Only a Woodcarver...

Only a woodcarver would see this at a flea market, while on vacation, and think...

JACKPOT!!!

Yep, this is one of the items I found at the Awesome Flea Market in Shepherdsville, KY! 

How exciting!!!  I couldn't believe my luck!!!

But wait...

I don't even have a cat!

OK.

Just so you don't think I've totally lost it...

Let's open the lid and have a peek...

TADA!!!

Ahhh, who's the crazy one now? 

I got all of this loveliness for 3 bucks!  Yep, all of these wooden tool handles for that price!

If you are a woodcarver, you know you would have bought them!

Too late - I beat ya to them!  :)  Who could pass up a sweet deal like that?

So, you ask, what will I do with all of these wood handles?

Well, I've already started...

LOL, he looks lonely in there, doesn't he?  I'll get some friends carved up for him and take more pics to show you soon.

Do you ever make purchases like this that make your family and friends wonder about your sanity???  :)

Have a great evening everyone!  ~ Debra

My favorite way to carve wood...

I love all kinds of carving.

If I see something I like in Woodcarving Illustrated or in another carving magazine, I'll give the pattern a whirl.  I usually change it up quite a bit but sometimes they turn out pretty close to the original pattern.

But, I have to admit, my favorite way to carve is to just pick up a piece of wood and start carving.  Sometimes I'll doodle a little on the wood and sometimes I'll just carve away without really knowing where the carving will take me. 

That's how I carved this guy:

                               Hand Carved Santa Ornament Wood Carving, Midnight Blue

I picked up a scrap of basswood and started carving one morning.  This is how he turned out.  I think he's a cutie!  :)

You can see more pics of him in my Etsy shop here.

Hope you like him!  ~ Debra

What's On My Bench This Week?

I have two projects I'm working on this week.  The first are these super simple carved Santa ornaments:

The pattern for these little guys were in the Fall issue of Woodcarving Illustrated.  In the pattern, it is a two sided ornament with a Thanksgiving turkey on one side and a Santa on the other.  I opted to change the pattern to just a Santa.  I cut out three of these guys and you can see that all three are in different stages of carving.

My other project is this guy:

He is an old world Santa and is far from being done.  He is my own design that I drew up while having my coffee.  I started him yesterday and I've only had a little time here and there to work on him.  Right now, he has a bird in one hand and a bowl of feed in the other but that could change at any minute, lol.  So, check back soon to see how he turns out.  :)

Hope you're having a great week!  ~ Debra

Welcome to My Santa Carvings!

Hi there from Missouri!

It's been a few years since I've been able to do any serious wood carving.  Life just has a way of interrupting our plans sometimes.

I opened my Etsy shop in January of this year and I decided to start carving again so I could add some of them to my shop. My favorite thing to carve is Santa.  If you are a carver, you know how addicting that little guy can be to carve.  I also love to carve Christmas ornaments.

I decided to start this blog to hopefully get others interested in carving.  It's such a great hobby and it is soooooo relaxing.  Honestly, when you're carving, you can't think about anything else.  All of your worries go out the window.  Why?  Because you have a sharp knife in your hand and you want to keep all of your fingers!  :)  Carving really takes you away from all of the pressures in life.

Not only is carving a great stress reliever, it is also such a wonderful creative outlet.  Just imagine the feeling of holding a block of wood in your hand and turning it into something beautiful, or funny, or useful.

It's a great high! 

I'm a self taught carver and my way of carving may not be the way other carvers do it.  Actually, I'll bet there are just as many ways to carve as there are carvers.  There are tons of books and YouTube videos that will help you with the "how to" aspect of carving.  I'll put links here as I find them for you.

Here's a good one to start with:

Carving The Simple Standing Santa by Gene Messer.  Gene is a great teacher!

See how easy it is?  Seriously, if I can do it, anyone can.  :)

Here are a few of my latest Santa's.  I'll be carving some more this week and I'll take photos to show my progress as I carve and paint them and I hope it will inspire you to try your hand at carving. 

 

                                                                        Tipsy Santa

 

                                                Santa Ornament with a Big, Colorful Hat

 

                                             Traditional Santa Ornaments - Here and Here

Just think of all of the great Christmas gifts you could make for family and friends!  Are you getting inspired yet?

I'll add some WIP's later this next week so you can see how truly easy and fun this hobby can be. 

Who knows, maybe I'll even show you some of my ugly early Santa carvings?  I don't know though, some of my early carvings are pretty darn embarrassing.  LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!  ~ Debra (D. Back)