In My "Spare" Time: Year 18, Week 48, Day One (week 986)

Year 18, Week 48, Day One (week 986)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-08-18 Saturday

84 degrees afternoon, nice breeze blowing kept it comfortable. We did get a short splattering of showers, it left individual water dots on the pavement. It was over shortly after we noticed it. A front is looking to pass through. We had some cold weather during the week because of a front, and it warmed up after just a couple days. We are expecting some more cold weather next week from the front passing through.. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

During the week, I took my briefcase of ornaments to work. I have a lot of ornaments that are many years old. I have a sleigh, and couple bells from my very first batch of ornaments. One of the women at work picked out the sleigh and a few other ornaments. I gave an elephant ornament to the lady that delivers our mail. She’s a good friend. One January, I got an idea of carving “stuffed animals” as ornaments. It ended up that they were not all that popular. Mice and elephants tended to be the most popular of the stuffed animals.
I started painting my Christmas cards. I did the two color background one night and then four color present boxes another, then the ribbons on the first batch of presents a third night. I am doing 25 cards on this batch and will do at least one more batch of 25 after these are done. I am already deciding that the next batch will have simpler backgrounds.

My basic process of painting cards is to do one or two colors at a time on a batch, usually 20 to 25. I stack the cards next to me and take one at a time and add the same colors to all of them. I usually work right out of the caps of the bottles of paint. I pour some into the cap and dip the brush in there. I will use a little water to thin the paint, sometimes dipping the brush in water first then the paint, which slightly thins the paint over time, but sometimes I dip the brush in the paint first and then the water. This thins the color on the brush so you can do a wash. Most of the time I use the paint straight as I am after covering color.
When doing Christmas lights on a tree, I will have four or five fine brushes and do one each color on the card. I set the cards to the side and go to the next one, usually starting with the last brush and color I used going backwards through the colors. I am working fast so the quality is not going to be in the artwork. I am mainly after a good impression of image. Make it recognizable. Most of the time, the results are appreciated. Some people have said the cards were as good as some cards you see in the store.

SATURDAY

After breakfast we visited two yard sales and we got almost nothing. a few cords for phones. These seemed to be higher quality than we normally buy

I decided to get my Christmas tree set up. I located my collection of ornaments that goes on my tree. I have a copy of all but a few ornaments I have made over the years. Most of the versions I am missing are ones made during the years I did not make very many ornaments, sometimes just as many as I absolutely needed. With them was a bag of ornament blanks I had been working on when I last carved seriously. At that time, I had enough for the moment and did not carve the whole dozen. I might work on them later. Some are blanks for ornaments I can use a few more of. There is a spool of thread and a light bulb I turned, and painted both of them red. The idea was to carve Santa faces in them. These are the most interesting of the blanks in the batch.

I do have a good collection of ornaments. Since my tree is against the wall, only the sides and front will be covered with ornaments and they do cover the tree. I have not counted them. I did find I have several repeats of some. Some of the repeats will go in with my brief case assortment.

It is surprising how you know what something looks like until you try to copy it. You find that you really don’t know what something looks like. An example is what is the difference between a horse, a Great Dane, a cat, a goat, or a deer. When you get into it, the differences between each are not really great, but they do make a difference.
I know what a steam engine looks like. I understand how they work. I decided to carve another steam engine. I made some of the same mistakes again. While I know what they are supposed to look like, I miscalculated on a few things. For one, I must remember that the wheels are half the machine. The way I've carved the first two engines, the wheels should start at the bottom of the block. I could add wheels but was not planning on that. it really would not be too hard, come to think about it. I will give it consideration.

Year 18, Week 48, Day One (week 986)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-08-18 Saturday

The temps were nice, we got a good shower around eleven, but except for a few puddles here and there, there was no sign it ever happened. It was mostly cloudy though the day. A good strong breeze kept things nice when we were under the awning.
The front is coming at us like a chainsaw cutting its way across the state on an angle. we will likely get some wetness tonight. It will cool down tomorrow night and Tuesday. when it warms up, it does not look like it will be quite a warm during the day the rest of the week. This weather report was brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach department Of Tourism.

I was cutting some wood for steam engines when my brother arrived. I carved a steam engine, and touched up another one. Looking at the results, I figure that by the time I do twelve of these, I will have the form right. The shapes all say “trains”, even if there is no accuracy at all. These are more like toy trains, but they look pretty good anyway.
My brother brought out the little machine lathe and worked on some setup, then did some tests. There are little lines on the wheels and he wanted to know what each line was. Each one is a little over 100th of an inch (.01). It helps to know how accurate the thing is. My brother is working on improving his accuracy when it comes to machining. He said he designed a part. He machined it exactly to the specifications he designed it for. Then found out he designed it wrong...... He is becoming more interested in machining stuff. He kids us about making a watch or more likely a real steam powered train. He won't, but it is fun to think about.
My brother gave up on the idea of blacksmithing as his body is in bad shape now. He gave up on metal casting also. He does machine stuff for work when parts are unavailable. His machining never made money at work, but his welder has.

I am close to finishing the background of the cards. The next batch will have a different background entirely. It does not have to be that complicated. the next background will be a whole lot faster to pant.

There is fun in being active in crafts and hobbies again. To see something accomplished is a little heady. “I did that.” “I confess, I confess, I did that.”

I will continue on my cards, I hope to play around with more steam engine carvings.
I will see what I accomplish during the week.

1390

My brief case display at work.

My collection of ornaments from over the years.

My first four carvings I ever did. Left is first, second left was second and was from a cedar board. the right figure came out pretty good except the crossed arms. I learned on that one that I do not like sanding.