AN EASY PROJECT HERE IS A PHOTO OF THE COMFORT CROSS

hi folks,, here is a still photo in case you want the pattern you are welcome to copy this photo for the pattern , enjoy arleen

COMFORT CROSS ? WHAT IT IS, A EASY PROJECT TO CARVE

this is a very simple project for a beginner, enjoy,, arleen

new kittens at the farm,, his name is calvin

he is the chosen one,, lol calvin,, he is a good boy if your from the CRC church background this name makes sense. :)

wow information you can find on the web , so wonderful

howdy folks,, as some of you know i have a facebook page , called the carverswoodshop, and i posted a question about making spoons,, about what finish to use,,, i got a well of information from the folks there,, i been carving a long time, 30 years, i never did spoons,,, so i thought maybe i could come up with an interesting project about them for the luncheon,, i saw a few spoon carvers in some of the carving shows, and the neat spoons they made out of all kinds of wood,, my idea is in the same line but a bit different,, folks on the net are so willing to help you out,, its great, no matter how long you been carving you can always learn something new,, woodcarving is so many different things,, can be only birds, spoons, santas, chip carving, what ever you want to carve, you can carve with power, knife, and both,, so much to learn,, folks,, i keep you posted, but on our july 11th carverswoodshop luncheon, it will be a repeat of the 8 and 12 pointed star,, some folks missed it and so many enjoy it, that i decided to repeat it,, it always fun to venture into something new,, take care, arleen

next meeting for the carverswoodshop luncheon, july 11, 2011 1pm-4pm

hi folks , your welcome to come the the next carverswoodshop luncheon, on july, 11, 2011 we will meet from 1- 4pm please come and get some lunch,, you can come at noon if you like,,, its one hour later cause i had an appointment that morning that i could not get out of ,,, otherwise its normally 12-3pm

we had a great the last time we got together, i trying to have some small projects, to do ,, or you bring along what your carving on, and welcome to work on it there,, i am always looking for a new simple projects that everyone can do,, whether your a carver for many years, or just a newbie , just a time for carvers to get together , chat and carve, or do a simple project together,,

also at these meeting i will have future luncheon dates, along with upcoming classes that i will soon post on facebook and on this blog,,

i got some great feedback,, from those that were there last month,, and please if you have any questions, about the lunches and classes, please email me at carverswoodshop@yahoo.com

happy carving folks,, enjoy the summer and find a tree to sit under, to sit for a spell and whittle arleen

last meeting till sept 20 for the lancaster county woodcarvers club

howdy folks,, i know its been a while,, well things are so soo lol, , lost my voice so the youtube videos will have to wait a bit,, i do have a simple project for you folks,, but until i can talk without sounding like scooby doo, the cartoon,, lol i will wait a bit,, had this now for almost two weeks, slowing the voice is coming along,, but i will brave the doing the videos soon again,,,

lancaster had their last meeting last night till summer is over,, the lancaster club will not meet till sept 20. 2011 ,, its important meeting,, so if your part of this club please make a point of being there, some changes, that need to be voted on etc,, so do your best to come to that first meeting,

keep carving, arleen

6-13-11 carverswoodshop luncheon

hi folks , we had a good time carving the knife name tag,, we had 10 folks carving this project,,

some came from the lancaster county woodcarvers club,, thanks to all that came out,, it was great to have to come to morgantown,, they all did a great job on their name tags,, hope to see you next time in july 11 monday 1pm - 4 pm i will be teaching the 8 and 12 pointed star,,

hand carved hat at the 2011 lancaster show

did you ever see a chip-carved hat,, saw one at the show

hi folks i forgot about this , and i have some photos and a short video ,, of a hand carved hat,, it was chipped carved,, and he said its a bit heavy, he got the pattern out of an old magazine,, how neat was this,, soo cool ,,

whats next after the show,, and about the show, some thoughts

howdy folks,, wow we had a great weekend with the show, i always come away learning something new,, one thing i found was it was a relaxing weekend for me,, not meaning it wasnt a lot of work which it always is to set up at a show, but this being the second time around for this show for me, i really enjoyed just chatting with folks, and see so many that wanted to learn to carve for the first time,, i also enjoy many of the young folks that came, some of them came to our club meeting,, and i could see how much they enjoyed the show,, it was refreshing to see young people wanted to learn woodcarving that they can enjoy for years to come,, see them excited to learn yet more , thanks to those in our club that are willing to go to their school to show them and spend time with them to learn,, what i neat treat for me to see them talking about their projects, and the things they would like to try to carve in the future,, it was super,, well what is next > ? well for me a new simple simple project that some of you might enjoy, give me a day or two and i will have it up on youtube, and also working on my next meeting of the carverswoodshop luncheon,, its one meeting i have a feeling their will be a lot of folks there,, its a free time to get together and just carve, i doing some simple projects, in the 3 hours we are together i plan to do the knife name tag, if you in the area your welcome to come, it will be june monday 13, 2011 at 12- 3pm , at the food court at the home furnishing mall, morgantown pa,

if you plan to come let me know that i can have enough cutouts for the project ,, all i ask is that because the mall allow me to have the meeting there is that you purchase lunch at the c r barn, in the food court.. the meeting is free and so is the knife blank, ok folks time to close this and hope you enjoy the videos that i made, and have a great week ahead , keep carving, arleen

LANCASTER SHOW 2011 #5

LANCASTER SHOW 2011 # 3

LANCASTER SHOW 2011 # 4

LANCASTER SHOW 2011 #2

there will be two more videos coming tomorrow on sunday, i will interview two carvers

LANCASTER SHOW 2011 #1

lancaster show going well, lots of work for all, a great time

hi folks , sat was a great day at the show,, thanks to all that came up to see the show,, we have yet another day ( sunday) which will be also another fun day,, i decided to have two tables this year , one table is fine too but very full,, so since lancaster club is my home club i thought two tables would be great,,, well it turned out to be very good idea,, as i keep adding new dvds and more carvings for sale , it was a right choice, it didnt look as full plus i had a place to sit and relax to chat with people,, and able to carve a bit to to show folks how to do the 8 pointed star,, so here are some photos my table,, i am at the end, which made is super nice,, lost a bit of space because of the corner, but well worth it,, this took me about 2 1/2 hours to set it up the first time with two tables,, remember my effort in the show is only a small fraction to those that run the show every year. so please , not only do the vendors and the all the folks that have tables, and all those that work behind the the scenes , put a lot of work into it,, so that folks can come and enjoy a wonderful time,, next time you go to a show,, its not only there for the two days but took weeks of work from a lot of folks to make a show be a success, it take a lot of planing and folks willing to put it together ,, keep carving, and please go to a show near you if you get a chance and support it,, thanks for reading arleen

yes two more new dvds #35 #36 and remember those , that gave us our freedom

hi folks i have two more dvds #35 is the cross, and 8 & 12 pointed star, and the second is the #36 holstein the cat , knife name tag, and the simple snowman,, both of these will be at the lancaster show this coming weekend,, june 4 and 5th,, wow,, i just realized that i added 8 new dvds since last years show,, its amazes me how much one can get done in a year,, my carving days have slowed down a bit,, but mostly due to the lack of time,, but folks i sure to have some new fresh ideas soon on youtube again,, hope you all have a safe holiday weekend,, and please pause to remember those that gave their lives for what we enjoy today,, our freedom,, take care and keep carving, arleen

the count down to the lancaster show,, wow a week away

hi everyone,, i had a very busy weekend with family from canada, and getting the yards mowed once again,, the weather turn hot and muggy,, ( where is the snow?) i bet you can guess which i like better,, yep the winter,, anyway its time to get ready for the show,, and the weeks have been flying by,, not sure if i will enter anything in the show,,,, i will have to wait and see,, i was going to enter one piece but i didnt finish it yet,, who knows i might get to it yet lol,,,, hope you all have a great holiday weekend,, be safe and keep carving ,arleen

rain and mowing grass,, great time to do some carving LOL

howdy folks,, well, if your like us here in the east we had a lot of rainy days,, trying to mow the grass has been ... well a pain to be honest,, i have two to do every week and its hard to mow when the grass is wet.... i found a window of some clear weather and decided to go for it, and yes got one done,, well my other mower was in the process of getting repaired, i was able to mow the other three days later,, thinking i better do it just in case it rain again,, which its raining again now,, and so i caught up for the moment,, its a great time to take out the carving knife and work on a few pieces, i always think never have enough ready for a show, but this time i think i do have enough, in fact , its been nice kinda just carving out of a sense of enjoying the moment instead of a deadline, much more relaxing for sure, hope you all got caught up with both mowing and carving, take care, arleen

family a movie and now getting ready for the show,

hi everyone,, well my sister was here again from canada, helping out with mom and dad, and giving me a bit of a break, along was some of her grandkids, i was able to find some time to go to a movie with them we went to see soul surfer and it was a great movie for all ages,, a lot of great lessons for folks,, but now is the time to get ready for the next show which is the lancanster show,, i have to sit down this week and try to get things together,, making a list is one of the new ways that help me to remember what to get done, lists are important,, i now have more lists then i like to have, but it helps me not to forget stuff, so in the next few days i will be looking at what i need to bring etc, hope to see many of you at the show,, take care and keep carving, arleen

about having a blog,, you can write anything you want :) today the end of the world??

the joy of having a blog is to be able to share ideas, and just thoughts that you alone have, and want to share with the rest of the bloggersville, well today i just caught that today was to be the end of the world,, and many that believe this preacher sold everything they had and followed him,, kinda sounds like those in the day of jesus those that followed him,, gave up family, businesses for a teacher, and i am sure many thought they were crazy to follow this man,, but today many around the world see jesus as a savior and not only a prophet,, and many follow him today, as do i , but we also have a bible that can teach us a vast amount of things, and if we are willing to search a bit,, it plainly say that no one knows the hour only the father knows the day and time,, and because of that i never understood how folks can follow a preacher that has a date for the end of the world,, i will leave the jugdement to god as far as that preacher is concern,, i wont have to do it,, but this is the second time that he predicted the end of the world,,, as he continues to bring in revenue many sold everything they had, quit their jobs really believe it with all their hearts,, to them i feel compassion,, not only were they not following god but a man that claim to have truth, and how much more damage did this man do to those that really thought it would be the end and it didnt happen,, i guess, many have laugh how could anyone believe it,, and follow that,, but we dont know how but somehow people will believe what is told to them, and i for one tomorrow will say a prayer, for those whose faith were shaken and that they will be able to get their jobs back and some of the money return,, to me its fraud,, plain and simple its one thing to share a message like this its another to continue to take people's money, up until the day that they claim,, as a christian that believes in a second coming, feels that when ever that days comes i will be ready,, i dont need to know the day and hour,, it will not be a concern for me,, but a happy one for those of us that know the lord,, take care and keep carving arleen

computers and carving great combo

hi folks,, as i am able to do a post on my blog today, i had to think what the two have in common, and they have nothing in common, but using the computer to learn new things , then its a great combo,, the past few days i had no internet, and my connection was not good,, for some reason, i found not only annoying but frustrating,, so i walked away from it for a while , and began to redo my inkjet office, with the new machine,, like all new things i need to learn the tricks to this machine,, its wonderful, but it a bit more work on my part but well worth it if it does what its suppose to do,, well carving as i said in one of my post is it can be very rewarding or very frustrating, depending on the tools that you use and the wood,, it make a huge difference and you just have to keep at it to get it right,, but all this take time, we are in a world that everyone one wants to have everything right away,, not always good, sometimes working towards a goal is jjust as important as finishing it,, and sometime when its a tough piece to carve, or a project that your learning, well its all the more rewarding when you can finish it and look at what youve done, so yes computers can help you learn how to carve but it doesnt replace you really picking up a knife and doing it, you cant learn it just by watching youtube but joining along side it with a block of wood in your hands ,, and a good sharp knife,, so yes i guess the do go together,, pick a project from any of the carvers on line or mine, and go for it,,, you got nothing to lose but everything to gain,, enjoy folks,,, hope to see many of you in a couple of weeks, at the carving show,, take care, arleen

hi folks, just to let you know , some info about inkjets

hi folks i started a blog that might be helpful to you about inkjet cartridges, and some interesting facts i learn along the way, if interested go to the link,, the machine is proving to be worth the investment,, i still have a bit more to learn, hope your all enjoying the week, and keep carving , arleen

http://zomerenterprisesinkjet.blogspot.com/

well nothing to do with woodcarving but my new machine for inkjet refilling

hi folks,, i know this has nothing to do with woodcarving, but one of my businesses over the years was inkjet refilling,, i been refilling inkjets for the last 13 years,, since 1998,, most of the machines have changed so much over the years,, and with some other refilling companies came and went,, i never knew how they could pay the rent for the kiosk and make any profit,, as i watch one company come to major mall near the city,, i spoke to them a few times, as most that start a business , i felt they has a good drive for a business but i felt they were lead down a road which to me made no sense,, first not every cartridge you get in to refill will be refillable. no matter what you do to it,, trust me folks ,, i had more ink errors in the beginning,, i did most of it by hand, cause not one machine can do it all,, but at the same time i was losing the ability to refill some of the cartrides as the major companies made it more and more difficult to refill them,, of course this is how the make their money is selling the replacements for their inkjet printers, which today are really throw aways, just want they want,, i still using a hp 930 machine is a workhorse, made in 1995 ... with a special adapter to use with my lap top ,, i will start another blog about the inkjets and will put together things you need to look for when buying a new machine, or what will work best for you in the long run,,

but for now the machine you see is the machine i just bought to upgrade my business, i have yet to use it,, and looking at all the tubing and buttons ,, but i also know enough that this machine can be a great asset, time will tell how it will work,, my hopes are high, and hopefully it will be good for many years to come,,

well just like having the right tools in woodcarving, was time for me to have the right refilling machine,, sometimes a old business needs a boost and now was the time,,

plus i need this machine to make all my dvd covers etc,, LOL

its been a great job, most customers drop of their inkjets in a box and pick them back up in the next box outside, so the system i had worked well,,

sometimes you either get out of a business or you have to keep going,, and sometimes you just need to upgrade or get out of it,, so i decided it was time to upgrade,, and soon i will be able to help you out when your ready to buy a new printer, and which ones are better for what you need,, email me , if you have any question , i be happy to help you out,,,,, keep carving, arleen

wow i think i hit a winner with the knife name tag LOL

hi folks just to let you know , that you can modified this in a few different ways ,, it can be a closed knife or open as i have it, or different sizes, you can take it to a copier and change the size, also you can add wood to the bottom of it to add the carving club name,, ,, there is a lot you can do with it , and many different ways to make this name tag work,, thanks for stopping by,, enjoy arleen

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