Saturday Excursion to Woodcraft

It's hard to go into Woodcraft and not buy something.  This Saturday was no different.  While I went to Michael's to add to my paper stash Don headed into Woodcraft and came out with a new wood project.  He is going to try his hand at cutting and carving a cocobolo wood handle to fit the 4" ceramic knife blade he saw and bought (pictured).  It may be a while before I can add the picture of the finished project.  You'll just have to be patient.

Easter Cards

I know Easter has past but I wanted to share the card I sent to my mother this year. I've also included some past Easter cards as each card was made using yo-yos in a different way. You see every month I make my mom a card and write her a letter about what I've been doing. With mom living in California and me in Virginia my homemade cards are my way of visiting her each month, and even with the high rates the USPS charges for postage we both find it a real bargain, especially compared to airline prices. Working with yo-yos is so much fun for me as I like to come up with new and unique ways to use them. Since the oval Quick Yo-Yo Maker maker was just released by Clover this year I had to try it out. The ears are made using the oval template and for the head I used the extra large yo-yo template.

Here is the Easter card I made in 2007 using the extra large yo-yo template for the head, felt and fabric to make its ears, a pom pom for the nose, and an accent ribbon on the top of her head. I think she turned out pretty sweet but I do like the way the oval yo-yos gave this year's bunny extra character and dimension.

The 2006 Easter card I sort of did the standard yo-yo accent thing of using the yo-yo as a tail to my stamped image.  For the words I cut small rectangle shapes, one from a patterned paper and a smaller rectangle from a solid paper, then I added the sticker letters to spell out my message.

Most Current Woodturning Project

To get down to Don's shop and be able to work is one of Don's great pleaures. This El Grande Rollerball pen is one he has been wanting to make for a long-time. It really turned out sharp looking. Being a left-hander Don has trouble with regular pens skipping when he writes with them. The rollerball style eliminates the frustration of having to rewrite over the skipped parts.  If you are left-handed you should try seeing if changing the pen type helps you too.

Baby Gift

For my boss who is expecting a baby girl in April, I made this 3 knot bowl by Alderspring Design to put baby bows in. Then while out shopping (which I do a lot of) I found this cute Fusible Fabric Boxes pattern by Karen West and decided I should make coordinating fabric boxes to hold baby diapers and lotions in. Next, I decided I needed a reuseable gift bag to place my items in so I went to one of my favorite craft stores and purchased a jean bag, added a couple of belt loops from an old pair of jeans I had lying around and ran the ribbon through the loops and tied it in a bow. The letters spelling out baby I just attached using glue dots so they can be easily removed. This baby gift set was so easy and so much fun to make, and I love that fact that each piece serves a dual function.