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My Journey As A Creative Designer - Woodworking and Beyond

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7M views 13K replies 477 participants last post by  teaklight12 
#1 ·
Beginning this Blog

I recently was referred to this site by Steve Good, who has a wonderful, comprehensive scroll saw forum and blog page. Although I have been doing woodworking for almost fifteen years, I have finally reached a point in my life where I am able to make it the main focus of my activities. Since my life revolves around my woodworking and business, I believe that this blog will reflect that very clearly, although it will also be somewhat personal. But I think that woodworking is very personal anyway.

It has been a long journey to get to this point. There have been many good times and some not-so-good ones, but I appreciate every single step because I think that if even one thing was different, I would not be where I am today or who I am inside. It isn't only the positive events in our lives that make us what we are. Many times it is the negative things that mold and shape us and teach us to look at things in a certain way. I try to remember that when things are tough and move ahead.

I have learned that there is only one thing we can be certain of in life: change. Whether things are good or bad, we need to hold on and appreciate the moment, as we can be certain that things will be different before long. This helps us to not only appreciate the good days and things we have now, but also hang on when things are not so good, as we know that they will be different soon. I like this philosophy.

I liked reading about the new contest offered by this site in the newsletter. Fluidity. It is a perfect theme for projects because our existence itself is fluid. I am anxious to see what interpretations are going to be, as I am sure everyone else is. It will be an adventure for all of us for sure.

So why am I starting this blog? The other day I received a call from a customer who had a question for me. He kept saying how surprised he was that I answered my own phone. I have worked as a Contributing Editor for Creative Woodworks and Crafts Magazine for the past 13+ years and I guess in the scroll saw community, many people have heard of me. It seemed so odd to me that he would think I would have a secretary or staff. We kind of laughed about it, but it really got me thinking about his interpretation of my life. We all tend to form opinions of others from very limited information. We see the outside of a person as they are presented to us and many times are very quick to categorize that person in our minds. I do it myself.

But in my years of talking with and dealing with many people from many different places, I have come to realize that people are like icebergs. We only see the tip of them and below the surface is a vast, complex side of them that is the basis of their actions and thinking.

Everyone has a story. Everyone has traveled a journey. No two people have traveled identical paths. Thus, we are all unique in our thoughts, actions and creative processes. I enjoy hearing others stories. I think that listening to others and hearing their experiences helps us to understand each other. With that understanding, we learn.

I have used the phrase "Knowledge Is Power" in my signature since I have been on the web. Once someone told me that they thought it was quite arrogant of me to say that. He thought that I was implying that I knew more than anyone else and he found that offensive. I told him he couldn't be more wrong. My interpretation of the phrase is that our QUEST for knowledge EMPOWERS us to make better decisions about things in our lives. We are never finished learning. I learn every single day from my friends, colleagues, fellow woodworkers and students. We never know when we will learn something new. Sometimes you can learn from even a seemingly insignificant event. I feel the key is that we need to be open to learning.

Everyone has a story.

So I will close today with those thoughts. I don't know how often I will post here, but I hope to make it a habit. I don't know if anyone will even read this, but somehow it doesn't matter. Writing is a key in self-awareness. By writing things down we categorize our actions and it helps (me anyway) to keep my life organized. Organization leads to peace as far as I am concerned.

I am quite overwhelmed with the scope of the site here. I am still getting my footings and lurking around. I think for the first several days or maybe even weeks I will be more of a passive observer while I find my comfortable position among the others here. I want to upload the new things I am working on here. Like everyone else, I am anxious to see the response they get. I love seeing others projects and could spend my days just looking.

Although it is quite intimidating, the forum looks like it is full of friendly, knowledgeable and wonderfully creative people.

I think I am going to like it here.
 
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#6,146 ·
Ebb and Flow

Not every day can be the most productive. Even if we do get a lot of things done, everything we do isn't always notable or worthy of mentioning. But there are some days when I find that those mundane chores that need to be done on a daily basis fill up the majority of my day.

Usually when I write here, I like to talk about things that are above and beyond the day to day routine. After all, we all do things like washing clothes, cleaning floors and cooking meals and I don't think that anyone would really be interested in that part of my day. Yet they are a part of day to day life that isn't only present each day, but sometimes monopolizes the day completely.

Yesterday was one of those days for me. After picking up a few things for the house Wednesday we spent a good part of the day getting them settled in. And as always, one thing led to another and we wound up doing more cleaning and organizing. I am sure some of you must wonder how much of a slob I am because it seems that lately I am constantly organizing and reorganizing things. Perhaps it is a 'nesting' thing and I am preparing myself for the long winter when I know I won't be able to get out and get things. This year was a banner year for us and we were able to really make our place nice by adding a couple of new pieces of furniture and home furnishing items. But since we don't have any extra storage here, we try hard to move something out with each piece or item that is brought in. That keeps our trash men quite busy sometimes.

Yesterday, one of the final purchases that I made arrived. It was a combination cat box/bench for the bathroom and for me anyway it was a big deal (I think for the cats too!)

Cat Carnivore Felidae Small to medium-sized cats Pet supply


I had seen this item well over a year ago and thought it would be ideal for us here. Our bathroom is roomy enough, and with three cats kicking up the litter from their box, it is an endless mess of sweeping up the trail of crumbs in the bathroom. We currently had an ugly covered box that was looking the worse for wear and an old chair next to it where Richard (our cat) liked to sleep at night. While they were functional, they were quite an eyesore and after seeing this item, I kept thinking how clever it was to hide the box and provide a place to sit (or sleep in Richards' case) and I really kind of wanted one.

I toyed with the idea of both making one for myself, or having Bernie make one for us, and I even asked him about it last fall. But he was quite busy then and his dance card was full and it wasn't urgent anyway, as we had gotten along fine until now anyway. So I pushed it to the back of my mind for the time being.

But every once in a while, the idea would pop up and I wanted one again. Usually it was when I was sweeping stray litter off of the floor or cleaning the ugly box we had and I began thinking how nice it would be to have a fresh new place for them to do their business. But we were quite busy and Bernie was also busy so the idea of it again would be pushed to the back of my mind.

But a couple of weeks ago, we were in Wal-Mart buying litter, and they had covered boxes there. Keith suggested that we look into getting a new box, as the old one was quite an eyesore and the top was damaged from years ago when I moved here and held together with duct tape and I was rather surprised to see that a covered box cost about $35. It got me to thinking again that I would love to get rid of that old chair too and when I returned home, I once again looked to see about the box above.

Unfortunately no one sold them here in Canada that I could find, so I finally bit the bullet and ordered it up from the States, which cost me a bit more in shipping charges and taxes and duties. My friend Kelly (Rivergirl) had said she would have been happy to make one for me and send it to me, but I felt that it would cost here even more to ship and while I appreciated it very much, the deed was already done and it was on its way.

It arrived yesterday in a flat box and it was the typical MDF with a covering over it like most put-it-together-yourself furniture was, but it seems sturdy enough and it was packed very nicely and they even gave extra hardware. Everything fit together well and while it is no work of art, it is clean and sturdy enough and will serve a good purpose for many years, I expect. The only issue I have with it was hoping the cats would adapt to it, as we all know how cats can be on these matters.

We had it up and running by about 2pm and by dinner, we were certain that all three hadn't tried it out yet. Richard was the first to try it out. Being the leader of the pack, I was not surprised at this. Pancakes was (as expected) frightened of it but I did see him emerge from it several hours later. I went to bed at about 11:30 and Coco still (to my knowledge) had not given it a go. This concerned me to the point that I was dreaming about it and I didn't want to wake up to a mess in the morning. Up until now, they have always been extremely clean cats and have never had any 'accidents' and I was worried that this may set off a new bad habit if they disapproved of it.

But I was quite relieved this morning when it appeared that everyone had 'checked in' during the night. My world was once again happy.

I apologize for going on about such silliness. It was just one of those days where 'work' took a back seat and life took over. I had some sewing that I needed to do and some other things around the house that needed attending, and while I still filled orders and responded to many emails, I didn't get much drawing done at all.

I sat down to draw around 8:30 last night, and put in a couple of hours, but I don't know if I am happy with my results and may scratch what I did and start over again. My head just wasn't into it I suppose.

I try to run with ideas as they come for this reason. When I have the time or the inspiration, I don't like to stop because I realize that these times won't always be here for me. I felt bad because I was really tired last night, yet I didn't feel that I accomplished any 'work' to speak of. But that is just how it goes, I guess.

Water Cat Wood Felidae Carnivore


I am not concerned though, as I know that the tide will again come in and I will be productive again in the woodworking sense. Part of what makes my life so good is that I have the ability to take the time I need for these things and be able to set my own schedule accordingly so that I am able to work in a clean and pleasant environment.

I look forward to a new day and I know that today I will actually getting some quality drawing finished and perhaps even getting to the point where I can give it a go at the saw. As I look around, I am happy that I took the time I did yesterday for other things. I think that it was time well-spent and even if it didn't produce a new pattern or woodworking project, it was a good day. Today will be a good day too.

Have a wonderful Friday!
 

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#6,147 ·
Ebb and Flow

Not every day can be the most productive. Even if we do get a lot of things done, everything we do isn't always notable or worthy of mentioning. But there are some days when I find that those mundane chores that need to be done on a daily basis fill up the majority of my day.

Usually when I write here, I like to talk about things that are above and beyond the day to day routine. After all, we all do things like washing clothes, cleaning floors and cooking meals and I don't think that anyone would really be interested in that part of my day. Yet they are a part of day to day life that isn't only present each day, but sometimes monopolizes the day completely.

Yesterday was one of those days for me. After picking up a few things for the house Wednesday we spent a good part of the day getting them settled in. And as always, one thing led to another and we wound up doing more cleaning and organizing. I am sure some of you must wonder how much of a slob I am because it seems that lately I am constantly organizing and reorganizing things. Perhaps it is a 'nesting' thing and I am preparing myself for the long winter when I know I won't be able to get out and get things. This year was a banner year for us and we were able to really make our place nice by adding a couple of new pieces of furniture and home furnishing items. But since we don't have any extra storage here, we try hard to move something out with each piece or item that is brought in. That keeps our trash men quite busy sometimes.

Yesterday, one of the final purchases that I made arrived. It was a combination cat box/bench for the bathroom and for me anyway it was a big deal (I think for the cats too!)

Cat Carnivore Felidae Small to medium-sized cats Pet supply


I had seen this item well over a year ago and thought it would be ideal for us here. Our bathroom is roomy enough, and with three cats kicking up the litter from their box, it is an endless mess of sweeping up the trail of crumbs in the bathroom. We currently had an ugly covered box that was looking the worse for wear and an old chair next to it where Richard (our cat) liked to sleep at night. While they were functional, they were quite an eyesore and after seeing this item, I kept thinking how clever it was to hide the box and provide a place to sit (or sleep in Richards' case) and I really kind of wanted one.

I toyed with the idea of both making one for myself, or having Bernie make one for us, and I even asked him about it last fall. But he was quite busy then and his dance card was full and it wasn't urgent anyway, as we had gotten along fine until now anyway. So I pushed it to the back of my mind for the time being.

But every once in a while, the idea would pop up and I wanted one again. Usually it was when I was sweeping stray litter off of the floor or cleaning the ugly box we had and I began thinking how nice it would be to have a fresh new place for them to do their business. But we were quite busy and Bernie was also busy so the idea of it again would be pushed to the back of my mind.

But a couple of weeks ago, we were in Wal-Mart buying litter, and they had covered boxes there. Keith suggested that we look into getting a new box, as the old one was quite an eyesore and the top was damaged from years ago when I moved here and held together with duct tape and I was rather surprised to see that a covered box cost about $35. It got me to thinking again that I would love to get rid of that old chair too and when I returned home, I once again looked to see about the box above.

Unfortunately no one sold them here in Canada that I could find, so I finally bit the bullet and ordered it up from the States, which cost me a bit more in shipping charges and taxes and duties. My friend Kelly (Rivergirl) had said she would have been happy to make one for me and send it to me, but I felt that it would cost here even more to ship and while I appreciated it very much, the deed was already done and it was on its way.

It arrived yesterday in a flat box and it was the typical MDF with a covering over it like most put-it-together-yourself furniture was, but it seems sturdy enough and it was packed very nicely and they even gave extra hardware. Everything fit together well and while it is no work of art, it is clean and sturdy enough and will serve a good purpose for many years, I expect. The only issue I have with it was hoping the cats would adapt to it, as we all know how cats can be on these matters.

We had it up and running by about 2pm and by dinner, we were certain that all three hadn't tried it out yet. Richard was the first to try it out. Being the leader of the pack, I was not surprised at this. Pancakes was (as expected) frightened of it but I did see him emerge from it several hours later. I went to bed at about 11:30 and Coco still (to my knowledge) had not given it a go. This concerned me to the point that I was dreaming about it and I didn't want to wake up to a mess in the morning. Up until now, they have always been extremely clean cats and have never had any 'accidents' and I was worried that this may set off a new bad habit if they disapproved of it.

But I was quite relieved this morning when it appeared that everyone had 'checked in' during the night. My world was once again happy.

I apologize for going on about such silliness. It was just one of those days where 'work' took a back seat and life took over. I had some sewing that I needed to do and some other things around the house that needed attending, and while I still filled orders and responded to many emails, I didn't get much drawing done at all.

I sat down to draw around 8:30 last night, and put in a couple of hours, but I don't know if I am happy with my results and may scratch what I did and start over again. My head just wasn't into it I suppose.

I try to run with ideas as they come for this reason. When I have the time or the inspiration, I don't like to stop because I realize that these times won't always be here for me. I felt bad because I was really tired last night, yet I didn't feel that I accomplished any 'work' to speak of. But that is just how it goes, I guess.

Water Cat Wood Felidae Carnivore


I am not concerned though, as I know that the tide will again come in and I will be productive again in the woodworking sense. Part of what makes my life so good is that I have the ability to take the time I need for these things and be able to set my own schedule accordingly so that I am able to work in a clean and pleasant environment.

I look forward to a new day and I know that today I will actually getting some quality drawing finished and perhaps even getting to the point where I can give it a go at the saw. As I look around, I am happy that I took the time I did yesterday for other things. I think that it was time well-spent and even if it didn't produce a new pattern or woodworking project, it was a good day. Today will be a good day too.

Have a wonderful Friday!
Have a good weekend Sheila. Gr8 story. That is a nice setup with the box built-in. Our 3 boys, Rockie, Bullwinkle, and Boris, have their own bathroom..lol… it's the laundry room. I cut out a "doorway" for them to come and go. Having 2 boxes in there makes it nice.
This is Rockie & Bullwinkle here:
Cat Felidae Carnivore Window Small to medium-sized cats
 

Attachments

#6,151 ·
Headed to the Saw Today

It seems like a long time in coming, but I will finally be heading to the saw today to do some cutting. I was on such a productive roll last week and it seems that this week things just got away from me a little bit.

It isn't as if I haven't done anything, as each day has been busy and full. But sometimes all of my energy isn't in the direction of cutting, and I suppose that is OK.

We have been considering taking on a new wholesaler to sell our patterns. We were approached a week or so ago from them and they had been to our site and liked our patterns and wrote us, asking if we were interested in allowing them to wholesale our patterns for us.

It was nice to be approached in this way, as it meant to us that our work stood out among the masses. But it just isn't something that we wanted to jump into without clarifying the terms and making sure that everything was on the up and up. It helped that when we went to their site, we saw patterns from many of the well-known names in the woodworking industry. It helped give a little bit of confidence that we were working with a reliable company. After all, in order to work with them in this way, we need to pony up our entire inventory to them in order for them to sell our patterns. No matter how you look at it, that is always somewhat of a risk.

But we want to grow, and while we have two major wholesalers that I have been working with for over ten years, it is good to see someone new come into the mix. In order for the industry to grow, we need an influx of new people and the best way to do that is to expand. I also like that this company is located here in Canada (Nova Scotia at that) as it will be good to represented on this side of the border too by a larger company.

When we went to check out their site, we noticed that there were few scroll sawing patterns available there. Most of the plans represented were for much larger woodworking projects and furniture. At first I wasn't sure that we would fit well, but in looking at things from another perspective, I think it is a good opportunity for us to carve our own niche into the market and be an expansion of what the site already has to offer. Since we have a good variety of patterns, we will appeal to many different tastes and skill levels and it may be a good opportunity to earn some more customers and get more people involved in scrolling. We will just have to see.

I suppose that the timing was right for us to be approached with this. It seems that this past week I worked very hard for the business, yet had little time to actually progress on my designing. I know I talked about this before, but while we want the company to grow, we need to be certain that we still have control over the growing and still have time to design. I am going to be honest in saying that I am not sure how that will work out, and you will all have to stick around and read to see what the outcome will be. It will be interesting to figure out the best way to delegate the day to day tasks and still have the time to keep designing and growing. It can be a scary thing.

While I am nervous about this undertaking, I am also anxious to see how we will be received. I imagine that I will need to wait at least six months to a year before I will be able to make a fair assessment, but patience is one of my strong points - especially where my business is concerned. I realize that with the economy what it is, any growth at all is a positive and I still can't get over that we are doing as well as we are under the circumstances. It does help to fuel us and keep us working hard.

On other things, I received a couple of nice pictures from a customer the other day that I wanted to share. Sandra Heitman sent me some pictures of some ornaments that she cut from Keith's pattern (SLDK207 and 208 Holly Ornaments and Self-Framing Mini Plaques) and I really liked what she did with them. She used some "Stickles" glitter paint to accent the tops and bottoms of the holly design and I think they look great:

Plant Christmas ornament Ornament Wood Creative arts


Textile Creative arts Art Ornament Wood


The glitter comes in tubes and has a small applicator point, making it easy to apply. I think that the little bit of sparkle dresses up the ornaments perfectly, and I love the results. This kind of technique is just what I have been talking about these past few weeks when I talk about adding accents to make your work stand out a bit. I thought it was a nice way to make them stand out on a tree a bit and catch lights. Sandra did a wonderful job.

So today I still have some drawing to do, but I plan to get to the saw too. I am still a bit muddled in my mind as to organizing my thoughts on these projects that I am creating. We have all heard that without clear goals, you will never reach them, and I believe this is a perfect example of it. I know what I want to accomplish, yet I have two versions and methods that I want to do. They keep bleeding into each other and I find myself not quite defining one or the other. Today will be the day to just go ahead with ONE of them and see how things work. Then I will be able to concentrate on the other when the time is right. Thinking in two directions is unsettling and unclear and it seems to be what is holding me up on these.

Hopefully by tomorrow, I will have a picture or two for you to see. I am just going to dive in and see where I wind up with this project, and I hope it will be nice.

Have a great day today. Enjoy your weekend and do some things that you find relaxing and fun. Remember, autumn is not far around the corner.
 

Attachments

#6,152 ·
Headed to the Saw Today

It seems like a long time in coming, but I will finally be heading to the saw today to do some cutting. I was on such a productive roll last week and it seems that this week things just got away from me a little bit.

It isn't as if I haven't done anything, as each day has been busy and full. But sometimes all of my energy isn't in the direction of cutting, and I suppose that is OK.

We have been considering taking on a new wholesaler to sell our patterns. We were approached a week or so ago from them and they had been to our site and liked our patterns and wrote us, asking if we were interested in allowing them to wholesale our patterns for us.

It was nice to be approached in this way, as it meant to us that our work stood out among the masses. But it just isn't something that we wanted to jump into without clarifying the terms and making sure that everything was on the up and up. It helped that when we went to their site, we saw patterns from many of the well-known names in the woodworking industry. It helped give a little bit of confidence that we were working with a reliable company. After all, in order to work with them in this way, we need to pony up our entire inventory to them in order for them to sell our patterns. No matter how you look at it, that is always somewhat of a risk.

But we want to grow, and while we have two major wholesalers that I have been working with for over ten years, it is good to see someone new come into the mix. In order for the industry to grow, we need an influx of new people and the best way to do that is to expand. I also like that this company is located here in Canada (Nova Scotia at that) as it will be good to represented on this side of the border too by a larger company.

When we went to check out their site, we noticed that there were few scroll sawing patterns available there. Most of the plans represented were for much larger woodworking projects and furniture. At first I wasn't sure that we would fit well, but in looking at things from another perspective, I think it is a good opportunity for us to carve our own niche into the market and be an expansion of what the site already has to offer. Since we have a good variety of patterns, we will appeal to many different tastes and skill levels and it may be a good opportunity to earn some more customers and get more people involved in scrolling. We will just have to see.

I suppose that the timing was right for us to be approached with this. It seems that this past week I worked very hard for the business, yet had little time to actually progress on my designing. I know I talked about this before, but while we want the company to grow, we need to be certain that we still have control over the growing and still have time to design. I am going to be honest in saying that I am not sure how that will work out, and you will all have to stick around and read to see what the outcome will be. It will be interesting to figure out the best way to delegate the day to day tasks and still have the time to keep designing and growing. It can be a scary thing.

While I am nervous about this undertaking, I am also anxious to see how we will be received. I imagine that I will need to wait at least six months to a year before I will be able to make a fair assessment, but patience is one of my strong points - especially where my business is concerned. I realize that with the economy what it is, any growth at all is a positive and I still can't get over that we are doing as well as we are under the circumstances. It does help to fuel us and keep us working hard.

On other things, I received a couple of nice pictures from a customer the other day that I wanted to share. Sandra Heitman sent me some pictures of some ornaments that she cut from Keith's pattern (SLDK207 and 208 Holly Ornaments and Self-Framing Mini Plaques) and I really liked what she did with them. She used some "Stickles" glitter paint to accent the tops and bottoms of the holly design and I think they look great:

Plant Christmas ornament Ornament Wood Creative arts


Textile Creative arts Art Ornament Wood


The glitter comes in tubes and has a small applicator point, making it easy to apply. I think that the little bit of sparkle dresses up the ornaments perfectly, and I love the results. This kind of technique is just what I have been talking about these past few weeks when I talk about adding accents to make your work stand out a bit. I thought it was a nice way to make them stand out on a tree a bit and catch lights. Sandra did a wonderful job.

So today I still have some drawing to do, but I plan to get to the saw too. I am still a bit muddled in my mind as to organizing my thoughts on these projects that I am creating. We have all heard that without clear goals, you will never reach them, and I believe this is a perfect example of it. I know what I want to accomplish, yet I have two versions and methods that I want to do. They keep bleeding into each other and I find myself not quite defining one or the other. Today will be the day to just go ahead with ONE of them and see how things work. Then I will be able to concentrate on the other when the time is right. Thinking in two directions is unsettling and unclear and it seems to be what is holding me up on these.

Hopefully by tomorrow, I will have a picture or two for you to see. I am just going to dive in and see where I wind up with this project, and I hope it will be nice.

Have a great day today. Enjoy your weekend and do some things that you find relaxing and fun. Remember, autumn is not far around the corner.
Sheila that sounds good

Rather you & Keith do it or someone

else might.

Gut feelings are good. :)

Well I'm going to look out the wee

saw and try it out. Although I do have

my eye on a couple of Hegners. :)

I'll post a picture of the saw later.

Jamie

P.S.
The pattern package I got from you is

wonderful. I had not expected so much

I chose the download version as I've no

patience for snail mail. LoL
 

Attachments

#6,157 ·
Enjoy the Process

As time goes on, it seems that the world is migrating more and more towards instant gratification. We are continually looking for ways to have things completed in record time, with fewer steps and the least amount of effort. While I realize that this is not news to anyone, I just wanted to bring it up to make my point.

While doing things more quickly and efficiently can be a very positive thing, I sometimes find myself wondering what the hurrying is all about. Yes, I understand when we are doing mundane chores such as laundry or dishes, how having things automated could be helpful. And I also understand how nearly instant communication could be beneficial for not only social relationships, but also correspondence of more pressing matters, but where do we draw the line on rushing through things and take time to stop and enjoy some of the processes.

When I was growing up, a US postage stamp costs six cents. (Yes - I am that old!) That was back in the day when we used to actually write letters and it took sometimes several weeks to have a simple conversation with someone who was far away. I didn't know many people far away then, but I remember one particular incident when I met some new friends on vacation that lived all the way on the other side of town and in trying to keep up with them, we corresponded through writing. Our family didn't have a long distance phone plan then and chatting on the phone for no reason was just out of the question. We did keep in touch for a while, but being young and busy, the friendships soon fell off and died.

I think about that now as I sit here and write every morning from my little country place here in rural Nova Scotia and I receive replies from not only across the country, but across oceans too. We have certainly come a long way.

So why am I babbling about all this today? I suppose I started thinking about it as I was working on my project yesterday and really enjoying what I was doing and experiencing. Something dawned on me at some time during that process - Not only did I like the outcome of the project, but I thoroughly enjoyed every step of creating it.

There were several points when I was drawing, cutting and finally peeling off the pattern and seeing the results when I thought to myself "this is cool!" And I realized that I was not only working, but truly having a good time doing so. And the best part of all is that they aren't done yet. While one could easily stop and call it a day on these ornaments and plaques that I created, I still have further to go with them, and this is only a stepping stone on the path to their completion. While I like them right now, I am picturing them when they are finished up and I know that I will like them even better. It will be fun to see them evolve.

But for now, here is where I am with them . . .

There are going to be 12 distinct designs in all, and there will be two sizes of each design. The 'larger' size will be a 4" x 6" miniature plaque and the smaller size will be a 2.5" x 3.5" ornament. I had to do a little extra drawing to make the smaller sizes work, which is part of why this is taking me so long to do, but I am so pleased with the results I realize that the time was very well spent and I am happy.

The ornaments/plaques will be in the self-framing format that I enjoy doing so much. It is certainly a nice way to present things and make them look nice.

Within the center of the frames will be overlay pieces which will be 12 silhouettes of Halloween-themed characters. I am only going to show you two of them today however.

The first (of course!) will be the cat (this piece is the smaller cat for the ornament sized frame):

Cat Carnivore Felidae Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers


It is simple, but I believe that the silhouettes needed to be somewhat simple so that the overall design would not be too busy. The simplicity of the overlay pieces bring balance to the very detailed Gothic type frames.

The next piece I will show you is the pumpkin. He is simple yet menacing and will fit in the mini-plaque sized frame.

Hair Eye Plant Mouth Human body


Sometimes small and simple is more difficult to accomplish than larger and more detailed. I find that I always want to put more details than the small size will permit, and as a result, I need to frequently re-draw things several times before I am satisfied.

Now for the frames. I cut the smaller one first. It is full of details and Keith had his doubts that I would be able to accomplish it when he saw the design on paper. (How little faith he has in me sometimes!) In all honesty, it is not what I consider a 'beginner' type of cutting, yet it is very much able to be accomplished as you can see below:

Font Symbol Circle Emblem Pattern


Keith wanted me to remove some of the details to make it easier, but I chose not to. I used an Olson 2/0 reverse blade on 3/16" curly maple hardwood and slowed down my saw a little and I had no trouble whatsoever. But the key here goes back to how I began this entry - you need to take your time and enjoy the process. This isn't made for 'speed cutting'. While I can easily see stacking two layers for more resistance and to be a bit more efficient, I wouldn't have it any other way. The details in the frame are what make the piece look nice:

Wood Font Creative arts Plant Art


The old saying 'it is what it is' applies here. I am very happy with the results and don't see the need to change it.

I then moved on to the larger frame piece. This was cut from 1/4" thick ash. I found that cutting the larger piece was far easier and while it still wasn't perhaps a 'beginner' piece, if care was taken, it also could be accomplished without much of a problem. My piece of ash was a bit warped, and that meant that I had to fight it a bit on some of the turns and twists, but it still came out nice.

Font Circle Pattern Symmetry Art


I took a photo of them together so you could see the size differential:

Font Ornament Symmetry Circle Pattern


I like them a lot and woke up very eager to continue working on them. (Of course, there is no finish on them yet!)

Now they do look nice how they are, and if I would have used some contrasting wood for the overlay pieces, the designs would stand out a bit better. But I have something else in mind for them that I think you may like. It is going to take them to another level. You will just have to wait and see about that though . . .

I did have trouble deciding which path I was going to follow as far as these designs are concerned. Part of what slowed me up in my designing of them was that I wasn't quite sure which one to follow. I could easily do several variations on this process and all of them would be nice. I may even do another complete set using an entirely different process. We will just have to see what time will allow.

Until then, these are what I have come up with. I have a birthday party to attend today in Digby, so much of my day will be spent there. I don't know how far I will get on these this morning, but I hope to at least get to the next stage with these pieces, and then I will continue to cut the others tomorrow. It will be a bit of a process, but I know I will enjoy every step.

I hope the next time you are doing a project that takes a while to do or is a bit tedious, you take a moment to enjoy the process just a bit. After all, that is a big part of what craftsmanship is all about.

I wish you all a great day today.
 

Attachments

#6,158 ·
Enjoy the Process

As time goes on, it seems that the world is migrating more and more towards instant gratification. We are continually looking for ways to have things completed in record time, with fewer steps and the least amount of effort. While I realize that this is not news to anyone, I just wanted to bring it up to make my point.

While doing things more quickly and efficiently can be a very positive thing, I sometimes find myself wondering what the hurrying is all about. Yes, I understand when we are doing mundane chores such as laundry or dishes, how having things automated could be helpful. And I also understand how nearly instant communication could be beneficial for not only social relationships, but also correspondence of more pressing matters, but where do we draw the line on rushing through things and take time to stop and enjoy some of the processes.

When I was growing up, a US postage stamp costs six cents. (Yes - I am that old!) That was back in the day when we used to actually write letters and it took sometimes several weeks to have a simple conversation with someone who was far away. I didn't know many people far away then, but I remember one particular incident when I met some new friends on vacation that lived all the way on the other side of town and in trying to keep up with them, we corresponded through writing. Our family didn't have a long distance phone plan then and chatting on the phone for no reason was just out of the question. We did keep in touch for a while, but being young and busy, the friendships soon fell off and died.

I think about that now as I sit here and write every morning from my little country place here in rural Nova Scotia and I receive replies from not only across the country, but across oceans too. We have certainly come a long way.

So why am I babbling about all this today? I suppose I started thinking about it as I was working on my project yesterday and really enjoying what I was doing and experiencing. Something dawned on me at some time during that process - Not only did I like the outcome of the project, but I thoroughly enjoyed every step of creating it.

There were several points when I was drawing, cutting and finally peeling off the pattern and seeing the results when I thought to myself "this is cool!" And I realized that I was not only working, but truly having a good time doing so. And the best part of all is that they aren't done yet. While one could easily stop and call it a day on these ornaments and plaques that I created, I still have further to go with them, and this is only a stepping stone on the path to their completion. While I like them right now, I am picturing them when they are finished up and I know that I will like them even better. It will be fun to see them evolve.

But for now, here is where I am with them . . .

There are going to be 12 distinct designs in all, and there will be two sizes of each design. The 'larger' size will be a 4" x 6" miniature plaque and the smaller size will be a 2.5" x 3.5" ornament. I had to do a little extra drawing to make the smaller sizes work, which is part of why this is taking me so long to do, but I am so pleased with the results I realize that the time was very well spent and I am happy.

The ornaments/plaques will be in the self-framing format that I enjoy doing so much. It is certainly a nice way to present things and make them look nice.

Within the center of the frames will be overlay pieces which will be 12 silhouettes of Halloween-themed characters. I am only going to show you two of them today however.

The first (of course!) will be the cat (this piece is the smaller cat for the ornament sized frame):

Cat Carnivore Felidae Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers


It is simple, but I believe that the silhouettes needed to be somewhat simple so that the overall design would not be too busy. The simplicity of the overlay pieces bring balance to the very detailed Gothic type frames.

The next piece I will show you is the pumpkin. He is simple yet menacing and will fit in the mini-plaque sized frame.

Hair Eye Plant Mouth Human body


Sometimes small and simple is more difficult to accomplish than larger and more detailed. I find that I always want to put more details than the small size will permit, and as a result, I need to frequently re-draw things several times before I am satisfied.

Now for the frames. I cut the smaller one first. It is full of details and Keith had his doubts that I would be able to accomplish it when he saw the design on paper. (How little faith he has in me sometimes!) In all honesty, it is not what I consider a 'beginner' type of cutting, yet it is very much able to be accomplished as you can see below:

Font Symbol Circle Emblem Pattern


Keith wanted me to remove some of the details to make it easier, but I chose not to. I used an Olson 2/0 reverse blade on 3/16" curly maple hardwood and slowed down my saw a little and I had no trouble whatsoever. But the key here goes back to how I began this entry - you need to take your time and enjoy the process. This isn't made for 'speed cutting'. While I can easily see stacking two layers for more resistance and to be a bit more efficient, I wouldn't have it any other way. The details in the frame are what make the piece look nice:

Wood Font Creative arts Plant Art


The old saying 'it is what it is' applies here. I am very happy with the results and don't see the need to change it.

I then moved on to the larger frame piece. This was cut from 1/4" thick ash. I found that cutting the larger piece was far easier and while it still wasn't perhaps a 'beginner' piece, if care was taken, it also could be accomplished without much of a problem. My piece of ash was a bit warped, and that meant that I had to fight it a bit on some of the turns and twists, but it still came out nice.

Font Circle Pattern Symmetry Art


I took a photo of them together so you could see the size differential:

Font Ornament Symmetry Circle Pattern


I like them a lot and woke up very eager to continue working on them. (Of course, there is no finish on them yet!)

Now they do look nice how they are, and if I would have used some contrasting wood for the overlay pieces, the designs would stand out a bit better. But I have something else in mind for them that I think you may like. It is going to take them to another level. You will just have to wait and see about that though . . .

I did have trouble deciding which path I was going to follow as far as these designs are concerned. Part of what slowed me up in my designing of them was that I wasn't quite sure which one to follow. I could easily do several variations on this process and all of them would be nice. I may even do another complete set using an entirely different process. We will just have to see what time will allow.

Until then, these are what I have come up with. I have a birthday party to attend today in Digby, so much of my day will be spent there. I don't know how far I will get on these this morning, but I hope to at least get to the next stage with these pieces, and then I will continue to cut the others tomorrow. It will be a bit of a process, but I know I will enjoy every step.

I hope the next time you are doing a project that takes a while to do or is a bit tedious, you take a moment to enjoy the process just a bit. After all, that is a big part of what craftsmanship is all about.

I wish you all a great day today.
Sheila, your creativeness is un-ending. Those frames are whimsically kool. And while you were speaking of stamps being 6 cents, I pumped gasoline at a gas station when gas was .39/gallon, plus washed the windows front & back, and checked the oil…... Like Mr. Dylan said, "The times, they are a cha-yangin"
 

Attachments

#6,161 ·
Enjoy the Process

As time goes on, it seems that the world is migrating more and more towards instant gratification. We are continually looking for ways to have things completed in record time, with fewer steps and the least amount of effort. While I realize that this is not news to anyone, I just wanted to bring it up to make my point.

While doing things more quickly and efficiently can be a very positive thing, I sometimes find myself wondering what the hurrying is all about. Yes, I understand when we are doing mundane chores such as laundry or dishes, how having things automated could be helpful. And I also understand how nearly instant communication could be beneficial for not only social relationships, but also correspondence of more pressing matters, but where do we draw the line on rushing through things and take time to stop and enjoy some of the processes.

When I was growing up, a US postage stamp costs six cents. (Yes - I am that old!) That was back in the day when we used to actually write letters and it took sometimes several weeks to have a simple conversation with someone who was far away. I didn't know many people far away then, but I remember one particular incident when I met some new friends on vacation that lived all the way on the other side of town and in trying to keep up with them, we corresponded through writing. Our family didn't have a long distance phone plan then and chatting on the phone for no reason was just out of the question. We did keep in touch for a while, but being young and busy, the friendships soon fell off and died.

I think about that now as I sit here and write every morning from my little country place here in rural Nova Scotia and I receive replies from not only across the country, but across oceans too. We have certainly come a long way.

So why am I babbling about all this today? I suppose I started thinking about it as I was working on my project yesterday and really enjoying what I was doing and experiencing. Something dawned on me at some time during that process - Not only did I like the outcome of the project, but I thoroughly enjoyed every step of creating it.

There were several points when I was drawing, cutting and finally peeling off the pattern and seeing the results when I thought to myself "this is cool!" And I realized that I was not only working, but truly having a good time doing so. And the best part of all is that they aren't done yet. While one could easily stop and call it a day on these ornaments and plaques that I created, I still have further to go with them, and this is only a stepping stone on the path to their completion. While I like them right now, I am picturing them when they are finished up and I know that I will like them even better. It will be fun to see them evolve.

But for now, here is where I am with them . . .

There are going to be 12 distinct designs in all, and there will be two sizes of each design. The 'larger' size will be a 4" x 6" miniature plaque and the smaller size will be a 2.5" x 3.5" ornament. I had to do a little extra drawing to make the smaller sizes work, which is part of why this is taking me so long to do, but I am so pleased with the results I realize that the time was very well spent and I am happy.

The ornaments/plaques will be in the self-framing format that I enjoy doing so much. It is certainly a nice way to present things and make them look nice.

Within the center of the frames will be overlay pieces which will be 12 silhouettes of Halloween-themed characters. I am only going to show you two of them today however.

The first (of course!) will be the cat (this piece is the smaller cat for the ornament sized frame):

Cat Carnivore Felidae Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers


It is simple, but I believe that the silhouettes needed to be somewhat simple so that the overall design would not be too busy. The simplicity of the overlay pieces bring balance to the very detailed Gothic type frames.

The next piece I will show you is the pumpkin. He is simple yet menacing and will fit in the mini-plaque sized frame.

Hair Eye Plant Mouth Human body


Sometimes small and simple is more difficult to accomplish than larger and more detailed. I find that I always want to put more details than the small size will permit, and as a result, I need to frequently re-draw things several times before I am satisfied.

Now for the frames. I cut the smaller one first. It is full of details and Keith had his doubts that I would be able to accomplish it when he saw the design on paper. (How little faith he has in me sometimes!) In all honesty, it is not what I consider a 'beginner' type of cutting, yet it is very much able to be accomplished as you can see below:

Font Symbol Circle Emblem Pattern


Keith wanted me to remove some of the details to make it easier, but I chose not to. I used an Olson 2/0 reverse blade on 3/16" curly maple hardwood and slowed down my saw a little and I had no trouble whatsoever. But the key here goes back to how I began this entry - you need to take your time and enjoy the process. This isn't made for 'speed cutting'. While I can easily see stacking two layers for more resistance and to be a bit more efficient, I wouldn't have it any other way. The details in the frame are what make the piece look nice:

Wood Font Creative arts Plant Art


The old saying 'it is what it is' applies here. I am very happy with the results and don't see the need to change it.

I then moved on to the larger frame piece. This was cut from 1/4" thick ash. I found that cutting the larger piece was far easier and while it still wasn't perhaps a 'beginner' piece, if care was taken, it also could be accomplished without much of a problem. My piece of ash was a bit warped, and that meant that I had to fight it a bit on some of the turns and twists, but it still came out nice.

Font Circle Pattern Symmetry Art


I took a photo of them together so you could see the size differential:

Font Ornament Symmetry Circle Pattern


I like them a lot and woke up very eager to continue working on them. (Of course, there is no finish on them yet!)

Now they do look nice how they are, and if I would have used some contrasting wood for the overlay pieces, the designs would stand out a bit better. But I have something else in mind for them that I think you may like. It is going to take them to another level. You will just have to wait and see about that though . . .

I did have trouble deciding which path I was going to follow as far as these designs are concerned. Part of what slowed me up in my designing of them was that I wasn't quite sure which one to follow. I could easily do several variations on this process and all of them would be nice. I may even do another complete set using an entirely different process. We will just have to see what time will allow.

Until then, these are what I have come up with. I have a birthday party to attend today in Digby, so much of my day will be spent there. I don't know how far I will get on these this morning, but I hope to at least get to the next stage with these pieces, and then I will continue to cut the others tomorrow. It will be a bit of a process, but I know I will enjoy every step.

I hope the next time you are doing a project that takes a while to do or is a bit tedious, you take a moment to enjoy the process just a bit. After all, that is a big part of what craftsmanship is all about.

I wish you all a great day today.
I got out of computers, a little over 10 years ago, because everyone wanted it all NOW. I still work relatively fast but only after planning projects in great detail. I agree that looking at the stages of a design is as interesting as the finished article, sometimes.

The ornaments look suitably spooky. You've got some feeling into these. Contrast would be good but I suppose that will be along d'rectly.
 

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#6,163 ·
Moving Forward - The Next Phase

It's another early morning today. I suppose I am excited about all that is ahead of me today. It is a new day and a new week is beginning and I can't wait to see what is in store. There are good things happening all around and allowing them to unfold before me fills me with anticipation.

I am not as anxious as I have been in the past. After years of doubt and being unsure of so many things, I think that we have built a sturdy foundation for the business that is diverse enough to withstand some adversity here and there and still remain strong. While this has been sometimes exhausting work on both Keith's and my own part, I believe that the time spent doing so has been positive and even with the economy as volatile as it is, we have been doing all right.

Yes, there are areas of the business that are not performing as well as we would like, but having multiple sources of income and options mean that just because one aspect may not be as we expect, the other parts are still able to keep us going. As we branch out in different areas and diversify, the load of the business is redistributed and each individual branch is a smaller percentage of our income. This means that if one part doesn't do well, we feel it much less and are able to reevaluate that particular part and adjust it with the least amount of impact on the overall business.

I think that is why diversifying is a good thing. Many times I hear of others who are starting their own businesses who sell their items in only one or two markets. If one of them does poorly, the effect is far more pronounced than if they would have had several outlets. We find this true with Keith's pens. There are places that they are doing well and places that they don't sell much at all. Somehow it isn't as bad to hear of a poor sales report form one outlet when the others come in decent. Especially with the given market conditions and all the personal feelings that are tied to selling your own creations. Any crafts person understands that no matter how much they try to take a step away from things when selling their own items, there is always a level of emotion tied to them. It is difficult not to take it personally when our items are not selling. But it is something that we need to overcome and we need to resolve within ourselves that we can't take it personally if we are to be successful.

The other day I mentioned that we were considering another wholesaler for selling our patterns. I had a conversation with the owner of the company that is interested and I feel good about proceeding with this avenue. I am usually very cautious about new ventures because part of me feels stretched quite far as it is, and taking on another thing at this point is something that we need to consider very seriously. However, we both realize that in order to grow, we do need to expand and relinquish some of the day to day running of the business to other sources. This is difficult for me to do, as you can imagine. I have spent the last probably fifteen years of my life working on my business. I have been working with the two pattern wholesalers that I am with since the beginning and I seriously haven't thought much about seeking out more. But the opportunity has arisen and everything seems to be on the up and up and I think that I finally feel that it is the right time to perhaps stretch our wings a bit and expand. It just seems like the right thing to do.

We are still working out the details, and as soon as I have everything settled I will talk more about it here. I find that it is a bit out of my comfort zone, but growth usually is and I need to allow these feelings to run their course and take a chance in order to continue to grow the company. Having a partner comes into play too, as having someone who is also involved in the business on a day to day basis share their thoughts and opinions is a very valuable thing. The saying "two heads are better than one" is certainly applicable here.

So with that said, we are moving forward. I think it will be an overall good thing for us and we are excited at the prospects that it will bring.

For today, I will be cutting more of the new ornaments/plaques that I have been working on. I had a short day yesterday for work, as we went to visit Bernie and Ellen at their cabin for a nice dinner on the lake. But as promised, I did get the two pieces I showed yesterday finished, and I have some pictures to show you of how they came out and what my idea was.

Here is a picture of the larger plaque:

Font Oval Symbol Circle Symmetry


I used black spray paint to paint the frame and the pumpkin overlay piece. I then used a small sea sponge and a tiny bit of gold metallic paint to very lightly sponge the frame to give it some interest. I debated on using copper metallic or gold metallic, but I thought the copper would be a bit too close to the background orange and I think it looks better with the gold accents rather than the matching copper. It just seems to have given it another layer of interest.

As for the center background, I spent a great deal of time the other day searching the web for some downloadable background sheets of paper that I could include with my pattern. I looked to purchase these backgrounds for commercial use because I want to include a sheet of them (or two) with each pattern packet. I certainly was willing to pay for them, as I would be in essence re-selling the designs. However, I was not very successful in finding something that I liked. The guidelines for commercial use were lengthy and confusing and also very restrictive. It was quite a hassle to figure them out and I wanted to be certain that I wasn't infringing on anyone's copyright.

Ultimately, I found some great Photoshop sites where geeks (and I use that term in the most complimentary manner) spend their time creating assorted brushes, backgrounds and plug-ins for Photoshop just because they can. This one I found on a site here: http://webtreats.mysitemyway.com and it is filled with hundreds of wonderful backgrounds and textures that are free for all types of use. There is a note with the files that I downloaded from the graphic designer that states "This resource is free for personal and commercial use ~ no attribution necessary" and I found the designs here to be even better than many of the designs for sale with confusing or strict usage issues. So I chose from the hundreds of designs he offered and I really liked this orange-y/amber one that I used here. I think it was perfect for the project and just what I had in mind when I thought of these plaques.

I like the overall look of these, and I was very pleased with the results. Below is a picture of the smaller cat ornament:

Font Symbol Emblem Circle Jewellery


I simply printed the design out on heavier paper and cut an oval and glued it to the center piece. When it was dry, I carefully sanded the edges of the insert so that it would seat properly into the frame. I then sprayed it with a shot of matte poly spray to protect it and set the color before gluing on the overlay pieces. I really like the outcome.

While the small cut out eyes of the cat do get a bit lost in the shadows, I may wind up eliminating them on the ornament sized pattern. I think that they will be a little more prominent on the plaque sized version, although they are much easier to see in real life than in the photographs that I took. After all, these are just what I call 'snapshots' and not the final presentation photographs that will accompany the pattern. I promise better ones to come.

The last photograph is a bit of a close up of the detail of the sponging:

Black Font Symmetry Symbol Circle


I often forget the value of sponging for a finish or background. I find it fast, easy and besides covering a multitude of flaws and boo-boos on things like old frames and such, it looks incredible. I was a bit disappointed that my can of black spray paint was gloss finish however, as I would have liked it to be satin or even matte finish. That way the subtle shine of the gold metallic would offer a bit of a difference in texture and add a bit more interest and depth to the frames. I may look today when I am out and see if I can get some of the spray in the above mentioned finish and give it a go. I think it will add even more to the design.

There is one more 'surprise' that I am adding to these patterns and working on today. Besides that small addition, I will spend the bulk of the day cutting out the other 10 pieces, and adjusting them as I go. What looks good on paper doesn't always translate well to wood, as we know.

I plan on marketing these patterns in two sets of six different designs, with two sizes of each. I think that is a fair way to do it and will keep the pattern to a manageable size.

I hope you like this version. While I know many don't like to paint wood, it just seemed that these designs were screaming to be finished in this manner. Of course, there is always the option of using walnut and maple or other contrasting wood and leaving it natural. But somehow I just like these better.

I wish you all a wonderful week and a happy Monday! Have fun and enjoy the day!
 

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#6,164 ·
Moving Forward - The Next Phase

It's another early morning today. I suppose I am excited about all that is ahead of me today. It is a new day and a new week is beginning and I can't wait to see what is in store. There are good things happening all around and allowing them to unfold before me fills me with anticipation.

I am not as anxious as I have been in the past. After years of doubt and being unsure of so many things, I think that we have built a sturdy foundation for the business that is diverse enough to withstand some adversity here and there and still remain strong. While this has been sometimes exhausting work on both Keith's and my own part, I believe that the time spent doing so has been positive and even with the economy as volatile as it is, we have been doing all right.

Yes, there are areas of the business that are not performing as well as we would like, but having multiple sources of income and options mean that just because one aspect may not be as we expect, the other parts are still able to keep us going. As we branch out in different areas and diversify, the load of the business is redistributed and each individual branch is a smaller percentage of our income. This means that if one part doesn't do well, we feel it much less and are able to reevaluate that particular part and adjust it with the least amount of impact on the overall business.

I think that is why diversifying is a good thing. Many times I hear of others who are starting their own businesses who sell their items in only one or two markets. If one of them does poorly, the effect is far more pronounced than if they would have had several outlets. We find this true with Keith's pens. There are places that they are doing well and places that they don't sell much at all. Somehow it isn't as bad to hear of a poor sales report form one outlet when the others come in decent. Especially with the given market conditions and all the personal feelings that are tied to selling your own creations. Any crafts person understands that no matter how much they try to take a step away from things when selling their own items, there is always a level of emotion tied to them. It is difficult not to take it personally when our items are not selling. But it is something that we need to overcome and we need to resolve within ourselves that we can't take it personally if we are to be successful.

The other day I mentioned that we were considering another wholesaler for selling our patterns. I had a conversation with the owner of the company that is interested and I feel good about proceeding with this avenue. I am usually very cautious about new ventures because part of me feels stretched quite far as it is, and taking on another thing at this point is something that we need to consider very seriously. However, we both realize that in order to grow, we do need to expand and relinquish some of the day to day running of the business to other sources. This is difficult for me to do, as you can imagine. I have spent the last probably fifteen years of my life working on my business. I have been working with the two pattern wholesalers that I am with since the beginning and I seriously haven't thought much about seeking out more. But the opportunity has arisen and everything seems to be on the up and up and I think that I finally feel that it is the right time to perhaps stretch our wings a bit and expand. It just seems like the right thing to do.

We are still working out the details, and as soon as I have everything settled I will talk more about it here. I find that it is a bit out of my comfort zone, but growth usually is and I need to allow these feelings to run their course and take a chance in order to continue to grow the company. Having a partner comes into play too, as having someone who is also involved in the business on a day to day basis share their thoughts and opinions is a very valuable thing. The saying "two heads are better than one" is certainly applicable here.

So with that said, we are moving forward. I think it will be an overall good thing for us and we are excited at the prospects that it will bring.

For today, I will be cutting more of the new ornaments/plaques that I have been working on. I had a short day yesterday for work, as we went to visit Bernie and Ellen at their cabin for a nice dinner on the lake. But as promised, I did get the two pieces I showed yesterday finished, and I have some pictures to show you of how they came out and what my idea was.

Here is a picture of the larger plaque:

Font Oval Symbol Circle Symmetry


I used black spray paint to paint the frame and the pumpkin overlay piece. I then used a small sea sponge and a tiny bit of gold metallic paint to very lightly sponge the frame to give it some interest. I debated on using copper metallic or gold metallic, but I thought the copper would be a bit too close to the background orange and I think it looks better with the gold accents rather than the matching copper. It just seems to have given it another layer of interest.

As for the center background, I spent a great deal of time the other day searching the web for some downloadable background sheets of paper that I could include with my pattern. I looked to purchase these backgrounds for commercial use because I want to include a sheet of them (or two) with each pattern packet. I certainly was willing to pay for them, as I would be in essence re-selling the designs. However, I was not very successful in finding something that I liked. The guidelines for commercial use were lengthy and confusing and also very restrictive. It was quite a hassle to figure them out and I wanted to be certain that I wasn't infringing on anyone's copyright.

Ultimately, I found some great Photoshop sites where geeks (and I use that term in the most complimentary manner) spend their time creating assorted brushes, backgrounds and plug-ins for Photoshop just because they can. This one I found on a site here: http://webtreats.mysitemyway.com and it is filled with hundreds of wonderful backgrounds and textures that are free for all types of use. There is a note with the files that I downloaded from the graphic designer that states "This resource is free for personal and commercial use ~ no attribution necessary" and I found the designs here to be even better than many of the designs for sale with confusing or strict usage issues. So I chose from the hundreds of designs he offered and I really liked this orange-y/amber one that I used here. I think it was perfect for the project and just what I had in mind when I thought of these plaques.

I like the overall look of these, and I was very pleased with the results. Below is a picture of the smaller cat ornament:

Font Symbol Emblem Circle Jewellery


I simply printed the design out on heavier paper and cut an oval and glued it to the center piece. When it was dry, I carefully sanded the edges of the insert so that it would seat properly into the frame. I then sprayed it with a shot of matte poly spray to protect it and set the color before gluing on the overlay pieces. I really like the outcome.

While the small cut out eyes of the cat do get a bit lost in the shadows, I may wind up eliminating them on the ornament sized pattern. I think that they will be a little more prominent on the plaque sized version, although they are much easier to see in real life than in the photographs that I took. After all, these are just what I call 'snapshots' and not the final presentation photographs that will accompany the pattern. I promise better ones to come.

The last photograph is a bit of a close up of the detail of the sponging:

Black Font Symmetry Symbol Circle


I often forget the value of sponging for a finish or background. I find it fast, easy and besides covering a multitude of flaws and boo-boos on things like old frames and such, it looks incredible. I was a bit disappointed that my can of black spray paint was gloss finish however, as I would have liked it to be satin or even matte finish. That way the subtle shine of the gold metallic would offer a bit of a difference in texture and add a bit more interest and depth to the frames. I may look today when I am out and see if I can get some of the spray in the above mentioned finish and give it a go. I think it will add even more to the design.

There is one more 'surprise' that I am adding to these patterns and working on today. Besides that small addition, I will spend the bulk of the day cutting out the other 10 pieces, and adjusting them as I go. What looks good on paper doesn't always translate well to wood, as we know.

I plan on marketing these patterns in two sets of six different designs, with two sizes of each. I think that is a fair way to do it and will keep the pattern to a manageable size.

I hope you like this version. While I know many don't like to paint wood, it just seemed that these designs were screaming to be finished in this manner. Of course, there is always the option of using walnut and maple or other contrasting wood and leaving it natural. But somehow I just like these better.

I wish you all a wonderful week and a happy Monday! Have fun and enjoy the day!
Those are wonderfully ghastly :)

What you would expect in a haunted hoose.

The sponging technique really gives it a look

of spiders webs.

Onward & Forward

You have to always be on the lookout for

new business avenues. I've got several outlets

some are hardly worth bothering with but as it

doesnt cost me to supply them I just continue.

It brings work back to me in the long run.

jamie
 

Attachments

#6,173 ·
Working . . .

Yesterday was one of those days when I felt like I worked all day and still didn't finish. I wonder where the day went. I suppose when looking back, I did accomplish quite a bit, but I wish that I could have finished cutting out the ornaments for the next project.

Before cutting, I needed to do some final 'tweaking' of the line work so that everything would be able to be cut without falling apart. In between that, there were other things to do and it was nearly 4pm by the time I got to the saw.

The small pieces are quite detailed and they are just about done, but not complete. It should only require about an hour or so more cutting today and I will be ready to carry on.

In completing them, Keith believes that the pattern should be labeled as 'advanced'. I have trouble labeling my patterns lately because it seems that things are coming easier to me as my skills improve. Add to that the nice saw that I have and I am sure that it skews things in my favor a bit. I had no trouble whatsoever cutting these small pieces, but when I showed them to Keith, he said that they definitely should be branded as advanced.

Of course the larger plaque sized pieces were much easier than the smaller ornament pieces. I think that I will mention in the instructions that cutting the larger size would be recommended for those who are leery of the smaller size. The overlay pieces are cut from 1/8" plywood, making them much stronger, but I do see how they would be small enough to give some people a bit of trouble.

I find grading pieces with a difficulty lever one of the hardest parts of creating the design. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and it is so hard to judge what may be hard or easy for others. What may come hard to one person may be easy for another. I think at this point that I just have to take the word of those around me and err on the cautious side and hope that even if it is a bit above some people's skill level, the instructions will be clear enough where they will be able to learn and advance and ultimately accomplish the design.

I need to spend the day finishing things up and getting to the writing part of this project. I want to have it ready to go so I can move on to the next idea.

On another subject, I heard back from Artist's Club yesterday and they are going to take on the "Winter Snowmen" project for their November catalog. I was really pleased and somewhat surprised that they will do so. I don't know why surprised, but perhaps because it was a smaller project with less pieces than the previous ones that I offered them, I didn't know if they would want it. I am very pleased though because I want to try to keep something new there for each season and this will certainly fill the spot for the winter.

I didn't want to submit too much because we will have the stocking pattern and the package pattern in the next catalog which I haven't even received yet. With autumn being our busiest time of year, producing too many new things for them would really back us up and put us into a production mode over the next couple of months when we should be designing. This one additional design will be the perfect amount of work to keep us in the loop, yet allow us to get through our busy fall and holiday season - and give me time to design additional pieces for spring. It feels good to be in control of things like this and while it would have been easy to push in that direction, it would have upset the balance of things in other areas. I would rather be conservative and do things right that overextend myself and fail or do a poor job. Once again patience plays a big part in things.

Keith spent the day fine tuning the files and patterns in preparation of turning things over to the new wholesaler. As things happen, he also wound up changing things on the site internally and doing some good work there. It is quite tedious, but since I have had the site for over 10 years and things have changed so much with the type of software that I use to create the files and such, things were a bit of a mess behind the scenes. It is painstaking work for him to go back and fix everything so that it is consistent and Keith has spent several days doing so. I knew very little about file size and formats and such back then and some of the older patterns were created on software that doesn't even exists anymore. Updating everything and having all the correct contact information is not an easy task and I truly appreciate Keith taking the time to do so.

But now things are really going to be in good order. We have a system that works for us and it is easy to be consistent and orderly and there is nothing up there that isn't used or needed. I really appreciate all the hard work he does to make things run smoothly.

So that is about all for today. By tomorrow I should have some better pictures of everything. I am happy so far with how things are turning out and I think it will be a nice project.

Textile Gesture Wood Art Octopus


I wish you all a good day today. Have fun and be creative.
 

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#6,174 ·
Business Decisions

I did not have the best of sleeps. There was a lot on my mind that is unsettling and kept me awake much of the night thinking. It wasn't all bad (in fact, one part was very positive) but the potential for things going either way was present and overshadowed the good possibilities.

I sit here each morning and write about my business with a positive attitude. Even when things don't go as I would have liked, I try to look at the situation and find the positive side of things and focus on that. It keeps me on a good path and with a good attitude and I found that it helps me move forward, even when I have small setbacks.

Things have been going well lately. Perhaps a little 'too well.' Many of the Doom Sayers will chirp in my ear that I am 'due' for something negative to happen, as if we are only allocated so much happiness and peace and I have had my share. But I don't really believe that for a minute. I believe we are our own destiny and while there are some thing in this life that are negative and can't be avoided, most of them are a result of bad decisions that we ourselves make. I like that theory because it forces us to take responsibility for our own actions and as a result, it gives us a bit of control of our lives. Yes, it is a bit more work to live with this philosophy, but I believe that the payoff is of great value.

My grandmother used to quote Eleanor Roosevelt with the saying "There are no victims, only volunteers" at times like this to emphasize the control we have over certain situations that come up in our lives. And while my parents and grandparents were by no means perfect, this was one thing that has stuck with me much of my life and in many situations has forced me to look at my own decisions and taking responsibility for them. In a world where many find it easier to be a victim or blame others for their troubles, I think that this mindset served me well and was a useful tool in being responsible for myself. It also empowers me to change the things I don't like.

So what is this new dilemma that I am facing?

For the moment, I don't really feel at liberty to disclose all of the details. In general though, I can say that it involves one of our wholesalers and it appears that (once again) the rules are changing. I am not going to say which one, as we have several, but it seems that today we are up for negotiation of our terms with them at a time when we are already at the limit of keeping our relationship with them one of mutual benefit. Apparently, they don't feel that the benefit is of equal value to them, or they wouldn't be trying to change things. But from our point of view, we are giving just about all we can and anything additional would more than likely sour things on our side. I am not looking forward to hearing what they have in mind.

Not knowing all the facts and spending time and energy guessing how things will be is a very dysfunctional way to spend ones' time. Unfortunately, both Keith and I spent the bulk of the evening doing just that. As a result, I think that it was not only an uneasy evening for myself, but one that was filled with anxiety for him too, as we played out too many 'what ifs' in our heads in order to try to come up with a plan of action. This behavior goes against everything that I try to teach and share and live, and I know that those of you who read frequently have heard me preach just that many times. But like most things, it is much easier to give advice from a safe and disconnected distance than to take your own advice when you are in the thick of it. Once again, we are only human.

Keith had read recently a quote that I kind of liked that applied to this type of situation. It went something like "The strongest person at the negotiating table is the one that is most willing to walk away." I like that way of thinking. I think that it has much merit. I feel that especially artists (like me) who are not business people (I am not) are very vulnerable to making decisions while allowing too much emotion to enter into the equation. A sharp business person will pick this up on the radar, and many times use those emotions to strengthen his position and perhaps gain the advantage and use it to get more from the artist than they had intended to give. We have all seen that in action, as designers, artists and craftspeople are grossly under paid for their work and creativity. When sitting back from the situation, we find ourselves wondering "why the heck did they settle for that???" yet when we are in it ourselves, we tend to walk away with much less than we deserve, feeling 'lucky' that the person acquired our services in the first place.

This is the main reason that so many creative people fail in business. It certainly has happened to me in the past and has nearly derailed my company completely. My accountant used to tell me that I was 'giving the cow away with the milk' and that I was 'tying dollar bills to the products I was selling'. While I knew he was right, I was too happy to have the job to worry about trivial things like profit margins and things like that. I just wanted people to like what I did and make enough money to buy more supplies so I could keep 'working.'

But that didn't pay bills or put food on the table, and I have learned since (after almost losing everything) that I am a business too. (What a huge realization that was!) Just like the other company, I am in this to make a profit and a living. I don't have a huge inheritance sitting in the bank that I can live on while I am doing this on a whim. This is my living. As it is now, the only reason that I have been able to keep going in these difficult times is because both Keith and I like living simply. We don't need a big house or fancy stuff and while we have our indulgences from time to time, we live within our means and are very comfortable. Most people we know wouldn't be happy in our lifestyles. We realize that we are among the very small percentage of designers that actually are making it, and while many people say they envy us, I don't believe many of them would want to trade places with us and have our lives. But that is OK, because we all make the choices that are best for ourselves, and we in no way think that what we do is for everyone. I think that is what makes the world go around. Different people want different things.

So back to the situation at hand. . .

Today will be a defining day for our company. Whether these negotiations go in favor of us or not, it will be only a small part of the big picture. Not too long ago, I would have made the decisions that I need to make with my heart and in doing so, would not be here writing about it today in the capacity of a business owner. The business would have been long gone.

Having Keith as a partner has been so valuable on so many levels. Besides the fact that as a designer, I find he is excellent, the other things he has brought to the business have filled in the gaps where I have been weak. His practicality and financial sense far exceeds mine. While I try to look at things with a business head, and am doing a bit better at it - it seems that sometimes the emotional side of me gets the best of me. While I used to find it slightly annoying to have someone suggesting what to do, I finally figured out that my own plan wasn't working and after trying things from a practical approach instead of from that of an artist, things started turning around much quicker.

One time not so long ago, a person accused Keith of 'riding on my coat tails.' When reading that, I became very angry at that person because they didn't even have a clue as to how much of my success I owe to him. Not only for the obvious reasons of his immense talent, but also for all the many, many things he does that contribute to the good of this company. I say it many times but I don't ever think I can express enough how fortunate I am to have him as a partner, in life as well as in business. Even though it is my name on the business, it is definitely a partnership between us and while Keith prefers to stay in the background as far as the publicity is concerned, I doubt there would be a business without him. I would have gone under long ago.

I apologize for the length of today's entry. As I said, there is lots on my mind today. Without sharing the details of what is going to take place today, I can only say that I am confident that whatever the outcome is, both Keith and I think it will ultimately be for the better of the company. Even if it doesn't appear to be so initially. Knowing that in our hearts will empower us to make the right decisions that will help our business grow. So that is a good thing.

As far as my ornaments, I hope to finish up on them today. We have our aunties visiting from the United States this week, as Keith's brother is getting married on Saturday and they are here for the wedding and a visit. They came to our place yesterday and we had a nice visit here with the kitties, followed by a wonderful lobster dinner at Keith's parents house.

Now I ask you - Lobster dinner or finish ornaments?

There really was no decision to be made. :p

I know for myself, I will feel better when things are settled. I have already told myself that what will happen, will happen and no matter what the outcome, there are many positive things in my life ahead. And that is where I will focus.

I wish you all a great day today.
 
#6,175 ·
I'll wish you Good Luck with your negotiations Sheila, but it's not about Luck, is it…
Stick to your Guns my Friend!!
I won't post them here, but two videos came to mind while I read this: Kenny Rogers' "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold them" and Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy"... :)
I hope you and Keith have a Great Day too!!
 
#6,190 ·
We're Still Standing

The past 24 hours were not the most pleasant for Keith and I by any means. They were filled with anxiety and stress and negotiations and many of the things that I try so hard to avoid. But being a growing business, we all know that it isn't possible. These things are all part of the process, and since they aren't avoidable, we banded together and met them head on as a team and as a result, we think we came out of it alright.

Part of me feels like I have been through a war. Perhaps that is over reacting just a bit, but some of the decisions that were made yesterday would impact our business and our lives for a long time. Not only that, but it would also dictate how we were viewed by the other company and certainly affect the level of respect that they would have towards us. It was as if they were testing us to see just how far they could push us, and we didn't like the feeling at all.

It has to do with some production work that we are doing. We have been involved in this for over a year now and so far, it has gone well. While we know that eventually we won't be able to do much production work ourselves if we are to truly grow into a larger business, at this time we can't afford a laser cutter or equipment needed to expand in this direction and have to cut our kits and pieces by hand.

Now this isn't a huge problem for us, as we are focused and can get the job done quickly (a couple of months ago we cut 6000 pieces in six days) but as things get busier, we need to carefully watch how much we submit to companies that would require this labor-intensive process so that we don't overextend ourselves and are not able to meet the demands that may be put upon us. It is somewhat of a tightrope act, as you can imagine.

"Why do we do it at all?" you may ask.

We do it because at this point in our business life, we need to have the extra income to help keep us sustained and even growing. The spring and summer is traditionally a slow month for scroll saw patterns, and with the heat and the poor economy, it is even slower. Designers around us are all suffering from these circumstances and we have seen so many of them have to fold up shop because they can't afford to stay in business. These side jobs - labor intensive as they are - help tremendously in getting us through these dry periods and still keep our income coming in so that we are able to function and grow. That is very important.

So things were going along quite nicely and our kits were selling very well and we were keeping up nicely with the orders. I recently submitted just one kit for consideration because I didn't want to over-burden us during the busy fall and winter seasons, yet I still wanted a presence in the catalog with a new product. The new item was accepted and all was well - so we thought.

In setting up the initial order, it was mentioned that the company decided that they wanted to outsource the wooden pieces to be cut by their own wood cutters. This didn't sit well with us because the actual cutting of the wood was one of our main reasons for doing this. The profit per kit was small, but Keith and I could cut as quickly as a laser cutter, and as accurate and for the time being we wanted this part of the job to remain with us. Also, they were asking that I sign the rights over so that they could do the outsourcing and sell the pieces themselves - with NO profits at all to come to me. They would only pay me a percentage for the pattern. and any income from the wood pieces would go to them.

This would not do.

I must take part of the blame myself for perhaps encouraging this idea. Each time I talked to them to negotiate terms, they naturally were pushing to cut the pieces themselves and outsource them. Each time in the past I have told them that I did not want to - not even asking or knowing the terms - because I knew that would take away a major part of the profit for our company. Initially, I adjust our price to them so that we would be competitive with their wood cutters and we would still be able to make a profit that would make it worth our while. For a bit, everyone was happy.

But as these kits continued to sell well, it seemed that they were pushing more and more for me to allow them to cut. On the last big order, there was a glitch at Customs because the shipment was valued over $2000, which threw it into a new category at the Customs office and it required additional attention to be cleared. It was held up for almost a week, and the agent actually told us to avoid this in the future, just make sure the shipments did not exceed the $2000 value mark. Easy enough to do.

But it seems that the company took advantage of that to fuel their argument that they wanted to do things on their side, and only wanted the patterns from us without the pieces (at a very small profit - less by far than we give ANY of our distributors) and they would have all the rights to market and sell as much of the wood as they wished, without giving us any profit at all. They presented us with a couple of different ways that they did things - all which cut us out of the picture almost completely. One scenario included forfeiting the rights altogether for 90 days (from the catalog ship date) for a flat fee, which was smaller than I get for a magazine article, and they would be able to market everything and even allow free downloads of my pattern on their site. That made no sense at all to me because even when the rights did come back to me, which would of course be after the season passed, who in their right mind would ever want to BUY the pattern from me that had been available for free?

The funny thing about it was that the current terms we were on were terms that THEY set up only a couple of months ago. It wasn't as if we were asking for MORE. We had compromised a bit back then, as we weighed the above mentioned facts and still felt that it was worth our while to do, but with these new terms, we just didn't see it being to our benefit, and were willing to walk away.

After much back and forth, we finally told them that we needed to keep things as they were or we wouldn't be able to continue. This is still good for us, but as I said yesterday - giving any more would sour the deal for us and make it not worth our time and effort. It was difficult to take a stand like that, but necessary for the health of our business.

When we presented them with these terms, they realized that at least for the items already in the catalog they would need to honor them. They placed a large order, but told us that they were not sure that they would take the new item (on the terms that they had set only days before). We told them that was fine and would do the order for the previous kits in the same timely manner we have been doing them. They said they would get back to us on the new item when they decided.

I don't know if they thought at that point we would compromise, thinking we were 'losing their business' but we held firm. I wasn't sure if they would take it or not, as the other things were selling well and they knew that they would be walking away from a good product. They were making a substantial amount on what they already carried from us, and to me it would have been their loss, as I would find another way to market them to another source.

A couple hours later, we received an order for 150 kits of the new item (this was in addition to the order placed earlier) I suppose they decided that we were worth it after all.

While I am happy about the outcome, I look at the company through different eyes. From their point of view, they are trying to make the most money they can. I had the delusion that these business relationships that I have with these companies are somewhat 'friendships' and I imagine that yesterday was the day that the lights came on for me and I figured out how wrong I am.

Perhaps working with Creative Woodworks Magazine for over 15 years has trained me to think that way. They are a family owned business and many there ARE my friends as well as my business colleagues. There is a human factor with that company that doesn't exist in business. But as this little bird is leaving the nest and working more with companies from all over the world, I am realizing that there is no such thing as what I have come to know with Creative Woodworks and All American Crafts (the parent company of CWW) Oh! How I am growing up!

To end this (LONG) post - I will say that all is well. Keith and I are revving up our scroll saw saws and we plan to ship this order out by Tuesday (and that is with us heading to Halifax for the weekend for his brother's wedding!) It is a tall order, but we are geared up for it and will start cutting today.

Last night, after going out for a bite to eat to decompress, I came home and took the photos of the new plaques and ornaments. Below are the example of three of the twelve:

Black Wood Art Symmetry Font


I will save the other nine to show you in the next day or so, as it will give me some pictures for you.

Keith spent the evening applying the patterns to the boards so we are ready to begin cutting today. It will be an exciting day for both of us, as we feel that we did the right thing standing our ground and not selling out. I'll talk more about things in upcoming posts, but I realize that this has become quite lengthy and I will sign off here.

I wish you all a wonderful and productive day, and thank you all for your advice and support!
 

Attachments

#6,191 ·
We're Still Standing

The past 24 hours were not the most pleasant for Keith and I by any means. They were filled with anxiety and stress and negotiations and many of the things that I try so hard to avoid. But being a growing business, we all know that it isn't possible. These things are all part of the process, and since they aren't avoidable, we banded together and met them head on as a team and as a result, we think we came out of it alright.

Part of me feels like I have been through a war. Perhaps that is over reacting just a bit, but some of the decisions that were made yesterday would impact our business and our lives for a long time. Not only that, but it would also dictate how we were viewed by the other company and certainly affect the level of respect that they would have towards us. It was as if they were testing us to see just how far they could push us, and we didn't like the feeling at all.

It has to do with some production work that we are doing. We have been involved in this for over a year now and so far, it has gone well. While we know that eventually we won't be able to do much production work ourselves if we are to truly grow into a larger business, at this time we can't afford a laser cutter or equipment needed to expand in this direction and have to cut our kits and pieces by hand.

Now this isn't a huge problem for us, as we are focused and can get the job done quickly (a couple of months ago we cut 6000 pieces in six days) but as things get busier, we need to carefully watch how much we submit to companies that would require this labor-intensive process so that we don't overextend ourselves and are not able to meet the demands that may be put upon us. It is somewhat of a tightrope act, as you can imagine.

"Why do we do it at all?" you may ask.

We do it because at this point in our business life, we need to have the extra income to help keep us sustained and even growing. The spring and summer is traditionally a slow month for scroll saw patterns, and with the heat and the poor economy, it is even slower. Designers around us are all suffering from these circumstances and we have seen so many of them have to fold up shop because they can't afford to stay in business. These side jobs - labor intensive as they are - help tremendously in getting us through these dry periods and still keep our income coming in so that we are able to function and grow. That is very important.

So things were going along quite nicely and our kits were selling very well and we were keeping up nicely with the orders. I recently submitted just one kit for consideration because I didn't want to over-burden us during the busy fall and winter seasons, yet I still wanted a presence in the catalog with a new product. The new item was accepted and all was well - so we thought.

In setting up the initial order, it was mentioned that the company decided that they wanted to outsource the wooden pieces to be cut by their own wood cutters. This didn't sit well with us because the actual cutting of the wood was one of our main reasons for doing this. The profit per kit was small, but Keith and I could cut as quickly as a laser cutter, and as accurate and for the time being we wanted this part of the job to remain with us. Also, they were asking that I sign the rights over so that they could do the outsourcing and sell the pieces themselves - with NO profits at all to come to me. They would only pay me a percentage for the pattern. and any income from the wood pieces would go to them.

This would not do.

I must take part of the blame myself for perhaps encouraging this idea. Each time I talked to them to negotiate terms, they naturally were pushing to cut the pieces themselves and outsource them. Each time in the past I have told them that I did not want to - not even asking or knowing the terms - because I knew that would take away a major part of the profit for our company. Initially, I adjust our price to them so that we would be competitive with their wood cutters and we would still be able to make a profit that would make it worth our while. For a bit, everyone was happy.

But as these kits continued to sell well, it seemed that they were pushing more and more for me to allow them to cut. On the last big order, there was a glitch at Customs because the shipment was valued over $2000, which threw it into a new category at the Customs office and it required additional attention to be cleared. It was held up for almost a week, and the agent actually told us to avoid this in the future, just make sure the shipments did not exceed the $2000 value mark. Easy enough to do.

But it seems that the company took advantage of that to fuel their argument that they wanted to do things on their side, and only wanted the patterns from us without the pieces (at a very small profit - less by far than we give ANY of our distributors) and they would have all the rights to market and sell as much of the wood as they wished, without giving us any profit at all. They presented us with a couple of different ways that they did things - all which cut us out of the picture almost completely. One scenario included forfeiting the rights altogether for 90 days (from the catalog ship date) for a flat fee, which was smaller than I get for a magazine article, and they would be able to market everything and even allow free downloads of my pattern on their site. That made no sense at all to me because even when the rights did come back to me, which would of course be after the season passed, who in their right mind would ever want to BUY the pattern from me that had been available for free?

The funny thing about it was that the current terms we were on were terms that THEY set up only a couple of months ago. It wasn't as if we were asking for MORE. We had compromised a bit back then, as we weighed the above mentioned facts and still felt that it was worth our while to do, but with these new terms, we just didn't see it being to our benefit, and were willing to walk away.

After much back and forth, we finally told them that we needed to keep things as they were or we wouldn't be able to continue. This is still good for us, but as I said yesterday - giving any more would sour the deal for us and make it not worth our time and effort. It was difficult to take a stand like that, but necessary for the health of our business.

When we presented them with these terms, they realized that at least for the items already in the catalog they would need to honor them. They placed a large order, but told us that they were not sure that they would take the new item (on the terms that they had set only days before). We told them that was fine and would do the order for the previous kits in the same timely manner we have been doing them. They said they would get back to us on the new item when they decided.

I don't know if they thought at that point we would compromise, thinking we were 'losing their business' but we held firm. I wasn't sure if they would take it or not, as the other things were selling well and they knew that they would be walking away from a good product. They were making a substantial amount on what they already carried from us, and to me it would have been their loss, as I would find another way to market them to another source.

A couple hours later, we received an order for 150 kits of the new item (this was in addition to the order placed earlier) I suppose they decided that we were worth it after all.

While I am happy about the outcome, I look at the company through different eyes. From their point of view, they are trying to make the most money they can. I had the delusion that these business relationships that I have with these companies are somewhat 'friendships' and I imagine that yesterday was the day that the lights came on for me and I figured out how wrong I am.

Perhaps working with Creative Woodworks Magazine for over 15 years has trained me to think that way. They are a family owned business and many there ARE my friends as well as my business colleagues. There is a human factor with that company that doesn't exist in business. But as this little bird is leaving the nest and working more with companies from all over the world, I am realizing that there is no such thing as what I have come to know with Creative Woodworks and All American Crafts (the parent company of CWW) Oh! How I am growing up!

To end this (LONG) post - I will say that all is well. Keith and I are revving up our scroll saw saws and we plan to ship this order out by Tuesday (and that is with us heading to Halifax for the weekend for his brother's wedding!) It is a tall order, but we are geared up for it and will start cutting today.

Last night, after going out for a bite to eat to decompress, I came home and took the photos of the new plaques and ornaments. Below are the example of three of the twelve:

Black Wood Art Symmetry Font


I will save the other nine to show you in the next day or so, as it will give me some pictures for you.

Keith spent the evening applying the patterns to the boards so we are ready to begin cutting today. It will be an exciting day for both of us, as we feel that we did the right thing standing our ground and not selling out. I'll talk more about things in upcoming posts, but I realize that this has become quite lengthy and I will sign off here.

I wish you all a wonderful and productive day, and thank you all for your advice and support!
In a former business we were often pushed by customers to compromise (reduce) our price for services or let the customer buy the gear (a major source of our profit) and have us install it, when our business model was "designed installations of equipment" as a single package.

On those occasions that we lost a bid to a prospective or repeat customer, we almost always got their business again later on. Why? I think it had to to with quality, and sticking to our guns on pricing….I think the price I charge for my services says something about what I think those services are worth. If I don't think a service or product is worth much, nor will anyone else.

Of course there is that delicate balancing act of being competitive.

Glad you guys stood firm!
 

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#6,203 ·
Cutting Again Today

It will be a flurry of activity here in a bit. There is much we need to accomplish today. Besides filling the order at hand, we have to be in Halifax for Keith's brother's wedding this weekend and won't be here. I mention this because I don't think that I will be able to write tomorrow or Saturday morning and I know there are lots of regulars who will wonder what happened. We need to get out of here quite early and if I did write, it probably wouldn't be anything of interest anyway. We will have access to our laptop for orders, but this time is for family and besides that, I don't think I will be around much. I know you all understand.

We did well yesterday, cutting over 1700 pieces between the two of us. And that was with starting late morning and quitting by dinner time, with a couple of breaks in between. It is nice when you have a system in place that works. We rearranged our place a bit to remove all the excess clutter and when we were finished for the day, we spent about half an hour deep cleaning and by six pm everything was good as new with no evidence that we had spent the day cutting except for the large box filled with pieces.

The printer was in top form too. I refilled the ink only once during the process and about half of the patterns are already done, with the other half to be printed today. On Monday when we are back, we will drill and package up the kits and they will be ready to go on Tuesday, when I will schedule a pick up. Not too bad for putting out 250 kits.

The snowmen kits will be a bit later, as I am awaiting UPC stickers that need to be on the patterns. But that is alright, as they don't need to be in the warehouse until mid-October. We are planning to cut them as soon as possible, but since we kind of dropped all that we were doing to get this order done, there is some unfinished business that we need to attend to.

Speaking of that, I did want to show the pictures of my Halloween mini-plaques and ornaments. These are the pictures of the plaques, with the ornaments being about an inch smaller. I still haven't decided how I was going to divide them into two patterns, and I need to make the pattern packets to get them ready to sell, but I really like how they came out.

Bird Art Plant Wood Metal


Font Symbol Circle Symmetry Art


Wood Plant Art Line Font


I am also going to have a pattern for an easel to hold each size of them, so that people can display them on a mantle, table or anywhere they wish without having to put holes in the wall or have a tree or place to hang them from.

They aren't the easiest pieces to cut, but with a bit of patience, they aren't too hard. I am going to suggest that if one doesn't feel that they would be able to cut them at the smaller size, they could enlarge them a bit and it would be much easier. In the process they will hopefully build their skills and eventually give it a try.

I am going to end here for today. There is much to do and the clock is ticking. While we are about 2/3 of the way done cutting, we figure it will take another maybe 4-5 hours to cut the remaining 1500 or so pieces. So I had better get at it.

Have a good day everyone. I believe it is Friday, and that makes a lot of people happy. Enjoy the day!
 

Attachments

#6,204 ·
Cutting Again Today

It will be a flurry of activity here in a bit. There is much we need to accomplish today. Besides filling the order at hand, we have to be in Halifax for Keith's brother's wedding this weekend and won't be here. I mention this because I don't think that I will be able to write tomorrow or Saturday morning and I know there are lots of regulars who will wonder what happened. We need to get out of here quite early and if I did write, it probably wouldn't be anything of interest anyway. We will have access to our laptop for orders, but this time is for family and besides that, I don't think I will be around much. I know you all understand.

We did well yesterday, cutting over 1700 pieces between the two of us. And that was with starting late morning and quitting by dinner time, with a couple of breaks in between. It is nice when you have a system in place that works. We rearranged our place a bit to remove all the excess clutter and when we were finished for the day, we spent about half an hour deep cleaning and by six pm everything was good as new with no evidence that we had spent the day cutting except for the large box filled with pieces.

The printer was in top form too. I refilled the ink only once during the process and about half of the patterns are already done, with the other half to be printed today. On Monday when we are back, we will drill and package up the kits and they will be ready to go on Tuesday, when I will schedule a pick up. Not too bad for putting out 250 kits.

The snowmen kits will be a bit later, as I am awaiting UPC stickers that need to be on the patterns. But that is alright, as they don't need to be in the warehouse until mid-October. We are planning to cut them as soon as possible, but since we kind of dropped all that we were doing to get this order done, there is some unfinished business that we need to attend to.

Speaking of that, I did want to show the pictures of my Halloween mini-plaques and ornaments. These are the pictures of the plaques, with the ornaments being about an inch smaller. I still haven't decided how I was going to divide them into two patterns, and I need to make the pattern packets to get them ready to sell, but I really like how they came out.

Bird Art Plant Wood Metal


Font Symbol Circle Symmetry Art


Wood Plant Art Line Font


I am also going to have a pattern for an easel to hold each size of them, so that people can display them on a mantle, table or anywhere they wish without having to put holes in the wall or have a tree or place to hang them from.

They aren't the easiest pieces to cut, but with a bit of patience, they aren't too hard. I am going to suggest that if one doesn't feel that they would be able to cut them at the smaller size, they could enlarge them a bit and it would be much easier. In the process they will hopefully build their skills and eventually give it a try.

I am going to end here for today. There is much to do and the clock is ticking. While we are about 2/3 of the way done cutting, we figure it will take another maybe 4-5 hours to cut the remaining 1500 or so pieces. So I had better get at it.

Have a good day everyone. I believe it is Friday, and that makes a lot of people happy. Enjoy the day!
It's Friday!

I hope you both have a great time at the wedding

Now where did the week go?

That is a great looking set

jamie
 

Attachments

#6,211 ·
Home Again

While it felt kind of odd to have a couple of days away from the computer, it wasn't really bad. In fact, I think that I needed the time to finish things up, regroup and in between, have some time with family and friends.

Things were a bit rough last week. There was just too much going on and I was feeling rather overwhelmed. Between the big order, working on new patterns, and getting things ready for the new distributor, and preparing to be gone for a couple of days, I found myself feeling anxious and restless, as if things were slipping out of control.

I could have written yesterday, but I needed one more day to focus on getting things back on track and finish up the order and I needed one more day of quiet time, so I chose to wait one more day. Today I feel more like I am back to normal and ready to face the world again. so here I am. The order is finished and boxed and I already put in for the pick up today. We did well considering that we were gone for two full days. It only took us three days to produce 250 kits. Now we can get back on track with our other things.

I learned a lot about the business in the past week. About other people too. I share these experiences because I wish that I had known many of these things early on and perhaps it would have saved me a bit of grief regarding the business and helped me make better decisions. But just like Dorothy in the movie 'The Wizard of Oz' I suppose that learning things for myself is the best teacher.

Plant Cat Textile Organism Art


But like the journey through Oz, this journey that I am taking isn't always pleasant. I tend to take people at face value and sometimes that comes back to bite me. Especially on the business side of things. I never claimed to be a great business woman, as I tend to think with my heart more than my head. Being a 'pink cloud' person doesn't always help either. Sometimes when looking for the best in people or situations, I fail to see the potential downfalls and put myself in places that aren't necessarily beneficial to myself or the company. While I like being a positive and optimistic person, I find that sometimes I am not thinking realistically enough about things and that is when I get burned.

Having a partner is helpful in this area. The old saying that 'two heads are better than one' certainly applies in my own circumstances here. Having someone to talk to and help assess things saves a lot of grief later on. While there is still no way to make perfect decisions every time, I believe the odds are greatly increased by having another opinion.

I am still nervous about the problem that we had last week with the wholesaler. I mentioned in my blog that in the end, we were called back and told that they were going to carry the snowmen ornament kit in the next catalog. Our contact was to be leaving on vacation, and he said that he would be assigning it an item number and sending us an order shortly. On Friday I packed up the set and sent out for photography and we ordered additional supplies (wood, bags for packaging, etc.) so that we would remain ahead of things and the orders could be filled quickly. However, Friday came and went without receiving an invoice from them. This troubles me a bit.

I would like to think that it was just an oversight, and that with getting everything done prior to leaving for vacation, it just got lost in the cracks, but seeing as how such a fuss was made as to the time frame it took for the items to be received at the warehouse from us here in Canada, I would think that the order would have been placed ahead of time so we would be able to get it there with plenty of time before the deadline.

I was told on the phone that there would be 150 kits ordered. But with no purchase order and with everything that went back and forth, I am not really sure if we should even begin printing it, let alone cutting it out. If they were to change their mind, I would certainly be 'stuck' with more kits than I would need and I don't want to invest the time or materials into this when I am not certain. Of course, now my contact is on vacation so I will be up in the air until his return. Then things would be rushed again, I am afraid.

So for now, I think that I will take a breather on this front and concentrate on other things. I have a couple more presentation pictures of the new plaques that I need to take and I want to do that today, as well as assemble the pattern packets for those pieces. Then I think I will move on to the next designs, as I have quite a list of what I want to do.

Hopefully I will feel a bit better about things today. Keith finished organizing all of our files and we were able to forward them to the new distributor before we left, so we are excited about having a new outlet for our work. We both have lots of things in the works so there is much to look forward to and it keeps us positive.

I have a picture of the sunrise the other day from our room at the hotel. This is overlooking the Halifax harbor on Sunday morning. It is quite beautiful I thought and while the colors were amazing, it only lasted a couple of minutes.

Water Cloud Sky Atmosphere Afterglow


I like the city, but I am truly happier here in my quiet little place in the country. While it is nice to venture out into the world sometimes, I can't deny that for myself "there's no place like home."

I am very happy to be back.

Have a great Tuesday.
 

Attachments

#6,212 ·
Home Again

While it felt kind of odd to have a couple of days away from the computer, it wasn't really bad. In fact, I think that I needed the time to finish things up, regroup and in between, have some time with family and friends.

Things were a bit rough last week. There was just too much going on and I was feeling rather overwhelmed. Between the big order, working on new patterns, and getting things ready for the new distributor, and preparing to be gone for a couple of days, I found myself feeling anxious and restless, as if things were slipping out of control.

I could have written yesterday, but I needed one more day to focus on getting things back on track and finish up the order and I needed one more day of quiet time, so I chose to wait one more day. Today I feel more like I am back to normal and ready to face the world again. so here I am. The order is finished and boxed and I already put in for the pick up today. We did well considering that we were gone for two full days. It only took us three days to produce 250 kits. Now we can get back on track with our other things.

I learned a lot about the business in the past week. About other people too. I share these experiences because I wish that I had known many of these things early on and perhaps it would have saved me a bit of grief regarding the business and helped me make better decisions. But just like Dorothy in the movie 'The Wizard of Oz' I suppose that learning things for myself is the best teacher.

Plant Cat Textile Organism Art


But like the journey through Oz, this journey that I am taking isn't always pleasant. I tend to take people at face value and sometimes that comes back to bite me. Especially on the business side of things. I never claimed to be a great business woman, as I tend to think with my heart more than my head. Being a 'pink cloud' person doesn't always help either. Sometimes when looking for the best in people or situations, I fail to see the potential downfalls and put myself in places that aren't necessarily beneficial to myself or the company. While I like being a positive and optimistic person, I find that sometimes I am not thinking realistically enough about things and that is when I get burned.

Having a partner is helpful in this area. The old saying that 'two heads are better than one' certainly applies in my own circumstances here. Having someone to talk to and help assess things saves a lot of grief later on. While there is still no way to make perfect decisions every time, I believe the odds are greatly increased by having another opinion.

I am still nervous about the problem that we had last week with the wholesaler. I mentioned in my blog that in the end, we were called back and told that they were going to carry the snowmen ornament kit in the next catalog. Our contact was to be leaving on vacation, and he said that he would be assigning it an item number and sending us an order shortly. On Friday I packed up the set and sent out for photography and we ordered additional supplies (wood, bags for packaging, etc.) so that we would remain ahead of things and the orders could be filled quickly. However, Friday came and went without receiving an invoice from them. This troubles me a bit.

I would like to think that it was just an oversight, and that with getting everything done prior to leaving for vacation, it just got lost in the cracks, but seeing as how such a fuss was made as to the time frame it took for the items to be received at the warehouse from us here in Canada, I would think that the order would have been placed ahead of time so we would be able to get it there with plenty of time before the deadline.

I was told on the phone that there would be 150 kits ordered. But with no purchase order and with everything that went back and forth, I am not really sure if we should even begin printing it, let alone cutting it out. If they were to change their mind, I would certainly be 'stuck' with more kits than I would need and I don't want to invest the time or materials into this when I am not certain. Of course, now my contact is on vacation so I will be up in the air until his return. Then things would be rushed again, I am afraid.

So for now, I think that I will take a breather on this front and concentrate on other things. I have a couple more presentation pictures of the new plaques that I need to take and I want to do that today, as well as assemble the pattern packets for those pieces. Then I think I will move on to the next designs, as I have quite a list of what I want to do.

Hopefully I will feel a bit better about things today. Keith finished organizing all of our files and we were able to forward them to the new distributor before we left, so we are excited about having a new outlet for our work. We both have lots of things in the works so there is much to look forward to and it keeps us positive.

I have a picture of the sunrise the other day from our room at the hotel. This is overlooking the Halifax harbor on Sunday morning. It is quite beautiful I thought and while the colors were amazing, it only lasted a couple of minutes.

Water Cloud Sky Atmosphere Afterglow


I like the city, but I am truly happier here in my quiet little place in the country. While it is nice to venture out into the world sometimes, I can't deny that for myself "there's no place like home."

I am very happy to be back.

Have a great Tuesday.
Hi Sheila;

Welcome back.

Lee
 

Attachments

#6,221 ·
The Catalyst

I want to get back on track today and have a productive day. It seems to me that yesterday was the type of day when I got some things done, but didn't feel that I accomplished anything. Perhaps it is because I didn't really finish anything, but rather just pushed several piles forward a bit.

It is hard to measure our productivity some days. Sometimes we can see the finished work physically piling up, and it is very satisfying for us, as it sits in front of us like a trophy for the efforts of the day. But other days, it seems we are busy the entire day and at the end of the day there is little to show of our progress besides knowing in our own minds that matters were settled and some things have been changed intrinsically within our company. While those days are extremely important to the health of our business, it is those types of days that sometimes leave us wondering if we really accomplished anything at all.

Yesterday seemed to be one of those days. I found myself doing 'stuff' most of the day, yet by the end of it, I wondered to myself what I actually accomplished.

We received the order for the new kits, so we began printing and preparing the wood for cutting those. We shipped out the large order that was placed last week, so that was a good feeling too. And I had to do some paperwork and get some office work done and catch up there. It doesn't sound like much, but it certainly filled the day. I found my self spending the evening not doing much at all, and just watching some TV. Usually I multi-task and do something else while watching - even if it is playing a game, but I just didn't feel up for doing much at all and took the night off.

It is hard for me to do that after being gone for a weekend. I already feel behind because of the time away, but looking at all the things I need to catch up on is somewhat of a daunting task for me these days and I need to take a breath and organize and get focused once again so I can progress.

I often receive emails as to how organized I am. The above example is exactly the reason why I find it necessary to be that way. When I have several tasks in front of me and no set plan to accomplish them, I tend to flounder around like a fish out of water trying to get them done. I need to step back, take a deep breath, and methodically go through them one by one and tick them off of the list so I can feel like I am really accomplishing anything. This jumping around from thing to thing doesn't set well with me.

I woke up yesterday with no set plan. Oh, I knew in my mind what I 'kind of' wanted to get done, but the goal wasn't really as clear as I needed it to be to actually pursue it and accomplish it. I am finding that for myself, when my goals are vague, they are much harder to reach, no matter how small they seem to be. I wind up in this mish-mosh of not knowing what to do and as a result, I accomplish very little in the end. Bits and pieces here and there. It is not my usual way of doing things (thankfully!) and I will have to change that right away.

I believe that is where this blog comes in handy. By 'talking' about what I plan to do for the day in these writings, I am kind of making a commitment to myself as to what I wish to accomplish. For me, it offers that extra little push that I must need to keep moving in a positive direction on a daily basis.

Just now, while writing this, a thought came to mind. I wonder if the reason that I am so unfocused the past couple of days is related to my taking a couple of days off of writing here? I looked up the term 'catalyst' and found the following:

cat·a·lyst/ˈkatl-ist/
Noun:
1 - A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change.
2 - A person or thing that precipitates an event.

I believe that by the second definition, this blog can be defined as a catalyst for my productivity. Interesting idea, don't you think? It rather makes sense to me.

I'll give it a test . . .

Today I am going to try to get things organized a bit better. I will continue to do the printing on the order and see how far I can get with that. I also need to write the instructions for my next submission to the magazine (the "SNOW" word art) and pack that up along with Keith's project so I can send it off to the magazine tomorrow. If I will have time, I will begin writing the instruction packets for the Halloween Silhouette Plaque/Ornament patterns that I designed last week.

I think that should fill the day.

While this method may not work for everyone, I think that for me it is the key to getting stuff done. I feel better already having stated my goals and now I can continue on today with a defined purpose, rather than just good intentions. I think it will make a big difference.

I wish you all a wonderfully productive day. May you all find your own catalyst to inspire you to do your best and reach your goals.

Cat Bombay Carnivore Felidae Plant


Have a great Wednesday.
 

Attachments

#6,222 ·
The Catalyst

I want to get back on track today and have a productive day. It seems to me that yesterday was the type of day when I got some things done, but didn't feel that I accomplished anything. Perhaps it is because I didn't really finish anything, but rather just pushed several piles forward a bit.

It is hard to measure our productivity some days. Sometimes we can see the finished work physically piling up, and it is very satisfying for us, as it sits in front of us like a trophy for the efforts of the day. But other days, it seems we are busy the entire day and at the end of the day there is little to show of our progress besides knowing in our own minds that matters were settled and some things have been changed intrinsically within our company. While those days are extremely important to the health of our business, it is those types of days that sometimes leave us wondering if we really accomplished anything at all.

Yesterday seemed to be one of those days. I found myself doing 'stuff' most of the day, yet by the end of it, I wondered to myself what I actually accomplished.

We received the order for the new kits, so we began printing and preparing the wood for cutting those. We shipped out the large order that was placed last week, so that was a good feeling too. And I had to do some paperwork and get some office work done and catch up there. It doesn't sound like much, but it certainly filled the day. I found my self spending the evening not doing much at all, and just watching some TV. Usually I multi-task and do something else while watching - even if it is playing a game, but I just didn't feel up for doing much at all and took the night off.

It is hard for me to do that after being gone for a weekend. I already feel behind because of the time away, but looking at all the things I need to catch up on is somewhat of a daunting task for me these days and I need to take a breath and organize and get focused once again so I can progress.

I often receive emails as to how organized I am. The above example is exactly the reason why I find it necessary to be that way. When I have several tasks in front of me and no set plan to accomplish them, I tend to flounder around like a fish out of water trying to get them done. I need to step back, take a deep breath, and methodically go through them one by one and tick them off of the list so I can feel like I am really accomplishing anything. This jumping around from thing to thing doesn't set well with me.

I woke up yesterday with no set plan. Oh, I knew in my mind what I 'kind of' wanted to get done, but the goal wasn't really as clear as I needed it to be to actually pursue it and accomplish it. I am finding that for myself, when my goals are vague, they are much harder to reach, no matter how small they seem to be. I wind up in this mish-mosh of not knowing what to do and as a result, I accomplish very little in the end. Bits and pieces here and there. It is not my usual way of doing things (thankfully!) and I will have to change that right away.

I believe that is where this blog comes in handy. By 'talking' about what I plan to do for the day in these writings, I am kind of making a commitment to myself as to what I wish to accomplish. For me, it offers that extra little push that I must need to keep moving in a positive direction on a daily basis.

Just now, while writing this, a thought came to mind. I wonder if the reason that I am so unfocused the past couple of days is related to my taking a couple of days off of writing here? I looked up the term 'catalyst' and found the following:

cat·a·lyst/ˈkatl-ist/
Noun:
1 - A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change.
2 - A person or thing that precipitates an event.

I believe that by the second definition, this blog can be defined as a catalyst for my productivity. Interesting idea, don't you think? It rather makes sense to me.

I'll give it a test . . .

Today I am going to try to get things organized a bit better. I will continue to do the printing on the order and see how far I can get with that. I also need to write the instructions for my next submission to the magazine (the "SNOW" word art) and pack that up along with Keith's project so I can send it off to the magazine tomorrow. If I will have time, I will begin writing the instruction packets for the Halloween Silhouette Plaque/Ornament patterns that I designed last week.

I think that should fill the day.

While this method may not work for everyone, I think that for me it is the key to getting stuff done. I feel better already having stated my goals and now I can continue on today with a defined purpose, rather than just good intentions. I think it will make a big difference.

I wish you all a wonderfully productive day. May you all find your own catalyst to inspire you to do your best and reach your goals.

Cat Bombay Carnivore Felidae Plant


Have a great Wednesday.
Hi Sheila,

Glad to hear the order came in.

Have a great day.

Lee
 

Attachments

#6,228 ·
Back on Track

Well, yesterday proved to be a good day. Having a focus and mapping everything out allowed me to see all the things that needed to be done and I was able to prioritize them and start getting things done one by one. it felt really good to move in a direction with certainty that I was actually accomplishing something positive. I believe that is part of the 'magic formula' for being successful - knowing your goals and what you need to get done. It sounds simple, but it is important.

For the first time in several days I felt really good about what I was doing. I felt a lot less stress too because I knew that my time was being spent on things that would definitely help the business. As I finished each task, I checked it off my mental list which gave me a sense of accomplishment.

If you are wondering if I finished everything, I will be honest and say that I did not. Finishing was not my intent, but getting things accomplished and organized and moving in a good direction was, and I am pleased to say that I did achieve that.

We made good headway on the wholesale order. All the wood for it is sanded and the patterns are applied and the pieces are ready to be cut. We are now using Krylon Easy-Tack to apply the patterns and it seems to be working a bit better than the Elmer's Temporary Adhesive. It holds well for these simple shapes, but we wonder how it would do for more intricate fretwork, and we fear that it will pull up too easily for that. But since we use the blue painter's tape underneath when we cut anything more complex, we feel that the Elmer's could still work (at least for the time being.) What is important is that the Easy Tack works well on the bare wood and holds the pattern down while not leaving a residue when it is removed. And it removes very easily. When doing large quantities of work, it is important that the pattern pieces do not get stuck too hard, or it would be a nightmare trying to remove them off that many pieces. So all is well there.

I also finished my instructions for the next project that is to be shipped off to the magazine for publication. That actually took a great part of my day as I needed to edit the photos and write the article too. In the mean time I printed the majority of the patterns for the next shipment of kits. I must admit the little Canon printer is still humming away flawlessly. We still have two new printers in their respective boxes when this one has had it, but it is showing no signs whatsoever of giving up on us. What a great printer it is!

Today we have an early appointment so I have to skee-daddle out of here and get moving. I thank you all for the comments and emails that I have received in the past week supporting us and what we do. We are definitely the 'little guys in the big pond' and it helps to meet these struggles we are having with so much good advice and support from you all.

I am glad that I feel back on track again. I am finding I am easing back into my comfort zone and usually that means that I will have a very productive day.

Wheel Cat Tire Vehicle Font


I wish you all a great day also.
 

Attachments

#6,229 ·
Back on Track

Well, yesterday proved to be a good day. Having a focus and mapping everything out allowed me to see all the things that needed to be done and I was able to prioritize them and start getting things done one by one. it felt really good to move in a direction with certainty that I was actually accomplishing something positive. I believe that is part of the 'magic formula' for being successful - knowing your goals and what you need to get done. It sounds simple, but it is important.

For the first time in several days I felt really good about what I was doing. I felt a lot less stress too because I knew that my time was being spent on things that would definitely help the business. As I finished each task, I checked it off my mental list which gave me a sense of accomplishment.

If you are wondering if I finished everything, I will be honest and say that I did not. Finishing was not my intent, but getting things accomplished and organized and moving in a good direction was, and I am pleased to say that I did achieve that.

We made good headway on the wholesale order. All the wood for it is sanded and the patterns are applied and the pieces are ready to be cut. We are now using Krylon Easy-Tack to apply the patterns and it seems to be working a bit better than the Elmer's Temporary Adhesive. It holds well for these simple shapes, but we wonder how it would do for more intricate fretwork, and we fear that it will pull up too easily for that. But since we use the blue painter's tape underneath when we cut anything more complex, we feel that the Elmer's could still work (at least for the time being.) What is important is that the Easy Tack works well on the bare wood and holds the pattern down while not leaving a residue when it is removed. And it removes very easily. When doing large quantities of work, it is important that the pattern pieces do not get stuck too hard, or it would be a nightmare trying to remove them off that many pieces. So all is well there.

I also finished my instructions for the next project that is to be shipped off to the magazine for publication. That actually took a great part of my day as I needed to edit the photos and write the article too. In the mean time I printed the majority of the patterns for the next shipment of kits. I must admit the little Canon printer is still humming away flawlessly. We still have two new printers in their respective boxes when this one has had it, but it is showing no signs whatsoever of giving up on us. What a great printer it is!

Today we have an early appointment so I have to skee-daddle out of here and get moving. I thank you all for the comments and emails that I have received in the past week supporting us and what we do. We are definitely the 'little guys in the big pond' and it helps to meet these struggles we are having with so much good advice and support from you all.

I am glad that I feel back on track again. I am finding I am easing back into my comfort zone and usually that means that I will have a very productive day.

Wheel Cat Tire Vehicle Font


I wish you all a great day also.
Hi Sheila;

So that's how you spell skee-daddle! I'll have to remember that.

Glad to hear all is well.

Lee
 

Attachments

#6,235 ·
Back In Control

After over a week of feeling a bit overwhelmed and anxious, I am finally feeling like I am getting caught up and back on top of things. Although struggling with attending to several things in many different directions, I think that I made a good dent in things yesterday and hopefully by today I will be caught up.

Again (at the risk of harping to you all) I credit "The List" for helping the most in making this possible. Many times just a mental list is enough to help me accomplish things, but there are times when there are so many odds and ends and directions to go that only the real paper-and-pen lists are what will pull me out of the chaos. Yesterday I finally sat down with Keith and we wrote everything we needed to accomplish down and prioritized them and began working on things one at a time. By the end of the day we probably got through over half of the things listed. Not only did it give us a sense of accomplishment, but it was a physical record of what we actually did and it felt good to cross each item off, no matter how small it was.

Among the things I was able to accomplish, was that I worked on the pattern for some small easels that I am making. These will compliment the new ornament and plaque patterns that I am going to have on the site soon, as well as previous patterns. I realize that people don't always have extra wall space or places to hang ornaments and plaques in their homes. Perhaps they don't want to put holes in the wall for a seasonal item or they don't have a place for an all season wreath or tree. These little display easels will make it easy to have an item out on a mantle, dining room table, shelf or even a coffee table for the holiday and then fold flat for off-season storage.

I had drawn up the design last week when was making my Halloween ornaments and plaque pattern. I sprayed them black and I thought they looked great.

Vertebrate Bird Font Wood Circle


Mine here however were held together with electrical tape. :(

Metal Event Composite material


One of my quests when I went to the city last weekend was to pick up some pretty hinges that I could use on them. However, as this so often happens, I wasn't able to find exactly what I needed. While I found small hinges, they would have had to be attached on the inside of the easels (which I didn't like) in order for them to fold properly. I also noted that since the wood I used with these was 1/8" thick, the only way the hinges would be attached was to glue them. I didn't think this would hold up over time. The final deciding factor was that the smaller easels would only be able to be hinged on the bottom, as the top of them was too thin to accommodate the hinge.

With three strikes against my original thoughts, I decided to rethink things and figure something else out. What I came up with was a slotted system to hold the two pieces together. When making ornaments and such, it was important to keep the slots the exact thickness of the wood, as a tight fit was often desired. However, in this type of item, I felt that having the slot a bit loose actually made things better, allowing the easel to fit to the size of the display pieces more comfortably. So here is what I came up with:

Wood Chair Art Font Symbol


They simply slide together like this:

Gesture Wood Finger String instrument accessory Tool


Not only did this look nice, but it also spared everyone from going out and trying to find small hinges that would fit. The ones that I purchased cost about $2.69 for a pack of two at Home Depot. By making these yourself, you save having to run around looking for hinges as well as the cost. You will also be able to re-size the pattern to suit your needs so you can make larger easels for bigger pictures using just a small amount of scrap wood. I think this project is a winner.

I have decided to offer this up for free on my site when I update it this weekend. I was going to include it in the pattern for the Halloween plaques and ornaments, but I figured that there are so many uses for it that I didn't want to restrict it only to that. There are many of my plaques and ornaments from last year and before that could be used with the easels and I think that people will find lots of uses for them.

Today I am going to paint these up and finish creating the patterns packets for the new patterns. I have my projects for the magazine ready to go out the door today (as well as Keith's) and all the printing is done for the next wholesale job. We are working on updating the site this weekend and will be sending out a newsletter in a day or so when that is complete. And we will be finishing up the next wholesale order over the weekend.

When all that is finished, I have several new designs that I am working on that need to be done. Here we are the last day of August already and autumn is right around the corner.

It feels good to be back in control of things. At least for the time being. I don't like that helpless feeling I have when things are slipping away and they begin to overwhelm me. I want to enjoy each day and take time to be aware of all the good things that every day brings.

I leave you with a rather long quote today. I saw this yesterday and it really struck me. Perhaps it is a bit idealistic, but I read it and think to myself "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about his faith.
Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and of service to your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people, but bow to none.
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light,
for your life, for your strength.
Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns the wise to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision."

-Chief Tecumseh via Catalyzing Change 'Native American Wisdom'

Have a wonderful day.
 

Attachments

#6,236 ·
Back In Control

After over a week of feeling a bit overwhelmed and anxious, I am finally feeling like I am getting caught up and back on top of things. Although struggling with attending to several things in many different directions, I think that I made a good dent in things yesterday and hopefully by today I will be caught up.

Again (at the risk of harping to you all) I credit "The List" for helping the most in making this possible. Many times just a mental list is enough to help me accomplish things, but there are times when there are so many odds and ends and directions to go that only the real paper-and-pen lists are what will pull me out of the chaos. Yesterday I finally sat down with Keith and we wrote everything we needed to accomplish down and prioritized them and began working on things one at a time. By the end of the day we probably got through over half of the things listed. Not only did it give us a sense of accomplishment, but it was a physical record of what we actually did and it felt good to cross each item off, no matter how small it was.

Among the things I was able to accomplish, was that I worked on the pattern for some small easels that I am making. These will compliment the new ornament and plaque patterns that I am going to have on the site soon, as well as previous patterns. I realize that people don't always have extra wall space or places to hang ornaments and plaques in their homes. Perhaps they don't want to put holes in the wall for a seasonal item or they don't have a place for an all season wreath or tree. These little display easels will make it easy to have an item out on a mantle, dining room table, shelf or even a coffee table for the holiday and then fold flat for off-season storage.

I had drawn up the design last week when was making my Halloween ornaments and plaque pattern. I sprayed them black and I thought they looked great.

Vertebrate Bird Font Wood Circle


Mine here however were held together with electrical tape. :(

Metal Event Composite material


One of my quests when I went to the city last weekend was to pick up some pretty hinges that I could use on them. However, as this so often happens, I wasn't able to find exactly what I needed. While I found small hinges, they would have had to be attached on the inside of the easels (which I didn't like) in order for them to fold properly. I also noted that since the wood I used with these was 1/8" thick, the only way the hinges would be attached was to glue them. I didn't think this would hold up over time. The final deciding factor was that the smaller easels would only be able to be hinged on the bottom, as the top of them was too thin to accommodate the hinge.

With three strikes against my original thoughts, I decided to rethink things and figure something else out. What I came up with was a slotted system to hold the two pieces together. When making ornaments and such, it was important to keep the slots the exact thickness of the wood, as a tight fit was often desired. However, in this type of item, I felt that having the slot a bit loose actually made things better, allowing the easel to fit to the size of the display pieces more comfortably. So here is what I came up with:

Wood Chair Art Font Symbol


They simply slide together like this:

Gesture Wood Finger String instrument accessory Tool


Not only did this look nice, but it also spared everyone from going out and trying to find small hinges that would fit. The ones that I purchased cost about $2.69 for a pack of two at Home Depot. By making these yourself, you save having to run around looking for hinges as well as the cost. You will also be able to re-size the pattern to suit your needs so you can make larger easels for bigger pictures using just a small amount of scrap wood. I think this project is a winner.

I have decided to offer this up for free on my site when I update it this weekend. I was going to include it in the pattern for the Halloween plaques and ornaments, but I figured that there are so many uses for it that I didn't want to restrict it only to that. There are many of my plaques and ornaments from last year and before that could be used with the easels and I think that people will find lots of uses for them.

Today I am going to paint these up and finish creating the patterns packets for the new patterns. I have my projects for the magazine ready to go out the door today (as well as Keith's) and all the printing is done for the next wholesale job. We are working on updating the site this weekend and will be sending out a newsletter in a day or so when that is complete. And we will be finishing up the next wholesale order over the weekend.

When all that is finished, I have several new designs that I am working on that need to be done. Here we are the last day of August already and autumn is right around the corner.

It feels good to be back in control of things. At least for the time being. I don't like that helpless feeling I have when things are slipping away and they begin to overwhelm me. I want to enjoy each day and take time to be aware of all the good things that every day brings.

I leave you with a rather long quote today. I saw this yesterday and it really struck me. Perhaps it is a bit idealistic, but I read it and think to myself "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about his faith.
Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and of service to your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people, but bow to none.
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light,
for your life, for your strength.
Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns the wise to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision."

-Chief Tecumseh via Catalyzing Change 'Native American Wisdom'

Have a wonderful day.
good morning, im glad things are getting better, its always a good feeling when your at peace with your work , your life, thats when were the happiest, and its good to see you getting that feeling back..i really like the easels..i like them better this way then with a hinge…posting them for free is cool…i might need these later…have a great day…bob
 

Attachments

#6,243 ·
Just Thoughts

I awoke early this morning. It was just one of those days when I had enough sleep and wanted to get my day started. I have been up over an hour already and it is still pitch dark outside. I suppose I am a bit ahead of the sun today.

In checking through all my mail and facebook stuff, I noticed that last night was the rare 'blue moon' phenomenon. I stepped outside to have a look, and the moon was still high in the sky, although not blue in the least. (Yes, I know that it really isn't 'blue'!) It was however full and beautiful, as we here in southern Nova Scotia have a perfectly clear sky at the moment.

While standing outside in the cool night air, I could hear the sound of the river across the road and crickets chirping. It was quiet and serene and a good way to start the day.

Today is my daughter's birthday. Danielle is 22 years old. She is my youngest and is a beautiful and intelligent young woman now, finding her place in the world. Danielle and her brother live in the Chicago area, and although we talk often, it never seems to be enough. I miss both her and Phil, and it is days like this when I find myself reliving the many wonderful memories of when they were growing up. Time seems to go by so quickly.

In the back of my mind, I am planning a trip to see them next year. It has been far too long and I would love to spend some quality time with each of my children. Last year when we visited, it was in between teaching and the middle week of a three week trip. While it was nice to do so many things in adventure, I would love to have an atmosphere that was a bit more relaxed and not so dependent on scheduling. It is just a thought.

It is difficult to think about getting away for a decent period of time. While I know the world won't crumble, there are just some responsibilities that we have here that are hard to delegate to others, or neglect. We only were gone for two days this past weekend and I am just catching up with things now. I find myself torn between wanting to be in two places at once. But I suppose that is normal.

So I will concentrate on working hard over the winter and then perhaps come spring I will be able to slip away for a bit. It will be a nice goal to look to in any case.

I accomplished a great deal yesterday. The majority of the day was spent on writing the packets for the Halloween ornaments and plaques. I also worked on the easels and will be finishing that packet up today. Both patterns, plus Keith's new patterns will be added to the site hopefully by later on today and I will send out a newsletter. We are doing fairly well with our loose schedule of getting a newsletter out at the beginning of the month. While it has varied a bit as far as the time frame, it is close, and that is pretty good we think.

When the site update is finished, it is time for me to concentrate on the recent production order. Keith has been working on it for the most part while I am finishing up my side of things with the site and doing all of the printing, but it is my turn to jump in and help with the remaining cutting. With the holidays and all, the order should go out on Tuesday. We are happy with that time frame.

The sun is about to arrive, and the edge of the horizon is just now beginning to brighten. Another day is beginning and it is one of those days where I feel it will be a good one. I don't know why that happens some days, but it does and I like that feeling.

I will end today with wishing my beautiful daughter Danielle a wonderful and happy birthday. I am so proud of her and miss her so much! Dani - you are beautiful inside and out!

Forehead Nose Cheek Skin Lip


What I wanted most for my daughter was that she be able to soar confidently in her own sky, whatever that may be. - Helen Claes
 

Attachments

#6,244 ·
Just Thoughts

I awoke early this morning. It was just one of those days when I had enough sleep and wanted to get my day started. I have been up over an hour already and it is still pitch dark outside. I suppose I am a bit ahead of the sun today.

In checking through all my mail and facebook stuff, I noticed that last night was the rare 'blue moon' phenomenon. I stepped outside to have a look, and the moon was still high in the sky, although not blue in the least. (Yes, I know that it really isn't 'blue'!) It was however full and beautiful, as we here in southern Nova Scotia have a perfectly clear sky at the moment.

While standing outside in the cool night air, I could hear the sound of the river across the road and crickets chirping. It was quiet and serene and a good way to start the day.

Today is my daughter's birthday. Danielle is 22 years old. She is my youngest and is a beautiful and intelligent young woman now, finding her place in the world. Danielle and her brother live in the Chicago area, and although we talk often, it never seems to be enough. I miss both her and Phil, and it is days like this when I find myself reliving the many wonderful memories of when they were growing up. Time seems to go by so quickly.

In the back of my mind, I am planning a trip to see them next year. It has been far too long and I would love to spend some quality time with each of my children. Last year when we visited, it was in between teaching and the middle week of a three week trip. While it was nice to do so many things in adventure, I would love to have an atmosphere that was a bit more relaxed and not so dependent on scheduling. It is just a thought.

It is difficult to think about getting away for a decent period of time. While I know the world won't crumble, there are just some responsibilities that we have here that are hard to delegate to others, or neglect. We only were gone for two days this past weekend and I am just catching up with things now. I find myself torn between wanting to be in two places at once. But I suppose that is normal.

So I will concentrate on working hard over the winter and then perhaps come spring I will be able to slip away for a bit. It will be a nice goal to look to in any case.

I accomplished a great deal yesterday. The majority of the day was spent on writing the packets for the Halloween ornaments and plaques. I also worked on the easels and will be finishing that packet up today. Both patterns, plus Keith's new patterns will be added to the site hopefully by later on today and I will send out a newsletter. We are doing fairly well with our loose schedule of getting a newsletter out at the beginning of the month. While it has varied a bit as far as the time frame, it is close, and that is pretty good we think.

When the site update is finished, it is time for me to concentrate on the recent production order. Keith has been working on it for the most part while I am finishing up my side of things with the site and doing all of the printing, but it is my turn to jump in and help with the remaining cutting. With the holidays and all, the order should go out on Tuesday. We are happy with that time frame.

The sun is about to arrive, and the edge of the horizon is just now beginning to brighten. Another day is beginning and it is one of those days where I feel it will be a good one. I don't know why that happens some days, but it does and I like that feeling.

I will end today with wishing my beautiful daughter Danielle a wonderful and happy birthday. I am so proud of her and miss her so much! Dani - you are beautiful inside and out!

Forehead Nose Cheek Skin Lip


What I wanted most for my daughter was that she be able to soar confidently in her own sky, whatever that may be. - Helen Claes
good morning Sheila, I am up early also…saw the "blue moon" too. nice ! take care & have a great day !!
 

Attachments

#6,250 ·
Site Update Completed

So far it is the perfect morning. It is quiet and cool and I even had to throw a blanket over my lap (besides my cat Pancakes) to keep warm. I love it when the nights and mornings are cool. I sleep well and feel better in the long run. I am sure that later in the day it will warm up, as it does every day. But not to the point where it is hot and uncomfortable. I think we are done with those days for this season.

I finished up the web site update yesterday. I also got the easel pattern posted in the Free Pattern page. While it is a simple idea, it is something that I feel will be very useful to many people and I hope that everyone will enjoy it and get some use from it. I enjoy offering the free patterns, and wish that I was in a position to never charge for patterns. The majority of my customers are so nice and I really am happy that they like our work.

We had an odd customer the other day though. I must admit that she made me kind of upset. She placed an order for a stand up cross candle holder pattern for $5.95. As usual, I sent it out to her within minutes of receiving notice of her order. Just after I sent the email with her pattern, I received an email from her saying she was wondering how I would send the pattern via email. While I was writing the response to her, I received another email from her saying that she already 'canceled' her order with Paypal. She had thought that she was purchasing the finished wooden fretwork piece and wanted her money back.

I wondered how she could just 'reverse' the Paypal payment, as I had not been aware that it was possible. After all, if it was, I am sure that many unscrupulous people would buy things and just reverse the charges. I didn't think it was that easy.

In looking at my account, I saw that she filed a dispute on me. There was a notice on my account regarding this and I got rather upset about it. (Remember - all of this was happening within about five minutes of me receiving her initial order!) In reading the dispute, she stated the reason for it was "Merchandise never shipped or received."

Now I was really angry. Besides the fact that I had already sent the pattern, I would have been happy to refund her money back to her. I have had this happen in the past and even though it is written all over the site that we are selling the PATTERNS and not the objects, some people think they are getting the pieces themselves. They must think we are in China or something where we make things for practically nothing.

Apparently this was the case here. The woman did not read at all about the site or the description of the pattern. Not to mention that she checked the "Mail PDF Pattern" choice for delivery. What a bargain she thought she was getting! A beautiful hand cut wooden candle holder and free shipping too!!

Of course, I immediately refunded the $5.95 to her account, but I was pretty angry. There was no need to file a dispute and tarnish my account with Paypal just because she had made a mistake. Not only that, but she lied for the reason she filed and said that I never sent what she ordered, which I did. I bothers me tremendously that it is on my record now - all because of her dishonesty.

I did write a note to Paypal explaining what happened, but I doubt I will hear from them again about it. I am sure that disputes such as this are all automated and that human eyes never read them. But the dispute is still there in my account history, and that bothers me a lot.

I don't mind when people make mistakes. It happens to myself too. But as I said, this all happened in a flash and she never even gave me the chance to issue the refund. She demanded her money back and as I was writing to respond that I would do so, the dispute was already filed. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have computers.

I mention this story because I hope that people will be aware that many merchants are willing to work with you on things - even if a mistake has been made. I know internet business have a bad reputation sometimes, but there are many businesses online that are run by honest and legitimate people who want to do the right thing. I realize that people have the urge to jump to mediation when a problem occurs and that is fine - but I would suggest that first they should try to work it out with the merchant directly.

I work very hard to make sure my customers are happy. If mistakes are made, I take care of them and do my best to make the customer happy. I deal mostly in electronic patterns, so if the wrong one is sent or ordered, I usually just let it go and send the correct one. After all, you can't "return" an electronic pattern. It is just the nature of the beast. I think I am pretty aware of when someone makes an honest mistake and I am happy to do the right thing and give them credit for it.

But jumping the gun like this woman did was totally unnecessary and wrong. It was her mistake and she reminded me of a petulant child running to PayPal and saying that I didn't send the pattern because she was so worried that she would lose her $5.95. Without even asking me. I can't help but think if people are that paranoid, perhaps they shouldn't buy anything from the internet in the first place. I just hope it never happens again.

As for today, I will be finishing up on cutting the most recent wholesale order. All the patterns are printed and ready to be packed, and the pieces only need to be finished up and the kits put together. I didn't receive the item stickers that I need to put on the kits, so I am not sure whether to send them out on Tuesday or not. I will have to call the company and see what they want to do. They were worried before about the time frame from ordering to when they received things, and I don't have the necessary stickers to include on the patterns. Go figure.

After that I will be able to get back to drawing and moving ahead. I have so many autumn designs I want to do and I have only a few short weeks to do them in so people have the time to make them. I really need to push and hope in the next few weeks there will be a flurry of new patterns from me. We'll see . . .

Have a great Sunday everyone. I hope your day is filled with fun and that you get the chance to do something you love. I'll leave you with some words of wisdom . . .

Boat Product Carnivore Font Collar
 

Attachments

#6,251 ·
Site Update Completed

So far it is the perfect morning. It is quiet and cool and I even had to throw a blanket over my lap (besides my cat Pancakes) to keep warm. I love it when the nights and mornings are cool. I sleep well and feel better in the long run. I am sure that later in the day it will warm up, as it does every day. But not to the point where it is hot and uncomfortable. I think we are done with those days for this season.

I finished up the web site update yesterday. I also got the easel pattern posted in the Free Pattern page. While it is a simple idea, it is something that I feel will be very useful to many people and I hope that everyone will enjoy it and get some use from it. I enjoy offering the free patterns, and wish that I was in a position to never charge for patterns. The majority of my customers are so nice and I really am happy that they like our work.

We had an odd customer the other day though. I must admit that she made me kind of upset. She placed an order for a stand up cross candle holder pattern for $5.95. As usual, I sent it out to her within minutes of receiving notice of her order. Just after I sent the email with her pattern, I received an email from her saying she was wondering how I would send the pattern via email. While I was writing the response to her, I received another email from her saying that she already 'canceled' her order with Paypal. She had thought that she was purchasing the finished wooden fretwork piece and wanted her money back.

I wondered how she could just 'reverse' the Paypal payment, as I had not been aware that it was possible. After all, if it was, I am sure that many unscrupulous people would buy things and just reverse the charges. I didn't think it was that easy.

In looking at my account, I saw that she filed a dispute on me. There was a notice on my account regarding this and I got rather upset about it. (Remember - all of this was happening within about five minutes of me receiving her initial order!) In reading the dispute, she stated the reason for it was "Merchandise never shipped or received."

Now I was really angry. Besides the fact that I had already sent the pattern, I would have been happy to refund her money back to her. I have had this happen in the past and even though it is written all over the site that we are selling the PATTERNS and not the objects, some people think they are getting the pieces themselves. They must think we are in China or something where we make things for practically nothing.

Apparently this was the case here. The woman did not read at all about the site or the description of the pattern. Not to mention that she checked the "Mail PDF Pattern" choice for delivery. What a bargain she thought she was getting! A beautiful hand cut wooden candle holder and free shipping too!!

Of course, I immediately refunded the $5.95 to her account, but I was pretty angry. There was no need to file a dispute and tarnish my account with Paypal just because she had made a mistake. Not only that, but she lied for the reason she filed and said that I never sent what she ordered, which I did. I bothers me tremendously that it is on my record now - all because of her dishonesty.

I did write a note to Paypal explaining what happened, but I doubt I will hear from them again about it. I am sure that disputes such as this are all automated and that human eyes never read them. But the dispute is still there in my account history, and that bothers me a lot.

I don't mind when people make mistakes. It happens to myself too. But as I said, this all happened in a flash and she never even gave me the chance to issue the refund. She demanded her money back and as I was writing to respond that I would do so, the dispute was already filed. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have computers.

I mention this story because I hope that people will be aware that many merchants are willing to work with you on things - even if a mistake has been made. I know internet business have a bad reputation sometimes, but there are many businesses online that are run by honest and legitimate people who want to do the right thing. I realize that people have the urge to jump to mediation when a problem occurs and that is fine - but I would suggest that first they should try to work it out with the merchant directly.

I work very hard to make sure my customers are happy. If mistakes are made, I take care of them and do my best to make the customer happy. I deal mostly in electronic patterns, so if the wrong one is sent or ordered, I usually just let it go and send the correct one. After all, you can't "return" an electronic pattern. It is just the nature of the beast. I think I am pretty aware of when someone makes an honest mistake and I am happy to do the right thing and give them credit for it.

But jumping the gun like this woman did was totally unnecessary and wrong. It was her mistake and she reminded me of a petulant child running to PayPal and saying that I didn't send the pattern because she was so worried that she would lose her $5.95. Without even asking me. I can't help but think if people are that paranoid, perhaps they shouldn't buy anything from the internet in the first place. I just hope it never happens again.

As for today, I will be finishing up on cutting the most recent wholesale order. All the patterns are printed and ready to be packed, and the pieces only need to be finished up and the kits put together. I didn't receive the item stickers that I need to put on the kits, so I am not sure whether to send them out on Tuesday or not. I will have to call the company and see what they want to do. They were worried before about the time frame from ordering to when they received things, and I don't have the necessary stickers to include on the patterns. Go figure.

After that I will be able to get back to drawing and moving ahead. I have so many autumn designs I want to do and I have only a few short weeks to do them in so people have the time to make them. I really need to push and hope in the next few weeks there will be a flurry of new patterns from me. We'll see . . .

Have a great Sunday everyone. I hope your day is filled with fun and that you get the chance to do something you love. I'll leave you with some words of wisdom . . .

Boat Product Carnivore Font Collar
There are too many idiots out there who don't read, and/or follow instructions. Stupid people are not my cup o tea
 

Attachments

#6,260 ·
My "Extra" Day

It's like having an extra day. Even the gym is closed. And it has come at a time when I am 'kinda-sorta' on top of things anyway, so today is really is going to feel like a treat!

We made great strides over the weekend. All the pieces for our kits order are cut. They only need to have the hole for hanging drilled in them and then package them up and they will be on their way. We were planning to send them out tomorrow, but I have yet to receive the UPC stickers from the company so they are on hold until I do. That shouldn't be an issue, because the deadline to have them in the warehouse is mid-October. (Yes! We are that far ahead!)

All of our wholesalers are updated on our stuff, as well as the magazine. Even our site is updated. It seems that we have our little place in order here and everything is all caught up. That is probably as rare as the 'blue moon' that occurred a couple of nights ago!

But that doesn't mean that we are going to lie idle. Quite the contrary actually. It means that we are free to do our favorite part of our jobs - new designs. With the fall and holiday season approaching quickly, as well as the craft fair season, we want to really put some awesome new stuff out there quickly so that others can have some new things to make.

For myself, there are several things that I am working on and need to make into reality. I hope in the next few weeks I will be able to present several new designs. These include both scroll sawing projects as well as some new painting projects (sometimes both in one) and I really look forward to seeing them come to life.

I think I am going to spend today reorganizing some things and really getting everything in order. I have to take a couple of hours to catch up on my books, which is something that I don't do as often as I should. I have been pretty good so far this year and I am not that far behind, but since I have this extra day, I want to use some of it to have everything updated in that department.

I will spend the rest of my day finishing catching up on emails and going through my inspirational pictures to figure out what I will be making next. I have a couple of ideas of which direction that I want to head, but I need to pinpoint my thoughts and focus on one thing.

Something that I have recently discovered which has become a new addiction to me is "Pinterest." For those of you who haven't heard of it, it is kind of a bookmark system that you have for your computer, that is public to all. You create an account and then you can build a series of virtual bulletin boards based on your own interests and categories. I found this very helpful to me because I would see something and bookmark it in my Chrome bookmarks, but then when I wanted to look through the list to find something, it was difficult to do so because each of my categories had so many text entries, I had forgotten what I saw where.

Pinterest is all visual, so if you see a photograph that inspires you or a recipe or a certain project, it is right there in front of you to click on and revisit the original site. What is cool is that you also see everyone else's boards and bookmarks and can look through things that interest you and see other new things that you may have missed. I find myself at the end of each day just sifting through boards and "re-pinning" from others, which usually leads me on wonderful paths of adventure. They every send you a weekly email (which I believe you can opt out of if you don't want) which suggests things to look at that are in your categories of interest. That helps you discover new things that you otherwise wouldn't had seen. It is much more fun than just going through Google or someplace like that. I find myself getting lost there.

If you like surfing the web and seeing fun and incredible things, just go to http://www.pinterest.com and have a look around. You don't need an account to look and I can bet that some of you will start pinning things yourself! It is a great way to explore new horizons and see some really cool stuff.

Cat Felidae Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats Bombay


With that said, I wish you all a wonderful day today. Whether you are off for Labor Day or it is just an ordinary Monday, there is much you can do to make today good. Be creative. Explore something new. And most of all, have fun!
 

Attachments

#6,261 ·
My "Extra" Day

It's like having an extra day. Even the gym is closed. And it has come at a time when I am 'kinda-sorta' on top of things anyway, so today is really is going to feel like a treat!

We made great strides over the weekend. All the pieces for our kits order are cut. They only need to have the hole for hanging drilled in them and then package them up and they will be on their way. We were planning to send them out tomorrow, but I have yet to receive the UPC stickers from the company so they are on hold until I do. That shouldn't be an issue, because the deadline to have them in the warehouse is mid-October. (Yes! We are that far ahead!)

All of our wholesalers are updated on our stuff, as well as the magazine. Even our site is updated. It seems that we have our little place in order here and everything is all caught up. That is probably as rare as the 'blue moon' that occurred a couple of nights ago!

But that doesn't mean that we are going to lie idle. Quite the contrary actually. It means that we are free to do our favorite part of our jobs - new designs. With the fall and holiday season approaching quickly, as well as the craft fair season, we want to really put some awesome new stuff out there quickly so that others can have some new things to make.

For myself, there are several things that I am working on and need to make into reality. I hope in the next few weeks I will be able to present several new designs. These include both scroll sawing projects as well as some new painting projects (sometimes both in one) and I really look forward to seeing them come to life.

I think I am going to spend today reorganizing some things and really getting everything in order. I have to take a couple of hours to catch up on my books, which is something that I don't do as often as I should. I have been pretty good so far this year and I am not that far behind, but since I have this extra day, I want to use some of it to have everything updated in that department.

I will spend the rest of my day finishing catching up on emails and going through my inspirational pictures to figure out what I will be making next. I have a couple of ideas of which direction that I want to head, but I need to pinpoint my thoughts and focus on one thing.

Something that I have recently discovered which has become a new addiction to me is "Pinterest." For those of you who haven't heard of it, it is kind of a bookmark system that you have for your computer, that is public to all. You create an account and then you can build a series of virtual bulletin boards based on your own interests and categories. I found this very helpful to me because I would see something and bookmark it in my Chrome bookmarks, but then when I wanted to look through the list to find something, it was difficult to do so because each of my categories had so many text entries, I had forgotten what I saw where.

Pinterest is all visual, so if you see a photograph that inspires you or a recipe or a certain project, it is right there in front of you to click on and revisit the original site. What is cool is that you also see everyone else's boards and bookmarks and can look through things that interest you and see other new things that you may have missed. I find myself at the end of each day just sifting through boards and "re-pinning" from others, which usually leads me on wonderful paths of adventure. They every send you a weekly email (which I believe you can opt out of if you don't want) which suggests things to look at that are in your categories of interest. That helps you discover new things that you otherwise wouldn't had seen. It is much more fun than just going through Google or someplace like that. I find myself getting lost there.

If you like surfing the web and seeing fun and incredible things, just go to http://www.pinterest.com and have a look around. You don't need an account to look and I can bet that some of you will start pinning things yourself! It is a great way to explore new horizons and see some really cool stuff.

Cat Felidae Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats Bombay


With that said, I wish you all a wonderful day today. Whether you are off for Labor Day or it is just an ordinary Monday, there is much you can do to make today good. Be creative. Explore something new. And most of all, have fun!
Sheila that also means you & Keith

can have more "inspirational walks"

purely to stimulate the creative

juices. :)

jamie
 

Attachments

#6,263 ·
Doing the Math

I must admit it isn't one of my strong points. For as long as I remember, I really don't like doing numbers. I suppose that I get by well enough. After all, I have made it through over half a century and done OK.

But being a small business owner and watching the business grow means that it is no longer optional to stay on top of the figures and keep track of things along the way. After all, how can I make intelligent business decisions if I don't have full and accurate information? For years I was 'estimating' or 'guessing' how much things cost me and how much I made on particular jobs. More often than not, I probably estimated to the positive side, leaning in a direction that would justify what I was doing at the time. All that got me was a lot of 'red ink' at the end of the year, as I spent much of my time doing things that just didn't help the business grow (and sometimes, even drained it!)

Why do we do these things to ourselves anyway? (Come on - I see lots of others who are starting out in business do the same thing. I know I am not the only one!)

As designers and artists, we tend to think with an optimistic view of things. Our longing for being creative is so strong, that we will go to great lengths to justify our doing it as a living. This can include not accurately calculating our time, materials and supplies that go into creating, as well as under charging for our end products - all because we want to convince ourselves that we are doing "good" so we can continue.

I know this very well because it was exactly what I used to do. And it was almost put me in the poor house.

Well, no wonder I didn't like numbers! They were the stark reality screaming in my face of the fact that things weren't working as I had hoped. While it was nice to get compliments and feel as if I was helping others out by working at a cut-rate price, these warm fuzzies didn't translate well to bank accounts and soon I found myself "tying dollar bills to the products I was selling" (as my accountant put it) and almost having to give up my business altogether if I didn't change my way of doing things.

When it came to a choice of eating and having a place to live or doing what I wanted, the basics necessities had to win out. I either had to shape up financially, or give things up altogether.

Well, I am still here, so you can guess which avenue I followed. While it is sometimes difficult for me to do, I find myself applying numbers to ALL aspects of my work. I have learned to use the simple formula 'if it doesn't pay, I can't do it' and as difficult as it is at times, I have learned to use the word "no" when asked to do things that just don't help the business. This is one of the hardest lessons a creative person can learn in business.

But while it is hard, it is also very freeing. Over the time that I have made the transition from hating numbers to accepting them as part of my life - and a good part at that. While I can't honestly say that I love seeing the numbers and figures of my business, I find that I like them more and more for a couple of reasons.

First of all, it is very freeing to have everything in absolutes in front of you. While at first I disliked numbers because they lacked emotion and feeling, for that same reason, they can be very functional to your business. There may be a time when you are working at your limit and you receive a request that has a heart-tugging story attached to it. You know by doing the job you will lose money, but being the kind-hearted, compassionate person you are, you agree to do it. While doing this once in a while is fine, habitually following this behavior can be disastrous for your business.

The same goes for when you are selling your creations and people play on your emotions. They compliment you and say how they would love to have what you made, only they can't really afford it at that price. I can't tell you how many times I lowered my price (at a time when I could not afford to, mind you!) and sold my product at my own expense.

Finally, another example I will use is when you are asked to do something for a group or event 'for the exposure'. Many times this involves large orders for several pieces and you are charmed into do them because you think of all the people that will see your work and subsequently order from you. I think this example is the worst of all because not only are you losing money and time on one item, but that loss is multiplied many times over.

I only speak of these things because I have done all of them in the past, and it has hurt me tremendously. By not keeping good records, I would be blinded by my own emotion and only when tax time came at the end of the year would I see how detrimental this behavior was to my business. Finally it got to a 'sink or swim' point and I knew I had to change things or find another job.

So little by little I am learning to like numbers. I have learned from others (like Big Tiny's Blog on Basic Financial Planning here on Lumberjocks- Thanks Paul!) that pretending that I am making money when I am not is not a good thing. While I wish I had enough money to do nothing but charity work for others and give away my designs, it just isn't my lot in life. Like everyone else, I need to make a living at this or I have to do something else.

When those two choices were laid in front of me, I really began to change how I did things. I have learned to embrace numbers as a good part of my business, as they help me make better decisions and keep my business healthy. AND - they allow me to do some occasional charity work and freebies when I am able without feeling as if I am doing them at the expense of myself. I am learning they are a good thing.

I spent the day yesterday tallying things up. I do admit that I have been a bit lax in that area this summer - we have just been "too busy." But it reached a point where the receipts were piling up and if I didn't post them, I would fall behind so much that I wouldn't be able to get back on track. So I bit the bullet and spent a couple of hours yesterday posting and organizing and now everything is cataloged and accounted for and I feel GREAT! I once again have a clear picture of where my business is heading and I know it will help me make better decisions.

While it may have not been my favorite way to spend my extra day, when I was finished I had a great sense of accomplishment. Come April, when I am usually scrambling to get everything ready for my taxes to be calculated, I will not have to go through the normal anxiety that I had in the past. Here it is September and I am still on track and every receipt is present and categorized and documented. Usually I do the first three months of the year (when I am doing the previous year's taxes) and it drops off soon after, only to have it pile up for the next year.

I think I finally broke the cycle.

Today I will be packing up my wholesale order to go out tomorrow. Then I can move forward with new things and have fun doing them, knowing where I stand with my business. I am beginning to almost like numbers. As former enemies, they are quickly becoming a great asset to my business. The more I use them, the better friends we become.

Have a great Tuesday.

Glasses Cat Felidae Carnivore Mammal
 

Attachments

#6,264 ·
Doing the Math

I must admit it isn't one of my strong points. For as long as I remember, I really don't like doing numbers. I suppose that I get by well enough. After all, I have made it through over half a century and done OK.

But being a small business owner and watching the business grow means that it is no longer optional to stay on top of the figures and keep track of things along the way. After all, how can I make intelligent business decisions if I don't have full and accurate information? For years I was 'estimating' or 'guessing' how much things cost me and how much I made on particular jobs. More often than not, I probably estimated to the positive side, leaning in a direction that would justify what I was doing at the time. All that got me was a lot of 'red ink' at the end of the year, as I spent much of my time doing things that just didn't help the business grow (and sometimes, even drained it!)

Why do we do these things to ourselves anyway? (Come on - I see lots of others who are starting out in business do the same thing. I know I am not the only one!)

As designers and artists, we tend to think with an optimistic view of things. Our longing for being creative is so strong, that we will go to great lengths to justify our doing it as a living. This can include not accurately calculating our time, materials and supplies that go into creating, as well as under charging for our end products - all because we want to convince ourselves that we are doing "good" so we can continue.

I know this very well because it was exactly what I used to do. And it was almost put me in the poor house.

Well, no wonder I didn't like numbers! They were the stark reality screaming in my face of the fact that things weren't working as I had hoped. While it was nice to get compliments and feel as if I was helping others out by working at a cut-rate price, these warm fuzzies didn't translate well to bank accounts and soon I found myself "tying dollar bills to the products I was selling" (as my accountant put it) and almost having to give up my business altogether if I didn't change my way of doing things.

When it came to a choice of eating and having a place to live or doing what I wanted, the basics necessities had to win out. I either had to shape up financially, or give things up altogether.

Well, I am still here, so you can guess which avenue I followed. While it is sometimes difficult for me to do, I find myself applying numbers to ALL aspects of my work. I have learned to use the simple formula 'if it doesn't pay, I can't do it' and as difficult as it is at times, I have learned to use the word "no" when asked to do things that just don't help the business. This is one of the hardest lessons a creative person can learn in business.

But while it is hard, it is also very freeing. Over the time that I have made the transition from hating numbers to accepting them as part of my life - and a good part at that. While I can't honestly say that I love seeing the numbers and figures of my business, I find that I like them more and more for a couple of reasons.

First of all, it is very freeing to have everything in absolutes in front of you. While at first I disliked numbers because they lacked emotion and feeling, for that same reason, they can be very functional to your business. There may be a time when you are working at your limit and you receive a request that has a heart-tugging story attached to it. You know by doing the job you will lose money, but being the kind-hearted, compassionate person you are, you agree to do it. While doing this once in a while is fine, habitually following this behavior can be disastrous for your business.

The same goes for when you are selling your creations and people play on your emotions. They compliment you and say how they would love to have what you made, only they can't really afford it at that price. I can't tell you how many times I lowered my price (at a time when I could not afford to, mind you!) and sold my product at my own expense.

Finally, another example I will use is when you are asked to do something for a group or event 'for the exposure'. Many times this involves large orders for several pieces and you are charmed into do them because you think of all the people that will see your work and subsequently order from you. I think this example is the worst of all because not only are you losing money and time on one item, but that loss is multiplied many times over.

I only speak of these things because I have done all of them in the past, and it has hurt me tremendously. By not keeping good records, I would be blinded by my own emotion and only when tax time came at the end of the year would I see how detrimental this behavior was to my business. Finally it got to a 'sink or swim' point and I knew I had to change things or find another job.

So little by little I am learning to like numbers. I have learned from others (like Big Tiny's Blog on Basic Financial Planning here on Lumberjocks- Thanks Paul!) that pretending that I am making money when I am not is not a good thing. While I wish I had enough money to do nothing but charity work for others and give away my designs, it just isn't my lot in life. Like everyone else, I need to make a living at this or I have to do something else.

When those two choices were laid in front of me, I really began to change how I did things. I have learned to embrace numbers as a good part of my business, as they help me make better decisions and keep my business healthy. AND - they allow me to do some occasional charity work and freebies when I am able without feeling as if I am doing them at the expense of myself. I am learning they are a good thing.

I spent the day yesterday tallying things up. I do admit that I have been a bit lax in that area this summer - we have just been "too busy." But it reached a point where the receipts were piling up and if I didn't post them, I would fall behind so much that I wouldn't be able to get back on track. So I bit the bullet and spent a couple of hours yesterday posting and organizing and now everything is cataloged and accounted for and I feel GREAT! I once again have a clear picture of where my business is heading and I know it will help me make better decisions.

While it may have not been my favorite way to spend my extra day, when I was finished I had a great sense of accomplishment. Come April, when I am usually scrambling to get everything ready for my taxes to be calculated, I will not have to go through the normal anxiety that I had in the past. Here it is September and I am still on track and every receipt is present and categorized and documented. Usually I do the first three months of the year (when I am doing the previous year's taxes) and it drops off soon after, only to have it pile up for the next year.

I think I finally broke the cycle.

Today I will be packing up my wholesale order to go out tomorrow. Then I can move forward with new things and have fun doing them, knowing where I stand with my business. I am beginning to almost like numbers. As former enemies, they are quickly becoming a great asset to my business. The more I use them, the better friends we become.

Have a great Tuesday.

Glasses Cat Felidae Carnivore Mammal
Very well said, Sheila. Looks like the puddee-tat is worn out. I've felt like that before. Carry on, and have a gr8 week.
 

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#6,267 ·
Time to Draw

I woke up this morning to a quiet and gentle rain. Even now as I am sitting here writing, it is a wonderfully soothing sound. It is still dark out and I can feel the cool air coming in from the window - almost to the point of needing a light blanket. Autumn is definitely on its way.

I find myself retiring early, just so I can awake earlier to enjoy these mornings longer. I know these next few months will pass quickly and I wish to enjoy every second of them that I can. The early dawn hours are the best part of my day, with my (still naked) all season tree dimly lit in the corner, the lounging cats in my lap, my cinnamon laced coffee, and a sense of calm. Many days I also enjoy Mozart or Vivaldi playing softly in the background, but this morning, I choose to listen to the rain. It is a peaceful and serene way to begin the day, and in most instances, I am able to keep the mood with me for the duration. These are my most productive times.

I think that atmosphere is extremely important for being creative. At least for me it is. I have always been someone to 'nest' and make whatever place I am occupying something that I find comforting and suitable to my needs. I remember doing this as a teenager when I first got my own room at the age of 17. It was the first time I had a small slice of the world to call my own and I clearly recall the joy I experienced from making it my own little space. In it, I felt happy and safe and calm. I would listen to my music up there and read books and do my needle work (I used to love to embroider) and it would be a place that I could escape from the rest of the world.

I have found that ever since then, I do that with each place I have called 'home.' Most of them weren't fancy, but no matter how basic they were, I was always able to transform them into a place where I felt comfortable. And some of my fondest memories from each of the places I have lived are much like this morning - filled with all the things I liked best.

Today will be a good day. I finished packing our latest wholesale order and it will be picked up and on its way before noon. Another assignment will be checked off the list for me and I will be able to progress and draw new designs. As I was sealing the last box, the Artist's Club sent an email out which featured my two ornament sets (the packages and the Stockings) They really do a nice job of presenting them:

Organism Font Red Adaptation Screenshot


When they did this type of ad with the witch's hats and boots, it was only a day or so until we received an order for more, so we are bracing for another round of cutting in the near future. Yesterday, while I was packing, Keith went to Digby to pick up the wood supply that we ordered so that we could stay ahead of things. I think that is the way to go with everything. We keep enough wood in stock so that we can produce a large order immediately. As soon as our stock goes down, we replenish it and have it ready. We do the same with the ink for the printer, the bags for packing the kits and the paper. At any given moment, we are able to produce a sizable order without having to go out and purchase supplies.

I understand that this may be difficult for you to do if you are just starting out and money is tight. When I first started with these kits, it seemed like it was a large risk for me to stock items like this. But after seeing them sell the way they are selling, I felt a bit more confident that I wouldn't be 'stuck' with any of the supplies and it became easier. It seemed my first larger check from the company was reinvested right into the supplies, but at that point I saw they were selling well and it helped a great deal that the several kits I produce use only those four products. Keeping things simple is certainly a help. Besides, if another kit is never ordered, I will be able to use all the items for other things and not lose out.

I suppose that is my advice for today. If you are going to begin production of any item, it is helpful to make the supplies used to create it generic enough to be able to be used elsewhere if necessary. That will lower the risk you take pre-purchasing tremendously.

So today I am drawing some new things and I hope to be cutting today too. I have lots of drawing in front of me, and I want to do several quicker projects in the next week or so and really get moving on these ideas. The seasons are short, and they will come and go quickly, and I don't want to have to wait to next year on all of them. I realize that some of them will be put on hold for a year, as there is no way that I can do everything I am thinking about right now, but that is good, as I am sure by next year there will be even more to consider.

It's a good way to be, and I am quite happy. We have some other good things on our horizon that I will share with you in the future. I am happy that our little business is growing and doing well and that I am able to be able to live the way I live.

Have a wonderful day today. Wednesday already. Enjoy the day and the season as it comes.

Cat Felidae Window Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats
 

Attachments

#6,268 ·
Time to Draw

I woke up this morning to a quiet and gentle rain. Even now as I am sitting here writing, it is a wonderfully soothing sound. It is still dark out and I can feel the cool air coming in from the window - almost to the point of needing a light blanket. Autumn is definitely on its way.

I find myself retiring early, just so I can awake earlier to enjoy these mornings longer. I know these next few months will pass quickly and I wish to enjoy every second of them that I can. The early dawn hours are the best part of my day, with my (still naked) all season tree dimly lit in the corner, the lounging cats in my lap, my cinnamon laced coffee, and a sense of calm. Many days I also enjoy Mozart or Vivaldi playing softly in the background, but this morning, I choose to listen to the rain. It is a peaceful and serene way to begin the day, and in most instances, I am able to keep the mood with me for the duration. These are my most productive times.

I think that atmosphere is extremely important for being creative. At least for me it is. I have always been someone to 'nest' and make whatever place I am occupying something that I find comforting and suitable to my needs. I remember doing this as a teenager when I first got my own room at the age of 17. It was the first time I had a small slice of the world to call my own and I clearly recall the joy I experienced from making it my own little space. In it, I felt happy and safe and calm. I would listen to my music up there and read books and do my needle work (I used to love to embroider) and it would be a place that I could escape from the rest of the world.

I have found that ever since then, I do that with each place I have called 'home.' Most of them weren't fancy, but no matter how basic they were, I was always able to transform them into a place where I felt comfortable. And some of my fondest memories from each of the places I have lived are much like this morning - filled with all the things I liked best.

Today will be a good day. I finished packing our latest wholesale order and it will be picked up and on its way before noon. Another assignment will be checked off the list for me and I will be able to progress and draw new designs. As I was sealing the last box, the Artist's Club sent an email out which featured my two ornament sets (the packages and the Stockings) They really do a nice job of presenting them:

Organism Font Red Adaptation Screenshot


When they did this type of ad with the witch's hats and boots, it was only a day or so until we received an order for more, so we are bracing for another round of cutting in the near future. Yesterday, while I was packing, Keith went to Digby to pick up the wood supply that we ordered so that we could stay ahead of things. I think that is the way to go with everything. We keep enough wood in stock so that we can produce a large order immediately. As soon as our stock goes down, we replenish it and have it ready. We do the same with the ink for the printer, the bags for packing the kits and the paper. At any given moment, we are able to produce a sizable order without having to go out and purchase supplies.

I understand that this may be difficult for you to do if you are just starting out and money is tight. When I first started with these kits, it seemed like it was a large risk for me to stock items like this. But after seeing them sell the way they are selling, I felt a bit more confident that I wouldn't be 'stuck' with any of the supplies and it became easier. It seemed my first larger check from the company was reinvested right into the supplies, but at that point I saw they were selling well and it helped a great deal that the several kits I produce use only those four products. Keeping things simple is certainly a help. Besides, if another kit is never ordered, I will be able to use all the items for other things and not lose out.

I suppose that is my advice for today. If you are going to begin production of any item, it is helpful to make the supplies used to create it generic enough to be able to be used elsewhere if necessary. That will lower the risk you take pre-purchasing tremendously.

So today I am drawing some new things and I hope to be cutting today too. I have lots of drawing in front of me, and I want to do several quicker projects in the next week or so and really get moving on these ideas. The seasons are short, and they will come and go quickly, and I don't want to have to wait to next year on all of them. I realize that some of them will be put on hold for a year, as there is no way that I can do everything I am thinking about right now, but that is good, as I am sure by next year there will be even more to consider.

It's a good way to be, and I am quite happy. We have some other good things on our horizon that I will share with you in the future. I am happy that our little business is growing and doing well and that I am able to be able to live the way I live.

Have a wonderful day today. Wednesday already. Enjoy the day and the season as it comes.

Cat Felidae Window Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats
good morning ! yes I too like the rain falling down…maybe I cant hear it very well but I can still feel the vibrations
and see it falling ….Autumn is my 2nd favorite, I love the spring for the "re-newed hopes" and the flowers & trees greening and blooming..yeah Im a guy, so what ?? LOL….hope everyone has a great day and be safe in all you do
 

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#6,274 ·
Too Many Choices

I had a good and productive day yesterday. While I had hoped to finish drawing and begin cutting, I didn't really get that far. But that is OK. Sometimes things happen for good reasons and I believe that was one of those times.

I have been having trouble lately progressing with some of the new ideas that I have had lately. By the term 'trouble' I mean that I haven't moved ahead as quickly as I want to on them. This isn't because I don't have enough ideas, but rather seems to be quite the opposite - I have too many ideas and don't know which direction to proceed. I know it may appear to be a dumb problem to have, but when it comes time to actually putting the idea(s) on paper, it is definitely a stopper.

For many things, I know in my head what I want to do. I can almost actually picture things just how I want them. But the problem I am having is that sometimes there are several versions of the same project that I have and when the time comes to start to draw, I get stopped because I don't know which direction is best.

It is kind of like choosing ice cream. When you have only chocolate and vanilla, it is much easier to choose than when you have 35 flavours sitting in front of you. Too many choices can muddle things up and really slow things down.

So what do I do?

I try to think of my customers and what they would like, but we all know that once you involve more than one person, there is never a consensus and it only tends to make things even more complicated. If I ask three people their opinions, I am pretty certain I will get three completely different answers as to which direction I should head. Then too I run the risk of offending those who's advice I choose to pass on. So I try not to do this.

In my many years of designing, I have learned that people will choose from any given number of choices you present. This is true not only with providing patterns to them, but also for those of you who are attending craft fairs and sales. Sometimes the more choices we give them, the more people are confused and I, myself have walked away from displays only due to the fact that there were too many choices and I couldn't make up my mind. There are definitely times when narrowing down the playing field can be beneficial, as it can make things much easier for the customer to decide.

So with that thought in mind, I just went ahead and started drawing. I pictured the first choice of design for the scroll saw customers in my head and began drawing it up. However, while I was doing so, I had an idea for a second type of design that is similar, but would appeal to my painting customers a bit more, and I began drawing that one too.

So now I have two drawings going at once, and while they are similar, they are also different. I needed to discipline myself to keep on these two and see them through the end before I begin another drawing and while it hasn't really been easy to do, I was laying in bed last night and I thought of another variation on one of the designs that would add greatly to its appeal. So I cheated a bit and am going to add it in today.

Both designs are just about ready to cut today. One of them is geared strictly toward woodworkers and the other one is going to have two versions, one for woodworkers and the other for painters. I have one more teeny tiny idea on the woodworking one too that I may or may not implement. But there I go again . . .

Do you see how easy it is to be all over the place? My head is spinning with designing thoughts and I even think of things while I am sleeping. I have lists of what I want to do and I will be fortunate if I get even one tenth of them done this year. (But isn't that exciting??)

I have had 'designer's block' in the past - where I feel lost and don't know what to do next - and it isn't fun. When I am in that state of mind, I sometimes feel as if nothing will come out right and I just don't have any spark that lights my fire as far as designing. But I must say, I am going through a stage right now when the fire is blazing and there are so many cool things I am thinking about, it is hard to keep up with them. What a wonderful place for a designer to be!

I will show a small sample of my design:

Hair Nose Head Hand Eye


Of course it is a cool Halloween piece. But yesterday as I drove from the post office, I noticed that there is a small hint of golden tint on the top leaves of the trees. Autumn is quickly upon us as is the Halloween season. There is an urgency to get these designs finished and out so that there is time for people to make them and enjoy them.

Time to really get to work!

I wish you all a wonderfully creative day!
 

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#6,275 ·
Too Many Choices

I had a good and productive day yesterday. While I had hoped to finish drawing and begin cutting, I didn't really get that far. But that is OK. Sometimes things happen for good reasons and I believe that was one of those times.

I have been having trouble lately progressing with some of the new ideas that I have had lately. By the term 'trouble' I mean that I haven't moved ahead as quickly as I want to on them. This isn't because I don't have enough ideas, but rather seems to be quite the opposite - I have too many ideas and don't know which direction to proceed. I know it may appear to be a dumb problem to have, but when it comes time to actually putting the idea(s) on paper, it is definitely a stopper.

For many things, I know in my head what I want to do. I can almost actually picture things just how I want them. But the problem I am having is that sometimes there are several versions of the same project that I have and when the time comes to start to draw, I get stopped because I don't know which direction is best.

It is kind of like choosing ice cream. When you have only chocolate and vanilla, it is much easier to choose than when you have 35 flavours sitting in front of you. Too many choices can muddle things up and really slow things down.

So what do I do?

I try to think of my customers and what they would like, but we all know that once you involve more than one person, there is never a consensus and it only tends to make things even more complicated. If I ask three people their opinions, I am pretty certain I will get three completely different answers as to which direction I should head. Then too I run the risk of offending those who's advice I choose to pass on. So I try not to do this.

In my many years of designing, I have learned that people will choose from any given number of choices you present. This is true not only with providing patterns to them, but also for those of you who are attending craft fairs and sales. Sometimes the more choices we give them, the more people are confused and I, myself have walked away from displays only due to the fact that there were too many choices and I couldn't make up my mind. There are definitely times when narrowing down the playing field can be beneficial, as it can make things much easier for the customer to decide.

So with that thought in mind, I just went ahead and started drawing. I pictured the first choice of design for the scroll saw customers in my head and began drawing it up. However, while I was doing so, I had an idea for a second type of design that is similar, but would appeal to my painting customers a bit more, and I began drawing that one too.

So now I have two drawings going at once, and while they are similar, they are also different. I needed to discipline myself to keep on these two and see them through the end before I begin another drawing and while it hasn't really been easy to do, I was laying in bed last night and I thought of another variation on one of the designs that would add greatly to its appeal. So I cheated a bit and am going to add it in today.

Both designs are just about ready to cut today. One of them is geared strictly toward woodworkers and the other one is going to have two versions, one for woodworkers and the other for painters. I have one more teeny tiny idea on the woodworking one too that I may or may not implement. But there I go again . . .

Do you see how easy it is to be all over the place? My head is spinning with designing thoughts and I even think of things while I am sleeping. I have lists of what I want to do and I will be fortunate if I get even one tenth of them done this year. (But isn't that exciting??)

I have had 'designer's block' in the past - where I feel lost and don't know what to do next - and it isn't fun. When I am in that state of mind, I sometimes feel as if nothing will come out right and I just don't have any spark that lights my fire as far as designing. But I must say, I am going through a stage right now when the fire is blazing and there are so many cool things I am thinking about, it is hard to keep up with them. What a wonderful place for a designer to be!

I will show a small sample of my design:

Hair Nose Head Hand Eye


Of course it is a cool Halloween piece. But yesterday as I drove from the post office, I noticed that there is a small hint of golden tint on the top leaves of the trees. Autumn is quickly upon us as is the Halloween season. There is an urgency to get these designs finished and out so that there is time for people to make them and enjoy them.

Time to really get to work!

I wish you all a wonderfully creative day!
Tis that spooky time o year already, isn't it. Wow, time is flyin. I think you gave me a subliminal message to have ice cream for breakfast, so, thank you for that… lol
 

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#6,280 ·
Planning Ahead Pays Off

What a day yesterday turned out to be! I must have made the coffee just right (or maybe it was the pecan bars that I made the night before and had for breakfast!) because I feel like I really accomplished a lot.

After a morning trip to the dentist (which I don't like at all, but came out 'unscathed') and a stop at the gym, I had to stop at the store to pick up some things for my new projects. By the time I got home, it was almost noon and I thought that the day was going to be a wash. I still had some final tweaking on the drawings for the new projects and I got busy with that.

I then was able to head for the scroll saw.

It turns out that I am working on three versions of my projects right now, and that I will have three separate patterns from them. I kind of got things organized in my head as to what I am going to do though so other than thinking of clever names to differentiate them from each other, I am pretty much home free.

I got all three projects cut yesterday (YAY!) but it wasn't without making a boo boo (no pun intended!) On my first piece, I had some of the lines for the fancy scrolled lettering too close and the cutting didn't hold up. Of course, I was already through cutting it before I saw it wasn't going to work.

So it was back to the drawing board (literally) to move some lines around and make it workable. Once again, that is why I like to cut my own designs out. I often get generous offers from people willing to test cut for me, but I much prefer to do them myself, as I can correct things right as I go along.

So it was "Take 2" and on the second attempt, things came out quite nice. I have a picture of the first project here for you right now:

Wood Gesture Font Finger Art


The pieces are made of a wonderful curly maple that I had and are about 6" tall. I already oiled these pieces and it really brought out the ripples in the wood grain. I love it because it looks like the ghosts are ripply and go perfectly with the design. I think they look pretty cool!

But they aren't finished yet. There is another little 'surprise that I am going to add on today that will make them look even nicer. You will just have to wait until tomorrow to see what that is going to be!

All the while I was cutting, Keith was sanding the over 500 ten in square pieces of plywood we were preparing for our next order. He had picked up the wood the previous day and we wanted to have it ready when the next order came in. We both finished just before dinner and cleaned up the place nicely.

Just after we were finished, as I was oiling the pieces shown here, I received an email order for two hundred more kits. There are a hundred of each the Christmas stockings and presents that I showed the other day. That makes us happy because it means they are selling well (AND we are prepared!)

I spent the evening printing out the patterns for the cutting, as well as beginning to print the patterns for the kits. Keith got the wood pieces necessary for this order glued for stack cutting so we are ready to go today. We are both going to spend much of the day cutting, and I am going to try to progress with my own designs when we are finished with that, in the evening.

These are exciting times for us. It is funny, but I don't feel overwhelmed in the least. The moral of the story here is that by thinking ahead and preparing for things, we are both ready to get this work done quickly and not be knocked off of our feet by it. Being organized helps us make the best use of our time and allows us to do more without being stressed about it. I can't tell you how happy I am that we worked ahead.

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!
 

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#6,281 ·
Planning Ahead Pays Off

What a day yesterday turned out to be! I must have made the coffee just right (or maybe it was the pecan bars that I made the night before and had for breakfast!) because I feel like I really accomplished a lot.

After a morning trip to the dentist (which I don't like at all, but came out 'unscathed') and a stop at the gym, I had to stop at the store to pick up some things for my new projects. By the time I got home, it was almost noon and I thought that the day was going to be a wash. I still had some final tweaking on the drawings for the new projects and I got busy with that.

I then was able to head for the scroll saw.

It turns out that I am working on three versions of my projects right now, and that I will have three separate patterns from them. I kind of got things organized in my head as to what I am going to do though so other than thinking of clever names to differentiate them from each other, I am pretty much home free.

I got all three projects cut yesterday (YAY!) but it wasn't without making a boo boo (no pun intended!) On my first piece, I had some of the lines for the fancy scrolled lettering too close and the cutting didn't hold up. Of course, I was already through cutting it before I saw it wasn't going to work.

So it was back to the drawing board (literally) to move some lines around and make it workable. Once again, that is why I like to cut my own designs out. I often get generous offers from people willing to test cut for me, but I much prefer to do them myself, as I can correct things right as I go along.

So it was "Take 2" and on the second attempt, things came out quite nice. I have a picture of the first project here for you right now:

Wood Gesture Font Finger Art


The pieces are made of a wonderful curly maple that I had and are about 6" tall. I already oiled these pieces and it really brought out the ripples in the wood grain. I love it because it looks like the ghosts are ripply and go perfectly with the design. I think they look pretty cool!

But they aren't finished yet. There is another little 'surprise that I am going to add on today that will make them look even nicer. You will just have to wait until tomorrow to see what that is going to be!

All the while I was cutting, Keith was sanding the over 500 ten in square pieces of plywood we were preparing for our next order. He had picked up the wood the previous day and we wanted to have it ready when the next order came in. We both finished just before dinner and cleaned up the place nicely.

Just after we were finished, as I was oiling the pieces shown here, I received an email order for two hundred more kits. There are a hundred of each the Christmas stockings and presents that I showed the other day. That makes us happy because it means they are selling well (AND we are prepared!)

I spent the evening printing out the patterns for the cutting, as well as beginning to print the patterns for the kits. Keith got the wood pieces necessary for this order glued for stack cutting so we are ready to go today. We are both going to spend much of the day cutting, and I am going to try to progress with my own designs when we are finished with that, in the evening.

These are exciting times for us. It is funny, but I don't feel overwhelmed in the least. The moral of the story here is that by thinking ahead and preparing for things, we are both ready to get this work done quickly and not be knocked off of our feet by it. Being organized helps us make the best use of our time and allows us to do more without being stressed about it. I can't tell you how happy I am that we worked ahead.

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!
Those are super cool

Well worth a second attempt

It is great that you make everything that

you design, then you know it works.

Jamie
 

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#6,289 ·
One More Day

Well, I know I said that I was going to have more pictures of the finished ghosts, but I kind of changed my mind on things and it is going to take me another day.

Yesterday was a really good and productive day. I certainly can't blame idleness for not having furthered my work on the pieces. I was just working in another direction and was on such a roll that I didn't want to stop. Both Keith and I put in a full day of preparing our wood for our latest order and we spent pretty much the entire day cutting.

While we had planned two full days of cutting on this job for both of us, things were going so well that we decided to keep going for a while longer and by the time dinner came along were were over 2/3 finished.

It was one of those days when things were going so well, I didn't want to stop and after I reached the half way point of my work, each piece I cut yesterday meant one less I needed to cut today. So I kept going.

By the time we were done, we had a nice sized pile of pieces in front of us and it should only take us a couple of additional hours today to finish. (Realistically, about half a day) While we still have to drill each piece and package up the kits, the noisy/messy part for the most part will be done and behind us. That is always a great feeling.

By the time we cleaned everything up and ate dinner, it was pretty late and not a good time for me to start something else. I will admit that I was really tired, although not in a bad way. I spent a bit of time on the computer catching up and then I treated myself to a couple of new computer games to help me unwind at night.

I suppose that is my one addiction here on the computer. I like to play some type of computer games. I don't really like the hard core type games that many get involved in, but I do like stuff like seek and find and puzzles and things like that. This past spring, Keith's mom introduced me to some fun games by a company called Playrix. They have lots of cool games of all kind and I find that they are a great way to relax at the end of the day. I don't get to play every night, but a couple of times a week or even for just a couple of minutes really helps me relax at the end of the day. I got this Platinum Pack which has a huge variety of types of games to choose from. They even had a special offer for an additional 50% off that price here. so I took the plunge and bought it.

I am not trying to sell games here, but I just wanted to share some fun ways to unwind if you are into that stuff. I figure that purchasing the games cost about what it would for two people to go out to dinner or to a movie and I haven't even gone through 1/4 of the games here once in the several months I have had them. They are nice because you can stop after five minutes or five hours - whatever your schedule permits - and everything is stored and picks up right where you left off. I certainly have gotten my money's worth out of them and I actually just purchased a couple of additional ones that weren't in the pack that they have on sale now.

It was about 8:30 or so when I finally settled down last night and it was my 'reward' to myself for a good productive day. One thing good about working like that all at once is that when we are done, we do a deep cleaning of the place and everything is really nice by the time we are finished.

So today I will finish up the cutting part of the job. I want to spend the later part of the day working on my ghosts and also the other project that I cut out on Thursday. I am excited to see how they will come out and from the responses I received yesterday, I think they will be nice projects.

I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday today. This is such a great time of year to start thinking of projects for the autumn season and hopefully it has cooled down a bit in your area to make your shop time pleasant. Have some fun!

Time for me to start my day! :)

Cat Felidae Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers
 

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#6,290 ·
One More Day

Well, I know I said that I was going to have more pictures of the finished ghosts, but I kind of changed my mind on things and it is going to take me another day.

Yesterday was a really good and productive day. I certainly can't blame idleness for not having furthered my work on the pieces. I was just working in another direction and was on such a roll that I didn't want to stop. Both Keith and I put in a full day of preparing our wood for our latest order and we spent pretty much the entire day cutting.

While we had planned two full days of cutting on this job for both of us, things were going so well that we decided to keep going for a while longer and by the time dinner came along were were over 2/3 finished.

It was one of those days when things were going so well, I didn't want to stop and after I reached the half way point of my work, each piece I cut yesterday meant one less I needed to cut today. So I kept going.

By the time we were done, we had a nice sized pile of pieces in front of us and it should only take us a couple of additional hours today to finish. (Realistically, about half a day) While we still have to drill each piece and package up the kits, the noisy/messy part for the most part will be done and behind us. That is always a great feeling.

By the time we cleaned everything up and ate dinner, it was pretty late and not a good time for me to start something else. I will admit that I was really tired, although not in a bad way. I spent a bit of time on the computer catching up and then I treated myself to a couple of new computer games to help me unwind at night.

I suppose that is my one addiction here on the computer. I like to play some type of computer games. I don't really like the hard core type games that many get involved in, but I do like stuff like seek and find and puzzles and things like that. This past spring, Keith's mom introduced me to some fun games by a company called Playrix. They have lots of cool games of all kind and I find that they are a great way to relax at the end of the day. I don't get to play every night, but a couple of times a week or even for just a couple of minutes really helps me relax at the end of the day. I got this Platinum Pack which has a huge variety of types of games to choose from. They even had a special offer for an additional 50% off that price here. so I took the plunge and bought it.

I am not trying to sell games here, but I just wanted to share some fun ways to unwind if you are into that stuff. I figure that purchasing the games cost about what it would for two people to go out to dinner or to a movie and I haven't even gone through 1/4 of the games here once in the several months I have had them. They are nice because you can stop after five minutes or five hours - whatever your schedule permits - and everything is stored and picks up right where you left off. I certainly have gotten my money's worth out of them and I actually just purchased a couple of additional ones that weren't in the pack that they have on sale now.

It was about 8:30 or so when I finally settled down last night and it was my 'reward' to myself for a good productive day. One thing good about working like that all at once is that when we are done, we do a deep cleaning of the place and everything is really nice by the time we are finished.

So today I will finish up the cutting part of the job. I want to spend the later part of the day working on my ghosts and also the other project that I cut out on Thursday. I am excited to see how they will come out and from the responses I received yesterday, I think they will be nice projects.

I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday today. This is such a great time of year to start thinking of projects for the autumn season and hopefully it has cooled down a bit in your area to make your shop time pleasant. Have some fun!

Time for me to start my day! :)

Cat Felidae Carnivore Small to medium-sized cats Whiskers
Sheila , both me and Silke say thank you for the laugh
we got from the picture :)

we take the bycicle downtown for foodsurplies for the weekend
and a bag of Candy to share while we see a movie tonight

have a great weekend
Silke and Dennis
 

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#6,293 ·
Finished Ghosts Word Art

I got much of what I intended to get done yesterday. It was good to feel so accomplished and it was also great to see my designs be completed and come to life.

I worked on two of the three new patterns, although I am only going to show the first one today. I'll save the others for subsequent entries.

In any case, here is a picture of the finished vignette:

Wood Creative arts Gesture Font Art


I really liked how they came out. I used the DecoArt Staining and Antiquing Medium to add a sheer hint of color to just the tops of the pieces. When I color pieces such as these, I like to leave the edged and backs the natural color of the wood, as it seems to give them a bit more depth.

This time I used a opalescent paint for the ghosts themselves. It gave them a little bit of a shimmer. In using the Staining and Antiquing Medium with this paint, it tinted the pieces just enough and still allowed the curly grain to show through, giving them a really cool, deep look. And just for a final touch, I top coated the ghosts only with the Glamour Dust Glitter Paint for some additional shimmer. I love the way this product looks. It is very finely ground glitter suspended in a clear base and it adds a very subtle sparkle. It is great for something like this where you want what is underneath to still show through without being overpowered by the glitter. As you can see, the grain is still predominant on the pieces. I know that you can't really see the sparkle here in the pictures, but in person it looks great.

I also thought the idea of using the chain would give these pieces a little extra. I used small silver eye pins and gently opened them just enough to accept the chain. I then purchased the silver chain in the jewelry supply department for about $4 per meter. I think it really adds a lot to the pieces.

These small extras are what make the difference and really bring this type of projects to a new level I think. Making these pieces in curly maple was easy and fun and I love how it came out. It really was quick to do too!

Today I will be working on the final of the three related designs. I also need to pack up my kits to go out the door tomorrow morning. That should fill my day pretty much.

I'll have pictures of the second design tomorrow. I think it came out OK too, and I can't wait to show it to you all.

I hope you have a good day today. Enjoy your Sunday.
 

Attachments

#6,294 ·
Finished Ghosts Word Art

I got much of what I intended to get done yesterday. It was good to feel so accomplished and it was also great to see my designs be completed and come to life.

I worked on two of the three new patterns, although I am only going to show the first one today. I'll save the others for subsequent entries.

In any case, here is a picture of the finished vignette:

Wood Creative arts Gesture Font Art


I really liked how they came out. I used the DecoArt Staining and Antiquing Medium to add a sheer hint of color to just the tops of the pieces. When I color pieces such as these, I like to leave the edged and backs the natural color of the wood, as it seems to give them a bit more depth.

This time I used a opalescent paint for the ghosts themselves. It gave them a little bit of a shimmer. In using the Staining and Antiquing Medium with this paint, it tinted the pieces just enough and still allowed the curly grain to show through, giving them a really cool, deep look. And just for a final touch, I top coated the ghosts only with the Glamour Dust Glitter Paint for some additional shimmer. I love the way this product looks. It is very finely ground glitter suspended in a clear base and it adds a very subtle sparkle. It is great for something like this where you want what is underneath to still show through without being overpowered by the glitter. As you can see, the grain is still predominant on the pieces. I know that you can't really see the sparkle here in the pictures, but in person it looks great.

I also thought the idea of using the chain would give these pieces a little extra. I used small silver eye pins and gently opened them just enough to accept the chain. I then purchased the silver chain in the jewelry supply department for about $4 per meter. I think it really adds a lot to the pieces.

These small extras are what make the difference and really bring this type of projects to a new level I think. Making these pieces in curly maple was easy and fun and I love how it came out. It really was quick to do too!

Today I will be working on the final of the three related designs. I also need to pack up my kits to go out the door tomorrow morning. That should fill my day pretty much.

I'll have pictures of the second design tomorrow. I think it came out OK too, and I can't wait to show it to you all.

I hope you have a good day today. Enjoy your Sunday.
Sheila they are great

They look so good I would be

fair chuffed if I could make a set

half as good.

I would have them up all year.

Booooooooooooooo!

jamie
 

Attachments

#6,300 ·
Project #2 Done!

This one is going to have to be quick. I had some things I needed to get done this morning and I am running a bit behind. Plus, with the handicap of Pancakes on my lap, it makes it hard to type fast.

I wanted to show the pictures of the second project of this group today. I really think it came out cool and I was pretty happy with the results. This one was the word "Boo!" spelled out in some Gothic type lettering along with two creepy pumpkins.

Art Font Rectangle Pattern Symbol


I cut these letters from 3/4" poplar. The wood type didn't matter in this one as much because the letters were going to be painted. I like working with poplar on this type of project because it is soft and easy to cut and would hold up to this size cutting. I like it better than pine because it is a bit less sappy and also the edges are much neater than the pine edges, which tend to fray and look raggedy when cut on the scroll saw. Poplar is plentiful in my area, so it is also pretty cheap.

I decided to paint the pieces completely in black and only put the color/finish on the faces of them. This was no small task, as the poplar absorbed the acrylic paint like a sponge and it was a challenge to get into some of the cut areas such as the features of the pumpkin faces. I solved this by using a stiffer paint brush - one used for fabric painting - and that helped a lot. I suppose that if you are going to use acrylic paint when painting these, you would need to designate a brush just for that, as it will probably be ruined for anything else.

An alternative to brush painting these is to use spray paint. I don't know how it would do with getting into the scrolled crevices though, and I didn't want any drip marks, so I opted with the acrylic brush method. Again - it is not difficult, but it just takes a bit of time (I know some of you aren't that patient!)

After the pieces were solid black, I used a deerfoot stippler to apply some orange paint to the front only of the pumpkins. I was kind of afraid to base coat the pumpkins all in black, because I knew the orange would have a bit of a time covering over it. However, I wanted the edges black so that it would look more like carved pumpkins, which they do.

The stippler allowed me to 'pounce' on the paint and only took a couple of coats for complete coverage. Another benefit of using that brush was that the orange paint didn't get over the edges onto the sides at all - even on the intricate teeth. That is a great "new" discovery that I will have to share with my customers. I learn something new every day!

I then applied a couple of good coats of DecoArt Craft Twinkles on the faces of all the pieces. Unlike the Glamour Dust Glitter Paint that I used yesterday on the ghosts, which give a soft shimmer, these Craft Twinkles give an all out chunky sparkle! (Bazinga!) Just the look I wanted for these pieces!

They look really amazing. I put them on the top of the stove and when I had my candle on, they looked positively electric! Look at the great shadow behind them too!

Art Paint Font Tints and shades Graffiti


Spoooooooky!!! :D

So that's it for today! On to project #3 of the group! The wholesale order is ready to go out the door so I had an amazingly productive weekend! I can't wait to get to work on my next project today!

Have a great Monday!
 

Attachments

#6,301 ·
Project #2 Done!

This one is going to have to be quick. I had some things I needed to get done this morning and I am running a bit behind. Plus, with the handicap of Pancakes on my lap, it makes it hard to type fast.

I wanted to show the pictures of the second project of this group today. I really think it came out cool and I was pretty happy with the results. This one was the word "Boo!" spelled out in some Gothic type lettering along with two creepy pumpkins.

Art Font Rectangle Pattern Symbol


I cut these letters from 3/4" poplar. The wood type didn't matter in this one as much because the letters were going to be painted. I like working with poplar on this type of project because it is soft and easy to cut and would hold up to this size cutting. I like it better than pine because it is a bit less sappy and also the edges are much neater than the pine edges, which tend to fray and look raggedy when cut on the scroll saw. Poplar is plentiful in my area, so it is also pretty cheap.

I decided to paint the pieces completely in black and only put the color/finish on the faces of them. This was no small task, as the poplar absorbed the acrylic paint like a sponge and it was a challenge to get into some of the cut areas such as the features of the pumpkin faces. I solved this by using a stiffer paint brush - one used for fabric painting - and that helped a lot. I suppose that if you are going to use acrylic paint when painting these, you would need to designate a brush just for that, as it will probably be ruined for anything else.

An alternative to brush painting these is to use spray paint. I don't know how it would do with getting into the scrolled crevices though, and I didn't want any drip marks, so I opted with the acrylic brush method. Again - it is not difficult, but it just takes a bit of time (I know some of you aren't that patient!)

After the pieces were solid black, I used a deerfoot stippler to apply some orange paint to the front only of the pumpkins. I was kind of afraid to base coat the pumpkins all in black, because I knew the orange would have a bit of a time covering over it. However, I wanted the edges black so that it would look more like carved pumpkins, which they do.

The stippler allowed me to 'pounce' on the paint and only took a couple of coats for complete coverage. Another benefit of using that brush was that the orange paint didn't get over the edges onto the sides at all - even on the intricate teeth. That is a great "new" discovery that I will have to share with my customers. I learn something new every day!

I then applied a couple of good coats of DecoArt Craft Twinkles on the faces of all the pieces. Unlike the Glamour Dust Glitter Paint that I used yesterday on the ghosts, which give a soft shimmer, these Craft Twinkles give an all out chunky sparkle! (Bazinga!) Just the look I wanted for these pieces!

They look really amazing. I put them on the top of the stove and when I had my candle on, they looked positively electric! Look at the great shadow behind them too!

Art Paint Font Tints and shades Graffiti


Spoooooooky!!! :D

So that's it for today! On to project #3 of the group! The wholesale order is ready to go out the door so I had an amazingly productive weekend! I can't wait to get to work on my next project today!

Have a great Monday!
"Bazinga"... lol… ok, Sheldon. (luv the Big Bang Theory) All you need is a strobe, and you'd have a horror movie.. These look awesome, as always. With those shadows, they look downrite scary, and so very kool
 

Attachments

#6,307 ·
If First You Don't Succeed

Lately, I have so much that I want to get done and it seems like I have little time to do things. I have a list of ideas a mile long and during the time it takes to check off one thing, there are probably two or three more that I have added to the bottom of it.

Yesterday I worked on the third set of stand-up ghost word pieces. I had hopes of finishing them up yesterday. But in the process of getting things done, I went ahead too quickly and ruined the paint on one of them and had to remove it and start over. I wasn't very happy with myself.

I suppose during these types of projects, it would be a good thing to work on more than one thing at a time. Especially when I am painting things and need to leave things alone for a period of time to dry properly before the next step.

What had happened was I used the same crackle finish that I had used on the snowmen. This time it was for the ghosts and pumpkins. While this may be considered a 'no-brainer' as to which colors to choose, I did put a bit of thought into them. I wanted the pieces to be similar enough to look like a 'set' but I also wanted to differentiate the pumpkin pieces from the ghosts to give them a bit of interest. I needed to think ahead and consider which colors I would be using for shading, etc. so that they would look nice when finished.

The ghosts were the easier of the two to figure out. I knew I wanted an off-white color instead of a stark white. A rule of thumb for anything I paint is that I try my best not to use pure black or pure white for base coats, as it leaves no room for shading or highlighting. By this I mean if I used pure white for the ghosts, there would be no brighter color that I could choose to show highlights on the piece if I wished. By base coating the pieces a couple of shades darker, I would be able to give it much more depth and dimension. I chose a nice soft color called Buttermilk and for the undercoating, instead of using pure black (which I was going to use for the pumpkins) I used a dark grey called Graphite.

Below are the results:

Tints and shades Beige Dry lake Landscape Pattern


I thought that it looked pretty good. A little 'old' from the yellowish tint in the paint, as ghosts should be.

The pumpkins were much more work and figuring. Since I have the full set of Decoart Americana acrylic paints, there were many oranges to choose from. There were yellow-oranges, red-oranges, and orange-oranges. The transparency on each of them varied too, which was quite important with what I was doing. Because I was using the crackle finish, the undercoating was pure black, as I wanted as much contrast between the undercoating and the orange as possible. In applying the top coat (the orange) over the crackle layer, I only had one shot for full coverage. Otherwise the black would show through and look muddy and dull. As a result, I experimented with no less than six different oranges before I tried one that I really liked. It was a bit on the reddish-orange side, but very attractive nonetheless and I liked the full coverage over the black base. Below is the results for that:

Brown Amber Wood Orange Paint


So now I was excited. I base coated and crackled all the pieces that I needed to, and I was ready to proceed with detail. That is when I goofed up.

I thought that it would be nice to apply a pearlescent finish on the ghosts again. You know me and my sparkle. So I took the Metallic Pearl Glaze and began brushing it over one of the ghosts.

But you know what happened?

It covered all the beautiful cracks up! Boy was I sad!

I immediately went to the sink and tried to use a damp paper towel to wipe off the glaze, and I began pulling the crackle paint off in the process. Since I had only completed that layer under an hour ago, and it was fairly thick, there was no way that it was cured enough to withstand the wiping. It resulted in quite a mess, with the crackle layer rolling off in chunks.

I knew that I had no choice but to remove it all and try again. After much wiping and allowing the piece to dry, I was able to sand it down to the base and start over.

Surprisingly, things came out OK the second time around. I wasn't sure if I would need to re-cut the piece or if I would be able to salvage it. But with some time (_and patience!) I had it looking like the other two and things were back on track.

By now it was dinner time.

I planned to finish up after dinner, but I was getting tired and I didn't really want to risk moving ahead until the pieces were thoroughly dry. So I did the most difficult thing of all - I left them alone.

By the time I got settled, it was already nearly 8pm anyway. Not really the time to do finishing work on a project when I still need to think.

We put on a movie and I began to play on the computer and do some drawing. The last thing I needed was to start another project, but I had an idea and I just wanted to get started on it so I wouldn't forget it. Before the movie was over, I was pretty much finished with my drawing. The design is simple, but I think it will be cute. It felt good to salvage something out of the day. Here is a peek at some of the line work:

Hair Head Eye Mouth Human body


My Halloween and fall obsession is really getting to me. There are so many wonderful decorating ideas that I have for these seasons that I probably could spend all year doing nothing but. I have promised myself to stop here until the next site update is finished, which will probably be sometime around the weekend. I have several pattern packet instructions to write prior to that, including these three (now four) new designs that I have been working on these past couple of days.

I had better get busy . . .

I am happy to be in such a good place with these. I also need to do some other things for the new wholesaler which will have a good possibility of opening a new direction for our designs. I know once I get started in that direction, that things will start rolling there. So many good things!

With that said, I am off now. I want to get an early start and hopefully accomplish a great deal today (without going backwards first!)

I wish you all a wonderful day!
 

Attachments

#6,308 ·
If First You Don't Succeed

Lately, I have so much that I want to get done and it seems like I have little time to do things. I have a list of ideas a mile long and during the time it takes to check off one thing, there are probably two or three more that I have added to the bottom of it.

Yesterday I worked on the third set of stand-up ghost word pieces. I had hopes of finishing them up yesterday. But in the process of getting things done, I went ahead too quickly and ruined the paint on one of them and had to remove it and start over. I wasn't very happy with myself.

I suppose during these types of projects, it would be a good thing to work on more than one thing at a time. Especially when I am painting things and need to leave things alone for a period of time to dry properly before the next step.

What had happened was I used the same crackle finish that I had used on the snowmen. This time it was for the ghosts and pumpkins. While this may be considered a 'no-brainer' as to which colors to choose, I did put a bit of thought into them. I wanted the pieces to be similar enough to look like a 'set' but I also wanted to differentiate the pumpkin pieces from the ghosts to give them a bit of interest. I needed to think ahead and consider which colors I would be using for shading, etc. so that they would look nice when finished.

The ghosts were the easier of the two to figure out. I knew I wanted an off-white color instead of a stark white. A rule of thumb for anything I paint is that I try my best not to use pure black or pure white for base coats, as it leaves no room for shading or highlighting. By this I mean if I used pure white for the ghosts, there would be no brighter color that I could choose to show highlights on the piece if I wished. By base coating the pieces a couple of shades darker, I would be able to give it much more depth and dimension. I chose a nice soft color called Buttermilk and for the undercoating, instead of using pure black (which I was going to use for the pumpkins) I used a dark grey called Graphite.

Below are the results:

Tints and shades Beige Dry lake Landscape Pattern


I thought that it looked pretty good. A little 'old' from the yellowish tint in the paint, as ghosts should be.

The pumpkins were much more work and figuring. Since I have the full set of Decoart Americana acrylic paints, there were many oranges to choose from. There were yellow-oranges, red-oranges, and orange-oranges. The transparency on each of them varied too, which was quite important with what I was doing. Because I was using the crackle finish, the undercoating was pure black, as I wanted as much contrast between the undercoating and the orange as possible. In applying the top coat (the orange) over the crackle layer, I only had one shot for full coverage. Otherwise the black would show through and look muddy and dull. As a result, I experimented with no less than six different oranges before I tried one that I really liked. It was a bit on the reddish-orange side, but very attractive nonetheless and I liked the full coverage over the black base. Below is the results for that:

Brown Amber Wood Orange Paint


So now I was excited. I base coated and crackled all the pieces that I needed to, and I was ready to proceed with detail. That is when I goofed up.

I thought that it would be nice to apply a pearlescent finish on the ghosts again. You know me and my sparkle. So I took the Metallic Pearl Glaze and began brushing it over one of the ghosts.

But you know what happened?

It covered all the beautiful cracks up! Boy was I sad!

I immediately went to the sink and tried to use a damp paper towel to wipe off the glaze, and I began pulling the crackle paint off in the process. Since I had only completed that layer under an hour ago, and it was fairly thick, there was no way that it was cured enough to withstand the wiping. It resulted in quite a mess, with the crackle layer rolling off in chunks.

I knew that I had no choice but to remove it all and try again. After much wiping and allowing the piece to dry, I was able to sand it down to the base and start over.

Surprisingly, things came out OK the second time around. I wasn't sure if I would need to re-cut the piece or if I would be able to salvage it. But with some time (_and patience!) I had it looking like the other two and things were back on track.

By now it was dinner time.

I planned to finish up after dinner, but I was getting tired and I didn't really want to risk moving ahead until the pieces were thoroughly dry. So I did the most difficult thing of all - I left them alone.

By the time I got settled, it was already nearly 8pm anyway. Not really the time to do finishing work on a project when I still need to think.

We put on a movie and I began to play on the computer and do some drawing. The last thing I needed was to start another project, but I had an idea and I just wanted to get started on it so I wouldn't forget it. Before the movie was over, I was pretty much finished with my drawing. The design is simple, but I think it will be cute. It felt good to salvage something out of the day. Here is a peek at some of the line work:

Hair Head Eye Mouth Human body


My Halloween and fall obsession is really getting to me. There are so many wonderful decorating ideas that I have for these seasons that I probably could spend all year doing nothing but. I have promised myself to stop here until the next site update is finished, which will probably be sometime around the weekend. I have several pattern packet instructions to write prior to that, including these three (now four) new designs that I have been working on these past couple of days.

I had better get busy . . .

I am happy to be in such a good place with these. I also need to do some other things for the new wholesaler which will have a good possibility of opening a new direction for our designs. I know once I get started in that direction, that things will start rolling there. So many good things!

With that said, I am off now. I want to get an early start and hopefully accomplish a great deal today (without going backwards first!)

I wish you all a wonderful day!
Ok, how'd ya git pics o my brain at work/??? lol
 

Attachments

#6,309 ·
Betrayed

I don't know where to begin today. I am truly feeling ill because of some things that are happening with my business. Those of you who read on a daily basis, know that I typically don't gripe and moan about things, as I usually try to look at the bright side of things and focus on that. But some times it is difficult to find the bright side in a situation and there is nothing but darkness.

Yesterday I found out some extremely troubling news regarding one of my wholesalers. A friend of mine decided to order some of my patterns from them 'just to see' what the patterns looked like. I had discussed in previous blogs that this particular wholesaler had tried several times to strip all of my information from the patterns that they were distributing. We had gone through the rounds about leaving contact information so that customers who purchased the patterns through them could still contact me with questions or concerns regarding the patterns. While "company A" wanted to strip all of the information, as they felt we were competing with them, we had told them if that were the case, we would not have them sell for us. As a result, they promised (in an email that I still have) that nothing would be changed in the nature of the pattern and that our contact information would remain on the pattern.

Recently, things have come to my attention that made me believe that this was perhaps being violated. Just to be sure, I had my friend order some of my patterns from them. He received them yesterday and scanned them in and sent them to me. What I saw made me sick.

Not only was there NO contact information for me on them (they did have that I designed it, but only my name) but they also changed the instructions completely. Much of the instructions were removed, and other parts were changed as far as thickness of wood, etc., making the project something that I had not intended.

The pattern was the Victorian Birdcage ornament pattern, that I had shown here on my blog:

Vertebrate Wood Font Bell Metal


But in the pattern my friend was sent, the plaque was completely different.

While I had stated in the instructions that this pattern required 1/8" wood, they had in it to use 1/8" to 1/4". I couldn't imagine how ugly and clunky these would be with that thickness of wood. They also left the blade size at a 2/0 blade, which would have extreme difficulty cutting the straight lines on 1/4" stock, making the pattern hard to do.

They had asked me if I would allow them to include a pattern that I offered free on my site at the time as a limited 'bonus' pattern, and I agreed to do this, thinking it would be good business and nice for the customers. The pattern was the companion plaque which used one of the cages as an overlay piece. One could choose any of the eight original cages and hopefully, after purchasing the plaque would also want to purchase the set of 8 ornaments. This was, I thought, good marketing.

Font Wood Tree Circle Illustration


Not only was the plaque downsized - making ALL the pieces extremely difficult to cut successfully - but they also decided instead of making it a self-framing plaque, that you were to put a plywood back board on instead, having to glue it to the frame itself. You can see by the picture that the decorative holes around the frame would leave you with either seeing the backboard through the holes or very little to hold on to. This to me made the piece cheap and crappy. Not to mention that now the original sized bird cages wouldn't even FIT into it!!

I am angry and disgusted beyond words.

I have been working with this supplier for over 15 years. They just had a catalog come out which is about a third of our designs, and knowing that they have butchered our patterns like this makes me livid. On top of all the cutting back (the plaque pattern was originally FIVE pages and they have it cut to ONE!) they are charging TWO DOLLARS more for the pattern than I am - and paying me at a percentage of my own retail price!

Now I don't care what they charge - they can charge the moon if they want. I agreed to a percent of my own retail. That isn't the point. My thoughts are with the CUSTOMER who pays so much for this piece of crap with my name on it! (And they have several hundred of my patterns!)

This was a substantial part of our income. But since they are printing my patterns "in house" I have no confidence that anything they are doing is on the up and up. They out and out lied to me when they said they would not change anything and that they would include our contact information and I don't know how I could trust them with anything more.

All of this work that Keith and I do every day for what? So that they could lie to us and butcher our products and cheapen them while charging customers more?

What bothers me most is how people who are getting these patterns are viewing us as a company. With the quality they are getting for the price they are paying, they must think very little of us. And there is NO WAY for them to tell us if they don't have internet! I am quite upset about this.

We are just getting on our feet as a company, and we are just getting our head above water. I don't know if we can even afford to pursue this legally, but we need to do something. Beside the revenue and customers we already lost, we are saddened about the future income from this source, as we are just now beginning to survive on our work.

It really is bad, and I am very discouraged. There are only so many times you can climb out of a hole. No wonder there are so few designers left.

Sorry to be such a downer today. I finished my latest project and wanted to show you all that. Perhaps another time.
 

Attachments

#6,310 ·
Betrayed

I don't know where to begin today. I am truly feeling ill because of some things that are happening with my business. Those of you who read on a daily basis, know that I typically don't gripe and moan about things, as I usually try to look at the bright side of things and focus on that. But some times it is difficult to find the bright side in a situation and there is nothing but darkness.

Yesterday I found out some extremely troubling news regarding one of my wholesalers. A friend of mine decided to order some of my patterns from them 'just to see' what the patterns looked like. I had discussed in previous blogs that this particular wholesaler had tried several times to strip all of my information from the patterns that they were distributing. We had gone through the rounds about leaving contact information so that customers who purchased the patterns through them could still contact me with questions or concerns regarding the patterns. While "company A" wanted to strip all of the information, as they felt we were competing with them, we had told them if that were the case, we would not have them sell for us. As a result, they promised (in an email that I still have) that nothing would be changed in the nature of the pattern and that our contact information would remain on the pattern.

Recently, things have come to my attention that made me believe that this was perhaps being violated. Just to be sure, I had my friend order some of my patterns from them. He received them yesterday and scanned them in and sent them to me. What I saw made me sick.

Not only was there NO contact information for me on them (they did have that I designed it, but only my name) but they also changed the instructions completely. Much of the instructions were removed, and other parts were changed as far as thickness of wood, etc., making the project something that I had not intended.

The pattern was the Victorian Birdcage ornament pattern, that I had shown here on my blog:

Vertebrate Wood Font Bell Metal


But in the pattern my friend was sent, the plaque was completely different.

While I had stated in the instructions that this pattern required 1/8" wood, they had in it to use 1/8" to 1/4". I couldn't imagine how ugly and clunky these would be with that thickness of wood. They also left the blade size at a 2/0 blade, which would have extreme difficulty cutting the straight lines on 1/4" stock, making the pattern hard to do.

They had asked me if I would allow them to include a pattern that I offered free on my site at the time as a limited 'bonus' pattern, and I agreed to do this, thinking it would be good business and nice for the customers. The pattern was the companion plaque which used one of the cages as an overlay piece. One could choose any of the eight original cages and hopefully, after purchasing the plaque would also want to purchase the set of 8 ornaments. This was, I thought, good marketing.

Font Wood Tree Circle Illustration


Not only was the plaque downsized - making ALL the pieces extremely difficult to cut successfully - but they also decided instead of making it a self-framing plaque, that you were to put a plywood back board on instead, having to glue it to the frame itself. You can see by the picture that the decorative holes around the frame would leave you with either seeing the backboard through the holes or very little to hold on to. This to me made the piece cheap and crappy. Not to mention that now the original sized bird cages wouldn't even FIT into it!!

I am angry and disgusted beyond words.

I have been working with this supplier for over 15 years. They just had a catalog come out which is about a third of our designs, and knowing that they have butchered our patterns like this makes me livid. On top of all the cutting back (the plaque pattern was originally FIVE pages and they have it cut to ONE!) they are charging TWO DOLLARS more for the pattern than I am - and paying me at a percentage of my own retail price!

Now I don't care what they charge - they can charge the moon if they want. I agreed to a percent of my own retail. That isn't the point. My thoughts are with the CUSTOMER who pays so much for this piece of crap with my name on it! (And they have several hundred of my patterns!)

This was a substantial part of our income. But since they are printing my patterns "in house" I have no confidence that anything they are doing is on the up and up. They out and out lied to me when they said they would not change anything and that they would include our contact information and I don't know how I could trust them with anything more.

All of this work that Keith and I do every day for what? So that they could lie to us and butcher our products and cheapen them while charging customers more?

What bothers me most is how people who are getting these patterns are viewing us as a company. With the quality they are getting for the price they are paying, they must think very little of us. And there is NO WAY for them to tell us if they don't have internet! I am quite upset about this.

We are just getting on our feet as a company, and we are just getting our head above water. I don't know if we can even afford to pursue this legally, but we need to do something. Beside the revenue and customers we already lost, we are saddened about the future income from this source, as we are just now beginning to survive on our work.

It really is bad, and I am very discouraged. There are only so many times you can climb out of a hole. No wonder there are so few designers left.

Sorry to be such a downer today. I finished my latest project and wanted to show you all that. Perhaps another time.
Hope all goes well for you.
 

Attachments

#6,334 ·
Finding the Right Path

Normally, I am not one for drama. In fact, when I read about others' arguments and fights being aired online I tend to turn the other way. I don't like to instigate turmoil. In fact, I much prefer look at the good side of things and trying to find positive things in the world to focus on. It just seems far more productive to me.

As I look at the number of posts that I have written here on my blog (over 800 now) I am proud because I know that the vast majority of them are positive in nature. I try hard to stay away from politics, religion and other topics that are catalysts for arguments and negative comments and being judgmental of each other. I grew up on the south side of Chicago in the city. During the late sixties/early seventies there was much racial tension, as there was throughout the country. While I was too young to understand what was really happening, in my area there were ongoing protests and walk-outs because of the issue of busing the black students to our white neighborhood school. There were many days when the schools were closed and I remember large protests at the nearby high school. My friends and I were there in the crowd, as the school was only two city blocks away from my house, but we didn't really know why. I remember thinking that I couldn't grasp the reason that there was all of this fighting just because someone was born with darker skin than another. It made no sense to me.

As I grew up, these memories stuck with me. When I got out into the world and went to attend a state university, I saw the diversity of people and learned to respect it. I was no longer in my isolated neighborhood where everyone attended the same church and thought the same politically. I was in the real world, where people from many different backgrounds came together to live and function every day. This concept was further displayed as I left university and began my first real job at a large downtown Chicago bank. I learned it was just how the world was.

Because of this, I feel that I have learned to look at and judge people without considering race, religion or political beliefs. Each of us is an individual and we should be looked upon and judged by our own actions and how we treat those around us. Regardless of whatever stereotype we may fit in. That is how I look at others and I hope that others regard me in the same way.

With that said, I do want to apologize for the drama of my post yesterday. While I feel that what I said was true, I realize that it was very emotional and perhaps a bit too much so for this forum.

One of the main purposes that I write here everyday is to help others who are perhaps thinking of running their own business see all that it entails. I think that learning from each other is something that can be vary valuable to us, and my goal in writing here is to share my experiences so that others can perhaps avoid some of the pitfalls that I encounter during my daily life. That means not only sharing the good experiences, but also the bad.

Yesterday was exhausting. As I sit here today looking back, I remember vividly why I don't like conflict and try to avoid it at all costs. It sucks the life out of me.

Our day was spent talking to trusted friends, reading advice and sorting through our next steps in this situation. The response from you, my friends, was overwhelming. I can't tell you all how much Keith and I appreciate the many, many messages, notes, calls and support that we received in this matter. I haven't been able to personally respond to everyone, but I want it noted that we appreciate so much how so many of you took time to support us. Thank you all.

In the end, we believe that we have come to some viable solutions that will benefit all involved. We sent our proposal to the company yesterday and we are awaiting their response. We don't know what will come of things, but we do feel peace in our hearts that we are doing the best thing for our own company and that what we proposed would be fair to all involved.

Many of you suggested lawsuits. While we believe that without a doubt we have a case for infringement, we are at this point choosing not to pursue that direction. The cost both financially and in time would be very high for us, and proving actual damages would be extremely difficult. We just don't feel that it would be prudent at this time.

We are in a 'niche' area and unlike general woodworking, there is a much smaller audience for scroll sawing patterns. Another consideration is that many of the people that do scroll saw are of an older age bracket, and while many older people embrace computers and online communication, there is a much larger percentage of scrollers who do not. Reaching them in other ways would be difficult for us to do, especially considering the time and expense it would involve to advertise to non-online customers. This is where the wholesalers have the advantage over us.

We realize that they need us too. A very healthy percent of their product line is ours. If we were to withdraw and end our relationship with them, it would certainly be detrimental to them. We would not be the only ones hurt if this were to occur.

What we decided to do, that would be best for us, is to negotiate clear and concise terms as far as distribution of our patterns. Yes, this should have been done in the beginning, but fifteen years ago as a new designer, I was just happy to have a company their size even consider my designs. I was willing to take any terms they offered. As time went on, there was never an urgent reason to do this. We both were making some money and there seemed to be no need. But now we see how there is a need, and in order for things to continue, rules must be set and adhered to.

This is one of the main reasons I write this blog every day! I hope that by sharing my experiences and issues with you all, it will save some of you from going through the same things that I have had to go through. Again - I apologize for the turmoil of yesterday, but I felt it was necessary to share it with you all as a part of owning your own business. This could happen to anyone in business, no matter what business you are in.

So we go on from here. A new day is beginning. I went to bed early last night because I had just had enough of the day and wanted it to be over. That in itself was a sad indication of my state of mind, as I typically embrace each hour of the day with enthusiasm, and wish for more. Nothing creative was accomplished yesterday, which reinforced my reason for avoiding conflicts if I can. We did hash out our proposal and that took most of the day and all of our energy, so in that way it was a productive day. But as far as creativity goes, we came up empty.

I am strong though. Stronger than I thought I was. A year or so ago, this would have sunk me to the ground. While I will not be happy if we have to walk away from things, I know in my heart it won't be the end of me. We have worked hard and long over the past couple of years to make this business successful and we will be able to survive despite the outcome of these negotiations. We may be wounded for a bit, but we will heal and it will make us stronger.

When I awoke this morning, I felt much better. Today is a new day and a fresh start.

We have some new ventures on the horizon, and I will be talking about them in future posts. My focus will go to them, and not to the past or looking back at what I 'should have' done. As long as I am on the right path now and moving in the right direction, I have hope that we have a bright future. And that is the path I choose right now.

Thank you again for all of your support. There was a brief moment yesterday when I wanted to cry (yes! I am such a girl!) but I began reading all of your encouraging and supportive notes and I knew that we weren't alone in this. I realized what a silly thing it would be to cry about it. The best way to deal with the things I didn't like was to change them. And we are well on our way to doing that.

I wish you all a wonderful day. Thank you again for your friendship.

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives." - Henry David Thoreau

Cloud Sky Plant Carnivore People in nature


Fine Art Print - © Axel Lauerer
 

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#6,335 ·
Finding the Right Path

Normally, I am not one for drama. In fact, when I read about others' arguments and fights being aired online I tend to turn the other way. I don't like to instigate turmoil. In fact, I much prefer look at the good side of things and trying to find positive things in the world to focus on. It just seems far more productive to me.

As I look at the number of posts that I have written here on my blog (over 800 now) I am proud because I know that the vast majority of them are positive in nature. I try hard to stay away from politics, religion and other topics that are catalysts for arguments and negative comments and being judgmental of each other. I grew up on the south side of Chicago in the city. During the late sixties/early seventies there was much racial tension, as there was throughout the country. While I was too young to understand what was really happening, in my area there were ongoing protests and walk-outs because of the issue of busing the black students to our white neighborhood school. There were many days when the schools were closed and I remember large protests at the nearby high school. My friends and I were there in the crowd, as the school was only two city blocks away from my house, but we didn't really know why. I remember thinking that I couldn't grasp the reason that there was all of this fighting just because someone was born with darker skin than another. It made no sense to me.

As I grew up, these memories stuck with me. When I got out into the world and went to attend a state university, I saw the diversity of people and learned to respect it. I was no longer in my isolated neighborhood where everyone attended the same church and thought the same politically. I was in the real world, where people from many different backgrounds came together to live and function every day. This concept was further displayed as I left university and began my first real job at a large downtown Chicago bank. I learned it was just how the world was.

Because of this, I feel that I have learned to look at and judge people without considering race, religion or political beliefs. Each of us is an individual and we should be looked upon and judged by our own actions and how we treat those around us. Regardless of whatever stereotype we may fit in. That is how I look at others and I hope that others regard me in the same way.

With that said, I do want to apologize for the drama of my post yesterday. While I feel that what I said was true, I realize that it was very emotional and perhaps a bit too much so for this forum.

One of the main purposes that I write here everyday is to help others who are perhaps thinking of running their own business see all that it entails. I think that learning from each other is something that can be vary valuable to us, and my goal in writing here is to share my experiences so that others can perhaps avoid some of the pitfalls that I encounter during my daily life. That means not only sharing the good experiences, but also the bad.

Yesterday was exhausting. As I sit here today looking back, I remember vividly why I don't like conflict and try to avoid it at all costs. It sucks the life out of me.

Our day was spent talking to trusted friends, reading advice and sorting through our next steps in this situation. The response from you, my friends, was overwhelming. I can't tell you all how much Keith and I appreciate the many, many messages, notes, calls and support that we received in this matter. I haven't been able to personally respond to everyone, but I want it noted that we appreciate so much how so many of you took time to support us. Thank you all.

In the end, we believe that we have come to some viable solutions that will benefit all involved. We sent our proposal to the company yesterday and we are awaiting their response. We don't know what will come of things, but we do feel peace in our hearts that we are doing the best thing for our own company and that what we proposed would be fair to all involved.

Many of you suggested lawsuits. While we believe that without a doubt we have a case for infringement, we are at this point choosing not to pursue that direction. The cost both financially and in time would be very high for us, and proving actual damages would be extremely difficult. We just don't feel that it would be prudent at this time.

We are in a 'niche' area and unlike general woodworking, there is a much smaller audience for scroll sawing patterns. Another consideration is that many of the people that do scroll saw are of an older age bracket, and while many older people embrace computers and online communication, there is a much larger percentage of scrollers who do not. Reaching them in other ways would be difficult for us to do, especially considering the time and expense it would involve to advertise to non-online customers. This is where the wholesalers have the advantage over us.

We realize that they need us too. A very healthy percent of their product line is ours. If we were to withdraw and end our relationship with them, it would certainly be detrimental to them. We would not be the only ones hurt if this were to occur.

What we decided to do, that would be best for us, is to negotiate clear and concise terms as far as distribution of our patterns. Yes, this should have been done in the beginning, but fifteen years ago as a new designer, I was just happy to have a company their size even consider my designs. I was willing to take any terms they offered. As time went on, there was never an urgent reason to do this. We both were making some money and there seemed to be no need. But now we see how there is a need, and in order for things to continue, rules must be set and adhered to.

This is one of the main reasons I write this blog every day! I hope that by sharing my experiences and issues with you all, it will save some of you from going through the same things that I have had to go through. Again - I apologize for the turmoil of yesterday, but I felt it was necessary to share it with you all as a part of owning your own business. This could happen to anyone in business, no matter what business you are in.

So we go on from here. A new day is beginning. I went to bed early last night because I had just had enough of the day and wanted it to be over. That in itself was a sad indication of my state of mind, as I typically embrace each hour of the day with enthusiasm, and wish for more. Nothing creative was accomplished yesterday, which reinforced my reason for avoiding conflicts if I can. We did hash out our proposal and that took most of the day and all of our energy, so in that way it was a productive day. But as far as creativity goes, we came up empty.

I am strong though. Stronger than I thought I was. A year or so ago, this would have sunk me to the ground. While I will not be happy if we have to walk away from things, I know in my heart it won't be the end of me. We have worked hard and long over the past couple of years to make this business successful and we will be able to survive despite the outcome of these negotiations. We may be wounded for a bit, but we will heal and it will make us stronger.

When I awoke this morning, I felt much better. Today is a new day and a fresh start.

We have some new ventures on the horizon, and I will be talking about them in future posts. My focus will go to them, and not to the past or looking back at what I 'should have' done. As long as I am on the right path now and moving in the right direction, I have hope that we have a bright future. And that is the path I choose right now.

Thank you again for all of your support. There was a brief moment yesterday when I wanted to cry (yes! I am such a girl!) but I began reading all of your encouraging and supportive notes and I knew that we weren't alone in this. I realized what a silly thing it would be to cry about it. The best way to deal with the things I didn't like was to change them. And we are well on our way to doing that.

I wish you all a wonderful day. Thank you again for your friendship.

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives." - Henry David Thoreau

Cloud Sky Plant Carnivore People in nature


Fine Art Print - © Axel Lauerer
"One of the main purposes that I write here everyday is to help others who are perhaps thinking of running their own business see all that it entails."

do you not think that yesterday's blog was an important story/moment/challenge to share with others? Running a business isn't all rosy and "good luck" - there are unexpected challenges; there are situations that are out of our control; there are moments when we feel like we have hit a brick wall, and yes want to cry (no need to apologize for that); and there are times when you feel like an underdog …
"but" as you showed us, even in those times, you keep your head up the best that you can; you try to stay focused on your goals, your beliefs, and your business; and you seek the advice of wise others.

Personally I think yesterday's blog was excellent. Not only was it informative for business people, reminding us to cross our "t's" and dot our "i's" when making a business arrangement, but it also was a demonstration of how not to respond with anger and retaliation.

Bravo to the two of you !
 

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