LP Guitar Clock

   As you may or may not know, my youngest Daughter has Cystic Fibrosis. Every year on the last Sunday of May, we hold a charity fundraiser called Great Strides. Being on the Great Strides Committee is a rewarding role that I am proud of holding and a venture I am excited to continue. This year we added a live entertainment component to our family friendly event. Being the Entertainment Coordinator, I knew exactly who I wanted to play at our event this year, my friend and very successful Canadian Recording Artist, Craig Moritz. Fortunately for me, Craig was gracious enough to donate his time and exceptional talent to our cause & we were so very lucky to have him. I wanted him to know how grateful we were, so I decided to handcraft a thank you gift.

   Craig has been working hard on getting his third album, Only When You're Lonely, out to eager fans. I am happy to report that his CD Release Party is happening this Friday in Edmonton, Alberta. (I am dying to get my hot little hands on a copy!) One of the songs I hope is on the new CD is one that I remember from my childhood, Danny's Song.  Re-recorded and released to radio by Craig, written and originally recorded by American Singer/Songwriter Kenny Loggins.

*note song #2, that's the song!

     I found the LP, yep real vinyl, with the original song, in good condition on Ebay. With a picture of Craig's guitar in my mind's eye, I then went to work designing and perfecting a guitar shaped clock drawing. After many (many, many) tweaks to the design, I was ready to scale it to the size of the LP. Once I had the size right, I had to do some more tweaking to make the entire sketch work with the shape of the LP and the label in the middle.

   I had purchased 2 practice LPs from my local thrift store because I was unsure of the method I was going to use to cut the vinyl. I tried out many different tips on the Dremel rotary tool and even bought a wood burning tool with a scalpel tip. These tools gouged out the fine lines in the practice rounds and I'm quite sure that smoldering vinyl is not the healthiest thing to be breathing in. I finally found a simple tip for the Dremel that left a fairly clean edge behind and was small enough to get into the smaller areas. Phew!

   I was less than thrilled with the results. The finished product still seemed unbalanced, so back to the drawing board I went before the Kenny Loggins LP even came out of it's shipping package!
I traced my stencil onto paper and taped it to my kitchen window. From there I cut out pieces and rotated numbers until I loved it. Nervous as could be, I stencilled the vinyl and set about to cutting it out. The finished product was fabulous! I glued a clock movement box onto the back and cut out a guitar pick from the left over pieces, to use as a clock hanger.

   The only thing left to do was to make the record sleeve into a box for the clock. I cut the spine off the sleeve and bent the cardboard to make a wider sleeve. I then used poster board to create a place to put the clock. Using foam floor mats, I cut out the rough shape of the clock to secure it inside the box.

   If Craig likes the clock half as much as I loved making it, I'll be happy. I hope his CD gets worldwide recognition and his fan base multiplies exponentially this year. Not only is his voice like butter, but he is an amazing humanitarian and all round good guy! Best of luck Friday Craig ~ and Happy Birthday too!

*photo by Bob Coan

   Until next time, I'm off to wear out my first two Craig Moritz CDs.