Last night it was a significant movement day. Sixteen Gnomes were ready for adoption. Yes, sixteen. I was ready to let them go. Armed with their Certificate of Adoption unlike the Citizens of Gigglesville who have passports for migration, the objective is the same though. To spread love and giggles.
When I carve my pieces using Meranti wood, the wood blocks are all at different sizes. As such, I have to cut them to the proportions I want and there’ll be wastage. Hubby felt that it’s such a waste to throw away all those excess odd pieces.
So he experimented with the leftovers, using them as a prop or base for his air plants. And with just coat of acrylic paint, no gesso, they became simple and eye-catching tabletop pieces.
I wonder if the next piece should be a bit more elaborate. Hmm? Well, there’s plenty of wood to fine tune the overall look. From balsa where the odd ends become little Gnomes, and now Meranti as props for air plants certainly nothing goes to waste.
A couple of weeks ago, the effort reworking the second Gnome Home sapped me and I left it unattended for days after the first coat of colors. Eventually, despite a gruelling gym session where—in my trainer’s words “She went mental and gave it to us”— we were depleted of strength, I somehow managed to muster some energy to apply the final coat of acrylic to the roof and chimney.
The Fire Engine Red is obviously darker than the Cadmium Red but I think there’s character as well. I think the Gnomes like it.
Now in between mulling another home but a towering one for variation, I carved four phone holder whales, seven Gnomes and a Monument. So much carving to do, so little time.
The Gnomes standing proudly in front of the two new Gnome Homes.
I managed to rework the second Gnome Home and am pleased to say that it’s a ciabatta no more! I added more Meranti wood pieces to the top and sides to give it more height and volume.
Then I painstakingly carved and filed down the addition to blend with the ‘roof’ so that the overall look is proportionate to the base. Areas where I couldn’t get it to look smooth, the wood putty did the job.
And after adding gesso to the overall shape, you can’t tell that the whole piece is actually made up of big and small pieces. Once the final touch of colors are added, my Gnomes have another home. Yay.
The second Gnome home has hit a snag, in fact a big snag for it does not look like a Gnome home at all. Instead it’s looking like one big ciabatta with a stump. I’m not sure whether to cry or laugh…
I need to go back to the drawing board and salvage this to become a proper home for my Gnomes. With their population count now at 25, they need homes!
From a two-piece block to a ciabatta!
There is a reason for doing online shopping on Fridays. It’s so that the parcel arrives the following week before the weekend. Yes, my latest purchase has arrived! You do realise my purchases are always small parcels unlike hubby’s that come in boxes…
It’s a mini drill set that comes with 60 pieces of mini drill bits. With the weekend coming up, I am super excited with this addition to my ever growing carving setup. Let’s see what I can do with it especially on detailing work.
Within a few days, I carved up several Gnomes at the pace of one a day. It’s a pleasant change from doing the easy peasy Citizens on balsa wood. The best part is the supply of the Meranti blocks are all about the same height, so these newbies are consistent in height.
Also I have gotten the process down to a routine and this helps in getting the carving done up fast. I just hope I can keep the momentum going. With Gigglesville’s population at 180, it’s Gnomie-wood turn to have a growth in its population. However, it’s a long long way to go as the Gnome count is a mere 21 only as of today.
Painted but not varnished, gessoed and, carved & patched with wood putty
My latest tool, the wood plane is one awesome tool. I’m loving it! It worked beautifully to smoothen the surface of the latest piece that I am working on – a second home for the Gnomes.
I even used it on Gnome16 to smooth out the surface of its tall cap and I am very pleased with the end results.
The usage is only possible if the pieces are the Meranti wood and big in size, and certainly not practical on the soft balsa pieces of the Citizens (of Giggglesville) that are usually 26mm in height. It’s the beginning of new frontiers as far as carving and shaping is concerned.
The making of a Gnome home
Gnome16’s cap was planed beautifully
Official pet number one, Rooney, is one silly dog. Every time when I am set up at the garden terrace to do my carving, he would be my little vacuum cleaner. I know it’s bad for him but sometimes he gets to the wood shavings much faster than me!
Two weeks ago, over the three-day weekend when I was working on two pieces of Meranti simultaneously, the mess was everywhere on the floor and he just took the liberty to crawl under my workbench and helped himself. One silly dog indeed.
Hmm…. tit bits! I like….
Gosh… they taste soooooo good! Ohm nom nom…
Box two of my online shopping arrived yesterday when I least expected it. Yay! I can almost say my carving setup is truly complete with the addition of this block plane tool. Now all I need is a proper permanent work space.
This new toy, tool I mean would be used solely on Meranti wood to smoothen the surface when I work the shape. The current mini and cute plane that I have just doesn’t cut it because the holder does not push down the blade to sit snugly and keeps misaligning, thus rendering the tool useless.
So with the two long weekends ahead and having to stay put, I will definitely make full use of this new tool.
Arrival of the new tool, and comparing the cute and the practical
Angieneering 
Remarks