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My first korok, along with my first gengar for size comparison. The lighting was a bit tricky this day taking pictures, so I may try again. I miss taking outdoor pictures during the winter.
Gengar - carved from purple heart wood with cedar and ash inlays.

Korok - carved from zebra wood with walnut leaf face.
What are your suggestions for my next pokémon?
                                   .tools 

Gotcha! GENGAR was caught!

Finished up this Gengar carving, which was only planned to be a one day carving but ended up taking a lot longer. This is only my second time trying to inlay wood into a carving and I am really happy with how it turned out. It's was challenging with this guy being even shorter than my koroks, which are already pretty tiny to work with.

The second and third images show a bit of the inlay progress. The body is made from purple heart wood, which works out perfectly for Gengar. Then I used cedar for the eyes and ash for the mouth, with a little bit of wood burning to the teeth and to outline around the eyes and mouth.

If you would like to see a full 360 view, check out the stop motion video I shared before this post.

What are your suggestions for my next pokémon?
.tools

These three nerds are coming to my etsy shop this evening at 8pm est 2/03. Chio and two custom designed koroks, maple and oak leaves. Link in bio.
Chio - marblewood with walnut leaf face. Cedar, ash and purple heart mushroom caps. Green cotton cord vine.

Maple leaf korok - black poplar with walnut face.

Oak leaf korok - marble wood with walnut face.

Must be ADHD.

I was talking with my dad about unfinished projects this morning and got the idea to share some of my unfinished carving projects. None of these are korok related, for those who are interested in my other types of carvings. I have the tendency to jump around a lot and have many partially completed carvings and these are the ones that are far enough along to be worth sharing.

First is a wood spirit carving which is believe is from a piece of lilac.

Second and third are a figure carving of a contortionist that will be shooting a bow and arrow with her feet. It is carved from chechen wood and will include a few different types of wood for contrast.

Third is a purple heart wood carving that many of you might recognize based on the shape alone. It will be my next finished piece to go up on my etsy.

And last is a weird concept carving that I have previously shown on my instagram. I have been slowly chipping away at this since last summer. The wood type is pear.

Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long since my last post. I hope you all had a nice holiday season. I haven't been active with my instagram, but I have been knocking out some commissions, gifts, and working on some new items for my etsy shop. Including this freshly oiled Chio, who just needs his vine wrap.

I also spent some time going back over my work from the last two years to get some perspective and will share my results below for anyone that is interested.

I tend to get stuck in a what's next mindset, or I start thinking that I am not doing enough and it can really bring my motivation down. When you look at the big picture and everything you have achieved over time, it can really help break that. When I start to feel doubtful, I can now look at my list and feel just a bit better. Here is the count breakdown from January 2021 through January 2023.

• Hestu - 4
• Chio - 2
• Heart leaf koroks -18
• Star leaf koroks - 13
• Clover leaf koroks - 7
• Sideways leaf koroks - 7
• Split leaf koroks - 5
• Long leaf koroks - 4
• Pointy leaf koroks - 2
• Flying koroks - 2
• Lillypad koroks - 1
• Skull leaf koroks - 1
• Oak leaf koroks - 1
• Korok magnets - 2
• Ponyo - 2
• Oddish - 1
• Original carvings and wood spirits - 9

That makes it a total of 61 handmade koroks, not including magnets. I guess I still have a long way to go if I plan to match the 900 koroks in Breath of the Wild. 🌱

New holiday korok batch coming tomorrow, Sunday the 4th at 6pm est on my etsy page. This will most likely be the last batch of the year, but it will definitely be the last batch before Christmas.

From left to right:

Sideways leaf korok.
Marblewood with walnut.

Heart leaf korok.
Black poplar with black and white ebony.

Split leaf korok.
Salted maple with walnut.

Pointy leaf korok.
Black poplar with black and white ebony.

Star leaf korok.
Marblewood with walnut.

A view of my unglamorous work space. Working on a new batch of koroks before the holidays, before moving onto some new tree spirit carvings.

"I have friends hiding out all around! Don't be shy about poking into any suspicious places!"

Olive wood korok with a walnut leaf face.

Check out this image of a growing korok collection that was sent to me by some of my frequent purchasers in Kentucky. Only a few more leaf face shapes left until they have them all.

I am always grateful for every purchase, but it amazes me when customers come back for a second one. I love to see images of these koroks that have been shipped around the world. If you have purchased one, I am always happy to see it in its new home or better yet take it on an adventure to a unique landmark in your area. Feel free to message me any pictures you have. I will start a highlight section at the top of my page with all of the koroks. Thanks!

Happy Halloween!

It's almost Halloween! 🎃 Like so many others, I think this is my favorite holiday. My wife encouraged me to list a few koroks for Halloween, so I decided to go all in and make a few original designs.

I was deciding between a pumpkin, a skull, and a ghost, but wanted to keep the leaf shape. I ended up with a skull and a not so ghost shaped face, but it has a sort of ghost essence I guess.

The skull leaf korok is made from purple heart wood with a black and white ebony leaf face. This was my first time ever working with purple heart and it turned out really nice. The wood is extremely dense and hard to work, but that color is irresistible. It's hard to believe it's natural.

The "ghost" leaf korok is a reverse of my usual wood choice, walnut wood for the body and marble wood for the leaf face. I really wanted to do an oak leaf shape and use an orangeish colored wood to represent the fall leaf color. I am happy with how it turned out, even though you don't exactly get a ghost impression.

These are both going up on my etsy this evening at 8pm est. Link in bio.

Hestu stages.
1. Raw materials
2. Rough shaping on bandsaw to remove material
3. Parts shaped by hand
4. Fully assembled

Sorry for my lack of posts lately. I have been struggling a bit while working through a depression period. In those moments talking about what I am going through and reaching out to people is something that is hard for me to do. I am fortunate to have a loving and understanding family and a wife who is supportive and also encourages me to share my experience with others. So here it goes.

For me creativity comes in waves. Sometimes I am riding at the top and my productivity is flowing so well that there is not enough time in the day to get everything done. Other times I am at the bottom of the wave and productivity is slow and I have to actively push myself to get done what I need to. Then there are times when the perfect storm hits and not only am I at the bottom of the wave, but it has crashed over me and I am tumbling along the ocean floor through all of the sand and coral. There may be a trigger for it, but a lot of times there isn't one and that can make me feel even worse, especially when everything in life is going well.

So hopefully someone can relate and will know that they aren't the only one, and if you ever feel like you have no one to talk to feel free to send me a message. I am not a therapist obviously, but at least I've been in a similar boat..get it?.. Cause of the wave metaph...ok, I am done.
maple

Chio is going up on my Etsy shop at 8pm est this evening.

Even though I have sold dozens of my koroks at this point, It's still hard to let them go sometimes. Especially this little one, because I am so happy with how it turned out. When I was starting out, selling off my work was one of the hardest things for me to do. I grow attached after spending hours working on a single piece. It has been a good lesson for me to learn to let go and to also see how other people can find happiness owning some of my work.
Chio - made from marble wood with walnut leaf face. Mushroom caps made from cedar and ash woods. Vine made from green cotton cord.

After making Hestu I wanted to try out making Chio. He's a little bigger than the regular koroks, but not nearly as big or complicated as Hestu. If you haven't found him in the game, he's under the Great Deku Tree in the Korok Forest. The second image is a size comparison of a standard korok, Chio, and Hestu. I am still planning when to list this guy for sale on Etsy and will keep everyone posted. I also won't have too much new content for a bit while I am finishing a few commissions. Thanks again for following along.
Chio - Made from marble wood with cedar and ash mushroom caps. Vine made from green cotton cord.

"If you'll give me just one Korok seed, I'll make your inventory bigger in return! "
Hestu - made from curly maple, walnut, and cedar. satchel bag made from suede with jewelry wire for the clasps.

New to my etsy shop at 6pm est today. I am pretty sure this is one of the last three korok leaf faces that I hadn't made yet. I am also working on making Chio this week to hopefully put in my shop towards the end of the week, so keep a look out for that. It won't be quite as large and complex as Hestu, but definitely more involved than regular koroks to make.

Speaking of Hestu, I think the way I am going to go about selling Hestu is by taking commission orders and starting a waiting list for anyone interested in getting one. They will be a bit pricey, due to the amount of time involved in making it, and of course all of the materials used. If you are interested in doing a Hestu commission, please send me a message to discuss. Thanks!
Korok - made from marble wood with walnut face.

My first finished Hestu, along with my first two koroks ever made. I thought it would be a fitting image just to show the size comparison, but after taking pictures I remembered that they are all the originals. I was also thinking of how long it took me originally to make each korok and now I have easily made and sold over 30 of them. Sometimes it's hard to see your progress in the moment, but it's always good to look back and reflect on how far you've come.
Hestu - made from curly maple, walnut, and cedar. Satchel made from suede.

Heart korok - made from zebra wood with walnut

Star korok - made from curly maple with walnut

Oddish - Made from curly maple, with walnut leaves, cedar eyes & tongue.

"Wahahaha! You can see me! You can really see me! I'm the happiest korok ever!"
Korok - made from cherry burl wood with chechen wood leaf face.

Three new koroks coming to my etsy this evening at 8pm est, including this little guy made from black poplar with black and white ebony wood leaf face. The pictures may not show it well, but the black poplar wood has a nice gradient from black to dark maroon.

Link to my esty in bio

"You want to leave the forest? But why? It's perfect here!"
Korok - carved from olive wood with walnut leaf face.

proxy88 updated their website address.

proxy88 updated their business hours.

Yahaha!
Trying to get a few projects finished up before getting another batch of koroks made. Carving is a slow process, but how can you not be patient for a face like this?

I love taking pictures this time of year. I have so many more options outside to put these guys in their natural environment. I get to crawl around in the plants and dirt trying to find the ideal locations. Reconnect with nature every chance you get.
Korok made from marble wood, with walnut wood for the leaf face.

I like this image from my last korok giveaway too much to not repost it.
Korok made from marble wood with walnut wood for the leaf face.

New korok batch coming to my etsy, 8pm est.

I am finally getting back to fully working on projects again after surgery. I started working on the largest original carving piece that I have ever made. I have been slowly chipping away at it and can't wait to share my progress. But as always I jump around with my projects and put that on hold so that I could get these koroks made.

I have three little koroks that will be available this evening. Two are made from marblewood with walnut faces and the other is flaming box elder body with a leopard wood face. I figured I would reverse the woods from last time to see how it looked and I am really happy with it. I also wanted to test if I would still get an allergic reaction to the leopard wood, since there would be less wood dust from making just the face. So far so good.