a nice sunday afternoon

hi folks,, today was another hot day in pa,, some of you are also in the heat depending where you live, i only mowed the yard twice in the last six weeks,, it was so hot during the day i mowed it at night fall along and that was interesting,, lol i always wondered why they put headlights on riding lawn mowers,, lol they worked out just fine,, i dont think the neighbors were to happy i was done at 10 pm and it was still 80 degrees later in the week at 10pm it was 87 ,, so i mowed it on a cool night, lol .... we had company ( family) that came to my folks home,, from canada,, it was nice to see everyone, and enjoyed the visit,, they come to lancaster one a year with the whole family , so it was good,, to see them again,, hope their visit to pa was a good one,, well folks,, time to do some more carving, i will be going to the haycreek festival in sept,, i keep you posted on dates etc , soon, i am carving up a storm to have enough stuff to display,, got a bit of the carving bug again, which is nice,, ok take care and keep carving and stay cool, arleen

wow where does the time go ( i have no idea)

well lots going on,, and not much carving getting done,, i found out that where i was meeting for the carverswoodshop luncheon, is about to change, the mall might allow us to continue but i will have to speak to a few folks, but from the looks of it ,, i might have to find a new place, as i sit here i am thinking maybe should just go get a shed and start a shop here at the farm,, then i think i need to wait a bit,, i know the saying the one that waits will lose,, i torn to way to see what will happen,, i been so grateful for the use of the food court, the management has been very good to me, so it has nothing to do other than things are changing, and when things become more clear i will be able to share them with you,, and who knows, i might be able to continue there at the mall, but until i know for sure my last carverswoodshop luncheon meeting will be on aug 8th keep carving, arleen

raccoon at the farm,, also likes cat food!

possum at the farm

wood carving of philly phanatic

philly phanatic carving,, for you philly fans

hi folks here is my carving i did last night and painted late into the night,, philly phanatic, for the philly phillies baseball team,, this carving was done for a friend of mine, it did it from a block only, no cutout, just some photos on google and and block and a knife, and this is what i ended up with,, i am very happy with the way it turn out,, , i am not taking orders for this cause of copyright laws,, i gave it away just like i did with homer the amishman lol

video coming up soon

TIPS ON FACEBOOK CARVERSWOODSHOP GROUP

hi folks, i just started to put some tips about woodcarving on my facebook carverswoodshop group, you will find this on the link http://www.facebook.com/groups/134174053475 and you will see on the right hand side, you will see the word DOC , under this heading you will see the tips about wood carving for the beginner, how to choose wood, and how to soften hard basswood to make it easier to carve, many topics are covered here on the blog, but thought it might be nice to do for the facebook group i will add things as i go along, keep carving,, enjoy, arleen

woodcarving of homer the amishman "look what happen when you visit lanca...

SMALL flying EAGLE FINISHED

hope to have a video up on youtube later , in a week or so, enjoy, arleen

small flying eagle , will finish it soon

kittens at the farm 2011

calvin the cat in action LOL

Happy 4th of july to all

howdy folks,, as you know by now i was the only one born in the usa in my whole family,, all my moms side moved from holland to canada, and my dad side of the family stayed in holland, and then my folks with both of my sisters moved to the usa, and i was born a short time later,, so i take some pride in the fact that i am the only one that could legally be president of the usa,, lol ,,,,, i always have to say that,, LOL not that i would want that job even for a min,, but i am so grateful for my folks coming to a land they didnt know english but quickly pick it up, and learn how to read english, and came here to have a farm which we have today,, they came with very little, but worked hard, and soon was able to purchase a farm, and soon got there citizenship of the usa, and both of my sisters also,,

so this county means a lot to us as a family, we are grateful to be here, and we always remember those who keep this land free, hope you all have a wonderful day,, and to my family and friends in canada, i know you had your july 1 hope it was a great day for you too, keep carving, arleen

SMALL WOODEN SPOON #3

there are three videos how to carve this small wooden spoon , enjoy , arleen

raspberry time ,, some what like woodcarving LOL

howdy folks,, well its raspberry time here at the farm,, it was one of my moms favorite time, she would prune them in the spring and pick them first in the summer,, and then again in the fall, she made a super jam that many love , she gave them away as gifts, it was her hobby,,

as my mom is aging she could not for the first time go down to the berry patch to pick them,, i was never a fan of picking them,, the outside and plants were not my thing here on the farm it was more the feeding and caring for the animals at the the farm ,, i rather worked in the barn then do any kind of gardening, i wish it was different , if it were i would have a field of all kinds of produce, but i never found an interest, in it,,

but now my brother in law, and i did prune the patch last march, and thought by now my mom could go down and pick them but she could not,, and if you dont pick them they dont produce alot of berries,, so i decided every other day to go for an hour, to pick them ,, and ate alot of fresh red raspberries,

tonight, it was a wonderful night to pick them,, last time i pick 4 quarts, and tonight 2, froze some and others i gave away to friends

today as i was picking i found that i need to go over the same spot a few times, otherwise i would miss some,, and as i back tracked , i often found those that i missed again,, or looking at it from a different angle, well again more,, so i thought how often do we miss things in carving, not seeing what wood has to be removed if we dont look at it either from a different angle, or just putting it down for a while , and then coming back to see how we can improve a piece,,, well that is what i learned in the raspberry patch today,, always take the time to look at things from a different angle , you might be surprised what you might see, and learn, happy carving arleen

photos of wooden spoon that you can use for a pattern , enjoy

CARVERSWOODSHOP LUNCHEON PROJECT FOR AUG 8TH SMALL WOODEN SPOON

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/