A little menagerie.

Our youngest started preschool this week, and all of a sudden, I have free time during daylight hours! That means I can use power tools on non-weekend days!

We upgraded my scroll saw recently, and upgraded my blades even more recently, and I’ve been practicing and practicing. I’m getting much more comfortable with tight curves and harder woods!

I started out by making this little elephant- he was just a quick doodle through wood. He’s .5″ thick- a scrap from the mahogany(?) I used for the kids’ Christmas ornaments. Aside from accidentally beveling the gap under his belly, it turned out pretty well- and my daughter enjoyed finding him when she came home from school.

The next morning, I decided to try a little cow and pig, inspired by these really cute designs on Etsy. I barely, barely, barely finished them before I had to go pick her up- I mean, I was wiping off the finishing wax in the car at stoplights! But, I successfully used the cow and the promise of a pig in her carseat to avoid a meltdown on the way to the car.

On the way home, she asked for a horse, a sheep and a farmer. Well, I was able to fulfill one of those wishes this morning, and he was done well in time to ride with me to pick her up. I’m pretty sure this is cherry- it’s 1″ stock (so about 3/4″) and really nice to work with.

So, I guess I can’t stop now. Maybe a sheep out of birdseye maple? I got some walnut in today that I really want to try out, too- maybe a black sheep? 🙂