Friday, October 22, 2010

Daddy's Hands

Is it just me, or do the weeks seem to be going by faster and faster.  I cannot believe that Christmas is just around the corner. Whee! I really want to slow things down a bit because for every day that goes by, it means I'm another day older. But, on one hand that's a good thing because it means I'm still vertical.~smile~

Speaking of Christmas, I'm about to show and tell you about some items that would make wonderful Christmas gifts, all made with my Dad's creative hands.

My Dad in his shop
My Dad has some 65 years experience in woodworking. His Dad was a carpenter, so a lot of his talent came by him naturally. But, while Daddy was in high school he also attended trade school for 3 years where he learned woodworking.  And, later, when he was in the Navy he was a wood pattern maker. 
His Woodworking Shop
My Dad is a retired Southern Baptist minister and throughout his 50+ years in the ministry he enjoyed woodworking as a hobby.  Upon his retirement about 10 years ago he has been able to spend much more time in his shop creating beautiful pieces of work.


Over the years he has created different pieces of furniture, wooden spoons, boxes, various designs of crosses and his most recent design the Fleur de Lis.  




It is the Fleur de Lis that he will be featuring at an upcoming Art and Craft Show our city is hosting on Nov. 6th. He has made them in various woods and in various sizes. 


It was my idea for him to do the Fleur de Lis.~smile~ Of course, they are very popular here in Louisiana, but they seem to be popular just about everywhere.  He liked that idea and began working on patterns and soon began making them.  Very few people have any idea the amount of work that goes into this type of woodworking.  Each Fleur de Lis takes about 10 hours to make and goes through a 25 step process before it is finished.  Yea, can you believe that?  He is a perfectionist and his finish proves that.  
 This little beauty (above) is a "first" for my Daddy.  This Fleur de Lis is made from tiny little gold and black ceramic tiles that my Dad has had for over 50 years. And, the gold is 14 caret. He cut the design from plywood, painted the edges and back black and then glued the tiles to the front  and finished it with black grout.  It is a beautiful piece and there's probably a Saints fan out there that would give their "eye teeth" to own it.  Dad is thinking that he may sell this one through a silent auction on the day of the show.


He will also have some of his crosses available as they are always popular. He has both traditional and contemporary.
He uses walnut, cherry, mahogany, oak, maple and old pine as his choice of woods.  So, no matter one's preference, he probably has something anyone would like.

 My Dad will be 81 on Nov. 9th and I am so happy that he is still enjoying extremely good health.  He does have Macular Degeneration  and that does present it's challenges to him. I just pray that the Lord will allow him to always have enough field of vision left that he can enjoy his woodworking because it provides for him an outlet for his amazing creativity. 


I will be assisting Dad in his booth at the upcoming show and I look forward to that. This will only be the 2nd show of this type that he has ever done.  Most of his work is sold through word of mouth, but since this is local, he decided it would be fun to participate.  We are certainly hoping for a beautiful fall day since he opted for an outside booth. ~wink~
   

On another post one day I'll feature some of the other items that he has made over the years, such as the cradle he made for our son, his first grandchild. Yes, the Lord truly blessed my Dad both in the Word and in wood.


Do I not just love our Friday Company Girls! It's such fun sharing a little of our lives with each other and getting to know one another just a little better.  I've been blessed beyond measure by many of your friendships. Thanks Rachel for hosting us each week.


Lea @ CiCis Corner
Lea @ CiCis Corner

Hi there! My name is Lea. I've been wife to the best Hubby for 44 years....Mom to a son and daughter....CiCi to 4 precious Grans....lover of family and friends....enjoy laughter and a good time....shopper....picture taking maniac....maker of delicious fudge....organizational enthusiast....memory maker....Southern Belle...and most importantly.....a Child of the King! Welcome to my little corner!

21 comments:

  1. Wow, Lea...what a beautiful craftsman your dad is! How awesome that he's still bringing people joy well into his golden years. Thanks for sharing! Have a blessed weekend...

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  2. Oh Lea...you just enjoy your daddy..what a wonderful legacy...a godly man....Thank you for stopping by and thank you for your comments.

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  3. Wish I could be there! I LOVE the tile one...it is AMAZING!!! I assure you, there are lots of fleur de lis lovers around here, too!

    Your daddy has an amazing talent! You should do a blog give away sometime with one of his pieces...you would be the hit of the bloggy world!

    Have a great weekend! You are truly a blessing!

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  4. How beautiful! I'm sure they will sell really well. How lovely that he continues to do what he loves and is so gifted in! Thanks for the visit, Blessings on your Day!

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  5. Beautiful woodwork. What a talent. I love the mosaic Fleur-de-Lis. I bet it'll fetch a pretty penny.

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  6. His work is beautiful! We're a little bit closer to God when we are being creative, I think. What an awesome workshop he has, too.

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  7. I hope he does well!!! What does he charge for the crosses? they are beautiful.

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  8. Those are terrific, very beautiful. He's definitly got skill. Wish I could make stuff like that haha.

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  9. It is amazing how beautiful his work is especially when you consider his vision is somewhat impaired by that awful MD. Personally, I have a beautiful elm wood spoon, a cross and a fleur de lis made by Rev. Duncan. Best of luck to him at the show!!

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  10. Does he take web orders?? :) They are all so lovely, but the crosses really caught my eye. My computer didn't open the mosaic one so I'll have to try refreshing the page so I can see it. What a beautiful talent...and even more meaningful knowing the work that goes into each one.

    Blessings, Rachel Anne

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  11. Thanks for sharing about your dad. His work is beautiful. My maternal grandfather was really good with wood too even though he was a cook. He built a stool and a desk for us. Always good to have a handy man type around too. It certainly saved some money. He also built the downstairs bedroom and bathroom of a house we grew up in when my paternal grandma came from China to help take care of us. Anyhow, have fun at the show!

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  12. Wow, those are beautiful. Your dad's skill and patience are to be commended. I hope he sells more than he imagined he would at the trade show - those deserve to be displayed.

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  13. What a talented dad you have there. Nothing like great craftsman detail. Maybe your dad needs to create an Etsy shop to sell some of his creations?

    Blessings and love,
    Debbie

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  14. Wow! Those are just beautiful! I love how you talk about your Dad. I can tell you admire him. My dad recently passed away and I think about him every day.

    Thank you for sharing a little bit of your life with us over coffee.

    -Melissa

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  15. How special!! I love that you still have your Daddy :) What a blessing! I miss mine soooo much! He was a civil engineer by trade but his true talent was carpentry. He built two of the homes that I grew up in.

    I'm going to email you about getting my hands on some of his work!

    I hope you're enjoying your weekend! Ours has been so busy which is a nice (but exhausting!) change. It is a little after 8 and I am ready for bed, ha!

    xoxo, Kelly

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  16. Your daddy is very talented. What beautiful creations he's made.

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  17. Being that my husband is from Louisiana, I just know that he would love those fleur-de-lis! I wish we could come by and see his show. But, more importantly, how amazing is it that he has the hobby and he is SO good at it! What a blessing for you!

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  18. Wow, your father does BEAUTIFUL work!! What a blessing for him to be so active at his age :-) Thanks so much for sharing

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  19. I'm so amazed at this talent and especially that he remains so skilled at his age! What a blessing for him in this twilight years!

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  20. Lea, I enjoyed this post so much. It was great getting your see your dad's shop and all his creations (or some of them, anyway). I am proud of the ebony cross necklace I purchased that he made. I look forward to seeing both of you at the craft show. I rarely miss it. I have found some one-of-a-kind things there. I'll be checking out his fleur-de-lis collection. Very impressive!

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  21. Wow...you can just see the Lord in his face, what an awesome heritage. What a blessings that he can create with his hands...so many blessings in this post!

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So glad you stopped by and hope you enjoyed your visit. I love your comments and read each and every one of them and I always try to reply to them. Blessings to you this day!