back to carving again, how sweet it is,,simple things makes me happy

wow , i missed not carving for about a week, and sometimes we need to stop for a while, either cause life gets in the way, or we become bored with it,,, either way , its nice to get back to doing some videos again, i loaded two up today and another two are coming, thanks again for waiting, and i was outside today, great sunny warm day, to carve , how sweet it is,,, its the simple things that makes me happy!!

looking into some new projects after i get the graduate done

hi folks my world the last week was kinda busy, traveling to canada and back in three days, and now having to get things done here around home and the farm, spring is a busy time, i just got a letter that i have to go for jury duty in june, this is the fifth time i have been called, but i will go, i guess i was thinking today, we make time for what we have to, so i dont like going and never met anyone that liked it , but i have to say the process of doing jury duty can be an interesting one, that is one great thing in this country to be judged by our peers, so i will try not to complain to much, and try to learn from it, in the letter it told us not to bring pocketknives so i guess i wont be carving that day to past the time LOL , thought maybe making a video of a carving while waiting but i dont think they would allow that either, lol ,, just trying to find a way to past the time there, it can be very boring, but i have plans, a pen and paper to make some new patterns , or carving magizines and books, will work, well i have a few new things in mind, the branch guy,,, i not calling it that but it works for now, and maybe a woodburning project that will help folks that like to do birds , once the graduate is done , we will find more things to do,,, sorry its taking so long this time, sometime life gets in the way, well hope you all are working on something that is fun, i will be done with the graduate by monday, hopefully, thanks for waiting folks, and for all that are following my videos, and this blog, and facebook, it amazes me , i am truly blessed, take care and happy carving, arleen

coming home today, and ready to carve

hi folks, sorry that the videos on the graduate is taking longer than normal , i am in canada today ready to make my trip back home, i went to my uncles funeral, and i think this is the shortest time i ever spent up here, came here monday and going back today (wed) . the family did a nice job on the service, and it was good to see and spent time with family that i havent seen in years. its rare for me, and to be at a table with aunts, uncles ,cousins and my sister chatting, it almost never happens, those of you that live among family may have this often, the last time was about 8 years ago, and before that i couldnt tell ya, after the service an aunt , uncle , my sister , and i went out for dinner, it was nice and i got a Chinese cookie and the saying i thought i share with you folks, it was ..... one that makes no mistakes, is one that never made anything...... HOW TRUE.. if your a carver , we are going to make mistakes, and that is how we learn sometimes, so if your new keep at it,,, as you saw with the chipmunk i had to fix it, but i think it was also a good learning tool, i have a few things more that i like to start carving, as the show will be here before i know it i better get going, take care,, and keep carving, arleen

mentors in our life, who are yours? and are you a mentor

hi folks, most of us have had a mentor in our life or as kids some people that were so important to us, yesterday it was a sad day, my uncle len passed away, he and my aunt jean were the two that i got to know the best as a kid, my folks moved to the states from holland and my mothers side went to canada, and my dads side stayed in holland, so as a kid i had no family other that my folks and my sisters around , so when we would have some family come down from canada in the summer it was one of the highlights of my summer. both my aunt and uncle were so fun to be around, i couldnt wait till they came and often cried when they left, as kid they spent alot of time with us, played games and jokes, telling us stories , going places , and were interested in what we did,,,, , he knew about a lot of things, he was interesting to listen to , about holland, and stories of a young man, how they got to canada, he loved his family, and so proud of all of them, you could tell by what he said, but most of all i looked up to him as a kid, and treasure the times they came to visit, once a year maybe two. and the joke we pulled off on a dear friend of mine, and it still gives me and my dear friend a smile today, so folks here is what i am getting at, i try to spend a lot of time with my sister kids as they came to visit, and my friends kids as well, you never know how you will be a mentor in someones life, you might teach boy scouts like wood carver gene messer or david brock, wood carving is a great way to be a mentor to someone, to spend time, and your talent how to carve, or just be a friend to them,

my uncle was a great person, i never met anyone that dislike him , and once you met him you were sure to like him, he was a good person and had great faith in God , and i know he was adored by his kids and grandkids, he will always have a special place in my heart, he will be missed

so who is your mentor, and are you a mentor to someone today? happy and safe carving, arleen

makes my head spin, the lancaster show june 5&6

hi folks, sometimes we need to sit back and see how far we have come, i took stock of what i had ready for the lancaster show, which will be june 6 & 7th i am a vendor for the first time ever in any show, so this is all new to me, i looking forward to it, i will only have some carving for sale but mostly all the dvds will be there for sale, i have no idea how it will go,,, what do i have ready? , well i have a bit more copying and things to get ready for this show, i been working on it on and off for the last 6 months or more, i learn alot about dvds, and computers and printers, lol but i now have 39 projects on 23 dvds, it makes my head spin,,,,, lol i have the chipmunk and the pansy flower pin to put on dvd yet, , so it might be one or more of the dvds , i am having fun, its good to look forward to something, the hobo graduate is coming along ok, i will do more sunday, take care happy and safe carving to ya, arleen

the hobo graduate is my next project coming on my youtube channel

hi folks tonight i started my hobo graduate carving project, and will have a couple of videos up hopefully by tomorrow night, this came to me when i was in a party store with a friend , and looking around the thought came to me how i should do this, also someone asked me some time ago if maybe i do one, so i going try one, lol and i use the word hobo when you cant see the eyes, so i hope you enjoy then next project. take care and happy carving , arleen

the two of the same 20 years later,

finished chipmunk, and and my frist chipmunk 20 years ago

well i done with the chipmunk, ( one on the left) i learn alot from it , hope you did too, how to fix the cracks and checks, it worked out good, also not to overspray with the solution of water and alcohol , but it worked out just fine, i did end up burning the fur,, over the paint, which i wouldnt have done , because of the burning paint, i dont know if its harmful, but i would caution you not to to be on the safe side, but the end result as good, so i was happy with it, and another project will start in a day or two,,, also you see a photo of my first chipmunk 20 years ago, 1990, so to encourage you new carvers we all started some place, you will be amazed at the difference even after one year if you keep at it ,, till the next carving , take care and happy carving, arleen

WINNER OF THE APRIL 20TH DVD GIVEAWAY

congrats to robert, won the april 20th giveaway, enjoy, !!! next give away is may 20th, just email me with DVD GIVEAWAY on the subject line and you will be entered for the rest of the year, good luck,,, carverswoodshop@ yahoo.com

time to relax a bit, we can all learn, and word about wood spirits

hi folks, i am still working on the chipmunk and hope the three videos i have up about how to fix checks and cracks is helpful to you, as you i am always learning something new, just because i been carving 30 years doesnt mean i cant learn new ways of carving things, so its been a learning time for me with the chipmunk, as the years go by new folks will come up with new great ideas and things we can all learn,

just my take on wood spirits, now what i am going to write is just my personal view, and please its not to down anyone that does wood spirits, so here i go,

i went for a walk out at a state park nearby, found an neat piece of wood, i wanted to carve but forgot my box but i had a knife , which i dont forget it to often, and decided to make a wood spirit , not sure if i should i carved it and it came out great, very happy with the way it looked, and thought i would do some research on it , didnt know why the name bothered me ,

as many of you know i am a christian, and my belief is like many of my veiwers , but we all are convicted on different things, i never did a wood spirit before and i just want to say to those that do you do an awesome job on them, for me the wood SPIRIT word cause me to look into it, and wondered why they called it by that name, i believe in a holy spirit, so the name was what bothered me the most, as i researched it on the internet , it had some meaning years ago, i have no idea if the meaning is the same today for some folks, the part that troubled me was that they believe that spirits are in the trees and the wood carver would carve the wood spirit to release it, that is the part that i raised my eyebrows to, so i went to a couple of my christians friends, and ask what they thought, i did the piece with nothing more than enjoying the creation of a face, and no spiritaul meaning to it, with that in mind, here is what some of my friends counsel on the matter, to change the name and the piece itself to something different, which i will do, i always want to honor my lord by what ever i do, and not take away from what he has given to me, i will be changing the name and the look of the normal wood spirit, i have a name in mind which i will let you know once i start the videos on it, this will come after the chipmunk, in a few days, some christians dont like santas, and i do santas, and snowman, etc, i am a firm believer to each their own, weather you believe in him or not , i am not the judge, he is and he is the only one i have to answer to, and each person has to make his own mind up to what they believe, also i stand in judgement of no one no matter what you believe, i feel everyone has a right to believe as they want, that is called freewill, .. so please i am not putting judgement on those that do make wood spirits, i choose just to change it for my own beliefs, i do all of these with great pleasure and always remembering the creator that made everything, and the one that gave me the great hobby of woodcarving to begin with, happy and safe carving to you all, arleen

HOW TO FIX WOODCARVING CHECKS AND CRACKS #1

new video how to fix checks and cracks in wood, what i learned

hi folks, to my dismay i found checks or if you want to call it cracks in the chipmunk, instead of redoing it, i going to make some videos on my discovery and how to repair, and we can learn from it, i think there were couple of things going on with the piece, in the video i state like i have in the past to spray it will 50/50 solution alcohol/ water, i only had one problem with this in the past, and here is what i know so far,

1... the wood was cut from an end piece of the plank, not that it should matter if its dry to start with but both the angel and the chipmunk were cut from the ends of the plank
2... both pieces were harder than normal, seemed tougher to carve the wood,
3... overspray, 50/50 solution its ok to use this stuff but you have to be careful not to over do it, i normally spray it put it in a bag and overnight its nice and easy to carve, but because the piece seemed harder to carve than normal i did it a couple of times,.

my fault most likely, but all in all its a learning experience, like in everything we do we can learn when something goes wrong, to understand why,, all the factors were in place and one more thing, both the angel and the chipmunk alot of carving done on the end grain, which soaks up the water even more, and that is were the checks were located
well nothing is lose if we learn from it,

i did about 8 baby chicks for easter and spray them put them in a bag , and resprayed and didnt have any problems with them, but most all not cut on near the end cap of the plank,

and folks sometimes we just dont know why things crack, some folks carve green wood and have no cracks, i only had a few in the 3o years i carved, but i know most of us have had the problem one time or another,

i know how disappointing it can be but i also know you can repair it most of the time, i wanted to do a few things different with chipmunk piece than what i wanted to do,

i will not wood burn the fur, cause you will see where the repairs are ,, so just paint it without the texture

i looked and researched some things i could do and found an easy simple way to fix it , some folks might try others ways, and that is fine i just found this way to be simple enough and cheap, now if there was something i could buy to dip it into to restore it i would, but for now i will go with this until i find out more about the products that are out there,

dont give up and just keep at it , happy and safe carving arleen

two videos up , new project,,,,, chipmunk

new project on youtube, chipmunk on youtube

hi folks, its been an interesting week, i was kinda of a lost of what to do next as a project, i did one of these 20 years ago, made the new pattern and started it today,, the first couple of videos should be up by morning, all i know spring is here and like many of us we are busy, cleaning up from the winter and getting our mowers started, i mowed twice so far, i was hoping it be a bit later in the month, but i just glad everything started without having to repair it, the mower and trimmer are working fine, its always a hassle to get things to start, mowers and trimmers and i dont get along to well, being a farmer you think that it would , i learn a lot being a farmer, you can be very creative when you have to be to make things work around here, but for some reason gas motors was not one of them , i try, and sometimes i can adjust things to make them work, that is why i find carving a nice stress reliever. at least i know how to sharpen a knife , and use a hammer ( on a mower when all else fails) lol happy carving , arleen

new blog , just for my carvings that are for sale, thanks

hi folks... i had some folks asked me about where on web they can find my carving that i have for sale, so i devoting a new blog that i will only put up carving that i have for sale, called carverswoodshop creations, the link is http://www.carverswoodshop-creations.blogspot.com

there is more work to be done on the blog to make things a bit easier to purchase with paypal, i will put that up in the next few days,

carverswoodshop.blogspot.com. is my main blog that i will continue to post upcoming youtube projects , tips, and thoughts about woodcarving etc,

arleenscarverswoodshop.blogspot is a complete list of only dvds , cuts, and patterns, that are for sale

carverswoodshop-creations.blogspot.com is only carvings that i have for sale, once sold i will remove it or put sold in the title,

lol i think this is enough, thought it might be easier for what folks were interested in, i didnt want to make a website , this will work just as well, thanks so much folks again for your support and all the kind words, your emails mean alot to me and thanks for taking the time to do so, happy and safe carving to you all , arleen

FINISHED PANSY FLOWER PIN

hi folks there are two more videos about painting these , they are fun to do and i think moms would enjoy these mothers day , i found sometimes the simple things that you carve seem to be the best, hope you enjoy them i will soon have the last two videos up for these thanks again, arleen

new project on youtube, pansy flower pin, for mothers day

hi folks, i found something new to carve, staying with the time of the year,,,, mother's day will be next month, so i going to make a pansy flower pin, i will make a couple off line and one online to show you how to carve it , then i will also do most of the painting online, so that you can see how to blend colors, the way the blending is done as you will see also applies to birds and ducks, when color blend into one another, i hope to get a couple of videos up tonight and the rest in a day or two, i love pansies, they are a wonderful flower, and so many different colors that you can paint them, i hope you enjoy the videos, i will have a patterm put together soon , i will put about three different combs together for one pansy or two or three , a bit smaller, so you can make them as pins, enjoy, arleen

www.youtube.com/carverswoodshop

happy easter, and 5 baby chicks found a home this morning

just want to wish everyone a happy easter, church was great this morning, and its a wonderful sunny day today, very warm, its going to be a great day , first a meal with my folks and then carving some more baby chicks out on the deck and chatting, really folks life doesnt get much better that that, feeling good, with friends and family and of course carving a bit too, i have a new project that i will start most likely tomorrow, its a short one , but it will be a fun one, take care and happy and safe carving , arleen

how make a holder for painting small carvings

hi folk, in my rush to paint some of my easter baby chicks that i been working on, i found that it would be easier to put them on a stick, so on my way back from canada i thought of how i could do more than one and have a holder to let the carvings dry, and then i can do 6-12 of them at one time,

in the past i often wait till i have 10-15 santas to paint, since painting isnt my favorite thing, but i learned to enjoy it more and more, so i will use this holded for a bunch of different carvings that i will have to paint, watch the video you will see how handy this holder can be,,,

i often find that things dont need to cost a lot to make things that can be helpful , most of us have wood in our shops that we can use, sometimes simple projects can be the most fun to make, happy carving and painting , arleen

home and the holiday weekend, happy easter

hi folks, i am home again, i had a wonderful time up in canada, first the show and then the family, thanks to all that were willing to interviewed for my youtube channel, and thanks to jan that gave us a look at the highway of hero's carving, it was amazing to see, in his workshop, well the holiday weekend is near and i wishing everyone a very happy easter, i feel it a very very important holiday with promise and hope for all believers, weather you observe the holiday or not , i wish ya all a safe one, will have another project going soon, thanks again , arleen