Valley Junction Farmer's Market - Let's Try That Again

We got rained out on the 30th, but I will give it another go at the Goodsmiths.com booth at the Valley Junction Farmer's Market on Thursday June 13th. Hope to see you there!

Also if you look to the right (and below), you'll see the new button to get to my Goodsmiths store. Father's day is right around the corner...

New Listings in Online Store & An Upcoming Show

I've added quite a few new items to my online store on Goodsmiths.com  (also some pics below) I'm getting more items in the store in anticipation of joining the Goodsmiths' staff and another artist at the Valley Junction Farmer's Market on May 30th from 4-8pm.

I was invited by Goodsmiths as part of their promotion of a new app, Swipe by Goodsmiths that links your sales at art and craft shows with your Goodsmith shop! I'm told the Android verion is coming soon. More info is available here. Can't wait to join them at the farmer's market and try out Swipe! Hope to see you all there!




Spalted Maple Bowl

 

Spalted Hackberry Bowl



Burr Oak Decorative Bowl



Natural Edge Butternut Bowl



What To Do With The Small Bits Of Wood...

Every woodworker struggles with saving or throwing out scraps of wood. Some say if it hasn't been used in a few months it's gone. Others (like me) hold on to even the smallest piece of wood if it has amazing character to it. I have boxes and boxes of bits of wood that are the size of a golf ball or even smaller. A few years ago I made some necklaces from some of it, but the boxes of bits continued to grow. I'm participating in Market Day next month on the 18th and I needed some smaller, lower priced items to go along with my bowls, vases, bottle stoppers, etc. What I came up with were earrings, necklaces, key chains, tops, buttons, fridge magnets and a few other items.

Below are a few pictures of some of them. Stop by my booth at Market Day inside of Gramcery Tap at 400 Walnut St. before or after you enjoy the Downtown Farmers Market on May 18th from 8am-1pm and you can see them for yourself!

Spalted Hackberry Form

I uncovered my last piece of spalted hackberry that my dad gave me a couple years back in KS recently. I wanted to do something a bit different with it and this sculptural form is the result. It stands almost 20" tall with the ebonized rough sawn oak base included. This lacquer finish came out fantastic and really gives the incredible spalted wood some great depth. (Best seen in person!)

To see this piece along with many others in person, head down to The Mansion at 2801 Ingersoll this Friday and Saturday and say hello while I conduct a woodturning demo. I will be turning bowls, vases, and many other unique forms right in front of the store. The Ingersoll Ave. sidewalk sale will also be going on so come shop, eat and drink all weekend long!

A Few New Bowls

My dad and I are sharing a booth at an art show on the 22nd so I needed to finish up a few more bowls for the show. I turned all 9 of these this past Saturday. The four on the left are bur oak and range in size from 5" to 10". The middle four are spalted hackberry and range in size from 6" to 13" and the thick one in the upper right is spalted maple which is about 11". I will be finishing the bases up tonight and getting some more oil put on them as well. All that's left to do for the show are some bottle stoppers and a few week pots.

Spalted Hackberry Hollow Form

One of the online forums I belong to is having a holiday exchange. I turned this spalted hackberry hollow form for it and it's now on the way to TN. It's about 7" in diameter and 4.5" tall. The spalting is beautiful and I left some worm tracks in it as well. While it was drying a small but long crack developed and I used some sawdust and CA glue to seal it up. Now I just have a few more small projects left to finish for the holidays!

More Bottle Stoppers

I was told that Ruth Niles had the best stainless steel bottle stoppers available by many woodturning friends, so my dad and I ordered some from her. (you can too, click here) Once they arrived I had to agree with everyone, the stoppers are machined perfectly, and they look great! I had prepared about 20 stoppers before they arrived and last night I assembled 10 of them with Ruth's stoppers. The 2 stoppers on the right of the photo were purchased from Woodsmith. They are good stoppers, but Ruth's are far superior as they are solid stainless and not plated like the others.These will be available at The Mansion in Des Moines.  Below is a pic of them all and some close ups.

Spalted Hackberry

Mullberry

Peach and Cherry

Spalted Maple

A Few Bottle Stoppers

First batch of bottle stoppers are done. They are made from spalted maple, oak, walnut, peach, spalted hackberry and osage orage (hedge). I will be getting some stainless steel stoppers very soon to add to the mix. These would make great holiday gifts...taking orders now!

More Spalted Hackberry!

I can't get enough of this hackberry. I finished these a couple of weeks ago, but never got around to posting them. The thicker one is 8" wide and 5" tall. The winged one is from what was left after cutting the blank for the thicker one. It is 12" at it's widest and just under 3" tall. Not sure why the bark held on, because it came off right away when roughing the thicker one. Finish is multiple coats of danish oil that was buffed. I've got lots more of this hackberry from my dad and can't wait to turn more of it!