Tag Archives: wood burning
When Wood Comes Alive
Filed under When Wood Comes Alive
Friday 11-8-2024
This sculpture grabs my heart. Just exquisite.
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LINDA’S CRAFTINESS –
One of a kind handmade greeting/note card using real feathers. “Be a flamingo in a flock of pigeons.” Savannah Larsen. Blank inside. 5″ x 7″. “Birds of a Feather” Series by Linda Lewis. $3.50 with Free Shipping. Browse through unique cards and packages on HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy using this LINK.
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I’m feeling a bit shell-shocked after receiving and paying our insurance bills this morning. All usually go up from year to year, but this aggregate of all the insurances I have to pay at once took my breath away. I’m grateful that we’re able to pay them, but WOW.
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I’m gathering ideas for making some earrings and key chains – some wood-burned, some wood-burned and painted, and some just painted. Ideas are starting to rattle around in my head. It’s fun. :0) We’re going to head to Walmart and our local grocery to replenish supplies today because we’re supposed to have another cold front and rain overnight-into-tomorrow, but I’m hoping to spend a good amount of time in my art room, playing.
Make this Friday a good one.
Friday 10-18-2024
My heart just melted when I saw this picture. I think the look on their faces is just priceless.
I finished these two signs and listed them on my Etsy site, HandmadeHavenbyLinda, yesterday.
I’m intrigued by the smart watch I bought. I set it up so that it sends me reminders. It suddenly comes on, flashing at me, saying, “Drink Water,” or “Go Exercise.” Since a lot of my activities are sedentary – computer stuff, writing my blog, listening to music, reading, playing in my art room – I NEED to be reminded that I’ve been sitting plenty long enough and it’s time to get up and move my lard, or hydrate.
It did this several times yesterday. I DID get up, put on my hoodie, grabbed my gardening gloves and pruners on the way out of the garage and just walked around the yard. I decided to stop and tackle something that caught my eye. I improved the situation a bit and then walked on. I went out to the shop and my old garden area (TOTALLY grown up now :0( ) and then back to the driveway pad, then around the house, then around the house again. (you get the pic.) I did this several times during the day.
The first afternoon I had the watch I logged 1800 steps. My first whole day (yesterday) I logged 4177 steps. Even a sloth is supposed to try for at LEAST 10,000 steps, but I’m going to 1) listen to my body and stop if my hips start yelling, and 2) try to increase MY total from the day before. If I can do that, it should be a good addition to my half hour of yoga stretches and one or more ‘drumming’ videos – which I do holding 3 lb. weights. I love the music on these.
I made a bit of progress on the scales lately, rather than GAINING and having to re-lose the same two or three pounds again and again. You can see from the graph above I only maintained and gained before finally starting to inch down again. I would really like to break into new territory one day soon, so I’m just keepin’ on keepin’ on.
If you need me, I’ll be walking, pruning, and guzzling. :0)
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Tuesday 8-13-2024
Everything in me melts when I look at the image above. I’m not sure who the artist is, but I thank Ruth Josephson for putting it on Pinterest.
The rain is gone for the foreseeable future, replaced by ‘Intense Heat Warnings’ again. (Heat index of 108 today.) We’ll probably be living under those the rest of the summer. I’ll try to do yard work in the mornings and encourage my husband to do the mowing as late in the evening as possible. I’m thankful for our good air conditioning!
This afternoon the wonderful bug spray man comes to spray for every kind of bug possible, plus the dreaded centipedes and scorpions that have found their way into the house in the past. I don’t think the spray covers snakes (we found the shed skin of one in the well house), though I’ve asked him to spray for EVERYTHING, including elephants, inside and out.
This time we have lots of annoying gnats. I found a stuff at Walmart yesterday that is supposed to kill them ‘on contact,’ but it’s difficult-to-impossible to spray them when they’re trying to climb into my coffee cup without getting the spray into my coffee… I’m cleaning extra well, starting in the kitchen and working my way out, removing things from counters and then spraying the ‘stuff’ on the counters and wiping them down carefully. The spray says it’s safe around children and pets, so I’m hoping that’s true.
Yesterday was the first day of school. My husband decided he wanted to go grocery shopping when the rain stopped yesterday afternoon. We almost got stuck trying to get to town, with lots and lots of “Mommy Traffic” at the two schools on the road between us and town, backed way up from the closer school to us all the way to the end of the road and around the corner on the larger highway, waiting to turn in. I suggested we take the long way around on the way home, but of course my husband scoffed.
We DID get stuck a couple of years ago with stock still traffic in both directions. I was afraid we would end up in the slammer with my husband throwing a fit and threatening to simply run INTO the car in front of us and try to push the whole line ahead so he could reach the road where we could bypass the problem. I wrote a letter to the school, pointing out the problem, emphasizing emergency vehicles wouldn’t have been able to get through, either. The schools decided to change the start and end time on one of the schools, allowing an easing of the problem. We still avoid the area at those times, since my husband is such a nut. Thankfully, by the time we had replenished our groceries and were on the way home, the traffic was manageable.
I’m almost finished with the wood burning part of a new sign. I’ll try to get that done today so I can start the painting part.
Enjoy your Tuesday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Happy August 2024
In Arkansas we’re welcoming August today with a heat index this afternoon of 112. GACK! Happily, I had a productive morning outside yesterday, reprogramming our irrigation units to each run 15 minutes. We monitored the watering yesterday afternoon and all went well.
I didn’t find any ripe tomatoes, but 2 of my tomato suckers plants are still alive, so I’m a bit hopeful now. I started on one end of the house and got 5 flower planters weeded before I got too hot. They were in the shade and the ‘excessive heat warning’ didn’t start until noon. Still, with the outside work, I came in wringing wet. I showered and washed my hair for the second time yesterday before lunch. :0)
My husband took our dog, Amber, to fill up the gas cans in preparation for the new mower to be delivered some time tomorrow. We have four, so we each grabbed two from the back of the truck to take out to the shop.
I haven’t decided if I’ll work outside again this morning or take the day off. Even with working out there in the coolest part of the day – in the shade – it took me a long time to get back to a normal temperature.
I’m going to try to get up to my art room today. I’m starting to ‘wood burn’ in my dreams now, a sure sign I need to get up there and get the new piece started.
Stay cool and enjoy your day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Sunday 7-28-2024
I love this drawing – and I’m NOT fond of mice.
We missed the hoped-for rain yesterday, and then next 10 days are supposed to be a ‘return-to-the-heat’ and dry. UGH.
Yesterday I checked for ripe tomatoes, but found none. I did find and replant some tomato suckers, though. As you can see here, only ONE of the suckers is doing really well. The rest are just hanging on. I’ll keep trying, though. I keep reminding myself that these are all ‘free’ tomato plants, and if just a couple do well, our chance for ripe tomatoes in an extended season increases.
The experiment of planting the elephant ear bulbs has been really interesting. I planted one large bulb in each of three brick planters. One planter in front of the garage has been a good place for several years. I planted the second bulb in a tall, shaded planter to one side of our front porch, hoping it would really spread out and take over the area. The third I planted in a planter at one end of the front yard, in a shaded, fairly protected place.
This is where I’ve planted elephant ears for several years. Usually I have three bulbs in this planter, but the ones I bought are huge, so I decided to see what one bulb in the middle would do. It seems to be happy here and very healthy.
The bulb in the planter to the side of the front porch is doing well, too, although the plant is not nearly as large as the other.
This is the bulb in the protected, shaded planter at one end of the front yard. It has struggled, but is finally gaining a foot hold. The plant is still very small.
Time got away from me yesterday, but I’ll try to get upstairs to my art room today and get started on a new wood burned sign. I’m really enjoying trying to do this. My dreams are full of what I’d like to do in the future, and all I’m learning daily, as far as techniques, what each of the different tips does, and more. Really FUN. :0)
I hope your Sunday is bright, shiny, and full of pleasure.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Saturday 7-13-2024
The generator repair guy texted me yesterday afternoon, saying he was planning to come by if we were here. I texted him back, saying, “We’re here!”
I stayed out of the way, letting the guy and my husband do tech/mechanical speak. In fact, I was up in the art room and didn’t hear the driveway alarm go off. By the time I found out the guy had been here, he was gone!
He stayed about 20 minutes, fixed the generator, and left. My husband isn’t sure what he did to get all the red lights to go off. The man said he had never seen a Generac generator as old as ours. (He probably hasn’t seen PEOPLE as old as WE are, either!) So – the red lights are off. The automatic test should happen next Friday around 2pm. Fingers crossed.
We. may. be. healed!
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I’m hoping to spend time in my art room this afternoon or this evening. I started a new piece yesterday, but didn’t get to the actual wood burning part of it due to my husband coming up to tell me he was going to look for something in the basement. Since we didn’t know when the generator guy was due, I came downstairs to listen for the driveway detector to go off.
I’ll see if I can get some work done on it today, plus continue the work on the plaque I’m trying to do. There are people on Etsy offering laser-guided wood burned pieces. They look really nice, but I prefer the things that are done by hand. I’m feeling excited now. Challenged, but feeling as though I might be able to do some interesting things. I’m loving it. :0)
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With all the really challenging weather across the world now, I’ll just wish you a safe, happy day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Monday, Monday 7-8-2024
We have an 80% chance of rain starting today at around 10:00 and continuing through the day. 90% chance of rain throughout the evening and night, continuing until around noon tomorrow. Between 9:30 and 10:00 we’ll gather and take our trash down, get our mail, and then be in for the duration.
I didn’t get to ‘accountability-for-my-trying-to-lose-the-lard’ until yesterday. At this point I’ve lost 32.6 lbs and 34.1 inches. Reasonable start.
I’m planning to spend time in my art room again today, experimenting with my new wood burning kit. No information came with it, so I’m finding some YouTube videos on the wire tips to watch and then experimenting.
I bought two very small (3oz. ‘cosmetic’) spray water bottles while we were out yesterday. The minute Jet saw them, she knew what they were! All I had to do was START to reach for one (at my computer desk or beside my chair in the living room) and the cat stopped what she was doing. This morning my husband, of course, ignored the signs she was sending out that she didn’t want to be petted right now and he started to pet her anyway. She opened her mouth to bite him and I shot her with the spray. She stopped, mouth open, and got up and left without biting. Maybe I can train BOTH of them to change their behavior…
My husband just asked me if we could have hot dogs for dinner this evening. Since I found Mission Zero Net Carbs Tortillas, I can say, “Yes!” :0) He eats his with regular hot dog buns plus a side of chips and some baked beans. I have mine with the tortillas. Happy grins.
My husband and I are stupid (you already knew that) and have to learn the same lessons over and over. The latest example is concerning our dog, Amber. We’ve changed her food because her tummy seemed to be reacting badly to the dog crunchies we were including in her food. We switched to just giving her canned dog food. This has stopped the tummy problems. She is a very food-driven dog, though – hence the foraging in the kitchen.
Last night we were eating dinner in the living room, watching 60 Minutes. We heard a sound we couldn’t identify. We got up to investigate. Amber was standing at the stove, trying to reach and eat the spaghetti sauce that was still in the skillet. ARRRRGH. We had forgotten to bring her into the living room with us and close the dog gate until we got things put away and cleaned up. AGAIN.
My husband decided he wanted to again see if she can handle the crunchies. We agreed that we would make sure she was enclosed on the tiled areas after eating today in case she had problems. I got up this morning and let her out. When she came back in, my husband let her in with him in the living room. I asked him if he fed her crunchies this morning. He said, “yes.” BUT he wasn’t making sure she was on the tiled areas…. And so it goes.
Have a happy day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Saturday 4-20-2024
Hahahahahaha! I don’t really feel like this, but I LOVE the artwork and the sentiment. :0)
It’s dark and rainy here in my part of Arkansas this morning, so I’m switching to inside activities. I was planning to weed at least one flower planter, but Mother Nature has decided that we need rain. And the week ahead looks particularly rainy, with chances for rain starting Wednesday and continuing through the following Monday, the 29th. We may need a boat!
I may spend today with a combination of laundry and wood burning, a nice combination of ‘should’ and ‘want to’ for the day. I have ideas for a couple of plaques I would like to make for some good friends. I’m still experimenting with what tip does what with the wood burning tool, so progress is very slow, but it’s fun to be trying to do something completely out of my comfort zone.
I hope that you have a happy Saturday in store.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Thinking
I love this idea. It inspires me to try to ‘draw a line around my think.’ I thought of an idea for a Christmas present I’d like to try to make. I’ve printed an image to work from for a wood-burning project. We’ll see…
Filed under inspiration
Tuesday 2-6-2024
Good morning! Our weather is so nice here that I’m almost afraid to say anything – that it will jinx it. It’s quite spring-like, and I’m really, really enjoying it. Shhhh! (Fingers crossed)
I’m hoping for a quiet day. My husband didn’t rest well last night, so I’m hoping he can rest a lot during the day today. I’m trying to stay quiet so that he can sleep in his recliner.
Now that he’s doing better overall, though, I’m going to try to do my yoga practice this afternoon. My body is feeling the fact that I haven’t been. I’m hoping the practice will help me loosen up again.
If this goes well, I’ll plan to try to spend some time in my art room. It seems like it has been forever since I’ve spent time up there. I’m in the middle of a piece I started wood burning. It’s patiently waiting for me…
Enjoy your Tuesday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Thursday 1-4-2024
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It’s wonderful to see my husband excited about getting set up to do something different. He has ordered two kinds of wire for the new MIG welder – one to be used with gas, and the other with electric. We’re going to get CO2 for it at the welding supply place today. He’s watching YouTube videos and dreaming. :0)
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He is also encouraging MY efforts on my new wood burning tool. I’m experimenting with a large piece of scrap wood, trying to use the different nibs, figuring out what to do with them. Jannie at BurnSavvy.com is helping give me confidence to keep experimenting. Here is my latest effort –
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Yesterday was Day Two of doing my old lady yoga stretches. As I expected, it was harder than Day One, dealing with a combination of the mess I am now PLUS my body yelling about the stretches the day before. I went ahead and did the best I could, expecting that TODAY may be a bit easier.
My husband still lives, even after coming in while I was doing my yoga. I was sitting on my mat, legs together stretched out in front of me. I was bent over as far as I could reach, stretching my back deeply, reaching for my toes. My husband asked, “When do you start stretching?” GRRRRRRR! :0(
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I was encouraged by some stats on my blog this morning. I got curious to see how the traffic to my blog had changed since I started it. In 2019 I had 56,306 visitors to CreativeArtworksBlog. In 2023 I had 437,808. That’s really nice. :0)
I hope your day is a very pleasant one.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
It’s Tuesday 1-2-2024
I just recently found this artist on X (formerly Twitter). I think he’s wonderful.
This is more of his work. I wish him a great 2024 and much success.
We are having a quiet day, and we’re about to fix some lunch. We just gathered our trash and drove it down to the bottom of our driveway for pickup tomorrow. We got our mail and came back up, thoroughly chilled. It’s supposedly 40 outside right now, but it seems much colder. A great day to stay inside.
I’m going to do two things this afternoon –
Thing One – do more experimenting with my wood-burning tool. I’m changing the nib on the tool each time so I can get a feel of what each one does. It’s exciting to be doing something completely new.
Thing Two – I’m going to do at least 30 minutes yoga stretching. Yes. REALLY. I know I often intend to do it, but don’t actually get down on the floor with the mat and DO it. Today I will. REALLY. (I have an encouragement thing going with a much-loved friend. SHE is going to peddle on her exercise thing and I am going to do my yoga stretches. We’ve both been making excuses and are trying to do better.)
I hope you’re having a good day, too.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Making Progress
I’ve finished reorganizing and labeling everything on my “Etsy shelves” in my office now. I found a couple of things I THOUGHT were listed, but weren’t, so I took care of that.
Now I’m going up to my art room to gather a few more things I want to add to the site.
When I’ve gathered them, I’m going to allow myself the time and space to start experimenting with my new wood burning tool. REALLY. I AM. :0)
We went to Lunch Bunch and Kay and Bud were there. We had a good time catching up.
About an hour ago, FEDEX came and delivered the MIG wire welder my husband ordered. He took it out to our shop and brought back the manual to read. He says it looks good.
I hope you’re having at least HALF a good a day as we are enjoying.
Filed under Challenges, Changes, Organizing/DeCluttering
Dashed Hopes
My hopes have been dashed once again because I didn’t win the lottery last night. I could have figured out a lot of good things to do with whatever would be left of the $700 million prize after taxes….
We’re leaving to go for my husband’s haircut and to get the mail in a minute. That’s the excitement for the day. Be still, my beating heart. :0)
Actually, I AM thinking seriously of trying to overcome my intimidation over experimenting with wood-burning. All is set up upstairs. My drafting table is cleaned off. My protection gear is right there. Some wood scrap is ready, plus some blank plaques we made a long time ago. I’m supposed to get some thin wood rectangles in two sizes today, I think. I’m out of excuses, so….
I received the latest paperback in the J.D. Robb In Death series yesterday and dove right in. It’s like coming home. I finished re-reading all 56 books in the series just recently in preparation for the new addition. Then, when I finish, I’ll probably have to wait 6 months to a year for the newest – that is released in hard back in January – to be released in paperback. Did I tell you that I love this series? :0)
We did NOT get ‘rain and snow showers’ over the past two days, and for that I’m very grateful. I would be happy with ONE pretty snow that leaves immediately and call that a great winter.
Enjoy your day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
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