[jillsy]

Hey Everybody!

I'm so excited about carving again I can barely contain myself! Anyway, for the past 2 weeks, I've been working on a Mrs. Claus and have just posted pics in the Holiday Gallery.

This was my first attempt at attaching arms, rather than carving them out of the same block of wood. It took a whole year for me to get up the nerve to try it and I'm so glad I did (even though I found out later I did it wrong!!) What's most exciting to me is that I now see even more potential for my carvings.

Mrs. Claus is about 7 inches tall and carved from 3 inch Basswood. This wasn't easy on my wrists or fingers, but definitely gave me much more opportunities while carving her. For some reason, I just had it in my head from the start to give her a Bavarian/German look, while incorporating a whimsical Mrs. Claus. Hope you like her!

Jillsy

[susieq]

Jillsy,
She is wonderful, so warm and fuzzy like a sweet old grandma type should be....wonderful work, great face and terrific paint job!!!! Nobody would ever know you were worried about how she was going to turn out..... I knew you could do it! and those baked goodies are making me hungry just looking at them.

[DADDIO]

dang!!!!! when you came back you blew it out didn't you,that is super great work on the whole piece carving and the paint...oohh the paint you do such wonderful paint jobs,glad to have you carving again and that is a very nice return piece.

[Marci MN]

Jillsy, she is ADORABLE!! Its sooo good to see you back into carving again.

[jillsy]

THANK YOU!

Oh, I forgot to say, she's supposed to be holding "figgy pudding" in the other hand. Since I've never actually had figgy pudding, I just carved it from images I found on Google.

I don't know what was more fun, carving or painting her.

[gene messer]

Jillsy .. you can never keep a good carver down and you prove that ..

What a wonderful Mrs. Santa .. The carving is excellent .. but the painting and color scheme is fantastic ..

Anyone would be proud to own such a wonderful christmas piece as that ..

absolutely your style all the way ..

Thanks so much for coming back ...

Gene

[Mark N. Akers]

Great job on Mrs Clause,the painting is awesome also.

[Iowa Carver]

That is fantastic. Wondeful carving and painting. Her baked goods look good enough to eat!

Corey

[Claude]

Excellent work, Jillsy! The painting for the skirt is truly awesome!

Claude

[Tom H]

Jillsy, I can see why you're so excited. That's one nice carving. Great little face and the painting is fantastic. Thank you for getting back into the mix...

Tom H