Added New Mosaic Bartop,,,see page 6

Hi guys, you all inspired me & made me believe that I could do it. I bought some carving tools on eBay & a carving book at Books-a-Million & read many a forum here. Here is my first creation. It's about 6'4" and it took about 3 months to finish. I'm a Mom with small children(3 & 5).

I used two colors of stain to get the definition I wanted. I plan another project when the weather gets a bit warmer.

My husband & I built the bar & did all the work ourselves. We are so proud. We will add some finishing touches this summer.

I photoshopped the flames so it would look really cool for my website.
Here's our bar:

Let me know if anyone has questions or cares to see more pics...

Where am I going? And how did I get in this hand-basket?

Tiki Tammy

[ Edited by: tikitammy 2007-03-27 20:29 ]

Wow TikiTammy, you Should be Very proud of both the Tiki And the bar. 3 months isn't bad for your first pole especially one that size. The Only thing I can see that you did All Wrong was Not posting progress pictures,,Ha
Beautiful job and a Nice surprise.

DANG!!! if that is your first one....DON'T STOP!!! i'd love to see how the rest turn out if your first one turned out that great! keep it up and keep sharing what you're doing.

Very cool Tammy. Welcome to TC and keep up the good work.

Nice work. So, are you addicted to carving yet?

Nice carving and nice first one too. You got a lot of space around that bar for more tikis...so get busy!

Oh man, that's a good first tiki! Tikitammy, you've got our attention. Well, now you're stuck with us so get busy & post lots more creations for your new TC pals.

Welcome Tammy to tiki central. Liked your work. My brother works for the city of Little Rock as a computer tech. Good to see some of us in Arkansas. Last time I was there nobody got the tiki thing. They just stared at me open jawed when I asked if there were any tiki places. Might as well have steped out of a giant spaceship.

[ Edited by: sungod on 2005-02-19 14:04 ]

[ Edited by: sungod on 2005-02-19 15:00 ]

That's real nice i like the tiki hut bar looks killer

Thanks for all the kind words.

Here are some more pics..

& some more of our bar in progress

We have a killer stereo system out there too...you can barely see the speakers under the edge of the roof. The ceiling fan is a must in the summer. It keeps the mosquito's away.

I plan to get busy as soon as the weather cooperates. I'm also working on a mosiac bar top under our other deck that has beach, shells, sea animals.

I'll post pictures next week.

I'd like to also try some of these...

We got these off eBay from Brazil.

I really like your Tiki bar.
Congrats on some fine work :)

Wow...the bar and tiki look great! My wife and I are getting everything together for a bar and this gives me some ideas...especially regarding the fan and mosquitos, as they is generally not a shortage of them in Tampa!

Nice bar! I love the tile bar top.

Without a doubt.One of the better bars I have seen in awhile.Very very nice.

Hi Everyone, I've been busy finishing up a new bartop to our backyard tiki paradise. I did a beach/sealife stained glass mosaic. I handcut each piece.

This is a merged photo of the whole thing so you can get an overall view.

Here are some closeups:

Here's what it looks like on our deck. We plan to use this as a standing bar on the left side or a eating bar on the right side. We also added the ships wheel for the kids to play with.

It's still very much a work in progress. My husband & I work on it on the weekends. We recently got some bamboo and we are heat curing it with a propane torch. I'll try to post some pics soon of this project. We want to create some walls to help hide some storage & gardening equipment.

Thanks for all the good feedback. I am always inspired by the artists that post here.

Where am I going? And how did I get in this hand-basket?

Tiki Tammy

[ Edited by: tikitammy on 2005-05-06 10:43 ]

That looks great. How long did that take?
I am getting a bad case of yard envy.

I actually started it last fall but had to stop when it got to cold. I work full time & have 2 kids so I would put the kiddies to bed and work on it at night. My husband hung a great temporary overhead light for me. Once the temp hit around 55 degrees here, I went back to work this spring. It's about eight & 1/2 feet long and was a labor of love. We used the new SpectraLOCK grout that resists water & staining. We added a silver glitter that looks amazing.

Thanks for the yard envy statement!

That ranks as one of the finer pieces of art shown in creating tiki. Very sweet!

WOW!!! to cool.. I need to do that to my next bar!

Tammy,

All I can do is praise. Your mosaics are professional grade and are simply awesome. The pole, the bar, the decor in general forces the ultimate question here from all of your new family....When's the freakin party???

We just bought a new place and I'm in the process of putting on my thinking cap and mapping out a plan of attack for our "tiki paradise". Searching the creating tiki threads has been a inspirational!

Our new place is pretty much a blank canvas, but we have 3 areas that I'm looking forward to tiki-fying. Den/bar area, patio and backyard. It's a great idea to keep track of progress via a thread, makes for great suggestions, ideas and comments.

TikiTammy great tiki, I love the pineapple accent it's such a lovely and happy tiki!

Great job sista!

Tammy the bar top looks really cool. I'm digging it!

G.

LOve the mosaic work!

Thanks for all the praise. It means more coming from such talented folks.

I learned how to use a router this past weekend & I am loving the power tools now. My husband is really enjoying teaching me & is a little jealous that I am getting the hang of it so fast. I've started a plywood project of a tiki head. I'm almost finished. I just need to varnish the back of it. I know...yucky plywood, but my wood supply here in the city is a bit limited. I did score a 5 foot cedar recently but I probably need to wait a year before starting on it. It's a bit sappy.

I'll try to post pics tomorrow.

TTammy, the bar is really looking inviting. Love the mosaic. You are definately puting your own stamp on the whole project and I'm sure there are Tiki lovers who are green with envy. Very Nice.

wow. i love the energy & colors of your mosaic! you've created a little beach and tidepool in landlocked arkansas!

hope it's warmed up enough for you to work on your projects... and to throw parties too!!

elicia

Very cool mosaic! Looks awesome. Every home tiki bar needs something like that to "Wow" people.
great job!

McTiki... My husband tends the bar most weekends. Too bad most of you guys are either in CA or FL. We don't get many tikiphytes in Central AR. I'm having my bunko girls over next month.
dogbytes...It's 78degrees and sunny today.

Here is a trellis my husband built for me over the weekend out of bamboo. I have a Lady Banks Rose bush that is supposed to grow up to 20 feet high.

Here is the plywood tiki that I did this weekend with my new router skills.

Here is our bamboo supply waiting to be cured with the propane flame.

Here is a close up after it's been cured.

Here is one wall of our deck.

This was my very first carving ever. My learning piece...

On 2005-05-17 11:38, tikitammy wrote:
Here is one wall of our deck.

All right you guys, now be nice.
Great photos Tammy! Thanks for sharing.
Unga

Great carving, Tammy. Thanks for posting!

http://www.samgambino.com

Nice carvings.. Looks great

I have started my 2nd pole. It's about 5 feet tall.
I was inspired by this guy from the BOT.

Here are some photos I took last night. I am putting some hibiscus flowers at the top.

I really liked the monkey-like look he had & I might even put a fez on him.

Tiki Tammy,

That is some nice detail you have going on. It will be nice to see the progression pics on this one.

tikit - looks like you're getting real confortable with those chisels, that detail is really good for a #2!!!

Fez?!?!?! coool!

This one is going to be good!

Wow,

You clearly have some natural aptitude for this stuff. The hibiscus is looking real nice. The quantity of work you have been producing is fantastic for having an already busy life.

Wow

Nice job and I really like the mosiac top on the bar.

TTammy, looks like a Winner. you are getting some real nice detail and the hibiscus is a great idea. Loving it.

Is that another flower behind the other "ear"? Beautiful work on those flowers, absolutely brilliant! Espescially how they cross the eyebrow, it brings a new balance to the piece.

Thanks for all the love guys!

Freddie...Yes another hibiscus on the upper right side too.

I am enjoying carving so much!! It's supposed to rain all weekend so I'll get alot done on my covered deck. I'll post more pics next week.

Update Photo...

He's not perfectly symetric but I have problems looking around corners. I actually have more done now...I'll post again in a couple of days.

Hmmm, looks pretty symetrical to me. You've got some real talent, TikiTammy! Post more!

A-A

Super cool! I can't wait to see more. :tiki:

Very cool , thats gonna be one great carving. What types of tools are you using?
I love to hear how others work.

Thanks for sharing

I use two chisels. A fishtale palm chisel that's about 1/3 of an inch wide and a straight edge one-inch wide chisel. I use these to rough cut it & then I use a dremel to sand it down. I then use 180 grit sandpaper. I have many hours of sanding ahead. This weekend I had to rest between chiseling sessions. My mallet gets a bit heavy for me.

My husband recently bought me some small grinding heads for my dremel that I plan to try this week. My dremel is about all of the power I can handle. I tried some air tools but I don't have the strength to control them.

Tammy, he is looking great. That is a lot of hand sanding and you are doing a superb job. Looks like you have been carving tikis for a long time.

Wow Tammy, Your work is awesome. Funny thing, we have had some of the same ideas (which I have yet to incorporate.) We really like that BOT monkey look tiki too and hope to do a similar one some day. I have a bunch of questions to ask you but I will PM you those later. In an area that is rather void of TC peeps, it's nice to know that we have another carver relatively close by!

Looking very good, i have always liked that guy Tiki form the BOT. the pictures of the Tiki Tammy's Paradise Bar, looks great as well, lots of good looking goodies that no bar should be with out.

#2 is mostly done now...I just need some advice on finishing him out. Any suggestions?

I've never done any burning, but I'm up for most anything. What do you guys think the best method would be for this guy?