Almost there

[TexasSteve]

Well. As anyone that has read my posts know, I am new to carving (about three months) but as soon as my family found out I was carving, everyone wanted an ornament. Tall order for a newby, but I am almost there. I have carved 12 ornaments so far, I have 4 more to go and some painting to do still. Below is a group shot of what i have carved so far. I also carved a Christmas Armadillo you may have seen in another post.

My very first ornament was the squirrel. I think my favorites are the Squirrel and the Snowman with the broom. The little snowman down front and the Santa next to it are going to be broaches for my Mother and my Mother In Law. The penguin was fun to carve as well. My Santa faces are getting better, by next year I hope to carve some full figure Santa's. The golf ball is my second attempt, hard to tell, but he is much better than my first.

Comments always welcome. I will post another picture when I am done painting all of them. Merry Christmas to all.

Steve

[suzy]

Great looking carvings.

[AL...]

They realy are fantastic Steve.
Its real addictive init? lol
Im a new carver too only started about 3 or so months ago But everyone here wants me to carve them spoons and salt bowls (Go figure)
Anyway keep up the great work mate
Cheers
AL

[DanJohnson]

They all look good. Welcome to the Christmas rush.

[Soggy]

Steve; for someone who has only been carving for such a short time your Santas are excellent. Your friends and family will really enjoy those gifts. Just a warning; the better your carving becomes the greater the demand will be ............
Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas to you
Wayne

[Michael Short]

Steve they all look great.

[kdispoto]

Good job. From a fellow Santa Carver - be warned - the carving get easier each year; however, the gift list gets longer

[TexasSteve]

Thanks everyone. It really has been addictive. I seem to be able to sit out in the shop and carve for hours on end. As you can tell, painting is my least favorite, but, in the future I will paint as I go instead of saving them all up to paint at once.

My wife has already planned an Easter egg tree, so it looks like I will be starting to carve Easter eggs after Christmas is over.

[GinnytooU]

It is hard to believe you are a newbie. Don't get me wrong I believe you. But you are so good. I started carving in June of this year and you can run rings around me. Fantastic carvings. GinnytooU

[TexasSteve]

Thanks GinnytooU. I have always been able to draw a little (although not real well) and woodworking has been in me for the past 20 years or so. I used to build small log furniture, like end tables or chess boards or stools. I bet I have watched 100s of hours of Youtube videos and read a lot of books even before I carved my first piece of wood. the 3 months is just since I bought tools and started carving on wood. I would not call me good yet though. Maybe good for 3 months, but even that is a stretch.