my student's photo of pine cones

one of my students who took my class last monday , made a few more and sent me a photo,, he did a good job on the pine cones,, thanks for posting them,, and allowing me to share it on my blog,, thank arleen

snow , snow , and then more snow,, lol time to carve

hi , snow is a bad word for many folks,, but i always enjoyed the beauty of the snow,, i have to admit i getting a bit tired of plowing and shoveling the white stuff, but if i had a choice ,, plow or cut the grass,, i will take the snow,, lol now many of you would think that is not your pick , but i did enjoy the way it look outside on the way to my home on the tractor,, i finally gave in that i could not shovel all of the stuff, which i normally do so that i dont have to drive the tractor over the road,, other people i am more afraid of their driving in the snow than i am with a john deer 4x4 tractor,, time to carve? well not today,, i have a couple of new ideas that i may try soon,, and once i have a pattern i let you know what it is,, one will have to do with farming,,if i can get a pattern together ,and a true story to go along with it ,, lol we will see,, all good things take time,, that is for sure,, take care , stay warm and keep carving,, arleen

TIME TO GET READY....snow, class and maybe a new project

hi again folks, we are going to have another snowstorm tomorrow night , and i need to get fuel for the tractor before the fluffy white stuff appears,, ( i see plowing in my future ) but i also have to get ready for the next carving class coming up on monday, i need to do some prep work , cutouts, and a couple more of the strops, and some other things before the weekend is here,, and maybe i find a little time to enjoy creating another new project from the drawing board,, lol i been in bit in a slump with what to do next ,,maybe to much other stuff going on at the moment,,,,,, ,, and new ideas come quickly and at other times not at all, and if this has happen to you,, its fine, its normal, and just enjoy what your working on, funny we rush to get a project done,, to get to something new,, just enjoy the project your working on, take your time, and relax, and if you dont have something in mind to work on ,, just sit back and enjoy the one you just finished, happy carving folks,, arleen

NEW carverswoodshop carving night??? let me know what you think?.

hello, at the wood carving class yesterday,, we were able to chat about a number of things as we were carving our pine cones,, one idea i had and would like to try to put together,, is the following and i would like your input or ideas about this,, i will post this also on facebook,, so please let me know if this idea would appeal to you,,

i often thought that a weekly get together, to sit and carve whatever projects we were working on, without cost, just a time to be able to see what other folks are working on, i saw this done in canada, at jans place,, i was able to attend, and it was super,, i enjoyed seeing other carvers work of art, and we had some coffee and some chatting,, nice relaxing night,, it was only for about 2 hours,, if you are from the lancaster berks, chester counties, here in pa,, please let me know if you would be interested in this,, i try to arrange it to be where my classes at the mall ,, and thought monday nights or wed night might suit most folks, so please, feedback is welcome, i will sponsor it, and make the arrangements , i had hope in future to hold this free get together at my farm , when i have the shop up,, i will call it the CARVERSWOODSHOP CARVING NIGHT, it will be free for everyone that is interested in woodcarving,, so please email me directly or comment here,, you will see two polls, if you like to have one and what night? this will be helpful to me,, and have a great day carving, arleen

what a great day,, the pine cone class

hi folks, today, was great,, and they did a great job on their pine cone projects,, i enjoyed it ,, it was great chatting and carving all day, next week we will do the hobo santa, which is two days,, and thanks the the c & c barn and grill for helping me supply the coffee donuts and lunch today,, thanks to everyone that came today, arleen

pinecone class #4 ( end) finished pine cones

pinecone class #3 c r barn and grill

pinecone class #2

pinecone class #1

COME A LONG WAY,, JUST LOOKING BACK

Hi folks,, i just sat here making some last minute signs i will need to place around the mall so the folks know where to go for the class tomorrow,, i am looking forward to it,, and i hope that they will enjoy it too, i try to think of everything that i need and then some,, lol but i just posted a slideshow of all the dvds videos that you see to your right at the top of my blogs,, that are available,, thought it might be a nice idea, to set that up,, after about two hours i learn how to do so,, and all of the dvds are on that slideshow,, as the pictures when by,, i had to think of all the work put into it,, my oh my,, its hard to believe that i got that much done, and what is in store for me this year,, things are a bit at a stand still until i get some of the carving classes behind me,, but as i watched,, i thought how great it was to be able to do them,, and how much i learn about computers and videos and how to do the blogs, youtube and facebook , as i was making the teaching videos, i also was learning, :) learn what it took to make them, how to set up for shows, how to make some neat signs , etc,, wow personally i found i came a long way,, and i am happy,, happy carving everyone

lancaster county wood carving show,, june 4 & 5th 2011 and some new ideas

hi folks its that time of year to start planning the wood carving shows, and of course i will be at the lancaster county woodcarving show ,, it will be sat and sun june 4th and 5th,, i believe it will be 10-4 ,i have to ck to make sure that is the opening and closing times, i will update you folks later on it,,, ,,, so if you want to come to lancaster get a head start if your from out of town,, i know we get a lot of tourist and finding a motel might not be that simple,, like i said last year some of my family come here and they reserve, ( a house) a year in advance,, now you would not have to do that for a motel room, but be sure to do so early if you plan to come to the show, and enjoy lancaster area for a few days,, i am also planning to put together the same day classes , the pine cone, one day, and the hobo santa two day class, that monday for the pine cone class, and wed and friday, the hobo, santa class, so if your interested in coming to the show and taking a class email me ,, i will put you on a list , send you all the information, again, limit of 10 folks for the pinecone class and 6 for the hobo santa class, and i will have another day classes in the fall, near the end of sept,, so sign up early,, if there are more than ten then i will add another day class, last year was a great show and i know it will be a great show again this year,, so come and enjoy, i sure you will not only a great carving show but a great place to visit here in lancaster county,,, hope to see and meet many of ya,, happy carving, arleen

lancaster county,, ?? honey brook ?

hi again,, i often wonder when i see folks driving around in lancaster county , where they are from,, we have tourist that come to lancaster to see the amish country,,last i heard some 10 million people travel to lancaster every year, some folks i know come 2 -3 times a year,, they love this area,, and i often wonder what is the draw, i guess seeing how folks live here is one, some find that this area is great places to shop for craft made items,, its maybe the landscape and or the people... lancaster is a great place, i guess its the same for any other tourist area,, something draws people to come, and funny thing,, we dream of looking for another place to live or where our ideal place to live would be, and i often thought i love to have a cabin up in the mountains, a wood carving shop/gallery there too lol,,, we often forget to enjoy what we have,, and one day driving through honey brook pa. i thought this is where i was to be and to stay,, and near lancaster country, where folks come from miles around wanting a piece of this area if just for a few days ,, and some day i will get that shop, and gallery at the farm , something to look forward to,, but to that cabin i wanted in the mountain, well i settle for something much better, i stay put right here at my home, and my town, here in honey brook pa, i not going to waste one more mintue wishing for that dream place , when i am living in it already, keep carving, arleen

beginners kit, and a special dvd for those taking my class

welcome back, some of you are new to carving, maybe just searching the subject, and not sure where to go or what you will need,, the classes i am starting this year,, i have a beginners kit together

my supplier is hillcrest carving in lancaster,, don swartz the owner ,, i have known of don ,, he use to come into the shop that i was working in ( susquehanna decoy shop) back in the 80s... he now has his own shop in lancaster for the past number of years,, he is suppling me with all the beginners kits that you will be able to purchase,, the cost is 45.00 plus 8.00 to ship,, it has a carvers glove , ( small , med , large please let me know which one you need) and a thumb guard, strop ( i made the two sided strop) and a murphy knife ( that don has razor sharp).

i thought it was time to be able to supply a kit, if your a beginner ,, plus i have a dvd for those that are taking my class, its 15 mins long and will explain the projects, what things you will need and how to control your knife,, and a practice 1 x1 x6 basswood ,,, this dvd was made so that if you never pick up a knife that you can view and practice the cuts before you come to class, that it will help you get a pre-start to the class, these dvds are not for sale , but i ask that those that receive them before the class to return them when we met for our class. folks if any of you have any questions about the beginners kit and the dvd, please email me at carverswoodshop@yahoo.com or call direct, at 484-364-0471 thanks and happy carving, arleen

never know who your going to meet

today at work at our local mall, ( i am a security guard) as i open up the north part of the mall, a man came up to me said he lost a hearing aid,, which cost thousands,, he said he was walking here yesterday, and thought it might be in one of the hallways,, i told him if i could have his number i would call if we found it, he handed me a card,, and i flipped it over without looking at the front, to write down the information, where he might have been in the mall,, so i said lets walk around and take a look, then i notice the front of business card he gave me , that he was a wood carver of birds,, lol well told him about the carving club in lascaster, and we walked around and didnt find the hearing aid,, we chatted for another 15 min about woodcarving , i was waiting anyway to open the rest of the mall at 945am, we said our goodbyes, he then walked up the north hallway,, he then yelled that he found it ,, i went up to him,, he said he prayed that he would find it cause of the expense to get another one ,,he said can you believe that ,, i said i sure do,, he was amazed that he found it and was very happy, it was the last part of the hallways we did not go past,, so you never know who you will meet or the little miracles that might happen in a day and beware carvers are everywhere LOL

updated my other blog

hi folks i just updated my other blog, http://arleenscarverswoodshop.blogspot.com/ with the photos, to the covers of my 33 dvds that are available, some of you asked if i had an update,, i will update it later this year if when i add more dvds to the collection,, thanks for stopping by , hope your weekend is a good and safe one, happy carving , arleen

THANK YOU , JIM

hi folks, on youtube you will find many of my free videos, and some of you have a hard time searching for videos to projects , jim, a computer programmer put together a listing on his blog to help those that are looking for my youtube videos, jim did this on his own,, i didnt ask him to do it but thankful that he did,, thanks jim,, it was put together very well,, i was very pleased with it,, some you will only find the first video and last, if i put it on dvd,, this should help you,,,to all kinds of information that you might be looking for,, happy carving ,,

here is the link

http://blog.mischel.com/arlene-carverswoodshop-carving-videos/

HAPPY ENDING,,,, THANKS TO A SCROLL SAW later a sad day

hi folks, tonight there was a happy ending,, at the farm we have a bunch of cats,, but one we favor named holstein,( he is black and white) was missing,, we enjoyed seeing him every night on the back porch and we let him in for a few hours and return him outside with the others,, they have a nice place to sleep and these cats were strays , so we feed them, and in turn they catch a few mice for us, but holstein was missing before the storm yesterday,, so my mom was very upset that he was not there in the morning, so i looked for him around the farm,, nothing,, so today as i was checking the heaters in the barn,, i thought i call one more time,, kitty kitty,, and lo and behold i heard a meow from part of a wall, ,,,, was in part of the farm building that i was not able to get to,, but i got the drill and a scroll saw, and cut a hole in part of the wall, and there he was,,, i bit thinner, but hungry ,,,, i carried him to the house fed him, and went back to repair the wall,, so a scroll saw does come in handy at times, we were so glad to see him back,, :)
................update, our dear mr holstien was hit by a car , and he didnt make, it,,he was a very nice gentle giant,, i miss him,, we all do,,.... i guess he didnt have nine lives :(......

plowing>>>> learn a few things

hi folks as some of you know we had a snowstorm last night,, and i knew i had to get ready, for the plowing that was going to be waiting for me the next morning,, we got about 6 inches of the fluffy white stuff,, i love snow,, but plowing was something i had to learn,, my dad did it for many years,, and his 4x4 john deer front end loader was his baby,, he had an old international harvester, that the steering was so difficult then about 15 years ago he got this one, he used it so much around the farm,
funny he never wanted anyone on the tractor,, and he was so good with the front end loader,, he knew just how to handle it just like it was an extension of his hand,, he dug out dirt piles, crap piles and he knew just how to handle it,, i wanted him to teach me how to drive it , but as time went on, slowly he allowed me to drive it around, but my skills of that front end loader , was not good,, but as years went by my father can no longer drive it , and i had to take over the plowing and many of the farm chores, he is fine with me running the tractor, and tells me its up to me who is allowed to use it which means he trusts me to take care of it,,, ,, but i had to learn the tractor, so one day a few years ago, i asked him to meet me outside and show me how to work it,, and the rest was history,,
this year, i think i felt the most comfortable on the tractor,, i know how to work both the front end loader, and how to hook up the grader and the bush hog ( mower ) , and how to plow the right way,, i didnt learn this over night, but the more i used the tractor and plowed and mowed the better i got at it,, its like anything else practice makes perfect, i guess carving is the same,, if you keep at it , or better yet have someone help you along with it , you will be good at it,,
i would never learn how to plow, mow, how to work the three point hitch if i didnt do it,,, i could read all the books on it but until i got into the seat and just started that tractor up and ran it , then i learned it,,
i was kinda force to learn how to operate the john deer,, i was happy that dad enjoy the tractor, cause then i didnt have to do it,, but now i am beginning to enjoy it,,
and today i have to say ,, i did a good job plowing, with my dads john deer
so keep at it,, and remember the more you carve the more you will enjoy it,,
happy carving

wood carving classes, pine cone and hobo santa

carving classes,, photo of projects coming

here are the two projects i will be teaching in the woodcarving day classes
if interested just email me carverswoodshop@yahoo.com for more information, thanks for dropping by, arleen

two wood carving classes coming up

hi folks, thanks for stopping by i will be having two classes, one will be the pinecone, and the other will be the hobo santa, for beginners,, the pinecone project will be a one day class , jan 24 9-5 and the hobo will be a two day jan 31 9-5 and wed feb 2 9-5 , so if your interested email me , it will be held at the food court of the home furnishing outlet mall, morgantown pa, just email me , or call me at 484-364-0471 thanks arleen

polls,,,,, i have just a few, and why

hi folks,, i often wonder who is visiting my blogs, youtube, and facebook, if you are new to carving, or been at it for some time? so you will see a few polls, is will help me in what direction i should take, so feel free to take the polls,, there will be no more than four polls at a time, , and i might in the future change the questions to the polls ,, thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to visit,, hope today is a great carving day for you , thanks again arleen

eating crow :) i did today dont assume anything lol

no i dont mean i ate the bird, its that i had to admit i was wrong,, its one of the hardest things to do,, today i have a cell phone as most of you do ,and my home phone that normally only get calls that annoy me,, one solicitation calls annoy me the most,, when the phone rang, the first time, i pick it up and i heard someone say hello this is so and soo, i hung up,, i was in the middle of a huge mess in my kitchen, tearing apart stuff and getting tired,, then they called again, i pick up the phone and hung it back up again, it rang again, and two more times, i finally had enough,, pick up the phone and said,, stop calling, me,, and i wasnt nice about it,, i was angry,, then it dawned on me,,, when i was at the bank ,, i did ask them to call me about a program i was interested in,, so i did a reverse call,, and indeed it was him,, i looked in my wallet and the phone number matched,, thinking ohhh crap,, so then on my cell came another call its was the same poor guy i just yelled at to stop calling me,, you have the give the guy credit, he continued to call, ( the mark of a real salesman ) lol , so i called him back, and said, i was very sorry thought he was an annoying solicitation call, and he was as nice as could be,, we chatted for a while, and to add to my to my humiliation he said he live very close to me a couple of streets down the road, lol , told him to send the information,, so the moral of the story dont assume anything,, sometimes we have to eat crow , and get all the facts first,, happy carving everyone,

THE NEW YEAR, ?? humor and changing times

well some of you got some humor out of my last video,, something kinda different for a change, lol thought it would just be fun and a bit off the beaten path, things never stay the same ,, something always is changing,, i dont care for change for the most part ,, my house would be a different color, if i didnt like it but after 22 years i still like it,, and wouldnt change, it,, if your like my sister and some of my friends they would have change it long ago,, lol , some folks do and some dont, that is maybe why some folks can carve the same things over and over,, and some folks have to carve something different, which are you ,, do you like change or do you like things to stay the same,, i guess if your not content, then change is a good thing for you ,, if you are content,, then the same things are just fine,, just my two cents not that one is right or one is wrong,, just that folks are different,, and if you can carve 20 items the same and enjoy it, then that is what you should do,, if you cant stand to do then one and have to change it some how, that is fine too,, i guess in carving there is no right or wrong, its whatever your heart wants to carve, and just to enjoy it,, happy carving, everyone,

carving glove the truth

just having some fun folks, smile

holland, my uncles woodcarving club in hoogeveen netherland, indeed its a small world

hi folks,, my uncle, oma geert from holland is a woodcarver,, he sent me information about their carving club in his town,, here is a link to the newletter that they have,,, interesting, i can understand holland dutch but can not read it,, so google is a great way to translate , plus my under can not read english,, so it works out well,, here is the link if your interested in seeing it http://www.ehhc.nl/index.php

a fellow woodcarver in holland wanted to know about tool, etc,, and i told him i knew my uncle attended the woodcarving club in holland, so when my uncle called new years day ,, my folks asked him about it and he emailed me the information,, as one person said , its a small world, indeed it is ,,,, happy carving where ever you are :)

what did you do the first day of the year? well....

i often find myself a little down seeing the old year pass, i dont know what that is but i guess its a reflection on the pass year,, many of us had joys and sadness this year,, some had a great year over all and some did not,, but now that the new year is here, i often dread this time due to trying to get all the tax information together,, my least thing i like to do,, it takes me weeks to get things together for the accountant,, and every year is the same, you think i learn to try to get ready for it sooner, so today,, on the first day of the year , this morning i spent gathering all the paperwork that i need, but as i sat here for three hours sorting, and watching one of the dvds i got at christmas,, i thought i didnt take the time to do what i should,, is bow my head ask gods grace on the year ahead, often we get so busy that we forget the one who has everything in his hands, and now looking forward to what wonders that i dont even know yet that will come to pass, and thankful that its a day to spend also with my family, and cherish it, and taking the carving box along so i can sit and enjoy what i like to do the best , woodcarving, happy carving, arleen

happy new year !!!

happy new year to everyone, hope it was a safe night for all of you , and i am looking forward to the new ventures in wood carving in the coming year ,, keep carving, arleen

PRAYING SANTA #14 ( END)

new dvd , here are a couple of photos of the praying santa , enjoy arleen

PRAYING SANTA #1

so what motivates you ? whats in store for 2011?

hi folks, i often wonder what motivates people,, how to reach a goal, or a dream they may have? often more times then not what motivates folks , is to seeing something come to pass. its normally having a goal complete, so what in 2011 is going to motivate you? or inspire you ?

what motivates me is what the new year can bring, and what wonderful things can happen, my motivation is to keep on going, keep carving, keep making things new and interesting, and what really motivates me is knowing that so many are learning what a wonderful hobby woodcarving can be, happy new year to all of you, keep carving arleen

plowing is done ,, for now, back to winter and some carving??

hi folks, i hope this finds each of you , happy with christmas behind us,, as some of you heard on the news the big storm we had here on the east coast,, well we were spared only got about 4-5 inches of the fluffy stuff, so plowing was simple around the farm, and my home, took only 2 1/2 hours vs, last year 7-8 hours ,, but then again we had 22 inches , twice in one week. so to my canadian friends, and family please keep the heavy snow up there were it belongs,, so far it looks like canada got hit hard the past couple of weeks,, believe me i love snow, but last year was a bit more then i wanted,, to many when a snowstorm hits, well many enjoy to stay in the house and watch movies , and do whatever makes one happy,, or carve a bit,,, but for me ,, first it was putting the plow on the tractor,, making sure where all the shovels and salt were from the year before, makings sure that there was fuel enough in the tractor,,, ohhhh yes to make sure that the tractor is working,, lol which it did ,, also setting the heaters up so that nothing would freeze in the barn,, , thinking i had a morning home before i went to plow,, my mom calls there is water in the basement,, had to shovel my way to the car, then out to the farm,, went to look,, water tank along with the pressure gauge leaking,, so called the plumber,, was there in an hour , thank goodness he was in town for another call, he fixed it,, then off plowing and now home,, lol dont you just love life,, to those of you that enjoyed you snowy morning in the house carving,, i hope you enjoyed it,, i will later today,, i will get some carving done today,, i promise,,, ohhh is that the phone again,, well maybe i carve tomorrow, happy carving, arleen

MERRY CHRISTMAS

hi folks, its now christmas eve,, as i am ready to go to a service in a couple of hours as many other around the world are doing,, i have to think of the meaning of christmas, to some its getting gifts, or giving them, or spending time with family and friends,,

to some folks it will be a sadness, because of love ones that are not with us at christmas,, or they are alone, if anything, it should give us a great deal of comfort, because of the reason, of the season, was not only to spend time with folks we care about, but that god cared enough to send us his son, i hope all of you have a wonderful christmas, and a very happy new year, arleen

christmas poem, by arleen zomer

twas the night before christmas and all through the house,

a carver was carving , and quiet as a mouse

late at night , all you could see ,

was a light on in the shop where the carver would be,

basswood in one hand and a knife in the other

a gift it would be for sister or brother,

the carver kept working late into the night

knowing all to well it would soon be light

when the carving is done he looks with delight

to be able to give it away to someone tonight

and the smiles it will bring to the ones that he gives ,

the carver will cherish it as long as he lives

merry christmas,

SPIRAL ICICLE ORNAMENT our woodcarving club project

howdy folks, at last night at our meeting, of the lancaster county woodcarving club we sometimes do a carving project, i was able to attend this and one of our members taught how to make a spiral icicle ornament,, it was a fun project to do,, andy provided two cutouts and thought you folks might enjoy seeing it,, it was a great night!! happy carving, arleen

a new santa dvd in the works, lol sometimes take longer than you think LOL

hi folks, i often wonder how many different santas one can make,, well i have another that i am working on now that came to me how to do it, in just in a matter of an hour, and bingo got another one that is different from the rest,, i found this to be an enjoyable santa to make, you can make it from a block,, and sometimes the things that come out of the blue are the best, i will only make this santa available on dvd, just like my morning santa, i will post the first and last videos, of the project, and a photo here on the blog and facebook ...

i have to tape it yet, i going to paint the ones i have done tonight, to see how they look, and then i will share them with you when everything is completed

as i was taping the first two videos the second one was lost, not sure what happen, but nowhere to be found,, so i will have to restart it but nothing lost really, i went ahead and finished this santa and will have two of them,, to add to my collection of santas, ,,, thanks for dropping by

an interesting night, most folks are giving, salvation army,

hi folks,, last week , i went to work and one of the folks from the mall had to leave early , she and her husband were going to ring the bell for the salvation army at walmart in morgantown,, i said that i had thought that might be fun to do ,, i always admired those that would brave the weather to ring a bell ,, she said let me have your number and i will let you know what its like( it was their first time) , i said ok,, a few days later i got a call from a woman from her church that said , i heard you are willing to help ring the bell,, ((well ,, in my head i thought that i was going to get a call from the other lady telling me what it was like,, lol)) i said sure i do it,, and so the next day which was sat night at 6 to 7 pm i would ring the bell,, it was cold , three layers of slacks and 4 light layer of shirts and a coat, hat, mittens and i was ready, it was 27 degrees, one hour was just enough not to get to cold, and it was at night,

i think everyone should put in one hour,, you will find 6 out of 10 give, some folks ignore you , others will say god bless you,, but overall it was good, most folks are giving, and you have to remember if your anything like me i go to walmart a few times before christmas, and some may have given at another time,

i thought what if every person that enter walmart during the holidays would only give 25 cents, ,, what a difference it would make, the little donations are just as important and the one that gave 1-5-or 10 bucks,, it might be all they can afford, and i mostly enjoyed seeing the little ones putting money in the bucket, whata great lesson for them,,

most folks are giving, carvers are no different,, i see it often at shows or at meetings, if you need something or need to learn how to do a carving, there always seems to be someone willing to lend a hand

one thing i know for sure, most folks want to help , and care about their fellow man, happy carving, arleen

http://www.etsy.com/people/carverswoodshop

where i will post my carving that are for sale, thank you , arleen

NEW DVD #32 PENGUIN, FRONT SANTA, MINI PINECONE ORNAMENT

hi folks, i have another dvd available, cost 20.00 free shipping, thanks for dropping by

these projects is good for beginners,, all three can be carved from a block , which you dont need a bandsaw, most beginners do not have a bandsaw, but you can use a copying saw, or a band saw to speed up the process, free shipping in canada and usa, arleen

check or paypal is fine