Tuesday, May 31, 2016

My Journey As A Creative Designer - Woodworking and Beyond #1738: Creating for Relaxation

One of the most difficult things that I find about owning your own business is finding the “off switch.”  As someone who has been dedicated to creating and art for over 20 years now, working on art of business related things has not only become a habit, but also a lifestyle. 



Many times my partner Keith mentions to me that my ‘relaxing’ (off) days look a lot like my 'working’ days, as it seems that I am always in the process of making soemthing in some shape or form – be it drawing, painting, woodworking or fiber and needlework. To the untrained eye, it may appear that work time is the same as play time, but there are subtle differences that only other artists and designers can see. It is hard to explain sometimes. 



I always say how fortunate I am to be doing something that I love. I don’t think that a day goes by when I am not grateful for the path my life has taken. It hasn’t come on its’ own, but with many years of work and like anyone who aspires to a particular goal, there have been some bumps along the way.



I don’t for one second think that I have reached my destination. To me, that would mean the journey is at an end and there is nothing left to explore or learn. I am one who considers my entire life a journey, and I will not complete it until I take my last breath. Otherwise, what is the point? 



There is a difference between creating for 'work’ and creating for ones’ self. When I create for my job, I need to consider several things and ask myself many different questions… 



Will others like this? Will it appeal to a broad audience?



Can this design be made into an understandable 'pattern’ that others can easily follow?



Will I be able to market the pieces/kits to make this project and be able to turn a profit?



All these factors are important to anyone who plans on creating as a living. Although as artists and designers we don’t like to think of them, without doing so would probably mean that our business would not survive. 



I am not alone in thinking that sometimes this is the least “fun” part of the process. These nagging questions are always hanging overhead and while most of us enjoy just about any type of creating, we need to consider these questions very carefully in order to keep our business healthy and growing. It is just part of the business plan and necessary to survive as a designer. 



As a result, there are times when we feel additional pressure that can sometimes stifle the flow of our creativity. I read about it often. We all get in a 'rut’ and go through dry periods when we are not fond of anything we do. It becomes a bit overwhelming when we have the pressure to produce put on us (or we have put on ourselves). Some artists work better with that and some do not. I think it is something that is very personal and varies in degree from designer to designer. No two are exactly the same. 



For myself, I work well with deadlines. I find that having a set 'end date’ as a guide is not only welcome, but also necessary for me to be my most productive. I am not a fan of vagueness, and find that when someone gives me the freedom to do something 'whenever I have time’ to do it, it usually never gets done. Truth being told, I don’t remember the last time I had what others call 'spare time’ or nothing to do. But that is a good thing for someone like me. Isn’t it? 



I have been designing for over 20 years now. As I think back to when I started, I recall some of the ideas that I had in my mind as to how to create a somewhat successful business. Over the years, I have tested many ideas and found that some of them work (for me) and some simply do not. I think that in most cases, “experience” is our greatest teacher and it takes many trials and failures to sift through and find what work for each of us. It is a continual learning process.



So back to the subject at hand – “relaxing”.



One of my favorite ways to relax is to work on creating others’ designs. Be it painting, woodworking or needlework, it is like therapy for me to create a project without having to “think” too much. I know that most of you will understand that, as most of  you who 'craft’ do so in your own leisure time and find it pleasurable to unwind by creating. I am no different, even though I create for a living. 



The key to this is to find decent, no stress instructions that allow you to fully enjoy the process without pressure or anxiety. I find that as an added benefit, by doing this I am also honing my own teaching skills and making myself a better pattern maker – no matter what the media. It is a win/win all around. 



One of my favorite things to do is to embroider. I love the convenience of picking up the piece and not having to worry about set-up or spilling or noisy tools running or anything like that. I can curl up on the couch at the end of the day and stitch for five minutes or five hours without much thought. When I am tired, I simply put the thread back into a box and I am done. There is something simple and wonderful about it. (For me, anyway)  I find when I am stressed or anxious or befuddled by too many thoughts, it is the perfect way for me to calm down and relax. 



I have shown my pieces before in my blog here and have had a great deal of encouragement from you all. I have enjoyed creating designs from Di van Kiekerk and love her easy-to-follow instructions. She is a wonderful teacher and is now retiring. While I will miss her posts tremendously, I am grateful that I have purchased several of her kits and will still follow her through her books and videos. 



I have currently been working on my second large sampler piece that she has created in a kit. This one is from the book “Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork”. I have shown the previous panels and in the past week or so I have finished up panels four and five and I thought you may want to see the result. 



Here is the finished panel 4:



In creating it, I learned several new stitches, including the cast-on stitch for the hollyhocks (the red flowers) and the ribbon stitch for the blue delphiniums. They were so much fun and  came out OK.  



The ground flowers were easy and I was pleased with them as well:



And the tiny ladybug was stitched in single stranded silk, as the one before:



Overall I am pleased. The beautiful textures and depths of the flowers is really pretty in person:



Panel five went much quicker than anticipated. 



The lovely, soft  yellow irises were not as difficult as I had anticipated, and because of the ribbon, went quickly. I think it took longer to create the pretty stems than the flowers themselves. 



I loved doing the wrapped wire stems though, using (again) a single strand of silk thread. The tiny thread really adds beautiful detail to the piece and is fun and relaxing for me.



The ground cover on this panel introduced two new stitches for me:



The pinkish roses were done in a stitch called “French knot roses” and I found they were much easier than I thought they would be to make look nice. I could do an entire panel of them!  The peachy roases were done in a stitch called “spider’s web roses” and they also came out beautiful. The forget-me-nots were done in a ribbon stitch, as were the leaves and I decided to add glass bead centers to them instead of  French knots. (I am always a rebel – adding my own ideas to what I make).  



Overall, this also made a beautiful and textured panel:



On to panel six … 



I hope you enjoyed today’s post. I am currently doing the final touches on my own simple embroidery kits that I am creating. I have all the supplies necessary to start selling the kits now and I  only need to complete the pattern packet. As with all of my patterns, I will have lots of color photos and clear instructions. My goal is to engage even beginners and offer a fun and relaxing experience for them as well as seasoned stitchers. 



Today I will be working on this pattern as well as the woodworking patterns that I featured yesterday. I have orders to cut as well, so it will be a busy day. Thank you to all who have encouraged me in these many directions. I think it makes my life happy and full. I love sharing my creative process with you all. 



Whether you create as a job or create as a relaxation, I hope you all find enjoyment in what you do. For myself, 'making things’ is as much a part of life as breathing, and I couldn’t imagine my life without it. 



I hope you have a wonderful and creative day! :) 








via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/145206170304

Monday, May 30, 2016

My Journey As A Creative Designer - Woodworking and Beyond #1737: A New Series of Designs - Almost Ready!

It seems like I haven’t blogged forever. Even though I have only missed for a week, it feels like much more time has passed than that. It has been over six years since I began posting nearly every day, and breaking away from that routine has been difficult, but I feel for now it is necessary. 



We are going though many changes at this time. Keith and I have made the decision to move into a larger place and there is much preparation that needs to be done to make our move go smoothly. For the past seven years, we have run our business our of a small, one bedroom apartment. We were fortunate to have some closet space, but in order to do wood cutting or other types of project work, we needed to clean off all the counters and set up our ‘shop’ in the kitchen/living area. 



We made it work, but as our business continues to grow and as I spread my wings in several directions and we both become even busier, we realize that the time spent setting up and cleaning afterword for each of our various tasks is taking valuable time away from our creative process. It is just time to move on. 



We found a nice, large home for rent just down the block. I felt this was ideal because I love living near the river. The 'neighborhood’ here is filled with trees and large properties that span into the forested areas around us and offer a setting that is peaceful, beautiful and inspirational. I am so happy we will still have that. 



The people who own the house are wonderful as well. They are long time family friends of Keith’s family, which means there is some history there and mutual trust. Upon meeting them several months ago, I immediately felt that things were 'right’ between us and I think we all look forward to a wonderful and long relationship. They have purchased a home about 2 hours drive away, but they want to keep this home in the family. They entrust us with their history and the roots in caring for thier home while we are there, and we like the long term relationship that they proposed. It is a perfect match. 



But as the time is coming to make the actual move, much preparation needs to be done. Keith and I are having a grand time planning our living and work spaces. Both of us love being organized and since we will have probably four times the room as we have now, we are both thrilled and excited to enter this new venture. I certainly will be blogging about it in the future, as we each are developing our own personal work spaces and studios/shops in which we will spend our time. 



For myself – I will have a large room to call a studio of my own. I already have purchased many of the furniture and storage items that will be in it and I can’t wait to see it all come together. It will be bright, efficient and beautiful all at once, and I hope to create some of my best work yet in such a wonderful environment. To say I am beyond excited is truly an understatement. 



But for now, we are in the planning/shopping stage, which may not be so interesting. We look to be fully moved in by the first of July, and the month ahead will certainly be busy.  I am not sure how much I will post between then and now, as I am trying to eek in some 'real work’ in between the planning and shopping and organizing and preparing everything here for the move. The days are very full, but I am afraid I have little to show for it in the line of design work. 



I DO have some new things planned though, and I will be working on them as much as I am able. I am nearly ready to unveil this next series of scroll saw patterns, and I should have the first ones up within the next week. Here is a quick peek at what I am working on … 



I am calling this series “Sheila Landry Designs Elements” and it will consist of separate components which will be presented in several different ways in each pattern so that my customers can use them as they see fit.  What you are seeing in the photo are part of what is available from the first TWO patterns. The robins all come in one pattern and the flowers all come in another. Each pattern packet will have four separate views of a certain subject (i.e. “robin” or “crocus”) presented as both overlay pieces or scrolled right into the background, and they will fit convienently into four shaped frames. The frames will also come in a single packet, with a circle, oval, square and rectangle. What you are seeing here is the “basic” frame set. More elaborate frames will follow. 



The idea of this series is that any of the components from the SLDE groupings will be able to be mixed and matched to work together. You can cut the pieces as overlays or inlays. You can leave them natural or tint them with paint if you like. You can use them not only in the frames, but on other plaques, box lids, etc. as you needs require. They are really something that allows you to customize and design their own unique projects, using the elements provided. 



I got the idea to do this type of series because so many come to us with special requests. In trying to decide what to create next, I had trouble figuring what to do first. Should I do a robin with a crocus? Or a hummingbird with a fuschia?  Or a robin with a daisy? What shape should I make them? Should I make a box or a napkin holder or a plaque?  It is so hard to figure sometimes what people will want. This allows the customer to fine tune the designs to their own desires and that of their own customers (for those who create things to sell.) 



I am still in the process of creating the general idea booklet that will accompany this series of designs. In it I will offer basic instructions and suggestions as to how they can be used. I hope this will only be the beginning for most of my customers and they will take these elements and run with them to create their own unique projects. I think it will be lots of fun. 



As with anything new, it is taking a little time to get things launched in the right direction. But after spending the weekend cutting and preparing these first few designs, I think I am on the right track. I think I have a winner here and I can see so many wonderful subject matters that will work well with this concept (hummingbirds, horses, different flowers and backgrounds and even different frame shapes and designs to name a few …)  I think it will be a wonderful new adventure. 



So I ask that you bear with me over the next few weeks. In addition to these designs, I have some other projects that I am developing both with other artists and for myself. while my posts here may be spotty over the next few weeks, I hope to come and blog when I have something substantial to show you, and as I get settled in my new home, I certainly will get back in the habit of blogging on a daily basis. 



I hope you like this idea and I would love to hear your thoughts on it. I am making lists of patterns to follow in this series and I can see being busy for a long, long time. 



I hope you come along for the ride! :)  



Happy Monday to you all! 



via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/145152186539

Sunday, May 29, 2016

There are loads of h

There are loads of helpful ideas regarding your wood working undertakings found at www.woodesigner.net

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/145104299594

Saturday, May 28, 2016

A Ming-Inspired Cabinet (58)

The upper compartment of these cabinets are guarded by a pair of sliding doors. These doors will have bubinga frames, shedua back panels, and a special type of latticework in the Matsu-kawa-bishi pattern.

Matsu-kawa is pine bark, and hishi/~bishi means diamond. It’s a pattern thought to resemble a chunk of pine bark, and is composed of three overlapping diamonds, or lozenges if you prefer, one large and two small:


If the form can be tiled over a larger area, thereby a pattern such as this can be obtained:


There are countless variations on the theme.

Matsu-kawa-bishi  is a popular design motif, seen in many Japanese arts and crafts, including textiles, pottery, and even as an architectural roof tile ornament. Here it is incorporated into a tsuba:


This pattern is infrequently used for shōji lattice (kumiko) as well, and it was seeing a few examples of screen doors with this pattern that led to my interest in making it a part of this cabinet project.

Just drawing out the pattern of sloping zig-zag kumiko was challenging enough, and making the pieces and cutting the joinery has also been keeping me quite preoccupied of late.

Here’s how the upper sliding doors are intended to look once complete:



Making slender sticks with a zig-zagged form, if you want the parts to be predictably uniform - which certainly facilitates the joinery work - will require jigging and fixturing whether working with hand or power tools. In my case, I have that Zimmermann pattern making mill, and that was the go-to choice. If I didn’t have the mill, I would have found another way, but, well, I’m glad I have the mill!

Once I had the design work complete to the required level of detail, I jointed, re-sawed, planed and dimensioned some blanks about 3" thick and 8" wide. These were then processed on the mill into boards which had a staircase-like form on two sides.

Here, I’m cleaning up milling marks on the completed blank:


Notice that the blank sits atop a MDF support jig which was also cut so as to mirror the stepped pattern. This jig provided support and positioning when milling the backside of the blanks.

I later re-sawed those stepped blanks into oversized zig-zagged-form strips, and then planed these strips, the kumiko, to size.

Just getting to the point of having the kumiko in hand and ready to join required many days of standing in front of the mill, moving the tables back and forth, in and out. During that process the mill went down for a day when one of the gib bars self-tightened slightly and make the y-travel extremely tight after hundreds of movements. At first I though that the lead screw’s bronze threaded nuts had gotten choked with dust, however I later determined that the gib had moved. A day was lost as a result, the mill partially disassembled and reassembled, and some hours of sleep were lost too! I do know the mill better as a result.

With the FZ-5V back up and running, I set to work preparing a fixture for cutting lap joints. This is where a pattern mill with a large rotary table really comes in handy.

Here’s the first cut completed:


And then the other is done similarly:


There was a fair amount of head-scratching, calculator work, and pre-planning which went into those two zig-zagged cuts. They must cross each other in the dead center of the rotary table. It took me three tries to get it right.

Here’s (most of) the kumiko after finish planing:


Another view - I feel the mill gave me excellent results in terms of repeatability, as these alignments show:


Packing the kumiko together like that would make for an interesting pattern to use in other areas perhaps. Another time.

I had about 6~8 sticks which came out bowed after resawing, however a few of them were usable when cut into shorter segments.

Making minor thickness adjustments to the ‘steps’ was accomplished by plane, card scraper, and a small hardwood block with affixed #220 sandpaper:


On the mill table, I prepared some cross-wise slots for the purposed of indexing. In the next photo I’m milling half laps in one of the kumiko:


These cuts were made in a series of half a dozen steps to preclude blow out. All positioning was made using the DRO.

Proof of concept was attained a short while later:


Toward the later part of the afternoon, a pile of parts was steadily mounting:


There are 72 sticks altogether, and 240 half laps to cut. It’s very repetitive work, but one has to pay attention at each and every step so as to get good results and not to mess up any parts, so it is mentally tiring. 'Auto pilot’ doesn’t help much.

Another stick, another round of laps:


The rotary table’s vernier scale allows precision to 0.25˚, which helped me feel confident when setting table position to the required 21.79˚ angulation. I’m milling the laps which slope one direction first, and then will rotate to the table to complete all the laps which slope the other way.

I’m thinking that another full day in the shop should see me through the rest of the half laps. Hah - nothing like a little optimism! After that, there are joints at the perimeter of the lattice panel to cut, and some small tenons to be formed so the lattice can be connected to the surrounding frame. These matsukawabishi pattern lattice doors are one of the points of focus in the overall design, a pleasant surprise to discover (I hope) when opening the cabinet, and I am striving, as always, for clean execution and high precision in my work. So far so good, and more than a week so far has been soaked up attending to my new second wife, Ms. Zimmerman.

All for this time-  thanks for visiting the Carpentry Way.

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/145050797149

Friday, May 27, 2016

A Ming-Inspired Cabinet (57)

This is turning into a fairly long build thread it seems. This post has sat on blogger for a couple of weeks - I forgot to post it! Whoops!

Recent work on the shedua drawer fronts. After trimming them to about .06" over finished height, the parts were cross cut close to the target. Then, to deal with reducing thickness, the mill was the only option given the propensity of curly shedua to tear out by most other approaches:


An even amount was decked off of both faces, and in the process the board was made dead flat:


I’ve heard that super surfacers don’t work on hard woods:


Make love not war - - make chips not dust:


The eighteen drawer fronts are now processed close to final dimensions in thickness, width, and length:


A feast of VG material:


these will be set aside and I’ll start work on some latticed doors next.

Thanks for visiting the Carpentry Way - comments always welcome.

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/145027359429

Monday, May 23, 2016

Portable Multipurpos

Portable Multipurpose Table

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144810100339

How to make a wooden

How to make a wooden toy Winchester rifle

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144810099974

Saturday, May 21, 2016

wood carved

wood carved

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144706974474

My Journey As A Creative Designer - Woodworking and Beyond #1736: Update and Discount Coupon

I am going to keep this post quick today, as I have some projects that I want to work on this weekend, but I did want to mention to you all that we once again updated the website and we are also having a sale coupon for those of us who subscribe to our Mailing List. I realize that I am not the best sales person in the world, but I thought that I would let you all know because there are so many of you that are new to our site and I want to give everyone a fair shot at the discount.  



In our newsletter, we have a coupon code that will allow you all 15% off of your order. That includes everything you order from the site – including custom patterns and wood pieces. We don’t do this too often, because we try to give the best prices we can to begin with, but we do like to ‘treat’ our customers to something extra special every now and then and we feel that since they took the time to sign up for our bi-monthly newsletter, we want to give them access to something a little special. We hope you appreciate it. 



You can sign up at the link above and I will manually send you out a copy of the newsletter with the code in it. It may take an hour or so because I am doing it manually, but I will do it as soon as I see it. The coupon is only good for a limited time (probably until the next newsletter is sent) so it is a good time to stock up on the things you want. I hope you enjoy it. 



While you are visiting, you can see all the new things we have available, like this fun plaque pattern from Keith (SLDK669 - Camping Sectional Plaque pattern):



We also have a whole set of new patterns on sale on our Pattern Specials page. This month’s sale is called “Not Moosing Around” and all of our Moose themed patterns are discounted. (You can get the 15% discount IN ADDITION to the already discounted price! It makes them a pretty good value.)



I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and decide to stop by. I will be busy working in several different directions and I hope to have some new things up on the site soon. In the mean time, have a great weekend and enjoy the spring. 



Happy Saturday to you all!  



via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144699285689

Friday, May 20, 2016

When you really are

When you really are hunting for great hints about working with wood, then www.woodesigner.net can help you!

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144674317579

In this post I'll go

In this post I’ll go over how I put a golf ball in a block of wood. This simple and fun woodworking project can be made quickly and cheaply.

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144674317364

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Store and organize e

Store and organize eighteen pairs of shoes in about the same amount of floor space needed for one pair. Project holds all shoe sizes from children to adult. Revolves on a Lazy Susan bearing so you can…

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144612883819

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

My Journey As A Creative Designer - Woodworking and Beyond #1735: Choosing a Focus

As I sit here this morning, I can’t help but feel content and happy about my life. Certainly things are not ‘perfect’ all the time – that would be unnatural – but when I look at things overall, the important things are going well, and I can hardly complain about trivial things that don’t really matter in the big picture of my life.  My loved ones are all healthy, (Both those with and without tails!) our business is doing well enough to keep it going, and we are looking forward to moving to a beautiful new (to us) home in a few weeks where we can spread our wings and really fly. Yes! There is much to be grateful for in life!



That doesn’t mean that bad or irritating things don’t happen. I have my low days like anyone. I am still waiting (again!) for my car to be finished so I can drive again. (Long, long story – but nothing that I want to waste cyber-space in sharing. It wouldn’t do any good except to focus on the negative, and I refuse to do that.) I experience little 'hiccups’ in my days like everyone else. I just choose to refocus my thoughts on the positive things in my life, and the things that I can control instead of what I cannot. There are many more good things in life than bad, and you would all be amazed at how good it makes you feel to spend your time on those positive things and people instead of negative things and people that try to bring you down. It is like a tonic. 



With that said, I have some wonderful and positive things to share with you today… 



Being an artist that is active in social media, I am very fortunate to be in touch with many, many wonderful and creative people. Not only am I friends with many artists that I have immense respect for, but also with people who appreciate art and creativity and the process of making our world a bit more beautiful, one creation at a time. It is truly a joy and pleasure to follow these creative souls and not only am I in awe of their work, but I am also inspired by it. 



Lisa Halton Stucky is one of those people. I have been friends with her over at Facebook for a couple of year now. We “met” through some other social groups of artists and from the moment I saw her work, I absolutely loved it. (You can visit and “like” her Facebook page, Winding River Artworks here: https://www.facebook.com/Winding-River-Artworks-444505245737168/?pnref=lhc  



Lisa is a fabulous artist, and usually when she shows what she is working on, she has photos of a tabled FILLED with amazing pieces. I can’t believe that one person can be so prolific and produce the quality of work that she does at such an amazing rate! I don’t believe she uses patterns, and no two pieces are ever alike. It is the kind of art that I love, as it is filled with the personality and love of the creator. 



When Lisa posts her pieces, they usually sell out within minutes. (And no wonder!) I had tried for quite a while to acquire something that she had created, but it always seemed that they were scooped up too quickly by others. Last autumn I got lucky though, and I was able to purchase a couple of beautiful candle holders for Halloween that Lisa made. I love autumn and Halloween and the colors and beautiful primative designs she made were just beautiful. I was so thrilled that I was able to squeak in and order these lovely pieces. It made my day! 



I had told Lisa that there was no rush in sending them, as I knew how busy she was and it was close to the end of the season anyway. Time passed and I actually forgot about them with all the other things that were going on in my life. I didn’t even think of them. 



Then one day a week or so ago, I received a message from Lisa with an apology. She had put the candle holders aside and had recently 'found’ them, realizing that she never sent them off. She was mortified, but I assured her that all was fine. We are both busy every day and sometimes life gets in the way. They would have been packed away anyway.  She immediately sent them to me and yesterday when I got to the post office, there was a large box awaiting me. I LOVE getting things in the mail, and I was so anxious to see them in person. Not only did she send me the two candle holders, but also some sweet 'extras’ including Lemonhead candies (which I love and can’t find here in Canada) and some extra ornaments. Look at how amazing they are!



I am SO excited about them! Here is a close up of the painting:



The ornaments are equally lovely and made from gourds!



Of course, there is a kitty on a pumpkin:



And a ghost …



and what I will call a “Creature of the Night.”



Aren’t they all FABULOUS?!?



I can’t imagine the hours of work each one took! Won’t they look amazing in my new place, too?? I am already planning how I am going to decorate!  



Oh, the world can be a fun place, ladies and gentlemen! As with so many things, our lives are what we make them. While you can always find something to gripe about, the same is true in that there is always something that we can be grateful for. It depends on which way we want to look at things and where we want to spend our time. 



People often ask how I stay so positive and happy all the time. If I were to give advice on to be happier, I would say that the main thing that I do is to focus on good and happy things. Even if you don’t feel that you make a difference, you need to believe that you can. My goal for a long time has been to make at least one person smile or feel better about something each day. Just one. It doesn’t mean giving false compliments or being fake, it means looking for the good and positive in people and situations and focusing on that and pointing it out where someone may not remember it is there. Doing a kindness or showing support for others isn’t difficult to do. It costs nothing to show kindness and compassion towards those around us. While it may seem small to you, it can mean the world to others. And that is how we can change our world and life one little step at a time. 



We never know what hardships people are going through. My old analogy of people being like icebergs still holds here. We only see the small part that they allow us to see and the majority of their makeup is hidden. We don’t know what battles they are fighting and what pain they may be experiencing. While it doesn’t allow them to be mean or cruel to others, I find that the best way to deal with those who are unkind is to walk away from them. We can’t 'fix’ the world, but we can support others in a positive way and allow them to find their own way. No one can do it for them. If they aren’t receptive to others, we can’t allow ourselves to be pulled into their despair. There are plenty of others who appreciate our love, kindness and support. 



I hope you enjoyed seeing Lisa’s beautiful work. I also hope you hop over to her page and show her some love. She is not only an amazing artist, but also a kind and loving friend. 



No wonder I am so happy. 



I wish you all a wonderful day today. I hope you find some wonderfully positive things to focus on and make you smile. I know I will. 



Happy Wednesday to you all!



via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144552678079

Monday, May 16, 2016

Not of Interest to the Unplugged Shop

A video I recently came across which may be of interest - indeed, I would think thought-provoking - to readers here. One would not normally associate CNC work to irregular timbers and forked branches, and yet:



It is intriguing to glimpse what is coming in terms of wood processing machinery and techniques, but sometimes I am taken unawares by what is here already.



via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144485047199

Stone Building - Scr

Stone Building - Scratch Building & Kitbashing

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144468998964

There are plenty of

There are plenty of beneficial ideas regarding your woodworking plans found at www.woodesigner.net

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144468998559

How to Wire a Lamp

How to Wire a Lamp

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144468997904

Lamp parts

Lamp parts

via Tumblr http://davidpires578.tumblr.com/post/144468998259