I took a brief break from working on my “Eagle” drawing to carve up this gift for a friend of the family. This will officially be my last carving. Although I really enjoyed doing these, over the last year my enthusiasm has waned and my focus has been more on my drawing, which is what I want to be known for. To add to making this decision was the challenge of getting the materials.
I don’t keep carving materials on hand due to space hence the need for ordering which I only do when I get a request or whenever I feel like doing carving project.
Originally this gift was supposed to be a 12×12 mandala. Michael’s nor Amazon carry 12×12 linoleum blocks so I have to order them from a wholesaler. So I put my order in but after 2 1/2 weeks of being in the dark on my order for the materials from the wholesaler, I ended up having to cancel and make different arrangements. Apparently they didn’t have the supplies but wouldn’t bother to let me know that. At this point I had to inform my customer, who had already put in a down payment on the project. Fortunately she was flexible and chose as a second option the “Peace, Harmony & Love ” design of Chinese characters I had on file. I was relieved because I hate to disappoint people and plus I knew I could easily go to Michael’s and pick up supplies. So I went to Michael’s the next day. They were out. 😖 Talk about immediate frustration. So I checked Amazon. One 5×7 linoleum block on Amazon cost twice as much as it did at my local Michael’s store. It was ridiculous. Luckily the Michael’s website had access to the inventory to all Michael’s within a 50 mile radius of my zip code. So online I was able to find a Michael’s that had the supplies I needed. It was a 30 minute drive away. I was able to get the blocks but it was on my drive back that I realized I didn’t have enough enthusiasm or interest anymore to go through this kind of ordeal again just to do a carving. So that’s when I decided that this would be the last one. And frankly, I’m happy about my decision because honestly my heart is in drawing and that’s what I want to focus my energy and attention on. 😌
Carve & Draw 
I order some supplies thru Dick Blick. Reliable,not to long of a wait. They have all sizes of linolium,mounted &unmounted;and I think by the roll too.
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Absolutely amazing! It’s horrible jumping through the hoops to get supplies.
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I was more disappointed that the wholesaler wasn’t up front with me than having to change the initial design and going elsewhere for supplies. I held this particular wholesaler in high esteem since I didn’t have any issues with them before. After I placed the order a week went by without an update or delivery. So I contacted them. I was informed that there had been a delay and that they would ship out my order that following Monday. A week and a half went by and still no update or delivery of order. At that point I just decided to cancel my order. I never got an explanation as to what was the hold up. I just assumed they were out of stock and just wouldn’t tell me. But no worries. I’m no longer doing carvings so I probably won’t be dealing with them again. It’s a lot easier getting ahold of some bristol board and pens than linoleum blocks. 😌
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Bristol board and pens are happiness! 😊
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These are AMAZING. Great way to go out.
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Thank you. 😀
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