super shorty santas, you can make bottle stopper of these if you wish

my new carving studio on the road,,, what do you think? LOL should i build one ?

lol dont you love this rv....  now i can go to the top and it has a sunroom,,,, folks i just had to post this,,,  i believe the car is a chevy impala 1958     someone one had an idea,, and bingo there it is,,   55 years later to see this well i think it was so funny,,,  

thinking of rvs,, yes i been looking for a cheap one,,  c class toyota from 1986 to 1992,,, i went to see two so far,,, but really i could not justify the cost, and layout was not what i wanted , not that it was out of range but this was a want not a need,,  big difference ,,, some folks really have a hard time,, knowing the difference,,,  and sometimes its just nice to be able to have something you long for.... for a long time,,  

the camper studio made me want to have one that i could just get in and go,, when i was at my sisters place in canada at their farm i pick out a place i like to put it ,, the view was great,, out in the steer pasture,, lol and i will someday,,,  but i happy with what i have now,, so much use out of the one i have now,, it would be hard for me to sell it,, its perfect for what i need,, so we all have to have plans and dreams and goals to reach,   it keeps us going,, and new plans for carving is also the biggest delight ,, take care and keep carving,, arleen

the right tools for the right job,,,, ? carving tools ? keeping at it !!

after this week,, indeed i know what it is like to have the right tools to do the job.... this past week i looked at this 1986 john deere tractor and what it did for me to fix the driveways,,  then the scaffolding to repair some of the gutters,, and went out to buy a 20ft ladder to finish what i needed at my home,,  ( reason for buying this ladder is i needed something lighter i could handle,,  the 32 footer was way to heavy for me ,,,  i could have used it,, but thought for a long time the 20 ft was a need,,  not a want,,  ) so off to lowes i went to get one,, and finished the job in a quick manner,,  
so why am i sharing this again,, well as woodcarvers its so important to have the right tools to do the job,,  nothing is more frustration to me then to be in the middle of a job and none of the tools in your box is going to work to fix that problem,,,  and the same with woodcarving, if your knife is dull or the handle is not a good fit to your hand,  if your basswood is harder than you like,, all these things can make for a very frustrating time,,  so do yourself a favor,, and ask yourself a question,, what tools do i need to be a better woodcarver?  ok one word about tools,,  tools are only good if you learn to use them the right way,, and use them often,, just because i had a tractor at the farm,and if  i didn't know how to run it ,, then it does me no good,,,  so get the right tools,, ( even if you spend a bit more on them well worth it in the long run) and just keep carving,,  keep your tools sharp,, dont forget your carving glove and thumb guard,,  just as important,, and you will find hours of delight, in making something special out of wood,,,,  

berry time with mom

hi folks,,  again its the time of the year to pick raspberries,, mom has a big patch out back of their home,, this is one of my mothers favorite places to be,,  she loves picking them and making her famous raspberry jam,,   for the past few years its been hard for her to walk down,, so i drive her down with the car,,  today we pick some berries this morning,,  and i took a few photos of her and some flowers that are in full bloom,,  mom has always has a green thumb,,  i do not,, i try to keep her berry patch going its not as big,, i did some pruning last year,, the weeds, its a

big job to keep out along with other things,,   it was the highlight of her morning,, she told me she rather do this then shop,,,, lol
so here are some photos for those of you that are not on facebook,,  enjoy,,,  so we took some time to pick the berries this morning,, it was nice,,

things are looking up and the tractor,,,

hi everyone,, well i was eager to get on the tractor today to  get the driveways back into shape,    i thought i had to order stone but i regraded the both driveways  with the grader on the back and the front end loader in the front,,  after about 4-5 hours it was done,,  i was able to lug up all the stone that had washout to the barnyard, and also at my home,,  so i was glad that it was not going to cost me hundreds to order stone,, i just got one load last week, cost was 345 dollars,, but i had to top off some things around the farm,, it was way overdo,,,  and that was 26 tons on that load,,,  i still have a small pile left that came in handy to use today,,,  then i fixed the rain gutters above the back door of the barn,, were it water was pouring in by the door, and flooded out the feedroom,,,lol my scaffolding came in real handy today,, and the tractor is a huge plus,,  getting very handy with it for sure,,,,,,  just like dad,,  :) he was so good at operating it,, i never worried he always had it under control,,, and he could use that front end loader like it was an extension of his hands,,  i slowly seeing the same thing,, i finally after a few  years got the feel of how to handle the tractor in all kinds of situations ,... up hills, on hills, just about every terrain.. i help a guy last week to load a heavy item into his trailer,,  after i got off the tractor, he said he had to tell me he didnt  worry about me handling the tractor to load,,  he could tell i was good at it,, some folk have a tractor and have no idea how to operate it,,, made me feel good,, \
i told him my father never allowed me on the tractor it was his baby,, when he could no longer run it,, i told him come out here and show me how to operate it,,  and that it where it began,   alot like carving the more you carve the better you will be,,,
     
tomorrow my plan is to work at my home,, clean out the front gutters and the drain pipe i believe is clog,, major clog so hopefully once that is done,, all is well,
the basement has about 2 big fans going,,  things are almost dry but i will let it run for a few more days, and then start to remove anything that is damp,,,  which will help me to finally clean out the basement,, way overdo,,
the feedroom has a fan in it,, that i put in today,,  lol most of my stuff is in plastic buckets or bins, so not much lost at all there, and not as critical as the basement,,  but all in all, needless to say i am tired tonight,,, moving around stone with a rake and shovel at times,,  like the good old farming days,, lol  it feels good to work hard,,,  overall things are looking up,, thinking this would take weeks,, which really a few days,,,  take care keep carving,, i think i will carve for a while to relax,,   second thought i think i need to sleep,, lol  

a disappointing night

hi everyone,, well the work around my home and farm never stop,,,,  today we had about the worse rain storm i can ever remember,,, my home basement was flooded,,  which in almost 30 years i never had happen,, my driveway was washed out,, there is a rut of about 1 foot wide and about 1 and 1/2 foot deep ,,  the farm  well in the past five years nothing in the barns at all, the feed room had water in it,,  coming from a faulty rain gutter about the back door,,  along with a washed out driveway on my parents side,,,,  now i just got 25 ton of stone now i will get at least another 50 ton to fix both driveways and to build up the front,, i might put heave plastic about half way to keep it from washing out again,, and also at my home,, i got a plan,,, hmmm i dont think i do much in the way of carving,,  i will be busy fixing and cleaning up,,, never a dull day,,,

update
ok second update,,   well , things are looking up,, i went back to the house ready to use the shop vac to soak up the water,, most of it was gone,, where i have no idea,, but i put out one fan and will add a couple more and let it dry for a few days, and then start to chuck out the damp stuff, so its a plan,,,, and also to fix the main problem run off from the road and gutters, well i will order a load of stone,, 2a stone,, and few old tarps, and i will layer it,, stone tarp stone trap,, and that way it will not wash it out again,, well i hope it doesn't  i have some sand bags that worked well but a bit expensive, so this idea is about the same,,    the farm feedroom the pump i had in place worked fine, its empty and now it has to dry out,, nothing much lost there,,  and same thing here, i need to redo the top of the driveway with layers of tarp and stone,,  and maybe pour some hand mixed concrete, on top,,  it should hold,, but water is powerful,,  i can only try these idea,, and see    i know what i have to do to repair the gutters,,  out with the ladders tomorrow,, up up and away i go,,

tulip poplar leaf and his friend mr inch worm

FINISHED PHOTOS OF THE UNCLE SAM PROJECT

UNCLE SAM #20 END)

UNCLE SAM #1

NOAHS ARK LION #8

NEW kittens at the farm, and antiquing pickles and pine cones

hi folks,,  someone suggested that i name one of the kittens whittle,,,,  and i will also add woody and chip,,  for names,, lol ,    but here is a picture of them,,  now i have to figure out which one gets which name,, lol
i am finishing up some of the painting that i been at for the past two weeks,,  one more week and it should be done,, the bears have to be painted but its all coming together,,, slowly but for sure
here are some photos of the kittens and the projects being antiqued
keep carving folks,,  and get started on those christmas projects , never to early to do so !!!
update, someone on facebook thought of the name whittle , i added woody and chip
so its left to right,, woody, chip and whittle,   i thought it was cute,, official carverswoodshop kittens lol

CHRISTMAS PICKLE TIME , TIME TO HARVEST THEM NOW :)

yes many , christmas pickles,, they are fun to carve and even paint,,  they do take time,,  the painting and putting the white dots on them, along with eye hook on top,, ( i have to do that yet,, ) i have about 70 pickles so far,, at the apple feast at haycreek , i sold many of them, hope to do so again this year,,, do i decided to add a business size card along with each pickle, 
ok here is what the card will look like to go along with the christmas pickles,, its hard to sign the pickle so i decided to order some cards to sign to each pickle,, hmmm cant wait till these come in the mail,, it saves me the hassle trying to print these myself,, less of a headache,
so here are a couple of photos one of the card and one of some of the pickles being painting,,, ohhhh christmas is coming,, :) 

now the santas are painted now for the bears ooohhh my ,,

hi folk its  been  a while,, i will try to keep this blog up to speed,,  here is a photo of my finish painted santas,, only the bears and some pine cones to go ,,  i waited way to long to paint,,  like everything in life,, there has to be a balance,, lol  next time i will paint when i have 20 not 100 pieces at a time,, take care and keep carving ,, arleen

 this is a photo of one  the left not antique yet and the one on the right is done, it makes a huge difference,,

 new,, shorty santa holding a piece of coal,, have you been good or bad :) ?

new antiquing method for woodcarvers

PAINTING TIPS FOR THE WOODCARVER

just to explain,, thanks for the emails folks,, arleen

posted on my youtube channel,,,, i was ask about classes and the open house 

hi again everyone,, its been a while since i have done a video of carving,, plan to be back to it soon,, with summer ahead,, i decided not to do any classes or open houses, if there will be classes in the fall i will be sure to post them on my facebook page as an event,, if your in the area and would like to stop in your welcome to come ,,, please call me at 484-364-0471. i have also been carving up a storm of santas, getting ready for christmas,, yessssss christmas,, along with some recent orders that have yet to be filled, you cant wait to carve to build your inventory if you wait till oct,,, so yes carving is done all year long,, bears and santas seem to be the hit this year,, half of the bears are spoken for,, :) i am available for individual classes ,, just call for more information,, thanks and keep carving folks,, arleen

cancel all classes and open houses

hi folks,, just a notice all  events that i posted, all classes and open houses will be canceled,,  this fall if i choose to have a few classes they will be posted here,  you can always contact me if your in the area,,  if you like to drop by,,  otherwise i am planning to be open sats the day after thanksgiving untill christmas,  thanks and keep carving, arleen 

unfinished bottle stoppers,,

just some of my bottle stoppers,,lol have to paint them yet 

nothing to do with carving ,,, but ...

hi folks, here is something i wrote on facebook,, i know some of you dont use fb,, so i will post it here as well, i still carving up a santa storm,, lol and christmas pickles,, and enjoying it not much in the way of videos for the moment but will plan to do a few projects again soon,, take care, and keep carving ,  arleen

hi folks,,  this has nothing to do with woodcarving but felt some might find this interesting,,  many of you along with myself belong to a local churches,,  as many of you might find as i did this week, sometimes we do not agree with some of the changes taking place,, when ever you get a group of folks together, whether its a carving club, job , church or any gathering of folks your bound to have some disagreements,,  one thing i do not like , is change,, but in life change is bound to happen at some point  and places of worship are no different,, as much as we like to have harmony sometimes there is not,, we are people ,, with feeling and strong opinions of what should be done,,  i have gone to the same church for the past 35 years, and believe me i seen many changes,, some i like some i did not like,, it never kept me from going ,, i may not be as involved as i should or could have been, but my faith did not rest on a church,, its just a place gather that are like minded,, but with a lot of changes i  often would not respond or get the information i needed to see why things happen the way they did,,,  well this past week,   i wanted to finally email a staffer at the church,, wanting only to convey my concerns and wanted some answers ,, their reply was come in and let chat,,,, i been the kind of person that if i didn't like it i just didn't say anything,,  and let things ride,,,  in the 35 years i may have contacted them 3 times ,, so i am not a complainer  to them,, to my friends yes lol ... but this time i decide to step out of my comfort zone,, and go meet with them,,   yes its something i didnt want to do,,,  but if i truly looking for answers then i need to be willing to listen to them,,,  after about 40 mins,,  i came away different,, 

no we didn't agree on all four issues i was concern about,, but two of the issues were explained well enough that i was ok with it ,, but what about the last two,, well,, ok i did my part and stated my concern,, and thought that the one was big enough issue that maybe i should go to another church,,  and there lies the problem,, i  am not a church hopper,,  some folks can do it in a blink of an eye,, its a very personal decision and for me , i decided to stay,, cause in reality every organized meeting whether its church or other club,, they all have something that your not going to like,, but i do believe their are times that its best to move on,, and one thing i came away from this week,, i no longer feel the frustration,,  but free,  i went and met with them,, we chatted, it was fine,  and i notice time is to short on this earth to be consume with frustrations that really is much of our own doing,,  keep the faith people,,  

new santas the spiral shorty santa

when you have to wait it's a great time to carve

hi folks, again its been a while,, soooo busy here at the farm,,  and just took this picture as i took my folks to an appointment,, and this is what i do,, i often will sit in the carve and carve,  the cigar box was my grandfathers from many years ago ,,, i use it for my tools but its great also to catch the woodchips that i create,,  so when you have to wait,, put together a small bag or box,, just a couple of knives and then your ready to carve in the car... you be amazed how much carving you can get done just doing this,, so if your driving folks to places and you have to wait then carve,,  it makes the time fly,,,  i always enjoyed doing this,,,  take care folks and keep carving,, arleen ps this is my shorty santa series ,, lol will have a class coming soon on this one,,

hi folks its been a while

hi folks,, life has a way of getting in the way,,, i been so busy the past couple of months i notice that i have not posted in about two weeks,,,  my sister and i went to the play at the sight and sound called NOAH  very good,, if you come to lancaster it is  well worth going,,, it was amazing the amount of work that was done to create this awesome show,,,   but also with spring comes along a lot of cleaning up,, the yard, and sometimes the work around the farm can be overwhelming,, but slowly things are getting done,, yup its mowing time again,, its hard to believe that may will soon be here,, sorry i have not posted any new projects lately,, but i sure that as soon as the spring work is done i will  be ready to take on a few more projects on youtube,,  carving a lot despite  all the work that has been done,, trying to carve at least a few carvings each week,, 40 pieces to paint as of today ,, knowing all to well you can never get an to early start to the christmas season,, if you wait to long ,, well you will never carve fast enough to keep up ,,,, so keep carving,, i be back soon,, take care,, arleen

knife making,, just having some fun

i want to keep carving interesting,, one of the things i did a long time ago was make my own knives, which i did many of them,,  but the only thing i didnt care to make believe it or not is the handle,, and thought there had to be a simple way of doing the handle then out of wood,, and lo and behold i came up with an idea,, after some thought,, i sought after the items i needed to finish my knife project,,  as you can see this handle is different,, it was molded to the grip of my hand,, which makes it a very comfortable knife, but was not sure if the handle material would hold up,, and so far so good,,  in the coming week i will finish the lion,,  and then make a video how you can make this knife,, its very time consuming,, but worth it for a knife you will spend hours carving with, also this might help those that have arthritis in there hands,, since is molded to your hand, that the pressure will be even to the whole hand,, i will do my best to show you how to make them in the coming days,, take care and keep carving,,  ps mowed today the first of a very long season,, :)

want or a need,, ??? do you know the difference ,,

learning what is a need and what is a want,, i want to buy it but i dont need it,, but i really want it , but i really dont need it , so the debate continues,,, one of the many decisions in life that most folks cant tell the difference,, 
will it make me happy,, ( for a short time yes it might) 
will i use it often ( i hope so ) 
and will i regret it later ( i dont know until i buy it first ) :) 
so the debate in my head continues :)

i posted this on my facebook,, but didnt go into detail about it,,  and had me think about some of the things that i purchase ,, big things,, that made me look back how things fell into place,,  

making any decisions is never easy,,  i often will talk to some of my dear friends , and see if they have some insight that i might overlook,,  and also chatting with some of my family,, but in the end i have to make the final decision,,  its never easy,, many of you came along for the ride when i was looking for my camper studio,, it took months,, and i found just what a wanted and needed, in fact,, it was more then i ever expected,,  some of us take the risks of decision making as an easy step,, they take it was it comes, and if its the wrong,, well they deal with it,, and move on,, but when one is watching evey penny,, well its a bit harder,, you dont want to waste any of your money on a bad decision,,  and caution is in play,,, 
i dont lmake big decisions without alot of research or time ,,  when i had the farm,, and i was younger it was easier to take the risks,, and there were many times that it was not a right decision,, but you had to take the risk,, if you didnt in business you would not get anywhere,, and no money was ever made by not spending it first,, the old saying it takes money to make money,, its very true,, but at what point does one stop when things dont go as plan,,,   well i had that desicion too,, when the farm was near the last of raising cattle i knew it was not a way to continue,, that if i did i risk losing all of it,, and i knew then something had to change, and change it did,,,  i ended up still with the farm at a smaller scale and able to keep what i had worked hard for,, not that losing wasnt painful yes it was,, but to stop the bleeding , and that is what we did,, we now are better for some of those painful decisions,, not pleastant,,  i wanted to continue full force but i also knew i was getting older and the phyical work that was required was starting to show,,  i no longer could handle the heavy work,,  like in my 20s and i always planned to reduce the work load by the time i was 50  and as it work out it happen at 46  that the farm slowed down,,   so some decisions come weather you want them or not,, and some are made for you ,, an i believe that is by gods design,, not mine,, when i look back at all those plans, and what i wanted,, he knew full well what i needed first,,  and he did help us all the way,, not always easy but he guided our steps,, and we thought we were in control,,  hellllo we are not,,  but at the same time i often believe that when one door closes and other opens,, its happen time and time again,, and in the end,, i glad that things worked out as they did,,  and i have to remember always,, before any decision,, to ask  the one that  can guide me and really knows the outcome long before i do,, and to trust him,, keep carving folks,, arleen 

NOAHS ARK LION #1

OK FOLKS I AM BACK TO CARVING lol  so far there are 7 videos to this project hopefully will have a couple of more to finish it up,, thanks and enjoy,, arleen

spokanecarvers.com

spokanecarvers.com:

'via Blog this'

post easter greetings, and going to sight and sounds NOAH'S ARK

hi folks in all my rush the past week i posted this on facebook, and i repost it here

sorry for the delay , hope you all had a nice easter 

hi everyone,, happy easter, remember that without today our faith would be worthless,, And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins 1 cor 15:17
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"1 cor 15:55
may everyone have a safe and happy day,, arleen

as i am trying to find the time to finish noahs ark,, i saw that sight and sound has a play of NOAH'S ARK playing,,  so i decided, my sister who enjoys plays more than i,, would enjoy seeing this show,   so as an early christmas gift i purchased two tickets for later this month to go see it,,,  i ask her first if she was interested since she is planning to come sometime this month,,  she said yes so i went on line to get the seating and tickets,,  i am an old   farm gal,, not much into plays,, sight and sound has been around for a long time,, i remember going when they only had the old stage  and old lady at the end of a show would play an old  organ,,  ,, very minimal stuff,, not very good acting but where lots of young folks would go for a night,,  wow to see it today,, its amazing how well known they are today,,  i know lots of from canada come to see the shows ,   they been very successful ,, for sure,, ok folks here is a link to the show if your interested in seeing some information on it ,, take care keep carving,, arleen

http://www.sight-sound.com/WebSite/noah.do

mom's easter flowers

mom's easter flowers this year,, mom wanted these as we stop at a greenhouse on the way to see one of moms dear friends,   i normally get her tulips every easter for the dutch lady,, but saw these and she  fell in love with them,, of course i had to get them for her,, there at a total of 18 blossoms ,, i never saw so many,, she loves them,,  and they will last much longer then tulips ,,,

a different video :) for my uncle in holland,, its in dutch

ok i posted this on facebook and i know some of you do not have facebook,, i did a video of my table for my uncle in holland that is a woodcarver,,, he watches my youtube videos but can not understand it,, my folks have always spoke dutch around home,, so i can understand it well, but always answered my folks for the most part in english,,  so i can speak it to some point not perfect by any means, but i can talk with my uncle very well,,  so on the way to the show i was practicing how to do a short video just for him,,, he is a very kind person,, i so enjoy it when he and my aunt came for a visit many years ago,, he loves the computer ,,,  i taught him how to carve santas when he visited back in 1980S  and he fell in love with woodcarving,, he belongs to a woodcarving club in his town in holland, and did many demos for groups how to make the wooden shoes the old fashion way,,,, so i wanted to do something a bit special for him,, i hope he understands most of it ,, it was hard not to mix some english in it,, lol but it was fun to create ,,  i had fun making this video

now that the show is over, some thoughts,, :)

hi everyone,, thanks to all that came to the lancaster county woodcarving show,, it was a great show,, i think one of the best so far,,  lots of folks,, i met a bunch of folks that follow me on youtube,, and so grateful that they took the time to come to the show,,, many never were at a carving show before, and i could tell how happy they  were to be there,, so much to see in a short amount of time,,,  and really the show does a few things,, first it get you in contact with other carvers,, 2..you get to see all kinds of different types of carving,, 3 you get to find the tools you wanted, and most likely at a better price then shipping it to you ,,, 4.. you get to see some other methods of carving that maybe you didnt think of before,,,  and last but not least,,, you come away inspired,, hopefully,,, and filled with new ideas to carve,,, so folks if your new to carving there is no better place to be,,,
again this year i met folk that came to the show as far away as new england states,,,  it amazes me how many folks follow the youtube and blog,,,  and i am alway at awe of it all,,   thanks again to all and if you missed this year,, we hopefully will see you next year,,, keep carving and learning folks take care, arleen 

lancaster 40th woodcarving show

hi everyone so far there at 7 videos to this show,, we are having a great time one more day to go , sunday is the last day,, thanks to all the came out to see us,,, keep carving , arleen   ps please go to my youtube channel or facebook page to view all the videos of this show,, thanks

when is enough , enough?

hi folks, like the title?   having a table or tables at a show, is lots of work,,  i for one plan for days if not weeks, to decide what to bring , how to set up and what has to go along,,  I am now working on filling the empty slots of dvds that i thought i had more then a few,,  most of them i had 2-4 of each one of them in reserve if someone would order it,,  with 59 dvds to take along, i been busy making about 60 copies so that i have everything at the show,,, running out of time , i like to also paint some of my santas that are staring at me to be completed,,,,  i really had so many other projects on hold cause of the honey bears,,  sold a few all ready,, and have about 4 of them looking at me unpainted,, but there is only so much time in a day,, and i love working late at night but that isnt always good for ones health,, but i will get done what i can,,  the rest will have to wait till the show is over,,,  i love what i do,, and the honey holiday bears were a big hit,, i dont believe i had so many folks that fell in love with a carving as this one,,  and i have orders for christmas,  i know  your thinking its way to early to be thinking of it , but no it really isnt,,  our season isnt now,,  its christmas that folks want the special something for someone,, and carvings are a great gifts,,  i really had orders for  this coming christmas , beginning in jan, so its never early,,,  its how do you keep this from getting out of hand,, that is another topic,, i get into that later, but when is enough , enough,,?  the answer is never,,  you will always want more carvings and stuff at a show,, and most likely you will be taking most of it home,, ( you will sell some) but reality is you will bring most of it back with you ,,  but you always feel that you never have enough displayed, and you want everything you can take with you ,, just in case,,  thats ok,, just remember to have fun doing it,,  so far this has not felt like a job,, i still enjoy doing what i am ,, i never want to feel like i have to do the carving rather,  that i want to do the carving and shows,,  so really enough will be when you finally pack the car, and get there, then you have no choice if you brought enough with it ,,,, it will have to be enough,, take care , arleen  ps keep carving as long as you can,, :) 

the class ,, not enough time opps

hi folks,, i had our class today , holiday honey bear,, thinking we could get it done in one day,,  this is the first class that we were not able to finish a project,,  which normally we do,,,  i didnt think it would take all day just to carve the bear,,  this should be a two day class, but all of the folks were fine with taking it home to either paint it and to  finish the little pieces,,   what i might do ,, is add a bit more to the class and add the dvd,, so that they can finish it,, and keep it a one day class, have not decided how to do that,, i know that the one day classes are more popular,, because of other commitments most folks have to deal with,, but they did  a great job on their projects,,  and i was very happy with the fact they enjoyed it ,, so as i plan ahead i will have to see how the do this class the same way or the add a day, or other things i could do ,,  it has to be sorted out,, but really it was a great day for carving,, the snow was coming down,, and a perfect time to be carving ... so i will be adding more classes, soon,,  this one for sure will be coming again in the near future,, very near,, lol take care and keep carving ,, 

amish toilet for sale, LOL if your a collector

http://youtu.be/cgEykm8hWFc

thinking ahead,, hmmmm new ventures we all need them

hi folks,, as the show is coming up in about two weeks, there is much to do,,  i have a lot of my shelving in my camper studio , fixed to the walls not that it can not come apart but i plan to have everything ready a couple of days ahead,,  there is much to do also around the farm,, took a walk and weather i have the energy to do all the tasks that need to be done is another,, i plan to slowly get things done this spring and summer,,  but there is always improvements that need to be worked on,,   sometimes my wanting to do a large project is to much to do,, painting my home took a few months, but it made me feel good once it was completed,,  plus both lawnmowers ( riders need to be replace,, i will only purchase one,, and do everything with it,, the cost of having it done ,, well i an old farm gal,, i can cut it myself,,  and fix things on my own,, \
well lately its i been kinda slow getting some new youtube videos up,, but it will start again soon,, this coming week sat march 16 i will have a class of the holiday honey bear,,  its a full class and plan to do another one later on in the summer and again in the fall,,  and adding more classes as we go along,,  i have the civil war guy coming up too ,  in april,,
well keep carving,, and keep working to whatever your goals may be,,   arleen

getting ready for the show in lancaster

hi folks i been busy making my holiday bears,, and will take a few to the show, and some will go on ebay , so much going on this month,, my folks just had their 60th wedding anniversary, which we celebrated , with going to shady maple to eat,,  and so working these bears for the past 3 weeks has been fun,,  looking forward to the carving show and hope everyone has a great weekend coming up  take care and keep carving, arleen 

for my family in canada and holland

hi folks some of my family follow me on the blog and not on facebook , here is a few photos of ann birthday and mom and dads 60th,, which we will go to shady to eat,, and some of you folks know where we are going to eat,,  LOL   ann got her holiday honey bear and of course the canada flag :)

endorsement of other businesses PLEASE READ , and other issues

hi folks below is what is posted on my facebook  page,, the internet is a wonderful tool but also can be tricky how to handle things,, i felt it was time to address some of the issues,,  and below is how i will deal with it,,, most carvers are kind folks and many of them will respect your wishes,,,   but i had notice that business putting sales of their items on my page, and other questionable stuff sometimes were posted,,, i did delete some of the comments that i felt were offensive,,  i can tolerate and look away,, but i wanted my channel and the facebook page to be shall i say clean enough for kids to watch,,  it was important to me when i started this four years ago that it would be family friendly,, we have enough unwanted stuff on the net,,  and many of the folks that come to my site , have the same belief system as i do,, and as a christian,, its not only what i want but my duty to try to protect our kids , we all should be protecting the kids from what they are able to watch on the internet and tv,,,  often times we fail them,,and do not count on tv networks which is lacking in most of the tv programming today to protect kids, look at the stuff , dance moms, toddlers and tiras, etc ,,  i want and i believe that you can sit and watch my videos with your kids without worry,, and i will continue to make my videos with that in mind,,  yes i tell stories that are real,  farm stories with the humor that i found here working on the farm,,,,   so   thanks for all the support i got when i posted it ,,arleen 

here is what is on facebook 

thanks for taking the time to read this i know no one want to deal with some issues that are not related to woodcarving,, but i need to address this so that everyone is aware and informed,,  

i made this facebook page , and group for  simple reason to share woodcarving projects that i have done along with what other woodcarvers have made as well,,,  i want to make it very clear that your welcome to post your finished carving for other woodcarvers to enjoy,, but i will not allow ads for any business,,  i only recommond one place to purchase carving tools,, and if your interested in other companies your free to google it for more,,,  other then hillcrest carving,, i do not endorse any other business,,   hillcrest is a local  woodcarving supply here in lancaster,, don i have known him for many years,,  he helps me set up for beginner kits, for my students,,,, i will not endorse any other carving or wood supplier,,,,   and please do not post business ads on my page,, if you do it will be removed along with your name,,  i know it sounds harsh ,, and really i try to be fair but if one person does it everyone will,,  and this page is intended for my material and others that want to share photos of their work,, thanks for the understanding ,, arleen   

i might as well also add, i want this to be a page, and group also suitable for kids to see, so anything i deem not suitable photos, or comments will also be deleted,, thanks for your understanding,, arleen

car full of basswood, this is only part of it :)

ok today i went to the amish neighbor elmer,, and he cut this up for me its a rough cut,, i didnt know he had a portable sawmill what is really neat,, its a huge bandsaw on wheels,, i was able to watch him cut these all less then an hours time,, this is only half of what i had cut,, the other amish took to long , he and to expensive,, now i have to plane these down,, i had him cut them 1/4 of an inch bigger so that i could plane them down later,, now to look for a nice small planer,, had one years ago,, a table top from craftsmans,, ok but i can also just cut up what i need at the time,,, this are 1 3/4 x 1 3/4 x 7 feet long,, i see lots of santas and honey bears to come,, :)