winner of the CARVING MAGAZINE GIVEAWAY

hi folks,, the winner is george, congrats, the next drawing for the carving magazine holiday issue is dec 20th ,, if you didnt enter , its simple just send me an email and on the subject line put carving magazine ,, that is it,, thanks folks, i am having fun,, happy carving, arleen

HAVING FUN

folks i am having fun with these mini pinecones , a great beginners project or for any carver, enjoy, arleen

MINI PINECONE ORNAMENT #1

FRONT SANTA #1

this santa is carved from a block front not from the corner,, enjoy, arleen

for some ,,,change is never easy, not always bad

hi folks, i just finished carving the penguin,, as i begin to look towards the future of where i would like to be, and where to go with carving, i am finding i dont like change,, but as most of us know change is part of life, as i looked into how i could do things better , weather the blog or videos, i really dont want to change what i am doing,, why fix it if is isnt broke,, that is a great saying but at the same time if you dont change along with the times, your going to be left in the dust, or just never catch up,

its funny as i go back even 5-10 years ago, what i carve today is not the same, they may look like my style but it is different, more refined, etc, so change isnt always a bad thing,

just the word CHANGE sends some folks into fear,, i feel bad for older folks that just dont get the technology of today,, they are lost most of the time, and feel they dont need it,, well they dont , they find others that can do it for them,, and yet some embrace it,.. so what do you do, do you enjoy change? do you embrace it? well what i am getting at is that if you dont want to try something new, or change how you carve you may never know how good you can carve,, its simple i guess, if you dont embrace it you might miss something you like!! happy carving,, arleen

PENGUIN #7 ( END)

PENGUIN #1

strop

STROP

some have asked if i sold leather strops, i made a few this pass week, if your interested i have a video coming out soon on them,, 14.00 and 4.00 to ship in the usa and canada, email me first to see if i still have them i am limited, i make them for my classes ... the strop overall lenght is 12 3/4 inches the strop is 2x10 two sided , thanks

THANKSGIVING HORN OF PLENTY #9 (END)

THANKSGIVING HORN OF PLENTY

getting started it's the hardest part? motivated?

hi folks, i am trying to get this thankgiving project completed this week if all goes well, i am seeing something that i learn long ago,, its harder to start a new project than doing them ,, i find myself looking forward to getting started but really doing so is difficult,, or shall i say life gets in the way ...another day goes by, and well nothing gets started, lol

most of know that going to work is harder then being at work, just like we did for years, feeding the animals on the farm, it was harder to get ourselves out to the barn then it was doing the work,

i guess it comes down to if your motivated or not, the animals had to be care for,, so every 12 hours i was in the barn feeding , weekends, holiday, if i was sick or not, i can count on one hand the days i missed cause i was sick,, out of 25 years of farming,, there were no sick days, holidays. so getting motivated was sometimes difficult,

so if your not motivated, your not alone, there are days i just dont want to carve, and other days i cant wait to start, its normal, and if you find yourself not ready to start a new project that is fine, sometimes we just need that extra boost , weather that is going to a carving show, getting new project ideas from others. or just letting it go for a while, but i always end up finding something that will spark my interest again, or a new idea will come to mind out of the blue, either way , starting a project or trying to find one, somehow it always does,, happy carving arleen

dreaming, might come true?

well folks,, i had time to think about the past year, and some of you know i wanted to put a carving shop/studio/gallery at the farm,, not sure how to go about it,, some time ago i could have gotten a cabin type building super cheap,, something inside thought it might not be the best time to do it,, now i regret not getting it,, i dont know if another opportunity will come, up,, i dont often regret when i make a decision ,, this one i might have missed it,, a couple of factors other then the main one was the cost,, it had a leak which i could not determine where it came from on the floor,, so i shy away from it,, wow, i would have been nice not only to have it to work in but to store the wood, and other carving related things,, , i would love to have enough room when i get it , to have a library of carving books and magazines,, we all need to dream about something, or work toward a goal,, as i looked around the farm yesterday,, i still have to see where i want to put it,, how big will i need , and oh can i build it myself?? i am sure it would have more meaning if i did the work, but not sure i want to venture into something that big,, well i can still think on it,, but i dont want to think to long that i miss it all together,, its like the guy that is on a roof cause of flooding, and he prays to god to save him .... so a boat comes along and he says no god will save me,,, and another boat comes along and he says no again, saying god will save him...., and the third comes along and he says the same thing,,, he dies,, and then ask god why he didnt save him, gods reply is i sent you three boats,, ........................... so i dont want to miss the second boat if it ever comes i dont believe in chances, i believe in gods timing, its weather i listen to him when its the right time, keep carving, arleen

wow all the woodcarving and craft shows are over for the year

wow , folks what a year its been , total of 7 shows, and one demo at a carving club,, since june, thats a lot for me,, i not use to it but did i learn a lot,, i had three day shows, two day shows, one day show, shows during the day, one at night only, for three days, inside, outside( in the tent) and the last one in a outdoor shed,, at joanna,, so i kinda went all out this year,, thinking i will try everything that seemed like a good show, and some were close to home the others were far away,,

if nothing else i had a good time, and learned a great deal,,

here are the things i learned,

one,, its a lot more work than what you think

two, you cant control the weather,,,

three, you meet neat folks along the way, that are willing to help ya,

four, learn what things you need for each season

five , just to have a fun,, have a blast,, you never know who your going to meet, and what your going to sell,

some shows i faired better then others,, but wow, the crowds were super,,

thanks to all that came to the shows to see me, it was my pleasure to meet many of you,, and hope to see you again next year,, i plan to do more if i can,, so now is the time to start planning the classes,, so folks, it been an awesome year,, take care and keep carving,, arleen

CHRISTMAS AT JONNA 2010

CHRISTMAS AT JONNA 2010

NEW PROJECTS COMING SOON

SOME NEW PROJECTS COMING SOON

Hi everyone,, well the thanksgiving project is on hold for a bit cause of the upcoming craft show,, but i wanted folks to see the upcoming projects that i think will be fun to do ,,

the penguin , and the two new santa ,, and that i made a larger version of the morning santa,, all these are made from a block,, so they do not need a pattern,, so enjoy,, keep carving, and i will be back soon with the videos that will finish up the horn of plenty,, thanks for stopping by , keep carving arleen

CARVING MAGAZINE GIVEAWAY 2010 holiday issue by carveswoodshop

hi folks, a CARVING MAGAZINE HOLIDAY ISSUE GIVEAWAY dec 15 and 2oth enter early

hi folks, i found the magazine, that i saw on the net at borders, and i am going to give away two copies, i drove 70miles to get them, if you what to enter, then please email me at the carverswoodshop@yahoo.com and in the subject line put carving magazine giveaway, i will draw one on dec 15 and the other on dec 20 if you enter early you will have two chances to win,, its open only in the usa and canada, sorry ,,, international shipping is expensive,, i ship it for free, you have untill 12 am of the day of the drawing to enter, enjoy,, it has a lot of christmas projects, i am sure you will enjoy i will not sell the email list to a third party,, i will not use it in any way other than to contact you that you won, thank you , arleen

wow, it should be a good weekend and a new blog

i am praying for good weather for the christmas at joanna,, there are a few folks coming up to see me, which is always nice to hear,, i said my goodbye to the folks on the other message board, sad how things go, but i think this might be for the best,, looking forward to a new blog, i had set it up a month ago,, its called the FROM THE CARVERS HAND, it will be more about inspirational things, my faith is an important factor in my life, i really cant separate my faith from my life cause it is my life,, with all the good and bad,, none of us is perfect, we are a work in progress , so in the next week or so i will start it,, it wont be just about carving,, a little of what i have done already on this blog,, and its to be uplifting, which everyone needs, its not about debating religion, i found debating never did me much good, it was more the kind word, and understanding that made me want to know more about having a faith that is strong, its not about being right, its about feeling that someone higher than you cares about what happens to you, here is the linkhttp://fromthecarvershand.blogspot.com/

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

in my search ,,,,,,chipchats some things don't change

some time ago , at one of our woodcarvers meeting , one of the members brought in a magazine that i had thought was long gone, and it was still going called chipchats, some of you may remember it,, i been carving for 30 years and found it to be full of pictures from shows around the country .. i found some of my old issues from years past , and took the time to scan a few of them, things havent changed to much about the art of woodcarving but what has change is now we use power, and a new media called the internet,

i was lucky to find a book on the subject , let alone the basswood, lol

my my things have move forward, but yet its an old art or craft, its one that can be done as it was done so many years ago, with a block of wood and a knife, yes the bandsaw helps, for the bulk of wood removal, but many projects can be done with just a block of wood,

here is the link to chip chats,http://www.chipchats.org/ if your interested in checking it out,, no doubt you will find some helpful and useful information, happy carving, arleen

next event, last one for the year for me CHRISTMAS AT JOANNA

hi folks, its time to focus on some positive things, and move forward,, first thing is that i didnt know there is another magazine called CARVING MAGAZINE i have not yet look at it but the cover of the last issue looks very interesting and i will be sure to see if i can get it , and order it,,

here is the website if you like more info on it, http://www.carvingmagazine.com/

hope its helpful to you

second, my last event for the year is back to haycreek, called CHRISTMAS AT JOANNA, dec 3 - 5 2010 fri and sat 6-9 and sunday 6-8... this is the first time at the night event, its outside i am sure it will be chilly, ( love it) and it will be interesting, i also got my notice for vendors and see that dan finney will be setting up,, that is super , another carver,, i will be sure to keep you folks updated, and report back to you after the event, but it looks like a nice evening for folks to come out and enjoy,

here is their website if your interested in joining,http://www.haycreek.org/christmas_at_joanna.htm

thanks to all the support folks , i appreciate the kinds words from many of you from my last post, take care and have a safe shopping weekend,,

arleen

how to handle differences move on is the easiest thing to do

hi folks, as some of you are aware , wci forum had a bit of an issue,, respect goes a long way, and i am here to tell you folks just a couple of things, if you cant beat them join them, is a good saying, but i also feel if your beaten up its best to move on, and to forget them,

which i plan to do,, i was appalled by my last email i received from a moderator, here is a quote from that email that i am willing to share

""I understand that you feel you were being attacked and as such that can hurt your business. Yet here your business is not our concern""

nice words, when in the past i have promoted and lead folks the the wci magazine and forum, i guess i could say the same now,

""here their (wci) business is not my concern "",

the forum is from the wci, which is a business that sell advertising and magazines, and i had no problem sending folks the the site and for them to get a magazine, in fact i gave my last issue that i recieved away to a new carver at the ontario woodcarving show,, i have said nothing in the past against them in any way, to those of you that follow me, will understand, the issue i felt was handled poorly, and i no longer will post on the wci forum, or promote them in any way,, i will not renew my membership etc , folks if it was only one issue like it was a year ago, i let it go, but today no longer, i gave them time to correct it,

i am sure if it was the wci being attack indirectly then they may have handle it different,

why should i support and promote their site and magizine ,, but then ,,,my business is not their concern,

take care and folks be happy, i am now that this is behind me ,

take care bye

THANKSGIVING HORN OF PLENTY # 1

HAPPY THANKSGIVIG 2010

another new dvd, number 31 ...ornaments

hi folks , i have another dvd that i finished this morning, i just have to make the cover and ready to make a few copies,, its called snowman, santa face, christmas pickle ornament,,, cost is 20.00 free shipping in the usa, and canada, enjoy, arleen

happy thanksgiving to everyone, and hopefully a new project that day

hi folks if you followed me the past 20 months or so , you know that thanksgiving is my favorite holiday,, just love it,, its a day to really relax and enjoy,, last year i did the pilgrim and the turkey, i have a plan , hopefully i will get it started on thanksgiving day, i not going to say what it is, but its hopefully a simple project that will only take a day or so to complete, stay tuned, i have not seen this yet being carved, so it has to do with thanksgiving, it came to me at the mall where i worked, lol that is where i got my idea for my pilgrim last year,, so we will see what happens, otherwise i want to wish everyone a safe and happy thanksgiving, we truly have much to be thankful for , today i felt great, and worked hard, and i was thankful for the hard work today, it was a good thing for sure, take care , and spent it with the folks that are dearest to ya, take care and happy carving too, arleen

where to go from here ?blogs, forums , websites , facebook ?

hi folks, the internet is a great place to research whatever you need to, to get information , and quickly,, i found the internet can be a help for a beginner woodcarver,, many of us in the past did not have this great tool, we were lucky to find a book here and there,, so many of the new carvers have a well of information that i could never have imagine , i know there are a lot of folks that are interested in knowing more about woodcarving,, and many of us spent a lot of time and money into learning this by taking classes, there are many videos for the beginner to chose from today,, wow what an advantage they have today, so i asked myself have i made the best possible way for folks to learn about woodcarving, i have the blog, on the forum, facebook youtube, i dont think there is much more i could do,, but one thing i will say,, and to answer the question where to go from here, its no where, but just back to carving, making some new videos and doing the best one can, happy carving folks, arleen

the conewago woodcarving club? a good meeting

hi folks, today i went to the coneawago woodcarving club to do a presentation, i was asked some time ago if i would come to one of the meetings, i met the president of the club at our lancaster woodcarving show back in june,, so today was the day , it was planned about 6 weeks ago,, it was a good meeting, this group had a nice bunch of folks, and i found their carving room where they met was great, they were lucky to have this room that was theirs alone to use, so things could be stored in the room, and not move from meeting to meeting, i also love the electrical outets were at every table, it was a nice setup , it was located in a community center in east berlin pa. it took me about 1 1/2 hours to get there, the day was nice a sunny, and i also enjoyed seeing all the farmland in that area. it was a good time, i enjoyed chatting with a few after the meeting, it was good day, keep carving and be safe , arleen

SNOWMAN HOBO ORNAMENT #1

new project coming tomorrow on youtube , snowman hobo ornament

hi folks, i know its been a while but this past week i did a total of 6 videos for a project called the snowman hobo ornament,, i will have patterns available soon,, the past month i been so busy with the shows, the first one i made was done some time ago,, and had planned to do this for my channel,, so i will have some up tomorrow sometime,, and will post the first video here on my blog, happy carving,, and keep at it , arleen

farming and carving the same? just enjoy the ride

hi folks, its been so busy this week, today i finish mowing a 10 acre field and the bush hog worked very well, its been a while since i had to cut a field, but like riding a bike, it was fine, got it hooked up the the tractor and i was in for a 6 hour day of mowing,, had a lot of time to think , and thought farming is like carving, it takes a lot of time, and sometimes it is slow, i will tell you when i started to mow with only a five foot bush hog ,, i knew i was going to be in for a long ride, :) and yet i found that i enjoyed a beautiful day, it wasnt hot but just warm enough and not a bee in sight ( i am not fond of bees lol ) but got it done, it was slow but i knew the job was done right,, and looking over that field it made me feel great, and so happy to have been able to get it done,, and that is how i feel about carving,, its slow at times, but when you look at it and enjoy it went its done , it the greatest feeling in the world,, so keep at it, keep carving, and enjoy the ride

william rush show lima pa 2010

spoons ,,,, kevin does an awesome job making spoons

about carvers? and shows

hi folks,, i am done doing the woodcarving shows this year,, looking maybe next spring and the shows i can add,,, and michigan too,, but will go again next year to all the shows i attended this year,, now that i know where they are, just a word about woodcarving shows, and carvers, first i have i new appreciation for carvers, and found no matter where, mich, canada, and here in pa, one thing is true, woodcarvers are a great bunch of folks,, i want to thank all that took the time to come chat with me, and also those that came to me and told me that they followed my youtube channel, at each show i did meet people that watch youtube,, it amazed me,, and wanted to thank each of them for their kind words,, each show i took away something that i might be able to share with the lancaster group that might help add a few things for our next show in june of 2011,,,,, i will be posting a few photos of the william rush wood carving show in lima pa. and i have one video,, thought i had two but i have no idea where it went ,, this is the first time i lost one,,

hope you all had a great weekend , and keep carving, arleen

ps i will be doing a snowman ornament on youtube this week,, back to the videos i go lol its been a great year and love doing the shows,,

well back home again,, and the next show, and seeing when to start some woodcarving classes in jan

hi folks,, it was a great week in canada,, i have all a lot of family there, so other than the days at the show, i was visiting family,,, i left this morning, and just got home a little while ago,, now i have to see what to bring to the next show, lol,, the weeks are flying by,, i know christmas will be here and gone, , i shouldn't rush time, lol but its hard to believe that thanksgiving is right around the corner,, i still have the william rush show, near philly and try to put together a few woodcarving classes in jan , also i will be going to a wood carvers club as a guest speaker mid nov,, so that will be new to me,, not sure how it will go but i not to worried about it,, i am ok speaking behind a video , but not out in front of a bunch of folks,, but one will never know unless you try it like carvings,, , soooo i am branching out, so to speak,, not sure how to do it yet but it will come together,, have a couple of ideas,, so somehow it will work out,, well folks,, i have some orders i have to fill ( carving orders) and other things i gotta take care of,, it was good being in canada,, my sister as always treated me by baking things i like,, which was very nice of her to do,, she is a great cook and baker,, she loves to make different foods, etc,, she and i had some nice times chatting this week,, and spending some time together,, which didnt happen very often when her kids were little but now as they now have families of their own it seems to be more times to be able to sit back and relax more,, well to top it off was being able to go to the carving show ,, it made a nice week for sure,, i hope alot of you are getting those christmas projects going,, if not you may run out of time,, lol as you know time flies,, take care a happy carving to ya all,, arleen

ontario wood carving show 2010

howdy folks, one show done , and one more to go

hi everyone, i hope everyone had a good weekend, i will be going to the william rush woodcarving show in lima ( near philly, pa, ) this coming weekend, the ontario show was very good,, and interesting,, up here in canada i notice that may folks that carve do relief carving,, much more so then where i live in pa. some wonderful work, and the folks here are great,, i got to chat a lot with other carvers at the show, their work was outstanding for sure, now i am getting ready for the show in pa, hope you all are happy and carving, and to meet some of you at the next show, take care arleen

some photos of the ontario wood carving show 2010

hi folks, i had a good time at the show, great folks here in canada,, thanks so much for your kindness at the show,, it was great to meet many of you,, arleen