Sandy’s Artisan Woodworking

So here's a way better picture. I'm just not great with Instagram yet.

Well shame on me for not posting much lately. Lots been going on. But thought I would show a recent customer request I'm just wrapping up. I added a different color scheme for my trees and snowmen. More of a winter wonderland theme which is a nice color to keep up after the holidays. This particular one is 9" and is in a nice spot between my 6" tall trees and 12" trees.

This size goes for 65 in case anyone is wondering.

LAST DAY FOR THE GLEN ELLYN ARTS FESTIVAL

Hello everyone!
It's going to be a beautiful day to come to Lake Ellyn in Glen Ellyn for the Glen Ellyn Arts Festival.

Not only are there some fantastic arists and makers, there's food, Gelato, and stuff for the kids. It's a great community feel right by scenic Lake Ellyn.

So grab your friend, family, neighors, or whoever and come check out this free event. Downtown Glen Ellyn is a short walk too, which has plenty of great eateries as well. So make a day / evening of it.

Dates: Saturday and Sunday, August 24 -25th, 2024.

Event Hours:
• Saturday: 10:00 am-5:00 pm
• Sunday: 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Location:
Lake Ellyn Park just north of Glenbard West high school. The park starts at Hawtborne Blvd and Lenox Rd

https://downtownglenellyn.com/festival-of-the-arts

WRAPPING UP DAY 1 OF 2: GLEN ELLYN ARTS FESTIVAL

Hello everyone!
It's not too late to come to Lake Ellyn in Glen Ellyn for the Glen Ellyn Arts Festival.

And if you can't make it today, come out tomorrow. Weather looks great! And in addition to all the incredible artists, there's food, Gelato, and stuff for the kids. It's a great community feel right by scenic Lake Ellyn.

So grab some friends and come check out this free event. Downtown Glen Ellyn is a short walk too which has plenty of great eateries as well. So make a day / evening of it.

Dates: Saturday and Sunday, August 24 -25th, 2024.

Event Hours:
• Saturday: 10:00 am-5:00 pm
• Sunday: 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Location:
Lake Ellyn Park just north of Glenbard West high school. The park starts at Hawtborne Blvd and Lenox Rd

https://downtownglenellyn.com/festival-of-the-arts

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing women out there. Mom's are the best!

And a big Happy Mother's Day shout out to all the moms in my life as well!

I did a little early morning turning for a pizza handle. This is the first time I've used zebrawood (the stripey wood on the outside...hence the name 😉). Generally I've avoided it because it's pretty darn expensive stuff. But it sure does provide a unique pattern. This handle also uses paduak, elm, maple, and sapele.

I haven't posted as much as I do leading into Mothers Day since I was out of town last week (if you haven't visited Charleston, definitely check it out). But I have the availability to make 3 handles for pizza cutters or 2 handles for ice cream scoops. And 1 bottle stopper. So if you or someone you know needs a last minute mothers day gift, definitely reach out. Either way, feel free to share this with friends, social media, etc...I appreciate it

Given all the exotic woods in these pieces, prices are a little more than my regular prices.

Pizza cutter: 50
Ice cream scoop: 40
Bottle stopper: 18

Last post of the day. Here's another nice walnut piece with some subtle figuring going on on it. I just love the rich color of walnut. Finished as usual with food safe oil and beeswax.

Price: 30

Love the walnut bowls. Especially ones where I caught just a little bit of sapwood for that color variation. This is a great size for snack bowl. Finished with a food safe oil and beeswax.

Price: 30

I finished this about a week ago. I think it's maple (but could be ash). It's my imperfect bowl. What does that mean?

Well look closely.

There's a big inclusion from where a branch was growing. There's all sorts of grooves running throughout the inside, outside, and bottom. And I got a few cracks. I thought I could turn away a lot of these "imperfections" but found out that they ran all around the bowl. The more I studied them as I tried to find a solution to make a more pristine bowl, the more I realized I liked the imperfections. Sometimes it's best to let mother nature do her thing. So I glued, and I patched, and I sanded. This bowl took more work than I ever expected but I've come to really like it.

I have a put a fair amount of glue into this, so the bowl is really a display piece. It can't be used for salads or anything. But it sure is packed with features. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do.

Price: 150

Someone just dropped by to pick up a LOT of bottle openers as gifts for the guys in his wedding party. And a lucky few got some pizza cutters too.

It's a good reminder that wedding season is around the corner. If you know someone who needs gifts for their wedding party (maybe that person is you, your kid, your grandkid, or a friens), I'm always happy to help. Easiest way to do this is to share this with others.

Or, if you're struggling to find a good gift, I can make all sorts of unique and thoughtful gifts including matching sets of pizza cutters, ice cream scoops, bottle openers and bottle stoppers. I'm also making bowls, charcutterie boards, cutting boards, and the list goes on.

Feel free to message me and I'll be more than happy to see what I can to help!

Not sure what kind of "bowl" this is, but the design came about on the fly in an effort to salvage a piece of mulberry I got this past summer. There were cracks galore and the piece started out as a 10" diameter by 4" thick blank. The final dimensions are 7" in diameter amd 2 1/2" tall. Needless to say, I have big freaking mess to clean up.

Anyways, I really like the design and especially like the little lip at the top.

I haven't decided if I'm going to sell this one yet. I really dig it. Plus, the mulberry is going to darken and I want to see what that ends up looking like. I guess I'm just sharing cause it's one of the more unique things I made.

Here's a fun bowl. I have no idea what the species is. I suspect some kind of ambrosia maple or ash.

The piece I started with allowed me to make a pretty deep bowl (overall height of 4"). As I did, this interesting fiddleback striping pattern appeared along one side.

I opted to give the top of the bowl a subtle rim to add a little visual interest,  but after the striping showed up, I'm glad I just let the bowl shape speak for itself rather than over-designing it. This bowl ended up being just a bit over 7" in diameter and is really just a nice, simple bowl. A great example of less is more.

Price: 45

Back at it again. This time, I wanted to make more of a platter, and holy moly was I pleasantly surprised

I've been sitting on this piece of locally sourced ash. As a I started working on it, a very unique surprise emerged with an offset flame pattern. I added a little food safe finish oil and WOW, what a look!

From a design perspective, I created this very pleasant ogee curve for the profile as the interior shape following along. With this platter about 10" wide and 2" tall, it's just as perfect holding fruit or being shown off as a stand alone display piece.

Price: 85

Fun little shop product. I made this bowl with a lid (probably prefect for a salt cellar). The bowl is cherry with a wonderful piece of figured maple. I opted for a rosewood handle. Plus, i added a few fun little hidden details. The underside of the bowl has a few decorative elements and I added a little rosewood button that matches the lid handle. I finished it nothing but food safe beeswax to give it a nice satiny luster.

The bowl itself is 2 5/8" tall. With the lid and handle it measures about 5" tall with a 3 3/4" diameter.

Price: 45

Been a while since I posted. Busy with so many things. But found this small piece of spalted birch so I turned a small bowl with a little cove design near the top. I love the way the spalting and figure came out. Finished it with a little Mahoneys walnut oil for a soft, food safe finish.

Measures 3 3/4" tall and 2 3/4" wide.
Price: 18

So super short notice, but a good friend of ours is sponsoring a craft show for an organization called 261 Fearless. 261 Fearless inspires, motivates, and educates women to step up and become leaders. Supporting women of all backgrounds to run and lead healthy, fearless, and empowered lives. They offer education and running opportunities for women around the world to discover their self-worth and potential and make choices to control their lives.

I wasn't super active over the holidays with shows so if you're looking for some gifts (Valentines Day is around the corner), grab some friends and family and come on out!

Details:
Sunday, February 4th from 12-5
Manny’s Ale House 683 W. St. Charles, Elmhurst

https://fb.me/e/1pepfFKr9

Hi everyone
Between catch up projects,  organization needs (post holiday shop was /is a mess), and this crazy cold we were dealing with about a week ago  I haven't spent too much time in my humble little garahe shop. But I did play around with something new I've been meaning to try.

Soooo......I introduce....the honey dipper! This new item measures about 10" long. The dipper part is made of stainless steel and can be unscrewed from the handle to throw in your dishwasher. The handle, which is my homage to the amazing honey bee, has a threaded metal insert so you don't need to worry about the threads strippng out. I.have no clue what the demand is like, so I'm only doing a limited run of 9 (1 was already sold as a custom request)..

If you're interested,  price (for now) is $25.  PM me if you're interested!

Are you a Michigan fan? Or got family / friends that are? Then maybe I got you covered with maize and blue pizza cutters, ice cream scoops, bottle openers, and bottle stoppers. Get the whole matching set, or pick and choose! Either way, your MU fan will absolutely love these items as they cheer in the undefeated Wolverines against Alabama in the College Football Playoffs.

But please let me know ASAP as I have materials for a limited amount and I want to sure they get made in time for the gift giving season.

Pizza cutters: 50
Scoops: 40
Openers: 27
Stoppers: 15

For you Michigan fans out there (or maybe you know one that needs a gift this holiday season), I got a new color pattern which makes for a pretty awesome looking bottle opener. I'm also planning some bottle stoppers, ice cream scoops, and pizza cutters.

Shoot me a message if you're interested.

Bottle opener price: 28

More pics of my big walnut bowl.

I got 3 big cracks on this nearly 12" bowl. Im gonna see what I can do about them. This one might not end up being for sale. But I'm gonna finish it to see how it turns out. If the cracks get worse, I have some ideas. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Hey everyone. So someone ordered 4 smores sticks with a matching BBQ set (includes a storage bag--not shown). So I made this awesome set. But the problem is, I accidentally used the wrong color. Whoops 🤪.

So before I list this out via my usual channels, I thought I would showcase it here. Might be great for that upcoming Halloween party or a family holiday gift (yeah, it's a bit early...I know). It's still both smores and BBQ season in my house!

Total for the set is 175. I would prefer to see the set go together, but I can break up the smores sticks from the bbq set
(Bbq set does have to remain together, though).

Reach out with any questions.

If anyone's looking for a huge cherry wood charcutterie board, look no further. This 47" long, BEAUTIFUL live edge piece has an amazing flame pattern starting at its 14" wide base. It's been sanded smooth and finished with a mineral oil / beeswax finish. With the holidays around the corner, this is the perfect piece for your next large get together.

Asking price: 350

I got a chance to watch the Illini beat Toledo down in Champaign. I got to share of some this work in this picture with my fellow tailgaters who loved my work. I have some openers, stoppers, and yes, pipes left.

Great for the fan.and / or the student. Also, if you're a Bears fan, you'll want to grab some of my openers or reach out about other things I can make.

Feel free to reach out if your interested.

Bottle Openers: 28
Pipes: 25
Bottle Stoppers: 12