I have been reading so many posts about how it may rob artists and craftspeople credit for their work..OH, maybe so in some circumstances HOWEVER I am finding it gives my work exposure to a huge audience and drives traffic to my site and my online store..folks who I never would have reached. I am thrilled when someone likes my work enough to ‘PIN IT’…sure maybe someone will copy it….. go ahead if you are that type of ‘maker/faker’ !!

I guess if that is your big fear as an artisan….you just go ahead, hide all your work and keep it private.  Me, I will take the exposure I get for my work AND the exposure to seeing the ideas and creations out there..

I see wonderful things from incredibly talented people on Pinterest or on the internet in general, Do I think ‘OH WOW, I must make that??...NO, many are mediums that I don’t even work in or have that much talent…even with wood it gives me a chance to see what others are making, new ways of doing something, how many great woodworkers there are and last but not least what is trending, what folks are liking. I admire great work and seeing it restores my faith in the creative life.

I try to pin from the source and not just repin so I will be sure the link to someones work is there …I think that is good practice.

Pinterest inspires me, it gives me thoughts of new pieces, really everything we see affects our work, I don’t know how many NEW IDEAS are out there but the things I make come from the things I see and think about every day. Sure a picture I saw somewhere would have an effect..here is an example of my ‘stealing others work’

I have a friend who does the most wonderful paintings..my walls are a shrine to her work.  I sell her cards and some prints in my studio..her name is Molly Poole, her studio Granite Dog. She has a yellow Labrador girl who plays a huge role in her life but also her work..below are her paintings inspired by her life with Lucy .

So I look at these paintings, admire these and they stick with me. She has two paintings ‘Scout in the Canoe’ and ‘Old Town’ which I LOVE…..how could you not, I have Labradors, if it is related to water, it is for them.

Then I saw this vintage whirligig on Pinterest from One kings Lane..Now I LOVE whirligigs..love that word and love that they are a true form of folk art..some crack me up, some blow my mind with their ingenuity and some are just beautiful …made by regular folks just like me or my Grandpa….so I want to make a few. While admiring this vintage yellow canoe with the First Nations paddler it occurred to me to make the Labbies in a canoe, probably because I have Molly’s labs in canoes rolling around up in my head…..I started with this small scale sample of one lab to try to get the paddles right… have a big one drawn up so I can put a chocolate, a black and a yellow…happily paddling down the river in their canoe……So I will make a few adjustments to the paddles, I turned then carved these, a little too heavy, me thinks….and the three labs would bring some more color, plus a longer ‘canoe’. This was a quickie to try. No wind this afternoon on PEI either to see if it whirls…

Maybe I will be cursed for doing this..[Molly, be sure to tell me]…..But know that your paintings had an effect on me, they stayed with me and inspired me, same for the old timer who crafted the yellow canoe….. it is a testament to your abilities as a creative person..true art should get a reaction from someone who sees it and gets it….. they remember it, it has touched them somehow…..

I get a reaction with Molly’s work…she has a gift.

So if someone sees her work on Pinterest….they will be drawn in to her world and can thank Pinterest for the opportunity to find her paintings, to find great things….Who knows what she may inspire !!!

I wanted to have the three lab whirligig for the Heart Dog Auction for Labrador Life Line that is happening now..I was into a couple of jobs that didn’t allow me the time. I did however donate a sweet carved Lab head & bread board, plus some tags…Molly has an original framed painting that is gorgeous. Check it out, oh there are some wonderful items, auction ends tomorrow, Friday at 5 central time. Help LLL help some labs and their families by taking part.

Smiles, Brenda

Cattails Woodwork

This week it is my Dozuki saw. ……If you browse the aisles of your local home improvement store or tool catalog you will see so many things you think you need, things that will make it ‘easy’, things that are all shiny & cool, things you plug in, things that are noisy & dusty….I call many of these tools ‘gadgets’…..and a waste of money.

This little saw does a pile of work for me, it is made in Japan and is not something new, they have been working wood over there for centuries, using these saws, without power tools and doing a fantastic job.

Japanese Dozuki Saw…Lee Valley Tools

I buy mine from Lee Valley Tools [not a paid supporter]. I  just purchase the replacement blade, I make my own carved wood handle [ it just makes it more special to me] but they do come with this wrapped handle if you don’t want to bother. I am not sure how many blades I have purchased through the years, each has earned its keep, they are not expensive so when you start to notice missing teeth on them..get a new one.

They cut a very fine kerf, they are very sharp and accurate. They cut on the pull stroke unlike traditional saws that cut on the push. This makes it effortless almost, to use, very little pressure and that helps with keeping your angle or your line straight. It isn’t like work at all, just a pleasure, hardly any dust or blade marks to sand off.

I am using it in the photo to cut dovetails for a drawer. When I make drawers I ALWAYS do dovetail joints, front & back, I cut all my dovetails by hand…you practice, lay them out well and it is surprising how quickly you get better at it. A nice quiet job to do at the bench and I would be lost without this saw to help me. If you look at old hand cut dovetails, they are small, of varying sizes and so beautiful, you can’t get that with a machine or a dovetail jig with the router…no Sirree Bob!

Here are the finished drawers that were cut with my Dozuki…and below the dovetails for the frame to hold the drawer in the single stand……

I also use my Dozuki to cut tenons, as on this table below that I built last winter…Oh but the fun doesn’t end there, other uses are cutting the ends off turnings, cutting off dowels, cutting ‘finger biter’ pieces that are too small to safely cut with a table saw, cutting wood to size, leveling chairs, table or stool legs……Really, if a person does any amount of house fix up, furniture repair or redo’s or any DIY work at all you should have one…..If I did not own any kind of power saw, this could do so much for me..safely, quietly. One of my favorite tools that I use daily.

Dozuki’s are also available in a rip saw, larger ones for pruning trees etc…trust me..they are worth every penny. So forget about the ‘gimmicks’ buy a quality tool that will have many uses and does all its jobs well….One that makes you wonder how you EVER lived without it.

You will love it!!

Smiles, Brenda

 Cattails

I made up a jig that would sit on the bed of my lathe to take off the corners on the bottom and to flatten a smaller octagon type profile where the rail will tie in. because the posts are so wide I had to have a larger bottom plate on my router to ride on the top of the jig.[this 3 hp Makita is the best router out there by the way, just a workhorse for me, I have tried others and have a big 3hp Ryobi in my router table but nothing is nicer to use than the Makita] . Had to stay awake to be sure that the plate stayed flat on the jig and did not dip off…couldn’t afford at this stage to make a mistake….oh that would spell disaster, I was nervous. Should have made up a bigger plate but sometimes you just are too lazy..bad on me.

You can see at the headstock of the lathe how you can index and lock the piece for the number of degrees you need to make an octagon. You just have to be sure your piece is sitting square when you start to calculate where to lock it…..

I made notes of what numbers were corners and which were flats, each post was different so it kept things from being confusing. Worked well though, set the bit at different levels for each of the three profiles[ X4] because the top octagon is smaller than the bottom.

After that was finished, I measured up the turnings, sharpened them up, turned the post top and sanded before taking them off. Sanding is so necessary but so time-consuming, that is the thing about woodwork, sanding takes TIME.

Then had to sit at my bench and sand each of the flats to remove machine marks, any dents they incurred..grits 100, 120, 150, 180 with the sander and 220 by hand, then softened the corners.

And they are finished, three left before I took pictures so these are the last two..ready to go. YAY!!. This has tied up my workshop and I will be glad to get at my spring things. I have new things in the works that I keep putting aside, cannot wait to get at them.

They are not sitting square on the floor so they may look a little dissimilar, it is a big challenge to get them exact, especially when they are so big..Hopefully I can get the homeowner to take a picture when they are installed and finished ….I am anxious to see them installed.

And that is the end of the newel post saga……I hope !!

Linked up with

Miss Mustard Seed

Whipperberry

At the Picket Fence

French Country Cottage

However on the subject of labs, I am getting ready to draw up and hook a new rug before the winter ends. Almost the end of January already so better get cracking….I saw this rug in a Celebration of Rugs magazine a few years ago, it was hooked by a lady who had adopted a Katrina dog..I LOVE the bright colors and the dogs, so I am going to hook a runner for my kitchen using a take on this.

Thinking of three or four dogs but in a single row, peeking out from under the counter.

Shirlee from Pastimes PEI Rug Hooking Studio came up this week and gave me some pointers on design and colors. I will go down to their wonderful studio to purchase my wool, usually I use rags but for this one I’m springing for a predetermined set of colors…YAY!! The girls[sisters] have a wonderful sense of color, they hook the most beautiful rugs using their own take on old Island patterns, they also sell kits, frames along with their award winning rugs. They are always willing to help someone, no matter what.

I took my little lap frame out of hiding that I made when I hooked my first rug, will start on it with the backing pinned to the flannel that is wrapped around it.  Then as I go along I will put it on my floor frame, Also checking out the linen for the backing, also a purchase from Pastimes.

The little frame is so lovely but I went somewhat overboard, could have made a suitable one in 1/10 the time..haha I would never make a living selling them. I am excited to start this rug, it is a wonderful way to spend long winter evenings. Hooking is something you can do when you are tired, not wanting to think or stress over a hobby.

Rug hooking is just the best past time ever in the winter. Last winter I didn’t hook at all, we were doing renos and I don’t know why but just didn’t get to it. If you have one on the frame and sitting there you tend to pick at it and all of a sudden you have something beautiful for your home.

Of course I can’t do a thing in this house without a cat supervising..Stuart was quite taken with the linen…….he hasn’t been around long enough to lay on the partly finished rug in a frame or chase after the strips..could be a circus for sure.

What do you think ?? bright colors and labbies for this old farmhouse??

Smiles, Brenda

So the design is decided, then the big job of making up the blanks..these are monsters. I won’t go into the milling, glue up and squaring the sides, save that for another project and post. It is too bad that wood couldn’t be had in the dimensions needed, I am not a big fan of laminated turnings. Because they are so big, 7 inches in diameter I can’t use my mitre or table saw to square the ends..I could make 4 crosscut passes through the table saw but the center where it has to be flat would still be rough, have to cut through the center inch and a half by hand, they are so freakin’ heavy, I would not be able to push them through easily or safely, a sliding table would make it easier but I would lose even more height from the saw blade…I have GREAT respect for a 3 hp saw…therefore I did some trickery.

I put a couple of guides squarely on the posts, put a false bottom of plexiglass on the router to give it some width and flattened a space to put on my face plate..though it is being turned between centers, I was afraid the drive spur might not hold it if I ran into trouble. This is a little work but turned out great. I marked the center and drew a circle to position the plate. oh yes, if it wasn’t square and flat on the bottom of the face plate with the blank being 54 inches long I would be in trouble with the shoulders of the base.

Now with the help of my husband it is mounted on the lathe and ready to go ..almost.

There are marks on a stick to give me the vertical measurements needed so each blank will be the same…I have to be sure to have the base and the top shoulders & flat that the stair rail joins to exactly where the plans say…… And I use a knife to cut the shoulder for the base in case during roughing out it splinters…once the wood is gone there ‘ain’t’ no going back. The vertical measurements are very important, the eye will pick up a variance in those before any in the diameters. Weird, I know.

So then the slow process of ‘roughing out’ , my lathe is heavy, about 950 lbs. , I have changed the belt position to give me more torque, allowing for the weight and changed the braking to long..start slowly and it is well centered, not any shake at all..Yahoo!!  One thing about turning wood, you cannot mind getting dirty…I spend the better part of my life covered in wood chips or sanding dust..oh wait…. throw in the ‘odd’ dog or cat hair… A  total mess most days..sigh… I hesitated to put these photos that Paul took in this post..but …..whatever, it is what it is.

After the blank is round I start to put the profiles in….I start with the largest diameters putting them closest to the tail rest…up near the drive I won’t get too much shudder when the narrowest cuts are made….I am using a spindle gouge to make the vase & cup profiles..will touch up with the skew. I am somewhat unorthodox when it comes to this…mostly I have taught my self..so don’t take my way as the best…it just works for me.

I will turn all 5 roughly then put them back on to sand..if something were to go terribly wrong and I ended up with a smaller measurement somehow, there is the opportunity to clean them all up to the same measurements when they are remounted to sand….

PLUS I have to cut hexagons on the base & handrail space..

I will do that with them mounted on the lathe using a jig and my ‘beloved’ router because my lathe has an indexing system to give me a lock up at what ever degree space I choose…that is for another day, another post. Maybe I will do a shop clean up and surprise you all !!

Hoping everyone has a wonderful remainder to the weekend..Enjoy the crisp January air. It was beautiful today in PEI.

Smiles, Brenda

With tables, beds, chairs and boxes, even turnings I draw to scale, mark in all the joinery, hardware, exact measurements with 2 views, top and side…It really helps before you cut a piece of wood to have built it once in your mind…you get a proper materials list and it is much easier to erase than mill more wood……

Here at home I get little distractions such as Blossom who knows exactly where you are working & tries to help…hmmm really, she just wants a good chin scratch..ha.

I am turning five very large 7 inch diameter Newel Posts for a new home under construction..The owner had picked out an antique post she liked and wanted something similar.. I can measure off the picture with my Architects Ruler from the one she loved and put onto paper where each profile should go full size..I will make a mock up and a story stick for the turnings when I finalize the profile..

They burned an old house near us a number of years ago, we bought these old posts from the owner before it was destroyed to make way for a new home…I like the turnings on parts of them and am going to work a bit of them in..they make a great reference for me as well for the diameters, what looks good to the eye and what might be too thin, although the largest of these is only 5 and a half inches dia. plus a layer of dust. [oh my, that is embarrassing...lol.]

The old boys were great turners…so much beautiful woodwork went into old homes…..it makes me very sad to see it destroyed, made by hand with old tools, cannot be replaced…I am happy the owner opted for non stock newels instead of the many out there that are cut on duplicator lathes by knives..not the same as hand turned.Here is the blueprint for the stairs from the architect, 2 at the bottom, 2 at the top and one along the rail upstairs……I will post the progress on how they are turned in a day or so..my blanks are glued up, squared and ready….hoping my arms are.

I am hopeful this sort of thing appeals to someone out there, you know the whole ‘how its made’ thing. I thought for the New Year I would let you follow a few projects and show you a few tricks that you all can do….I find it fun to write about the process. If there is anything you would like to learn about let me know and I will try to help if I can.

Cheshire Cat Smiles from Sweet Blossom and a cheery person smile from Brenda

Oh my, with the rush of the holidays I haven’t posted since November, my online sales were wonderful, thank you to all who trusted my work to give as gifts.We were so busy making, packing & shipping that I just couldn’t find a moment to write anything ‘wise’.

Other artist friends have been picking out a word to describe what they hope 2012 will mean to them and what they plan to do. I have pondered this and my word will be “reach”..I know, I know not very brilliant but it encompasses what I hope to do…

and last but far from least

I am sure other goals to reach will occur to me but if I can do 5 of these 7, I will consider the exercise was ‘well done’.

What would your ‘word’ for 2012 be ???

So I found a great place to have a table on poppytalk handmade. Jan is from Vancouver and curates this great online marketplace. She is so helpful and I am having fun with my online table, dogs napping beside me and coffee on my desk as I participate in the Pre-Christmas Market.

For poppytalk readers and my own if you use the code ‘poppywood’ when you check out of my online store or my etsy store you will receive a ten percent discount on your purchases from Nov.24 – 28….just enter the code at checkout !!

So I have been working on things, packing orders to ship and days are busy and full. I have been finishing up some carvings…I had 3 new owls but two have flown to new homes so this fellow was added to my site this week, he is so adorable with his soft face.And some labrador coat racks are taking shape..waiting on the hooks, hope to have three of them on my site by the weekend..one of the yellows is spoken for.

So if you are in the mood for shopping…take advantage of the Black Friday deals and you will also get a great surprise gift as well !!!

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends..ENJOY !!

I always feel early starting my Christmas things in September..then all of a sudden the end of October is here and a person starts to panic. My workshop is busy with wooden things, in the evenings I have been rolling clay, stamping..stacking on shelves, then glazing the lettering on these tags. The big kiln was packed last Sunday morning…They add up when you stack them all together.It is so exciting to shut the lid….and wait…….Tuesday morning I opened it up and took them upstairs…..Today I finally had some time to take some pictures, more tomorrow. I really want to get them listed in my online store.Snowflakes..white on white, some were decorated with my Grandma’s antique lace doily…Love these stars..to give as a gift that can go on the tree as a keepsake, enjoyed each year and during the holiday season.These are so fun, I just love the word ‘twinkle’….. maybe a name for the next little kitten who blesses our home……I have been making stars with special little peeps names on them this week…they are drying before firing.Little Christmas doves…..waiting to be put on lovely cards, packaged so they can fly away together.Love the white ones…..they will be beautiful on an evergreen tree.For gifts to the ones who hold a special part of your heart… or maybe for a December wedding.I have these with ‘from my kitchen’, ‘shortbread’  ‘rum balls’ among other homemade goodness words. I have included ribbon in the package for hanging or wrapping, makes a complete little gift for someone.

No Christmas paper out yet but here are other tags made early this fall..We had made these for Shannon and Cory’s wedding, huge hit with all.

They really are wonderful tags, they have a natural feel to them, can be signed on the back, will be a keepsake after the gift has been opened. For Christmas a treasured handcrafted ornament for the tree to be enjoyed throughout the years.

I will be posting the Christmas ones plus dog & cat, letters and numbers in my store in the next week and for a few weeks after that……They are all packaged neatly complete with ribbon for gifting and hanging. Would be a great small token for teachers, coaches or friends from work.

I have also made a limited edition series that will be garlands for Decorating and giving…excited to see them finished.

With each purchase of these tags I will donate 20 percent of the sales to our local TNR group the Cat Action Team PEI. They look after the stray feral and barn cat colonies on our Island providing these cats with medical care, warm shelters and food plus trapping – spay/neuter – release. They are volunteers who try to help make the world these homeless cats live in a little kinder. I would be so happy to help them out in a small way with my work and your help.

Smiles and enjoy your Sunday !!Linking to these sites..Stuff & Nonsense, Common ground, No Minimilist Here

The ‘Crow”….I love crows, love their antics, energy and intelligence…their lovely shiny coats and the fact that they always know what is going on. When I hear them making a racket and take the time to look, I may see our resident bald eagles on a tree, once in the woods a little bit off the trail I had the immense pleasure of seeing a great horned owl…these sightings would have been missed had the crows not alerted me.

And a watchman..keeping an eye out for the ‘scoop’..again a mostly human trait I also have !!

I put twig legs on them, I didn’t want to anchor the crows, they are always hopping and jumping around, is their nature..so the little twigs keep them light.

Am going to be making more ‘crows’ …bit of a waiting list on these, crow lovers have been watching their progress, coming here as I have been working on them…

As it is less than a week from Halloween, you will know I LOVE the Pumpkin Challenge, tho mine are made from wood not squash..Surprised????..I think not….

Eddie with the pockets, Gourdo and Peter the tall one.

I do not think these fellow would frighten anyone !!!

They do make you smile tho!!

Have a great time getting ready for Halloween !!

Smiles,

Linking this post to

Savvy Southern Style

DIY By Design

Blue Cricket Design

Someday Craft

Show me What you’ve Got !

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

No Minimilist Here

Stuff & Nonsense

At the Picket Fence

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