Spain, Arkansas & the Philippines Mission Plaque

 This is now the 3rd LDS mission plaque I have created.  Karla's Aunt had seen the plaque I created for my in-laws and asked me if I she could "order" one for her in-laws for Christmas. I was excited at the prospect...and even more excited when she told me one of the missions was in the Philippines.  At that point, I decided I had to give it a try-I had done Hawaii, how much harder could a few more islands be, right?

I woodburned all of the mission names by hand on the side panel below their respective flags. 

You can probably tell that the three mission shapes ranged in difficultly, with Arkansas being the easiest and the Philippines being the most difficult.  I'll had to admit that I didn't recognize Spain's outline, because I am so used to seeing it with Portugal filling in the gap on on the west coast.

  

 The Philippines was the great challenge of this project, but it was personally very fulfilling.  The tracing, cutting and assembling of the 30 largest islands took many hours over a period of a few weeks.  I wanted to be sure that if any Philippino looked at this cut out, they would be impressed with the accuracy of every island represented.  Go ahead and check a map!  The tough part of that is that most of these islands could hide under a quarter, many under a penny or dime-and islands don't lend themselves to any geometric corners or straight lines.  Needless to say, my fingers were within 1 inch of the scroll saw blade at any given time.  Many of the islands were so small that once the final cut was made to release them from the main block, they fell down into the interior of the machine and I would have to dig through the saw dust and recover them.  

I mounted all of the islands on a thin piece of poplar the same way I did with the Hawaii cut out I made in 2009 (posted previously).

 The flags were printed and mounted to small boards to elevate them from the side panel.

 I have used this scripture, Matthew 28:19 as the scripture for all three mission plaques thus far.  I have them engraved at a local trophy shop on a brass square.  It is exciting to see the influence a single family can have across the globe from missionary service.

This project gave me some extra confidence in doing some technically challenging pieces.  Overall, I am very pleased with the way it turned out. (Seen below without the shadowbox) 

Families Are Forever Mirror

I made this mirror for my wife a year or two after we were married.  In addition to woodworking, I enjoy cutting/shaping and etching mirrors and glass.  This is a very basic project, but represents a core truth that brings me unexpressable joy every day: Families are Forever.  Love you, Karla! 

Reno Institute of Religion

I had the opportunity to serve as the Institute Council President at the Reno Institute of Religion for a couple years as I attend the University of Nevada Reno (Go Wolf Pack!).  We provided activities and social events for LDS students in the area.  I made this project to sit on my desk at the institute and still sits there today. 

Tyler's Workshop

This was a little Christmas project for my nephew Tyler a few years back.  He was just starting to show interest in tools, especially screwdrivers.  I made him this little tabletop bench for him to practice without secretly taking apart all of his family's furniture.  We also gave him a screwdriver, a tape measure and a small level in a little tool belt that Karla made. 

Chili, Cobbler & Bread Cook-off Trophies

For the last 3 years, I have built trophies for our ward's annual chili-off held in the fall.  In 2009, I was shown the golden bowl of chili and asked if I could make a base.  Since then, regardless of where I was, I was asked or volunteered to make the trophies.  In 2010, I was the leader of some 11 year old boy scouts and they helped me build them that year.  The design is about as simple as you can get, a 4x4 post cut to around 5 inches, two routered squares for the caps and some thrift store utensils spray painted gold.  They certainly create some excitement at the events though.  And yes, my daughter is darn cute!