Well here is my second book, "Carving a HatMan". I used a weeping willow branch for this one, but any tree with branches (LOL) could be used to create the hat peak. The inspiration for this carving was from a ceramic Santa Clause that my wife puts out every year on the fireplace mantle. His beard just sort of hung over the edge of the shelf. I found that Weeping Willow carves just as easy as Basswood and in my area is more plentiful than any other species. In this book I take the student from harvesting the HatMan blanks through a finished shelf hanger with big bushy mustash. The gallery is loaded with pleanty of examples and should be a great resource for anyone that loves to carve.

You can have a signed copy with free shipping to the lower 48 states for only $14.95. You can become a dealer by ordering only 6 copies, mix or match with any of my other books. Send me an email if interested.

Okay here is look at my first book. It's been a couple of years since I've written "Carving a Closet Buddy", but it's getting a little more popular all the time. I first got the idea of writing this book when my wife purchased some aromatic red cedar blocks to put in her wool sweater box. I thought why not write a book on how to carve this type of wood. I also wanted to keep all the steps simple but detailed enough so that a beginner could easily finish the project. I tried to give each character a slightly angry look so that if the cedar smell didn't chase away the moths, the facial expression would. LOL Being sort of a self starter, I took all the photos myself with a time delayed digital camera. I did all the publishing using MS Word, and contracted a local print shop do all the printing. I felt this would be the best way to control the stock inventory and would keep the book from prematurely going out of print. (Plus I saved a bundle on a third party publisher costs and control all the rights). Check out further posts for my other books.

Anyone can have a signed copy with free shipping to the lower 48 states for only $12.95. You can become a dealer by ordering only 6 copies, mix or match with any of my other books. Send me an email if interested.

Springtime

Now that spring is here (sort of), it's now time to get out in the woods and harvest some walking sticks. If you want to easily peel the bark off of maple and the like, this is the best time to do it. The sap is flowing and the bark will peel without any damage to the stick underneath. On the other hand if you want to keep the bark on don't cut them yet. If you do, as they dry the bark will not stay attached and you will end up with a bark tube. LOL