Woodcarving Illustrated is pleased to present this special edition full of wonderful ideas for hand-carved gifts. Included is a variety of Santa carvings, from relief to caricature and everything in between. You will find some entries from our Santa Carving contest that definitely deserve to be shared with our readers. If Santa's aren't your cup of tea, you'll find several otther terrific projects to choose from, including chip-carved ornaments, humorous animals, and elegant trivets. You will also find a variety of ornaments, many that can be completed in a single day.

Inside, you will find:

DEPARTMENTS
Editor's Letter
Tips and Techniques
Crossword Puzzle
Advertising Directory & Classifieds

GIFTS
Santa Earrings - By Rick Jensen
Santa Collector's Plate - By Robert Biermann
Power Carve a Miniature Cardinal - By George Calef
Trivet Designs Make Great Holiday Gifts - By Frederick Wilbur

FIGURES
Noah's Ark Santa - By Steve Brown
Weight Watcher Santa - By Arnold Smith
Power Carve a Folk-art Santa - By Ed Pribyl
Special Delivery Santa - By Doug Stewart
Flat-plane Santa - By Mike Shipley
Carving a Santa in Motion - By John Zanzalari
Carve a Santa Egghead - By Rick Jensen
Carve a Christmas Candy Dish - By Jim McGuire

ORNAMENTS
Create a Playful Chris-Moose Ornament - By Cyndi Joslyn
Christmas Puppy - By Sandy Smith
Christmas Elf Ornaments - By Mark Gargac
Chip Carve Delicate Icicle Ornaments - By Barry McKenzie
Folk-art Santa Ornaments - Jim and Margie Maxwell
Chip-carved Honeycomb Ornaments - By Linda Tutdor
Christmas Cookie Ornament - By Lora S. Irish
Geometric Chip-carved Ornaments - By Roger Strautman
Relief Carve Santa Ornaments - By Cyndi Joslyn
Hangin' On Santa Ornament - By Steve Brown
Flat-plane Santa Ornament - By Mike Shipley
Carving Caricature Santa Ornaments - By Floyd Rhadigan
Candy Cane Squirrel Ornament - By Desiree Hajny
Carving Ornaments from Scrap Wood - By Jim Feather

Rick Jensen got his first taste of carving growing up along the Missouri River bottoms in North Dakota. His father supplied him with a pocketknife at the age of seven. Whittling on sticks started what would become a lifetime of woodcarving. Other artistic endeavors of Rick's include antler carving, bone carving and stone carving.

Frederick Wilbur, of Lovingston, VA, is the author of two books, Carving Classical Styles in Wood and Carving Architectural Details in Wood:The Classical Tradition. For more information, contact Frederick at 434-263-4827 or visit his website, www.frederickwilbur-woodcarver.com.

Sandy Smith lives in Lakeview,
Ark., with her husband, Gary.
As a member of the North
Arkansas Woodcarvers Club
(NAWC), she is webmaster,
newsletter editor, and serves on their board
of directors and the show committee
(www.northarkansaswoodcarvers.org).

Mike Shipley is a supplier of woodworking materials, a woodcarving instructor, and the author of Hand Carving Snowmen and Santas, Whittling the Old Sea Captain.

Born and raised in the Missouri foothills, near the lake of the Ozarks and Truman Dam area, he developed a natural love for wood and woodcarving while working at his father's sawmill.

Lora Irish is an artist who runs an internet carving studio with her husband at www.carvingpatterns.com. She is a frequent contributor to Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts and Wood Carving Illustrated and the author of Great Book of Dragon Patterns, Great Book of Fairy Patterns, Great Book of Tattoo Designs, Great Book of Woodburning, and Wood Spirits and Green Men. She lives in Mt. Airy, Maryland.

Cyndi Joslyn began woodcarving in 1990 with a special interest in carved Santas. She owns an extensive collection of carved Santas and currently teaches classes to both novice and experienced carvers. She is also the author of Carving Santas from Around the World. She lives in Missoula, Montana.

Floyd Rhadigan of Saline, Mich., is a nationally known carver and member of the Caricature Carvers of America. For more of his work or to see his schedule of seminars, visit his website at www.FantasyCarving.com.

Desiree Hajny is the winner of many national and international awards for her carvings (13 "Best of" shows and 90 first-place honors), has been the featured artist for Sculpture Forum and Wildlife Art News, and is a contributing editor of Wood Carving Illustrated magazine. She lives in Eckert, Colorado.