Holiday Wrap-Up & More Wine bottle Stoppers!

Thank you from me to you! Wine Stopper set #40 $21.00 Free Shipping Wine Stopper set #41 $15.00 Free Shipping Wine Stopper set #42 $15.00 Free Shipping Wine Stopper set #43 $21.00 Free Shipping Wine Stopper set #44 $21.00 Free Shipping Wine Stopper set #45 $21.00 Free Shipping Wine Stopper set #46 $15.00 Free Shipping Wine Stopper set #47 $21.00 Free Shipping Wine Stopper set #48 $21.00 Free Shipping Wine Stopper set #49 $21.00 Free Shipping <input... 

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Win the Bowl!

Magic Woodworks handmade bowl contest! I am a pretty avid fan of the service twitter but recently my twitter experience has been a bit off. The majority of new followers have been spam accounts or robots. That kind of stinks. So I was hoping to change my luck! It’s real simple. I would like to offer this bowl to one of my next 200 new followers on twitter. It’s simple really, all you have to be is HUMAN with a real live account. If you only engage in one way communication, don’t... 

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Annual Holiday Ornaments!!!

Every year I design a new ornament. I love the holidays and it’s one of my most fun woodturning projects of the year. These holiday ornaments all come numbered with a certificate of authenticity. This is year number two and I plan to continue the yearly ornaments. Every year is a different design and I create between 40 and 50 pieces. This year I have dropped my price slightly because of the economy and well… I love you guys! The length of these ornaments are approximately 7″-8″... 

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Bottle stoppers and a Video!

I have had some requests for a video showing the process that I use when making my wood wine bottle stoppers or toppers as some like to call them. I have been streaming live for a long time and this is my first attempt at video on my own. A bit rough around the edges, but I will get better quickly. Below the video is a large offering of wine bottle stoppers. Thank you and Happy holidays! This is wine stopper set #25 and is made from Paddauk(Red) and Mahogany(Light Brown). These are all handmade... 

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Black Friday??? Nope Handmade Friday…

Black Friday????? That doesn’t sound right! How about….. Handmade Friday…… I’m calling it handmade Friday. Today, I have created a list of items that I have been producing for the past few weeks getting ready for the holiday rush. I carry everything from bottle stoppers, to bowls, to rolling pins. All of the items listed below are produced on a lathe by hand. I have some great items here, and I will be listing more as the day goes on. The wine bottle stoppers have been... 

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Wine Bottle Stoppers! Yep, More Wine stoppers….

You guys asked for them! Here is another batch of Handmade wine stoppers. Great addition to a bottle of wine for the holidays! Check them out, and remember, from now until the holidays shipping is free and 10% of all my holiday sales are going to the Erie County SPCA as a donation. If you are looking for beautiful handcrafted bowls, or even a collectors series rolling pin you can go to my previous post! Wine stopper set #10 is a treo of toppers made from Mahogany and Paddauk. Wine Stopper set #10 $21.00... 

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Holiday Items - Call it Black Wednesday at MWW

It’s holiday time and I am making lots of affordable handmade items for you! here you find functional art. Usable decorative bowls and a collectors series rolling pin for that chef in the family! This Collectors series rolling pin is made to exacting standards and sealed for food use. if you have a special chef or budding chef in the family this is a great gift to give. The Pin is made from Cherry with Mahogany inlay. Keep functional by cleaning with soap, water and a rag. Dry thoroughly and... 

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Bunches of Bottle Stoppers

I’d better stop turning bottle stoppers huh…. Your going to think that’s all I know how to do. Well, the fact is, lots of people have been asking for them and I am here to serve. I am listing some more sets here. I am apologizing for the photos ahead of time. I prefer to take my photos in the daylight and I did the best I can. This set is made from Black Palm. The finish is highly polished and makes for a beautiful conversation piece. The wood looks similar to Leopard Hide. The... 

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Nostepinnes - Live Woodturning at 12:30 EST

Today I will be turning a nostepinnes. This is a tool that has been used for thousands of years by weavers and knitters. It is used to store and wind ball of yarn on after the weaver spins fibre to create yarn. After the yarn is wound onto the nostepinnes the knitter can slide the ball of yarn off to store for later use. This nostepinnes that I am creating today will be made from some beautiful cherry that I have inlaid rosewood through to create a neat effect when the final product is done. This... 

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Wine for the Holidays?

Well, I know you all like to drink wine on the holidays. Some of you even like to give a bottle of wine as gifts. Well, whether you like to consume, gift or both I have the perfect items for you. These are handmade wine stoppers made with Mahogany and Paddauk. I currently have these sets to offer, but will be turning more of these as the week rolls on. $21.00 These Stoppers are all hand made on my lathe. They are finished with a non-toxic blend of Oil, Shellac, and Beeswax. $21.00 The... 

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Community is…

Tonight I spent the evening on the phone with my friend Deb from the Debworks Blog and @Debworks on twitter. We had a great chat on social media, the web, emerging technology, passion and it’s relation to business and community. As an artist and woodturner I have immersed myself in the online space studying everything from the ways people connect to the nuances around the way things work. When I got off the phone, my good friend John Meadows sent me this link that was very in-tune with the... 

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New Unique Items off the lathe….

OK, OK, I am getting new items up! The lathe has been moved, the shop is set up and I started working on some new pieces. Christmas is coming and I hope that you will find some of the woodturned items unique gifts to give to family and friends. Also… remember, 10% of all purchases between now and January 1st are going to the SPCA. All of these items can be purchased through my Etsy storefront where you will find many other items as well. Thank you for your Patronage, and don’t forget... 

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Very Cool New Find for Flickr Photos

Select Flickr Photos by Color Do you blog a lot? Do you ever look to try and match the photos or images in your blog based on a color theme? Do you often scour through flickr to try and find images that use creative commons licencing? Well, I have found a new tool that I think is amazing called Flickr Color Selectr. The site is nothing pretty, but it works great! Select a Color from the color Box Slide the color bar on the right up and down to get a frequency of colors. Then Pick a section in the... 

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Inspiration for Creation

Today I was talking to some friends in my Twitter network and I asked; If there is something that you would want me to write about, what would it be? I received one answer from Suze Muse. Suze wanted me to write about what inspires me to create. I decided instead of a long winded inspirational post from me that I would put together a short video in hopes that this will get you thinking about how you become inspired to create. However, I don’t want to skirt the question that was posed to me,... 

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String together Unity

I believe that not only the United States, but the world is in a better place now. The Election of Barack Obama to the US Presidency is a game changer. Without trying to sound like a political pundit; I am Happy. Unity This Election to me was more about unity than anything else. I am thrilled that Obama is bringing change to the White House, but I am more excited about him bringing an attitude of unity and a sense of oneness. It is the belief that we as humans, as plants and animals are anything... 

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Journey to Rosewood House

It’s not often in ones life that you are able to make great, true, sincere friends. In this virtual ether that many of us spend time in I think that this is somehow even more true. Friendfeed, Facebook, Twitter; What are these things? Are we making true friends and relationships? My answer to that unequivocally is “Yes”. Approximately, one year ago I met Christine Taylor aka mousewords on social networking site twitter. Since then I have also had the pleasure to meet her sister... 

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Thinking BIG

I was working in my shop tonight and pondering my future and what I would like it to look like. I mean, we can all go through life as is, sort of letting things happen or we can try to shape things. Now I know that there are unseen forces in the universe and I am well aware of things outside of your control. However, I asked myself this question; “Why not think Big?” I began to think of what I would like to do, and the things I would like to accomplish. All together added up it seems... 

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A Bowl of Dog Food??

Last week I decided that I was going to take my best friend, a four legged Dalmation named Saber for a walk. The Buffalo News Headlines have been saying that we would be seeing serious temperature drops and possibly freezing rain for the next couple of days so I wanted to get out before the weather hit. so far, we havn’t really seen any freezing rain but the temperature is definitly dropping. Along our walk we frequently pass by my friend Jim’s house who is often outside and gives saber... 

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Twitter - To Converse or to Broadcast, That is the Question

First off, I want to thank Chris for allowing me to use his blog as a forum for discussion and for the ability to share my thoughts with you the community. I am not what you would call a traditional marketer, or brand specialist but like many others in business I am creating an online presence that requires both branding and marketing. For the past year and a half I have been using a service many of you use called Twitter. Twitter is a Micro-blogging platform that folks like Leo Laporte have been... 

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Networking in a few Twitter Messages

In the arts? In a business? Both? In a few messages today on twitter I felt as if though I had a bit of a breakthrough. These are all words I understand, but maybe didn’t understand their simple complexity until now. Read the words two or three times slowly. Let me know if these words have had impact on you. Made myself think on this one. If you are looking or know someone looking for a creative driven, motivated professional please review my Digital Resume.  Read More →

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My Pixelated On Line Conference - Creativity

Over the past few months I have been very busy with art shows, and I have been missing you guys! A few weeks ago I learned of a Post by Chris Brogan who was responding to a post by Mitch Joel, who was making a play on an Idea by Bryan Eisenberg. The post is a very simple concept getting known around the blogosphere as Pixelated. Essentially what these blog posts are about is Online Conferences. In the past few years conferences have become more and more difficult to attend due to rising travel costs,... 

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Newest Woodturned Items

I’m back, and my two art shows have finished up, but I have also continued to turn wood all week and have listed some items a my Etsy Storefront. I am really glad to be back online and listing items once again! Thank you for your patience and many, many more items will be getting listed for the holiday season. I am taking custom orders. Please email me with any items you are looking for. Todays Newly Listed items are: The Bocote Nut Bowl - Beautiful striking Grain. Turned on my lathe, and great... 

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Woodturning, Passion and Art…………

Hello all, I wanted to share some of what I have been up to lately. I know it hasn’t been long since the last blog post, but for me it feels like it’s been forever! This past month or two have been amazingly busy for me in having two art shows, overtime at work, and hours upon hours at the lathe every night of the week because I never feel like I’ll have enough items for my art shows. My brain says “Just one more item!”, and my body says “Go to bed you dummy!”... 

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Woodturning for my customers!

Please Leave me feedback! Help me help you, and make our dreams come true! Love, Keith Burtis Trend Air Shield Post  Read More →

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The Air Scare

The Air Scare Woodturners deal with dust and lots of it. The dust isn’t always the same as different woods have different properties and many of the imported exotics can be detrimental to your health. Some woods like Paddauk, Rosewood, and Bloodwood can create anything from severe allergic reactions to general lung irritation depending on the person. Lately I have been turning a lot and the heavy duty fiber respirators I am using don’t seem to be keeping up with the volume of activity... 

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Woodturners Update

A quick Video Update of my woodturning and whats up! Comments welcome! Gets lonely in my shop  Read More →

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Cool Artists of the Day - David C. Roy

Hi Folks. Yep, it’s been two days since my last post. I have been really, really busy working on my woodturning for my art shows! I have screwed up and I owe you some art! Today, i decided i wanted to do something in the wood theme, I had seen some craftsmen at a local show that did what they call kinetic motion art. The craftsmen I saw had done this type of art with all sorts of materials, but todays artist David C Roy utilizes this kinetic motion design with all sculpted wood parts. Enjoy! You... 

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Woodturning, Woodturning, Woodturning & More Woodturning.

Handcrafted bowls, Sushi Sets, and Wine Bottle Stoppers. Thats been my life for the weekend so far. I’ve spent maybe 10-12 hours hunched over my lathe and I need break! Today, my woodturning is going to serve as Art Post of the Day #6 as well as an update to what I’ve been up to. Handcrafted Bowls from Figured English Walnut I’ve taken these bowls right from tree to finished product. I love having this kind of control over the processing of the wood right from the tree. I am... 

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Art Pick of the Day - September 5th 2008 - Post #5

Art Pick of the Day Todays art pick of the day is paying homage to my mother. When I saw this gallery of art I immediately thought of Mom! My mother has never walked by the shore of a lake, a beach, or any waterfront property without asking me to climb down some crazy rock ledge to pick up a cool looking piece of driftwood. For some reason this love for driftwood has somehow leeched into my blood as well and todays art pick is the perfect selection of Driftwood art. Oh yea, my mother is also a huge... 

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Art Pick of the Day - September 4th 2008 - Post #4

Art Pick of the Day This is why I love doing these segments of blog posts! The artists featured today have what I would call the ultimate imagination. They literally turn scrap into gold! You’d never know by looking at the piece itself, but when you shine a light on it…the art becomes apparent. Slightly Warped features the art of Tim Nobel & Sue Webster. I hope this brings you to open up your mind next time you look at a pile of junk! Public Goals! My Public Goals of winning best... 

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