Live from Tormville!

Santa has left the house

This one has been on my husband's project table for the last few weeks - a custom order for one of his coworkers. It left the house this morning. 

Neato, right?

I get asked all the time how often my husband carves. Every evening. If you're looking for my husband after 9 - just head straight out to the garage. I've put in a couple requests for this year's carvings, so he'll be working on those soon as well. He finished a bear last week too - I'll photograph that one next - this one I just wanted to catch before it went out the door. I've missed a few over the years and it always bums me out. 

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Other stuffs

• Wendy's choir concert was last night. It was so windy, cold and blustery - I did not take my camera. 
• I thought I had yesterday off work, but ended up going in at about 10:30 - just after I had laid out a project on my table. ha. 
• Turns out that I did not have the sick bug chills yesterday - but the house is cold chills. I turned the heat up a few notches. 
• I hope it warms up a few degrees before Danny takes the polar bear plunge on Saturday. He's currently in first place for donations, but others are creeping up on him. 
• At least he doesn't have to jump in this:  snow blizzard video from 2/19 in Hancock
• Although maybe he could take lessons from this dog. 
• As for me - today's goal is to get the taxes done. I'm knocking off my February goals pretty successfully so far. 
• be good, and stay warm. 

Every Santa needs a wife

The scene this morning: 

Me, from the couch, with one eye open: Hey honey, are those ornaments ready to wrap? 

Honey does the long pause thing

Me encouraging the lightbulb moment along: That ornament exchange is tonight (he has an ornament exchange with his carving class, and I'm fairly confident that none of them read this blog) 

Honey: <a combination of ugh and darn and crap and shoot and I should have sprayed them last night>

The ughs and darns out of his system he then quickly gathered and sprayed them, hung them and shared that they'll be ready to wrap sometime this afternoon. 

The Missus is on it. 

 

It's the stick of many faces

Would that be called a mood stick? 

All I know is that walking sticks are pretty much the hardest things for me to photograph. It's impossible to capture all sides at once and the length itself makes everything tricky. 

So some close-ups....

He's handcarved several walking sticks, but this one he carved for himself. The grip is custom to his hand. It doesn't fit me at all. 

Consider yourself mooned. I married a child. 

But a very talented one. It took me a couple years to convince him that this is a talent. He was convinced that it's something you learn, since he took classes. He figured anyone could take a class and do what he does. 

I love how he works the knots and pokes into his creations. 

Neat, right? I'm glad we get to keep this one in the house. 

(if interested, click here to see another one in his shop) 

Happy Thursday!

 

...well we're all in the mood for a melody

So while my husband was home with the kids this past weekend he got all the cupboard doors painted, got Brian to soccer on time, got all the kids to church and Sunday School, got them out the door to school, made sure all their homework was done, entertained the neighbor's kids and Wendy's friends and managed to get this carving done and painted. 

Sing us a song, you're the piano man! 

If you turn the crank, the hands go up and down as if they are playing on the keys. 

This one was inspired by a toy/pattern he saw along the way. fun. 

The pictures don't do it justice. He brought it in at 11:00 last night after I'd already popped a MotrinPM and was taking it to work this morning so you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. 

This morning I'm trying to shake off the remants of the MotrinPM fog. Helped though - didn't notice my hand one bit.  Not quite as swollen this morning, just feels bruised. 

Time to wake the littles......

be good

December flashback

I was flipping through my December pictures this morning while placing a photo order and bumped into a few things I've not shared yet. December is such a full and busy month, don't you think?

Anyway - on my husband's side of the family, my husband had his brother-in-law Aaron's name. Aaron likes to fish and when asked what he might like for Christmas, he didn't hesitate to say he'd love another carving. Greg has had Aaron's name before. 

Aaron likes to fish, so Greg thought an old man carved into a piece of wood he shaped into a bobber like form would be ideal.  I think it's pretty cool. 

He's not had much carving time this month - he's been working wicked overtime and is slated to go out of town for a week soon. I never even saw him yesterday aside from a snoring lump in the bed. 

Now off to Costco. 
Usually the man of the house goes on his way home from work - saves gas and all that - but he's so tired, he'd probably buy the wrong coffee.

And we can't have that.

Our new percolator comes today!  

Hand Carved Santa Collection

(click the photo to see them a little larger)

As promised.

Each year I get a new hand carved santa from my husband added to my collection. Okay - so those that have been reading my blog for awhile know that the natural colored four santas in one is actually for our children, but I'm taking good care of it until they move out. 

This year I got two - the hands in the pocket Santa on the end, and the little shelf sitting Santa in the front near the end. My husband used his last two pieces of basswood for them, so they are smaller than usual. He has 'place an order for more wood' on his list for when things slow down. (He orders from a place in northern Minnesota) 

Should I have taken close ups of each?

Maybe after I run to Costco. 

*wink*

 

 

His Newest Carving

When we were up north this summer, the boys picked up this piece of Lake Superior driftwood to bring home to their dad. They try to get him a fun piece every year. 

I confess that more than once I've looked at my husband's carvings and my oldest son's drawings and asked them out loud that - really - this is what you see in that head of yours?  But I admit, I'm in awe of how they bring those images from their head out into their work. I can't do that. So you'll never really know what *I* see in my head. You'll always wonder now though, won't you?

Know this. What I see is much more sunshiney and daffodilly. 

Anyway - this carving is nearly ready to sell. He needs to add one more coat of whatever it is he coats them with and find a box to ship it in.

I haven't measured it yet, but it's a little shorter than I am, and I'm 5' 5"
Selling price will be $210.

If you happen to be interested - email the link in the upper left corner of my blog. If you live local, it'll save us having to find a box and figure out shipping. *wink*

Otherwise, it'll pop up on Etsy sometime in the next week. 

The Etsy shop will be going on vacation

This year I'll be putting my husband's Etsy shop on vacation mode when I head up north. Until then - from now until Wednesday night at about 8pm EST - we are offering up a coupon code.  The shop will then reopen on August 1st, but without the coupon code.

Enter vacation as you check out and you'll receive 10% off your order.

This brings those golf balls down to less than our 2010 prices! 
All orders will ship on Thursday.  

Be quick! 
Because ...
mmmmppphhh....I better not say. 

he doesn't just carve balls....

....sometimes he carves sticks.  We each have hiking sticks, my mom has a hiking stick (Greg had her name for Christmas one year) , and now George has a walking stick to hopefully aid him through his busted knee recovery.   I love how personalized it is.  I think it screams sings George, don't you? 

If we can figure out how to ship these, we might have to start adding them to the shop.  Not real easy to photograph though. 

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Other stuffs - 

I was fully planning to be lazy yesterday after a busy weekend, but it was my Monday. I got lots done - made bread, cleaned my closet, cleaned our whole room, scrubbed the garbage can, had the teenager wash the van. It was a full day.

Today I'm a bit more sluggish - which fits the heavy hazy day. I plan to putter right here at my desk all day long - get some cards done, some layouts done - some new balls listed. 

Here's to Wednesday! 

 

My husband has been busy

White Hand Carved Caricature Golf Ball

 

Toothy Fellow

Yellow Green Caricature Golf Ball

Orange and Green Caricature Golf Ball

Plum Hand Carved Caricature Golf Ball

Reserved

That is just a small sampling of some of the new listings in his shop: GTCarvings

There's rarely a night that he's not out in the garage carving.  If such a night does come along, I wonder if he's sick. He'll tire of golf balls soon, and move onto something else again - but for the time being, I've been seeing a new one pop up on my desk each morning, ready to be photographed.

Each order is shipped within 3 business days, and is packaged first in a box suitable for gift giving, and then into the shipping box.

Stands are sold seperately, and he just brought in a large box of those along with some new ones that are made to hold two balls. so I'll be listing those over the next few days as well. 

And yes, there is a lot of ball humor in our home.  It's inevitable.