Woodworking 101: My Journey As A Scroll Saw Pattern Designer #600: Kicking it Around

I sometimes wonder if it is legal to have so much fun! I have had some really incredible days and there seems to be no end in sight. There is such a wide world of creative things to do that seeing each one come to life is just one thrill after another.

Keith has been no slouch either. I see what he has come up with in his designing and I think he gets better every day. It is nice to know that you have a partner with so much talent. What is good is that we both enjoy different types of things to do and never step on each others’ toes creatively. It sure gives Sheila Landry Designs a lot of depth and dimension and offers our customers a great variety of projects to choose from.

Keith’s latest design is a hunting plaque. Lately he has been experimenting with some multi-bevel cutting. The process is very easy, but makes the plaques look wonderfully professional and dimensional and I think that the designs will be a big hit. Here is a quick picture of his latest:

Now this isn’t even done yet. It has a dark green stained background behind the deer and the final finish needs to be applied. But it is a great start and will be a wonderful pattern.

Keith has also been working on his pens and has updated his gallery on the site. He re-shot all the photographs and presented them in a new and more organized way and I think they look great. His photography, like his other work, is top notch and looks so professional. It is great to see what a wonderful job he does:

These are two of his “Executive Pens” and I think they are awesome. If you want to see his entire pen gallery, you can see them on the site by following this link: Fine Stylus Pens

As for me, I am rolling right along with painting my little boots. I am more excited with each one that I finish. I have seven of them done now, and they are bright and colorful and so much fun to paint. I think that they are going to be really popular among the painters and I have high hopes for them. I took a quick snapshot of the group of them just to give you an idea of how they look:

Aren’t they fun?? I have added detailing in some gold metallic paint on some of them and it gives them a little kick of sparkle. I was thinking though that you could probably add small rhinestones to accent them and they will look even better. I may try that on some of them after the initial photography and offer it as an option. I will continue to work on them today.

I also took the time after dinner to play around with the new stuff I got the other day. One of my painter friends (Margot Clark) is well-known for her lovely floral paintings. She has been a teacher for years, and she came up with this technique using a dimensional product that she calls MUD. I had seen her beautiful flowers and projects that she created with this stuff and I ordered the starter set. You actually apply it using a pastry bag and a thin decorating tip and then brush it to give it shape. It is so easy to do and the results are really cool. The MUD dries really hard and can be kiln fired so it can be used on washable items such as cups and other things like that, but you don’t have to fire it and it is still quite durable as a decoration.

Another thing that you can do is use it on WOOD for a dimensional, carved look. You simply stain over it, or you can use metal leafing or several other finishing techniques and it looks great. I have many ideas for using this stuff in some of my designing, and believe me, you don’t have to know how to paint to make it look wonderful.

I played with it last night for a while, and here are the pictures of my first attempts with using it:

Now these are only done on plastic sheet protectors (with the pink paper inside so you can see the design) They aren’t the best flowers, but they came out OK for a first attempt. You don’t even use any pattern really. You just draw simple squiggly lines with the pastry tip and brush it here and there to make the flowers. I can think of hundreds of great applications for this stuff that will make my woodworking more interesting.

While Margot specializes in flowers, I have some ideas for making other things with this stuff. But I want to play around and get a good footing on it first and get to know it better before I branch out. I really only played for about on hour or so and I had a lot of fun experimenting. I think this may even appeal to non-painters and be something that will enhance their woodworking projects. We will have to see.

So once again it is going to be a busy day. I have my catalog stuff due for the wholesalers, and I was kind of feeling bad because I don’t have a lot of new patterns for them since mid-November when the last batch went to them. But I have been working on my calendar project and Christmas stuff and Valentines (which will in all probability not be used until next year in their catalog) and just haven’t had the time to do other things too.

Sometimes things are like that. There are so many directions and opportunities for me that I have to pick and choose which ones to pursue. I have always said that having that problem is good, and I still feel that way. I don’t think I will be out of ideas any time soon and I truly look forward to each day of creating.

It’s mid-week already and we are due to get more snow today. We walked last night and it was snowing lightly and it was just beautiful out. I love walking on those snowy nights. It always feels so good and is so quiet and beautiful. I want to enjoy it while it is here.

Have a great day today.

In the depth of winter I learned that there was in me an invincible summer. ~Albert Camus, Lyrical and Critical Essays