carving project

Copyright, Can I sell my finished projects?

detailer-10Lenore, made a great post on the Pyrography Board at Facebook concerning copyright.  Its a common question I get here in the studio and so I want to address your questions and concerns.

Before I begin I note that I am not a copyright specialist. If you need specific information concerning Copyright Law you should contact a Copyright Attorney!

I know this is one of those long, long, long posts but after reading through this information you can use our patterns and instructions worry free!

The short answer –

YES, you can sell your finished project that use my pattern art or instructions given here on LSIrish.com and ArtDesignsStudio.comNO, you can not sell, distribute, or post my pattern art or instructions, or distribute them in any manner even if you give me and my sites credit.  My copyright give you the USE of the patterns in your work, not for the DISTRIBUTION of the patterns and instructions in and of themselves.

The definition of a finished project is: the basswood board, the burned leather purse, the pen and ink t-shirt, the quilted fabric square, the stitched thread and cloth embroidered patch – a tangible, hard item.

The long answer –

Lenore in her post is so right about Copyright being a ‘sticky issue’ in pyrography, wood carving, and crafts – something we all need to address. If, as she used in her example, you work from someone’s photograph you are creating what is legally called a ‘translation’. Translations do not give the crafter copyright to the image, photo, or finished design.  Just as if you translated a book from the German language into English the story line is not yours but belongs to the original author.  It is the story line of a book that is copyrighted, not the language in which the book was written.

Henna Tattoo Pyrography ProjectTranslations of Original Work

Doing an exact copy of a photo into a sepia burning is simple changing the method – camera to hot pen tip, you are not changing the original image. The copyright of the image still remains with the original work, not with your translation and you can be in violation by claiming it as your own.

Just giving the original copyright owner credit does not mean that you have avoided copyright issues or protected you from violating their copyright to the work. As my beloved hubbie once noted … if you steal a hammer from Ace Hardware, telling everyone where you stole it from does not clear you of petty theft! So, yes, if you really, really, really have to use someone’s original photo please protect yourself by getting written permission first from the photographer or original artist.

One more thought on photography is that just because a photo is old or a common icon image – a photo you have seen over and over again – does not put that photo into public domain. A copyright is good for around 75 years, or for the life of the artist, and can be part of an artist’s will, passed onto the their inheritors. So, just because you see it everywhere does not mean it is free to take and use.

Complete Lora Irish Pattern Collection by DownloadUse of Patterns and Instructions

Now, saying that, the copyright for the patterns that you can find freely given with tutorials or purchased from pattern makers is different from that of photographs. Patterns are created specifically to be used – traced – in your craft.

In the case of patterns and written step-by-step instructions it is the line art/shaded patterns and text that are copyrighted. But both of those are specifically created for you to use in your art! The pattern and instructions become two parts of the whole that you use in your burning – just as you use a specific burning tool, a wood or leather blanks, and a painting media.

Not everyone wants to spend hours searching the net for images of a white tail deer, a fallen log, a thick forest background, and a split rail fence. Nor does everyone want to spend several more hours combining, adjusting, and refining those images to create one new, original composition. Most pyrographers and carvers have not studied composition, line flow, balance, perspective, or other art techniques for creating a design. What many of us just want to do is to sit down at our craft table and burn or carve!!!! That is where using patterns and instructions comes into our crafts.

OK … so what does that mean for my copyright to both LSIrish.com and ArtDesignsStudio.com. It means the patterns and instructions are for “Personal Use Only”. You get to use my patterns and instructions in your craft. You get to burn them, carve them, paint them, and even cut them out for your scrap booking!  The key word here is USE.

Complete Lora Irish Pattern Collection on Thumb DriveDistribution of Patterns and Instructions

You do not have ownership of the pattern images or of the written instructions. You can’t post my patterns to your blog, print them and put them in a kit you sell, or copy and paste my instructions to your selling website. You can not ‘snatch’ these and create an e-book that you sell on Amazon. Changing the digital format – say from a .jpeg to a vector art format – is simply a copyright translation and does not give you copyright over the Work.  The patterns and instructions belong to me under copyright law.

Your finished project belongs to you! You get to share your burning or carving anywhere you want. You get to sell as many as you can at art shows, craft fairs, and even on the net – up to 25 works from one pattern!!!! This is your work and it belongs to you.  You do not get to make up a kit that includes a board, a printed copy of my step-by-step instructions, and a printed copy of my pattern art and either sell it or give it away.

Educational Institutions

There is a clause in Copyright Law that allows educational institutions to use Works that are copyrighted for teaching.  Posting someone’s Copyrighted patterns or instructions to your own blog does not fall under this clause.  If you think that your site might qualify as a teaching or educational institution, please contact your Copyright Attorney before you post to insure that you are within your legal rights.

Celtic knot pyrography wood burning patternMass Production and Licensing Agreements

Our copyright covers personal use, it is not meant for mass production usage.  If you intend to create multiple units of any LSIrish.com or ArtDesignsStudio.com pattern, over 25 units, then you need to contact us to discuss a licensing agreement. Example, if you want to trace and paint 25 glazed coffee cups for sale at the craft shows using one of our patterns you are covered under our ‘for personal use’ copyright.  If you want to create a fired decal that can easily be applied to a thousand or more coffee cups through mass production, you need a licensing agreement.  Please write us through our Contact the Studio link in the nav bar.

Pattern Catalogs for Finished Project Sales

Many of our craftsmen that sell finished projects purchase the Complete Pattern Collection, either by download or on thumb drive.  This is the best price value for our customers and gives you all of our original Lora S. Irish patterns and designs at the time of your purchase.  Currently we have 140 pattern packages, sorted by theme or topic, and are approaching the 3000 mark for individual patterns.

To increase your sales and stay within Copyright law, you can link directly to my pattern website, ArtDesignsStudio.com, and advertise to your customers that you can create any project for the patterns shown and offered there.  This saves your tons of printed paper, and tons of bandwidth, while increasing the chances of making the sale.  Your customers are just a click away from finding that specific pattern they want you to create!

tracing a pyrography patternCopyright conclusion

So … have fun sharing your finished projects on Facebook if they were created using one of my patterns. If you are selling finished items work using my patterns I truly hope you sell everyone and make a mint of money!

And if you really want to share my work, please share the link to my websites – LSIrish.com and ArtDesignsStudio.com – or share the posts from my Facebook page.  You get the “Ohs and Ahhhs” for sharing the link and I get the “Ohhs and Ahhs” for creating the work.

Please remember the finished work is yours, the pattern art and instructions are mine – an easy line of ownership, use, and copyright … 🙂 Thanks everyone !

 

Craftsmen and Hobbyists:
Reaffirmation of Our Policy With Respect to Use of Our Designs

Dear Friends, Craftsmen, Hobbyists and Users of our Patterns.

Those of you who are familiar with our products know that for many years we have been creating and supplying patterns for use by hobbyists and craftsmen . We have from time to time received offers to license our designs to commercial distributors.

All of our designs have been registered with the United States Copyright Office and the unauthorized copying, distribution or sale of our patterns to third parties is a violation of the copyright laws of the United States.


WHAT YOU CAN DO

When you purchase a pattern from ArtDesignsStudio.com and LSIrish.com, or receive one of our “Freebies”, the pattern is subject to certain restrictions reserved under our copyright. You have the right to use the pattern for your own personal use to make finished products for sale or personal use. A “finished product” is an article of manufacture on which the pattern is embodied. For example, it may be a laser engraved wall plaque,  computer routed door panel, wood carved bread board, a stitched out cloth quilt, or any other tangible hard goods project enhanced by our pattern design. A “finished product” is NOT a copy of the original pattern made for further distribution. You may display and sell your finished products on your web site to show how they have been enhanced. You may personally digitize or alter the computer file format of the pattern to assist you in personally making multiple copies of finished products.

WHAT YOU CANNOT DO

You cannot copy, reproduce, publish, distribute, redistribute, sell, barter, transfer or otherwise make available the pattern which you received from us or duplicates thereof to third parties. You cannot publish our patterns on your website (other than as embodied in a finished product) and represent them as your own. You cannot distribute or include copies of the patterns as part of a kit or instruction package, whether as computer files or as paper copies,  to be distributed and used by a Third Party. You cannot offer the patterns which you received from us for sale to third parties. You cannot sell or distribute digitized versions or altered computer file format versions of our patterns to third parties, nor can you request third parties to digitize or alter the computer file format of the patterns for you.

SUMMARY

All patterns distributed by ArtDesignsStudio.com and LSIrish.com have been copyrighted under the copyright laws of the United States and are published with a copyright notice. These patterns are for the personal use of hobbyists and craftsman. When you receive a pattern from either ArtDesignsStudio.com or LSIrish.com and open the package, you receive a limited license to use it personally to make one or more finished products enhanced by the design which you may sell. You may not copy, publish, sell, distribute, redistribute or otherwise make the pattern you received from ArtDesignsStudio.com to any third party and you may not publish or advertise the pattern on your web site as your own.

ArtDesignsStudio.com and LSIrish.com
Proprietors:
Lora S. Irish & Mike Irish

Copyright, Can I sell my finished projects? Read More »

Free pyrography wood burning project and pattern

Free Celtic Pyrography Project

free pyrography wood burning project and patternStamp Collecting – Philately

Stamp collecting is one of the top hobbies worldwide.  As philatelists, we delight in little bits of art work that come from far away places, and that tell about a tiny bit of history, geography, social changes, or feature someone that has effected their country. The vast majority of the stamps that we collect cost less than a US quarter, yet bring hours and hours of fun as we track down complete year sets, special revenue issues, or even discover cancelled stamped envelopes from distant cities.

free pyrography wood burning project and patternIt is estimated that to have a complete worldwide collection you would have over 500,000 different stamps, from so many countries that Wikipedia has their own WikiProject just for collectors.   Many of us focus on several favorite countries, or perhaps a topic or theme that is important to us.

Where you might specialize in butterflies, steam engine trains, or famous women in history, I personally search for stamps that feature maps, geology, and space endeavors. On one of my stamp collecting forums, Stamp Community Forum, one member noted that he collected stamps that feature men with mustaches.

Treasure Trove of Ideas

As wood carvers, pyrographers, and craft artists stamp collecting is a treasure trove of ideas, designs, and pattern work.  Over the next few days I will be working on a pyrography pointillism project that features two Celtic birds, entwined in a Celtic knot pattern, inside of a traditional stamp frame.

Pointillism is the process of creating a design using only small dots.  Small, widely spaced dots will create our pale tonal values; medium-sized dots, loosely packed give us the mid-tone values; and large, tightly packed dots will make our dark tonal value range.

Art Styles of Pyrography

Pyrography E-Project E-Book by L S IrishTo learn more about the different styles and patterns that can be used in your pyrography work please check out Lora Irish’s Art Style of Pyrography190 pages, 15 projects, Ready for Download, which we have placed on sale for those following our blog and this free project.

This is a quick, easy, beginner’s level free pyrography project that can quickly be personalized to include your name, a date, or a location.  By the time we are done this project you will discover how you can create your own postage stamp designs by mix and matching topic patterns with stamp frames.

Supplies needed:

12″ x 12″- 1/4″ sheet of birch, poplar, or basswood plywood
Wood burning unit – either one temperature or variable
220-grit sandpaper
#2 to #4 soft pencil
Painter’s tape or masking tape
Red ball-point ink pen for tracing
Loop tipped burning pen
Ball tipped burning pen
Ruler

free pyrography wood burning project and pattern

So, while you get your supplies together, I am off to get our newest e-Project completed, which will, of course, focus on stamp collecting designs and ideas.  See ya’ tomorrow with the free pattern to this project.  – Lora

Free Celtic Pyrography Project Read More »

wood spirit carving with Lora Irish

Free Wood Spirit Carving Project

Cutting the slope of a wood spirits mustacheToday we will work through establishing the depth of the nose bridge, the slope of the nose, the division between the nose and the mustache, and freeing the nose from the cheeks.

So, click on the link below and let’s get carving!

Wood Spirit Carving, Establishing the Slope of the Nose

If you are just joining this free, online wood carving project, by Lora Irish, please check out the links below for your supply list and an over view of the planes of the human face.

 

cutting the nose bridge of a wood spirit wood carvingCarving the Wood Spirit Face, Supply List
Wood Spirit Carving, Planes of the Human Face

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Other happenings around the Studio

Carving gloves and thumb guards used in wood carvingIf you are a new carver you may wish to check out Lora’s tool kit article for ideas on what tools, knives , and supplies make us a wood carving kit.

Beginner’s Whittling, Chip, and Wood Carving Supply Kit

 

 

 

 

 

Free Wood Spirit Carving Project Read More »

Twistie Stick Snake Carving by Lora Irish

Cane, walking stick, and wizard wand wood carving

Discount Alert
Art Designs Studio
3/07 through 3/15, 2015

To learn more about Wood Spirit Facial Plane carvings, check out our E-Project – Wood Spirit Mushroom Carving E-Project – which takes you through all of the steps to create the facial planes, plus gives you eight full sized 3D patterns.  If you want to focus on the Wood Spirit face, check out Wood Spirit Carving E-Project, which takes you through the face carving as well as how to paint your wood spirit walking stick.

Just are looking for new ideas, browse through the Canes, Walking Sticks & Wizard Wands Pattern Package with 48 full-sized 3D patterns or our classic Cane Handles & Walking Sticks Patterns with 38 patterns.

Use our discount code – facebook – for ArtDesignsStudio.com for $5 off that can be used for each Cane, Walking Stick, and Wizard Wands Pattern Packs or E-Projects above.  Save up to $20 on your next wood spirit carving project!

Free Online Walking Stick Carving Projects

Cane and walking stick wood carvingIntroduction to Cane Carving
Wood Spirit and Green Man Wood Carving
Walking Stick Joinery
Walking Stick Wood – Harvesting Sticks
Walking Stick – Adding Extras
Walking Stick – Clamping Your Handle
Day 1 Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving
Day 2 Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving
Day 3 Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving
Day 4 Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving
Day 5 Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving
Free Mountain Man Cane Carving Pattern

The patterns for the canes, shown right,
are available at Art Designs Studio,
L S Irish’s pattern website,
CP136 Canes, Walking Sticks, & Wizard Wands

Read More »

free wood carving instructions by Lora Irish

Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving, Day 5

free wood carving instructions by Lora IrishGood Morning! I am running far better on time this morning than I expected so I am going to post the final steps to this Sassafras Twistie Snake Cane today.

Day 1 Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving
Day 2 Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving
Day 3 Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving
Day 4 Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving
Day 5 Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving

Walking Stick Joinery
Walking Stick Wood Species – Harvesting Your Sticks
Walking Stick – Adding Extras
Walking Stick – How to Clamp Your Handle

Free Mountain Man Cane Carving Pattern

Step 19: To finish out the top of my cane and add some fun interest I have added a small frog clutching to the stick, just out of reach of my snake’s head. The tracing pattern is posted here or create your own cane hugger by marking it to the top of your cane topper with a pencil.

 

Cane huggers – small animals and birds that wrap around the sides of your cane – are an old carving tradition. These little creatures most often have out-stretched arms or wings that ‘hug’ the shaft of the stick. Beavers, raccoons, squirrels, mice, dragonflies, and, our choice, frogs are all found in folk art styled walking sticks.

free wood carving instructions by Lora Irish

Step 20: The frog is first stop cut using the bench knife, along the outer edges of the frog’s body. This separates him from the top area of the stick. I lowered the cane top about 1/8″ at the frog’s face and tapered it down to 1/4″ at the frog’s rump.

free wood carving instructions by Lora Irish

Taper the stick twist area of the top to gradually flare.

free wood carving instructions by Lora Irish

Step 21: Undercut the stick area into the top twist. This deepens the wood around the frog, making the frog appear to stand higher off the cane.

free wood carving instructions by Lora Irish

Shape the frog body, legs, and eyes using your bench knife to round-over each area. With 220-grit sandpaper and rifflers, smooth out the frog.

free wood carving instructions by Lora Irish
free wood carving instructions by Lora Irish

Step 22: You can harvest fresh honeysuckle vine to use on your Sassafras twist cane. Select second year growth or older – it will have a brownish tone to the paper-like bark. Green tone bark is first year growth and often is not strong enough to dry well.

Roll the vine into a loose circle and hang in a dry, dark space for about 3 weeks. This is long enough for the vine to loose most of its sap and moisture, but still be pliable enough for curling.

Strip the paper bark layer from the vine before you add it to your walking stick Sassafras carving. Honeysuckle looses its bark easily. If you leave the bark on the vine only the bark layer will be attached during the gluing. When the bark is shed you will lose the vine around your cane.

You can also purchase pre-dried, pre-striped honeysuckle vine, seagrass, raffia, and even paper rope from most baste weaving supply stores to use with your canes.

free wood carving cane instructions by Lora Irish
Try Save-On-Crafts.com and  BasketPatterns.com.

Soak your vine in warm (not hot) water for about 10 minutes. Lightly blot on a dry towel to remove the excess water from the outer surface.

free wood carving cane instructions by Lora Irish

Check the thickness of your vine – the thinner part of the vine should be at the top of your stick, with the thicker, older growth, at the bottom. Using super glue, place several drops into the vine trough on your carving then place the vine into the trough. Hold in place for about 1/2 minute. Work just one or two inches at a time, slowly rolling the vine around the cane.

free wood carving cane instructions by Lora Irish

Step 23: Cleaning and finishing prep steps.

With any cane topper my cleaning steps begin with a hard scrubbing using an old toothbrush which can reach into the deep undercuts. This is followed by a quick wash at the sink to remove any dirt and hand oils, using a small amount of dish washing soap, warm water, and a small glass scrubbie brush. Rinse well, but do not over-saturate or soak in the water. Blot your carving and allow to dry for about an hour.

free wood carving cane instructions by Lora Irish

Next, mix one part linseed oil with one part turpentine. Stir well, but don’t make bubbles. Brush one generous coat to all areas of the cane except the very bottom edge. Allow the oil mix to sit for 10 minutes. Wipe briskly with a dry cloth to remove the excess oil. Repeat one time.

free wood carving cane instructions by Lora Irish

This oil mix replaces the natural oils of your caving wood and soaks deeply into the wood fibers. After the oil finish has set for several days you can return and apply whatever finish you personally prefer, including polyurethane, varnish, or wax. If, as I prefer, I will add several more coats of oil mix over about a one week period as my final finish.

Step 24: My cane stick – a two to three year Black Walnut branch – is still green. So I will be dry setting this stick, and will not do the final glue-up until several months from now.

I have drilled a 3/8″ hole into both the cane topper and the Black Walnut stick. For my dry set I am using a 3/8″ hardwood dowel, which will be replaced with 3/8″ threaded pipe when I do the final gluing. My dowel holes go as deeply as possible into both parts of the cane to give as long a section as possible for the jointing pipe.

free wood carving cane instructions by Lora Irish

To hide the joint line between the cane topper and the stick, I have used my bench knife, and small round gouge to cut a 1/4″ deep well inside of the top of the Black Walnut stick. The outer 3/16″ of the stick is left un-carved to create a lip area.

free wood carving cane instructions by Lora Irish

When the cane topper is put into place on its stick the joint line between the two parts is hidden by the well area in the top of the stick.

free wood carving cane instructions by Lora Irish

In a couple of months, after the Black Walnut is well dried, I will set the cane using two-part epoxy and the 3/8″ threaded pipe.

Step 25: Thank you for letting me share my love of carving with you in this cane carving project!

free wood carving cane instructions by Lora Irish

Twistie Stick Snake Cane Carving, Day 5 Read More »

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