For my girlfriends birthday, and as she has just brought a new car, I thought I'd carve her a wood spirit air freshener to dangle in her new delight. This little project is a simple carving from an off cut of pear wood. The only thing I had to purchase was some strawberry scented oil, which I obtained in a sale for £1. (The leather and walnut dye I already had in my goody box!)
After a rough shape was cut with a junior hacksaw, most of the carving work was achieved with a simple 3inch folder knife. (Pictured bottom!)
The detailing strokes for the hair, beard and eyebrows where obtained using three types of micro files. (Pictured bottom!)
ADDING SOME COLOUR:
After giving it a single coat of Danish Oil to hold back marks from grubby hands,
some walnut dye is dabbed on for the eyes.
A natural leather lanyard is added for it to hang from, dyed with natural walnut dye.
The beard and brows are also coloured with the walnut dye, along with some dry brush work to give some depth in areas such as the cheeks and hat.
I left a small piece of bark on the back, where the head hair comes out of the hat to give a more textured feel. Once the rest was dyed with the walnut, it all blended in very well creating one big mass of hair.
The finishing touch to turn this Wood Spirit into a car air freshener, was to soak in some strawberry oil scent. The bottle of oil came with a pipette, which I drip applied all over. Even with the Danish oil added, and areas coated in Walnut Dye, the pear wood soaked up plenty of strawberry oil and never made the dye run.
Hear are all the tools used for this project. A scalpel for cutting the leather lanyard. A brush and walnut dye for colouring. The 3inch folder knife used for the main bulk of carving. A junior hacksaw for the initial shaping. Three micro files for detailing.
