Inventory

So I spent a good deal of Thursday trying to get past my writers block. Eventually we went to Wordle. Had a lot of fun there playing around with WoodArt Studio. When I finally decided what I wanted who would have thought that it would take another couple of hours trying to figure out how to get it saved and posted to this blog. I'm exhausted so here it is. Can you figure out that it is so many of the items that have emerged from the studio?

Until next we meet...Wordle Wood

Never too Late

For those who love and long to be loved it is never late. In fact it is never too late for anything in life. New hobby, more education, friendship, love, life. Hope for it all. With the pretty nice and yet unusual weather we have been having it gives us hope to spring forward with so many new / old activities.

The studio has been giving birth to some awesome pieces of late. If you have been following us on facebook or on our Etsy site you will have seen some of what has taken place of recent. We have a total of 45 pieces listed in our Etsy store and that will still be growing. I would never have believed that we would have pieces being offered America wide. (No we are not yet worldwide). Just about everything that gets on our Etsy shelves ends up on facebook also but we do realize that not all of you get to travel to all these places. After all I will admit who has all that much time on their hands.

Some of the new studio pieces are of past inspired shapes while others are new to the table. Hope that you like them all or maybe you might favor one over another for some reason. We want to hear back from you so drop us an email or comment please.

Since I am literally a day ahead of my blog schedule I am going to work on the Studio Gallery so don't forget to stop over there and visit. No it's not too late for a Valentine's Day (Feb 14th) or a Friend's Day (Feb 11th) gift. See us at the market on Saturday, at OASIS Art Gallery, C'Ville Arts, Etsy or just plain email us. I know that we have the right wood lover gift for you.

Until next we meet...     

Just the Numbers

Why do so many of us play the numbers game. You know, like wanting to find out how many? I think it is just our innate curiosity. And so for those who just want to read an idle numbers blog here you go. Oh yes most of them are about us.

The WoodArt Studio facebook fans: 122 / Would like to see 200 by the end of February and it is a leap year my friend.

The WoodArt Studio at Etsy: We are in 12 circles which makes us happy but of course to be in more would be fine. If you haven't checked us out on Etsy yet today could be a good day. We now have a total of 43 pieces in our little shop there with more to come.

OASIS Art & Craft Gallery: We have approximately 25 pieces on display here of which some is our wooden kitchen utensils. Always a good Valentine's Day gift when you add a ribbon and a love recipe.

C'Ville Arts of Charlottesville: There are about 35 pieces here all varied from bowls to ornaments along with some noggins in between.

Harrisonburg Farmers Market: We hope to attend at least 88 markets this year with the most variety of what emerges out of the studio. Tomorrow we will have over 75 pieces with us so there will certainly be something special there for your Valentine. Read more about Steve and the market at "Meet the Vendor" We will be showing 3 new pieces tomorrow so stop by and see us at spot #16.

Other silly numbers: We have 11 days till Valentine's Day, 45 days till Spring, 64 days till Easter and 137 days till Summer...but who's counting.

Until next we meet...

Etsy Week Continues

Good late morning to you all. I know when last we met I told you that I was plowing into Etsy. Well the field is not plowed completely yet. This week was also spent cultivating the field so to speak. I had spoken about how each of the pieces has to be specifically written about and so hence I have spent a lot of time writing and even retaking some pictures. So maybe that is why I am feeling a little wiped at writing. In fact time for a second cup of java to jolt my mind. 

Second cup... here we are along with 12 listings later and I don't know what to write about. UGH I feel like Charlie Brown. So maybe I should open this wide up and ask what you all would like to see in the future on this blog. Studio, wood, daily, cooking, new work, genealogy? Oh yes that is another whole story as I (Debbie wife of The WoodArt Studio artist Steve) is a budding genealogist. Is there a tree connection happening here? Maybe so. Either way why not drop a sentence or two and share with me what you want. New pictures, old pictures, better pictures? Would you like to write a guest post or two. Fine with me. Remember the great post by chef Scott a couple of weeks ago. Well you too can write for me and I for you if you want.

Ok so the second cup is rapidly working and this post is rambling on. So to close remember that tomorrow, National Fun at Work day we will be at the HFM celebrating the day by having fun meeting you. Don't forget to check out the new items on our Etsy page.

Until next we meet...

Etsy week

I am just going to call this the plow into Etsy week because that is just what we did among the other chores of working in and around the studio. You all may think that it is easy to write a blog post but not for me and therefore to write a good Etsy listing can be equally challenging at times. Fact is that I try to write the day before so that it is fresh to post on Friday. Don't ask about this week to much as most of it was spent on Etsy writing. Some Etsy people say just write one post and then duplicate it. Well that can be difficult and not something we care to do with our listings. Each piece that comes out of the studio is unique unto itself and so each listing deserves to be also. 

So we write, read, take more pictures, edit, read more and finally it is ready to post. Then off to market we go where I sell the piece that it just took so long to write about and off of Etsy it comes. Oh well. But in the end it is fine because we are so happy that another of the functional art makes its way into a happy home to put a smile on someone's face.

Now this morning I was thinking about what to write the last minute and was thinking, like facebook, not all of you may use Etsy.com. So today's post is a brief listing of some of the pieces that we have put up this week that you may just want to have in your home. Etsy is real easy to work and we take PayPal through it. So on that branch...

Spoon Pear wood Turkish Style Pyrography by TheWoodArtStudio

Wooden Pie Lifter Server Cherry by TheWoodArtStudio

Wooden Scoop Cherry Pyrography Cat or Dog by TheWoodArtStudio

Olive Scoop Spoon Pyrographed Flower Osage by TheWoodArtStudio                                               



Valentine's Day Bud Vase Applewood Weed Pot by TheWoodArtStudio

Valentine's Day Love Mini Oak Ladle by TheWoodArtStudio

Wood Flipper Pierced Beech Valentine's Day by TheWoodArtStudio

Hand Carved Cottonwood Bark Love Castle by TheWoodArtStudio

Until next we meet...

Cooking With Wood

By The Enlightened Chef, Scott Ingenito
www.thedailychews.com

Firstly I want to thank Debbie and Steve for having me do this guest post on their blog, they have always been like a second set of parents to me when we all worked together back in NY. When they made the big move to VA and got the wood studio up and running they became my true inspiration in making the 3,000 mile move from Long Island, NY to Ocean Beach, San Diego and having the courage to change careers. I am truly honored to be considered a friend of theirs, and even more honored to contribute to this blog and share my journey in life with theirs.

Which utensils are better to cook with in your kitchen, metal, silicone, or wood? It is an age old argument and my answer is an honest one: All of them! But, I will admit that I do prefer to use my wood utensils, for a few reasons; They are extremely versatile, they can be used in any type of pan or pot and they do not scratch or tarnish your cookware. They also will not change the taste of acidic foods such as tomato sauce. Overall factor is that they feel really good in my hand, for me cooking is like alchemy, I am fascinated in the art of growing something, harvesting it, breaking it down, and turning it into something so amazing and unexpected. I feel this is also true of wood, in all aspects it amazes me! As a drummer and surfer, my most prized possessions are made of exotic woods by master wood crafters much like Steve (the owner of WoodArt Studio and this blog). It may sound silly to many people that I add cooking in with artistic things like making music, instruments and wood working, but the truth is that it truly is an art and it seems to follow the circle of life much like wood does;  it is grown, harvested, broken down, formed into something even greater, just like the food we eat.

If you didn't guess by now, I also prefer to cut on a wood cutting board, specifically a nice thick sustainable bamboo cutting board. In all aspects I feel wood plays a major role in shifting and shaping food from the beginning of our existence. Just think about the process, so many products come from wood/trees, in the beginning man used it to fuel their fires for heat and cooking purposes, and now we used it to smoke meats and add an authentic accent of flavors from many different kinds of wood. It is truly so versatile, whether cooking with wood, over wood, smoking with wood, one thing is for sure, without wood cooking would be drastically different. If you do not own any wood cooking utensils, I urge you to try some out. There are so many out on the market now and many are from sustainable resources like bamboo or cork.

Thanks for reading, follow me on my culinary adventures at www.thedailychews.com

The WoodArt Studio says look for more guest posts from Chef Scott and The Daily Chews in the future along with some of his more than delicious recipes.

Until next we meet...

Thank You

Yes the time has come to find out what is so special about this month. Surf the internet and have just found out that it is January is National Thank You month. I love it because we love to thank so many of our loyal friends and family of The WoodArt Studio. You helped us to grow in so many ways last year and we know that it will only continue again in 2012. Your comments, photos, stories, laughs, purchases among other things have only aided us in our growth as a business and as human beings.

So huge THANK YOU to all of you. We would like to extend the thank you beyond words with a free WoodArt Studio gift magnet with every purchase that you make between now and the end of the month. Now we know that everyone likes to put magnets all over their refrigerators, so why not ours,  but we would like to keep this down to one magnet per customer. Keep in mind that honesty is the best policy and that we won't be able to ship any if you purchase an item via either of the galleries that we are in. Your purchase will count towards the free magnet but you must pick it up from me at the Farmers Market in Harrisonburg. Of course if we are shipping your purchased item directly from us we will slip it into the box for you.

Once again THANK YOU and we look forward to serving you in 2012 and the many years to follow.  

Until next we meet...