As has been previously mentioned I and other carvers and wood turners donated hand made ornaments for the Governors Mansion to honor the 100th anniversary of the Virginia Department of Forestry. Today I received an email with a photograph of the Governor who took time out of his day to be there the day the day the ornaments where being hung on the tree. As you can see he posed with some ornaments before they were placed on the tree and here is Governor McAuliffe holding a beautiful turned ornament in one hand and the ornament I donated in the other. It is a beautiful tree and full of wonderful ornaments so if you are up Richmond way and you are near the Governors Mansion check out the schedule and take the tour to see some wonderful craftsmanship. On the 19th of November I posted the mansions tour hours;

http://cartoons2carvings.blogspot.com/2014/11/well-other-day-i-forgot-i-had-carved.html

as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem 4 the Christmas celebration

Well I have been busy trying to get a few carvings done for the end of the season which is quickly approaching. Most of my efforts for my shop have been Santa and elf ornaments. I have one shelf tree elf carved out of butternut that I am really happy with. Many people advised me not to paint this would due to the grain, many grainy woods tend to let the color bleed along the grain. As an experiment I put one coating of protective finish, I made sure it was a thin even layer and then began to paint. From this the paint took to the wood but only where I put it and I have to say I am extremely happy with the way this one turned out. When the painting was complete I applied another protective coat this time letting it be a bit thicker coating which really highlighted the wood grain where paint was not applied. Overall I am happy with this set of carving and will be sad to see a few of them go.

 

 as always happy trails

and

Carpe diem 4 carving