Our own log cabin mailbox!

Once more, I see that I have neglected my blog.  I suppose it means that I'm so fully immersed in our business, Carved By Heart, that I haven't made the time to write here.  Actually, being busy with orders is a good thing.  It's always rewarding when products we sell are ordered and appreciated.  Like our one-of-a-kind mailboxes.

We often talked of wanting our own log cabin mailbox, but the orders kept coming in so that we weren't able to snag one for our own.  And then, determination set in, we made an extra one and before it could be ordered, we claimed it.  As ours!

 We even added a dog log cabin, food bowl, little mailbox and a fence.  On the back left side is a pile of logs.  You can see that we had fun with our mailbox!

To see more photos and more descriptions about our customized mailboxes, please visit our Etsy Log Cabin Mailbox page.

Breaking the Band Saw: An Author Looks at a Change in Plans

Do what you are called to do and do it well.

It sounds like advice a mom would give a child.  You know, be yourself, everyone else is already taken. Pep words.

Actually, it's advice I've had to tell myself as I've embarked on a new journey.  This venture is not one I had on my wish list.  Like any author-at-heart, my list consisted of meg-book deals, fame, and speaking engagements.  A purpose, fulfillment. I also wanted readers to like my stories, of course. Oh, and money for the mortgage, those bills, and Earl Grey tea.  Dear God, please hear my prayer.

So what happened when the tide changed and I found myself sailing away from that sunny island, that big dream, the one I had had a taste of, but wanted more of?  What happened when the boat turned into the wild and windy sea?

In other words, what transpired when a little business morphed into a bigger story?

First, I thought my husband Carl could make all the products and I'd just do what I'm good at---customer service. But after he complained that he needed someone to help him with the increasing orders, I knew I needed to enter the garage-transformed-into-workshop and get to know tools bigger than hammers and needle-nose pliers.

I have no skill set for this, I reminded God in case He had forgotten how I broke the band saw blade one evening last spring. And how mad Carl had been, emphasizing how I don't listen to instruction. God, I'm so much more comfortable creating characters.

As Carl became swamped with orders, I had to put my settings and characters aside and put my full attention into the business.  After all, it was making us money, much more than novel-writing.

Months later, I'm still the one emailing customers, and, when necessary, calling them. I take the photos of our products and write the listings for four of the five online sites where we sell.  But I also get dirty. I stain, sand, and paint.  I help install new lights in our workshop. I use a drill press and don't call it a drill saw and have not broken it. . .   yet. I have been to Lowes and The Home Depot more times in the last three weeks than I've been to my old hangout, the library. I've even gotten bold and tried my hand at making some of my own wood creations on our new laser-engraver.

Carved By Heart continues to evolve and gets noticed for many of its products----especially our Log Cabin Mailbox that was featured in Reader's Digest and at PeeWee Herman's blog.

Instead of a review from a reader, I get emails from customers that say things like:
Wow!!! Just got the most wonderful call from my brother!!! He absolutely loves his gift and said he has always wanted one. Thank you!!! (The brother had lost his young wife a year ago.)

And people have paid money for my mini bird house ornaments and wood Christmas blocks!

Perhaps a book deal will happen sometime in the future . . .  Perhaps not . . .

Right now I'm grateful.  I'm thankful knowing that this business is what God has called us to do.  A husband-wife team of working every day together is not an easy feat and Carl and I have had our struggles. But even in the midst of communication that goes sideways or sheer stress due to machines that need parts that aren't readily available or spending four hours packaging and mailing out orders (13 of them came in just yesterday; we mailed out 31 last week), there is a deep sense of fulfillment.

Best of all, I see that God is doing a work in my heart.  Surrounded by machines and tools, God's voice speaks to me about love, patience, humility, and forgiveness. As I work with pine and birch, I learn the need to pay attention to detail. Along with the wood, I'm being crafted into whatever this is God has for me now.

There is nothing like doing what you're supposed to be doing.

Have faith.  Trust.  In His time, He reveals what He has for us, especially as we enter seasons of new beginnings.


****    Carved By Heart is having a sale this weekend.  Stop by and see what we've got for you!  ****

From Rough to Polished: Carved By Heart Offers House Number Signs

One of the fun things about wood is that it can be crafted into so many useful and beautiful things. Take this box of wood we have. It can be used to make lots of projects, allowing us to repurpose old wood into something new.

From pine, crabapple, and even douglas fir, we have made many cherished items for the home. Pictured is a lamp carved from a dying crabapple tree.

Our house signs are popular items that get us many requests. We have signs for under the mailbox and those that can be attached onto the side of a house or hung from a lamp post.

Each sign is carved, sanded, painted, sanded again, and finished. We leave nothing untouched. Even the back sides of our signs are finished.

Some want an under-the-mailbox sign, carved on both sides. We assist with mounting instructions with each order.

We take custom orders and love to personalize.

Visit our Carved By Heart shop on Etsy to see more of what we offer and let us make a customized item for you.

Carved By Heart, we love visitors!

With a love for wood and creating unique items, we opened our Carved By Heart store online and now have a shop at Etsy. We're happy to report that in the short time we've had a presence there, we've had a number of orders. Bird feeders, clocks, lamps, cabinets, plaques, mailboxes, signs, and remembrance plaques---we are quite diverse in what we offer.

The Stubbs name sign we gave to my parents for Christmas and the bear cabinet found a home in a newly-married couple's apartment.

See something you like? Would you like us to create something for you?

Our slogan (everybody needs a slogan) is: You think it; we carve it!

Click the Etsy banner below--it will take you to our online shop.

Get Your Kicks on Route 66!

We've all been on vacation and picked up some item that we want to keep whether it be a shell off the beach or a trinket from a quaint store. We've come home from a trip to the mountains and have a few items we collected---that pack of matches from the restaurant that served the best bar-b-que, a coaster from the coffee shop with the gorgeous view, that photo taken on the porch swing at the little bed and breakfast.

The question is: What do you do with those mementoes? Stash them in a drawer and soon forget where they are?

No, not anymore! Those days are over. Now there's a place to store your memories from a special vacation or event. The Story of a Memory Plaque is where your special memory can be kept forever in a lovely carved wooden display. Capture the memory and share it with others via this plaque customized just for you!

Made of solid poplar, this plaque is handpainted and stained. It has a place for a photo of your choice as well as a place where you can secure a favorite item.

The plaque can also be ideal for photos and mementoes from a family member or loved one who has died. Keep the special memories alive as you hang this plaque on your wall.

These plaques can have a theme as the two shown here have. The item on the Route 66 plaque is an actual piece of the road and the Hole in the Wall plaque has a railroad track spike.

Let us create a Story of a Memory Plaque for you at our Carved by Heart shop on Etsy. We can work with you to make your plaque as unique as you are.

You can also email us at info@alicewisler.com and share that special memory you want us to carve into wood.

How is it Done? Making a Carved Clock!

Many of you are asking. So we wanted to answer. Just how do we make our clocks at Carved By Heart?

Good question.

We decided to bring you into the process by showing you some photos and descriptions from a recent clock we had commissioned by El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant in Durham, NC.

Of course, it all starts with wood. Pine is a popular choice. Whenever we can, we like to get reclaimed wood to repurpose it. We want to do our part for the environment.

The process starts at the computer with serveral hours of design work. This is followed by loading the wood into a CNC machine.

Here is what it looks like when it comes out of the machine.

After this, there are more hours of detailing.

Then comes the painting.

This is where it looks like a two-year-old has been playing with paints around the shop.

Next it is sanded and that's the step where you go from two-year-old's play to this nice look (below).

Finishing is also a step that gives the product that extra shine. And then the clock parts are added to make the clock tell time (very important step). For this clock, a frame and glass were also added.

And then, there it is, the finished product!

Be sure to get a view of all of our finished clocks and other handcrafted items at our Carved By Heart shop on Etsy. No two products are ever exactly alike because each piece of wood we work with is unique due to its color, grain and the way it handles paint. You can be assured that no one will have a plaque or clock just like yours.

We'd love for you to stop by and let us craft something special for you.

A shop of memories

My grandfather Hall had a hardware and lumber shop. As a child, when my family made the trek from Osaka, Japan to Richmond Virginia, we visited his store. The memories I have of it include the loud buzz of a table saw, the fresh scent of red oak, and sawdust everywhere.

Fast forward many, many years to North Carolina. Step into our garage. While not a brick and mortar store with a bell that rings when you open the front door, Carved By Heart is in business. Inside the garage, wooden creations are made---signs, plaques, clocks, bird feeders, pet remembrances, and more.

Plaques in memory of loved ones, custom-made signs, memory pieces. And yes, the aroma of red oak and pine permeates throughout the garage as the saw buzzes to cut the wood.

We love providing handcrated wooden items for our customers.

My son Daniel never met my grandfather Hall. My grandfather died when I was a senior in high school. But the inspiration I hold from the life of my son, who died at at the age of four in 1997, coupled with my grandfathers's love of wood, makes for a lovely tribute.

It is those memories that give our shop the desire and inspiration to create and make items that bring solace and smiles to others.

Find our shop online at Etsy and spend some time there. Let us hear from you! If you can think it, we can carve it! We can be serious, funny, silly or sentimental.

Let us carve some memories for you.