My Tools

 

First and foremost, this is my best friend when I whittle. I once forgot this knife and left it at home, thus had to use different blades. None of them quite got the job done like this one, so I am never repeating that accident ever again. I love using this one because it's small, easy to handle, and has a razor-sharp blade that I swear gets sharpened instead of dulled from the whittling. I love how deftly it can cut when I'm being gentle while also being able to really cut a chunk of wood off.

 

 

This is my second best friend, the sanding pad. I got this at Michael's Art Store for around $5 and haven't regretted the purchase. I like to use it because not only does it get the job done and makes the wood silky smooth, but it also has two sides for medium and fine sanding. Plus, it's washable, reusable, and fits my hand so that it's as easy to handle as my knife.

 

This is my tool for when there is a branch stump or other type of excess wood that needs to be removed. It's not quite as easy to handle; it tends to break the rhythm of sawing when it hits a difficult part as well as hits the wood and create a small denture, but it definitely does what it is needed to do.

 

This is what I will use when I finish my projects. I bought for around $10 at Wal-Mart (it's been a couple months so I could be wrong about the price). The sealer will give the wood nice shiny coat and protect the wood a little bit from damage. At least I hope it will.

 

 

Now we're getting into specific tools for the wand. This is the ink I used to fill in the trees ($4, Wal-Mart) and may possibly use for the leaves.

 

If not that ink, then maybe this one. This came from a whole Earth provisions store for $5. The funny thing is that I got because I couldn't resist the thrill of telling people that I have Dragon's Blood Ink. I got it solely for the title because I'm a nerd.

 

This is what I used with the ink and it's the reason I have ink in the first place. Every writer should have a quill in my opinion because quills are elegant and just plain cool. And in my case, great for filling in carvings with their super slim nib.

 

Finally, this was one of the tools I used to carve out the trees. As you might be able to tell, the tip broke off, so I'll have to get another one because this actually belongs to my parents. Oops.

 

And when the X-Acto starts, the needle finishes. I use it deepen the carvings without tearing the sides of the cuts like the X-Acto is prone to do.