It All Started On The Other Side 

-the other side of the tablesaw when Tom was ripping

-the other side of the planer  or the joiner

-the other side of the glue joint and clamp. 

There is a great deal of time spent standing on the other side-and lots of time for observing beautiful wood passing thru your hands.  Many times good, small pieces are cut out due to dimensions requirements or flaws.  So, one day, on the cover of Tom’s Fine Woodworking, I see a fine stack of little boxes.  Then , my husband, the other woodworker in the family, helps me get started, gives me loads of scrap wood, and lets me loose in the shop.  Hey !  I’m making boxes ! 

Now, I can’t stop !  I use scrap wood in my boxes, but sometimes, Tom catches me staring at his stack of furniture wood.  “ Get away “, he says.  And then, my good friend

Jeanie Stephenson, really challenged me by making small bronzes for knobs.  Now, I have to find special wood for these—a squirrel has to have oak, a penguin a crack in the wood to peer down. 

So now, we compete for shop time and have all the fun two people can stand.