calvin in his comfort zone

winter in oct 2011 #2 at the farm fall leaves and snow

just outside with my sister ann

winter in oct

yes a snowstorm in oct here in pa,, lol not what i expected,, i had plan to mow and rake leaves on friday when i return from a short trip,, well its been a very busy weekend,,, now its time to take out the tractor and chainsaw tomorrow, hopefully the snow will be gone but i dont think so,, well isnt life interesting sometimes, :) a good day to stay in and carve a bit,, and get ready for the william rush show next weekend,, ok folks take care bye

MORNING SANTA #22 (end)

my last release of all my projects enjoy, arleen

new releases the past few days, are the following...

the past week i released the following projects, leprechaun, baby peapod,pine apple ,hobo graduate, i hope you enjoy them,, arleen

NEXT SHOW is the william rush show nov 5 and 6th

hi folks , i know i have not carve a lot the past few days,, many things going on here and i am getting ready to go to the next show which is the william rush woocarving show in lima pa,, i was there last year and plan to be there again,, i missed the frankenmuth show in mich and the ont canada wood carving shows,, but i will be at william rush,, family commitments and business has kept me from leaving to far from home these days,,,, but i look forward to going and hope to see many of you that are near by,, it will be at the penn state brandywine campus in lima pa. keep carving , arleen

BRANCH GUY SANTA #7 ( END )

just release more projects , here is the santa guy branch ornament , enjoy

CHIPMUNK #14 (END)

this project CHIPMUNK was just just release , i won first place in the lancaster show in its division in 2010 it was a fun project,, this project will teach you how to carve eyes, enjoy arleen

DUCKYS FIRST PLUNGE #18 (END)

hi folks i just released this project on my youtube channel, look for it by name, thanks , arleen

MANGER SCENE ORNAMENT ( MARY AND JESUS) #1

four videos in all , the painting is yet to come ,, enjoy all are on my youtube channel,

MY SOLAR FURNACE self standing solar AIR HEATER

update 11-2-2011 i put in a heavier fan,, wow what a difference

today it was up to 60 outside and i put it on all day,, during sunlight of course,, and the house got up to 77 degrees,, it will be enough to keep it warm all night,, it was 60 degrees this morning in the house,, so its working much better then the duct fan, so its moving 1000cfm instead of 110 cfm i wasnt sure if it would cool it off to quickly,, so its been great so far,,the heat remain the same for hours coming out of the vent ,, i will keep you posted for this winter but for fall use its great,,, the temps went down to 42 overnight,, so anything helps to keep the gas prices down,,, nothing like free heat,, and no work to it either,, super,,, i am a happy camper about it
hi folks most of you have seen this but i did this video over a year ago and its about my solar heater i built,, it was done with alot of work and not giving up,, i had to tear it apart three times to get it right,, its over 24 feet long and 8 feet high,, but i notice the old fan wasnt kicking out the amount of heat i wanted, well i got a dust blower motor and wow what a difference, i should have done this long ago, but it was really great cause the heat after i left it on for a while and the house got very warm but its 60 outside now and got up to 81 in my home , i will see if the blower works as well went its cooler, it should work about the same,, i was very happy with the way it heated so quickly,, this is my 4th year with my heater,, i design it and made it myself,, lol i never fell so many times doing a project like this one, lol ,,, i once had the ladder take a slow fall, you know the kind that you have enough time to know what is happening, and i really thought oh well , i hope the neighbors did see this, lol that is how much time i had to think as it started to go ,, lol all the falls i was just fine,, and i also live on a hill, so i was tired and decided to sit on the small wagon , and it decided to go down the hill, it picked up some speed i couldnt stop it so i rollled off of it,, and again, hoping the neighbors didnt see it ,,, lol i was fine, had to go down the rest of the way to get the wagon now at the bottom of the hill, so i have some fun memories of building it, lol but it does work that is all that counts,, and maybe if we all built solar heaters we can keep our money in the usa, instead of having imported oil, just a thought, i did have this all on video on my computer as i was building it and lost it cause my laptop died,, so it was a big lost to me but i then did this video to at least show how it works,, would i build it again? of course i would,, was it worth the trouble? you bet it was,, so if you have an idea go with it , and work on it , and you never know who might learn from your project, take care arleen

just release the amish guy and amish gal projects on youtube

if you wanted to do amish folks simple here ya go, have fun,, these are posted on my youtube channel , enjoy, arleen

jogging is like carving LOL well not really

hi folks, i been busy , i got nothing done carving wise today, to busy on the puter,, but today i did something i didn't do for a long time, i took a jog today,, way out of shape compared to the full time farming days,, back in 1992 i went into the police academy which took about 16 weeks full time,, in that time i was to run a course in 12 mins, and also do a certain amount of lifting, ( wasnt a problem i got that from lifting 50 lbs feed bag at the farm) but i started to run long before i went in the academy and pass,and ran for another 10 + years cause i enjoyed, it,,, now i wasnt the fastest or the best at it,, but i did enjoy it,, the benefit was great but as time went along i lost interest and stop, now i like to start again,, badly needed lol so today was a day,, tomorrow i know i will not be a happy camper,, i will be sore, but i also know that it will slowly get better and easier and more enjoyable too,
but today it was just perfect weather, a bit windy, and warm, perfect to take a jog, and to think of it its alot like carving,, carving takes time to get good at it,, and and even if you never compete, ( i never did in running, ) you can still enjoy it along the way,, carving is something that you learn along the way, no one and i mean no one ever learn it from only doing one carving, just like running, you keep at it , and you keep getting better at it,, so keep carving, learn what you can today and most important enjoy it along the way,, arleen

how to find the new releases of my old projects on youtube

black lab puppy and hobo snowman with a tree ornament released today

just release a few more on my youtube channel,, the black lab puppy was a popular one at the shows,, go to my youtube channel, there you will find a search bar and in it put BLACK LAB PUPPY and all the videos will pop up , also the hobo santa with the tree was release today too more to come, http://www.youtube.com/carverswoodshop


have fun folks, arleen

what other carvings would you like to see taught on youtube ??

good morning carving buddies,,,, some of you are aware of the wci form, i posted a question ....what other carvings would you like to see taught on youtube?? ,, it had over 5000 views and many request, so today i going to see what new projects i can do for youtube, i am still releasing videos, got about 150 out of 400+ done so far, a slow process, ok so you can also post your requests here in the comments section, hope you all have a great sunday, off to church i go,, bye

just having fun, folks, new things,

hi folks, i found this neat way to do a quick video with animals,, it was much fun, and if it makes some folks, smile,, then it was worth it,, so many cool things on the internet, and sometimes when you think there is nothing new,, behold you find something new again, and sometimes it the same with carving, i know i mention this in the past, but its true, there will always be new things to try or to start,, dont be afraid to try it, even if you think you can't, just try,, you never know how much fun you would have missed, keep carving arleen

where is your carving glove?:)

NEW prices on the dvds 10.00 each free shipping i

starting to post my chickadee project videos ob youtube ,,,,, my most detailed project

hi folks, i started to post my project of the chickadee, its the first time you will see it complete online,, i only have 1-11 on youtube now,, tomorrow i plan to get the rest of it up,, this project took me two weeks to video it, you will learn everything you need to make and paint a chickadee, i feel it was one of my most detail carvings that i video tape, this is still available on dvd if your interested, hope you enjoy it, arleen

the following projects now availabe on youtube

hi folks,the following projects have been open on my youtube channel, pumpkin, mini pinecone holstien the cat, front santa, hobo snowman ornament, pilgrim, standing branch santa, praying santa, and more to come in the days ahead, enjoy, them,, just in time for the holidays, these were done some time ago, please go to my youtube home page and put these titles in the search bar, and you will find them, keep carving arleen en the following projects, http://www.youtube.com/user/carverswoodshop?feature=mhee

some BIG changes coming to my youtube channel, :)

hi folks, i going to start to release all my videos, of course they are still copyright on them, so your welcome to watch them from the youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/carverswoodshop ..and also you can purchase most of them on dvd, also if you like one on dvd form to purchase it,, new prices cost is 10.00 per dvd free shipping to the usa and canada only, it will come with a pattern if it is not from a block only, ......., thanks to all that have watch my videos,, keep carving, i have over 900 videos , half of them are on youtube already so , please it will take me weeks to get them all posted so that you can enjoy them,, also i will be removing all the patterns from my youtube site, , so if you want to do a project with the pattern, you will have to purchase a dvd, keep carving, arleen

you might inspire someone to carve....... you never know

hi folks, this past weekend at the apple festival, i was amazed how many folks were interested in woodcarving,, or wanting to learn, i had a sign up sheet for those that might like to take a class in the future, most of these folks , either always wanted to learn, or were just starting but didnt know where to go,,,, and many enjoy just asking questions about woodcarving,, but then a thought came to me,, i do both wood carving shows and also festivals,, and found that maybe some of these folks may never come to a wood carving show,, or even have one near them to attend,, so its important to do both if you want to promote woodcarving,, you might insprire someone that may want to learn the art of woodcarving,, so i suggest that if your a woodcarver and enjoy chatting with folks, and you will be answering a lot of questions,, then going to a craft fair or festival in your town? it so much fun, it really is,, and folks are so amazed when you tell them ,, yes i carved this out of wood,,,,, and the kids and adults both enjoy watching you carve,, i was carving most of the day and if you sit there and carve you will draw a crowd around you,, so give it a try,, and see how it goes,, you might inspire someone that always wanted to learn to carve :) keep carving

apple festival at haycreek 2011 #1

this was the apple festival at hay creek , it was a great time,, there are three short videos,, enjoy, arleen

winter pine tree #1

hi folks, you can get videos #2 and #3 on my youtube channel, thanks for watching and enjoy,, arleen

new project ... winter pine tree coming soon on youtube

i have three videos to load for this easy project, fun to do for you carving club,, i had a lot of fun making these, ,, enjoy, arleen

carving mistakes ? what do you do ??

carving mistakes,, lol never lol yeah right,, well we all did one time or another, and most likely will again,, its more what do you do when you do make a mistake,, do you quit? start over? or fix what you can? and do you learn from it?

well i did a few , and to explain three exsamples of my carving mistakes,

1 , one was a santa , after finishing it up , i was so into the carving and enjoying it, i notice after it was done that his feet were facing the wrong direction, lol ,, this was the first and only time this ever happen,, i was carving it from a block and did the feet and legs first,, and i always did the head and body first,, i finished it and sold it anyway as a one of a kind,, and yes it sold, , lesson ,, someone will want it,

2 , a chipmunk,, i used the spraying method, to soften the wood,, it was a bit hard, and i used solution of 50-50 water and and rubbing alcohol , and you have to be careful not to wet the wood to much otherwise it will check( hairline cracks ) and yup it did ,, about 11 of them,, i was so upset, cause the carving was turning out soo well,,,, ok i decided to fix it with saw dust and glue,, and even decided to show this on my chipmunk dvd, so others would know what to do,, and i finished it and it won first place at the lancaster wood carving show, , lesson,, it can win, and be a great piece even with its faults, (alot like people )

3 the last one was the same as number two,, did the same thing to clifford the dog,, over wet the wood cause it was a bit hard as well,, i was disappointed but i waited to see how many checks ( cracks ) and there were many but some how they disappeared,, so i decided will go ahead and see how it will finish it out,, and it was fine, some very small ckecks, but it was hard to find them,, and the lesson,, sometimes waiting pays off,

so here is what i learn from most of my mistakes,

1 its ok to be upset,, you spent alot of time on it but there is always a way to fix it,

2, learn from it,, what you did wrong? and try not to repeat it,,

2 keep carving, its like anything else in life, there are going to be mistakes , it is what you do when you make the mistake that counts, fix it if you can, and if all else fails,, well firewood isnt bad either on a cold day,, keep carving, arleen