My Three best sellers

I had made the odd jar of relish, jam and chutney in the past but in the last 18 months I have been making quite a lot and different varieties to sell at Fusspots Cafe up the road. They have proved so popular with the locals and tourists alike that I had exhausted the supply of recycled jam jars in the village and bought out all I could find in the surrounding Vinnies and Salvos shops.

I decided to buy some jars in bulk from a Sydney manufacturer recently so now I have a steady supply and uniform size plus I don't have to go through that annoying and sometimes difficult task of removing the old labels and glue.

My latest batch is mango, apricot and mixed fruit chutney. Quite yummy even if I do say myself.

Pirate Night on the P&O Pacific Jewel

In July we went on a 12 day south pacific cruise. The first overseas holiday for Matt and my 3rd cruise. It was a fun time but the bit I liked best of all was Pirate Night. Having advance warning of the possible theme nights on board, I prepared 2 pirate costumes and bought 2 wig/hats from an online costume place. This is the result. We had a lot of fun and I was so glad Matt agreed to dress up.

Cedar Jewellery Chest

This jewellery chest is made from cedar and rather than doing inlay work on the front, Matt has engraved the flowers and painted them. There are 2 separate lift out trays, one with an additional drawer.

I really don't know where he gets his ideas sometimes but they are pretty darn good I say.

Pine Inlay Jewellery Chest

Matt experimented doing finger joins on the edges of this ply wood pine box and was pleased with the result so he decided to try a flower inlay pattern on the lid and front. Now he has perfected the finger joints he has moved on to other timbers.

This one turned out really well with the lift up tray as an additional feature. It sold last week at Fusspots.

Round Cedar Tray

This is a round drinks tray that Matt has cut from a single piece of Australian cedar and turned on the lathe. It is quite light weight but sturdy and he has done the star inlay pattern in the base. He also made the display stand. This is the first round tray he has made. He made 4 rectangular ones previously that have all sold. I think this one is the best. It is for sale at Fusspots for $135.00

The star inlay bowl

This is a beautiful example of Matt's inlay work. This bowl is quite large and he has cut all the inlay pieces individually then set them in the base.

He had some trouble with the lacquer bubbling up after several coats and this required him to sand it back and start again.

However, after all the hassle, it has turned out to be a lovely piece.

The Candle Holder

One of Matt's clever carved creations. He worked on this candle stick holder for quite a while and put it aside for a while to decide how to give it a good finish.

When we finally put it up at Fusspots for sale, Veronica bought it immediately.

Fruit Bowls

Matt has been making all sorts of fruit bowls which have proved popular. The one above we gave to our mate Wolfgang as a thank you gift for making my new denture. It is made from small pieces of several types of timber that Matt has skilfully glued together in a pattern.

The one on the right is for sale at Fusspots and us made from a burl with rosewood base. It is quite heavy.

Burl Clock

This is a lovely mantle clock made from red gum burl. The burl is part of the load of timber we bought from Taree last year. I am surprised that there was so much burl in the load. Matt has made quite a few objects from it. Very popular with the tourists who drop into Fusspots where we have our permanent craft table.