[Callynne]

Jim, thank you for the overly generous compliment!! My husband keeps teasing me about the ribbons I won because Thursday afternoon, when we dropped my carvings off, I left the show thinking I didn't have a chance at winning anything! There were so many great pieces there already, that I really thought this might be the year I wouldn't win. I told all my kids the same thing, not to be surprised if I didn't win anything.

I felt the same way when I went to FolkWorks last November and saw all the terrific Santas everyone else had done. Nancy's Santas are unbelievable, the detailed painting and those beards!!! Teri Embrey's painting style is nothing short of awesome!!! Woody's Santa's expessions are delightful!! I could go on and on, so many wonderful carvers. I guess we never get over feeling we could do much, much better!!

Donna, I can't believe you lost my phone number (although I'm an expert at putting things up so I know where there are, then forgetting where I put them!!)! Bummer, I'm really disappointed we didn't get together!! How long till your next trip?!! And yes, you would have seen dust on my coffee table!! Callynne

[decoycarve]

Originally Posted by MelNM

You also know your a woodcarver when your wife buys bandage in bulk at Sams Club.

Mel

How about when you send your wife out to the shop to get the end of your thumb off your bandsaw table. If you ever cut cork decoy bodys out on a bandsaw watch out for big air bubbles in the cork.
Goody

[Ashbys]

Super Glue again?
And I really hope you didn't just do that !

[Callynne]

Goody, are you serious??!! I hope it wasn't that bad!! Callynne

[decoycarve]

Originally Posted by Callynne

Goody, are you serious??!! I hope it wasn't that bad!! Callynne

Well It kinda was that bad! I had an order for 150 cork decoy bodies and the company I was cutting them for was supplying the cork. This cork was 8" thick. It had an air bubble in it roughly the size of a football. You have to push pretty hard to get the cork thru the saw. When I hit the air buble that was inside the cork it shot forward and a 1/4 of my thumb was gone before I could pull back. This Happened during a snow storm on a Sunday night about 9:00. I got the bleeding stopped (no Ash I didn"t use superglue on this one) and Headed for Saint Agony Hospital. The Interns there at night didn't want to mess with it and sent me home at 2:00 Monday morning and to go to University Hand clinic at 8:00. When we got home I asked Anna to go out to the shop and get my glasses she came back in white as a ghost and said the end of your thumb is on the your bandsaw table. Well I went out and put the frozen end in a airbrush jar and took it with me to the clinic but they couldn't use it. You don't know how many times a day you bump your thumb untill something like this happens. I was back out in the shop cutting bodies the following week! I kept that block and made a decoy from it. I used to have a wooden thumb in its mouth and my wife hated it. One day I noticed the thumb wasnt in the ducks mouth and she said it got lost. I think it went in the garbage.
You Know your a carver when!!!
Goody
PS. Callynne Congrats on the Ribbons

[Irish]

I can appreciate that sense of humor! We have a friend with a similar story ... he's a butcher and does mainly deer meet from the fall hunt. For him it was an old shot or arrow head (not sure which) that caused him injury.

Susan

Oh ... You know your a woodcarver when your carving tools are bright and sharp but your kitchen paring knife is a dull as a screwdriver.

[Callynne]

Goody, I'm sorry it was 'so true'! I feel your pain though, less than two months into carving I took the side edge tip and the corner of my fingernail off my index finger, that took six weeks to heal! I knew I was a carver then because my only thought through that six weeks was, 'when can I carve again'! Believe me, when I did I had bought my carving glove and I always wear it! (I couldn't find the piece I cut off, I looked though, thought it would make an interesting momento! )

I love the signature on the bottom of the decoy (very nice decoy by the way, don't know if I'd say it was worth losing part of your thumb over, but it's a very, very nice carving!)!

Susan, did you know Pampered Chef sells knives in their own self sharpening holders?? I've stared replacing all my knives with them, not as razor sharp as my carving knives but then....who wants to spend time sharpening something they can't carve (wood) with?!! Callynne

P.S. Thanks for the congratulations, Goody!
P.P.S. Oh yes Goody, I bet that wooden thumb did get lost, probably the same place some of hubby's things seem to disappear too!

[Donna_T]

Hey Susan and Deborah,
What' s a kitchen knife.....? For that matter, what's a kitchen....? Unless you carve in it, what good is it? Oh...you mean we're still supposed to cook? I'd rather carve!
Donna T

PS Actually I know about Pampered Chef--and mine are still sharp and shiny and seldom used, especially in the summer.

[Ashbys]

You know your a woodcarver , when your new neighbors are putting up a house and while it is sitting in the frame you are studding the planks to see where to hide the woodspirit....
Ash

[Lightningbolt]

Ya Know Ya're A Woodcarver When ...

...I knew I was gonna like this woodcarving thing when someone actually offered me real money for my work. Yeah, I have always offered my blood, sweat, and tears (and a lot of ruined clothing) to protect a good piece of wood but something in me clicked louder than life when that first person offered to exchange real money for my woodcarvings.

Talent or not, at that precise point, I knew that I was gonna just have to learn whatever it took to produce some nice carvings. While money isn't necessarily the ultimate goal when it comes to my love of woodcarving, it sure provides an extra incentive to become better while helping to pay the bills!