A friend with a daughter's wedding in the offing (like, tomorrow!) asked me to duplicate something they saw:  it's a wedding guest sign-in registry, shaped like the state, on which guests write their names.  The original was just printed on a painted piece of plywood, so we couldn't make it so cheap!  Base/plaque is poplar, stained (Early American), poly; State outline is hardboard, painted with a white matte spray (after the sign-ins, the white board will be lifted and sealed with poly, but only after about a week to insure the ink is dry).  Heart is whateverwood from Michaels.  Lettering is hand carved, something I wanted to try again (most of the project time was spent practicing the lettering).  Heart is located on the wedding site.  The white and red pieces are stuck on with "chewing gum" (the plastic clay sticky), and I think I'll just stick with that.  Heh.  A lot of fun to do and lasting memory.  Easier to do if you come from a western state with lots of straight lines!  (BTW, the irregular left/west side is the Colorado River:  Las Vegas--baby--just off the map in the upper left.)

Excellent job. Very unique guest register. Your carving is super. Practice made perfect. 

The venue was Phoenix? Glad it was November, not June.

Wow, that's COOL! Like Gene said- Super carving on the letters!

Very unique and well done Pete. Spectacular job on the name carvings...Gotta be a great couple by their names...my SIL & youngest grand-daughter names...