Dear
Friends in Carving -
Welcome to the Year 2000! I am happy to report that the E-zine is alive and well and the future looks very bright indeed.
We have successfully managed the change in ownership of the E-zine. You hold in your virtual hand the first issue of our fourth year of publication! As far as I know, this is still the only regularly published electronic magazine for and by woodcarvers.
Sometime this month the E-zine gateway page counter should roll over 60,000 hits! That's small potatoes for a major commercial site, but looks like a pretty good number for a special-purpose magazine.
A small but dedicated group of sponsors continues to support the E-zine by purchasing ad space on the gateway page. Without their support this publication would not exist. I encourage you to consider these folks first when you purchase supplies and tools.
We continue to receive quality articles from a variety of contributors. Having said that, let me encourage anyone who might be interested in writing for the E-zine to visit the Authors page, then get in touch with me via E-mail.
Likewise, I would also encourage everyone to continue to send suggestions, ideas and critiques. For instance, Robin Hale-Cooper suggested a regular feature that reports the status of the various World Wood Woodcarver Exchange (W3E) programs. You'll find just such a feature starting in this issue! Robin, thanks for the great suggestion.
Speaking of W3E, the various exchange programs continue to do well. A new bottle stopper exchange was started on 10 December, and five groups of six carvers were filled in less than a month. If you have not yet participated in one of the exchange programs, click here to find out more.
Finally, please share the E-zine with your friends. Suggest they visit www.carverscompanion.com and join the fun!
Once again I'd like to thank all those who helped with this issue
of the E-zine, and if you have comments, suggestion or ideas for
future articles, I'd be very happy to receive them all. Just email
me at Editor@carverscompanion.com.
Carve On!
Matt Kelley, Editor