Carving the Dark Wizard (part 3) COMPLETED!

Here he is, in all his malevolent glory. I shortened the wizard's staff in order to see his face, and added a tiny little monster face to it. Acrylic paint and spray shellac helped finish this little guy.

As you can see in these in-progress pics, the staff as designed was too long. My buddy's 2-year old son should get a kick out of this. Now his soldiers have a villian to battle!

Carving the Dark Wizard (part 2)

Here's a little update on the Dark Wizard toy. After roughing out the general shape with a coping saw, I'm now in the main carving phase. I'm using my Mora 1241 for this project. It's a terrific scandi-ground knife with a good sized handle.

I can already tell the wizard's face might come out different from what I originally planned, but that's fine. I'll keep the staff, as well as the wavy-bladed knife. There's just something that says "bad guy" about that shape!

As a bonus, here's a couple of pics of a dragon I made as a Christmas present for the same boy. I based the design on the prows of old Viking dragon ships(but with all sharp points removed.) Soon the Dark Wizard will lead this monster into battle.

Canada meets New Mexico

Here's an order I did in time for Christmas.






The customer asked for a wooden hockey puck w/maple leaf design, and one of my dala horses in a New Mexico theme. The little girl who received these carvings has one parent from New Mexico, one who's Canadian. As always, all materials are non-toxic.

Once again I used my custom whittling knife from ML Knives. It's a pleasure to carve with.

Horses for Christmas

Here's a couple of toy horses I'm carving for a Christmas order. I've stained them with a few coats of salad bowl finish, and painted the details with acrylic paint.






I like this design for it's durability. The horses I've previously made have been chewed, thrown, kicked, and dropped. All the trials a little boy or girl can put a toy through. These things are tough!

Bench Strop

This strop will replace the short little slipstrop I've been using. Construction couldn't have been more simple. I made it from basswood, scrap leather, and superglue. I did a little abstract carving on top just for fun, and added a leather braid. I'm using Flexcut polishing compound on the leather.

This should help keep my blades shaving sharp!

New Items on Etsy

Sunday's show was great, but there's a few items that didn't sell. I've posted some on Etsy and will post more tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully these will help round out someone's last minute Christmas list!

Hearts & Crafts Winter show

Today's craft show was a success! From 11am to 5pm at Java's, Rochester NY, myself and about 15 other vendors (correction: 24 vendors!) showed our wares. I'd like to thank everyone involved in the show, especially Lisa and Marisa, the ladies responsible for organizing the event. It was a good time, and many of my carvings are on their way to new homes.



Table space was limited due to this being an indoor show in the cozy confines of a coffeehouse. To capitalize on this, I threw together a vertical display rack from a telescoping wreath hanger and some 8-gauge wire. Tan duct tape did the holding. The contraption worked like a charm.

Turning old spools into new bottle stoppers

I've found old wooden spools to be a good medium for carving faces. The spools here are carved then soaked in BLO. I've attached these to pre-shaped corks with dowels and glue. It turns out these guys are just the right size for bottle stoppers, and will wait patiently upside-down while you top off your glass.