Hi Everyone!  I've had some spare time lately which has given me the opportunity to stock up on a few small items that are fun to make.  If you need a gift and want to buy something from me immediately you can see what I have in my new Etsy Shop.  Check it out!

Be blessed and think peace...Sue

I like this but....

I love this part of my job!  And it's a classic example of what "Custom Made" really means.

Recently a woman contacted me referring to the media center pictured above.  She like the media center but...   She needed something with different dimensions and she also wanted to match the style of the furniture that she already had.  After communicating back and forth so I could fully understand her needs I presented her with a few drawings with various finishing options.  As a result of this collaboration with her she is now the proud owner of a media center that is exactly what she was looking for.

From a photo on my website, to a photo you have, to your current furniture style I can take that idea and functional needs and build you a piece of custom made furniture that is one of a kind, will last your lifetime and for generations beyond.

I will work with you until I fully understand what YOU want and I love building it for you!

Thanks for reading,
Sue

Tall Post Bed with Canopy Rails and Finials

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  The weather has been brilliant here in Vermont for the past several days although it rained all day yesterday.  But we needed it for all of the vegetable gardens that are currently getting planted as well as the lawns which were beginning to burn.

I haven't mentioned this before, but I do a lot of furniture building for a retail furniture store in Stowe, VT.  I have recently received permission from the store manager to post pictures and information about their work.  The name of the store is Vermont Furniture Works and they've been in business for many years and have built furniture for people in almost every one of the 50 states as well as several other countries.

I absolutely love their furniture selection and have felt very fortunate to be one of their builders.  I spent the better part of May building two of their Tall Post Beds with canopy rails and finials.  These are made from soft maple and stained a dark cherry.

The beds are full sized but of course can be made in any size.  They have various headboard options as well as finial options.  If you want a bed like this and get in touch with Vermont Furniture Works to place an order please ask for me as your builder!

If you click here, you can see some of the custom beds that I have built for my own customers.

Thanks for reading,
Sue

New Product - Cane/Walking Stick

And here is the cane talked about in my previous post.  It can also be used as a walking stick - the black rubber tip screws off revealing a spike.

It's Christmas Eve and...

It just doesn't seem like the year is almost over.  I do minimal celebrating at this time of year so I haven't had to endure all of the hustle and bustle that maybe you have.   The days, for me, seem like almost any other day of the year so the end of 2009 is coming at somewhat of a surprise for me.

I did make one gift this year.  My dad had a stroke earlier this year and now, at the age of 90, has to use a cane to keep him steady.  He bought a $10 aluminum cane at the local pharmacy and it's working great.  But I couldn't resist and so sneaked a measurement of it's length and I made a wooden cane for him with beautiful brass hardware.  I made it with tiger maple stained a light brown.  I also put high gloss polyurethane on it so it would really stand out.  I'll be taking some photos of it tomorrow morning and will post one here.  I hope it helps him to walk proud.  I think the biggest gift my family has this year is that my dad is here to celebrate with us.

Merry Christmas,
Sue

Another Fine Hardwood Furniture Job Done

If you've been following my previous posts, you know that I've been busy building a custom bedroom set.  Well, today the bedroom set left my shop and is on  its journey from  here in  Vermont to its excited owner  in New Mexico.

Shown below is the fully constructed bed.  It's made of some beautiful cherry wood harvested in Pennsylvania and purchased from my local wholesaler.  I hadn't bought such clear, flat lumber in a long time, if ever.  This is my own contemporary-designed arched bed.

Although my camera likes to throw in a little distortion, here is my own design of a contemporary dresser.  My customer wanted a very sleek, simple look and didn't want any drawer pull hardware.  The drawers have a hand-hold routed out of the bottom front edge for easy grasping and operation.

And finally, my custom-designed night table which matches the dresser and compliments the bed.  I made two of these for my customer.

The shipping company did a fabulous job blanket wrapping all of these pieces of furniture and I am very confident that they will make it safely to the western part of the country.

Thanks for reading,
Sue

Time Moves Forward

The bedroom set I've been working on for almost the past couple of months is almost done.  I'm proceeding with the finishing this week and the shipping company will pick it up next week.  It'll then begin it's journey to New Mexico to it's excited owner.  I'll be taking some photographs within the next couple of days and post them here and on my website.  It's always exciting to end one project and move on to another.