I hate naming items I list in the Sixth & Elm Etsy shop, so I sometimes ask for help from my friends. I really should know better by now.

Tonight I asked for help from my friend Colin in naming this box with the image of a Spencerian Peacock I burned on it. I got the following suggestions in reply:

“The End Boards”
“Circle Gets the Cube”
“Sphere Gets the Cube”
“Jo Jo and the Giant Moose”
“Mo Jo and the Gigantic Goose”
“Chin Strap Chafing”
“Cupboard Pirates”

and my favorite… “Perforated Coffee”

Note: The image I burned on the box above came from my new favorite source for vintage graphics, The Graphics Fairy. You gotta check it out – a goldmine I tell you.

You may have noticed that the Sixth & Elm Etsy Shop has been closed for a bit, but rest assured that this closure is only temporary and I plan to reopen at the beginning of February. I had a very busy fall season and I needed time to finish my lengthly queue of orders before I took any new ones, and I knew that I would need some extra time off once Noah arrived too. In addition to that, there is a rule against earning extra income for the first 13 weeks of maternity leave while collecting maternity benefits from the Canadian Government. I will get paid for the full year off like everyone else, but for some reason they do not allow you to work for the first 13 weeks. I don’t mind though. I am using the time off to come up with some new designs for the shop re-openning in February.

If you would like to be notified when the shop is taking orders again to can sign up for automatic email notification on the Sixth & Elm shop page (don’t worry, you won’t be signed up for newsletters or spam) or you can check back here as I will post once I am up and running.

Fellow Etsyian, Loopy4ewe is participating in the 60km Weekend to End Breast Cancer Walk next June, and she is attempting to raise $2000 to participate. Once she let the other Etsy sellers know what she was up to, they responded en masse by donating tons of items they have made – large and small and mostly pink – and listing them for her, all proceeds to go toward her walk.  She didn’t even ask for donations, but she didn’t have to.

I added my little bit by adding the most popular item I sell, the Scripted Box, stained in Antique Pink in honour of the cause. I sanded it down a bit it looks cute and vintage-y – like a little Parisian treasure. All of the money I raise from the sale of this item will go to Loopy and hopefully get her close to her goal.

Here is a list of some of the other Etsy sellers who have listed or donated items as well:

KritterKnitter

StuffbySteph

PaisleyBaby

NancyWallisDesign

HarvestMoonPaper

UxCritter

Loscann

Adornyourself

StringMeAlong

MyHandboundBooks

Gillian’sBeads

How can you help? Easy, buy something from someone on this list!

I really like this one….

Any suggestions on stain colours?

Boo! In time for Halloween, or the first term of school at Hogwarts… It’s Rupert the Reproachful!

What I need from you, dear reader, is advice on what colour to stain him.

Did I mention how much I REALLY want to go to school at Hogwarts, even though I am 30 years old and it… um… doesn’t exist?

From this Photo that Adam took of my Violin and Guitar together:

I started woodburning 2 years ago with a walnut hollow “hobby” woodburner that I bought when I was 9. It did the job, but was rather awkward and sort of burned my hand after a while. 1 year ago Adam teamed up with some friends and family and bought me my first “real” woodburner – a Razortip with pen and replaceable tips (remember this post?). I loved it and used it everyday. It was perfect.

I don’t think the kids at Razortip intended the system be used everyday for about 5 hours, though. Actually, I don’t think anyone would recommend that, as I now have no feeling in the middle finger of my right hand. Eventually, I outgrew the little guy and there simply wasn’t enough power in it for me to finish some of the bigger projects I had. Since I do contemporary decorative woodburning, and not pictures of foxes or ducks, I sometimes have large areas I need to burn dark and the Razortip was having heart trouble.

So I upgraded and treated myself to a brand new Colwood Olympiad woodburner, complete with a couple new tips and even a nice wooden case. It came on Tuesday and I haven’t been able to put it down since, which has made me a bit of a fire hazard around the house. A huge temperature range and enough guts to finish the large pieces, I am really happy with it.

A better system doesn’t make me a better burner, but it will allow me to finish projects faster, which is important now that the shop has REALLY caught on and I am always working on something. Hopefully this will give me more time to start new designs, instead of steadily working on orders of designs I already have for sale. I just have to remember to stop every once in a while for food and sleep.

This is a cute little design that reminds me of Dr. Suess. Horton hears an Elm Tree. I still have to do some touch up and fix some minor scorching, but it’s almost finished.

So, with my new fancy-dancy woodburning system, I have been working on a few projects.
The box above is based off of an idea from Colin (a real, live IRISHMAN!) who suggested the offset cross. I was complaining that the cross centered made it look like a bible, and I like the way this one looks traditional and contemporary at the same time.

And here is a fun thing I burned up last night: 

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I am addicted to tools. Big power saws, little tiny jewellery hammers, even an eyelet setter can get my heart racing. And the more universal attachments for a tool, the more I want it, even if I don’t know what all the attachments are for. Knowing this, Colin wisely skipped the traditional necklace and earrings gift and bought me a brilliant circular saw for being the “best woman” (Is that what you call a female best man?) at his wedding.