I will be taking the black walnut boards from the last blog post and building this kitchen sideboard with them. It always feels a bit like magic to me every time I start with pieces of raw wood and begin crafting them into a totally new creation. Furniture making is both exciting and challenging, because the work is so delicate and intricate.
Keep watching my blog over the next few weeks to see this sideboard begin to take shape.
I love the grain on this black walnut wood. A deep brown shot through with lighter brown and even shades of purple. These boards are destined to become a sideboard with a wine rack, commissioned by a customer in Calgary, Alberta. Once the sideboard is made and oiled, it will really bring out the grain and all the colours.
Keep watching my blog to see if I can create a stunning piece of furniture out of these plain looking boards.
These are some cherry trivets (hot pads) that I played around with for the kitchen. The variations in colour and grain in the cherry wood are very attractive, and having beautiful wood trivets for the tea pot makes having a cup of tea even more appealing. They are coated with two applications of LandArk natural oil finish and one application of food grade beeswax and mineral oil top coat.
Our five year old son was so excited to help with the draw for the maple & walnut cutting boards that were the draw prize we offered at the Castlegar Home & Lifestyle Expo. He drew the name of the happy winner, and here is a photo. Enjoy them, Deb!
I have been experimenting with using various types of wood together which have different colours and grain patterns. I liked how the colours of the maple and black walnut woods were so striking when alternated with each other, so I decided to make a set of cutting boards in this style.
The small board is light and very portable, useful as a cheese board or for small items. The bigger board I made with thicker pieces of wood to be a sturdy all-purpose cutting board in the kitchen. I was really happy with the result, and so were all the people who entered to win these in the draw I offered at the Castlegar Home Expo!
The cutting boards were finished with food grade hemp oil and beeswax.
To show something a little different at this year’s Home & Lifestyle Expo in Castlegar, British Columbia, I decided to frame a Japanese style timber pergola. The front of the frame was inspired by Japanese Torii Gates, which mark the entrance to Shinto shrines and indicate that you have entered a holy place where the spirits are more likely to hear your prayers.
Here is a view of the cabinets installed in this straw bale house in British Columbia. The PaperStone countertop is a polished addition to the cherry cabintery. Although small, the house design optimizes the use of space to create a very comfortable nest for family of three.
We love seeing the dedication and artistry that other natural builders bring to their work. Ziggy’s photos are an inspiring journey of home building, and we look forward to seeing more! He is hosting several workshops this year in Missouri – the info is below. ~Raina
The Year of Mud is hosting two natural building workshops in 2012 at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage — check out their Timber Framing Workshop and Straw Bale Workshops!
Yes, the words “Happy” and “Work” can be in the same sentence! Especially when my family visits, and I get a big hug from my sweet daughter.
One of my goals is to create worksites that are both healthy and enjoyable. A 40 hour work week means we are spending a quarter of our lives at a worksite or office. I am still living while I am working, and I want my life to be purposeful, fulfilling, and enjoyable. So how can I achieve this at the worksite for me and everyone I work with?
These beautiful veggies came from a farm close to us that is set up as a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You buy a share in the CSA at the beginning of the season, and you enjoy a box of local, organic, seasonal vegetables each week. The first time I had garden-fresh broccoli (so sweet!), I was completely sold.
In a time where we get apples shipped from New Zealand, broccoli shipped from California, and zucchini shipped from Mexico, we have become disconnected from our food sources and the people who grow it. These are all foods that grow in Canada, and if we are able to find local produce and shift our diet to be more seasonal, we can enjoy fresh delicious food that was ripened by the sun in the fields rather than by chemicals en route.