Sycamore Spoon and Scoop with Chip Carving

Sycamore Spoon and Scoop with Chip Carving

 I wanted to mail these to a friend weeks ago but I couldn’t get myself to box them until just now. Hopefully, I will make it to the post office this morning. The carving and fun stuff, I can get done easily. The administrative stuff is a little more difficult.

Scherenschnitte Vacation Memory

Vacation memory from Bulls Island, SC. Lots of alligators there!

Mountain Biking Again

 

I was riding hills today on my road bike and came home to snip a paper cutting of that. I found this on my desk from last November. At the time I was working on rejuvenating my mountain biking skills and was having so much fun! This was supposed to be a sketch for a better version but I got sidetracked and forgot about it.

#scavhunt Winnie the Pooh

This is for a scavenger hunt I am doing.

 

My Christmas Scherenschnitte Cards for 2022

 Annual Scherenschnitte Christmas Cards

Oh, boy. I suck at taking pictures of white art work. Sheesh. But here are my paper cut Christmas cards this year.

I first decided that I wanted to have a bike design. I like designs that have different scenes on different sides. So, voíla! Here is card #1. Santa riding a bike through the woods. Okay, so fine. Simple. I cut a boat load of this design.

But then I wanted to cut a design for a thank you note to friends who live in a well appointed craftsman style house. I based this cut on a Frank Lloyd Wright design. I like this one soooooo much better than the Santa. 

But......I already cut a ton of the Santa ones. And this one takes longer to cut.  Ugh. Which ones to send to whom???

Hand Carved Spoon Gift

These are some of my hand carved spoons that I gave to a friend the other day.

I gave her a bunch because I can never ever ever choose a spoon for someone that is the same they would have chosen for themself....theirselves? their self? 

People often like the little spoons. The one on the left is probably sycamore. The spatula next to it is also probably sycamore.

The next spatula is a "spoon-u-la." It is made from spalted maple. I had cut it specifically for a friend who wanted this design exactly. Unfortunately, after carving it, I realized I had carved it as a mirror image of what she wanted. Ugh. I had traced a pattern of what she wanted and then flipped it over when I went to trace it. Hopefully, that was a lesson learned. (The friend didn't reject it, by the way. I did.)

Also, this wood was very hard and it took me many hours to carve. It was a beautiful piece, but wow. Spatulas are hard for me to carve anyway. That slight curve down to the flat part is difficult to do.

The next spoon is almost a ladle. I think it is also sycamore. It has a couple of knots In the bowl. Sometimes, these things seem to show up after I have already invest many hours in carving them.

The last spoon is cherry. My favorite wood next to anything spalted. I added this spoon to the mix because it was perfect. I don't know if any of the others would be considered perfect.

Mountain Biking

 I'm starting to get back into a couple of things I haven't done in a while. Snipping and mountain biking. Both things require that I put in some practice time to get back into the groove, but this is my start.

Chip Carving on My Spoons

 Chip Carving on Spoons

This is the time of year when I pull out the carving tools. 

Last year, I carved a bunch of spoons with the intention to chip carve them this year. Nice idea, but boy is this wood hard!

I’ve got a little chip carving done on these and am not sure if I am finished carving them or not. I need to sand them a little to get rid of my pencil marks.

Pysanky from Munich and Bratislava 

During my trip to Europe I picked up two pysanky eggs. (Why, oh why, did I only pick up two??????). 

This first one, I bought at a lovely market in Munich. It is 100% painted. It resembles an egg that has used the drop and pull technique, of which I have zero skill.  I paid $5 and they put it in this egg carton that was created for pysanky sales.  (It has information on the carton related to where the egg was made.)

The next egg I bought in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. We spent a couple of hours in that lovely medieval city, on our way to the Czech Republic. Again, I spent $5. I bought this one because it is simply paint on a white egg. They packed it for me in a little plastic tub.

On this trip I tried keeping the souvenirs to a minimum. I have regrets that I did not buy a little more.

Hungarian Egg Display

 I just got back from Europe a couple of days ago. (My first trip over there!)

We spent a couple of days in Budapest, which was a beautiful country with flavors of art that really touched my soul.

I was surprised to come across a display of decorated eggs at an Easter Market.  Some are scratched eggs; some waxed and dyed; some wax on dye; some drilled; some vinegar etched.