One man's trash....

The first round of coasters are complete - they have been sanded, stamped, stained, and varnished.  There are ~35 of them.   I also carved two more stamps, a hawk and a tulle elk.  I had some trouble with the elk, one of his front legs looks a bit peg-like.  I'm considering cutting him down to just a bust.

While on a run I discovered a beautiful branch in someone's trash.  I believe it is Japanese cherry.  It's significantly heavier than the pine I've been using.  I'm looking forward to seeing how different it is to work with hardwood.  I think the cuts will be more difficult but cleaner which means a lot less sanding and a lot less clean-up.

Tulle Elk

(roller)Coaster

Animal coasters in progresThis whole coaster project is finally coming to fruition.  I began stamping the wood slices en masse today and am pretty pleased with the results.  The next step will be applying thin layers of polyurethane, and sanding with a fine grain paper in between coats.

In other news, I'm looking forward to receiving my copy of The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and On-Line.  Working on my coasters and researching vendors and artists for our wedding has given me a newfound appreciation of Etsy, blogs, and craft.  How great would it be to actually make some kind of income doing something I not only love but do anyway.  Today coasters...tomorrow the world!

Update from the Studio, February 2010 Edition

Coasters in Various States of ProgressA few weeks ago I was trolling Design Sponge and came across this DIY project that used cedar slices to create customized silhouettes, and I thought hey, those would make great coasters.... but where do I get the wood? Meanwhile, my month-old Christmas tree sat sagging in the corner and voila! - a project was born!

Using slices of the pine tree, a stamp carving kit, and various types of stain and polyurethane, I'm working on creating an army of coasters.

Army of CoastersThe first image to the left is a close up of one coaster pretty far along in the process.  The second photo is of the gathering army.

Ben

The next three images are paintings in progress.  The first two paintings were begun months ago but never taken much further than the inititial color blocking, so I'm re-working them, trying to bringing in more colors and depth. 

The last image is Kim.  I've addd a few more transparent layers of color but what it really needs is a few days of serious work because all of the transparent layers have caused it to lose some of it's structural believability.

Looking at these paintings makes me realize two things - 1. I need to work on a big painting in which the subject is not front row and center and 2. My next portrait cannot be of a person looking to their right.

Ariyele

Kim