JAY

Really nice Sue! great work and really interesting to see how it all comes together thanks for showing us, Jay

greasemonkey , sorry to hear about your truck bud thats a big pain in the backside!! as for posting your pics of your current work (even if not scroll saw) i think all would say a big YES to that no matter what it is, your work always impresses me as your craftsmanship is top notch!!

yeah, Nick and Brian Wolfe, they're pretty much masters at it and even have their own line in paints i have a couple of their books as well which are really good, they're doing some gigs over here in england soon and give tutorials, i just started out with books, never had any lessons but would be great to see pro's like them, face painting is rapidly becoming more popular over here and big money!! doubt i'll ever get that good though.......or that rich from it either!!

we're all getting dressed up and off to my big sisters for a party!! my little boy has a Darth Vader outfit (he lives in from time to time)!! my little girl loves to wear long flowing dresses ...she's a proper girly girl!! i'll be splashing some face paints on if i feel i'm up to it, its been another little hobby of mine for a while but i haven't been able to do it as much recently as i have dizzy spells (not so good for the little nippers if i'm working round the eye's ) so i've steered clear lately!! but don't mind giving myself a go!! here's a couple i've doon on myself before!! have fun whatever u do!!

isn't there something about laughter being the best medicine ....or cure or something, thats just infectious Dan couldn't help but giggle along! well funny lmao!

Poor fella! don't know if you've seen this its been floating around you tube for a while but his laugh just gets me going and gives me the giggles, don't know what the joke was but it must have been good poor lad....when he really starts going for it everyone abandons him in embarrassment, anyway enjoy!

1st of all very sorry to hear you've lost your family pet it can be very hard and we all become very attached to them indeed, the story was touching indeed i was having a miserable day until i read this, just goes to show you that there are still some really nice people in this world and it gives me faith and hope

really outstanding mate! something you can be very proud of and rightly so!

Wow! really nice Ron not just your grand daughter who should be happy with that, some real craftsmanship there! Jay

Now then all! this is my 1st attempt at a portrait pattern, its a pic of my cheeky looking niece katie , i'm working on my laptop at the min as the main pc has broken down and with it most or nearly all of my photo library, this was just aboout the only portrait i had on file at the min but i liked it anyhoo!i like the way its turned out i am a bit unsure about the eyes but hoping things will get better and easier with practice ,but other than that i was pretty chuffed with the whole process and had a lot of fun doing it! i didn't resize or anything as i didn't really intend to cut it just wanted to get stuck in and have a practice draw, any comments will be more than welcome good and bad. thanks, Jay quick p.s just to say thanks and well done to Travis for a great and enjoyable coarse on gimp you've opened up a whole new world bud and i dont think i would have managed it without the tutorials, your a real gent for taking the time to do it!

really nice piece that marshall and a well deserved ribbon! i only hope to reach that standard with a scroll saw in the future

we should maybe gang together and bombard them with a few friendly enthusiastic e-mails to see if they can make the magazine available to download in a pdf format , i download the british army soldier mag online all the time saves a good few pennies in delivery and a good bit of paper!! makes sense and i find it just as easy and enjoyable to read, plus i can only gather they have some nice patterns to offer inside ...so if they're already in pdf or at least on computer your just a click away from printing

thanks for all your comments! did buy the wacom bamboo in the end and at the min very happy, even for someone at my level of design it does make things a little easier when using the paint brush and so on (for me at least), so with some playing and practice it'll hopefully come along nicely and aid me in my efforts to become a decent pattern maker it also came with some free software: Coral draw essential edition 3 and Ulead photo impact 12 i've had a search around the web to get some price comparisons and it was coming in at around £79.99 and i picked it up in the end for £39.99 so pretty decent price drop and bargain i 'm hoping its also not too expensive for a first try as some of them look fantastic but have a price tag to match (not at that level by a long stretch ), so a decent entry level me thinks!! i'll let you know how i get on in the future and hopefully you'll be seeing some of the results in designs soon! cheers ....... Jay

hi all, just a question to all you experienced pattern makers and designers out there, when creating or minipulating images, especially portraits on the likes of the gimp or other programs you might use, do you use your mouse and is this adequate or do any of you use the pen and touch pad (like the wacom bamboo types)? and if so what benefits do they have? ...........now...... i know i'm jumping MILES in front of myself here (and i can feel the burn from my wifes eyes in the back of my head) as i haven't even finished watching all of Travis's tutorials!! never mind actually designed anything myself but i'm just asking out of interest are they worth investing in? a shop near me is selling them at a very reasonable ( reduced )price, didn't know if it was worth it for the possible future whilst they're going cheap and are a real bargain (and yes i do like my gadgets hehe ) or should i not even be thinking these thoughts? please don't read to much into my obsession with gadgets and oooooohhhh shiny new things as i have been playing with gimp and didn't know whether its just a case of experience and practice with a mouse and the program or could a pen and pad be of use? thanks , Jay

Hi Travis, Thanks mate its very generous of you to go out of your way and offer us this, but since i've been on here its becoming obvious your just that type of fella who'll do whatever he can to help out! i think it must have been me who was writing about the cost of the mags and i had considered ordering, but spoke with the mrs......... who generously said i could have the money (of mine)!! But instead i used the cash to order some patterns online and got some lovely stuff as well, i've already started on them for Christmas gifts so at the min plenty on my plate to keep me busy but just wanted to say thanks again mate! p.s i've also started watching your Gimp and inkscape lessons (awesome by the way) so i'm gonna be getting well stuck into them and hopefully get started on designing (or at least playing with and practicing) my own stuff as this seems to be the way forward cheers bud!