[Callynne]

Welcome, Nancy and Congratulations on your ribbon winnings! The judges knew what they were doing, he's absolutely adorable!! We look forward to seeing more of your work! Again, Welcome! Deborah

[Thor]

Excellent mouse! The paint is really good as well. You are obviously a born carver.
I look forward to seeing more of your work
Welcome.
Thor

[Big_Al]

Hi Nancy; Great carving. Carving since February - WOW. Can't wait to see your stuff a few years from now. It's great to see a new caricature carver like yourself. I teach, and have a tough time to get the students to leave in the knife marks ( I don't allow power or sandpaper) Try it sometime and maybe you'll like it. I am having a difficult time posting a picture on this site and would welcome some help. E mailing me direct would be fine. Thank you, Big Al

[JIM QUILICI]

lots of talent. I see why you won some ribbons, Good job.

Just Old Jim

[Komowkwa]

I am new here too. Just saying Hi.

[squbrigg]

Welcome aboard Komowkwa, as well. What kind of stuff do you do? This is a great place to chat carving, and a great bunch of folks here.

Bob

[Komowkwa]

I have been turning a long time and most of the carving has involved surface patterns and texturing. Lately, I am doing some low relief work and shaping using the lathe to prepare the initial form. I will get some photos showing the carving aspects of my work and try to post them.

[Nancy-ID]

Thanks everybody for the compliments on my mouse. I am pretty proud of it. I will post a photo of my WIP bat under that forum later today. You can get a good chuckle anyway. I have a problem trying to cut out the inital shapes so pretty much just start with a block of wood. I am never sure what to cut off when using the bandsaw and I get kind of nervous using it.

I have a question: those carving I see with the real fine branchs, flowers, grass, etc., is that stuff actually carved from wood or bought artifical plants??? If it is carved, is it re-enforced somehow? I would really like to know about this and I haven't any books on the subject. Is there one out there?

Welcome Komowkwa

[BobD]

There are a couple ways to deal with the grass, branches, etc.
The first is to use artificial grass or twigs, but that can sometimes look a little fake.

Some people carve them out of wood, but depending on grain patters, the pieces can be very fragile.

For twigs, some people bend wire into the shape they want for the twigs, cover it with epoxy and shape the epoxy to resemble the twig, branch or stem. A lot of people use thin copper or even paper to simulate grass, leaves, and even flower petals. In an upcoming issue, we have an article about how to make a "Fake" daisy using wire, wood and paper.

So it really depends on what you are trying to make <grin>

Bob Duncan
Wood Carving Illustrated

[AlArchie]

I've used thin brass sheet for water lily pads and flowers, soldered together on brass tubes and rods for stems,and fine brass wire for stamens. Then they can be either painted to look natural or treated with a verdigris chemical and then either lacquered or poly'd. Water plants really lend themselves to reproduction in brass. The brass is much more resiliant than wood of the same dimensions. I use .005 brass sheet, avalable from most hobby stores, as is the tiny brass tubes and rods, wires and solder.

Al