It was on my heart to make this for you. This little block of wood not only represents a gift, but, much more.
I have had fun working with pieces of reclaimed pallet wood over the past couple of years. You get to take something old and used and make something new out of it. That is the first gift of wisdom I wish to give you – That something, or someone, can always be renewed – or become new. I took that old piece of pallet wood and first ran it through my Jointer. This process took three to four hours of work (I think / at least – I lost track). The board definitely was starting to come to life, however I was having a hard time getting it to become what I wanted due to a warp in the board. So, after some research on the web, I found out that cutting it down into smaller pieces would allow me to overcome the warp.
So, another lesson – regardless of how twisted something is, never give up. After using the Jointer on the individual pieces I next used my Planer to square up and clean up the opposite side. In the picture of the Cut Up and Planed boards, you can see gray like lines / grain patterns.
This is called Spalting and lots of times is considered something that adds character to the wood. I was excited to find this in the wood. If your To Do Card Holder has some of this, enjoy!
The plan I had come up with to create these (that in it self took some time), had me then sand the wood with three different grains of sandpaper, cut the groves that would hold the To Do card, cut the pieces, then sand again. I chose not to stain or seal these as I have really enjoyed the feel of and frequently looking at the natural wood of the holder I originally made for myself.
I started using cards and a holder daily in my work about three months ago. I was intrigued after stumbling across a system called Analog. The creator, when describing one of the reasons why he created it, really struck a cord with me – To Do apps are great, but as soon as you grab the phone to look at your list, you more often than not go down the rabbit hole with Alice. I love using a new card each day to plan my day, then have the card right there in front of me to keep me on track. I hope my version of this system does the same thing for you as you write your card and check things off.
The pen (if you got one – sorry if you didn’t. :-D), is my favorite pen, especially the Bold Ink version. The holder has a hole to hold the pen for you. Credit goes to Kimberly for something she said to me a couple of years ago that has really stuck with me – it is a great feeling to just “feel the ink flow.” It is such a wonderful context change to look away from the screen and experience ink and paper – imperfections and all.
Finally, imperfections is the final gift of wisdom for you – remember that in life – just like you will see in my little creations – nothing is perfect. Just strive to do your best – daily. On your holder, you might see the holes from the nails that held together the pallet. You might see imperfections in the grain. Or, you might see a gaffe on my part in the workmanship. Enjoy these – and remember to just strive to do your best daily.
PS: The cards I sometimes use as an alternative to Analog and have included with your gift can be found on Amazon.
