I started this carving a month or two back, when my laptop overheated during one of my photo editing sessions. It was a 9 3/4" tray made out of Monkey Pod wood that I had sitting on my desk. I wanted to keep working, so I picked it up and started carving. I really enjoy working with my hands again, and Monkey Pod, a hardwood tree native to Southeast Asia is a good carving wood. My favorite xActo knife blades are the #s 16 and 11. They didn't have any of the smaller trays when I went shopping yesterday, so I got the 12" one shown here. I picked up a few other pieces as well, from a tourist section at the mall. Kiln dried, and nice sizes that don't require any more tool purchases, etc.