Tonight I dove into my next pen-making project. I bought the kit yesterday at Woodcraft and started working on the pen tonight just after supper.

We took a break to go to our Home Group at 7 and I came right back to the lathe after we got home and put Ella to bed. Bless my little heart, I spent nearly 2-hours on this bad-boy and am proud of each minute behind the lathe! This is MY pen. This will be my conversation-piece for sure. This will be the one you can find in my pocket or attached to my moleskine journal! It’s a Euro-style pen which means it’s beefier than the standard “slim-line” (read: beginner) pens that I’ve turned thus far and as such it cost more but if you held this in your hand you would understand the necessity of a guy like me having a pen like this. Next step up in pen-design is considered a “cigar-style” pen & being a good Wesleyan Pastor like me, I decided to NOT get one of those just yet. (Okay, they were even pricier than the Euro-style, but eventually I will be a cigar-style-carrying pen-turner for sure!)

I wish I could send handmade pens to each person that’s complimented me publicly and privately thus far. Maybe when I’m “good-enough” I can offer some Stevan-made pens here for sale? Those of you in my family – please be as delighted to receive one of these treasures for upcoming holidays as I have been in making them!

Note to future pen-turners: the glue that we use to attach the brass-insert tubes into the wood blanks is quite powerful stuff. I think I will have permanently glued fingertips.

Here she is:

Today was my day-off and we stayed lazy this morning.

After lunch we drove to Delafield to take Ella to The Children’s Play Gallery – we had previously only driven by and wondered what it would be like. Ella LOVED it. I am sure we will be back. Pictures from the gallery are here.

While we were there, I received a text-message that our Wesleyan Denomination had just elected our first-ever female General Superintendent (Dr. JoAnne Lyon) at General Conference. Quite an historic moment – sad that I had to miss being there to see it LIVE.

After the Children’s Gallery we headed towards Milwaukee to spend a little time at two woodworking stores that I am quickly becoming fond of. Rockler and Woodcraft both provided a few needed items to help me continue my woodturning hobby. After we got Ella to bed tonight I headed out to the lathe and turned two more pens. My first pen was turned just a few days ago and mailed the next day to my Grandpa to whom I owe a great deal of gratitude for purchasing the lathe for me months ago! I didn’t even take a picture of that first-pen before sending it his way!

Tonight’s pens, however, (and one I made for Jess a day-or-two ago) are pictured here: