[Coffeeman]

Mark, Excellent job on everything...the carving, your step-by-step, the picture quality, etc., thanks so much, you bet I'm going to give it a try too, never did this style of eye but am giving it a shot. Again, thanks. Bill

[squbrigg]

Well done Mark! And thank you for taking all the time and effort to lay this out so nicely for us. Your work is a real inspiration to us, to me for sure, and I learn so much from your work. By following your how to's, my own carving is developing in areas I never would have attempted before, and for that I thank you.

I also would like to, once again, thank BobD and the good folks at WCI for their efforts in encouraging and furthering the art of wood carving, through the venue of this message board. Well done folks and please, keep up the good work. Your efforts and proactive approach to the carving community, by bringing great carvers, like Mark, Susan Irish, Lori Corbett, Mark Yundt, Fred Zavadil, Jeff Wardwell and so many others, together with new comers to the craft/art, goes above and beyond the call of duty. Your and their willingness to offer encouragement, experience and their valuable time, in helping the struggling carvers, makes a big difference to one and all.

Bob

[Thomp]

coming in here this late to post,

i Echo all that has been written, especially what bob has posted before me,

I cant think of anything else to say except DON'T STOP NOW! you got me waiting for the other shoe to fall!

I'm captivated with this feller, although my mistakes and my different tool set is making some changes apparent, i attached my results below..

thank you mark. this is like a 50 year shot of chisel experience all at once, and then some of the techniques wouldn't be discovered by me on my own..

[Mottles]

Hey Thomp, your elf looks great, I'm looking forward to trying my hand at this one too in 2008. Marks, instruction is excellent and understandable to both beginner and entermediate. I love the ears and you certainly made them look terrific. I haven't carved ears yet so look forward to creating those pointy elf ears. Mark certainly makes them look do-able.
Kathy

[Thomp]

Kathy,

i wont lie, its on the edge of out of my comfort zone using tools in un experianced methods, but its sure fun,
you build each step with the next one,
its still a little scary to stop and look at whats ahead in the tutorial, but its step by step. and going fine
my ears got a little thin i was worried in a couple places...but there still not finished as i want them,

i got the bug see attachment

[D'Marie]

H~e~l~p... Is there a 'best' way to save these mini-tutorials.... this brain doesn't record as well as it used to! Thanks for sharing! I'm a newbie at this, but this looks fun to try! D'

[Dan S]

I saved the photos in a Word doccument.
Dan

[Merle Rice]

Mark, A small question. On laying out the Blank, the dimentions, 4 1/2" to the bottom of nose and 3 1/2" to bottom of hat, are these correct ? That only leaves 1.0" for the eyes and nose. I tried but there was not enough room. I moved the lower part of hat up to match one of the pictures. Excellant Tutorial, looking forward to getting your DVD. Merle

[Mark Gargac]

Hi Merle, Sorry I hav'nt been able to get back to you sooner. My PC is down and I 'm working from a ancient laptop. I just measured the Elf ornament and it's 1-inch from the bottom of the hat to the bottom of the nose. Measuring from the bottom of the nose, to a horizontal plane for the center of the eyes, the. measurement is, 3/4 of a inch. As I'm sure you know, these measurments are all just guide lines. I started carving another Elf ornament this afternoon from a identical blank. He dos'nt have any hair on the top of his head, he has a bicycle mustache, and his beard is almost 5-inches long. The measurments on this guy are totaly different from the other ornament.

BTW, I seen your Elf ornament carving, He's fantastic! Your not having any problems with this carving, but for the record, thought I'd answer your question anyways.

[Merle Rice]

Hi Thomp,
It looks like you got the handle on the Elf. He is looking very good. Looking forward to seeing him finished. Merle