I took a class at Mennonite Life, formerly the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, to create a copy of an historic folk art rabbit in a grain painted frame. Of course adding to Jolene’s rabbit collection was one motivation for taking the class. I was particularly enamored by the grain painting and can’t wait to do some to accompany projects in the print shop like the cover I made from the practice papers we did in the class for the ring notepad below..
The first project of the new year was accomplished due to unseasonably warm temperatures allowing not only work in the shop, but even outside on the picnic table. I had this pepper mill, and another for some time to turn a base for, but ran into problems with the blanks that I got for them. They were too small even though I bought them in a set to go with the grinders. Instead, I found this piece from the pine tree Ben planted as a seed in kindergarten a perfect match for the size needed.
This is an old photo project I did some years ago from a picture I took of purslane and manipulated into 24 posterized images in that many colors. It resides on an old photo frame where it fades slowly through the colors. Here it is a gif that cycles more quickly without fading due to limitations on the converter I was using.
On Saturday at the .918 meeting there was a demonstration on the Ludlow and we were each able to cast some lines of type for ourselves. I did some Dancing Rainbow Press type in Bodoni Bold.
Monti (with the help of Jolene and me) has published his first book about how he wants to go to school. Inspired by his Therapy visits to schools he wants to be a regular student and visits a friend’s classroom to prove he has what it takes.
Hardcover 8″x8″ books are available. Email jolene@randysbooks.com for details. They can be prepaid via PayPal. Books are produced through Shutterfly and we’re taking advantage of special offers to keep the price down and selling them for $20 plus postage with any amount over our cost going to benefit Spinone Health & Rescue.
You can watch a short video of the entire book below:
I made this great pencil case from a kit. Took a couple of hours to stitch it together by hand. I was impressed by the materials and instructions, a bit more refined than your typical boy scout leather kit that I may have done years ago. Kit is available here.
It’s been awhile since I turned pens, but there are loads of them in various stages of completion on my workbench. I finally found some time to complete a bunch of them. These are all a particular design meant to stand on a desk rather than fit in a pocket or bag. I still have a number of the unmade kits that will are probably next on the list to complete.
Or at least I’ve finished building it. I made this from a kit I bought at the Maine Prison Showroom in Thomaston, Maine on our last visit. All the parts are wooden and already cut and shaped. The two largest sails were already glued. It just took some painting and assembly. The hard part was the rigging. I was influenced to buy it because of the nice wooden box with a sliding lid that the kit came in.
Experimenting with some linoleum cuts, this groundhog track was pretty simple. It’s made of a soft e-z cut material and mounted on a wood block. It works well as a rubber stamp.
Cut this simple puzzle as a gift. Eliminated one of the cats in the pattern, which originally had another small cat within the one on the right. The one is was going to only has two cats, Waylon and Willie. I also added the tail to the mouse.