beth

thanks ian - i like taking pictures. they seem to be everywhere :) i have billions ...

i like this thread :) i love all your place names they are so romantic!!!! here is what my area looks like in ye olde shires :) i love it.

great photo frank!  gives an idea of what massive force we try to fight with the ocean..! 

 bryan that looks so beautiful! very different to what i see when i look out the window! stunning..

yes - i agree - its ALL exciting  :) its great when you can enjoy the details and process of your every day life :)

that sounds really good john - i think my interests lie slightly off centre, this is for people entirely focused on this craft at the expense of all else! would be really interested in what happens though. sounds like a fantastic opportunity to be grabbed with both hands by someone keen on making this their focus.. go for it tom!!

all makes sense - just lovely to make and use something like that - i think its really beautiful, looks like a human being made it with enthusiasm and love - cant beat that :) love how you made it so decorative when you could have kept it very conservative, the flowers are ace :) thats where the enthusiasm shows.

good idea kurgan, ive always thought the whole craft is very photogenic - you could make something really fascinating. as for more women on calenders, well - i think men is the way to go!! we can safely say the balance in that dept needs a little redressing! :)

yes they certainly ARE pretty :) bet theyre good to handle too.

yep - there are a LOT of things involved in running your own business that have nothing whatsoever to do with the pleasure of bsmithing! i guess its called Work for a reason! Theres no reason why you cant learn those skills too though, and the more in depth courses will probably run through some basic business stuff. i think by getting yourself on some kind of a course you will see if it is the right thing for you, and if it is, you will be able to manage the rest by hook or by crook :)

i would see what the course is like, the type of elements of the work you enjoy and worry about the actual Job later - there are so many directions you can take with this subject, either working for yourself, or someone else - when youve been through the course youll be in a better position to see where you want to go. and there will be opportunities at that time that are specific to that time, like anything else. best of luck! i hope you get on a course if thats what you want - its what id have done if i had not got children and other things to think about ! .

hi paul - im uk too - if i were you i would get yourself onto a good blacksmithing course like hereford, or if you dont want full time, or cant do full time, look on the uk blacksmiths guild on here, they do lots of short courses that will help you get up to speed and see what kind of things you can learn. im pretty sure im right in saying apprentiships are few and far between now, due to most people not being able to afford taking one on. but you might be lucky - keep asking around. i reckon a course is a good idea if your straight out of school. :) go for it !!

joshua what would you have?

i would like another electric plug point, and the mental tool of patience... :/

jk - its probably cos i like those kind of stories :) when i say spooky i mean kind of otherworldly - like a man eating plant or a stone pillar that turns into a rose or something that has a bit more Life in it than your average plant :) i really like it !

jk i love that! it has something like a spooky fairy tale plant about it :) the leaf reminds me of a flame too somehow. i agree - it looks way bigger has a weighty look about it :)

that looks really nice tubbe - simple and good. very satisfying to breathe life into your father's old chest too :)

ian - nice observation :) 

gundog - aha!! a youngun. well roll on october then !!!

gundog - im intrigued about the pre october orange juice... :) your name implies shooting, and october - the pheasant season??.. so you save yourself till the shoots begin, and then after october its sloe gin all the way? :)

why is it a womans knife gundog? is it a cooking kind of knife? i like it it looks good :)

kevin ive never seen a table like that! its great :) the bottoms look like they are soft like liquorice. very groovy! i like how you made the ring in links...

wow! what beautiful casts! ... fabulous idea... so long as nothing in residence... ;)

keep thinking about this now - if you dont trim the wick it will burn a bit sootier, so maybe deliberately cut back the wax for a longer wick to start iwth. apparently a draft encourage smoke too, so if you gently blow the flame it might have some effect? 

what a beautiful idea - it reminds me of the way they used to (maybe still do?) collect soot from the candles used to illuminate mosques, using elaborate air circulating systems to make sure the soot didnt gather on the internal stonework, and collecting the soot in purpose built chambers within the architecture. the soot was used to make a very good quality ink used for calligraphy used on all kinds of documents. soot is very cool - i would suggest as frosty did an old mucky oil lamp or i think it would be worth sourcing some older candles from somewhere (ebay?) i would be interested to know which type of wax means it burns with a blacker soot... such an elegant method of marking spots that need working..

yes frosty - the simplest things are also complex and far reaching - which is why they are such good food for thought :) 

and your father - he sounds cool :)