No, I'm not talking about a trip to the doctor's office. I was reminded about the importance of self-evaluation while recording this month's project video. I had made it halfway through the project and decided to pause the recording for a short
break and to strop my knife back to scary sharp. Once finished, I then started the recording and began carving...and it was incredible - I was in the carving zone! Clean cuts, no chatter, chips popping out left and right - it was amazing. Well, you'll have to take my word for it
😏, because after I was almost finished I looked up and the video feed had turned off 😧 and I'd only recorded audio since starting back up.
After I did my best Charlie Brown imitation - Aaugh! - I decided to treat the situation just like chip carving. Self-evaluate what I'd done and where things went wrong. Let's just say I'll be sure to always check the video feed before recording in the
future.😆
It's also a good lesson for chip carving. Not every cut is going to be perfect. There'll be tear out, chatter, uneven cuts, etc. (character, remember? 😉), it's not the end of the world, just take time to reflect and think about why it happened, and what you'd do differently next time!
February Project
Double Tea Light Candle Holder
Free Form Butterfly
Take a
quick look at this months project, a double tea light candle holder with a free form butterfly pattern.
I decided to finish it with some acrylic paint and a light stain, but it will look great natural or with just gel stain - whichever you like!.
I appreciated your thoughts on sharing our work. A new lady friend has two granddaughters, 13 and 4. The four year old was around once and I shared a couple of my projects, oval box, bookends, lion, and knife box. It was after Christmas, but I decided to order another ornament kit and carve them one. I'm likely to see them again in the next few days and am ready to share the same projects with the older sister.
As I had to order another ornament kit, I went on and carved one for the owner of a hole-in-the-wall health food store I use. He was so pleased when I told him I was doing it, and offered him the chance to pick his color. I had 6 color choices, all metallic. He really liked the Amethyst (light purple), so
I had my plan. Two days later the kit arrived and I couldn't help but smile that the cord color changed from blue in my previous two kits, to purple in this one.
You asked us to share, so I decided to send two projects I carved for friends. Gary was a hobby song writer and had a song he felt passionate about. It called on America to stop all the crazies and start pulling together to improve all our
lives. "Come on America" fit pretty well on a 6"x12" practice board with my 1 3/8" letters. I wanted to add something, so I made the border thinner and added a grid. He has it hanging on his living room wall. The other was for a lady who left corporate America to become a Massage Therapist and Essential Oil Practitioner. She
came up with the name, Omni Quest Living, and had a beautiful logo designed. So, I got back to work for her. She was stunned at lunch one day when I presented it. (Pic is not so great, but it's the only one I have)
Woop, there it is!
Best regards, Carl
There it is indeed, Carl! Love the nice even finish on those carvings. Keep up the great work - carving and sharing!
John's the "Chip Carving Guy" every club needs!
Troy,
I belong to a club called the James River Woodcarvers. I became the club’s “chip carving guy” by default, and have bought blanks for
my classes from Marty several times. At the holiday party every year we do an ornament exchange, and this is the ornament I carved for 2023 from a mychipcarving blank.
I love the color combinations and added texturing. Someone was lucky to take that home with them!
What are your latest projects? I'd love to see them! Send them to me at: troy@mychipcarving.com
