Teacher Gifts: Round 1

Tuesday was the last day of preschool for Colton.  He was adorable in his end of the year program and actually participated on stage without picking his nose!  I call that a big win!

Colton was on the opposite side of the stage from where I sat.  No way to predict in what order they will stand on stage.  I was able to get a couple decent photos, that also showed off the awesome shirt that the teachers Made for each kid.  Hand print suns with everyone's names on their hand print.  Too cute!  The best photo came from the last song where the entire preschool was singing.  Thankfully that was right in front of where I was sitting.   Here is my cutie hamming it up!

As far as gifts go, Colton's lead teacher received this stained glass frog.

I chose a frog for her due to her entire classroom being decked out in frogs and the only thing she had hanging in her window throughout the year was children's artwork on occasion.  She loves it!

The assistant teacher had hinted a few times this year how much she loved the other teacher's pen.  (I made her one back when she taught Maben in art).  I had to make one just for her.

Her favorite color is purple, so it was easy to choose purple heart as the wooden portion and I paired it with a pen with some bling.  She loves it!

My heart couldn't be happier than to give two very unique gifts to two very deserving teachers and have them both be thrilled to receive them.  What a wonderful day.  So thankful that they provided a very wonderful first year of preschool for Colton.

Pens

I am in full swing of getting things done for the end of the year.  Colton's last day of preschool is next week (once teacher gifts are given, I can show them off here).  Thankfully Maben doesn't get out of school for a few more weeks, because I haven't even started on those gifts and I still have no idea what I will be doing for those ladies.  I am taking suggestions!!! 

I have also been getting some pens done, which I can show off.  The first one is a turquoise acrylic with black veins in it with a copper wallstreet II kit.  It's hard to tell it's copper, but in person...GORGEOUS!  I have always loved the turquoise and copper color combination.

This one is a pink acrylic camo on a bolt action bullet pen kit.  I love this one, too bad it's going to be given away.  :(  I guess I will just have to make myself one.

Bling Bling

My husband has a coworker that he wanted to thank.  He wanted to present her with a pen, but unfortunately his schedule didn't allow him the time to do it, so I gladly stepped in and turned the pen. 

A very girly pen. 

With Bling!

It's shiny, it sparkles, it's pink and it has rhinestones.  It's everything a girl could want, right?

I really wish these glitter pen blanks were easier to turn a lathe.  They have a tendency to chip and blow out.

If they were easier, I would definitely be carrying around one.  So far, they have been commissions and reserved for special people. 

I'm so incredibly happy that the recipient loves it.  There is nothing that makes me happier than knowing that someone loves something I can create.

Hail To The King Baby!

This weekend, the Alamo Drafthouse (by far the best place to see a movie ever) was celebrating Bruce Campbell Day with an autograph signing, photo op, Q&A session with Bruce Campbell and then showing Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness.  If you have no idea who Bruce Campbell is, you may know him as Sam Axe from Burn Notice.

The man is HILARIOUS!  I missed out on the autograph signing, but was there for the Photo Op, Q&A and Evil Dead.  I couldn't spend 12 hours there like my hubby because of the kids, but I truly enjoyed the time that I was there.

With the amount of weapons Bruce has wielded in the movies, I decided to make Bruce one of my 50 cal pens.  He signed my husband's book, "If Chins Could Kill," with it!  Then when the photo op came up I gave it to him.  Love the look on his face!  Bruce Campbell is now the proud owner of one of my pens!  Groovy! 

Bruce takes great photos!  He did something different in almost every photo.  I wonder what the people thought of the bunny ears they received from Bruce (that they were completely unaware of)?  Yeah he totally did that.

The actual pen that I gave Bruce.

The Q&A session was great.  Bruce is a great speaker and a great story teller.  By far my favorite story he told was about the fan he hated the most, the fan he just wanted to push in front of a bus.  Instead of actually doing it, he did it in a movie.  The other story (which I had heard before) was how he and Jeffery Donovan accidentally caught a tank on fire while visiting the soldiers in Iraq.  He also had a quick discussion with my hubby referring to my husband's tank as his own, since he is a tax payer.

It was a great night, a lot of fun and completely memorable.  My hubby is a huge Bruce Campbell fan and I have become an even bigger fan than I previously was.  It's great to see someone famous completely live up to and surpass your expectations!

Earth and Water

I actually named a pen.  I am calling it Earth and Water.  This pen about caused me to have a heart attack!  One of the drawbacks to turning wood on a lathe...it has the tendency to spontaneously explode.  There were several times that I thought it was going to come flying in pieces at me. 

It obviously didn't.  It is by far my proudest piece of work on the lathe as of date.  Can you believe it all started as a small block of wood infused with acrylic.  You can see a detailed step by step of making a pen here.

What do you think of Earth and Water?  Isn't it spectacular?!?  I love it.  Definitely one that I will not be selling.

I have also entered this lovely piece into a pen turning contest at my local Woodcraft store.  So if any of my Houston readers are out there, please swing by Southwest Houston Woodcraft store and vote for me!  There is a $25 gift card on the line!  : )  Voting is open for the entire month of October.

My Birthday Giveaway!

I mentioned last week that I celebrated my 30th birthday and in honor of it, I am giving away one of my handmade pens. 

This is a beautiful Slimline style pen.  The wood is called Redheart.  The best part about the handmade pens is that the ink cartridge is easily replaceable. Also, the writing is so smooth, you will never want to pick up a cheap plastic pen again. 

So, if you want to win, there two easy ways to do it.

1. Be a public follower through Google Friend Connect (one entry, leave a comment)

2. Blog about the giveaway (3 entries, leave a comment for each)

The giveaway will end next Friday, July 15th at midnight Central time.  Good luck!

Happy Birthday from me to you!

I Have A Bullet

Well, not a whole bullet.  More like the shell casing of a 50 caliber bullet that has been turned into a pen.  How freaking awesome is that?!?  I am going to give this away to an instructor that is teaching some friends of mine (and myself, kinda) some hand gun safety and teach us how to shoot a hand gun.

I learned how to shoot revolvers over Christmas break.  It was a blast!  I learned how to shoot rifles when I was six.  So, this is something that I am really looking forward to.  Now, I definitely do not get out often to do this, but jump at the chance when I can.

I don't think the photos do this pen justice.  It's 5 3/4 inches in length.  Definitely more of a statement piece than a practical one.  BUT...it is one heck of a conversation starter.

This bullet had been previously fired.  You can tell by the indent in the center.  That is where the primer has been struck by the firing pin to cause the chain reaction in the firing of a bullet. 

I plan to make more of these, they seem to be very popular and I have received a few offers to sell them at local gun shops.  How cool is that?  Going to try and make a stock pile so that I might be able to turn that into a reality!

I Returned To The Scene Of The Crime

The scene where I was brutally assaulted by my own clumsiness.  (You can read about it here)  I am happy to report that my thumb is healing nicely and I returned to the garage to finish the pen I was working on.  Doesn't it look nice?  Hubby has given it away.  It was raffled off at a conference.  I hope the new owner appreciates all the blood, sweat and (surprisingly) no tears that went into it. 

The pen is made of Honduran Rosewood and the pen kit used is called Slimline.  I wish I could take some credit for the box, but it was purchased at a woodworking store. 

Commission

Today I am showing off a commissioned pen that I completed and sold yesterday.  My doctor admired one of my pens prior to me going into surgery and wanted me to make him one for his wife.  I saw my doctor again yesterday and gave it to him.  He loved it and thinks his wife will too!  The pen style is a Wall Street with a hot pink acrylic body.

Just a side note, but how often is it that you walk out of a doctor's office with more money in your pocket then when you came in?  I think it's pretty awesome!

Redheart Pens

I have been on a serious pen making kick lately.  I decided to make each one of Maben's teachers a pen.  Sounds easy right...that is until you realize that Maben has 6 teachers.  So, I made 6 pens out of redheart.  I typed that right...redheart is the name of the wood used.  Isn't that awesome?  I thought it was appropriate given how much his teachers have meant to us. So, check them all out...all of the teachers will be receiving them today.

Happy 100 and a Giveaway!

This is the 100th post since I started blogging!

I am so excited and can't believe that I have made it this far!  I started this blog to help me keep track, inspire and share with everyone all the creativity that bubbles up and out of my head.  When I first started I didn't know how this would evolve or how far it would take me, but am loving the ride that the blog has taken me on so far.  I also love all the people I have gotten to know and all the awesome bloggers that I have discovered existed out there!

In celebration of my 100th post I am doing a giveaway!  (My very first giveaway!)  You have the opportunity to win one of three pens that I churned out last night for this awesome occasion. 

All three pens are a slimline style pen and the wood is redheart.  I turned each in a different shape and if you win, you can choose which pen you want!

There are a few rules to this giveaway!

1. You must be a public follower of my blog!  Leave me 1 comment letting me know you are a follower.

2. Actually, that is really the only rule, but if you want additional entries into this giveaway, blog about this giveaway!  That will give you an additional 2 entries.  Leave a comment for each entry. 

You have the chance to get up to 3 entries into my very first giveaway!  The giveaway will close at noon, central time on Sunday and I will announce the winner on Monday.

I am sharing this over at Vintage Wanna Bee.

Ocean Mist

Last night after the kids went to bed I decided I needed some power tool therapy.  Seriously, this is better than a shrink!  Power tools have a calming effect, I think it's the ability to create, destroy and the white noise.  Anways, I needed to destress so I decided to turn a pen.

I chose an acrylic blank called ocean mist.  Ooohhh, isn't it pretty?

Check out me in my safety gear.  The mask is needed as the acrylic has a tendancy to throw little pieces of plastic at you, which can hurt.



The unfortunate part of turning pens, they can do what is called a blow out.  The blank on the right as you can see had a blow out, but I still had the one on the left.

So, instead of getting two pens done, I only got one.  Oh well, the one turned out well and is really pretty.  See!

Another angle.  The only thing that caught me by surprise with this is you can see the brass pen tube through some of it.  The acrylic was a mix of opaque colors and translucent colors and I thought it was only opaque.  Oh well, the shiny brass tube actually adds to this, so YAY for happy accidents.

No Fairies Were Injured in the Making of This Production...

Even though it does look like Tink and her fairy friends were blown up in my garage.  It will be covered in pink dust and glitter for quite some time.  Glitter just sticks around forever!

Oh, yeah, the reason why there is pink dust and glitter all over my garage, I went out and turned two pens tonight.  They were acrylic pens.  I am going to walk you through what exactly happens when I turn a pen.

It starts with a pen blank, like so.  Well, with the style of pen that I did, it starts with half a pen blank.
 

You then drill out the center of your pen blank.

After you drill out the center, you get a brass tube, rough it up with sandpaper and glue it inside the blank.

You then use a barrel trimmer to drill out the excess blank and get down to the tube.  This is why you can see the shiny ring.

Load it onto the lathe with the bushings (which show you how far you can take the blank down to) so I can piece together with the pen kit accordingly.  A full pen blank can make two of the pens that I did, so I decided to turn both at the same time.

Safety first!  When turning acrylics, I skip the safety glasses and opt for the face shield.  Sometimes when little chunks of plastic come flying at you, it can hurt.  I am holding in my hand my turning tool from Easy Wood Tools and LOVE IT!  This turning tool doesn't have to be sharpened, it has a carbide tip that you can rotate when one side gets dulled and then eventually replaced.  This was actually a gift from my husband.  He's so lucky that I prefer my shiny gifts in the form of power tools as opposed to jewelry.  I am sure it makes shopping for me much easier.

Anyways, back to the pen blank and the crap that can sometimes happen...like this!  This is called a blow out and is sometimes fixable.  If it breaks off into a solid piece, you can glue it back on and hope that you can hide the cracks.

And since I had two blow outs on the same  blank, I decided to give up my turning tool and aggressively sand down the rest of the blank.  So this is me sporting my mask. 

After the rough sanding, wet sanding and a little wax, this is what the blanks look like.  All nice and shiny and sparkly...my favorite type of distraction.

 

Once they have been put together with the pen kits...they are nice, shiny, new, sparkly pens!  I am not sure which one I like better, the silver or the gold.  Either way, I think they both turned out great and was able to hide/fix the blow outs very easily.  Also, they are very festive red which is perfect since my goal was to use one in a gift swap next week. 

By the way, the pen kit used here is a Wall Street II which was probably purchased at my local Woodcraft.  I love that place and all the nice guys that work there.

I hope you enjoy seeing the process of making a pen.  It is a big stress reliever for me and I love to do it.  I am so happy that my husband and I decided to take the plunge and learn to do this.  Thanks honey for a wonderful date that gave us both a hobby!!!

I ♥ Power Tools

Something that you will soon discover about me...my absolute love for power tools.  I love the noise, the power, the confidence, the ability to destroy and create.  My husband also shares a love for power tools, even though once upon a time I did own more and know more about them.  The tide has shifted and my husband is more knowledgeable than I and I am okay with that.

We took a pen turning class at our local Woodcraft store for an early Valentine's day date.  We both loved it and soon my husband found all the tools we would need in order to do it in our own garage.  Tonight I got to enjoy the garage and turned a pen.  I loved it.  It's been over a month since I have been out playing with the power tools and it felt so great to get back out there.

Here is what I turned tonight on the lathe.  It is a Magascan Ebony slimline pen.