Starting on a lark, I created a little wooden spoon with JHR's image "carved" into it. Then I did another. Then Jill demanded one. Then ... No telling where this will end. From time to time (i.e., when the spirit moves me) I'll carve more spoons of PADders. Please note that the images on the spoons are those of the respective subjects. I have, however, probably made it completely unrecognizable or mucked up an otherwise wonderful photo. For that I apologize in advance.

For those wondering how I "carve" these puppies ... I start with a standard "template" of the wooden spoon (from my kitchen drawer). Separately, I snag a self-portrait or other image of my suject from his/her pbase galleries. I apply the emboss filter to the image (tweaking the light angle to give the desired detail) and, usually, desaturate the resulting image. I usually trim away anything outside the head image. The object is to create a grayscale image. That image layer (after flattening, if needed) is duplicated to the template file above the spoon image. The original subject image file can be discarded. Now, use Free Transform (ctrl-T) to orient and resize the face image for the spoon. If needed, I apply an oval layer mask that fits the scooped out portion of the spoon (to clip away any excess of the face image). Last, I change the layer blending to Overlay, which leaves a nicely "carved" face image on the spoon. Sometimes, I tweak the layer opacity. It's not as complicated as I've made it sound. Alternative method - get a wooden spoon and your handy-dandy swiss army knife and start whittling.