An unknown reader makes my day and my year

12/31/2008

Without going into personal detail, I do want to share with you a e-mail that I received on December 27th. It started with "Allison you do not know me but...."
This man wrote me just to tell me that he had seen my projects of scroll work and intarsia , and it made him want to give it (scrolling) a try. He proceeded to go out and get a scroll saw. Then he relates to me about how much he enjoyed this form of woodworking , and his subsequent addiction to "the saw."
He described that he had made Christmas gifts via this new found love and when his scroll saw broke down for two days it nearly drove him crazy!
     Since I know the feeling of Scroll saw malfunction and how it really CAN and DOES drive you crazy, I realized that this person that wrote indeed had found the enjoyment of this art form and I have to admit that this e-mail from him made me feel (selfishly) very good. To think that little ol' me from a little mountain town could have a hand in someone else out there in this big old world finding a hobby, a pleasure, an enjoyment so much so that they took the time to write me about it is possibly the best gift I have ever received due to this blog.
I wish to thank him for telling me this, and I encourage others out there, that if you even have an inkling of interest in this kind of woodwork to give it a try, and perhaps another day, another time I could be so fortunate to be writing a similiar post in the future!
PEACE!!!
Wood Alley,
also Allison

I have a dream

12/20/2008

I came across some good fortune when I went to Southern, Ca. a couple of weeks ago. I acquired  some scrap wood from a friend, not just any old scrap wood, but some absolutely beautiful wood. What I received was various beautiful Walnut, some Cherry, along with Apple. Green Poplar and Zebra wood. With that was some Purple Heart. Yellow Heart, a wood I have never even seen before but always wanted too. I now own a few pieces of that thanks to my friend. I also have my hands on "Mystery Wood" except the difference is this is mystery wood that I WANT to find out what kind. Not like the mystery wood I found in house fires and such.
Now my dilemma!
I want to make something, intarsia, something spectacular. Some kind of scene. Perhaps a mountain scene, or an ocean scene. Some kind of picture!
Have you ever seen those wood quilts?  They are just like a real quilt, but made out of wood.
They are beautiful. A person hangs them on the wall just like a picture. This is what I have in mind. Or even a mirror frame with different species of wood.
If any of my readers or some one stopping by here knows of such a pattern I would so appreciate it if I were pointed to the right direction.
Also I think because I am so in love with these different types of wood I got, that I am going to try, (Note; the word "TRY"  Lol!!!) to make a tutorial out of the project because there will be some learning to do on my part, as I have never worked with some of these species of wood.
So if you know of such a pattern I sure would appreciate knowing about it.
You can reach me by posting a comment here, or writing me at
allison.woodalley@gmail.com   There is a dot (period) between allison and woodalley.
Or leave a comment on one of my posts that you are writing me, so that I can make sure gmail has not put you in Spam.   LOL!    That would really suck!!!
Honestly, any fellow woodworkers, I really have a dream here, and any help would be appreciated!
PEACE!!!
Allison

Another Intarsia Heron

12/13/2008

Along with the dinosaurs that were to be found at my girlfriend's house while down south, there was also a Heron I had made her and gave her last month for her birthday but I forgot to take a picture of it so that is why I never posted it until now. She loves this bird, (the Heron) and even had a girlfriend of hers paint her one that is hanging in the same room as this one I made her. I am a little ashamed of myself by not taking a picture of the painted one. Perhaps next time. I have made two (2) of these Heron's the other is posted here. In the two I have made, and the first just holding a special place in my heart I for sure think this is the nicer of the two. I have also said before that I can not draw a stick man correctly but this pattern , along with the other one is a little bit of bits and pieces of others patterns and pictures I have seen. Therefore I don't feel terribly guilty saying that it is NOT from someone else's pattern, but perhaps the spirit is.

 

This one was made with almost all hard woods, there's Walnut, Black Walnut, Maple, Red Maple, there's also some Poplar, and Cedar along Redwood, and some good old fashioned mystery wood!

I was really thrilled that this did not break via the United States Postal Service. Of course I also had enough bubble wrap around it to float Texas. LOL!!!

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/11974

Scrolled Dinosaurs

12/06/2008

I have been in southern Ca. visiting since the 1st of December and I will be going home on Monday December 8th.  While here I visited a more than dear friend of mine. I had made her this dinasaur picture for her grandson awhile back and was always bummed I never got a picture of it. It came from the same piece of pine that I used on another project Clash of the Titans that was rescued immediatally prior to getting chucked into the wood stove. A last minute find, and I do mean last minute I was able to salvage 4 pieces out of a round that had just been mauled and split. Running it through the planer and attempting to sand it. Never really managing the sanding part on this or "Clash of the Titans" it made no never mind, to her or to me. It just had so much of a story behind it!

The back of this is also the same stuff I used on my "Clash of the Titans" A tree that can be found around here in Orange County, Ca. who's nick name is a paper tree. This paper bark peels right off the tree and is the trippiest stuff I have ever seen. I love it, I love what it does for these sorts of projects and I really hope I  get the chance while down here to get some more.

When you touch it , it falls apart in your hands like the wings of a butterfly. That is the best way I can describe it!

I found  this patern in with a introductory package of patterns when I first started receiving the magazine Creative Wood works and Crafts. My favorite mag for patterns!