Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Poodles

My mom made the comment so time ago that it would be nice to have something with poodles.  As I try to do what my mommy asks I made the following.  Milo and Morgan are miniature poodles with phantom coloring.  She got them at Sisco’s Distinctive Poodles http://siscospoodles.com

Milo and Morgan

I did not make these – Milo & Morgan enjoying the afternoon.

The silhouette piece was made using a picture of Milo.

Love You Mom!

Key Chain

Just to make sure Dad does not feel left out, I made him this.

Love You Too Dad!

New Friends

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful lady.

Lillian Watanbe is one who has grasped entrepreneurial spirit. She opened and owns her own business.  I took a few moments to make this for her.  This is her logo and her family crest.

To find out more about Lillian go to her web site at: http://www.reliablehi.com

Veteran’s Day 2012

I have had the pleasure of knowing several veterans. World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Gulf War and Iran. Hope I am not missing any.

When I was 17 and had no real direction in my life a very important person in my life suggested my joining the military.  A few months later I enlisted in the US Air Force.  This is one of the best things I did.

Here are some pieces I made for a couple of Vets. 

On this Veteran’s Day I wish to say Thank You to all of the Veterans in my life and through out the world.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Dad and Mom

My Mom’s birthday is today (October 26th)!  I will not share her age. But I will share that I am very lucky to have such a wonderful Mom!

We celebrated her birthday a week early.  My sister put together a great party! Here are some picture with Mom.

Happy Birthday Mom!  We Love You!

Kelsey (the daughter)  and Mom

Terri (the wife) and Mom

Mom and Josh (the son)

Tami (the sister) Mom and Me

  

Mom and Me

New Chapter in Life

Well here I am middle age and I decided to start a new chapter in life.  I never went to college so it was suggested I might want to start.

Phoenix Logo

So I have signed up and am starting college on line with University of Phoenix.  I am really looking forward to this.

So I made these two signs for myself.  One for the shop and one for my desk I am using for school work.  I am working on deciding which one goes where.

The one down side is the fact that I might not have as much time in the shop.  I suspect that the time I do get will be special.  I will continue working on projects and sharing them, just not as often.

Tribal Phoenix

Proud Dad

Before the haircut.

Here is a non-woodworking post.

I have a 16 year old son.  He has been growing his hair out for some time now (1 ½ to 2 years now).  Starting several months ago he came to me saying he wanted to get 10+” cut off so he can donate it to Locks of Love http://www.locksoflove.org/. He did the research and picked the origination he wanted to donate to.

I find it is becoming more and more rare to see someone his age consider someone other than themselves.  Some people refer to us as the Me Generation.  So with all of these, the pride I feel is great.  Here are some before, during and after pictures.

Thanks to Kaying Beauty Salon in Clovis California for doing a wonderful job!

Love You Son!

Took along time to grow.

Kay at work.

After (with Toni)

Going to Locks of Love.

Now here is a “Me” thing - More wood projects coming soon!

Thanks

Some folks helped my wife and I out when we were in real need.

I was raised that when someone does something for you, you need to say “Thank You”.  So as my thank you I made these two pieces for these kind people.

Happy Birthday Josh – 2012

My youngest son turned 16 this week.  He has started collecting old and antique bibles.  Well he has no place to put them, so dad goes to the shop and makes one.  Below are pictures of the book shelf made of pine.

The symbol on the side is a tribal version of a Triquetra.  Some call is a Celtic Cross.  In the Christian use it refers to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  If you would like to read more on this I would suggest you go to this Wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triquetra

Happy 16^th Josh!  We Love You!

Vase

Sorry it has been awhile for a post.  Between the heat (110 yesterday) and my “daytime job” I have not had a lot of shop time.

Steve Good had created a pattern for a vase.  This was something I did not think I could pull off because of the angled cuts.  Each piece is cut at a 15 degree angle.  I ended up deciding to give it a shot.  After lots of sanding and several coats of polyurethane here is the final product.

 

    

Below is a picture of an upcoming project.

Bye Dot!

These pieces were cut for a very dear friend and coworker as a going away gift.  She took a new job and will be leaving the company we work for.  She is a wonderful person with a bit of a wild side.  She will be missed!  So I want her to know that she will be missed a great deal (at least for a week) =)!


Dot – Best of luck in your future adventures!



The bigger piece is a pattern is from the Summer 2012 issue of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts.  In making this my wife said “You should stain the butterfly purple”.  I told her that would be difficult at best.  After a bit I tested the purple stain (water based) and it appeared not to spread.  I used a very small paint brush and applied the purple.  I like the way this turned out as the butterfly does not get lost in the rest of the pattern.  In the magazine this is one of three patterns.  I am thinking I want to do all three highlighting the main part with a different color.

The small butterfly is a pattern from the book Simply Wood by Roshaan Ganief.  Great book by the way.


"May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand." - Irish Blessing

Rat, Panda and Elephant

After making the wolf pattern I started getting more ideas for patterns.  Here are the finish projects for the next three I made.

Here are the patterns as images - please feel free to use them!

First Pattern

Over my time with the scroll saw I have been able to look at other’s patterns and make adjustments to fit my own need.  I have also been able to picture a pattern idea in my head.  But getting the idea from my head to a file on the computer and then cut it out, that has been a struggle for this long time computer geek.


I had found a picture of a wolf lying down that I loved, but can not find it again to find out if it copy protected, so I could not use that for a pattern to share.  So then I found the tribal wolf head that I used.

Now the making of: I started out by cutting a piece of ¼” poplar to a workable size.  Next I cut a piece of plywood about the same size.  I sanded both.  Next I applied the pattern to the poplar and stained one side, of the plywood back board, black.  When doing this I pick the better looking side of the plywood to face out on the back.

While the plywood is drying I drill my holes and start cutting.  One thing I noticed when I start cutting was how this reminded me of cutting a portrait.  Often times when making a cut like the larger one here, you might get parts to start wiggling (scares me) and could break.  What I did this time was to stop cutting and apply more tape to hold pieces still.
 



After cutting I removed tape from the back, making sure to leave the pattern on the front. I sanded the back (very carefully) and then glued and clamped it to the plywood.  I have found it a very good thing to make sure the smaller more fragile part get glue on them, this will add strength once dried.

After the glue has dried I then cut out the shape of the arrow head.  Now I sand anything that needs sanding, then a dip in some medium maple stain, some shellac and we have the finished product.  The size of this is 9 ¼” tall and 4” wide.

If this is a special gift for someone and you want to sign the piece, I would suggest you do this prior to the stain.  Using a Sharpie on the plywood side and let dry.

Please feel free to use this pattern!  Please feel free to send me an email letting me know what you think and if you have a chance a picture of how your turned out.

I hope this will not be a one time thing making patterns and being able to share!

Thanks to my kids (Kelsey & Josh) who gave me feedback on the pattern as I was working on it!

Also for anyone looking for a wonderful source of free patterns and great tutorials please visit Steve Good at the Scrollsaw Workshop http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/

Father’s Day 2012

Here we are another Father’s Day.  Let’s start off by saying Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads out there!

I for one feel that my children are not only the ones who made me a father (no kidding?) but also helped shape what kind of father I am.  To my sons, my step-daughter and my former step-sons, Thank You All!  As a father I am very blessed.  This is what I wish for all of you dads and future dads alike!

I also am very blessed with a great example on how to be a good dad from the example I have been given!

So now to the wood!  Here are a couple of Father’s Day gifts I made this year.

 

"Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he's buying." 
       -- Fran Lebowitz

King of the Pins

Craig, who not only works full time, is an assistant coach for the Fresno State Bulldogs Men’s Bowling Team.  Last year the team won the 2011 USBC INTERCOLLEGIATE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (Men’s).

So Happy Birthday Craig!