bird houses part 6

once again it's been way too long, especially when considering i took all of the bird house pictures on the same day. these are the final four - and most ambitious - of my designs: at some point, hopefully not too far off i would love to make some more.

bird houses part 5

here are a couple more bird houses:the house above is made to be hung from a tree limb, and the house below is designed to be attached right to the side of a tree.

bird houses part 4

here are a couple more of my bird houses - and two of my more "different" designs. this first one isn't really a bird house at all, but rather a bird table for placing seed on daily to attract birds to feed. it is made to look like an ancient greek temple. this second one is a nesting box for robins.

bird houses part 3

the bird houses are finally finished. i started posting about them way back in july: this post of some finished driftwood houses and another post of unpainted houses fresh from the wood shop. so as to avoid a sensory overload i'm just going to post a couple of pictures a day over the next couple of days.

welcome back to me...

... and hopefully to anyone that might still be looking in on my blog. it's been a month since my last post and to be totally honest i'm not quite sure why. this summer i churned out a lot of work - much of which is actually finished - so in my wisdom i'll kick blogjamming back off with some unfinished stuff. those of you who have ever been by our apartment will most likely have seen the wooden birds i carved for shauna for her birthday or may have seen the blog post of the bird i made for my landlady mary jean; well i'm back at it. these are a couple of pictures of some new birds in progress, that with any luck will be finished - painted and lacquered - tomorrow. check back soon for more progress - and i promise more blog posts. viva la jammin'!

housing

this is not the way i had originally planned on crafting this post but here goes; it was really supposed to be all about how papi had finally discovered the kitty house i made for him last summer. you may remember it as the one that i built out of wood, painted and then wallpapered. my sister knit a blanket for him to lay on while he lounged in his sweet little tudor abode. much like the old house however, papi never visits it until the temperature hits about 85 degrees. we have always joked that it's his summer house. after almost a year papi has finally taken up residency:all i can say is thank goodness his house is dry because 93 mercer apartment 2 is not. there was a flood from the apartment above today. shauna's closet took the brunt of it. thankfully there weren't any catastrophic damages. soldier on

birdhouses part 2

here is a first look at tiny town. there are 9 houses, 1 nesting box and 1 bird table in all. i'm in the process of priming them all for painting. i'll give them their individual due as i complete them. for now enjoy them in their raw woody goodness.

montauk part 3... birdhouses part 1

shortly before leaving for montauk shauna and i were brainstorming for ideas on how to get our craft on. we decided it would be super keen if i made birdhouses. while we were on the beach i started collecting odd bits of driftwood and detached pieces of storm-fencing and i was able to turn some of those collected scraps into these tiny avian abodes. this is a normal old bird house:and this is a tiny house that could serve no practical purpose except for heightening the adorability of any room it graced.more to come...

finished pencil box

these are some pictures of the pencil box i made for shauna. the kitty, inside and feet of the box are prussian blue; the color on the body of the box is just a thin coat of white gesso. I covered the whole thing with a coat of shiny varnish.

finished spoons

i've finally finished the wooden spoons i was working on. the top spoon is for me, while the bottom spoon is to be sent of to isreal for the mum of a friend of my sisters. the pencil box is nearly complete as well; it just needs a coat of varnish. i'll post a picture of it tomorrow in all of its painted and shiny glory.

pencil box progress

the little pencil box i'm working on is coming along nicely. all that's left to do is gesso, compose a design, paint and varnish. hopefully i'll finish it up by tomorrow.

happy st patrick's day

i don't really know what this picture is all about - although it does seem vaguely offensive - but this is what comes up when you google irish monkey. anyway, happy paddy's day. i'll be crafting all day; i have several wood-working projects going right now so i'll be spending the day on the stoop sanding wooden spoons and cutting tiny bits for a pencil box i'm working on. these are some pics of my early progress. enjoy the day.

magic chili spoon in progress

this is the magic chili spoon so far. it's carves from a piece of 1" x 3" pine. hopefully it will be done tomorrow.

it's a christmas miracle, 2 posts in one day

just wanted to show off the christmas present i made for my landlady mary jean. this is the first of the new birds i've made since the ones i did for shauna. he's a good one!

potter party redux

as you may remember shauna and i have a fondness for potter parties. with the publication of this new little book we once again have a reason to read aloud to each other. to liven up the festivities i made shauna a magic wand while teaching up at the a-s wood shop the other day. we love the flying and the magic.

finally finished

at long last papi's house is finished. i spent the day painting on the ivy and flowers and wallpapering the inside.the wallpaper is a lovely floral, bird and heart print. very manly; if ever there was a doubt this all but confirms that papi has no testicles.
the flowers are tough guy too. i hope he enjoys it and doesn't completely dismantle it on his first visit inside.

every time I think I'm out.... they pull me back in!

i was called in to substitute teach at a-s again so no more progress on papi's house. so many promises broken on that one. i did do a little more wood-working in the shop, so consequently there is a five-thousandth unfinished project in my cue. this is a photo of the very rough beginning of a funky wooden spoon i'm carving.

lied again

as you can no doubt tell this is not a post about a finished house for papi. i was called in to work today at allen-stevenson so i was unable to properly craft today. i worked in the wood shop today so i was able to work on some more little wooden birds like the ones i made for shauna's birthday. i failed to demonstrate how i made those so i plan on showing you all now. this is a photo of the tracings on the board, the rough cut-out and a nearly finished smoothly shaped and sanded bird. check back for more progress in the coming days, and tomorrow for a finished papi house.

it'll be finished tomorrow

as you can tell from this photo papi is eagerly awaiting the completion of his new home. he can barely contain himself. it's a bit much really. calm down kitty, a little more foliage and some wallpaper and the new place will be good to go.

very nearly there

papi's house is very close to finished. all that's left is to paint some ivy on the outside and some grass and flowers around the foundation.