Wood-N-Whimsies April 2014 Newsletter                   800-820-1099
     Spring is in the air, the craft season is finally here.
Dink says, "Say hello to my Mommie & Daddies new grand daughter, Madison. Isn't she a cutie. She and I will be great friends!"
This has been a particularly cold and nasty winter for us in Missouri. I have not had a lot of opportunity to get out in the shop to work without lighting up the wood stove.
     Be sure to get your orders in early for the spring craft season. We have several kits that we are running short on and do not expect to have them replenished for about six weeks from now.
      Tracey and I were at a wood carving seminar in Springfield last week but
Pam, Curtis and Ryan did a great job of keeping up with the orders and getting everything out in a timely manner. Thanks guys for doing a great job.
     Easter will soon be here. April 20th this year, last month I explained this dilemma about how the  
calendar gods determine when Easter arrives each year.
     One of our customers (Adolph Kurth) sent us a little story about the origins of the Easter Bunny. You may find this a bit interesting:


The Origin of the Easter Bunny

 

   Easter is actually one of our oldest Festivals, predating Christianity by many centuries. Since it was a very important spring Festival, the Christian churches adapted it for their own use.

     The Angles and Saxons (two tribes from northern Germany who later settled in England, driving out the Celts) had a  Goddess of spring named Eostre. According to Nordic myth, she created Lepus, the Hare, from a bird.

     In tribute to it's former life, Eostre granted the Hare the ability to run as fast as a bird can fly. She also allowed it to lay eggs once a year. So, Every Easter, ( the name is a derivative of the goddess' name ) the bunny delivers our eggs.  

   To ensure that the hare's sacrifice would not be forgotten, she placed his picture in the Heavens. This is the constellation "Lupus", (high in the southern sky in spring ) located near Orion the hunter
who can never catch him.

    Spring, seen as the promise of the Earths' fertility gave the Goddess Eostre a special place in people's lives.

    The word estrus is also a derivative of her name, carrying the promise of fertility in humans.

 

     Tracey's Two Cents Worth:

     We know it's tempting to peak but Tracey strongly advises that you don't start moving those rubber bands around on your inlay kits when they arrive.  The pieces are only dry fit and there are some tiny pieces.  If you start moving the rubber bands around you may lose a piece and not realize it until after you've turned the rubber bands off the blank on the lathe.  That can be so disappointing after all that gluing and turning!
     You can examine and adjust anything that may have shifted during shipping but try to be very careful when doing so.  We also recommend that you open the kits over a clean white cloth so in the unfortunate instance that a piece falls out you'll see it and be able to place it back in the blank. That small speck on the cloth is not dust, it's a piece of your blank.
        As long as you make sure you are letting the glue saturate it will go under those rubber bands and secure your pieces to the tube with no problem.  The rubber bands turn off easily on your lathe.
     Also don't forget to make sure you slide your tube to the correct position before you glue your blank as that is another item that can shift during shipment.
   

 
TECH TALK
I probably get at least two phone calls a day and as many as six with folks wanting to know how to do or make something that they saw at a craft show or somewhere on the internet. I try my best to answer their questions to the best of my ability. Sometimes I just do not know the answer and have to look it up for myself. I have been turning wood and other materials on the lathe now for over thirteen years and I still learn something new almost every day.
     I know that some of you are aware of a forum on the internet called The International Association of Penturners (IAP). For anyone not knowing about this website you have to check it out and sign up for a membership. The cost is free (you can make a donation though to help keep it going) and you will have an absolute wealth of information at your fingertips.
     If it can be done, someone on the IAP has done it and has shared their knowledge with the world, or someone can tell you where to find the answer to your dilemma. All you have to do is search the topic you want to research and it's there for the looking (usually).
     The IAP is not a place to ask legal or ethics questions. Beware of the Sea Lawyers out there. That's what we called the folks in the Navy who were bursting with legal advice but in the end were usually just full of hot air and no idea of what they were speaking about.
     If there is something new that you have come up with and would like to get your name out as the first to do it, then the IAP welcomes articles written by it's members to post in their vast library. I have gotten a lot of ideas from their library and enjoy the challenges of some of the more tricky projects. I have done herring bone blanks which I learned to do from an article on the IAP, talk about a challenge! Oh, but what fun it was and how great it turned out in the end.
     Their are lots of IAP local groups around the country who meet several times a year to swap ideas and just have a good time. Check them out via the IAP to find groups that may be in your area. They would love to have you join in with them to talk turning.
 
WHAT'S NEW
      We have been out of town alot this month but with all of our travels and business ventures and seminars, Tracey has been able to introduce to you some new really cool stuff.
     Tracey has made some more new inlay blanks. New for this month and also may I add, they are special introductory priced. They are a Masonic Compass and Square Emblem, An EMS Emblem, A Heart and stethoscope and last but not least a Knights of Columbus Emblem. See the pictures below of these wonderful blanks.
     As always, If you would like the blanks in different colors please let us know and we will see what we can do for you.
What's On Sale
This Month

For Our Newsletter Customers Only:
15% Off Of All Poly Pearl  Blanks (All Available Sizes) Use The Coupon Code "POLY15" In The Coupon Code Box At Checkout.
__________

Inlays On Sale:
#1 MOM $14.00
Masonic Emb $19.00
K of C $22.00
EMT Symbol $19.00
RN Heart $19.00
__________

Dymondwood Bakers Dozen Grab Bag Just $26.00. These Are Full Size Jumbo Dymondwood Blanks. No Swapping Or Special Color Requests Accepted. Just A Great Deal. That's 13 Full Size Dymondwood Blanks For Under $2.00 Each.
__________

10% Off Castin Craft Reusable MC Molds
__________

Powder-coated Engraved 30.06 Cartridge Assemblies And Pen Kits:

Pen Kit With Slimline Tip Is $14.00

Pen Kit With Real Lead Free GMX Bullet Tip Is $22.00.

Engraved 30.06 Assemblies Are As Low As $12.25 Each
__________

Flitz Single Step 4oz Bottle Of Plastic Polish Is Only $9.00 Each
__________

Spectraply Bottle Stopper Blanks In Any Available Color Are Just $2.75 Each
__________

Celtic Elegance Pen Kit CELTIC3 Is As Low As $7.75 Each.
__________

4GB Flash Drive Pen Kit Blowout Continues. Just $13.00 Each and We Will Throw In A Free Set Of Bushings For This Kit. Limit One Set Of Bushings Per Order. (Do Not Add The Bushings To Your Cart Or The System Will Charge You. We Will Include Them At Processing.

Sale Ends April 30, 2014

Click "HERE"
To Go To Our Specials Page.
__________













CUSTOMER GALLERY. 
Chris Lewis got the idea of adding the "Bling" to this razor set from one of our videos. Looks great Chris, The turquoise stone acrylic acatate really sets the turning off nicely.

A really cool braid design on a Monet Kit by Kenneth Wines. Let me just say "WOW"!



















  
COMING SOON
     We are always on the hunt for new items and ideas for our website. Check out the What's New Page to see what the latest products are that we have added to our inventory.    
FEEDBACK
For those of you who sent in photos of your work, we thank you very much for your fine work and efforts. If you would like for us to post a picture of something different that you have done, please send us a picture and we will post it in the next newsletter.
      If you have any information that you would like to share with our readers then please by all means send it to us and we will get it into the newsletter. Send your photos and article inputs to tim.nicholas@woodnwhimsies.com.
     To contact us, please call 800-820-1099 or email us at either the email listed above or sales@woodnwhimsies.com. Tracey, Ryan, Curtis, Pam and I are willing to help in any way we can.
     Thanks for reading and I will be back again next month with some more news from Wood-N-Whimsies.

Tim Nicholas
Wood-N-Whimsies
800-820-1099