Of Shoes and Ships and Sample Blocks, Of PZ Kut and Things...

(apologies to Lewis Carroll)

It has been a very long time since I have posted on this blog. I think it's time to try and be better about it! Well, actually, long past time! We'll see how I do! *grin*

Yesterday was the 6th anniversary of the day I reopened Stampeaz!! Amazing! And even more amazing, since I had warned everyone I would be having a celebration and there would be really cool stuff available for those who looked, I was very surprised that I didn't have more people looking for the treats that were hidden in plain sight as well as taking advantage of the promised anniversary coupons. I had six pristine, pre-prepped, grade A blocks of PZ Kut up for sale yesterday -- one for each year of the Stampeaz adventure and not one was found or purchased! I guess I will have to save them for other celebrations and see if anyone notices. Hmmmm.... Other celebrations.... Stay tuned.

In some ways it seems like a lot longer than six years since I purchased Stampeaz to keep my favorite carving material, PZ Kut, on the market, but in other ways, the time has flown by. For example, it seems like forever since the regulation change that knocked PZ Kut off the market! LOL! But the wonderful people who have been supportive and become friends along the way have made the business a joy to run.

As everyone knows, I have been in the process of reformulating our beloved PZ Kut and that has been an adventure of its own! The good news is that several more samples should land in my mailbox from the blending house any time now. I will do test carvings on them over the weekend and see which one I make a trial run of this time. In the meantime, here's a photo of the samples I have already gone through over the last couple years -- at least the ones I could round up quickly for a photo. If I had tried to find them all, it would have been another month before this post went up. I'm not kidding! People said they wanted to see, so here they are!!


I count 22 different sample materials in this photo. Along the way, I have gained a whole new respect for people who do product development for a living - it's a long, hard and occasionally frustrating (not to mention expensive) proposition. And I forgot to put Firm Kut into the mix - although I did remember to grab a little piece of MZ and NZ Kut to add to the pile! LOL!

Racing Around....

Two things...

First, I'm going to be off to an unofficial class reunion that will include all four years I attended Interlochen Arts Academy, plus a couple years on either side. A number of the folks I knew as a student will be there and I haven't seen them in... well... ages! So, it should be an interesting experience. I couldn't attend the first one that was held last year, but they even jammed together and took over a local eating establishment as entertainment one of the nights. Very cool. So, that means Stampeaz will be closed for a few days, since there is no way I will ask the kind soul who is house sitting and taking care of my critters for me to try and figure out my order system! LOL!


Second, I am going to be participating in the inaugural Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in my area on September 19th. A friend and colleague at my day job is currently undergoing chemotherapy and recovering from a mastectomy and I wanted to put together a team to race for her life. I will also be celebrating my own 9th year cancer-free on October 4th, so I'm racing in gratitude for the gift of life I have been given and to find a cure so that others can have that same gift. If you would like to donate to my efforts, click here to get to my donation page. Thank you for considering a donation to fight breast cancer! This is the first time I have been on the fund-raising end of one of these events. I usually give to the other racers! I'm looking forward to it.

When I get back from Interlochen, I plan to pounce on the PZ Kut problem with renewed energy and give you an update about where that stands shortly thereafter. I keep thinking that things will settle down. I guess I need to simply accept that my life is mildly nuts.....

Kirbert's Tool Modifications....

Okay, I admit that I'm not a professional photographer - not even close, but I was trying to see if I could get a good photo that would show the differences between Kirbert's two very cool modifications of the Staedtler #1 V gouge in comparison to the original. So, here's my attempt.

The blade on the bottom is the standard #1 gouge from the factory. Notice how the front edge comes straight down to the cutting edge that is at the bottom of the V shape? Now, look at the middle tool.

The middle one is Kirbert's Reversed modification. He has taken that straight front edge and sloped it back from the cutting tip so that you can see exactly where you are cutting as you move the tool through your carving material. I find that this makes it easy to get really close to the lines I am trying to carve. The other great thing is that he has honed the edges, so that it cuts beautifully.

Okay, now for the top one. This is Kirbert's Miniaturized modification. He has ground down the whole blade so that the V is now shallower and then sharpened the cutting edge. I love this particular modification. It makes shallow, controlled cuts easy and the carving nerdles (you know, the shavings that you are cutting from the block?) seem to fall away from the carving tip more readily so that they don't block my view of - well - anything. The tiny tip makes tight curves a treat.

These are both fantastic improvements on an already marvelous tool. Other carvers who have had him modify their blades can chime in about how they would describe the qualities Kirbert has so masterfully given them.

And the extra good news? Kirbert got in touch with me, since so many people had been sending him tools to reshape, and offered to rework the tools for Stampeaz for a very reasonable fee plus postage both ways. I'm very excited about this, especially since he can take some of the not so excellent blades that slipped through the factory's quality control system and turn them into something superb.

Sunday Still Life...

I spent a good part of the day trying to reclaim part of my house! It has been thoroughly trashed by the construction process -- everything both upstairs and down has been coated with several kinds of dust. I vacuumed all the floors and wiped down the furniture I could reach (there's still a lot of stuff from the basement in piles upstairs, so I can't get to a lot of it). The dining room area windows were done, so that corner could be set up for use again. What a relief!



When I got it finished, I took a break to practice fiddle for the first time in a long time and while I was playing, a nice woman from church drove up with a beautiful bouquet. She told me that, since I had a birthday this past week, I was chosen to receive some of the altar flowers! What a nice treat! When I put the fiddle down and placed the flowers on the table, it looked so much like a perfect still life that I thought I should take a picture and share it!!

Turning over rocks....

While I'm turning over rocks to try and find a solution for the PZ Kut production problem, I thought I would entertain you about some other rolling stones... The chicken loves it when someone turns over a rock for her so that she can look for tasty morsels that might be hidden underneath. She makes the funniest happy little chirping noises while waiting for rocks to be moved.

Once the rock has been lifted, she gets right in there and looks for bugs and worms to eat, moving really fast so they don't get away. She doesn't miss much!

When she's found everything tasty there is to find (she doesn't like ants), she waits for the process to be repeated, chirruping and talking the whole time.

By Popular Request...

I bring you part one of the long awaited Chicken Update!

First, anyone who has ordered from me this month will recognize this face from the invoice stamp I'm currently using. I was really pleased with how the carving of this portrait came out. As you can tell from the chair rail in the background, she was being a very contented lap chicken -- she really loves to roost in a friendly lap.

Of course, she also tries to do her part in contributing her bit to the household. Here she is hard at work:

Cheeken has a lovely little roost out in a big outdoor cage, but she won't lay eggs out there. She prefers hiding in the dark under the desk in the dining room. I think she also likes to hear people milling around in the building, even though she likes her privacy curtain. She makes some pretty strange noises when she's trying to lay an egg. I wonder if it is uncomfortable, or if she's just giving herself a pep talk!

And isn't that something to be proud of? Don't you think she earned her tomatoes and pears (both particular favorites with her)?

I understand that she's slowing down on the eggs as she gets ready to molt again. Poor, scruffy chicken....

Houston, we have a problem...

There's currently a manufacturing problem at the PZ Kut works. I don't know when it will be resolved. What this means is that there will be no White PZ Kut until the difficulty is fixed. I'm trying not to panic, but my deep breathing looks a little like hyperventilation from time to time. This isn't aided by the fact that the basement area where Stampeaz lives is currently without walls, ceiling or lights -- timing is everything, right? (insert rueful chuckle)

I suppose that the good news is that since I don't have any PZ Kut to prepare, I can use that time to get my inventory fixed and write a chicken update. I think I'd rather have White PZ Kut than a silver lining right now, though.... (sigh)