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

MINI PINECONE ORNAMENT #6 (END)

FRONT SANTA #9 (END)

PENGUIN #8 (END).

winner of the CARVING MAGAZINE GIVEAWAY

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

HAVING FUN

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

MINI PINECONE ORNAMENT #1

FRONT SANTA #1

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

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

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

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

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

PENGUIN #7 ( END)

PENGUIN #1

strop

STROP

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

THANKSGIVING HORN OF PLENTY #9 (END)

THANKSGIVING HORN OF PLENTY

getting started it's the hardest part? motivated?

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

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

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

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

dreaming, might come true?

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

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

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

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

here are the things i learned,

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

two, you cant control the weather,,,

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

four, learn what things you need for each season

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

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

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

CHRISTMAS AT JONNA 2010

CHRISTMAS AT JONNA 2010

NEW PROJECTS COMING SOON

SOME NEW PROJECTS COMING SOON

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

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

CARVING MAGAZINE GIVEAWAY 2010 holiday issue by carveswoodshop

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

hope its helpful to you

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

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

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

arleen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

take care bye

THANKSGIVING HORN OF PLENTY # 1

HAPPY THANKSGIVIG 2010

another new dvd, number 31 ...ornaments

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

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

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

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

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

the conewago woodcarving club? a good meeting

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

SNOWMAN HOBO ORNAMENT #1

new project coming tomorrow on youtube , snowman hobo ornament

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

farming and carving the same? just enjoy the ride

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

william rush show lima pa 2010

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

about carvers? and shows

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

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

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

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

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

ontario wood carving show 2010

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

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

some photos of the ontario wood carving show 2010

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

ready for the show and jan oegema's open house for carvers

hi folks , i am ready for the ontario woodcarving show here in canada this weekend,, my sister and i were able to visit a couple of our aunts yesterday in hamilton, and cambridge, we hadnt seen them for some time,, and we had great time,,

i am planning also to go to the open house that jan oegema has in his studio, its on monday nights from 630-830 where carvers can carve together on whatever they are working on, and its good time,, if your able to come be sure to stop by sometime,, its a good time , and interesting to see what others are working on,,

so as you can see its a busy time, hope to see some of you at the show,, and if not enjoy your weekend,, i hope to get some photos later of the show,, take care and keep carving, arleen

loving the fall, its a wonderful time of the year

photos of the farm and my home

coming up next the ontario wood carving show,, wow

wow,, i am looking forward to it,, i plan to see some of my family while i am there,, it will be a busy week coming up,, have to finish some things here at home first,, i been away kinda a lot lately, and i missed church a couple of weeks,, it was so nice to be back there,, it was a good sermon,, and i guess i just a happy camper lately,, i am just enjoying this fall, and going to the shows,, its something new,, and carving a bit here and there makes it fun,, sometimes we get in a rut in life, you do the same things over and over,, weather its work or home,, traveling was never my kind of thing,, i know some folks that live to travel,, i find it a great deal of work to get things together before i leave,, i always dreaded the packing and unpacking, and trying to remember things that needed to be done,, but the more i do it the more relax i am becoming, i dont mind driving long distances, the new element for traveling is not only the normal packing, but a show along with it,, i have to say ,, that puts a wrench in it,, but every time i do another show,, slowly i am getting more relax with what has to go along,, so i hope to see some of you at the ont show and keep carving,, arleen

tips on how to see your woodcarvings better

i just love the fall, michigan photos

hi folks, here are some photos of a tree in michigan where i was staying, ohhh it was something to behold,, the colors were great , what a beautiful tree .... you gotta love the fall

attitude,, woodcarving shows,, just some thoughts about vendors

i hope this will find everyone in agreement ,, as i went to a carving show , i enter the building,, to find out what table was mine to set up,, they didn't have me registered,,, well in my head i knew i sent the check and that it was some kind a mix up and that it would work out ok,, just give them some time to figure it out,, i told them that i did speak to someone, the guy that was looking for spot remembered our conversation, so i told him i would go back out to the car,, and come in later to let them sort it out,, i could tell he had a lot going on,, and was concerned that he didn't have me on the list,, later i enter the building again to see if it was worked out, and sure enough they did have a table,, i told him i knew it was a lot of work putting a show together, and thanked him for the spot,, and started to set up,,, later in the day,, the lady i first saw,, came up to me and thanked me for being so nice about the mix up, and said someone else was not so kind about it and was very upset,, i told her how nice it was that she came by,and i knew that they would work it out somehow,,,,,,, so folks please if your in the show, remember the folks that are putting it together,,, they have a lot going on,, and give them some slack when things don't go as planned, they will do their best to help you,, they don't need someone upset with them,,,,thanks to all of you that put these shows together,, that is the first attitude,,

the second attitude is being a vendor

we have to remember that people pay to come into our shows ,, we as vendors should act that we are happy to see them ,, most vendors are,, but one i met well,, i as ashamed how they treated some of our guests,, i understand that most carvers do not want people picking up and touching their carvings,, but please do not bark or yell at them if they do,, they didnt read your sign,, most people will see it after the fact,, but i overheard one vendor bark out , "dont touch it,, you break it you bought it,",,,,, needless to say,, it was harsh,, and simple please doesn't hurt,, they pay money to come to a show,, either put it out of reach or put it behind glass,, i know both not always be an option, a gentle word goes a long way ,,,, happy carving ,arleen

upcoming woodcarving shows 2010

upcoming woodcarving shows 2010

hey creek apple festival, a great day and going to frankenmuth show ...

hi folks, i was setup at the hay creek apple fest , yesterday,, wow what a great day,, it was a one day event,, had about 6 people that sign up that were interested in woodcarving lessons,, now i have about 14 folks or so that i might be able to get a class together in jan and feb,,,, thought this time of the year its soooo busy that after the first of the year it might be better,, but the show went great,, sold a lot of carvings,,, better than i expected,, it was a flea market and craft day,,, it was in the same place as the hay creek three day festival,,, my family from canada stop by to see me at the festival,, and that was nice,,, the canopy was great,, the weather was perfect and my location was super,,, it was a win win all day,,, people were kind, and it was just a great festival,, i really enjoyed my day,,,,

i will have a table at the frankenmuth wood carving show in michigan next sunday,,,, looking forward to it,, i will have my dvds and carvings along of course,, its going to be a couple of very busy days for me,,, i hope all of you are finding the time to do some carving,,, and that your enjoying the fall, ( my best time of the year LOL ) take care happy carving, arleen

CANE PHOTOS

hi folks, thanks for stopping by,,, here it is,, i dont normally make canes but i will change the handle on this walking stick to a cane handle on the top,,, when i do i will post some new photos,, mom loves it,, that is all that counts,, happy carving,,

just posted a few things for sale on my other blog

www.carverswoodshop-creations.blogspot.com thanks for stopping by folks,, hope you all are having a great day, arleen happy carving

PHOTO OF CANE COMING LATER TODAY

up date, sorry i have not put it up yet, i was called to go to work tonight, and took my dad back to the eye doctor, all is well,, i will do my best to get it up soon ,

sorry folks, been busy,, my dad had to have some eye surgery yesterday ( all went well ) , and we have family coming from canada again,, plus trying to get ready to go to a few shows ,, well needless to say i didnt get much carving done, lol ,,, its been raining a lot here the past two days,, not as bad as last week when we got 7.--8 inches of rain,,, but it least its nice and cool,, my kind of weather,, but i will get the photo up later, happy and safe carving to ya

walking stick ,,, a day for carving (rain)

hi folks, i been trying to find some time to do some carving,,, i had another small load of my branches that someone got for me,, i looked at them and decided to try a walking stick for one,,, kinda like the branch guys,, so i took one and worked on it all evening, i will have to work on it a bit more,,, i had another cane here that i got in frankenmuth, mich at their show 4 years ago,, its half done,,, it was a cane made of basswood,, i just could not get my mind wrap around it,, and found it difficult to handle to carve,, and the wood is hard,,,, but this piece was green ,, what a dream , the bark came off easy in the areas i removed it,,, so i doing it for my mom , tulips are one it,, and i wanted something simple to carve for a few days,, ,, once it is done i will post a photo,,, this walking branch is tulip popular lol ( and i am carving tulips on it lol ) ,, i know this wood is not the norm for making walking sticks, its been fun to do ssomething new,, and i was ready to carve something,,, this happens when i dont carve a few days,,, its raining a lot today,, tropical storm coming up the coast ,, we dont get many of these in pa ,, but its still raining, ,, have a great day folks and happy carving, arleen

just posted some things on ebay

hi folks i just posted some of my standing branches, and christmas pickle, on ebAy,,
if your interested do a search for carverswoodshop, or standing branch, or christmas pickLE,, thanks for dropping by, arleen

CHRISTMAS PICKLE #1

hi folks there are three videos on this project, all three are on my youtube channel, http://www.youtube.com/carverswoodshop enjoy

will start the christmas pickle project soon,

hi folks here is a photo of my christmas pickle ,, a very easy project for the beginner,, i think there will be two videos on it,, short and sweet,,

well you never know what you will learn,,, christmas pickle??

hi folks, as i was working at the mall, someone told me about a christmas pickle... do you know what it is??,, i didnt so i wanted to know more,, so here came my questions lol
well the christmas pickle is a ornament, or a small item in a shape of a green pickle, they would put it in the tree so the child that found the pickle first would get an extra gift,,, so i decided i was going to google it,, love google,, lol and found that indeed its an old christmas tradition from germany. so i will see if i can find a good picture to make a small one for a project,, it should be simple, so not only did i learn something new but also maybe a neat idea for a project,,, how many of you know of the christmas pickle?? happy carving to you all, arleen

carving pumpkins , for the next event and i was ask to speak at a club

hi folks,,, good morning,, i have been carving pumpkins , its a change from the ornaments and santas as i have work on in the past. i found that the pumpkins were somewhat of a hit with folks so that is what am aiming to get done this week,, the next festival will be oct 9 at the same place where haycreek was located , at jonanna funace, three miles north of morgantown,,, this time the canopy will be simple to set up,,, also i got a phone call from a woodcarver that was a head of their carving club in east berlin, pa, she wanted to know if i would be able to do a presentation at one of their meeting,, i said sure, so that will be nov 21 on sunday,, once i get more details i will blog it,, lol funny speaking behind a camera is a lot different then in front of folks, so here i go again,, venturing in an area that i may not be comfortable with, but you never know unless you try,,, i have done some public speaking years ago, but to long ago to really remember, lol my age is showing,,,,,, well hope you all are having a great week,, i will let you know more info on this as i get more info on it,, take care, happy carving, arleen

some interesting things this past weekend, carving is the about the same

hi folks,, the festival is over and this is what i got out of it ,
one , that other vendors are very helpful, thinking i could do this on my own,, with some teaching from another vendor joe next to me and a friend that came along , well i now know how to breakdown the canopy and its so much easier then when i started this last thursday, today i set the canopy up and down twice,, its simple once you know what your doing, i also learn that you never know who or what you might run into at a show/festival, sunday was a good day,, even though i was ready to pack up in the morning due to the rain, and did it rain ,,,but i check the canopy and it was dry and just fine, i went ahead and set up and low and behold it turn out to be a great day,, i came home a bit earlier, and its amazing the amount of work some of the other vendors had, i had work but some of these folks spent hours setting up,,, took me two hours the first day, by the third day it was about 45 mins, so see practice makes perfect, or close to it, lol,, so many of ya folks follows this blog and i want you to know you will see things as they are,,, i wasnt happy the first couple of days, we were in the back, but sometimes we need to check our attitude at the door before we leave home,,, and make the best of it,, and having family and friends to bounce off some things what i could do better helped me alot , which i decided sunday....and what works at one show may not at another and you have to adjust to it,,, ..... learn what you can and you never know unless you try it, and the same applies to carving, learn what you can from others,, and try it keep at it , and you never know how good you can be,,hopefully the apple festival is next oct 9 , lol here i go again,,,,,, , have a great week,, keep carving, arleen

HAY CREEK FESTIVAL

this was sat, and it rain today, but it was a good day,, in fact i did better sunday,, go figure,, lol happy carving everyone

festival,,a time to learn

hi folks,,, if i said i had a wonderful time this weekend, well i would not be truthfull... it raining today,, and that is all new to me,,, i found one thing that has been positive that folks are willing to help you out. i had a friend helping me set up the canopy, and we did ok with it,,, but the next day,, the vendor joe, said that it can go higher,, lol i had no idea it could,, so we lifted the front higher which made it look larger, and more inviting for folks to enter,,, learning how to display etc is all new to me,,, the indoor shows of course are much easier,, chatted with a lot of folks,, sold things,, and to top the weekend its raining today,, and i mean raining,,, thought of packing up yesterday as some vendors have done, but i thought i will go and see, first to see how much the canopy will leak, they ( other vendors, said the canopy will not the first year ) lol i will find out when i go today,, it was very warm inside, having a power pack with a small fan was great,,, i have a video of my canopy and set out at the festival,, i will load it tonight when i have more time,,, hope you all have a happy and safe sunday,,, and carve carve carve,,, arleen

carvings are done and dvds are ready,, the canopy goes up tomorrow

well , folks, the time is getting closer,, boy did i ever carve a lot of stuff,,, i painted my ornaments for five hours straight ,, and got all of them done,,, just a few things yet but i am ready,,, tomorrow i set up the canopy and the sides along with the tables and chairs,, lol that is all i could fit in the car, good thing i am able to bring the carvings and dvds friday the start of the festival,,,,, to those of you that do this all the time, your my hero,, its so much work,, i never thought how much it took me at least a week to get all the stuff i needed, for this show,,, cause of it being outside,, ohhhh i am bringing two cans of wasp spray,, i am not a fan of bees, esp the yellow jacks, nasty little critters,.. so i am ready to do some serious running if i need to LOL well its one of god's creatures that i dont care for,,,, well they are calling for rain sunday,, it will indeed be an interesting weekend,,, keep carving, i will have updates this weekend,, take care, arleen

ta-da. i did it, got it up by myself only took an hour

lol lol ohhh my,,, yes i decided i was going to put the canopy out first before the festival, good thing i did,, after about 25 mins i decided to READ the instrutions, ( much easier ) lol and well getting it down was a learning experience ,,, but overall it will work out ok,, and i did it by myself,, so its looks nice and bright white in color,, so far so good, still have a bunch of items to paint,, will do them tomorrow , well a few more days ,, i about ready as i will ever be,, so hopefully it will go well, and i know for sure i will have fun, keep carving , arleen

almost ready for the big festival,

hi folks, as i run around like crazy this past week things are coming together, i have a few things yet to do and i will be ready,, found a nice 10x10 canopy , and now i am going to see if i can set it up in the yard before setting it up at the festival,, no one wants to look like they dont know what they are doing,,, lol ,,,,i have a new appreciation for those that do this on a regular basis,, i am sure once i do a few shows it will get easier, having everything you need, will be a big help,, an outdoor show there is a big difference ,, the weather of course is the biggest factor, and the wind,, i dont want it to blow away so i going to make sure it stays put. well i will give you an update, and i am sure either way , i will have a good time, happy carving, arleen

ACORN #7 ORNAMENT (END)

ACORN ORNAMENT #1

A NEW PROJECT, FOR THE BEGINNER, A ACORN ORNAMENT,

hi folks i am loading the videos how to carve a acorn, ornament,, so it will be fun will post it here in a few hours thanks

working to get ready,, all new to me

hi folks, i know the youtube channel has been slow to get some new things up,, i will try to find the time to get a couple of videos up for a new idea, a simple one for a beginner,, i am in the process of looking for a canopy for the hay creek festival ,, knowing really nothing about what is better than another, sides or no sides,, so i am a looking,,,,,, this outside craft show is a new area and how to maybe reach some that might be interested in woodcarving,, one thing i do know if you do any shows its a lot of work,, and planning,, my first show at lancaster woodcarvers show, was a great indoor show,, not sure how that show will all go but it was fine, i have everything in boxes ( kinda) and ( kinda ) ready to go to the next (indoor) show,, lol what was i thinking , outdoors your taking a chance with the weather, and wind and heat, etc, so it will be interesting, and i can see it can be exhausting , not only to set up, be there all day but all the talking one may have to do,, mind you i enjoy chatting with folks, so i dont think that will be a problem, but three days of it might tax my energy level, but looking forward to it all,, like they say nothing ventured nothing gained, and its all new to me,,, happy carving everyone,

HAY CREEK FESTIVAL i will be there

http://www.haycreek.org/festivals.htm
hi folks, i am going to venture into a new area,, i am going to the hay creek festival in sept,, i will have some of my carving for sale and also my dvds,, i have no idea how it will go,, but i been there many years ago and its a big event , i was told about 10,000 folks come over the three day event, i plan to be there for all three days, if your interested please ck out the photos of the event,, this is not a woodcarving show, but many different crafts,,,, i have much to do ,, wow and its about two weeks away,, looking forward to it,, ok take care i off to do some carving, lol time is short,,

back to the real world and to the future

hi folks i did have a very special weekend.... i guess the older ya get the more simple things have that special meaning for me, the people around me made it very special indeed. my sister bought some of the ornaments for christmas,,, and so i am back to carving a bit more cause time goes quickly , and before you know it we will be looking at the holidays at the end of the year,,, so back to the real world of carving and working, and looking forward the future, fall is a coming lol my favorite time of the year,,, happy carving , arleen

a special day,,,,,chatting ,carving , gift enough for me

hi folks i guess today is a special day, today i am 50,, wow its really hard to believe, i dont feel like it.... i am not one to make a big deal about my birthday, parties are not my thing, and i told my sister and mom that i prefer to have a quite day,, well so far so good, my sister came down for the weekend, and came here this morning for coffee, ( my sister is from canada) and today we will be going to a favorite spot to eat with my family, at shady maple, some of you might know of it,, everyone loves shady,, all you can eat, and believe me there is plenty to choose from,, its been a good day so far, and low key,,, i hope you all have a great day what is left of it,, i will be taking my carving box along to my folks, and will enjoy some carving time along with chatting with my family out on the deck,, thats a gift enough for me, spending some time together,, happy carving everyone
oh the flowers is from my aunt arlene from canada, very nice , thanks

decisions ,, , just not today

hi folks we all have them,, deciding what to do next,, it what we will have to eat to where we will go, and my goodness what to carve next,,, some carvers have a list of things they would like to do, and some of us don't. i sometimes have a few things in mind what to carve next,,, sometimes it comes to me out of the blue, and other times i struggle what to do next,, i hope that you have list of things you would like to carve, i have my big wish list of what i like to carve, that is waiting for me in the future,,, and someday it will come to pass ,, just not today,, its good to have a dream of what you like to do,,, that is what keeps me going,,, happy carving, arleen

lancaster county woodcarvers club meets tonight , and busy making a new dvd

hi folks, i will be going to the lancaster woodcarvers club meeting tonight, and i am looking forward to it,,, along with going to the meeting, today i put another dvd together, the tree bear ornament and the eagle flag branch ornament . the master is made, and will have to put together the cover and patterns,, so it will be a couple of days yet,, and deciding what shows to go to this fall, the william rush is for sure, frankenmuth in mich and ont canada show both of these i am considering to attend ,,,, and there is a large fall festival here in morgantown pa,, called haycreek and after calling them i might be going to set up there,, so it would be next month sept if i go,, will have to research i a bit more,, well folks hope your all enjoying the ending of summer,, it feels that way to me when sept is in sight,,, happy carving, arleen

updating the dvds that are available on www.arleenscarverswoodhop.blogspot.com

hi folks, if you visit my other blog that has the dvds and patterns for sale you will see something new, i am slowly adding the projects that are only available on dvd and putting a buy it now button from paypal to make it easier to order,,, someone suggested that i put a photo for each of the dvd of what the project would look like, so this is the cover of the dvd that you will see, of the finished piece,,, the standing branch will be the next dvd with another christmas standing branch, i will start that soon

here is the link http://www.arleenscarverswoodshop.blogspot.com

there are also patterns available thank you , arleen

what is next,,, well it has to do with christmas,, lol coming soon i promise

STANDING BRANCH SANTA #10 end

hi folks this is the end video all videos 1-10 are on youtube, for you to watch,, it will be up for a short time and then i will put it on dvd,, thanks for watching enjoy, arleen

STANDING BRANCH SANTA #5

STANDING BRANCH SANTA #4

STANDING BRANCH SANTA #3

STANDING BRANCH SANTA #2

STANDING BRANCH SANTA #2

new carving classes to start soon, mid to late sept

hi folks, i will be putting together a couple of carving classed together,, for fall, if your interested please email me, carverswoodshop@yahoo.com
i will have one day class and one evening class that will be about 4-5 weeks, hobo santa will be featured, thanks , arleen

STANDING BRANCH SANTA #1

are you good enough?? a loaded question keep at it

are you good enough to carve? well some are better then others, some have been in it longer then others, does that make one better, and good enough to carve? what if everyone stop that thought they could never carve as well as someone else,,, what a shame , no one would be carving , they would never develop their skills, never advance ahead,, so keep at it,, i have to say something kinda important,, i know that i am not a writer, i never claim to be, i know i dont write things like others, and i thought of that the other day,, but it didnt stop me from writing a blog, or doing the many other things i do,, i dont really worry about what others thing about it,, i just put down my thoughts on a subject to this blog and if helps a few folks then its worth it,, if some folks enjoy it with all of its mistakes then it was worth it,, if i was so concern of folks i wouldnt do anything,, so dont let folks discourge you,, its hard to hear anything negative when you finish a piece, just keep at it ,, so what your not the best,, if your enjoying your carving, and you find peace and happiness in it then keep at it ,, enjoy it , happy carving , arleen

what do you think?? when your carving,,,,??

lot of us find alot of enjoyment from woodcarving,, i have to ask what do i think about when i carve,, now thats an interesting topic,, well i for one find that i think about the carving mostly,, and assessing it all the time,, carve and look at it,, but for the most part, it takes my mind off of whatever is troubling me,, its a great escape,, isnt that why we have hobbies? its a life saver to many,, when everything around you is going down hill, you can retreat to your corner of woodcarving and get lost in it,, i have many times,,, but its also a time to think , about what a neat hobby it really is ,, how far you have come over the years, and just the greatest way to relax,,, sometimes it can be frustrating as it was when i work on that chipmunk, but the rewards were wonderful to see after a difficult piece, but most of the time its pure fun,, a time to get away from it,,, and folks, i can carve in a car, outside, inside, anywhere and i will be getting away from it,, if only for a few mins with my knife and block of wood, nothing better really, happy carving , arleen

HOW TO DRY GREEN WOOD AND MY NEXT COUPLE OF PROJECTS

drying green wood and my next video coming up

hi folks , as i am learning how is the best way to dry green wood i been carving lately, here is a few things i have learned,,
first i have been carving my branch guys and have a couple of new ideas which i will explain in a bit,,, i love carving them green but they can split on you and crack as they dry,, i had someone cut alot of a tulip poplar tree this past couple of weeks, and now i just love to carve green,, its easier, and so much faster then the hickory and black walnut i was using,,, but a concern was how do i keep it from cracking or checking, well in my research i found a couple of things,,, and cane maker told me to glue the ends, and it was rare that he had a piece the checked on him,, so as i got my pieces cut to the length and i glued the ends of the piece,, so i dont know if this will work but i know that its worth a try but i wanted it to dry faster,, so here is what i am doing,, and i will make a video for youtube,
after some research i been doing the following,,,,,, first put it in a micowave for a min to kill any bugs,,
glue the ends,,,, then for the next couple of days put it in the micowave on defrost for 30-35 seconds,,, and let it cool 7-8 times
now i do this in a plastic bag only,, cause the smell, and take it outside take it out of the bag and let it cool,
i have a scale as i watched it go from 130 grams of weight to 83grams, i will now stop, i have most of the water out of it,, or the bulk of it,,, not sure if it will work but it looks promising, and i have re-glued the ends more a total of about three times,, you want to be careful not to leave it watch it every time you use the micowave, and one person said it caught on fire , but i think they had it on high and wayyyy to long in the micowave,, i put a paper towel in the bag in case there is water in the bag,,, but it should not be hot that you can't hold it after it comes out,, plus the ones that are not dry it will have a cool feel to it when you hold it , branchs that are dry have a warm feel to it,, so just some tips if you like to experiment with this ,, and i will have the next santa piece that i am working on soon along with these details how to dry them if your carving green,, happy carving , arleen

one of my finished relief carvings in 1986 jesus and the lamb

i did this relief many years ago, found it , and thought you folks might enjoy seeing it, i am guessing it was 1986 or earlier, i used just hand gouges and no power tool,, its about 1 3/4 thick basswood and about 14 x12 , happy carving , arleen link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhCLQ--sgJE

butterflies lol look up

hi folks, i dont know about you but its been a hot summer in pa,,,, i have to tell ya, sometimes we can miss things if we are to busy with life,,,, i was mowing the yard at the farm, and around the barn,, i noticed something wonderful,,, as i looked up at the field that the amish just mowed for hay a few weeks ago,,, hundereds of butterflies,,, monarch , black, red, and yellow,,, and small white and yellow and black,, it was an amazing sight,, there is clover in that field so i shut off the mower and sat and watched them,, amazing,, just a flying around each other from flower to flower,, sometimes life doesnt let us enjoy the simple things,,, and it was simple , just turn off the mower and watch for a while,, i did carve a butterfly many years ago that i might just have to do it on youtube,,, so now i look for them,, everytime i mow,,, and wow they were there again today, busy as ever,,,, and to think of it i almost missed it if i didnt look up,,

for folks that ordered the video it will be shipped soon

hi folks, to those of you that ordered the video i will be shipping them out soon, i have yet to make a cover and i ran out of ink and cant refill the one i have, so a slight delay,,, but it will be soon thanks for understanding,,arleen

DVD IS COMPLETED,, AND WHAT IS NEXT?

hi folks today i just completed the dvd,, and ready to go,, its 2 hours and 40 mins long,, and what is next on youtube, i have a couple of ideas,, lol i will be back later with more infromation,, take care arleen

MORNING SANTA #22 (end)

hi folks, well i am done making the videos clips, , so that i can make a few dvds,,, to order please email me, and you can pay by paypal or by ck ( in usa funds only) email me for details, if you want to order it on youtube, they are loaded on youtube, in the private mode,,, if you have paypal, you will be able to view this project,, email for more details carverswoodshop@yahoo.com 20.00 free shiping in the usa and canada only,, please if your not in the usa or canada you can order it on youtube its 10.00 for a month of access, thanks happy carving , arleen

ready to paint morning santa,

hi folks, now that i have some time i will be finishing up the lastest carving of the morning santa, then comes the task to put it on dvd ,,, its been a fun project and i will post the last video clip soon, thanks for stopping by,, its been a busy summer,, take care, arleen

nothing more fun,, then creating something new.. and a lesson of the solar heater

hi folks, if you have followed my blog for a while you will see some things are important to me,,, family and friends, having good health,,, all those things are great and so important,,, sometimes i find myself in a carving slump ,,,, nothing new in mind, nothing that catches my attention ,, that i want to carve,, as i was making the video clips for my new dvd morning santa, i also was carving more of the same in different sizes,,, which can make it an interesting project to make the same pattern but smaller or larger,,, i did a tiny little one, and then a larger one then i have on the video, the concept is the same, it will not matter if you have a 5 inch or 3 inch as long as it is square,, the results should be the same,,,,
but as our visitors from canada were here for a few days,, i took along the carving box and a project to work on when we would sit around and chat,,, people find it amazing what you can do with a piece of wood and a knife, the fun part for me along with the carving was the fun stories being told and shared, about old times and our life living and working with the amish around us,,, as farmers we had some business dealings with the amish. but the most fun i had was just taking another block of wood and carving to my hearts content,,,, nothing better in the world, and seeing a new creation being formed,,

sometimes we need a break from carving, not often but it helps us enjoy it more when new creations and ideas come along,,,, i had in mind to created my solar heater in the back yard, as some of you may have watched watch it on youtube , it was an idea, for a few years before i attempted this big huge 24 x 8 feet high project,,,it didnt work the first time as i had expected and had to redo a few things that prolonged the project ,,, i invested so much time totaling three months and money into it that i wasnt going to give up the idea,,, and lo and behold it worked, it heats my home nicely in the fall before i have to kick on the furance, along in the winter as it help supplement my heat..... and yes it will save me money, now three years later it will be cost effective, it has paid for itself and now all the heat it will dispense will be free, so if you have an idea , carving idea or a project, keep at it ,, the feeling of completing a project is wonderful,,, have a goal,, keep at it ,, and you will see that there is nothing is more fun then creating something new, sometimes i even have to remind myself of that fact,,, that full size eagle is the new big project ahead for me,, someday, it will come to pass ,,,, happy and safe carving to ya, arleen

MORNING SANTA VIDEO coming along, will be done soon

hi folks its another day here in pa,,, lots going on,,, first some surprise visit from my sister from canada,, for our moms birthday,, she came walking into the house at our parents around 3pm,, so she been here for a few days,,, which is good,,, we seem to be getting a lot of company from canada these days,,, but anyway, its summer and you will have this,, and fall we also have many that come to visit,, and this coming sunday another cousin is coming for dinner from canada,,,, something about the amish country that folks love,,, i know many folks that come 1-2 times a year hear to lancaster county,,, i have to say there is plenty to see and do here, and eating is one of them, lol

well the morning santa video is about done, its about half way,,, i still loading some of the videos clips up to the computer and loading them on youtube in the private mode,, i looking forward to a couple of shows ,, i will be at the one in lima pa,,, near media pa,, coming nov 6 and 7th,, and also looking into going the pickering show in canada, come this oct,,, and also maybe the frankenmuth in mich,,, so i will keep you posted on these shows ,,, as i get closer to the dates,,, for sure is the one in pa,,,, hope all are doing well, keep carving, and enjoy,,, arleen