and move to places that are warmer and have a pleasant climate year round, but there will always seem to be others who don't have that luxury and are left behind to brave the cold. I think I will always be among them.

I realize that cold weather brings hardship for many. Those with health issues and those that can't get around during the cold weather certainly do have my sympathy. I can understand their frustration and disappointment and I don't negate their feelings at all. I know that for myself however, winter brings back some wonderful memories of my own childhood. I vividly remember walking home from dance lessons with my friends in the snow, ice skating after school, and Christmas caroling through our south side Chicago neighborhood to earn quarters so we could buy others Christmas presents. I think of home made soup for dinner, and how nothing felt better than a hot cup of cocoa and a cat curled up in my lap before I headed to bed, and playing football in the snow and shoveling driveways after storms came through the area and schools were closed. These memories are triggered each time I feel the cold, crisp air and see snow falling out my window.

Now that I live in the country, there is even more beauty to behold, as the forest behind me as well as the river across the road resembles scenes you see on Christmas cards and post cards. I am constantly in awe at the beauty of my surroundings, and winter time is no exception. I will try to take some pictures in the near future and post them here. I am certain that much of the creative inspiration that I feel is due to my surroundings. And I love to share it with you all.

I am sorry for going off on a tangent, but I awoke today to a beautiful picture of my world here and I couldn't help but think about these things.

Cloud Sky Snow Light Plant


What a beautiful way to start the day.

And now for the business side of today's post . . .

As I mentioned yesterday, we just finished another site update. I try to keep everything current on the site, and so far we have been doing a pretty good job of doing so. I realize that there are a few areas that need attention, and I will try to get to them soon, but for the most part, we are happy with how things look.

One thing that I was not happy with was that I haven't posted a new free painting pattern in quite a while. In the past several months, I have been doing more and more painting projects, and that side of my business continues to grow. I have had many new painters sign up for our newsletter and many new customers who have ordered kits and patterns from me. I wanted to add something new for them as a token of my appreciation.

Yesterday I decided to take a portion of my SLDP103 Skating Pond Vignette and offer a couple of the characters as a free sample. Even though I had designed the pond a while ago, when I created it I didn't have hardly any painters following me. It is one of my favorite designs and I feel that I want to do what I can to get it 'out there' and let people enjoy it. I have had several woodworkers ask me for a "scrolled" version of it - without paint, and that is something I am considering in the future as well. But for the mean time, I am offering a free painting packet with two of the pieces (Mr. Snowman and Sonja) as a sample for them to paint.

Hat Gesture Art Happy People in nature


These are two of my favorite pieces, and I hope that others will enjoy them as well. The pattern is available on our Free Patterns and Resources page as an instant download. I hope that everyone enjoys it.

Today I have some personal things to do, and I am putting on my "elf hat" once again. It is sometimes difficult to write here when I have secret projects that fill my day. Thus the rambling on regarding my memories, etc. But it is also nice to share these memories with you.

I hope you have a wonderful day today. Remember to take the time to enjoy the season, whatever it may bring. Every day we spend on this Earth is special, and as for myself, I am very grateful for each and every moment. Even when not so good things happen, I try to look at them as part of life. There are peaks and valleys for all of us every day, and I don't believe we are able to fully appreciate one without the other.

Have an exceptional Wednesday.
It is still dark 30 here in Montana, but the temperature is about 22 degrees F, 12 degrees at ground level.
My cross country skis are waxed and as soon as the sun gives me a little light, I will be out the back door to
find out how long of a run I can make in the new snow. This will mean I will have to give up my trip to the
gym, but I think I can live with that. I also enjoy winter, even though civilization and housing developments
are slowly eating up my cross county course. Hope you and all your friends have a great day.
 

Attachments

#9,551 ·
The Tables Have Turned

I am going to have to write quickly today because I must admit that I am running a bit behind today. There is so much to accomplish and the hours and minutes are just relentless.

We have had a couple of exciting days here. Besides all of the things that I have to finish up for getting out in the mail, I had a couple of wood orders to make (that is GOOD!) and got them finished and sent. I was just settling down to work on my own Christmas gifts when I saw something on my Facebook news feed that caught my attention. It seemed that one of my friends in the area was selling her beautiful kitchen table and chairs set.

I have been looking for a new kitchen and table for a little bit now. Although ours was adequate, it really wasn't the style that I wanted and didn't match the rest of our furniture. Little by little over the past year or so we have been upgrading one thing at a time - our couch, our bedroom set, our bathroom, etc.

Since our living room and kitchen are 'open concept' and are the heart of our little place here, we spend most of the time in these rooms and I wanted something that was a little more updated. I had just taken a picture the other day when my painting group was showing their places where they paint. I usually paint at the table, overlooking the living room:

Table Furniture Property Couch Comfort


While it did the job, I really wanted something more streamlined to go with our decor. We have mostly brown/black neutrals in both our kitchen and living area. When I saw the table set on Facebook and that my friend was selling it, I jumped on it immediately. It looked exactly like what I had pictured in my mind. She was selling it because she felt it was too large for her kitchen, and since she lived alone and didn't have any kids or many using it daily, it was pretty much in "new" condition.

Long story short, we took the ride out there yesterday and picked it up. We got home last night and set it up (it needed to be disassembled) and put it into place. I think it looks wonderful! :)

Table Furniture Picture frame Window Wood


It is a little taller than our other table (bistro style I think they call it) and much heavier and more substantial. It has a built in leaf which pops up from underneath, which saves us from having to store the extensions and when in place will make the table 55" square. Folded as shown, it has the same surface as our previous table with the leaves installed.

I am really excited about it, as I feel it is a beautiful addition to our place here.

It is also nicer because as you see, the four chairs fit very nicely tucked underneath. Our other chairs were bowed a bit and we wound up keeping only two here at our place. As a result, when we had unexpected guests, we were a bit short of seating. Even when we planned, we had to ask them to bring their own chairs.

By the time everything was set up, it was after 10pm. I was going to update my "shop" page on the Lumberjocks site and had some other photos of where I work for both there and the painting group. It seems that as creative people, we all like to see each others' work spaces and where we create.

I know it is only a table and chairs, but for me, it is thrilling! My dear auntie Dorothy had made me several beautiful table runners like the one you see in the photo, and they look beautiful on the new table. It is just another way to make our little place here a wonderfully comfortable home.

I hope to get a lot of things done today, and I am already running behind. But taking the trip was well worth it to me and I love my place here even more. Today will be a wonderfully creative and fun filled day - as I have lots of "elf tasks" planned.

I hope you all have a wonderful day as well.

Happy Thursday!
 

Attachments

#9,552 ·
The Tables Have Turned

I am going to have to write quickly today because I must admit that I am running a bit behind today. There is so much to accomplish and the hours and minutes are just relentless.

We have had a couple of exciting days here. Besides all of the things that I have to finish up for getting out in the mail, I had a couple of wood orders to make (that is GOOD!) and got them finished and sent. I was just settling down to work on my own Christmas gifts when I saw something on my Facebook news feed that caught my attention. It seemed that one of my friends in the area was selling her beautiful kitchen table and chairs set.

I have been looking for a new kitchen and table for a little bit now. Although ours was adequate, it really wasn't the style that I wanted and didn't match the rest of our furniture. Little by little over the past year or so we have been upgrading one thing at a time - our couch, our bedroom set, our bathroom, etc.

Since our living room and kitchen are 'open concept' and are the heart of our little place here, we spend most of the time in these rooms and I wanted something that was a little more updated. I had just taken a picture the other day when my painting group was showing their places where they paint. I usually paint at the table, overlooking the living room:

Table Furniture Property Couch Comfort


While it did the job, I really wanted something more streamlined to go with our decor. We have mostly brown/black neutrals in both our kitchen and living area. When I saw the table set on Facebook and that my friend was selling it, I jumped on it immediately. It looked exactly like what I had pictured in my mind. She was selling it because she felt it was too large for her kitchen, and since she lived alone and didn't have any kids or many using it daily, it was pretty much in "new" condition.

Long story short, we took the ride out there yesterday and picked it up. We got home last night and set it up (it needed to be disassembled) and put it into place. I think it looks wonderful! :)

Table Furniture Picture frame Window Wood


It is a little taller than our other table (bistro style I think they call it) and much heavier and more substantial. It has a built in leaf which pops up from underneath, which saves us from having to store the extensions and when in place will make the table 55" square. Folded as shown, it has the same surface as our previous table with the leaves installed.

I am really excited about it, as I feel it is a beautiful addition to our place here.

It is also nicer because as you see, the four chairs fit very nicely tucked underneath. Our other chairs were bowed a bit and we wound up keeping only two here at our place. As a result, when we had unexpected guests, we were a bit short of seating. Even when we planned, we had to ask them to bring their own chairs.

By the time everything was set up, it was after 10pm. I was going to update my "shop" page on the Lumberjocks site and had some other photos of where I work for both there and the painting group. It seems that as creative people, we all like to see each others' work spaces and where we create.

I know it is only a table and chairs, but for me, it is thrilling! My dear auntie Dorothy had made me several beautiful table runners like the one you see in the photo, and they look beautiful on the new table. It is just another way to make our little place here a wonderfully comfortable home.

I hope to get a lot of things done today, and I am already running behind. But taking the trip was well worth it to me and I love my place here even more. Today will be a wonderfully creative and fun filled day - as I have lots of "elf tasks" planned.

I hope you all have a wonderful day as well.

Happy Thursday!
you done good there girl

always nice to upgrade
(i actually cleaned my table recently)
and feel better about the occasional guest

we can sit comfortably
without pushing everything aside

will you need to sit on a book now
to work on it
 

Attachments

#9,561 ·
Our NEW Winter 2014 Catalog is Available for Free Download!

I awoke this morning to several inches of freshly fallen snow, and it is still coming down as I write here this morning. While we have had an inch here or there in the past couple of weeks, this is the first significant snowfall of the year.
In checking on Facebook, there were announcements that all the area schools are closed, as we are supposed to get more snow throughout the day. Then on Sunday a larger storm is supposed to arrive. They are calling for up to 30 cm in addition to what has already fallen (almost a foot) and trying to prepare us for the worst.

Winter has arrived in Nova Scotia.

I do feel prepared however. While we could use a bit more milk to get us through the weekend, for the most part we have all the supplies we need. I don't think that this is supposed to be a violent storm, but even if we happen to lose power, we have supplies, water and our bar-b-que to cook on if necessary. It is just getting light out now, and I don't know if we will be able to venture out to retrieve our mail before the weekend and pick up those few things or not. I am prepared though to spend the weekend working on getting the final things that I want to mail out ready for Monday's post, so we should all be fine.

It is hard to believe that Christmas will be upon us so soon. While just a short time ago it seemed like it was such a great distance into the future, it now looms ever so close and it is quickly becoming 'crunch time' for those of us who need to mail our cards and gifts. The days sure pass by quickly.

I did finish up the final work that I needed to do for my latest magazine article and project yesterday. With that under my belt, I feel like I have at least a couple of weeks to myself to get some personal projects done. Before long we will be looking to spring and summer things and soon after that it will be time to think of new designs for Christmas again (at least for the magazine) and the entire cycle will repeat itself.

Keith also finished up some big projects this past week. One important thing he did was complete our new catalog of patterns. It is available for you all to download it for free here. Just click on the title under the picture and follow the instructions for downloading it. It may take a few minutes because it is a larger file (7mb)

Font Publication Book Book cover Event


Sheila Landry Designs Winter 2014 Catalog

We are very proud of our catalog. Our little company is growing, and our catalog now has almost 500 patterns included in it. I think that Keith does a very good job of organizing them and fitting them into categories so that people can find what they are interested in quickly. That gets harder as we add more products, as many of the patterns fit into multiple sections or categories and it would not be prudent for us to list them twice. So we do the best we can and hope that everyone is able to find what they are looking for.

As our company grows, it is more and more difficult to keep things up to date. Both Keith and I realize that in the next week or so, when we begin adding new items, our catalog will already be a little out of date, as it is impossible to keep it completely 'current'. It is for that reason we invite you to join our Mailing List so that you receive our bi-monthly newsletter. In the newsletter, I always highlight our newest designs for both scroll sawing and painting. Since we only are able to update our catalog about twice a year, this is the best way to keep current. We never use anyone's information for anything but sending out the newsletters, so it is a safe and easy way to stay in touch.

Of course, you can also subscribe to my blog and see day by day the new things that I am making. I am trying a new service called Networked Blogs and seeing how that will work. Many people who like reading blogs are already signed up and it may be a nice way to receive notifications. Let me know what you think of it please, as I don't know if it is worth it to be involved with it.

I am always looking for ways to get word out about our company. I certainly appreciate you all sharing my posts here and commenting and "liking" them on Facebook. My recent growth in the painting area of our business has helped a great deal as well.

It is all matter of baby steps. The longer I am doing this, the more I am finding out that there is no such thing as "overnight success". Good companies are built slowly and steadily and only the results of hard work can sustain them.

I appreciate all your support and thank you all for helping us grow. We hope to continue to do what we are doing and truly enjoy being able to do something we love.

I wish you a great Friday and a happy weekend. No matter how busy you may be, I hope you take time to enjoy things as well.
 

Attachments

#9,562 ·
Our NEW Winter 2014 Catalog is Available for Free Download!

I awoke this morning to several inches of freshly fallen snow, and it is still coming down as I write here this morning. While we have had an inch here or there in the past couple of weeks, this is the first significant snowfall of the year.
In checking on Facebook, there were announcements that all the area schools are closed, as we are supposed to get more snow throughout the day. Then on Sunday a larger storm is supposed to arrive. They are calling for up to 30 cm in addition to what has already fallen (almost a foot) and trying to prepare us for the worst.

Winter has arrived in Nova Scotia.

I do feel prepared however. While we could use a bit more milk to get us through the weekend, for the most part we have all the supplies we need. I don't think that this is supposed to be a violent storm, but even if we happen to lose power, we have supplies, water and our bar-b-que to cook on if necessary. It is just getting light out now, and I don't know if we will be able to venture out to retrieve our mail before the weekend and pick up those few things or not. I am prepared though to spend the weekend working on getting the final things that I want to mail out ready for Monday's post, so we should all be fine.

It is hard to believe that Christmas will be upon us so soon. While just a short time ago it seemed like it was such a great distance into the future, it now looms ever so close and it is quickly becoming 'crunch time' for those of us who need to mail our cards and gifts. The days sure pass by quickly.

I did finish up the final work that I needed to do for my latest magazine article and project yesterday. With that under my belt, I feel like I have at least a couple of weeks to myself to get some personal projects done. Before long we will be looking to spring and summer things and soon after that it will be time to think of new designs for Christmas again (at least for the magazine) and the entire cycle will repeat itself.

Keith also finished up some big projects this past week. One important thing he did was complete our new catalog of patterns. It is available for you all to download it for free here. Just click on the title under the picture and follow the instructions for downloading it. It may take a few minutes because it is a larger file (7mb)

Font Publication Book Book cover Event


Sheila Landry Designs Winter 2014 Catalog

We are very proud of our catalog. Our little company is growing, and our catalog now has almost 500 patterns included in it. I think that Keith does a very good job of organizing them and fitting them into categories so that people can find what they are interested in quickly. That gets harder as we add more products, as many of the patterns fit into multiple sections or categories and it would not be prudent for us to list them twice. So we do the best we can and hope that everyone is able to find what they are looking for.

As our company grows, it is more and more difficult to keep things up to date. Both Keith and I realize that in the next week or so, when we begin adding new items, our catalog will already be a little out of date, as it is impossible to keep it completely 'current'. It is for that reason we invite you to join our Mailing List so that you receive our bi-monthly newsletter. In the newsletter, I always highlight our newest designs for both scroll sawing and painting. Since we only are able to update our catalog about twice a year, this is the best way to keep current. We never use anyone's information for anything but sending out the newsletters, so it is a safe and easy way to stay in touch.

Of course, you can also subscribe to my blog and see day by day the new things that I am making. I am trying a new service called Networked Blogs and seeing how that will work. Many people who like reading blogs are already signed up and it may be a nice way to receive notifications. Let me know what you think of it please, as I don't know if it is worth it to be involved with it.

I am always looking for ways to get word out about our company. I certainly appreciate you all sharing my posts here and commenting and "liking" them on Facebook. My recent growth in the painting area of our business has helped a great deal as well.

It is all matter of baby steps. The longer I am doing this, the more I am finding out that there is no such thing as "overnight success". Good companies are built slowly and steadily and only the results of hard work can sustain them.

I appreciate all your support and thank you all for helping us grow. We hope to continue to do what we are doing and truly enjoy being able to do something we love.

I wish you a great Friday and a happy weekend. No matter how busy you may be, I hope you take time to enjoy things as well.
congratulations you two

you both deserve a drink
Outerwear Bag Silver Chair Linens


happy holidays !

http://www.pleated-jeans.com/2013/12/11/21-images-that-prove-cats-are-liquids/
 

Attachments

#9,567 ·
Edgar Sparkles McKenzie

We are in the midst of a snowy weekend here in Nova Scotia. Yesterday morning I woke up to about six inches of snow, and throughout the day we had several more fall. When we drove downtown to do our errands and go to the gym, there were times when you could barely see more than a few feet in front of you. The main road runs along the ocean and the fierce wind was blowing the snow and causing 'white out' conditions. It was certainly slow driving.

Upon seeing this, we decided to get done only what we had to do and get home as quickly as possible. We did our bit of grocery shopping so we would be good for the upcoming weekend, as we have an additional 30 cm (almost a foot) of additional snow coming on Sunday. I didn't mind though because I need to do some "Elf Things" and get my packages out on Monday if there it any chance of them arriving in time for Christmas. It is going to be a busy weekend.

Our last stop was at the post office, as we wanted to make sure we had our mail before the weekend. Much to my delight, a very special package that I had been anticipating for several weeks had finally arrived. It seemed that my Christmas came early! :)

As many of you know, I enjoy spending some time of my day on Facebook. I love seeing what everyone is up to and I feel that it connects me not only with my family and friends, but other creative people as well.

Several months ago, I joined a group called Tole Painters Unite, which is a large group of painters. I truly love seeing all the pictures and posts of what everyone is painting, as well as offering help to those who are new. This is truly a wonderful and positive group, and besides being full of inspiration and creativity, it is full of fun.

There are several girls who stand out in the group that I have become friends with. They are from all over the world and many of them design their own patterns, as I do. Not only are they talented, but they have a wonderful sense of humor and support for each other. For example, this summer one of our friends Lynn had a tragedy when her house had a fire and burned. She and her dog were in it alone in the middle of the night when the fire broke out and she was lucky to get out with her own life and that of her dog. Unfortunately, she had spent the past two and a half years renovating the house (a beautiful Cape Cod home) and it is deemed a total loss. They are now going through months of red tape and insurance mess and they say it won't even be settled for additional months. It is a hard time for her.

The girls in this group really stepped up though and helped Lynn through this devastation. They are always sending her brushes, paints, decorations and other things to help her rebuild her life and get things back to "normal" for her. It was so thrilling to see her begin to paint again and see her find joy in life once more. The support was amazing.

One thing that caught my eye was that some of the girls owned darling hand-crafted elves that they purchased from Brenda Griffith who owns a business called The Rusty Thimble. Brenda lives in Oklahoma and sells her finished Primitive style dolls and creations through Facebook and on Etsy. Her elves are just darling and she even set a special page on Facebook where her customers could post pictures and tell stories of what their elves were up to.

After seeing all the fun my friends were having with their elves, I had to order one. My other dear friend Charlotte had ordered one as well, within an hour of me ordering mine and we had to laugh because we both wanted to join in on the fun. Charlotte lives in Tennessee, and she got her elf last week. She named her elf "Prince Charlie" and he is already causing havoc in Charlotte's world! Here is a picture of Prince Charlie:

Beard Toy Art Machine Event


Isn't he a handsome elf?? You can see the twinkle in his eye though! You can tell he is looking for some mischief to get into!

So when I arrived at the post office and saw that I had a box from Brenda, my heart skipped a beat. I KNEW that my elf had finally arrived here and I couldn't wait to meet him.

I got home and opened the box and all three cats came running. (I had told them that we were expecting a new friend to come live with us and they were also happy he was here!)

Vertebrate Working animal Mammal Carnivore Fawn


I took my elf out of the box, and everyone greeted him warmly. I decided to name him "Edgar Sparkles McKenzie" or "Mr. Sparkles" for short. Everyone gave Edgar a very warm greeting:

Vertebrate Felidae Ear Mammal Small to medium-sized cats


Richard thought that the cool "box toy" that Edgar came in was simply the BEST! He politely asked Edgar if he could try it out and Edgar told him it would be fine - after all - Edgar was packed in there for DAYS and he had quite enough of it! If he never saw the inside of that box again it would be too soon as far as he was concerned! Richard jumped right in and made himself at home:

Cat Felidae Comfort Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats


Coco looked around to see if Edgar brought any food with him, and when she saw that all he had with him was a paint brush and a fabric candy cane, she quickly lost interest. She went back to her own bed and thought "what's the big deal?"

But Pancakes really liked Edgar. He put out his paw to shake hands and extend his friendship. Since he was the youngest, it was likely that he and Edgar would become the best of friends.

Cat Felidae Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers


They looked each other over and Pancakes loved the "bell toy" that was at the end of Edgar's hat. "What a cool thing this is!" said Pancakes, as he jingled the bell.

Cat Felidae Small to medium-sized cats Carnivore Fawn


Coco liked the bell as well. When she heard it jingle, she came back out of her bed to see if it meant that someone was serving dinner. But as soon as she saw that it was just the boys playing, she went back to her bed. "Silly boys!" she muttered. She was rather cross that it was a false alarm.

Cat Felidae Carnivore Mammal Small to medium-sized cats


Edgar tried to be friendly as well. He found Pancakes' favorite pink 'mouse toy' and held it out for him to play.

Cat Textile Wood Fawn Hardwood


After a long discussion, Pancakes and Edgar decided that they were going to be great friends. Pancakes asked to try out Edgar's 'bed toy' for himself and Edgar said "sure!" Edgar offered Pancakes his extra special candy cane to try as well. (Edgar didn't know that cats don't eat candy canes, but Pancakes was very polite and just said "thank you!" He didn't want to hurt his new friends' feelings!)

Cat Wood Felidae Carnivore Fawn


I am very happy that everyone got along so well. Bringing a new friend into the house doesn't always go smoothly. But I think that Pancakes and Edgar are going to get along fine and I can only imagine the trouble that they will be getting into. Both of them have mischief in their eyes and I think Pancakes is thrilled with his new " partner in crime" . . . er . . . "friend"!

Cat Hat Costume hat Art Lawn ornament


I want to really thank Brenda for making such a lovely doll. She has brought so many people happiness and a lot of fun into many lives with her creations, and we look forward to what the future brings. I love Edgar already!

Today I am busy doing some secret projects, so I had better get busy. Time is ticking and even though I now have an extra helper, there is still much to accomplish.

I wish you all a happy and safe Saturday. May you find joy in your day!
 

Attachments

#9,568 ·
Edgar Sparkles McKenzie

We are in the midst of a snowy weekend here in Nova Scotia. Yesterday morning I woke up to about six inches of snow, and throughout the day we had several more fall. When we drove downtown to do our errands and go to the gym, there were times when you could barely see more than a few feet in front of you. The main road runs along the ocean and the fierce wind was blowing the snow and causing 'white out' conditions. It was certainly slow driving.

Upon seeing this, we decided to get done only what we had to do and get home as quickly as possible. We did our bit of grocery shopping so we would be good for the upcoming weekend, as we have an additional 30 cm (almost a foot) of additional snow coming on Sunday. I didn't mind though because I need to do some "Elf Things" and get my packages out on Monday if there it any chance of them arriving in time for Christmas. It is going to be a busy weekend.

Our last stop was at the post office, as we wanted to make sure we had our mail before the weekend. Much to my delight, a very special package that I had been anticipating for several weeks had finally arrived. It seemed that my Christmas came early! :)

As many of you know, I enjoy spending some time of my day on Facebook. I love seeing what everyone is up to and I feel that it connects me not only with my family and friends, but other creative people as well.

Several months ago, I joined a group called Tole Painters Unite, which is a large group of painters. I truly love seeing all the pictures and posts of what everyone is painting, as well as offering help to those who are new. This is truly a wonderful and positive group, and besides being full of inspiration and creativity, it is full of fun.

There are several girls who stand out in the group that I have become friends with. They are from all over the world and many of them design their own patterns, as I do. Not only are they talented, but they have a wonderful sense of humor and support for each other. For example, this summer one of our friends Lynn had a tragedy when her house had a fire and burned. She and her dog were in it alone in the middle of the night when the fire broke out and she was lucky to get out with her own life and that of her dog. Unfortunately, she had spent the past two and a half years renovating the house (a beautiful Cape Cod home) and it is deemed a total loss. They are now going through months of red tape and insurance mess and they say it won't even be settled for additional months. It is a hard time for her.

The girls in this group really stepped up though and helped Lynn through this devastation. They are always sending her brushes, paints, decorations and other things to help her rebuild her life and get things back to "normal" for her. It was so thrilling to see her begin to paint again and see her find joy in life once more. The support was amazing.

One thing that caught my eye was that some of the girls owned darling hand-crafted elves that they purchased from Brenda Griffith who owns a business called The Rusty Thimble. Brenda lives in Oklahoma and sells her finished Primitive style dolls and creations through Facebook and on Etsy. Her elves are just darling and she even set a special page on Facebook where her customers could post pictures and tell stories of what their elves were up to.

After seeing all the fun my friends were having with their elves, I had to order one. My other dear friend Charlotte had ordered one as well, within an hour of me ordering mine and we had to laugh because we both wanted to join in on the fun. Charlotte lives in Tennessee, and she got her elf last week. She named her elf "Prince Charlie" and he is already causing havoc in Charlotte's world! Here is a picture of Prince Charlie:

Beard Toy Art Machine Event


Isn't he a handsome elf?? You can see the twinkle in his eye though! You can tell he is looking for some mischief to get into!

So when I arrived at the post office and saw that I had a box from Brenda, my heart skipped a beat. I KNEW that my elf had finally arrived here and I couldn't wait to meet him.

I got home and opened the box and all three cats came running. (I had told them that we were expecting a new friend to come live with us and they were also happy he was here!)

Vertebrate Working animal Mammal Carnivore Fawn


I took my elf out of the box, and everyone greeted him warmly. I decided to name him "Edgar Sparkles McKenzie" or "Mr. Sparkles" for short. Everyone gave Edgar a very warm greeting:

Vertebrate Felidae Ear Mammal Small to medium-sized cats


Richard thought that the cool "box toy" that Edgar came in was simply the BEST! He politely asked Edgar if he could try it out and Edgar told him it would be fine - after all - Edgar was packed in there for DAYS and he had quite enough of it! If he never saw the inside of that box again it would be too soon as far as he was concerned! Richard jumped right in and made himself at home:

Cat Felidae Comfort Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats


Coco looked around to see if Edgar brought any food with him, and when she saw that all he had with him was a paint brush and a fabric candy cane, she quickly lost interest. She went back to her own bed and thought "what's the big deal?"

But Pancakes really liked Edgar. He put out his paw to shake hands and extend his friendship. Since he was the youngest, it was likely that he and Edgar would become the best of friends.

Cat Felidae Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers


They looked each other over and Pancakes loved the "bell toy" that was at the end of Edgar's hat. "What a cool thing this is!" said Pancakes, as he jingled the bell.

Cat Felidae Small to medium-sized cats Carnivore Fawn


Coco liked the bell as well. When she heard it jingle, she came back out of her bed to see if it meant that someone was serving dinner. But as soon as she saw that it was just the boys playing, she went back to her bed. "Silly boys!" she muttered. She was rather cross that it was a false alarm.

Cat Felidae Carnivore Mammal Small to medium-sized cats


Edgar tried to be friendly as well. He found Pancakes' favorite pink 'mouse toy' and held it out for him to play.

Cat Textile Wood Fawn Hardwood


After a long discussion, Pancakes and Edgar decided that they were going to be great friends. Pancakes asked to try out Edgar's 'bed toy' for himself and Edgar said "sure!" Edgar offered Pancakes his extra special candy cane to try as well. (Edgar didn't know that cats don't eat candy canes, but Pancakes was very polite and just said "thank you!" He didn't want to hurt his new friends' feelings!)

Cat Wood Felidae Carnivore Fawn


I am very happy that everyone got along so well. Bringing a new friend into the house doesn't always go smoothly. But I think that Pancakes and Edgar are going to get along fine and I can only imagine the trouble that they will be getting into. Both of them have mischief in their eyes and I think Pancakes is thrilled with his new " partner in crime" . . . er . . . "friend"!

Cat Hat Costume hat Art Lawn ornament


I want to really thank Brenda for making such a lovely doll. She has brought so many people happiness and a lot of fun into many lives with her creations, and we look forward to what the future brings. I love Edgar already!

Today I am busy doing some secret projects, so I had better get busy. Time is ticking and even though I now have an extra helper, there is still much to accomplish.

I wish you all a happy and safe Saturday. May you find joy in your day!
Is this the Elf on the Shelf's brother??? lol
 

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