knife name tag for the woodcarver #1

free pattern on my blog http://www.carverswoodshop.blogspot.com and the rest of the videos are up on youtube, 5 total, enjoy, arleen

new project coming to youtube , KNIFE NAME TAG

Hi folks , i will be posting a new project called KNIFE NAME TAG FOR THE WOODCARVER, I designed this for the lancaster show,, thought it would be fun to do another name tag, and made this name tag you are welcomed to take the photo from this blog and make up a copy of the pattern to make your own,, there are 5 videos how to carve this project and i will post the first and last here on the blog and the rest will be found on my youtube channel, called carverswoodshop,, have fun, this project would be great for any carving group, in fact i will be planning this project for the carverswoodshop lunch monday june 13 12pm to 3pm.... come and plan to join us its free, at the home funishing mall, 6180 morgantown road, morgantown pa, ok folks time to get some other things done hope to get the videos up by tomorrow,, take care and keep carving and thanks for stopping by , arleen

lancaster show 2011 and some giveaways,, thanks for coming to the show,...

hi folks have a few interesting things going on at the show,, free carving magazines and you can email me if you want me to reserve one for you ,when you come to the show, and also a 4dvd of your choice give away,,,, when you enter at my table at the show,, you must come to the show to enter,, hope to see many of you there,, and most of all have a great time , arleen

FINISHED BOTH CHRISTMAS STARS, AND THE PROJECT AT THE NEXT LUNCHEON

hi folks, i hope you enjoyed both projects and that you found the time to carve,, i will be showing how to do the eight point at the next carverswoodshop luncheon on may the 9th ,, we will meet from 12-3pm come if you can
i will be looking for fun easy projects in the future if you have any ideas email me
i have a new project in mind and will be working on it tonight to see how it goes i will let you know as soon as its done and will get some videos of it as well, until then keep carving and enjoy,, arleen

12 pointed christmas star #1

simple 8 point christmas star ornament #2 ( end)

simple 8 point christmas star ornament #1

trying to stay upbeat and how to deal with frustration in woodcarving

i know ,, frustration is in all parts of life,, some deal with frustrations in different ways,, i for one, will do one of two things, throw in the towel and call it a day, and some days i fight it tooth and nail,, its learning which one to do ,, the more noble thing to do is to fight it tooth and nail, but sometimes at what price,, frustration well as you saw in my last post had to deal when things seem unfair or unjust ,, when rules apply differently to different people,, but what do you do when your carving is frustrating,
i had one email that had one sentence,, ' CARVING IS FRUSTRATING" how do you respond to that,, its simple,, to some it is ,, to some its not,, but my suggestion is if you dont have the right equipment to work with it will be frustrating,, i cant image feeding 400 calves with one bucket, or one small mixer,, you needed a huge mixer, and a lot more buckets when you fed calves,, it would have been a terrible job, frustrating mixing milk for the calves one bucket at a time,, but with a huge mixer you could mix up milk replacer for 100 at a time,, so the tools you use in carving has to be decent not cheap tools, like those from the big hobby stores,, please dont waste your time buying from them,, there are plenty of good woodcarving suppliers that have a decent knives at a decent price,, so a sharp knife is the most important along with good piece of basswood,, again make sure you get the true board foot when you purchase your wood,, and ask before you buy it so you will not be surprised with the bill,, i have an earlier post about this,,,,, but anyway,, good wood and a good knife is the best way to enjoy woodcarving,, and good instruction as well,, and the other thing that is just important then the knife and the wood, is keeping at it,, ok folks take care, and happy carving to ya, arleen

the hobo santa class is canceled before the lancaster show but the pinecone class is still on

the class hobo santa carving class june 1 and 3 is canceled,, but the pine cone class is still on, thanks arleen

missed the lancaster wood carving club meeting ohhhh my

well you can tell life is busy, i completely forgot about our meeting,, needless to say i am a bit overwhelm with things at home,,, i woke up wed morning, thinking i missed something ,, you know that feeling,, and lo and behold yep,, the meeting last night,, i look forward to it every month,, why i didnt remember it at all kinda shocked me , and tick me off that i did forget,, hopefully i will remember it next month,, and if i miss the lancaster show,, then i know i am in real trouble,, lol i PLAN TO BE THERE,, JUNE 4 AND 5TH,, see ya there,, take care and keep carving,, maybe cause i not carving to much these days might be the reason i didnt think of it,, out of mind, ,, lol well my first senior moment it was bound to happen someday,,

busy, busy,, and started mowing the lawns,, yuk lol, i rather be carving lol

howdy folks, as you can see from my title that i dont like to mow,, its time consuming and also its the start of a long season, the next 24+ weeks it time to mow the two lawns ,, i should not complain but be happy that i have a yard or two to mow,, i know many live in apartments, etc, and would dream of a place in the country,, i love the country,, but the outside work at the farm was never my favorite thing to do, i loved taking care of the calves etc, ,, i just see mowing takes time taken away from carving or other things i would like to do, but after a few decades of mowing,, well,, i rather be carving,, lol,,
one thing that i learned this past month there is nothing better in life then good health ,, to get up in the morning without pain, and feeling good, this past month, i was busy taking care of my folks,, as they are getting up there in years, i see more and more the things i need to tend to,, i think in this country,, we dont care for the elderly like we should,, our country was not build by computers, videos , and modern technology but by older americans that put alot of hard work into making our country the best in the world,, now dont get me wrong the new technology is wonderful, but our towns, our history was made by hard working older americans, they pave a way to an wonderful country we see today,, and we owe them alot,, to be treated with respect,,,, i love the older folks,, but the young and the old need to be protected, , so my challenge to you is to take the time to spent with either the older or younger folks,, they need folks to know we care about them ,,, so many dont have folks watching out for them,, taking care of our parents isnt a required by law, but for me its a moral issue for me,, now its my turn to care for them, and you will never finding me complaining about it,, but happy to do so,, keep carving folks and enjoy the warmer weather,, and hopefully soon i be back to carving a more again on youtube,, arleen

show went well, and now here for the carverswoodshop luncheon

hi folks,, the mid altantic woodcarvers show went well,, i have photos that one of my students that came to the show.,, i didnt have time to do to much with the videos etc, the show was good and now i am here at the mall for our luncheon that will begin in about 30 mins,,,,, i was glad to see some of my students,, 3 in fact that took the time to come to the show,,, they all seemed to enjoy it,, and looking at all the different carvers and woodcarvings that were there. , i know most of the carvers are willing to chat about their work,, i was busy with folks that came to the table , and chatting away,, got some carving done, and even sharpen some knives for the carver that was next to me,,alot of the carvers were interested in the tomz sharpening machine,,lol a lot of carvers are not on the net so they dont get the advantage of knowing about new machines,, etc, well folks i bring this to a close for now,, i will get videos and photos up later this week,, take care and keep carving ,arleen

well another cat gone,,

hi folks , sad to say our other cat was gone for about a week and a neighbor said it was hit as well,, wow,,, little leeni was a sweet cat,, she was a good young cat,, but nothing we could do,, the barn cats are outside,, but she will be missed as well,,

coming home tomorrow, basswood, and the show coming up

hi folks i;v been in michigan, visiting some friends, and decided to look for some basswood , found a place that might start supplying my basswood in the future,, i will keep you informed as i go along,, its been a pleasant trip, and a long ride home tomorrow,, but i am sure that i will be able to find the basswood that will fill my needs,, i want you to be sure that your getting the true board foot for your money,, when get a quote make sure , and confirm the prices before they ship it to you,, and you should get the shipping cost too,, so no surprises when you get your bill,,
this coming weekend is the mid-atlantic,carving show, at fairless hills pa.hope to see some of you there,, happy carving, arleen

winner to the dvd and magazine giveaway

hi folks ,, the winner is steve, congrats

beware,, when buying basswood

BEWARE, if you are purchasing bass wood, please make sure you know the true price of the wood you're buying. Ask for the total price and shipping, if they are shipping it to you, height x width,x length will give you total board foot. Take that and divide into 144, then multiply by price, that should be the price of your wood.
if they quote you a price per board foot make sure it adds up, arleen

looking towards the next carving show

hi folks we just finished the pine cone class with 4 people, and it was a great class, we had fun and they all did a super job on their projects, i will be getting ready for then mid atlantic show hope to see some of you there,, keep carving , arleen

GOOD FRIDAY CROSS #8 ( END)

good friday cross completed

GOOD FRIDAY CROSS #7 .... ONE MORE VIDEO AFTER I PAINT IT COMING SOON

GOOD FRIDAY CROSS #1

hi folks, been busy this week , with family , and finding time to carve can be hard to do,, but i did get some videos of my next series of the GOOD FRIDAY CROSS, this cross reminds me of my church years ago as a kid,, we had a cross had a IHS in the middle , and it stands for JESUS, GOD, SAVIOR hope you enjoy this project , and i will try to get the rest of the 7 videos up tonight,, thanks and enjoy, , arleen

NEW dove carving class to come , april 25, 2011

hi folks another one day new carving class DOVE, this is will be held on april monday 25, 2011 at home furnishing outlet mall in morgantown, in the food court,

cost is 35.00 one cutout, free coffee and donuts and a coupon to the c and r grill, 3.00 limit is 8,

this carving is done out of one piece,

TIME, WHERE DOES IT GO,, ??

hi folks, i never seem to have enough time to do anything, weather its working at the farm, or getting ready for my classes, or videos, work, and carving,, time gets away from me often,, and sometimes i wonder how i ever got so much done in the past when i had the farm full time ,and work off the farm part-time and finding time to a few things that i did enjoy,, somehow we were all able to put alot into a day,,

well today,, is here,, and i have the carverswoodshop luncheon, and the end of the auction for the cat at noon,, thanks to all the bid,, i will announce a winner later this afternoon after the luncheon thanks again,, find some time for yourselves , sit a enjoy carving for a while,, take care folks, arleen

PENNSLYVANIA DELAWARE VALLEY WOOD SHOW APRIL 9TH AND 10TH 2011

hi folks, i just sign up to go to the show which is from the pa delaware valley wood carving show,

its called the 35th annual mid atlantic " ARTISTRY IN WOOD " show and competition

sat and sun, april 9, 10th 2011

sat 10am- 5pm

sunday 10am - 4pm

at the bucks country technical high school , 610 wistar rd , fairless hills, pa,

hope to see many of you there, stop by and say howdy, lol , this is my first time at this show,, take care and happy carving, arleen

for more information

http://www.delvalwoodcarvers.com/contact.html

new silent auction,, hand carved cat by carverswoodshop

bid is up to 25.00

HOLSTIEN THE CAT #7 (END)

ok something new a silent auction

hi folks the silent auction will be on the red / cat in the middle only ,, all you got to do is send an email to the carverswoodshop@yahoo.com and on the subject line put in CAT BID ....... and the amount,

the auction will close on monday march 21 at 12pm the highest bidder will win,, this is open to the usa and canada only ,, sorry folks,, happy bidding,, i will post a video soon,, email will only be used to contact yoy if your the highest bidder after the auction, the emails will be deleted, arleen , no phone bids, email bids only thanks, arleen cat is 2 1/2 high and 1 inch round

HOLSTIEN THE CAT #1

there are 6 videos clips for this carving project,, there is one more that i will post after he is painted enjoy, arleen

new project coming on youtube , HOLSTEIN THE CAT

in honor of my cat,, holstein :)

beginners list ?? what is should be?

hi again,, i was just thinking about this , and when i do my wood carving classes,, i guess i came up with a list of what beginners should have,, and must have to begin wood carving,,

so here is the must have list if your a beginner

a good knife

carvers glove

strop and compound

and thumb guard,,

small tool box ( to carry your stuff) it kinda hard to carry it without a box or bag might come in handy, lol

now what you can add to your wish list,

and this list is in an order of what a beginner should plan to buy in the future

bandsaw,,

what size,, well that depends if your going to carve full size duck or just small things

a table top is very handy, and can cut thickness up to 3 1/2

a self standing for bigger stuff, and thickness depends on the machine you get ,, 6 to 12 inches

gouges and v tools,

i would buy only what you needed,, not in sets, unless your sure you will use it in the future,

i have palm gouges that are great for small work,, but longer handle gouges come in handy too, depends what you want to carve,,

sharpening machine,,

now this is a want but i believe its a need, you need to have your knifes etc sharp to carve, but you also have to learn how to sharpen,, which many carvers its a learning process, there are all kinds of things on the market,,, do your homework, and what you need to sharpen , do you want to make your own knives, or just sharpen the ones you got,,?? this will determine what you will need, all can be done by hand with stones, or wet and dry sandpaper,, so learn the art of sharpening,, plus if you learn most of it by hand then going to a machine makes it very easy,,

carving room

shed, or shop

where are you going to do most of your carving,, in the home, basement, then its table, chairs, and work room stuff, shelves etc,, so much to add here,,

because of the farm i have one bandsaw in the barn, and the other in my basement, ( smaller one)

so think where are you going to let the chips fly,

i mostly carve in my home, or where ever, but if you power carve thats a bit different,, so plan,

here are some things to think about ,, if your a beginner, and folks one step at a time, and add what you need when you need it,, take care and happy carving arleen

Tomz Knife Massager - Sharpening Knives got mine this week

hi folks, i posted this video on my facebook,, ( THIS IS TOMS VIDEO, NOT MINE) i got this machine this past week, and love it,, it is a great machine for sharpening knifes gouges , and v tool,, yeeesssss i got all my v tools sharpen, and that is a tough one to do , but if you follow toms instructions,, then you will be able to do this also,, i now used that v tool on a couple of my carvings this week,, and boy did i enjoy it,, lol

and to those that wonder if i am getting commissions on posting this the answer is no,,, i am just letting you folks know when i find something that you might enjoy or easy to use, and its both enjoy sharpening and its easy to use,, i will be taking this machine to my carving classes, and will sharpen knives when needed,, its sooooo quite,, you cant hear the motor, just a few words, if your looking for a machine to make knives, i dont think this is the one for you ,, cause it would take alot to reshape a whole blade, this is great for the final stages of sharpening, then doing it on a stone,, , so its a slow motor but to me it a safer one because of the speed, plus you wont burn your tool,, and you can hold the blade down with your finger and it never heats up to a point where you have to remove it ,, so put it on your christmas list, birthday or just want it list, save your money and get one,, now i know tom is a one man operation there, and its limited, you may have to put in an order but the wait would be worth it,, it was a fair price,, i just wish i had it years ago,, happy carving,, , arleen

you can email tom ellis at
tandlellis@msn.com for more information

another presentation tomorrow,, wow ,,

hi folks,, i have yet another presentation tomorrow, for a local group,, and i guess i getting use to my new comfort level, lol well i will pack some of the stuff tonight,, and get the rest in the morning,, so here i go again,, so i hope things go well,, and working again on another project trying out a couple of things and once i have it worked out i will post photos of it,, keep carving, arleen

you never know?? some neat things coming

wow folks things are moving along great,, i have the carvers coming together for the luncheon and able to do some carving on the projects that they are working on,, i guess its a great sign when all your students come back,, and wanted yet more classes in the future,, some missed one project or another, and so i trying to have a class or two a month,, i am also planning some different project for future classes , the dove would be one,, getting a bit larger wood for that project that i ordered this morning, and more of the blocks that i use in my carving classes,, so i try to keep you all posted of the different events , and projects,, it been a nice set up at the mall, thursday, i have my other presentation to do,, so its been a full week,, carving yet another cute little project that i will share with you later you never know what may be next but some neat things coming, ,, so keep carving

new pine cone day class monday march 28th 20011

hi folks,, its been a busy couple of weeks,, it seems i have something going carving wise every week, either the carverswoodshop luncheon,, or a class, so here i go again,, planning isnt the easiest thing for me,, but i know i have to plan these events ahead,, i am a person that doesnt enjoy planning things, but i know it has to be done to have the classes, and luncheons,, so here we go again,, on march 28th,, some of my students asked when i plan to do the pine cone class again,, and well monday march 28th seemed like a good time,, so i will have a one day class,, 4 folks so far are coming up to 8 people will fill the class, so if your interested please email me ,, at the carverswoodshop, or call 484-364-0471 ,, thanks so much for stopping by today,, take care and keep carving,, arleen

carverswoodshop luncheon was great

hi folks just got back from the carverswoodshop luncheon,, we had a total of 8 people , all my students were there plus a couple of others,, we enjoy some lunch and then carved for a couple of hours,, it was nice time ,, carving and chatting together,, my next carverswoodshop luncheon will be monday march 21, 2011 12pm to 3 pm all are welcome to come,, happy carving everyone , arleen

DVD'S BY CARVERSWODSHOP, ARLEEN ZOMER (34 dvd's over 55 projects )

next carverswoodshop luncheon,, monday march 7, 12-3 pm

howdy folks,, lol ,, the next meeting for the carverswoodshop luncheon is monday march 7th 2011 12pm to 3 pm, at the home furnishing outlet mall , morgantown pa, i am looking forward to it,, also i just purchased a new sharpening system and once i get it in the mail and give it a try i will give an update,, so things are moving forward,, hope all is well and everyone has a carving project they are enjoying,, keep carving arleen if you need directions,, email me at carverswoodshop@yahoo.com

dvd and magazine giveaway

dvd and magazine giveaway,, drawing april 1 2011

DVD (standing branch santa ) AND CARVING MAGAZINE GIVEAWAY,,( holiday issue 2011) to enter just send me an email to carverswoodshop@yahoo.com or send a message by facebook, and put in the subject line dvd and magazine giveaway,, drawing is on april 1, 2010 ,

new dvd standing branch santa,

hi folks i have posted on my other blog that my standing branch santa dvd is ready, please go to

http://arleenscarverswoodshop.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-dvd-standing-branch-santa-34.html

thanks , happy carving folks , take care , arleen