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And the Winner Is.....



......still undecided!

Even though the "Poll" left the solid carved turtle in the dust, being an habitual champion of the underdog, I just can't leave him behind! (Solid, buisness decision, right?)

All three are set to be produced. You can see them Sunday afternoon by visiting the Early Bird page.

The accessories, ditties*, are un-turtle-like but there is an explanation. That, too, will be on the Early Bird page.

I simply do not know why I agonize over these things so. They take on a life of their own.

My preference is "plain olde" drawing and carving but these days, in order to have stamps produced, computer "intervention" is necessary. The images are transmitted to the manufacturer via a PDF file which means delving into the mysteries of Photoshop and Illustrator. Both are heavy duty, complex, meant-for-professionals, programs.

A small draw program would be fine with me, (there aren't any out there anymore). A simple photo editing software would do. (There may be some of those available, but the learning curve scares me off.) What I have is rather like driving a two ton truck when I'm licensed for a stick shift compact! Way too much power. Both programs keep getting away from me!

The worst is over. The stamp sets are almost ready. A few more tweaks and nudges and the sets with their companion stamps will be posted in the Gazette on the EarlyBird page.

You've all been helpful. By being there. By being heard. You strengthened my flagging resolve. I've finished the hurdle jumping now--it's done.

Imagine how frenetic I could get if I were doing something really important!!!

Thanks everybody.

Charlotte

* Ditties--A technical term : ) coined by customer Linda Blackbird to describe tiny little stamps, meant to be used with a specific image.


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Blogarithm Update

Heard from the folks at Blogarithm. (The service that sends email updates when this page is changed.) A very nice, helpful email.
They are in transition (seems to be the way of the Cyberworld these days) and promise their service will change dramatically in fairly short order.

At the present, it takes as much as twenty-four hours to send out update notices. That will change. So, my request to all of you (and message to me) is that we all be patient for a little while until they get up to speed.

Meanwhile, please leave comments. It's lonely out here all by myself : ( Would love to hear from you. It feels kind of like that "If a tree falls in the forest . . ." dilemma. If I post a blog and no one responds . . . ? ? ?

Come back Sunday....to see if I've kept to my carving deadline!

Thanks.
Charlotte

By the Way....Expect things to behave differently if you use AOL. Sometimes items don't load as expected. The slide show indicates it's loading but never does. Often only the first article is shown. It's OK, you won't miss anything earth shattering, but just be aware there are glitches.

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Decisions! Decisions!

Or choices, choices.....
Three versions. Haven't decided on which one or even what size. Care to vote?* Whenever faced with such a quandry, I almost always choose "All of the above." However, there are other "parts" to this set so it may not be possible to produce all three styles. We'll have to see as the work progresses.

Should all be done by Sunday....at least that's the tentative deadline.

Any suggestions anyone?

Thanks again.

Charlotte

* Someone did "care to vote" and sent an email to gg designs. This prompted including the POLL you'll find in the right hand column. >>>
Did everything I could think of to get the poll within this post but it's beyond my limited html tinkering capabilities. Sorry!

Under Construction

This is a new image being readied for carving. The usual process is to refine the drawing that I intend to use as the basis for carving. This turtle will be transferred to carving material and the carved image will start from there.
Sometimes I make the preparatory drawing into a rubber stamp as well. I usually make that decision after the caving is complete.

Why a turtle?
This one is to fulfill a request from a customer. She wanted a realistic drawing plus some other details that you will see when the carving is finally complete.
A hint? He's called a "Turtle for All Seasons."

Hopefully he will be in his completed form (along with some "accessories" ) by the end of the weekend. No, he's not an Easter Turtle (although that does spark an idea). Check back to see how it turns out. This is partly a "cliff hangar" but mostly because I'm never sure myself until the carving is under way and first proofs are pulled just how the project will look when it's finished.

A Turtle for All Seasons may be named "Spaatz." That's because that was the name of a pet turtle I had as a young child. It was the only pet my Mother would tolerate. He didn't bark or shed and he lived longer than a goldfish that broke my heart by going belly up almost immediately after being brought home.

Be back some time over the weekend.
Thanks for checking in.

Charlotte

The Lizard

Poor Lizard has gone "under the knife," or at least, under the carving tool, again. Since he's decorative and only meant to make you smile, we cleaned up a bit and took the tongue shadow out. Not to keep him from speaking, just to make him look a bit friendlier!

That's it....we're through.

Plus....this really is a test of a blog delivery system we "thought" we had in place. We're writing updates but no one seems to be getting them. : ( So much for automation!

Not right now, but probably by the weekend.....check out the Early Bird page to see if Happy Hank here makes it to the pre-rubber stage. There should be other "friends" there with him as well.

Thanks for checking out this blog and for browsing the Gazette and the Catalog.

Charlotte

Weekend Carving

Carving Promised....

Carving Delivered--Happy Lizard!

Not much to "write home about" (or to write to you about) but it's a start (after a ...l... o...n... g... dry spell) AND it got me out of my "I hate technology" funk!

This "Happy Lizard" is a private joke (pertaining to a pass-along post from a customer--you KNOW who you are!)
and brings a smile to my face. He may never make it to rubber but he certainly brightened my weekend.

More new images will follow but just wanted to let you know I kept my word. Amazing what committing to the whole world will do for my accountability!

We will be back, with more carvings/doodles/drawings. Hopefully some of them will make it to the Early Bird page....which means new stamps are in progress.

Thanks for visiting.

Charlotte