For the Harry Potter fan in your life….

Also available in Natural Stain, but the lead time on that is 5 weeks since I need to order this box shape special and it won’t be ready for Christmas. In this series is also a map of Narnia, and one of Middle Earth, but again, the lead time on those two items is about 5 weeks. The provincial stain (above) id ready to ship now and WILL arrive for the holidays if you order soon!

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.