Amazing Grace by Gloria Chandler

This simple, yet time consuming and delicate pattern was taken from the fall 2011 issue of Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts. It was one of this years contest winners for the designer. I cut it from 1/4 inch baltic birch plywood and painted it black. It will hang in my office cube at work and see if I get any bites on it. Probably just nibbles when I tell them the price. It took 2 hrs and 45 minutes to cut so for this one I would have to ask about $25 to make it worth my while. If there is a lot of interest in it I could stack cut two or even three at a time and that would reduce the price. We'll see how it goes.

On another subject: the first page of my website is now on line. Here is the link:http://terrysscrollshoppe.com. Check it out and let me know what you think. In the future I will be adding more products, a link to this blog and maybe even some videos (if I ever break down and buy a camera)....

It's Only A Number

It is hotter than the Devil's pitchfork here this weekend and so there is only one place to be...In Terry's Scroll Shoppe. I feel very fortunate in that my scroll shoppe is in my nice cool basement. It's always 68 to 70 degrees down here. A lot of my on line scrolling friends have shops in their garage and during the summer it is just to hot to work out there. My sympathies.

The cursive number four shown above was done for another work friend of mine. She asked me if I could do her house number in cursive. I was a little hesitant because I was expecting four or five digits. She explained they lived in a very small subdivision and her house number was just four. So I tried out some cursive style fonts and came up with this design. She is going to paint it black.

More scrolling to come this week. It's gonna be way to hot to go outdoors.

Orca Puzzle

Just had to cut something from the latest issue of Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts. I didn't have a lot of time so I picked this Orca Puzzle by Matthew Jones. It was quick and easy to cut out and paint. The tail was a bit of a challenge but I managed it. I took this picture using my little Nikon and the new light box that I built. I draped a white background using some clips on the top of the box and portable lights on two of the sides and the top. I used some white curtain material that was being thrown out and I think the picture came out pretty good. The white material acts as a scrim to diffuse and soften the light. I am really determined to start taking better pictures of my work so I can post them on a website or online at a site like Etsy. A lot of crafters have been reporting success there. Got some more orders to crank out this weekend and I really want to get some new products on display at work so we'll see how it works out. I'll post more pictures and play around with different angles as well. See ya round the ole Scroll Shoppe.

A Token of Appreciation

I love reading David Baldacci novels and thought I'd read them all, so imagine my surprise when the husband of one of the gals I work with loaned me a couple of new ones. As a token of my appreciation I made this very simple little book mark. It has a couple of pendants with his initials on it linked with a little bit of ribbon. Everyone thought it was so clever but it took very little wood and very little time.
That's the really neat thing about scroll sawing. You can make very simple, yet really cool looking things to give as gifts and people will love them, because they are hand made IN AMERICA.
By the way, here is an update on the war on clutter continues as I try to determine what stays and what truly has to go in my office. Winning a little bit each day. When I get this done I'm going to tackle the shop.

IT'S INDEPENDENCE DAY!

July Fourth! Independence Day. And today I declared my independence from the clutter and mess that has been holding me hostage and keeping me from doing my much needed work. Now the war begins. Get rid of the mess, Get organized, throw out trash, keep only what is needed And start turning out work like the picture above. Did for another gal at work whose daughter graduated in June from Powers Catholic High School in Flint, Michigan. Got a couple of other special orders in the works as well. One is the house number I told you about yesterday and the other is a special book mark I am making for a friend who loaned me a couple of great novels to read. It's going to consist of a ribbon with his initials in the form of pendants at either end.
Today was just a perfect day weather wise here in Michigan. Mother and I spent most of the morning working on cleaning out our basement, but after lunch we just had to go outside and sit and relax in the beautiful Summer fresh air. Everybody in the neighborhood was gone it seemed. It was quiet and peaceful and a real joy. Later I took a bike ride through the neighborhood and it was just a picture of pure tranquility.
After the bike ride a sat down for an hour or so and watched the last three innings of a baseball game between the Cubs and the Nationals. Washington won in the bottom of the tenth when a runner scored from third on a wild pitch. Is that a lame way to win or what?
Grilled hot dogs and Hamburgers for supper and washed em down with beer and potato chips. Is that all American or what?
Sitting here now watching "A Capitol Fourth" on PBS. It's a perfect way to cap off an independence day. Mother and I are not big on fireworks. We'll here them booming away tonight as we drift off to sleep. Early wake up call tomorrow. The "day job" beckons. But the war on clutter and disorganization continues.

Back to posting regularly soon

Hi everyone. Seems like a year since my last post. First let me assure you that nothing is seriously wrong. Summer and new orders have been keeping me very busy. Mother and I have been working hard on the house and yard with some long overdue maintenance. We have also been taking some time on the weekends to do some biking which we really love. About three weeks ago we went on a beautiful trip to Macinac Island (pronounced mack-uh-naw for you non Michiganians) and bike around the Island twice. As far as the wood business goes, I haven't done any shows this spring or summer but have been doing a lot for friends at work. The angels you see in the photograph above are quite small and delicate and pretty quick and easy to cut out. A lady at work ordered fifty of them for her church group! Fortunately I could stack cut them and that saved a little time but it was still a lot.
Some other things I've sold recently are coat racks with a child's name scrolled on it,(those have been really big sellers), some various word art, and I have an open order out there. One Lady wants me to make a house number for her in cursive! Won't be as hard as it sounds though. Her house number is 4! That's right, just 4. Must be a very small neighborhood.
I am working on a different way to photograph my work. I have made a light box in which to place my projects to take pictures of them. To explain without a picture may be a little difficult but here goes. It is a box with the front side open and panels cut out on two sides and the top which are covered with white curtain fabric to let light pass through. I use three clip on lamps and it is supposed to diffuse the light enough to make for good product photos. We'll see. Lots of crafters swear by them for pictures for web sites and eBay. You will see the results very soon. Maybe even tomorrow. Hope to get back to posting and cutting out more work soon so please be patient with me. Thanks.
Terry.