Welcome to my gourd world,
GourdSupplies.com where you will find the best supplies
& tools for gourd art, pyrography, woodturning, woodworking, woodcarving and other crafts.
Including specialty items such as the Microlux Gourd Saw, Proxxon Mini Jig Saw,
The Gourd Saw; Nibsburner and Razertip woodburning tools, ink dyes for
gourds and so much more.
And the answer to your question
is...Yes, I use all the products I sell!
My shop carries Microlux and
Proxxon jig saws that are popular with gourd artists as well as woodworkers.
My GourdSupplies.Com store contains all kinds of gourd favorites including
hand tools
and power tools
that now have their own departments. I have gourd books through Amazon, beads
hand carved by Alan, natural
fibers and embellishments as well as gourd ink dyes, paints, shimmers, applicators, and so
many other specialty items I know you will love. These
supplies are not just for gourd artists but for woodcarvers, woodworkers, pyrographers,
rubber stampers, card makers and just about any other craft.
I have been involved in art most
of my life and with gourds
and woodworking for many years. I started selling my tools and supplies at woodcarving
and woodworking shows in 1999 and at gourd shows since 2007 after retiring from
my day job.
My online store,
SawdustConnection.com was launched in 2002 which catered mostly to the needs of
woodburners, wood carvers and woodworkers initially but as my interest in gourds
grew so did my store and it eventually grew to include gourd supplies.
Since moving to New Mexico I found
myself drawn back into working with gourds more and experimenting with lots of new
products, mediums and embellishments. After careful review of the store
and my own focus I made a
decision to slim down on some woodworking tools and supplies to make room for
more gourd supplies and tools that I've been personally using for many years.
It was a tough decision and it meant setting up a new
clearance center
in order to clear out discontinued items to make room for all the new merchandise.
In 2007 I started adding the gourd supplies and tools to the website but finally
decided to give them their "own space".
That meant a lot of work but the online
GourdSupplies.com store has been up and
running since the beginning of 2009 and most of the
new merchandise is on the site as soon as it comes in. My customers tell me they just love the
Clearance Center and all of our new merchandise. As part of this "reorganization" I
have tried to make my store even more user
friendly
with clear cut
departments to make it easier to navigate and find what you are looking for.
Some of the specialty tools I
carry for gourd lovers are the
Microlux, Proxxon and Gourd Saw mini jig saws,
Gourd Scrapers and
Nibsburner's Gourd Unit woodburner designed
with the Gourd Lover in mind and I have trouble keeping them in stock since I
started carrying them!
Over the last
few years I've
been experimenting with new products for gourds and while I have liked some,
others I found were not so
great. As part of my reorganization I have weeded out the
products that were not doing well and have replaced them with items I think are
more practical and people will enjoy using. Earth Safe Finishes, formerly Terre Bella Finishes, products have
become very popular among gourd artists especially their
shimmers...especially
those that are interested in green products. Their
shimmers are wonderful and the most popular products they make
and the only ones I will continue carrying. I have a new (well, not new for
me or Al since we've been using them for years) line of
paints from Jo
Sonja and the
Jo Sonja Mediums that are a bit more economical but outstanding quality and
performance. I also carry some of the finest
quality
embossing powder
and metal leaf products on the market.
The
Memories ink dyes are light-fast, acid
free water based dyes that are fade resistant (note they are not completely fade
proof...not much is). These are by far the most popular products used by
gourd artists and most of you first discovered them from Maria Dellos who developed the techniques using these ink dyes on
gourds. Everybody just loves them including me. Memories ink dyes
are the same ones used by Maria. Available in a wonderful selection of colors and
because these ink dyes have no alcohol, they won’t fade or streak like alcohol
based products such as leather dyes. The inks are made in America and I'm so
pleased to be able to offer them to you at very reasonable prices. These dyes
are perfect for gourd artists as well as rubber stamping enthusiasts. I have
also
put
together kits that contain everything you need to get started.
The gourds displayed here were
all made with products in our GourdSupplies.com store. As I said I sell
what I use.
The Santa gourd on the top right
was done back in 1999 and one of the first gourds I ever did. It was
burned and then painted with
Jo Sonja paints and background colors. The gourd on the top left was made
using gourd ink dye and embellished with sea grass and a stone arrowhead.
The gourd on the right in the
middle was done using
Memories ink dyes
and Jo Sonja paint.
Shimmer Opaque Pearl was added over the burned feathers to make it look like a
real feather and everyone who has seen it in person thinks it's a real feather. The inside was done with
Jo Sonja paint
in Charcoal paint mixed
with varnish and applied with a brush...a one-step finish!
The
gourd on left in the middle was done with a variety of
Jo Sonja paint,
Metallic Ink Dyes
and other products. The
trim was painted with
Jo Sonja paint and each of the bears around the bowl
were painted with Jo Sonja metallic and background color paints.
The gourd on the bottom right was
done using 6 colors of
Shimmer Translucent for the background. The gecko's were
done with
Memories ink dyes and
Shimmer Opaque. The inside was done with
Jo Sonja paint charcoal background color
paint mixed with
Jo Sonja Polyurethane Satin and applied with a
large wash brush. I tend to love using
this method to finish the inside rather than using spray paint. It's a
one-step process and can be done indoors with no fumes.
The gourd on the bottom left was
done with Generation green
Shimmer Opaque Bronze first then layered with
Shimmer
Translucent Amethyst and Gold Pearl.
If you haven't already discovered the wonderful world of gourd decorating I
invite you to give it a try. Experiment with all the products in our paint
department and see all the wonderful things you can do with them.
Dried Gourds
I am also growing some gourds and
when they are available you can find them in the
dried gourds shop.
When I get good deals on some after teaching a class and have leftovers I will
also post them the site.
Tutorials
Please check out my
Gourd Crafts 101 Tutorial to help
gourd enthusiasts get started using some of these wonderful
products.
Thank you for stopping by and come
back often!
Happy Gourding©!
Nedra
