Support/Awarness Angels

It is getting towards the craft show time and I am always looking for new ideas that may be good sellers at the craft shows.  I found this pattern in the Creative Woodworks Crafts magazine Holiday issue.  The pattern is from Diana Thompson.  I have been busy cutting these out and my wife has been even busier painting them. We have some pink and yellow ones down and some of several other colors on the drying rack.   The wife has taken a few days off due to us having a houseful ( we have a small house)  both of our daughters are home for the week-end to celebrate my wife's birthday.  It is wonderful to have everyone here if even for a short time. 

My wife has been bust at church and helping me get ready for the craft show circuit here.  She will not be at most of the craft shows with me this year.  She will be busy at church on both Saturday and Sunday so I will be taking care of the craft shows myself this year.  I always have a great time at the shows.  Getting to meet new people and just talking about our crafts. 

Cat perch

Before I get too involved this has nothing to do with my scroll sawing, but it is our newest endeavour in woodworking,  
For those who are reading this and do not know me, I am not a cat person.  When my daughters were much younger we went to a friends house and his cat just had a litter of kittens, since my daughters asked me for one and I saw what a smile it put on their faces I could not say no.  The daughters argued for hours on which one, then in a fathers moment of weakness I said each of you pick one out so we can go home.  We picked the kittens up and brought them home to introduce them to my golden retriever, Sandy.  They all got along fine.  Now my first thought is just how long can 2 kittens last in the house.  The answer is way to long.  The kittens turned into cats and they moved with us for the next 16 years.  The kids grew up...and we still had the cats!  First the oldest one went to college and we took care of her cat. When the youngest was in her second year of high school, the cats both got sick within a few months of each other and I did the proper thing and I vowed NEVER to get another cat. 

Several years passed by with the wife and I living part time alone and our youngest daughter in college.  I was happy, just the wife and I, our youngest daughter part time, and my 2 dogs, a chocolate lab, Zoe and an old golden retriever, Jordan.  Life was good.  Then one day my wife saw a mouse... then she argued that we needed a cat.  She even dropped so low as to include my youngest daughter in the argument.  In a moment of insanity I said ok get a cat. 

A week before Thanksgiving my wife and youngest daughter informed me they found just the cat they were looking for.  The next day I came home to find my 70 pound chocolate lab in a corner afraid to move.  She was cornered by a pure black, fuzzy purring, fit in the palm of your hand spawn of Satan little kitten the wife name Fiyero.  There was just something about the eyes in this kitten that told you right away he is the devil in disguise and he has surely lived up to the devil I knew he was.

Every time I tried to take a nap on the couch this little monster decides to use the couch I am on as a race track.  I decided to build him his own little jungle gym and maybe, just maybe he would leave me alone during my much deserved naps.  His little jungle gym turned into a 6 feet tall by 24inch X 24 inch three level sanctuary.  Three carpeted layers and several cat toys keep him busy for a few minutes a day and he loves to sit and watch the outside when he is not tormenting me.  Approximately half of the posts are covered in rope for him to knit on.  Now the cat sits on the very top and walks around thinking he is the king.  I know the next nap I take on the couch, he will be jumping onto my head from 6 feet up.

Several friends have seen these perches and I have been in the cat perch business for the past few weeks. With a few sold already and several more folks inquiring about these.  I never thought my woodworking skill would turn into making cat perches.  Whatever works I guess.

My 2nd Brown Maple and Walnut Chess Set

It is the middle of the winter in upstate New York.  For those of you who do not know what that means, it means a lot of snow and even more cold weather.  The cold weather has not been too bad as of yet but we have seen our share of snow.  The snow means that I can hide in my basement and make lots of sawdust.  I just finished my second chess set.
   Here are some pictures from my 2nd Chess set.  This one is also cut out of brown maple and walnut.  The pattern comes from Jim Kapes book "Making Wooden Chess Sets."  I really enjoy the patterns and my next one will be somewhat more challenging.  Every time I make one I learn more and more.  As they say practice makes perfect.
   I ordered and received some nice walnut from a friend and I will be going to Bristol, Vermont to pick up some more maple in the near future.
   For my scroll saw friends if you have not done compound cutting I have to say it is quite fun and quite a challenge.  The jig that is in Jim Kapes book sure does help a lot.
This set is for a special Birthday next month.  I hope to have more details after the event, I just do not want to spoil the surprise to early.  I have a feeling it will be appreciated.

 With our youngest daughter moved out and on her own, the house is even more quiet than it was before.  She has also requested a chess set that I will start working on in the near future.  We have already printed it out and put 1/2 of it to paper.  I just gotta find the time to cut it out.

These pieces were cut out, sanded and given a bath in a mixture of Linseed oil and mineral spirits, then set aside to dry and after dried, a couple of nice coats of varnish and hand buffed with a brown paper bag.

   After all that my wife Ev, puts a nice piece of felt on the bottom of each piece.The Pattern title is King Henry VIII Chess set.  I like the lines on this one and it was fun and relatively easy to cut.  Since I do not do this full time it usually takes me about 2 weeks to complete a set.
I am hoping to get started on a new and unique set in the next week or so.
Thank you for stopping by and taking a look.  Please feel free to leave me a comment.
Thank you,
Geno

My First Chess Set

This is my first attempt at a chess set, this is also my first attempt at compound cutting and I had a ball doing both.
  Santa Clause brought me a copy of "Making wooden chess sets" by Jim Kape.  There are I believe, 13 different patterns for chess sets and the book recommended this one to begin with.  The chess pieces are cut from brown maple and walnut and the chess board is from maple and walnut.
  I do have to admit this was a learning experience and there are certain things that I will most definitely do differently with the next board and chess pieces..
When I think back, 2 weeks ago this was a a few pieces of 4/4 rough lumber and now it is a wicked cool looking chess board.  This gives me encouragement to make more stuff.  I have my second chess board in the basement all glued up for the first of 2 rounds.
This set is called Neo-Classic II.  Once you get the hang of it, it is pretty easy to cut.  I am looking forward to making several more sets for family.  I think now is a great time to get a jump on Christmas.  Cut now and beat the rush.

I am planning on cutting a few sets and seeing how they do at our holiday craft shows next season.

This morning it was a chilly 7 below zero outside.  my basement work shop does not have much in the way of heat down there so I do not get to spend all day there.  I spend an hour or so then come and warm up some.  I try showing my wife how cold it is down there by putting my hands on her back but she has gotten wise to that and its getting harder to sneak up on her now. 
  
I have called my Uncle up who lives just a few mile up the road and challenged him to a early morning chess game tomorrow.  The good news is I have a great board to play chess on.  the bad news is I have not played chess in 30 years or so.  This should be an interesting game.

Ok I have rambled on enough for now.  Thanks for checking this out and try to stay warm.

Geno

Craft Show Season is Over

 

.  The craft show season is over for us for this year.  Next week I will more than likely start getting ready for next season.  This year the craft show season for us was just OK, not great but OK.  At all the shows we did this year the major issue was folks just are not buying in this area.  Now with that said, we still averaged over $200 a show which is OK for us, again not great but OK.

   This craft show season did make a nice Christmas for our family.  We do the Holiday Craft circuit in this area solely to pay for the expense of Christmas and my kids and wife did have a nice Christmas.  For those that read my blog and are not family I have 2 beautiful daughters, a great son in law and a beautiful wife of 31 wonderful (most of the time) years.

   I take partial responsibility for the sales being low.  I did not have enough of the right stuff cut.  I knew this going into the shows and still chose to do nothing about it.  OK this is a change I am making for next year.  Another change I am hopefully making for next year is my wife will be sharing some of the cutting.  I just set up a scroll saw with her name in it and I am trying to get her involved in the cutting also.  I have a feeling there will be some items that she is much better at than I am.

   The pictures above are:  1.  My baby and I all dressed up to go Stocking stuffer shopping the week before Christmas.  This has been an annual tradition where we get all dressed up and go out and tackle the malls and shopping centers just looking for that special stocking stuff for the family.  Our travels took us to Albany New York this year, I prefer to go places where probably will not run into anyone from work for obvious reasons. 

   The next picture is me opening up a Christmas present, a new book for woodworking, how did they know that is what I wanted?

   The last picture is the family on Christmas morning at approximately 5:00am.  If they look this good at this time imagine how nice they all look at a reasonable hour.

Well only a few days left in this year.  I am finding that the older we get the faster time flies by.  I am looking forward to posting more pictures and letting everyone know how things are going here for the next year. 

Happy New Year to one and all.