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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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#890 ·
Learning to Cut Padauk on the Scroll Saw

Boy, I really enjoyed cutting yesterday! This project is turning out to be everything that a project should be: somewhat challenging, a chance to learn new things, and most of all FUN.

I haven't really cut padauk on the scroll saw before. I had heard stories of how difficult it was however, and I have been a bit intimidated by it. However, even though it has some challenges, once I figured them out things went like clock work and it turned out to be a really pleasant experience. And the resulting design just looks SO COOL!

I was so happy that I took the time the other day to redraw things and fine tune them. I do believe that I would have been able to cut the design as originally drawn, but I also found when cutting it that if I had left it, it would have been really pushing it for many others and they may have not been successful in accomplishing it. After all, I need to keep reminding myself that when I design most of these patterns, I want them to appeal to all levels of scroll sawing. Although I want to expand my creativity, I also need to make patterns that not only appeal to the masses, but that they can also execute without much trouble.

Originally the vine work was much thinner than I have it now. There aren't too many vines, although the pattern repeats around the try, and it could be somewhat frustrating if they were to break. Although, even if one or more of the tips were lost due to breaking, I don't think it would adversely affect the overall design. That being said, I think it would be suitable for someone who was fairly competent on the saw.

The padauk, however was another story. Although it is extremely beautiful and I wouldn't hesitate to use it again, I will be sure to put adequate warnings, if you will, letting people know that it is quite different from cutting the more common hard wood such as maple and cherry.

It started out fine. I did my usual preparation of the board by sanding it fairly smooth and then after applying the pattern, placed a layer of clear packaging tape over the entire design area. I am surprised at how many people who work with hard woods don't know this trick. Apparently the adhesive in the packaging tape (even the cheap dollar store brand) acts as a lubricant for the blade and helps it to run cooler and virtually eliminates burning of the wood when cutting. I am not a big believer in snake oil type fixes myself, but I can't deny the benefits of this simple procedure. I have done many experiments on wood such as walnut and maple and I was amazed that every place that I had the tape there was no burning when scroll sawing it and even if I missed a half of an inch or so of the design, it would immediately show signs of scorching or burning. I now put that suggestion on all of my patterns and would never cut hard wood without a layer of tape first. It is also supposed to lengthen the life of the blade.

I began by cutting the outer perimeter and inner tray section of the design first using a #5 blade. This went beautifully (the wood by the way was 1/2" thick) and without incident. I wondered what the ruckus was about and why everyone feared this wood so much. I also routed the edges without incident and everything was good.

My next step was at the drill press. I use the smallest holes to accommodate the blade that I planned on using and I did notice that the bit gave a small 'squeak' when drilling. It is as if it were protesting somewhat to me. I took extra care to drill carefully and slowly enough to let the bit do the work and not break it. Many times I wind up breaking these bits on the upstroke by drilling too fast and allowing the wood to pop up with the bit. The slightest angle can easily snap it. But I continued to drill and all went well.

Since the design was not that intricate, I decided to try to cut with a #2 reverse tooth blade. (I always try to use reverse tooth blades, as the bottom inch of teeth on the blade are facing upward so that there is less tear out on the bottom of the piece and therefore less sanding when you are finished.) I noticed that I had to work a bit harder then normal, and push a bit more than I like to. After several cuts, I went down to a #2/0 reverse blade - the smallest I generally use. My thinking on this is that the smaller blade would offer less drag and resistance and as long as it would still follow the line without much trouble, it would be the blade to go with.

Many people think that if you are having trouble or cutting thicker or harder wood, a bigger blade is in order. That isn't necessarily true, I feel. Many times, it is better to use a smaller and thinner blade, as the resistance and drag on the wood is the problem and not whether the blade can go through that piece. Sometimes by using a larger blade, you are exaggerating the problem and making it worse by causing more drag and friction. As always, trial and error is the best way to resolve this issue if you don't know.

I found the 2/0 blade to preform no better than the 2. There was still a considerable amount of drag and I felt it was a lot more 'work' cutting than I wanted. So I checked my arsenal of blades and came up with these Olson Mach 3 blades that the manager at Busy Bee tools gave me to try. They were different because they had less teeth and there was more room between the teeth so that the wood would clear out easier and the blade would run cooler. I believe they are also a 'precision ground' blade meaning that they are a better grade of scroll saw blade, but don't quote me on that.

I gave them a try and I found that there was a measurable amount of improvement. And like all the Olsen blades that I have and do work with, they followed where I wanted them to go dead on without wandering. You will get tired of hearing me talk up those Olsen blades, but I don't really know how people cut with anything else accurately. There is no floating or drifting that I found with ALL of the other brands that I have tried. No, Olsen doesn't pay me to endorse their blades, but I think they are hand's down the best on the market and I wouldn't recommend anything else.

I continued to cut the entire piece without incident. I will tell you that it did take four blades to do so. I think that is the nature of the beast though when working with padauk and one just needs to be prepared to change blades more often. To me the results is very much worth it.

Below is a picture of a segment of the tray:


It isn't sanded or finished, as that is on my agenda for today, but that is the natural color and I think it look incredible. I am toying with the thought of doing a tinting of the bats with black metallic using the DecoArt Staining Medium as I did on the other trays, but I haven't decided yet. I can also make the moon a shimmery gold which will be cool.

I want to include staining instructions anyway because I figure that most people will cut this out of maple or other wood that is easy to obtain and I think it will look pretty cool with it colored like some of the other trays are.

All in all it was a really good day. I spent the morning doing errands and cleaning and the cats have had their flea drops so we are 100% certified "Flea Free". That one little flea cost me $50 in medication, but I guess I am glad that I caught them early before they were all infested. With three cats, that would have been a real pain in the bottom.

So I get to finish everything up today which is going to be a fun process. I can't wait to see how this will look when it is all finished. I expect it will be a bit darker than it is now, but that is OK as it will still look cool, I think.

I will have more pictures of the finished try tomorrow for you to see.

Until then, have a great and fun day!
 
#891 ·
uuh those pumkin´s look scary Sheila
and yet so delikat and crisp on the edge´s
and you are right about the colour of the wood
I don´t hope the finish darken it too much

don´t you think its time you make a section on your site with
realy tuff and delikat work so there is something for those
who realy wish a chanlange and crack some nerves over them …lol
maybee once in every ½ year after all you allso need the exstra chanlange
sometimes just for the fun of it

maybee even divide your patterns in to 3 or 4 different levels
just marked by 1to 3-4 scrollsaws

just a half cent thoughts

Dennis
 
#902 ·
Yesterday is Gone (Good!)

Yesterday was a day that I could have done without. It started out fine and everything was going according to plan until about 10am. I received an email from a customer saying that he couldn't get to my website. The previous day, Steve Good (who hosts this wonderful scroll saw forum and site) had presented one of the patterns I had donated and informed his readers (which are over 5000 scroll sawyers) about the sale I was having until Oct 1st. I had also sent email notices to my now almost 1000 customers regarding the sale.

I usually don't get really upset when customers tell me the links don't work. Apparently, some mail programs that people have on their computers filter things differently and it is necessary for people to type the address into their address bar at the top of their screen and it is cool. I was in the process of informing this customer to do this when something in my gut told me to just check. Sure enough, I couldn't get there either. That was strange.

I tried from my own link to my site and it was good, but I noticed the address went directly to the server and not to my own name of sheilalandrydesigns.com. So there was something up with the redirection or the domain name. Without getting too technical (partly because I am still trying to fully understand it myself) what happened was that someone at my hosting site decided to hook my domain name to the NEW software. This is the one that they give you six months to learn and transfer things to. Well, that was stupid, I thought!

After 45 minutes of chat with the rep from the company, I was told it was changed back. However, it would take 24-48 hours to be available. This would not do! I was really really upset. After all, I had just come off of one of my best weeks regarding the site and I had a sale going for only a couple of days and I had advertised it to 6000+ scroll sawyers and now the site is down. Great first impression for those who haven't been there before!

With all the (somewhat justified) suspicion regarding the internet and websites, I felt that my credibility was to take a huge hit to new and potential customers. If it were me and I were looking for a new source and the site was 'unavailable' or 'not found' I certainly wouldn't seek it out to return and want to spend my money there. It was really sad.

After unsuccessfully trying to find out the reason it would take so long to get it back, I waited for the phone department to open which was 1pm my time and I immediately called. I was able to get through right away and the representative seemed intelligent and also tried to be helpful. It took almost two hours for him to pinpoint things, but in the end he did explain the delay to me (something about re propagation of the server) and said that he put a priority on it and gave me two months free hosting. I did understand that it was out of his hands, and I assured him that I wasn't angry with him personally, but just angry that someone decided to do this. He had no answer for me as to why the switch was made in the first place and was apologetic about it and nice. I did raise my voice (to him, not at him) a couple of times because of the stupidity of it all, but I let him know it was not directed at him but out of general frustration for the situation. In the end he was very helpful and assured me that things would be fixed as soon as possible.

So this morning things are good again. I am up and running and although I do realize that there will be residual effects for the next few days depending on different servers and others' computers and such, I suppose that I am prepared for it. I extended the sale until Monday and Steve was nice enough to put some explanation in his blog today so that people understand that it was a temporary thing and perhaps try again if they were unable to get through. So all in all I made the best of the situation. I did not sleep well though, and was up in the wee hours trying to see if it was back yet. Finally, just before I began to write this, I was able to get on the site in the normal way. I changed the sale date to Monday and am ready to move on and make today a good day.

I did try to make the best of my time yesterday. While I was on the phone and intermittently on hold for the two hours, I worked on my candle tray and did some hand sanding. It did good to relieve some of the frustration I was feeling by being productive. I also did go with the oil finish and although it darkened the wood just a bit, I think it looks amazing. I was afraid I would have some trouble with the photography again though, because it came out so dark. Here is a picture of the finished pieces:


The two charms I believe are not padauk, but bloodwood. They were the only thin stock that I had to do them in and the color was quite close to the padauk that I used on the tray. In the photo, as well as in person, you can't really tell the difference.

I think the project came out amazing! It looks rich and spooky and cool just as I wanted it to. I was thinking of painting the moon and the bat with the glazing and may try that today. I think it will give it an extra glow and highlight those spots on the design. I am torn between glazing the color accents over this or re-cutting the entire piece in a light wood such as maple and glazing all the elements. I don't really have the time - especially after the day I had yesterday, but I am really curious as to how it will look.

I took a shot for the pattern cover and I feel it is a bit dark.


I know you can barely see the charms, but I usually include both pictures (the overview and the set up picture) and I think people will get the idea. Overall I do like it and think it came out OK. I may try to photograph it again today in daylight and see if there is a positive difference. Otherwise, I almost want to let this go and move on. I now have only about 2 weeks or less for the catalog deadline and I need to do some (you guessed it!) spring things and possibly some late winter items. It's back to the time warp for me!

So yesterday's past and all we can do is make today better. My goal for today is to make it a better one than yesterday was. That should be easy! :)

Happy Wednesday to you all!
 
#903 ·
that was a scary moment you had I believe , but if this is all the worst, besides getting to learn the new
software to know, you will deal with during the transformation to the new server its a very cheap
price to pay even thow you may have lost a few costummers, witch I don´t think ,becourse
you are very well known in the scrollworld and not many comes into it without having it introduced
by way more experinced scrollers, and I think they will try again soon.

and the tray looks far better than I thought it wuold bee after the oil finish

have a great day
Dennis
 
#910 ·
Busy Hands are Happy Hands

Well, it certainly turned out to be a better day then the previous one. Besides having to go to the dentist to replace a filling that fell out, everything else went fine. (I love popcorn in the evening!)

Business was what I would call back to normal and there was a flurry of activity again and it made me feel good. I did receive an email from someone having trouble accessing the site, but I was able to redirect them to directly tap in the server. Apparently that was the ripple type effect that I mentioned yesterday where the servers had to 'catch up' to the changes. But there were several orders and there were happy people and nice notes about the site so things were humming right along again.

Big sigh of relief!

What amazed me the most is that many people were missing on the free pattern sale. I needed to write several of them back and remind them that they were entitled to a free pattern. One customer even called me on the phone and asked about it, and was a bit embarrassed when I helped her find it in large red letters on the front page of the site, just above the candle trays which she ordered. I have come to a conclusion: People don't read.

The more I deal with the general public, the more I come to that realization. I commend you all who are regular followers and read what is on my mind every day, and also those of you who take the time to comment. I have my favorite blogs also, but I must admit that when browsing through the site and picking through blogs and threads of the forums, I also am guilty of just skimming through some things. If something looks too long and I am interested, but just passing by, I tend to skim it through and not read every word. I do read my favorites thoroughly though, and I never comment on things that I haven't read thoroughly. It just seems that I don't have the time to read everything that I want.

So I feel the best way to do things (on the site at least) is few words and many pictures. I do have a news page where I take the time to fill those who are interested in with all the new things that are going on, but I am sure that most people don't go there to look. It is there for the taking though if they are interested.

I put the pumpkin candle tray on my personal Facebook page last night and the response was really good. I also have many customers that are my friends on that page, as it is difficult to draw the line between friends and customers anyway. I have a personal relationship with many of them because of the way I do business and even though I know them only through orders, it is difficult for me to refuse a request from anyone without feeling a bit of a snob so I take on just about everyone who asks.

At first this was troubling to me because I am far more casual in my demeanor there, as I have some fun and goofy friends and we sometimes banter back and forth. However, it is a personal page and if I am what people consider less professional when I am on it - so be it. I have to let my hair down sometimes and I never do anything or say anything that would really be considered off color anyway. They just need to take me 'as is'.

I was happy because I woke up to two requests this morning as to when they could get the pattern for the pumpkin candle tray, so that is going to be the first thing on my agenda for today. I would love to get it right up on the site, although it will disrupt my partner who does my website. He likes everything to match and things to come out 'even' and that will make nine trays and he has a table for eight up there. I just would be happy sticking it near the rest, but I don't think that will fly with him. He likes things to be done 'right' and that is why the site looks so good right now. But money is money and one of the reasons I got it done now is that I wanted it ready for this season and I had better get it up there - especially if people are looking to buy it. I am sure we will work out a compromise and make it work.

I also finished another skating pond figure last night. This is Scot:


I am a bit behind with posting the stories and characters to the skating pond blog, but I made good headway and got all of the stories caught up last night. When I first started posting, I wasn't attaching the little stories to the figures. When I began putting short descriptions of each character and giving them a bit of personality, I received so many positive responses that I have been continuing to do so. The first few characters however, were lacking stories of their own so I went back and updated them all so they all have one. I like it that way and it really gives the project some more substance and makes it far more interesting and fun for me.

I am following Martyn's clip board blog and this morning saw the next chapter in it where he cut the veneer with a jig he made to make the precise angles necessary for the pattern. This was brilliant I thought. and it really makes me want to try something like that. He is doing this one in veneer and I have a large box of veneer from Lee Valley sitting under my bed and waiting to be used in a project. I use it from time to time for backboards and embellishments on projects, but doing an entire project such as this using veneer will be a great thing for me. Since I don't have ready access to a full shop and table saw and band saw, the veneer may be the ticket. I am excited.

Not to mention the shoe project! As I was at the dentist's office yesterday, I noticed he had a relief carving of a sailor and port scene on his wall, next to the embroidered picture he used as a reference. I asked about it, and found that he too carves. We talked carving and woodworking while the Novocaine was taking effect. He invited me to stop by his house and see the full size dogs that he was carving for the end of his driveway and he said he had some wood that I could use. I told him of our shoe class and he wants me to bring my shoe to show him when I am done. It is funny how woodworkers just dive in like that and are immediately friends. It is a fine common bond to have with others.

I wonder what adventure today will bring. I can already feel that it will be a great day. That happens sometimes to me and I don't know why. I will tell you tomorrow, though. :)

Have fun. Be creative. Make sawdust.
 
#911 ·
Shelia, I really enjoy reading your blogs. They always portray a fond enjoyment of what you do and include a whimsical side of your thought process that allows you to create the great pieces you do. I would like to thank you for giving me something to look forward to. Although I don't comment much, I do read and very much enjoy your blogs! THANK YOU!
 
#915 ·
The Power of Attitude

Yesterday I did an experiment. I wanted to see if I could make a really great day just 'happen'.

We hear so much about how our attitude affects the outcome of our day (week/month/life) but do we really believe it? Is attitude some magical and mystical force that is dictated by our own thoughts and actions? Or does everything that occurs in our lives just happen by chance? Hummm . . . . .

We hear the saying about looking at the glass 'half empty' or 'half full'. It is a simple saying, but did anyone really think about the implication of what it means? All these questions going through my head so early in the morning!

So back to yesterday -

I decided I wanted to have a really good day. I have found in the past that when things weren't going very well for me, I used to kind of mope around and think about the bad things and be kind of sad or upset most of the time. I went through a period in my life where this was a daily existence for me and I lived with a cloud of doom following me wherever I went. It reminds me of the Winnie the Pooh cartoons where Eeyore was sitting with a rain cloud pouring down on him, slumped over with a forlorn look on his face. It made people want to just hug him and tell him it would be alright. But he never really changed and he seemed to find something to be sad about no matter how good the circumstances were.

We all have our moments when we feel like Eeyore. Justifiably so in many cases. It is a difficult place to be in our lives and it tends to suck the life right out of us.

But there came a day when I got tired of being sad and forlorn and wanted something better in my life. I had a very smart and wonderful teacher at this time who told me over and over "we follow where we focus". At first I heard them as only words. After all, how can five little words make any significant changes in my life? I needed things to change, not just my attitude.

But then I started to notice something. Like a fog lifting (my teacher said it would happen that way) little by little things started to change. The more positive I was about things, the better things seemed to turn out. Was this a coincidence? I thought so in the beginning. But soon I saw that it wasn't a coincidence at all. It was the way I looked at the same thing that everyone else was looking at. I found that if I look hard enough, there is good in many situations that on the outside don't always look so good initially. You just have to work at it a little more to see it sometimes. I found that just as when you look at the negative side of something and it brings you down, you can also choose to look at the positive side of things and it will be very uplifting. It is a matter of what you choose.

I posted on my facebook that I knew it was going to be a great day. I don't know why I did it, but I just wanted to see. I had no particular reason to feel that way other than because I wanted to. Nothing significant was scheduled to happen either. But you know what? It worked. I had a great day yesterday.

I had a call from a friend that I haven't talked to in quite a while. I was happy to hear about all the good things that were happening to her and also I got to tell her how good things have been here. That alone was quite uplifting.

I also had several orders on the site, pushing me to my best month ever. It was a great milestone and one that I have worked very hard to achieve this past year. So despite the hiccup of the site being down for a day or so, it all ended positively.

And one of the most significant things that happened was that I received my beautiful little box from Ecocandle here on the site. I had watched his blogs about building his little boxes and I absolutely fell in love with them. The one in particular that I adopted (named Francois) is a beautiful mix of wenge and maple with stunning inlaid stripes of padauk. After watching him create this box on his blog, along with seeing all the care and thought he put into making it, I knew I had to have one. He only had a few for sale and I treated myself to a beautiful piece of artwork.

Francois:


Not only did I love the box, but the story that went with it. I look upon Francios as a symbol of what Lumberjocks and the people here are all about - creating beautiful things of wood and sharing and friendship. To me, Francios is a reminder of all of you and how much you have all brought to my life. It is a box that will hold my hopes and dreams and creative thoughts, and I can look at it anytime I need to be reminded of them.

So you see, it was a great day! Sure, I could have picked out all the little annoyances that happened to me yesterday and focused on them (and you can be sure there were some there!) but I chose to pick out and focus on the good things around me and positive things in my world. I went to sleep last night with a feeling of contentment and peace that is as they say "priceless".

And I made it that way all by myself.

I hope you all have a great day today!
 
#928 ·
Building a Bridge

It seems like I have been all over the board the past couple days regarding work. I don't know. Sometimes it just happens. I have so many directions that I could go in and I need to commit myself to going in one. Or at least one at a time. Doing only one thing is almost impossible these days. There has been so much opportunity from many different places and I don't want to let any of them go. I find that I do one task for a while and then get distracted and do another task and change gears to that. I am making progress, but it seems much slower that way and not quite as satisfying (at least at this stage of the game) then if I would just do one thing at a time to completion.

So it is time to reorganize again and list the tasks at hand and prioritize them. Usually writing them down on paper does help me to focus and get things in order. Then I can start moving ahead and ticking them off one by one and actually completing things.

I am pretty good with the magazine now, as they have several projects in their hands, as well as a couple of articles. That should give me a break from doing that. I need to start thinking about the next catalog deadline, which is only a couple of weeks away. This is usually when I do my rocket-burst of designing and crank out some things that will meet the deadline. I have a few designs in the works so I can see quickly finishing at least two to three in the next week or so. These are going to be for the late winter and early spring release so it seems quite out of place to be doing these at this time. Here it is just starting to turn into fall and I would like nothing better than to do some cool Halloween projects or autumn things or even Christmas. But in the publishing world they are all way past that so its time for Valentines and bunnies and spring things. It always seems strange. I have lots of ideas that are going to have to wait until next year (which means I will be doing them in the summer) that I didn't get to this year.

I also have been beginning to outline my book and thinking about that. Starting is the hardest part I think. I have been trying to organize the chapters in my head and thinking about what to include, what to leave out, what will need photographs, etc. I am thinking the best way to get started is to do an outline. I would have never thought in grammar school that I would use so many of the basic skills that they taught us in English class. Perhaps they knew what they were talking about. (Ya think?)

I am also getting to the point on the skating pond where I want to really finish everything up and get it into a booklet format. The instructions are already done and at the magazine for all the pieces I have, and they have the original set there, but my own set is still in the works as many of you know. As I am recreating my own set, I am far more detailed on the instructions and rechecking to make sure that everything is as it needs to be. I am waiting to hear from someone as far as the laser cutting for the kits of figures as to what he would charge me per set so I can get moving with that. I am taking a few more photographs to be included in the pattern as I go along.

Yesterday I started making the little foot bridge for the scene. It is simple, yet cute and easy to do and it fits in well with the scene. I wanted something that could also be included in the kit and that someone with little building skill could easily accomplish. This was an easy task because my own building skills are what I would call 'basic'. I did take pictures as I went along.

First I applied double sided tape to 1/8" birch plywood for the side rail pieces. This way I could cut both sides at once and save some cutting time:


I applied the patterns to the pieces. As I said, I used 1/8" plywood for the side rails but I used 3/8" oak for the base of the bridge:


I cut out the pieces on the scroll saw:


I measured craft sticks (popsicle sticks) and cut 18 pieces into 2"lengths. I found that the craft sticks looked great and were easy to obtain and were the perfect thickness for the floor of the bridge:


Everything is cut:


After everything was sanded, I lined up the ends of the bridge and applied a generous coat of clear drying wood glue to the runners:


I started in the center and worked my way to the ends, placing the floor boards into place. I needed to work quickly because the glue dried fast but it went very easy:


After the glue dried, I sanded the sides of the bridge with my 1/3 sheet sander so everything was even:


That is all I finished yesterday because I want to add some color to the bridge and let it dry overnight before putting on the rails. As it is now, you can also use it as a cute foot bridge in a garden of a doll house or small scene like that. I wanted this to be cute, and also simple to make for someone with little skill or experience in this type of thing. My main target for these kits and this pond scene is decorative painters and their main objective is to paint, and not build things. With this piece, the bridge will have decorative snow applied to it (as many of the pond pieces will have) and that will hide a multitude of errors. I hope this will also spark interest in some of the painters to want to do additional woodworking, as they are creative people to begin with and it will hopefully be a fun experience to make this little bridge.

I will be finishing the bridge today, along with mapping out my shoe for Jordan's class. I have no band saw here, and the block is much too thick for my scroll saw, but I have a place to go where I can use their band saw and get the general shape cut out. The saw is older and used little, and my experience on the saw is next to nil, so I will probably let them give it a try for me, hoping it will be OK. If I see any problems, they also have a belt sander and I believe that I can use that to get my basic shape. I never thought of that when I started the project, but it isn't enough to deter me from trying anyway. In seeing how these tutorials are presented, I think it is a wonderful opportunity for me to learn. I have so many carving ideas in my head right now for fun things and I really want to learn how someone of Jordan's caliber does things. Between that and Martyn's clip board I don't know where to start, as I am thinking of so many things to do with the big box of veneer I have now too!

I guess I will never be bored!

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I made the bridge. I am beginning to run out of characters to paint for the pond scene. There are several trees and lamp posts and such, but I can see the end over the horizon and I am more excited than ever to work on it and get it done. I will have pictures of the finished bridge tomorrow.

I hope you have a great day!
 
#929 ·
Good blog, Sheila. I especially like the bridge construction piece. The bridge is coming along splendidly.

Regarding priorities and doing one thing at a time. I guess it helps being a man (we seem to be hardwired for this) but a list and a narrow focus will get you through most blizzards of confusion and conflicting tasks.

With the veneers, just try doodling your ideas in a spare moment for now. It can wait. That way you have a picture of where your thoughts left off for when you actually go for it. In one of the blog entries I've mentioned a good Veneering book you might like to get hold of. Not essential though.

As for the shoe challenge. I've got to fit a new blade to the bandsaw and I don't trust my accuracy with it anyway. You are not alone there.
 
#937 ·
Building a Bridge 2

"We build too many walls and not enough bridges" - Isaac Newton

I had a lot of fun yesterday. I finished my little bridge and even though I had made one previously that went to the magazine, I had learned some things on this site that made the glue up much easier and it went together like clockwork. It was only a couple of months ago when I struggled to make the first one, and it made me feel good to think that I learned so much in such a short time. It went together so much easier than before!

I also got the rough cutting done on the shoe project. I am proud of even getting the shoe to this point and toyed with the idea of calling it a 'moon walker' and calling it a day, but I suppose I will toil on and see what I can learn. I haven't used the band saw much, as when I go to Bernie's to get my wood milled, the guys usually take over that part and I don't get the chance to participate. The band saw is a bit intimidating to me. I am very respectful of its power and I am very safety-conscious when using it. I know there will be a time in my woodworking career that I will use this piece of equipment on a more regular basis, but for now, I just let my partner do the cutting for me. We went to his dad's shop and it is an unfamiliar setting for me so I sat at the computer with the tutorial and drew the lines and did the measurements and let him do the cutting. I don't think it is really cheating, as I am going to do the rest myself, but I didn't feel like learning for the first time on a piece of wood that Jordan was good enough to ship from Calgary. If I were to goof it up, I would really be disappointed.

The band saw was a hobby type saw. I think it was a 9" one. It barely accommodated the block of wood I was cutting and I was really relieved when I saw it just cleared over the top of it. Keith's dad builds incredible model ships and helicopters and planes that he flies, but he uses hand tools for most of his work and his power tools are minimal. It really amazes me that he can create such incredible things with such limited resources. But he doesn't consider himself a 'hardcore woodworker' and is very happy with his set up. In any case, I was very grateful to be able to use his shop and it did get the job done. Now it is on to the real work on the shoe.

My bits are due tomorrow so I can't really go any further on it right now. I am happy that the pace of the class seems slow enough so that I will be able to catch up when I do get them. I am rather scared to take that first step and take the Dremel to the wood, but if I don't try it I will never learn. If it comes out looking anything at all like a shoe, I will be happy. :)

We got home from there and I worked on the little bridge and finished it. It was quite fun and I had forgotten how easy and cute it was, as the original one was shipped away in February. I had been following Martyn's blog about building his beautiful clip board and I was fascinated how he used clear con-tac paper to stick the veneer pieces into place. When I was assembling my bridge, it gave me the idea to use a piece of glass and double-sided tape to secure the side rails and easily glue the support pieces into place. I remember with the first bridge, I kind of 'winged it' and it was a bit more difficult to get the supports straight and the spacing even on the two sides. It is a rustic type bridge, but I still needed it to look good. This made things infinitely easier. Thanks, Martyn! :D

The acrylic wash was dry on the bridge assembly and rail pieces. I printed out two side views of the assembled bridge and laid a piece of glass over the picture. (I used a piece of glass from a cheap 8"x 10" frame that I had purchased. I knew the glass would come in handy one day!):


I then applied a couple of pieces of double sided tape so I could secure the rails into place:


I placed the rails over the tape:


I then applied glue to the contact points where the supports and rails meet:


I glued the supports into place and allowed them to dry:


When the side pieces were dry, I glued them to the bridge and GENTLY clamped them into place. These little clamps are somewhat laughable because the are so little, but there are times when they really come in handy for the small things like this where only slight pressure is needed:


When the bridge was dry, it was time to add some snow. I use Sno-Tex by DecoArt. It is gives a nice effect and is easy to build the texture of the snow with it. I also use it on all the bases of the figures (which will follow at the end) and all of the trees and stuff. I think it adds a lot to the entire scene:


I daub it on with a damp paint brush, building random thicknesses of snow. I think the more uneven that it is done, the more natural it looks:


And here we have the finished bridge! :


Now wasn't that easy? It just goes to show that things don't have to be difficult to be nice. I geared this bridge to non-woodworkers and I think that anyone could easily assemble it in a couple of hours (which includes the drying times). I loved that the floor of the bridge could be cut from craft sticks, as it makes the project super simple. I was surprised when I put the wash of color on them how they had a 'grain' and looked rather nice. It worked well for my purposes anyway. It really is a cool little bridge.

Today I plan to paint most of the day. I am really working to finish this set and I am going to post another character in the pond blog, which I am a bit behind on. Big Tiny made some nice suggestions that I am thinking about. Although I do have a snowball thrower (Scot - who I showed briefly last week on this blog) and I already kind of had a place for him in the 'story'. There is nothing to say that I can't have more than one scamp though, and I do plan to adding in more figures next year after the initial set is done. The problem there is I can go on and on and never finish if I don't create a stopping point. I do appreciate all your suggestions and comments and I think that the extra ideas are fun!

So with that I will sign off for today. It is beautiful out and much cooler (YAY!) and a perfect, sunny fall day. I wish you all a wonderful and happy Sunday!
 
#945 ·
Ironing Out Details

It feels so good to come off such a nice weekend. The weather was decent (it rained Saturday, but with the rain came a cooling relief from the humidity and much too warm temperatures we were having) and it feels like autumn should. Cool. Crisp. Exhilarating. I was quite productive, yet I still feel greatly relaxed and ready to take on the new week. I finished my bridge and also completed painting a couple of more figures for the pond scene. I had to re-cut a couple of pieces because when I initially stack cut them four layers high, on two of the lamp posts the bottom layers slightly shifted and ruined the cuts. I also needed to change the design in one of the characters, as I found it to be a little bit weak and wanted to strengthen. The good thing about repainting the two remaining sets I have here is finding flaws such as this and perfecting the pattern for others to do. When I initially designed the set, I didn't know which direction I was heading with it so there may have been some things that I didn't consider.

My friend, Rick from Iowa did a test cut of the entire set to quote me a price on mass production of the pieces to distribute to the painters. When I cut the set the first time, I timed myself and it came to about 5 hours. Rick accomplished cutting all the pieces in a total of 2.5 hours with no breaks. He cut them stacked two levels high, as I had four layers. He is however, not the average cutter. In the scroll sawing world, they call him 'the animal' because he can cut so quickly and accurately. He used to work for Better Homes and Garden's group (Meredith publishing) and cut ornaments for their ornament issues for several years. The ornaments he cut totaled in the tens of thousands, I am sure. He cut pieces for a former designer, JoAnn Lockwood, who had a Noah's Ark locket that was the ark hallowed out and had a swivel top on it and contained 10 small animals inside. Rick boasts cutting over 3000 of these for JoAnn. If you would like to see all the work he does, his site is www.scrollsaws.com. He has dozens of pages of tutorials and videos on lathes and scroll saws, as he is also very adept in lathe work. There are tool reviews too, as he was a tester for Delta and several other big companies and helped them design some of their current tools. I think it is an interesting site if you have the time to look. He is amazing.

In any case, Rick helped me decide that it wasn't prudent for me to hand-cut these sets to offer. I am now in the process of looking into laser cutting. This is the part that I have a lot of trouble with because of the uncertainty of the number of sets that will be needed. My editor is talking about advertising this set in five magazines - the original Christmas 365 magazine, as well as the two painting magazines, a craft one and our own scroll saw magazine. Four of the five magazines are mainly read by others who do not necessarily scroll saw, so offering the finished set will be essential. However, knowing the number of interested people is a guessing game and I need to find someone or some place that is willing to provide the pieces at a decent price whether I need 10 sets or 1000. I found one online place which does this for a flat rate which includes shipping to both Canada and the United States, as the pieces will be distributed by a colleague in the US, and that may be a possibility. I need to speak with them more though and cement things down and get some actual quotes before I can make the decision. The article which first presents the set reaches the readers mid-November and I need to have my ducks in order by then.

Besides working on that today, I need to get the new product pictures to the wholesaler for their next catalog. I have ten new items and my partner has eleven since the last deadline so I have to get all the submission materials and photographs in order. It would be wonderful if all the items are accepted, but alas, many of mine are Christmas themed and I am not sure she will accept holiday things at this point. This catalog is geared for late winter and early spring and although she keeps some holiday stuff in there, she may not want that much. I don't mind though, because it will get me ahead of the game for next year. I have a couple of candle trays that I am in the process of drawing that will fit the post-winter criteria so I will try to get them in there anyway.

So that will keep me busy most of the day. I am anxiously waiting for my Dremel bits to arrive, and hopefully they will be here today so I can get going on my shoe carving. Even though I have a full plate today, I can't wait to sneak an hour or so of carving in the mix and learning something new. I want to make some carved jewelry eventually out of the numerous beautiful scraps of exotic hardwoods that I am accumulating, but I want to learn some technique first. Just something for later on.

As I started writing this morning, I noticed a orange glow outside. I looked up and saw a beautiful sunrise and I had to try to capture it with a picture. It looks pretty good and I thought I would share it with you.


How can it not be a great week if it is already starting out with such beauty? I hope you all have a great day!
 
#946 ·
Hi Shiela,
Good opportunity for mass production. Well, the only sad part when other hands do is sacrifice the quality with quantity. As long as the production maintains a good reputation it will be a big blow. Rick on the other hand is only one and I do believe that among those who joined Jordan's tutorial… not only one and maybe Martyn or Shiela would be the same as Jordan and Rick. What I am suggesting, it is also time for you to expand the techniques to others how you do it. Take a video and you can post it here… but I am not forcing you on this… but by all means I really read all your blogs because it enhances my knowledge and power. Thanks and God Bless.

By the way nice photo… good as wall paper…
 
#952 ·
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Okay, so I have to make a confession. I am addicted to this site.

Reality hit me in the head like a ton of bricks this morning. When I first woke up and came to my computer things were fine. There were several messages in my mail box that were notifications on various projects I was watching and new posts that my Buddies here had put up overnight. As usual, I spent the first half hour or so of my day with my first morning coffee reading through everything and occasionally commenting.

Lots of good stuff happens here. There is a new blog by RonPeters that will take us through the process of him creating a violin. I reread Jordan's posts on working on the sole of our shoe. There were several nice comments about the projects that were posted yesterday. All was fine.

I warmed my coffee and sat down to write my daily blog. When I clicked on the 'New Blog Entry' button, instead of taking me to this screen, I was cyber-whisked to a page on GoDaddy that said that the domain name I was looking for expired. I thought, OK. I messed up. I clicked again. Same thing. I went down my list of emails and other messages from LJ's and every one that had a link to anything on the site went to the same GoDaddy page. Now I like Danica Patrick as much as anyone else, but I needed my LJ's fix.

I tried not to panic. I went and showered and made the bed and did all my morning stuff and checked back. Same.

Now I was really wondering. I emailed a buddy and asked if they were able to get on. As I waited, I phoned a friend I needed to catch up with and thought what my day would be like without my 'friends' here. Since I wasn't getting notifications from here either, I figured something was up with the site itself. After all, look what happened to my own site last week. I tried not to panic, but felt like a big something in my morning was missing.

I couldn't write my blog. Would I be missed? Would people wonder? How will I carve my shoe without the tutorial? I had my bits now and didn't really know where to start. Most of all, I would miss my daily interaction with all of my cyber friends from around the world.

After a little time passed, I saw I received a response from the friend I wrote. All was well with the site on their side. I sighed and thought, we will just have to see. A few minutes later, a notification came in from LJ's and when I clicked on the link, it worked! I tried all the other links that previously brought me to Danica and they were all fine. YAY! I am back!

The total time of the hiccup was less than two hours. However, it showed me again how much I love this place and all the people here and how I thrive on their creativity and support. Is this a good thing? I think so! So its back to business for me. I now have to make up for lost time!

Yesterday turned out to be a really good day. I spent the morning with my photography hat on and I took what I would consider pretty decent photos of many of the projects that I needed to submit to the wholesaler for the next catalog. I had a good time doing so and made sure the light was good and made a pretty good presentation. I felt I did my best and didn't just send here some half done pictures. I do like the photography part of the process and I am little by little improving and learning in that area too.

I made the list of products, assembled the PDF files and sent them away. About an hour later, I heard from her that she wanted to take ALL 21 items that I had submitted! Even the holiday ones! (This catalog is for post holiday distribution, but I figured she would keep them for next year) She said that she was thinking about sending a targeted email to their customers with the holiday items in it so that they would still be able to purchase patterns in time for their holiday scroll sawing projects. What a great honor that was for me. She even chided me about renaming the company to include part of my name in it, as I had so many things in their catalog.

That is great 'job security' for the future for me. She asked me to send the high resolution photos to her by next week, along with the specifications for each product, and I had everything ready to go and had it loaded up to Sendspace and the list to her within the hour. She was thrilled.

I love being on the ball like that and having stuff ready when needed. My editor had shot over two emails yesterday morning too where readers had asked questions and he asked if I could help them. I knew the answers and was able to direct them almost immediately and help them out.

I keep my computer on all the time. With living in a small place, the screen isn't far from sight no matter what I am doing. I like the feeling of being 'there' and being able to respond so quickly whether I am scroll sawing, taking pictures, painting or whatever. I love my "window to the world" here and even though I know I am highly addicted to the computer, this site, and my friends, I wouldn't have it any other way. There are far worse obsessions I could have, I guess.

So for today the goal is to draw, draw, DRAW! I have four more candle trays I want to get to the wholesaler by the deadline and I think I can do it in the next week or two because I have been partially working on several of them at once. It is the final implementation of them and making the prototypes (the fun part) that is left so that should roll off fairly quickly.

With that said, I had best get on to things. I am back on track and ready to move ahead. I picked up my bits last night and perhaps by this evening I will be able to start on my shoe in earnest.

You all have a great day. Keep in touch! :)
 
#963 ·
My Own Self-Challenge

I am really excited again. Already I know that it is going to be a great day. I got up early again (well - maybe I should say earlier) because I can't wait to get things rolling today. It is a good reason and a wonderful way to start the day. I have already read through all of my mail and it is still pitch dark out, but that is OK. By the time I am done here and showered and done my morning clean up it will be late enough to get going. Besides, we are having the roof redone and they have been showing up here just before 8am. That means that I can start to scroll saw earlier than my self-imposed 9am starting point.

I did well yesterday. It was one of those days that I sat down to draw and the design just flowed out of my pen- mouse like magic. It was one of those days when the sun and the moon and the stars must have been lined up just right because it came easy. I felt like an artist and a designer. I am not saying that with any arrogance or anything like that. Those days are special and incredible. Ask any designer. If they are honest they will tell you the same. I haven't quite figured out why some days are better than others, but when I do, I will bottle and sell it to all the other designers. It just felt great.

I created another candle tray. This time I did a geometric style tray that I have been wanting to do for months. The design was inspired by the great Frank Lloyd Wright and although I didn't copy any of his designs, I did try to use the "flavor" in which he designed to create this item. I probably should have done something more seasonal, as I am doing this for the catalog deadline, but sometimes you have to learn to go with the inner flow and let things create themselves. I had a Valentine's tray planned as well as perhaps a St. Pat's tray, as they will be suitable for the timing of the catalog, but I just wanted to do this type of try for a while and it was just time.

So I did.

I finished and refined the drawing yesterday and I picked a piece of dark walnut for it. Somehow I felt that dark wood would be the perfect choice for the look I wanted. I laid out the pattern and cut the perimeters and did the routing and today it waits for me to do the fretwork cuttings. I can't wait to get at it.

This, my friends will be one of the most challenging pieces that you have seen me cut since I have been here at LJ's. When you look at the finished piece, you may be wondering what I am talking about, but there are many straight edges and to me that is far more challenging than those beautiful and delicate little swirls you have come to expect from my work. Straight cuts on the scroll saw are much more difficult than the swirls. Because of the small size of the blade, it tends to wander slightly and follow the grain, even with the steadiest of hand. For this reason, I need to use the thickest blade possible which will still allow me to still achieve the precise corners necessary to the design. I cut the perimeter and center already using a #5 blade and I was very successful in keeping a straight edge on the 1/2" walnut. However, if I were to use that blade for the inside cuts, the corners would appear to be rounded and not as sharp and I want them.

I usually use a #2/0 blade for most of my small work, but I am afraid that the blade will waiver too much and the lines will look uneven. So my choice for the day will be the #2. A good in-between size that should do the job for me. I would have started last night, but I didn't get to the point I am at until after supper and I wanted to be fresh and not rush things. I have some good music lined up and my workspace is sparkling clean and I am fresh and ready to tackle the task at hand, feeling well-rested and eager.

Here is a peek at the design to show you (I love to tease!):


I promise when I show it tomorrow, there will be no Photoshop tricks and you will see the real cutting, no matter what the outcome. We know each other well enough by now that you all realize that I will have no satisfaction in trying to be something I am not and making things appear better than they actually are. This will be a self-challenge that I will share openly and honestly with you, as I always have. I think I can do a good job and I hope I can do it justice.

Speaking of challenges . . . . I am also feeling as if I am ready to start my shoe carving in earnest today. I don't see the tray taking all day by any stretch, and if I am successful with it and apply the first coat of oil on it, I can either start working on the next tray or start the shoe. I think that the shoe is going to be my choice because I don't want the others to get too far ahead of me and I am riding on this small measure of success and think it is a good time to jump in and get my feet wet with it (no pun intended!) Up until now, I haven't felt that creative and I didn't want to start it until I was ready. It is difficult to define why, but I do feel ready now. Perhaps success breeds additional success as the saying goes.

So you can see why I am excited and raring to go! Who wouldn't be? It is fully light out by now and time to get moving. I hope I have good news for you tomorrow.

"We become what we think about all day long".
Ralph Waldo Emerson, philosopher
 
#968 ·
6.5 hours later - with practically NO breaks - I am done cutting! Thank you to all my 'cheerleaders' who tole me I could do it! Now on to sanding and finishing . . . . (I will show you all tomorrow!)

:D Sheila
 
#971 ·
The Results

I laughed when I re-read yesterdays post last night! Not necessarily because it was humorous, but because my expectations couldn't have been much further from reality. Even the other members of the 'pink cloud club' were probably laughing at me when they read it.

As I was sitting here at my computer, positively exhausted with my body aching from standing at the scroll saw for over six hours, I just shook my head and thought to myself "What in the world was I thinking?" I was stiff, dusty and tired, not only physically, but emotionally too. Some may not understand the emotional drain creating some projects can take from a person. I felt as if I had run a marathon.

Then I looked at the table next to me and I saw the fruit of my labour and I just smiled to myself and thought how there couldn't be a better feeling in the world? I had achieved success.

Did you ever finish a project and just want to look at it for a while? Just take it in over and over?

What is "art" anyway? When it comes down to it, it is just stuff we like to look at. Usually it starts out as being something functional - like a cheese tray or a bread board. But at some point it evolves into something else and takes on a new function. Beauty.

Everyone has their own definition of what is beautiful. That is what makes this world go around. Some people like country or rustic, others like Renior or Monet. Others like Picasso. There is no right and wrong where beauty is concerned. As a teacher, we ourselves learn to respect others' opinion of what is beautiful to them. We don't have to agree with them, but we have to acknowledge that others have the right to deem something as beauty just as we do. We may not agree, but it isn't ours to say or dictate.

With that being said, I will go on to say that I am really pleased with my project that I created yesterday. I can't remember when I created something that I liked so much. The only other thing that I can even closely compare it to is my cheetah painting that I did several years ago. But never something that I scroll sawed. I don't know why but this is my absolute favorite project to date.

It was also the most difficult. As I said yesterday, on appearance it looks as if it will be somewhat simple. Design-wise it isn't hard. There are no thin lines that threaten to break or tricky curves that are hard to manipulate. It is simple and straight forward. Perhaps too straight forward.

I had said previously that it is far more difficult to cut a straight line on the scroll saw than curved edges. I believe that any one else who saws will agree with me. It just wasn't made for straight lines. The blades are as thin as your hair and want to wander with the grain of the wood. As you become more familiar with the scroll saw, you learn which blades will work best for the particular species and thickness of wood. This is only a starting point, though. As you begin to cut, you will find that each individual piece can vary due to dryness, grain and other characteristics. Soon though, choosing becomes second nature and after a short time you will know when you are on the right track.

In cutting out this project, I began with a #2 blade. I felt it was the largest blade I could use in that I would be able to both follow the straight line and also achieve the sharp corners that I wanted to. I began cutting and trying to get the feel of things. I find with each project, there is a certain amount of time where you are testing the water as to the feel of the wood, blade, etc. and then eventually you fall into a rhythm and are in what I will all a comfort zone in finishing the project.

I tried to start out in an area that wouldn't be as noticeable if I didn't cut perfect. That was hard to do with this type of design. I choose the middle, with my reasoning being that if the cuts on the edges wavered it would be much more obvious. You can see from the picture that the section on the left (the long rectangle) isn't quite as perfect as I would have liked. I was off to a rocky start:


Usually, also it only takes me a few cuts to get into that comfort zone that I mentioned before. I remember writing that my cutting of this tray would only take part of the day and I would have time to carve and work on my shoe in the afternoon. Although I began cutting by 9am or so, by noon I was only at this point:


There were several emails that came through and I had some issues with the wholesaler that I may discuss tomorrow and a phone call from a customer, but otherwise I was at the saw. I was having trouble getting a feel as to how to tackle each hole so that I would be able to follow it precisely. It wasn't until I got to the above point when I really started feeling at ease with things. However, I never was able to fully relax, as I do on so many of my other projects. Each time I tried to sit down and saw - which I usually do - I felt that I couldn't see things from the proper angle and it threw off my control. As a result, I remained standing the entire time I cut.

I had also tried to revert back to the smaller 2/0 blade, as it was difficult for me to get the sharp corners that I was used to, even with the only slightly larger blade. After less than one hole however, I went back to the 2, as there just wasn't the control that I needed for the straight edges.

I finally figured out the best way to do the corners was to cut the longest straight line to the end, back track, round over to the adjacent line and go to that corner, back track and continue on in that manner until the middle section was removed. I could then come back from the opposite side and shave off the corner pieces. This had two potential dangers involved - making a mark where you entered back onto the line from the opposite direction and also overshooting the corner and making a nick past the cut. Every cut took full concentration and a very light but steady hand to accomplish.


That was the exhausting part. It was as if my body needed to be in high alert for the entire six plus hours. If I let my guard down even for a minute, the lines would waiver and I would need to 'clean up' areas that were even the slightest bit out of place.

So why go on, you may ask?

The exhilaration I felt as I continued on was incredible. It was like a drug. As I pushed on and saw the results, it fueled me to push further. As I reached the mid point, I knew that I would be able to accomplish this project and that it would be one of the nicest ones that I have ever done. The feelings of pride and accomplishment grew with every successful hole and even though it was still covered with dust and its pattern, I envisioned how it would be all polished and oiled and I just knew it would be good.

While I was cutting, I thought of all the things and people that I have come to know here. It was suggested to me that I should grade my projects according to difficulty with say one to five blades so others would be prepared when attempting to cut one of my patterns out. Although I don't know how that would work with most projects, as most of us have different skill levels and what is difficult for some may be easy for other, there was no question in my mind that I would grade this project with five blades, the most difficult. Granted you can accomplish it without much difficulty, but if you want it to look GOOD, it will take a bit more than average effort and skill to do so. In all my years of scroll sawing, this is to date the most difficult thing I have attempted not only because of the skill level, but the necessary intense concentration to complete it.

I also thought a lot of Martyn and his precision cutting that he does on all of his projects he shares with us. I don't know why that came to mind, but each time I see his work I am blown away at the amount of concentration and precision that is required for his accomplishments. Seeing his work has inspired me to try something like this in the first place. Although it is a different process entirely, it is the closest thing I can assimilate it to. So just as I had dedicated my Grizzly tray to my good friend Grizzman for its inspiration, I would like to dedicate this project to Martyn. It is something I would have never attempted had I not come to known him and seen his precise work.

When I peeled off the pattern and sanded and oiled the tray, it took on an even better life than I expected. The walnut was smooth and warm and to me it looked beautiful:


Are there errors or hiccups there? You bet. It isn't perfect as if it was made with a machine, but it is darn good and I am extremely proud of it.


I wish you all could see it in person, as even these pictures don't do it justice. I haven't done the 'charms' yet for the holder, but I know exactly how they will be. I think I will do that today.

I was supposed to start another project today, but I don't think I will. I may run to town to do some shopping or something completely different for a day. I may come home and work on my pond figures or even start my shoe. Needless to say, I didn't work on my shoe yesterday (sorry, Jordan, if you are reading this!) By the time I was done with this it was 8:30pm and I was done for the day.

Am I resting on my laurels? Maybe just for today. I want to bask in the feeling of pride and accomplishment for a day without pressures or interferences from anything. This is my payday. No matter how many dollars I make off of the pattern of this project, nothing will even come close the good feelings I have today. This is why I push so hard some days even when I am tired. This is why I do what I do.


And I am going to thoroughly enjoy it!

I hope you all have a wonderful day! :D
 
#981 ·
Scrollgirl's Day Off

Besides the days I take small road trips, it is rare for me to have what I would officially call a "day off". Actually, I don't think that it is possible. My work is so entwined with my personal life that I am unable separate the two aspects of my life. I only think this would be a bad thing if I didn't love my job as much as I do. I get frequent warnings from many well-wishers who tell me that by doing woodworking as a "job" I have put myself at risk of feeling that it is a burden of disliking it and ruining it for myself. I also have a few friends that tell me that I work too much and that I will burn myself out.

I don't know how to respond to these comments. More so than not, they are from people who are stuck working in jobs they hate. They see the word "job" and it is instantly a negative thing to them. I, myself look at their jobs and tend to agree with them. I wouldn't want to do what they do for all the money in the world. I suppose that is why I choose to do this.

I have somewhat been following Jim Hamilton's blog about starting your own woodworking business, as time has permitted. Although I realize that what he is trying to accomplish is a bit different from the design work that I do, there are some similarities. I read several of the comments from well-intended people and I admire his determination to make it work. Because of this determination, I believe he has a good chance of being successful. Everything that has been said regarding having to eat, sleep and breath your job in a situation such as this I believe to be true. I think what makes or breaks people is their willingness to actually DO it.

So what is a "day off" like for me? Is it possible for me to have a day without woodworking in my life?

I began the day as I do every day with writing my blog. That was a very positive way to start that day as it always is, especially since I got to present my latest project.

After I finished that, I decided that I was going to drive to Yarmouth, which is about 40 minutes away and go to the store to stock up on some things for the coming winter. It will be Thanksgiving on Monday here in Canada, and there were some incredible sales at the large store there and yesterday was the last day. It was worth the cost of gas to take the ride out there and partake. With winter approaching when I won't have access to my car, I thought it was a good time. I phoned a friend who lives near me here and she was eager to take the trip with me.

We stuck to our business and went to the main store, Wal-Mart for a couple of things she needed, and the bulk store. At the bulk store they had a wonderful sale on whole almonds. I had purchased a pound of them several weeks ago, as I had found a recipe for cinnamon-sugared almonds that I tried and loved. When I lived in Chicago, the first place that I had tried this treat was when I was at Navy Pier (which is my absolute favorite place in the city) Besides the huge Tiffany window collection on display, Navy Pier had many shops and attractions. In the summer time there were bands out on the boardwalk, along with vendors and carts which sold small bags of these candied almonds that were still warm. I used to go there sometimes by myself and walk all the way to the end of the pier and sit on a bench that overlooked the lake. It was a great time to just sit and think and look out at the water and dream. When I made these almonds several weeks ago, it brought back the memories of those times to me so vividly. It is odd how foods and smells can do that sometimes. But I regress.

We finished our shopping and decided to have lunch right in the store. They had a deli where they had fresh pizzas and panini sandwiches and different soup to choose from. Just as we arrived there, they placed a hot and fresh vegetable pizza in the window. Although I am not a vegetarian, it looks so appealing I couldn't resist and both my friend and I each got a slice. The slices were enormous and were only $2 each. I also had a small vegetable beef soup cup, and with our beverages the total bill was only $10. I couldn't believe the cost for so much food, as I only had a bite of my soup and still brought some of my pizza home with it for lunch today. It goes to show that you don't have to spend a fortune to have a good meal.

I arrived home by 2:30 and unpacked my treasures. It felt wonderful to have a full cupboard and freezer in preparation for the winter. It wasn't long ago when luxuries such as that were impossible for me and it somehow gives me a sense of security as well as a feeling of success. I have had some very lean times in the last several years. I don't look upon them bitterness, as they have made me appreciate small things so much more. That may sound silly, but it is true.

When all was put away and things cleaned up, I tended to much of the mail that had accumulated in my mailbox. There are always lots of things because I like being notified when I comment on things on this site and my other forum and I like to see what my buddies are up to. There were also several facebook comments and an order to fill. I didn't respond to everything, but read through most of them and I have that task to do today. Not all require answers, but some do and I want to be sure I give them the attention they deserve.

I then decided that it was high time to work on my shoe. I set up my work station and pulled up the tutorial and got going on it. I spent a while measuring it before actually working on it and things went along fairly well. I did do it inside, although I spread a sheet under where I sat and most of the dust was contained. I had hopes of continuing on today out on my small deck, but my roof is being replaced and the workers are right outside my door and my deck is covered with the old shingles they are scraping off as I type now (the cats are very unhappy, as they are quite certain that their own Armageddon has begun!) Perhaps by the time I am ready to work on it later today, they will have moved on to the next section.

I finished out the evening by watching an episode of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. I just discovered this series which is set in the time of prohibition. It is a good story, but I also love looking at the settings and sets and the intricate Victorian design used throughout. I always seem to notice the railings on the stairways or the metalwork on the lamps, etc. I guess I am always a designer at heart!

So that was pretty much my day. I don't know if you can count the shoe project as "work" although it is clearly related to what I do. I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for me to escape my job unless I am physically away from the house. But do I really care? I think not. For me it was a fun and relaxing day and it actually did feel good not to allow any of the usual pressures that interfere with things. Even though I did do many work-related tasks, they didn't feel like I was working and I let go enough emotionally to feel completely replenished and ready to tackle things today.

Today I will catch up on correspondence, as well as work on putting the remaining new patterns into packet form. That will fill up much of my day. I am also going to finish drawing the charms for the candle tray that I finished yesterday. I know what I am going to do, and it will be nice, but I am thinking that the several layers of ribbon that I usually put on the candle itself will be too much for this project. I am thinking that I need a more tailored look for this design and figuring how I will do that and still add something to the candle itself.

On a final thought, I want to thank you all very much for the uplifting and supportive comments you wrote me yesterday, both publicly and privately. As I said, I didn't really have time to respond to most of them, but they were absolutely appreciated and the best reward I could ask for. It means a lot to me that you like and appreciate what I do. It always makes me want to do even better. I am very happy for the friendships I have made here and respect and admire you all.

May you all have a wonderful day!
 
#982 ·
Shelia, you are one of the lucky few (me included) that enjoy what we do for a living. It is really beyond me why some people belly ache about things they "have to do". It is not worth the effort that goes into it. I hate to be around negative people who just want to bring you down and be miserable with them. In life ther are going to be things we don't like to do. But, still we have to do them. So why be negative and complain? Just be glad your able to do them and have the oppurtunity. I have uttered the phrase unknown to most. "I make enough money". To me it is not about the money. I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food in my belly. What else could I ask for? Material objects are unimportant in life. I really like reading your blogs because you are such a positive person! Keep it up and ENJOY LIFE! THANK YOU!
 
#985 ·
Writing Instructions

I spent much of yesterday trying to get on track again. My mid-week break (although much appreciated) seemed to take its toll more than I anticipated. It seems that I spent most of the day catching up on things that I hadn't thought would fall behind so quickly. I caught up with my emails and that felt good. However, I still need to solve some issues regarding the business and haven't quite finished.

I need to work on writing the instructions for several of the new projects that I have to offer. As much fun as I have creating the projects, each one comes with the task of writing the pattern packet for it. I must admit that I am not always fond of this part of the business. It sometimes can be quite tedious.

There are projects such as the candle trays that all follow somewhat the same process as far as creating them. I use what I will call a 'template' for these patterns, where the instructions vary only slightly, but I almost need to be even more attentive so that I don't leave anything out or include things from previous versions.

Then there are other projects such as the new baskets my partner created that are a bit more involved. He writes his own text and does all his own line drawings, but I still have the job of integrating all the elements into a pattern packet. I wouldn't have it any other way, but there is a bit more to it than meets the eye.

I use all Adobe products when creating my patterns. Although I use MS Word for the text, I also need Illustrator for the vector line work and Photoshop for the photography. All my patterns need these three elements which are all different file types. I use InDesign for the actual pattern file, as it is a program which is made to read and integrate these file types, as well as several others. In it I merge the elements together and create the pattern packets. When all is done to my satisfaction and I have a good InDesign file, I convert it to a PDF file with Acrobat Professional so that everyone can easily download it and read it on their computer.

As you may imagine, there is a lot involved in knowing and learning to use all of these programs. You can spend a life time alone just learning Illustrator, let alone the others. Although I only know the tip of the iceberg in any one of these programs, after ten plus years of working with them and teaching myself how to use them, I am quite proficient in them for my own purposes. The final product is a clean, well presented pattern that is able to be downloaded and read on any computer as a PDF file. It is a great thing when everything falls together.

A while ago, I had written in one of my blogs that my main wholesaler took over the printing of my patterns. There was a discussion as to how they wanted to remove the 'Sheila Landry Designs' logo from the packets and put their own, still giving me the credit as the designer. At first they wanted to strip off all of my contact information and I put my foot down, as I need to hear from customers with questions and/or problems they may have. We came to the compromise that they would take the logo off and leave my other information in tact.

The other day I mentioned that they accepted 21 new designs for distribution in their next catalog. That meant that they would be receiving 21 additional pattern packets that they needed to modify to suit their purposes. Their computer guy (I'll call him "Ben" - not his real name) appears to have marginal computer skill at best from my past dealings with him. I have come to this conclusion not only from my own dealings with him, but also from my main contact with their company (who I will call Sue). Sue is and has been in charge of the catalogs as long as I have been working with the company. She compiles, lays out and writes all of the information contained in it, as well as oversees much of that side of the business.

I received an email from her the other day in which she asked me if I could send the pattern files to her in another file format rather than PDF. She said that Ben said it would be easier to edit the files if I were to send them in something like MS Word or a similar word program. I immediately knew that he didn't know what he was doing because MS Word isn't even able to read the file because of the included graphics. She then said he wanted me to send the files in the format I had them in before converting them to PDF and I explained to her about InDesign. She didn't think he was familiar with that program.

She then told me that she spoke to him and he said to send them all in Illustrator format, as he was familiar with that program. I explained to her that although Illustrator was able to read both text and photos, it only had a very limited functionality in dealing with them. I also explained that in order to send everything in Illustrator format, I would need to send each file page by page, as Illustrator can only open one page of a PDF file at a time. That would mean the 21 pattern files would turn into a couple hundred separate files and things like text flow (where the text continues from one page to the next) and links to photos and graphics would all be broken. It would be a nightmare.

I further explained that if they chose to go this route that I would be happy to send them that way, but I would also absolve myself of any and all responsibility as to the outcome of the patterns and that Ben would have to own up to the final output.

I think I succeeded in terrorizing her.

I immediately received an email back from her saying "NO! NO! NO! Leave them in PDF!!" and I couldn't help but smile a bit when I read it. Good. I don't want them messing with my work. Sue is like me whereas she is a very detail-minded and conscientious person. We always work well together. She admits her limitations on the computer and was only telling me what Ben had asked her. I had reminded her of the few times when in the process of converting these files to PDF there were slight glitches that we needed to take care of and that over the many years I have worked with these programs, I know what to look for when doing so. This isn't something you just walk into and start fooling with.

I really don't like Ben anyway. I probably shouldn't say that but I am human too. I am quite patient with people, but even I have my limits as to what I put up with from others. He seems to have a 'know it all' and very condescending attitude. In addition, about 2 months ago just before the last catalog went to print, I received an email from Sue asking me if I had sent Ben the PDF patterns for that issue for him to work on. I had done so almost four weeks prior and told her so. I told her I still had the email if she wanted to see (I keep everything). She asked me to send it over because she said that Ben told her that I had only sent the patterns to him two hours prior to their conversation and he didn't do his work on them yet and they needed to be at the printer.

I sent her the email which was time stamped and she was angry and I was angry. What a slime ball! Here he was trying to pin his own laziness on me! I was happy that I could come up with the proof so quickly. It is wonderful to be organized. However, I don't think she would have believed him anyway. I don't think she has much faith in him either. He appeared in the company sometime this past spring and I am wondering if he is a cousin of the owner or some other type of relative. I can't imagine in these difficult times that anyone like that would be able to keep his job unless he has connections. He certainly seems to be a pain in Sue's side also. But he doesn't know who he is dealing with. Between Sue and myself he doesn't have a chance! We are on to him and his BS.

So today's agenda consists mostly of writing patterns. I am going to try to finish the charms for the new candle tray too and take the photos for it so I can include that in the patterns. If I have time I want to progress on my shoe too.

I was up extra early today and it is still dark now, but I wanted to get writing while it was quiet here. I don't even have music on this morning, as I am just enjoying the peace prior to a busy day. Perhaps I will put some nice classical music on today, as I don't like music with any lyrics when I am writing. I can't think and sing at the same time! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful and fun day today!
 
#993 ·
Moving Right Along

I made good headway yesterday. Although I still have some of the pattern packet writing to do, I did get through much of it and I also got some other important things completed. I finished drawing and cutting the charm pieces for my Wright Inspired candle tray. I think the charms are as cool as the tray itself. They would make key chain tags or even a necklace. I found a piece of thin walnut that was as dark as the tray and it looked pretty nice. It took me only about half an hour to cut and I had two of them stacked together so I got them both done in no time.


I even had the brainstorm while cutting to make a set of Art Deco ornaments for next year. That would be cool and different. When I go to New York for the wood show in March/April, I plan on looking into working a bit more with Inlace, which is a liquid inlay technique. I have done inlay with epoxy with mixed results. Some of the projects came out quite nice, but I am sure that there are better ways to do things than I was trying. My friend Jean who is a wonderful wood turner and scroll sawyer (she is the one who got me involved with the show there) wants to work with me on some projects that involve both scroll sawing and also turning. She has used Inlace quite a bit and I am sure I will learn a lot from her. I can see this set of ornaments filled with colored Inlace material and looking like stained glass panels. I realize that it won't be a project to everyone's liking, but I will like it so why not put it out there anyway? If people just want to make the frames, they are still beautiful like that.

I took pictures of the finished candle tray set also. I used less frills and ribbon than on the previous holders, as I feel it looks better with less.


As I looked at the picture this morning, I think the grain on the tray should be in a vertical direction rather than horizontal, as it is here. It is funny, I try to notice everything when taking pictures, such as background interference and things like that, but I do miss things still and wind up retaking pictures many times. That is the joy of digital photography though. It is fast and easy to make adjustments and re take if necessary.

I put the Spooky Pumpkins candle holder in my gallery last night as many of you may have seen. I am learning not to post things in my public gallery or on the brag pages of the forums until they are ready to sell on my site. I only show them ahead of time here in the blog and on my private Facebook page because if I show them elsewhere, there are sometimes people who are interested in making them and I like the patterns to be ready to sell. Otherwise by the time I get them done, people may lose interest.

The website needs another update, as there are lots of new things to go up there, and hopefully we will get to complete that this week. Then we can begin working on the major overhaul of the software, which we haven't started yet. My partner did put the pumpkin candle tray up there yesterday though, as Halloween is quickly approaching. I was happy that between early evening when I posted it and this morning I sold five patterns of it already. The trays in general are selling very good, and I am anxious to get my figures from the wholesaler for the month of September when they were first unveiled to that market. I am going to keep designing them until I run out of ideas, as long as people keep asking for them.

I also talked to a gentleman in Ontario yesterday regarding getting my skating pond figures laser cut for kits. I am in a dilemma regarding that because I need to find a way to provide the figures for the non-woodworkers that will want to paint it, yet not have to charge an arm and a leg. I have some hope with this man after looking into it at several companies. If any of you have or know of someone who does laser cutting on 1/8" plywood please let me know so I can receive an estimate. I am hoping to get the set cut for approximately $25 each my cost. I will probably have to charge twice that for retail, as I need to ship the pieces to the US for distribution and also split the profit with my editor for the advertising and also with the gentleman who will be printing the patterns and mailing out the pieces. I have considered hand-cutting them, but even stacked 3 high it will take me approximately 6 hours per set. If it were on a limited basis, I would probably do it, but I don't know if I will sell 5 sets or 500 sets and I need to have a means to provide them if I am fortunate enough to sell the 500.

I need to prepare the line work and computer files so that all the internal lines are removed that I don't want cut and make sure that my paths on the lines are closed and neat and perfect so the laser can read them. They are fairly close right now, although they will need a few adjustments, I am sure. As I said, there are about 25 figures included as well as the bridge set up so it is a bit of work. The man I spoke with was very helpful and apparently he works from his home and does this as a side line. He actually called me on a Saturday morning after I sent him an email with one sample piece for an estimate. I was surprised he was 'at work' and we got to talking and he told me he actually has an understanding wife because his laser cutter is in his house. We kind of laughed because I told him my scroll saw was in my kitchen. He told me that he still had a day job and may be laid off soon and did this on the side. It just goes to show how many people have looked to their own resources in these trying times job wise. I hope things work out with him and I can do business with him. He seemed conscientious and he knew what he was talking about computer wise and I certainly would get personal service that I may not receive if I go to a large company to have these done. We will see . . .

Well, I have more stories about the business to tell, but I can save them for another day. Yesterday's post was quite long and I don't want to ramble on and put you all to sleep! I try to keep it short, but there is so many exciting things going on with work some days it is difficult to do.

I will end with a nice photograph that I took last night. I was doing my dinner dishes and looked out the window, which faces west toward the ocean and I couldn't believe how pretty the clouds looked. I often talk about my "pink cloud" existence whereas I am an eternal optimist and try to find the good side of everything. Some tease me about it but most of the time it brings people up and they want to join me on my pink cloud. So for all you "non-believers" here is proof that the pink cloud exists:


My cloud is the one on the left. You can all come and visit me anytime! :D

Have a wonderful Sunday!
 
#994 ·
If the FLW inspired candle tray is anything to go by Art Deco pieces or a series would be a real winner. I know I personally like the FLW but taking that aside it has a quality look about it which should sell well.

It also seems that 'yer man fer the laser cutting', as the Irish would put it, is a kindred spirit (as far as working styles are concerned) and I hope his pricing comes out alright. You could work well together.
 
#997 ·
Thanksgiving in Canada

One of the things I found hardest to get used to in moving to another country was the different holidays and celebrations. Here in Canada, today is Thanksgiving. As many of you may know, I am originally from the United States. I am used to Thanksgiving at the end of November. Football was in full swing, pretty much everyone enjoyed a four day weekend, and sometimes we even had snow on the ground. Aside from Christmas, Thanksgiving was one of our biggest celebrations. Here in Canada, it seems a bit more low key. Especially since my Canadian 'family' Bernie and Ellen are away visiting in the US this week. We did have a great dinner yesterday with friends and had turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings. I made a decadent cheesecake that actually came out pretty good. It was a wonderful time with good friends and fun conversation.

One of the best parts of having two countries to call home is that I will get to do it all over again in November. Just because I don't live in the USA anymore, doesn't mean that I can't still celebrate my own traditions. Almost every year since I have come here, at the end of November I have my own Thanksgiving. One of my favorite times was when I had all the girls from my painting group over for a pot luck dinner. I made the turkey and stuffing and they each brought something of their own. It was an incredible feast and so lively and fun you could barely hear yourself talk. The grand finale was when my cat Richard (who was all stirred up and wild because of all the commotion) ran across the table while we were all eating. He has never done that before, or since, but it added to the fun and spirited atmosphere and certainly made a memory.

Yesterday wasn't quite so lively, but it was fun nonetheless. And the food certainly was good, as well as the company. I want to take this opportunity to wish all of my Canadian friends, who have made me feel so welcome and at home in their country a happy and healthy Thanksgiving day today! I really have a lot to be thankful for and it is fitting that I have more than one opportunity to celebrate!

Prior to leaving for dinner, most of the day yesterday turned out to be working on the new website. As we looked into the new software, it was apparent that there was a huge improvement over the old version that my site is still on. It was thrilling to see the scope of what the new software was capable of. Although there will be a bit of a learning curve involved in accessing all of the new features and capabilities, it will be quite exciting and offer a great deal of flexibility on my part as far as how my site will be set up and which features I will offer on it.

We spent quite a bit of time choosing the core template that we will be building the site on. There were probably close to 40 -50 choices and we soon discovered that each template could then be customized by changing colors, fonts, and just about anything else that was present. You can also add items and move things around such as the header and search box and things like that. With the template that the site is on now, you were pretty much stuck with how things were. For example the search box on my site is located on the bottom of the page. I find this quite inconvenient, as customers have to scroll down the long list of products to even see the box. It makes it clumsy and awkward. On the new software, I can have things such as the search box anywhere I wish. Simply drag and drop these types of items to any suitable location and you are set. Sweet.

There are several other great updates that will also make things better, such as the ability to list the products in several columns instead of a single one, eliminating again the need to scroll down one long list. You can also designate the number of items listed on the page which was not available before. So right now on the old template, if I have say 60 items on a page, to get to that last item you would have to scroll down a list of 60 products which was somewhat of a pain. Now I will be able to put them on multiple pages, with say 30 items on a page and three columns wide so that you can see almost all 30 thumbnails on your screen without even scrolling. This will be a much better presentation I think for everything and people will be able to compare items much more quickly and efficiently. Right now in order to have columns, my partner has to program everything in Dreamweaver and place it on the site as a chart. I have this on the home page and it has greatly improved the presentation, but it is a lot of work and difficult to update and change.

The product page itself is also greatly improved and will allow a much nicer and larger view of the items. The photograph is placed to the side and the pertaining information and description is next to it, again eliminating the need to scroll down to see the particulars. I am very pleased with it overall.

It will take a tremendous amount of work and time, but it will be well worth the effort in the end. I love the new look of things and the template we chose to start with is classy and professional and will present our work in a very positive light. I am quite excited about it all and hopefully it won't be too long before we are able to change over and reveal it.

Today I will be back on working on finishing the packets up and also the line work for the skating set so I can send it for the estimate on cutting. I need to catch up adding the figures to the skating blog and will probably put another entry in later on today. I have already briefly shown the figures here, but I need to present them with their little stories on the other blog.

It is a beautiful cool and sunny day and the trees are at that brief time in the season where all colors are present - red, orange, yellow and still a bit green. I think a walk is in order on Eel lake near by. I need to drive to get there (although I have walked it in the past) and I want to go through the woods there because the are so incredibly beautiful. I will try to remember to bring my camera and take some photos to show tomorrow. It will certainly be a nice time.

Again I want to wish all my Canadian friends a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving. To all my friends in America, Happy Columbus Day to you! And to every one else who I know from all over the rest of the world, I hope you have a beautiful day too! I am very thankful to know all of you!
 
#998 ·
Sheila,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY! I am very thankful for what you share with all of us here in LJ. I learned a lot and became confident in how I write and communicate with you specially. Even how hard it is for me to use the backspace most of the time…LOL… I need to do it to express what I awed, felt, and learned from your continues blog. Thanks…

Congratulations for your new website changes. I will visit it tomorrow at office. I am using signal here that is very slow.
 
#1,003 ·
Trying Not to be Overwhelmed

One thing I find about holidays is that when we have one, the week just seems to fly by. I know that it shouldn't matter to me because I work from home, but it just seems as if the week is cut too short and I have to do more just to keep caught up.

Lately it seems that I have been all over the board. I say 'lately' but in actuality it has only been a few days. It seems odd that it was a week ago that I drew my last project and since then not only finished it, but also did several other things that are really imperative to my business. However, I still don't feel like I am doing enough.

Perhaps it is because there are so many ideas swimming around in my head. I have so many ideas for autumn projects, ranging from scroll sawing to segmentation to painting and other things in between. Now it seems that it is time to move past even the Christmas holidays and start designing for spring so I can be on schedule. This will also be a time when I will designs much of the non-holiday stuff that can be around all year and the general things. I think in part that is why I feel like time is moving so quickly - I am always four to six months ahead of things. I just need to take the time to enjoy the present.

We worked on the web site most of the day yesterday. While my partner was programming and setting things up, I was at my computer making the pattern packets for the recent new projects. I am just about done though so everything will be to the wholesaler today or tomorrow. I didn't get to work on the pond figures at all and I have the day set aside so that I can redraw them to submit for the estimate.

In working with the site again, it reminded me that there is so much more I want to add on there. Many people want more painting patterns from me, along with the step-by-step instructions. I had posted some pictures of a butterfly a while back and that pattern went over very well at the shows. I need to add it in on the site, as well as other patterns that offer painting skills such as that. There are some painting patterns I have had on the site from years ago, and I have neglected that side of my business for quite a while. Once the skating pond is done, I realize that many potential painting customers will be interested in seeing what I have to offer them. It would be a shame to lose their attention by not having anything else ready. I am trying to have a few of the new patterns available so at least there is something there of substance. But I don't want to lose the momentum I am gaining here on the woodworking side of the business either. It is just now starting to see a profit.

Decisions, decisions . . .

I wish I never had to sleep. :)

I know too that when I go to New York in the spring and see that wood show I am going to be quite charged up. Quite a large part of the show is lathe work and although I have not worked on a lathe before, my friend Jean is quite proficient in it and she wants me to work with her in designing some lathe projects which include scroll sawing. She believes there are many who would like the crossover and it would be a whole new market and unique for the lathe workers. Since I am going to be right next to the magazines, it will be the perfect opportunity for me to get my foot in the door with them. It will be quite an adventure.

I suppose the best thing I can do is to take a breath. I find that there is so much diversity in the woodworking field that it can be quite overwhelming. I have read in the recent past that "scroll sawing is dying" (which by the way, I don't believe) and that woodworking in general is a dying art. To me that is nonsense. I think that as with anything, it has its highs and lows and people find a great deal of satisfaction and relaxation creating with wood. As with many other hobbies, it goes through cycles of ups and downs but I do believe it will always be here.

So I will keep with my plan. And I will see what the future brings for me and where I will land. I found that when I am in doubt about something or which direction to go, just to back off and not force the issue. It always seems that things have a way of working out for the best. If I have to push myself too hard in one direction or another, perhaps it isn't the right decision after all. On days like today when I feel overwhelmed, I sit back and do what I know is required (like my line work for the skating pond) and see what the day will bring. More so than not, the fog will lift and I will soon be heading down a path that I am clearly supposed to be on. The key for me in this situation is patience.

In rereading my post, my writings are all over the board today. Perhaps that is indicative of how I feel at the moment. Today's goal will be to refocus and prioritize and put things in front of myself one thing at a time. It is time for me to slow down and take a breath and evaluate things so they don't get the best of me. Taking a step back and organizing will not only give me some peace of mind, but will also allow me the clarity to move ahead and accomplish. Sometimes I forget who is the boss.

My thought for the day . . .

"Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord, find Harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."
-Albert Einstein, scientist
 
#1,004 ·
I'll be looking for your project that involve the lathe and scroll saw. I'm the opposite of the type you describe though. I'm a scroller who wants to move over to the lathe some.
I think we all feel at times we aren't getting enough accomplished, no matter how much we do. I noticed just last night after posting my latest project that I haven't done nearly the amount of work this year as last. It bothered me until I realized I've done more larger projects this year while last year was more small, quick projects. Don't feel bad, from this end, I don't see how you do as much as you do.
 
#1,012 ·
Three Cheers for Lists!

Things turned out great yesterday. It was a very productive day and I accomplished far more than I expected. I took some of the advice that was offered and I made a list and just began checking things off one by one as I finished things. By the end of the day, I was able to lay my head on my pillow knowing that I did my best and with far less anxiety than I woke up with. What a great feeling!

After getting my regular house stuff finished, I made a list and prioritized what needed to be done. This did help take the worry out of the day. I found that much of the time, when I am feeling anxious it is because I am concerned that I am going to forget something. Just the simple task of writing things down helps me stop thinking about that and frees my mind up for the task at hand.

One of the first and foremost things I needed to do was to rework the line drawings for the skating pond figures so that I could get the estimate on the laser cutting. I usually draw my designs in a line that is .5 pt thick. This is ideal for scroll sawing. However, the laser needs a much finer line to follow, so I needed to convert everything to .072 pt to make it work. The process of converting the lines itself is very quick, but I also needed to clean up and close the paths and remove all the internal line work, as the laser is just going to cut the silhouettes. There were some small overlaps and areas where there were perhaps double lines or a stray point or two that were invisible to the naked eye, but the laser would 'see' and read. Some of the points were just remainders of lines and were themselves completely invisible except when they were highlighted and I wanted to get rid of them so I could offer clean and neat drawings. I discovered the information pallet in Adobe Illustrator which showed the number of open and closed paths, as well as the number of points each object contained and the total length of the lines. This was very helpful in doing this task, as I did achieve my goal of each object only consisting of one closed path.

The trees were another issue which I felt I needed to deal with. When I drew the trees, I made them very deep and bushy, as evergreen trees are supposed to look. However, when looking at the amount of minute details I had put into them, I realized that much of it was quite unnecessary. All of the trees will have Sno-Tex on them, just as the bridge does, so many of the weaving lines are to be covered over anyway. There are five tree pieces with this style of tree in all, and by simplifying the pattern slightly, it made a huge difference in the total length of the cutting line. In one tree alone, it went from eighty something inches to fifty something inches, saving much time (and money) when cutting, as the laser cutting fees are based on distance.

I converted an example to show you all what I mean:


The tree on the left has a total length of 45.39 inches. The tree on the right has a total length of 71.16 inches. That means it would cost quite a bit more to have the piece on the right laser cut than the piece on the left. With the addition of the snow and painting, I don't think that visually there would be very much difference at all. It isn't as if the trees are the focal point of the scene. I believe the simplified version doesn't compromise the integrity of the project at all, and will save me a substantial amount of cost. The trees are the most costly pieces by far, as the other pieces are actually quite simple in silhouette form.

It took me over four hours to finish working on the entire set. But even if I don't wind up being able to afford the laser cutting, it will make things much better for me as far as my own cutting of the pieces, as it will also save me all of those inches (and time) if I were to hand cut them myself or hire someone else to do so.

I did get the estimate back from the gentleman last evening and he gave me a quote of about $30 per set prior to shipping and taxes. I am really undecided what I am going to do because of the 'unknown' factor as to how these will sell. I may wind up cutting them by hand, perhaps with the help of a couple of friends who will want to work for me doing them, but I need to get a feel for how many will be ordered. I can cut them three sets at a time by stacking the wood, but it will still probably take at least 3-4 hours. If it were on a limited basis, that would be fine, but it will take me away from designing and any of the other tasks that will help my business grow in the long term. Production work is NOT what I want to do.

I am going to keep looking and keep getting estimates, as I do have time on my side for a change. Nothing has to be decided today. I may cut myself another set just to see the actual time it will take and then too I will have a couple of sets here handy, but I will also be looking into hiring others to do it too. I just have to watch because I will need to pay them right away and my own 'working capital' isn't where I am in a great position to do so. I am just getting on my own feet now and there is not a lot to spare at this time. We will just need to see how it goes.

After that, I started on the next tray. I received the figures from my main wholesaler yesterday morning for September and I was very happy with them. The candle trays (the first six) have done incredibly well - better than I could have imagined, and it showed me that business-wise this is what I need to continue to work on. There are as I had said, over 50 designs that I have listed and I need to keep producing them as long as they keep selling and before someone else jumps on the band wagon and starts doing their own. (Yes, that happens quite frequently in my business!) Someone had mentioned in a response somewhere that 'quality not quantity' should be foremost in my mind. I always think that way and hopefully you all can see that each and every design I do is with the same dedication and attention to details. I do believe I am capable of producing quality designs in a short period of time. I don't see that changing.

I was pleased that the drawings went fairly well and I did finish it up at 9:30 last night. I didn't expect to, as I was just going to start it and see where it went, but it flowed again quite well and I just didn't want to stop until I finished. As a bonus, I now get to cut today - something I didn't expect to do until tomorrow - and I can't wait to see it finished. It is pretty I think, and no way as intimidating as the FLW tray so I don't really see it taking all that long.

I did also finish up the pattern packets yesterday, including the new Wright Inspired tray that I presented here last week. I sent it to the wholesaler for the next catalog and I believe it did make the cut, as I hope this one does also. I am not absolutely sure on her dates, but I know they are soon. I believe though that in light of the good sales of the other trays, it will buy me a little extra time in getting more to her. We shall see.

So it is off to cutting for me! A wonderful way to spend the day. Hopefully by tomorrow I will have some new pictures for you. I can't wait to get started!

I also really want to add another skater to the blog, as he is done and waiting to be presented. And I heard from the wood show in New York again that I need to send them another bio for their web site. Now that may be a bit more challenging than anything else today. They want a brief summary of my professional life. Yes, we can all chuckle over that. Somehow I feel that will be the biggest challenge of all!

Thank you for all the comments and support yesterday. You are all a great help to me in keeping my head clear and staying grounded and not letting my own anxieties get the best of me.

I wish everyone a happy 'hump day' and hope you all create something beautiful today!
 
#1,013 ·
On a side note - I wanted to comment that I woke up this morning to the news that the first of the 33 coal miners in Chile have been brought to the surface and rescued. I know I don't usually speak of news and politics, but I cannot tell you how much this wonderful news has touched me and has lifted my spirits. I don't have live television or cable here, and get my news from reading the NY Times and Chicago Tribune, but I do try to keep up with reading and my heart just soared when I read the story this morning. What an incredibly great way to start the day!

You all have a great one too!

Sheila :D
 
#1,021 ·
Enjoying the Small Successes

The light has just started to appear to the east but for the most part it is still dark out. My neighbor, who leaves for work every day at this time has started his truck up and it is warming up in the driveway. Over the sound of the engine, I hear a faint intermittent scraping noise. I looked out the window in the semi-darkness to see if I could distinguish the source. It was the windshield wipers on the truck, which was covered in a thin layer of frost. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that everyone was complaining from the heat? To me, it is one of the first signs of what is to come. It is time to get ready.

Yesterday turned out to be a splendid day. I feels like I am back in a good rhythm and extremely productive state of being. I like these times, as it seems that everything seems to just fall quickly into place. It is said that success breeds success and I believe that to be true. It is wonderful to ride on the momentum of a successful project and jump right into the next, still feeling that positive sense of accomplishment and pride. Those of you who have done so in the past know it too.

I look back at just a couple of days ago when I was all over the place and I can't help but be in awe of the power of that little piece of paper - the list. I had quite underestimated its impact, and even though I had used lists in the past I have nevert noticed the profound effect that having one meant until now. It is almost like magic.

I accomplished a tremendous amount of work yesterday. I got my next candle tray completely cut out. This one took about four hours and had 80 inside cuts, for those of you who like statistics. Everything went quite smoothly. I was initially concerned about the sharpness of the angles of the scalloped edges, fearing that they would be too tight for the router to fit. I did spend about an hour with my Adobe Illustrator help files and also on Google trying to see how to reshape all 16 points simultaneously. I used to use CorelDraw several years ago and I remember it having this feature. If you had say a circle with say 12 points, you could move and shape one and all the rest of the selected points would also be reshaped exactly the same. But I was unable to find a definitive answer to this. I wanted to lessen the angles slightly but they all needed to be done exactly the same amount for obvious reasons.

After much unsuccessful searching, I just gave up and thought I would see how it came out. After all, the routing was one of the first steps in making this so if it didn't look good, I could easily start over. Much to my surprise, I had misjudged and everything came out fine. I believe I used a 1/8" round over bit to just slightly round and soften the edges, as I do with all of these trays. Once that was done, I was ready to proceed.

I found a great piece of bird's eye maple for the tray. I think that the light wood was very appropriate for this project. I am still debating as to whether I will tint the hearts red or pink (or both) as a variation like I did with the autumn leaves. I think it will look nice that way and I am leaning toward doing so. I have yet to cut the charms out today, but that will be a fairly quick process. I was more interested in finishing up the main tray, as I got quite excited when I saw how it came out and I couldn't wait to sand and oil it.


And here is a detail of the design:


Overall I like the design. When I was drawing it, I had planned to add drill holes along the scalloped edge so it would resemble lace, but I decided that the delicacy of the design was enough and that the additional piercings would just be too much. I am glad I was conservative in my thinking because it looks fine just the way it is. Any more would have been overkill.

Today I will finish the charms and the photography for the pattern packet. I also plan on drawing up the next design. I heard from my contact at the wholesaler that she would like me to get her pictures of any more I can do by Monday. I can possibly create two additional trays by then. I want to do something with shamrocks for St. Pat's day and also a Celtic type of design. We will see what the day brings.

I spent over an hour on the phone with the US Internal Revenue Service again yesterday regarding the tax adjustment that I needed to pay last month. It seems that even though I mailed the payment almost a month ago, it has not been received yet. That was very troubling to me, as you could imagine. The representative was very helpful and nice though and we went over things again and he informed me that they had removed the interest and penalties that were initially imposed on me, which meant that I owed less. Today I have to stop payment on the original check and reissue another one. This time I will spend the extra money and have it sent registered. It will cost me extra, but I want it cleared up. According to the representative, everything I did with them was documented and I am in no danger of being in a delinquent status, so that is good too. Damn that Canada Post anyway. People in the United States complain about the post office all the time, but I have never experienced such incompetency as Canada Post. More things have been lost in my six years here than in my entire life in the US. I am grateful that the IRS is understanding and easy to work with. Both times I spoke with them, their representatives couldn't be nicer or more helpful. I didn't even request a waiver for the penalties and interest, as the initial problem was an error that my accountant made and I accepted responsibility. Apparently she felt it was not intentional and filed the request for me and those charges were removed. That was very kind of her. I bet you don't hear often about things like that about the IRS!

I think I am on a roll . . .

I wish you all a wonderful day and hope you take some time to enjoy the beautiful season!
 
#1,022 ·
wow…over a month and no payment…im glad they waived your fees and you owed a little less…but onto the scroll design…this looks really great..i love the hearts…and your cutting is just fantastic..you sure will be a highlight at the wood working show…wish i could attend and learn something….you did a great job…, you said you have been wanting winter…well its coming…so get the hot chocolate out…....bob
 
#1,030 ·
Good Way To Start the Day

It is only a little after 6:30 and I already scored a major victory! What a wonderful day it is going to be!

OK - so it may not be major to everyone else, but it certainly is to me. Many of you may remember that I am in the process of changing over to new software on my site. This is an enormous and complicated task, as I have over 300+ products right now and the list is growing every day. Getting things in the proper order and presenting them in an organized way is no small task. My partner has done much of the initial set up work and layout, although we both have worked on making different choices such as color, templates, fonts, etc. He is far better than I am at being consistent and organizing things so that products are not only easily accessible to customers, but also very easy to modify, as we are adding new products all the time.

One of the problems I feel that I had with my site in the past was that I began building it approximately eight years ago. Besides the fact that the software is now quite outdated, the changes that I have gone through as a company and as a designer have been profound. Much of what was important to me back then is no longer important to me now, and I must admit for several years I sorely neglected that aspect of my business. As a result, it fell woefully behind and a combination of my poor programming skills along with my general disregard left the old site messy and cluttered.

This past year, we have worked to clean things up and between the two of us have done a lot of redesigning and 'housecleaning' in order to make a better presentation. It has paid off quite a bit, as the figures for the site sales have gone up tremendously and it has now become a major artery in my business instead of just an afterthought. But working on antiquated software still required much more time than necessary to keep up and change. Even the smallest revision or addition of products was tedious and time consuming. The time came for us to abandon ship and upgrade the software.

Like most people, I am not always comfortable with change. We all like knowing what we are doing and knowing how to do things. Changing over meant heading out into uncharted waters and relearning an entire new program. Even though I had put this decision off, I knew in my heart that it inevitable. The final straw occurred when I attempted to add some of my customer's pictures into the gallery and received the message that I was out of disk space. Apparently the old software only allotted a certain amount of storage and I was at my limit. This would not do if my business was to grow.

My site information was migrated to the new software a couple of weeks ago. My host company allows six months time to create and build the new site. During this period, the "old site" runs just as it has been while the "new site" is being developed behind the scenes and not yet published. I was very surprised when I found this out and having no experience in this sort of thing I didn't even think this was possible. I think it is a very cool way to change over, as there is little or no disruption of business.

We sign into the new site and can work on that in our spare time and when it is all ready and how we want, we publish it and it takes over. It gives us a chance to work out all the kinks (well - most of them anyway) without any down time at all. So far, it has been going better than expected and after a short time, it is almost ready to present and publish.

My partner is in charge of the general set up and organization. He streamlined everything so that everything is now in a category and we can make global changes to products in each category. This will make things so much easier, as previously I had to change each product individually in regards to sales, which page it is on, etc. If something were say on a General Plaque page and also a Holiday page, I would have to go to both pages and either add or remove the same product. It was quite confusing and difficult to maintain. With the new software however, you can set attributes for each product, or a group of products in a subset. Things like that will cut down on the time needed to work on things tremendously.

The presentation of the products is beautiful also. I am allowed several images for each product, and the layout is so much nicer than before, and I have the flexibility of changing everything there too. Now when customers look at what I have to offer, they are able to really SEE the items, much like I can present them here on LJ's. It may seem like a small thing, but previously they were only able to see small images and no detail. I think this will help with sales a great deal.

My job last night was setting up the order form and credit card processor. That is a tedious and exacting process because there are many variables that will affect how much is charged to my customers. I need to set up shipping too, and that was quite involved. Most of my customers choose PDF files delivered via the computer, as it saves both time and money, but the other options need to be there too. I also had to be completely sure that the credit card processor information is correct so that when they purchase items, the money is going to the right place (me!) This is also quite exacting because of the necessary security measures, but it is a one time set up and once it is done, it is done.

A problem we were having with the site was that the initial picture thumbnails were quite small. It was very difficult to see the product without actually clicking on the image and going to the product page. With the type of patterns I sell, it is very important to see the details in the work. I didn't want customers coming to the site and having to click on each image to see what was going on. That would be monotonous and I think that most people would get fed up and leave. I did some research and reading of things, and I figured out how to make the thumbnails larger throughout the site by filling in a value in just one box. It was a simple answer to a big problem and will make the site overall much better. It was a great way to start the day!

We are getting anxious to finish up the new site and there is even the possibility of being able to publish it and make it live by the weekend. Initially I wouldn't have thought it would be ready until nearly Christmas. It was a pleasant surprise that even though this software is quite complex, it is fairly well thought out and things have so far gone smoothly. When we have tapped into customer support, they have so far been there with the answers we needed to keep on going. I have heard many horror stories regarding site set ups from others and I feel very fortunate that things are working out for us so well. Overall the site will be so much better and hopefully much easier for everyone to see what we have to offer.

As for today, I am ready to cut the next tray out. I spent the day yesterday drawing up the Celtic design I wanted to and it is almost ready to go. I may draw the next one again today though, and then I can cut them both out on Saturday. That will give me Sunday to do the final photography and get the pictures to the wholesaler by Monday. It is a tight schedule, but very workable if I stay focused. I plan on taking at least part of Sunday off to visit friends and I want to have most of the work under my belt by then. It will be a nice break and I am looking forward to it a lot.

By next week I should be able to get some work done on my shoe again. I have been sorely neglecting it and saw that Jordan's shoe is nearly done. I am happy though that we have until mid-November to unveil our work, as it does give me some time to catch up. I haven't seen as many posts about it as I had initially, so I think many people are in the same boat as I am.

I wish you all a happy and productive day!
 
#1,031 ·
congrats on making the headway you have..its all pretty exciting knowing your close to launching the new site…cant wait to see it and also to wait and see how its received by your customers…yippie…i can feel how this would make you excited…what a major breakthrough for your company…..then you can face the drummer on the shoe…lol…looks like debbie is in some sort of mud bog , the laces i guess are giving her grief..dont understand it myself…but i hope she can get through it..maybe jordan can help her…well have a great day..its friday…got me my usual big dinner tonight…although im making it easy…tonight is a big pot of goulash….lots of meat…big fat macaroni and ohhhhhhh its going to be so good…lol…....dont know about dessert…maybe apple pie…..or…any suggestions…...bob
 
#1,037 ·
'Plan B'

It was another day of fun and creativity yesterday. I had originally planned on cutting out the next candle tray, but it was quite windy and rainy all day long. I need to do a quick routing on the edges of each of the trays and I usually do that outside, but the weather just wasn't cooperating. Even though it only takes a few minutes to rout, I thought it best to wait and go on to 'plan B'.

I like having a 'plan B'. I think it is something that everyone should have. Sometimes I even have a 'plan C' too. That is when I am really on the ball. I think I learned to do that when I was raising my children. My friend Cari and I would always have an alternate plan of action for any given activity at all times. Anyone who has had kids will understand why. You can always expect the unexpected and it good to be prepared. I think that is a great philosophy for life in general. That way we aren't sidelined if things don't go exactly according to plan. We have learned to back up our computers, why not back up the important things in our lives, too? I think it is a fine way to think.

So what did I do yesterday for a back up when I couldn't cut out the tray I drew on Thursday? I drew some more.

I am feeling particularly creative lately and I don't want to stop the momentum that I have. Now every design doesn't come out like my Frank Lloyd Wright inspired one, as there is only one Frank Lloyd Wright, but there are quite a few things swimming around in my own head that will be pretty acceptable as scroll saw designs, I believe. Some days there is a whole school of things swimming around in there and I can't wait to get going on them. I was fortunate that on a day that it rained and I couldn't rout my tray that there were more ideas just waiting to come to life.

The second tray that I drew up used the Celtic Trinity design. I generally like the geometry of the Celtic designs, and they seem to be quite popular. I have seen many applications of them in carvings, and I am quite curious as to how they will work out using the scroll saw. I know they will not be quite as 'deep' as when we see them carved, so I have to be careful the way I draw so that they will still be attractive without the under and over relief that carvings are able to show. Although I suppose if the scroller was truly ambitious they could take a Dremel and shape the cuttings, but for the most part I know that won't be the case (although I may want to try that too one day!) So for now, it will just be a regular 3-D scroll sawn design.

I also finished up the charms and edging on the shamrock candle tray, and it came out quite attractive. I have some teaser pictures for you to see how they look. First the shamrock tray:


And then the Celtic Trinity tray:


I can't wait to see how they look cut out. For the shamrock, I chose a piece of oak. I think that I am going to tint the oak as I tinted some of the other trays. the green shamrocks will stand out nicely on the light wood and look quite happy and festive.

For the Celtic Trinity tray, I chose a nice piece of sapele. I didn't want it too dark, but I want it to be a nice rich color. The simplicity of the design and the clean lines should look nice one in that color.

I was planning to cut them today, but plans have changed and it appears that the dinner I was planning to go to tomorrow has been moved up to today. So today will be my Sunday and tomorrow my Saturday. ('Plan B' if you will.) So I need to wait one more day until I cut. Oh, the anticipation!

I also worked more on the site and it is getting quite close to the unveiling. I am heeding your advice and I am in the process of going through each and every one of the almost 400 products and rewriting the descriptions and checking the pictures and information so that everything is correct. I am also adding to most of them, a recommendation as to the skill necessary for cutting the projects. Although I didn't develop any type of star system (or blades, as someone suggested) to rate the difficulty, I do say that each project is "a great beginner project" or "beginner to intermediate" etc. I think that will be a decent guide for the newcomer. Right now I am on product #37 out of three hundred and something so I have a long way to go. I don't mind though, as things were all added in originally over the past several years and this will bring everything up to date and they will look far more consistent and the descriptions will have far more detail. This along with the beautiful photographs will certainly do a better job of letting people know what they are getting. I am very excited about it all!

So all in all it is going to be a wonderful day. I want to bake something to bring to the dinner tonight and I am looking forward to having a fun and relaxing day. After seeing these two drawings come to life, I am certain that I can get them to the wholesaler well within the time limit and they will make the next catalog cut, which will come out right around the new year. My contact there is very happy with the work and loved the Sweetheart Candle Tray and is looking forward to seeing these designs too. I hope they live up to her expectations.

The sun is starting to break through now a bit from behind the clouds so I think I will set these patterns up and try to sneak in between the raindrops to get them routed. Then rain or shine tomorrow they will be ready to cut. If not, I will always have a 'plan B' to fall back on.

Have a wonderful Saturday!
 
#1,038 ·
I have a question Shiela (don't take it the wrong way but) How do you find time to Read all of Steve's questions make replies write these blogs & do all that intricate work with a scrollsaw not to mention design & drawing?
Do you have lots of little gnomes like Santa?
Best
Trevor
 
#1,049 ·
Full Day at the Saw

Today will certainly be a full day. Right now it is quiet, but as soon as the hour is decent, I need to start working on my two trays to cut out. I had a good day yesterday. We went to our friend's house on the little lake and the colors were just amazing. Even though it was raining and the skies were gray most of the day, it didn't take away from the incredible colors of the trees. It is that rare time when you can see all the colors at once - red, orange, gold and green. I wish I could just freeze time and it would always look like this out.

We had a wonderful dinner at the lake. Even though it rained off and on, it didn't ruin the pleasant atmosphere. I snapped a picture of the trees across the lake, but it didn't really do it justice. Sometimes you just need to be there.

Water Sky Cloud Water resources Natural landscape


All in all it was a good, relaxing day. And for those of you who worry, I did very little woodworking! :)

Today will be a bit different. Besides having to cut the trays out, I still need to tint the heart tray and also I need to finish these two and take photographs. I am realizing what a tall order this will be, and I am somewhat counting on the fact that they tend to be quite loose with the deadlines at the wholesalers. Especially if they like the things. I had told my contact that I would have the pictures to her "by Monday". I didn't really specify a time. I am thinking that I will be doing well to have everything cut today and finished, but I suspect that I will need at least part of the day tomorrow to do the photography properly. One reason being that I prefer to use natural light whenever possible, and I seriously doubt I will be at that point before the sun goes down tonight. Sometimes it just happens like that.

I am not trying to take advantage of her or showing disrespect for her deadlines at all. I do get things done on her schedule most of the time and many times far before she needs things. I gave her a choice as to if she even wanted these designs and she jumped on them sight unseen. She has told me in the past that if she knows that something will be coming, she will allow room for it and then just drop the photograph into place when she has it. I don't believe a day or two either way will matter, as she also requested that I reshoot the Wright Inspired candle tray on a lighter background so it would show up better with the small picture in the catalog.

I don't mind her suggestions and input. I am always very happy how she presents my work in their catalog and I think she has a good sense of marketing. She had me re-shoot some pictures from the last round of projects with a different colored background and I think they came out much better. Sometimes another set of eyes is very helpful, as I tend to lose my objectivity when working so long on something or at such a pace. I believe that it is very important in my type of job to listen to what others have to say and consider others opinions very seriously. It helps me keep in touch with the rest of the world and understand what may be in demand. After all, a main point of my job is to sell patterns. If I don't listen to others, how can I expect to be successful?

In any case, if things go according to schedule in the next couple of days, everything will be fine. While making the list of new products, I noticed that I will now have a total of 13 candle trays. My goodness, I thought! How did I do so many? I know I had said that I could do about fifty, and I am realizing that it is not out of the question at all to do so. I still have so many ideas in my head as to different versions and just need to make them into reality.

Hopefully, I will have some more pictures for you by tomorrow. I am very much looking forward to spending the day at the scroll saw today. I already have my dinner planned and it will be good and easy and I am excited about seeing how these look when they are actually cut. It is always a great surprise to me how much nicer they look in wood than on paper.

So I will sign off and leave you with another picture of how beautiful the colors can be here.

Brown Natural landscape Trunk Twig People in nature


Have a wonderful and colorful day!
 

Attachments

#1,050 ·
Full Day at the Saw

Today will certainly be a full day. Right now it is quiet, but as soon as the hour is decent, I need to start working on my two trays to cut out. I had a good day yesterday. We went to our friend's house on the little lake and the colors were just amazing. Even though it was raining and the skies were gray most of the day, it didn't take away from the incredible colors of the trees. It is that rare time when you can see all the colors at once - red, orange, gold and green. I wish I could just freeze time and it would always look like this out.

We had a wonderful dinner at the lake. Even though it rained off and on, it didn't ruin the pleasant atmosphere. I snapped a picture of the trees across the lake, but it didn't really do it justice. Sometimes you just need to be there.

Water Sky Cloud Water resources Natural landscape


All in all it was a good, relaxing day. And for those of you who worry, I did very little woodworking! :)

Today will be a bit different. Besides having to cut the trays out, I still need to tint the heart tray and also I need to finish these two and take photographs. I am realizing what a tall order this will be, and I am somewhat counting on the fact that they tend to be quite loose with the deadlines at the wholesalers. Especially if they like the things. I had told my contact that I would have the pictures to her "by Monday". I didn't really specify a time. I am thinking that I will be doing well to have everything cut today and finished, but I suspect that I will need at least part of the day tomorrow to do the photography properly. One reason being that I prefer to use natural light whenever possible, and I seriously doubt I will be at that point before the sun goes down tonight. Sometimes it just happens like that.

I am not trying to take advantage of her or showing disrespect for her deadlines at all. I do get things done on her schedule most of the time and many times far before she needs things. I gave her a choice as to if she even wanted these designs and she jumped on them sight unseen. She has told me in the past that if she knows that something will be coming, she will allow room for it and then just drop the photograph into place when she has it. I don't believe a day or two either way will matter, as she also requested that I reshoot the Wright Inspired candle tray on a lighter background so it would show up better with the small picture in the catalog.

I don't mind her suggestions and input. I am always very happy how she presents my work in their catalog and I think she has a good sense of marketing. She had me re-shoot some pictures from the last round of projects with a different colored background and I think they came out much better. Sometimes another set of eyes is very helpful, as I tend to lose my objectivity when working so long on something or at such a pace. I believe that it is very important in my type of job to listen to what others have to say and consider others opinions very seriously. It helps me keep in touch with the rest of the world and understand what may be in demand. After all, a main point of my job is to sell patterns. If I don't listen to others, how can I expect to be successful?

In any case, if things go according to schedule in the next couple of days, everything will be fine. While making the list of new products, I noticed that I will now have a total of 13 candle trays. My goodness, I thought! How did I do so many? I know I had said that I could do about fifty, and I am realizing that it is not out of the question at all to do so. I still have so many ideas in my head as to different versions and just need to make them into reality.

Hopefully, I will have some more pictures for you by tomorrow. I am very much looking forward to spending the day at the scroll saw today. I already have my dinner planned and it will be good and easy and I am excited about seeing how these look when they are actually cut. It is always a great surprise to me how much nicer they look in wood than on paper.

So I will sign off and leave you with another picture of how beautiful the colors can be here.

Brown Natural landscape Trunk Twig People in nature


Have a wonderful and colorful day!
Seems nobody said when on Monday. Assume COB is alright.
 

Attachments

#1,053 ·
Almost There

I am quite proud of how things worked out yesterday. It feels wonderful when things actually work out how they are supposed to. I spent the day cutting for the most part and by 4pm I had not one but two new trays cut out. When I was writing about it yesterday morning, I was wondering if I would be able to accomplish it. After the Wright tray taking so long, my confidence in myself was a bit shaken. Not in the sense if I was able to do it or not but in the time line.

Both patterns went like clock work. The Celtic Trinity design was slightly more difficult because of its many sharp corners, but still fairly easy to accomplish:


The Shamrock design was very easy and fun and I could see it being quite forgiving for even a novice scroll sawyer. There is lots of room for error there without ruining the design at all. It actually took me under two hours to cut, and I don't consider myself a fast cutter. I believe that there are only about 50 cuts in it, which I am sure had something to do with the short time frame. Most of the trays have 80-140 in them:


It just goes to show that a design doesn't necessarily have to be difficult to be attractive. I like them both very much.

I had just finished sweeping and tidying up the place and some unexpected company stopped in. I only mention this because it is not the normal thing for me and although they only stayed about an hour or so, it really stopped my momentum and after they had gone and I finished with dinner and the clean up after that, it was after 7:30 and I was done for the night.

However, during their visit, they were very interested in the work and the new stuff we were making. I took them to see things here on LJ's like Martyn's boxes and Jordan's shirts and shoes and I even got to show them the progress - little as it be - on my own shoe caving. It was very much fun and it was nice to see how much they liked things.

We got to talking about the show in March and I flipped to the site to show them what it was all about. There is a nice video there which shows the judges and set up from last year and gives a sample of what will come in March. I hadn't checked there for a couple of weeks, but when I want to show them the demonstrators from last year, I clicked on the page and here is what I found:

Demonstrators.

It truly startled me to see that they had updated it and I was listed among them. Now I know it is not a surprise, but it reminded me when I saw my first project in print so many years ago. It is beginning to scare the heck out of me to see the company I will be in. I am already thinking that I need to come up with some really special projects to take to this show so I can feel like I belong there with that amount of talent. If you watch the video about the set up from last year's show, it looks like a Lumberjock's showcase live and in person. It took me courage to post my first project here among such beautiful work let alone stand up there and be there in person. YIKES! I have to get my head together and come to terms with this so I am not a mess.

I realize that you all must think I am immune to this type of insecure thinking because I have been doing the magazine stuff for so long, but there is a certain amount of comfort being able to do something in print rather than face to face in person. The magazine stuff comes out months after I submit it and even if I am worried as to how a project is received, by then it has already been accepted by the editors and gone through some filtering and it is at least "OK" for the most part. I also have so much more going on by that time that even if I am not really happy with it, there are better things in front of me to rely on.

Even with writing here on the computer, there is somewhat of a buffer between me and you all. I remember being nervous when I wrote my first blog 137 days ago, as I had never written one before and thought "who is going to read it anyway?". Since then, I have made so many friends and have had so much support from you all that I feel as if I talk to friends every morning. It has become very easy.

But talking live and to strangers is something quite different - and talented strangers to boot! My only hope is that I don't disappoint people and I can offer them something that will encourage them and help them to further their woodworking. When I look at who else is going to teach and lecture, I can't help but think "What were they thinking when they asked me?" I truly hope I can live up to the expectations.

But that is in March, and as Scarlett O'Hara frequently said "I'll think about that tomorrow!" For today I have the task at hand of sanding, finishing and photographing these three trays. I think that I will tint the shamrock tray, as well as the sweetheart tray from last week. (By the way, among the shamrocks I put one 4-leaf clover. Did you notice?) I am going to leave the Celtic trinity tray its natural color. I like the sapele and I think it will look nicest that way.

It will be a fun day and I am excited to see how they will all come out when finished. So far so good.

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday too!
 
#1,054 ·
On the rare occasion I set up a booth at a craft show or the like, I get very insecure.
Will they like my work?
Is it up to par with other seller?
When compared to other's work, will I simply get laughed at all the way back to my shop?
You see how my insecurities get out of hand pretty quick.
Like you though, I am not bothered showing my work online though.
Just thought I'd let you know that you're not alone.
 
#1,065 ·
Getting the Picture

I am glad that yesterday is behind me. I am not (really) complaining, but it is good that today is a new day and will be much less tedious than yesterday. It wasn't disastrous or anything like that, but it was just the kind of day where it seemed that I had to work much harder than usual to achieve not greatness, but mediocrity. I don't mind working that hard for greatness. In that case, the end results is its own reward. I worked much harder yesterday than I did on the day when I cut the Wright Inspired Candle Tray. I didn't mind it that day though because I think that tray is one of my finest projects. Yesterday however, it seems I worked even harder and the end result is just "meh".

So what did I do that was so tedious? I took photographs of the final submissions to the catalog for the wholesaler. Initially I had counted on a couple of hours tops, but the process took most of the day and even a bit after supper, as I had some more ideas regarding lighting. I not only needed to photograph my three new candle trays, but also three new baskets that my partner designed.

The baskets are really very nice. I hope that I did them justice though. I had submitted photos of them before, and I thought they looked good, but my contact at the wholesaler requested I try again because she thought I could do better. She also requested that I re-shoot the photos for my Wright Candle Tray on a lighter background so it would show up better. I really did like the pictures I took initially, but I did see her point because the pictures the customers would see in their catalog would be only about an inch tall and it would be difficult to see the detail.

I started with the baskets. I had purchased fruit to put in them and with having to finish everything else, I hadn't taken the pictures, as I needed to set everything up to do so. I wanted to do it all at once so that it would go quickly. I did notice though that some of the fruit was starting to go soft and (kind of) rot and I knew if I didn't take the pictures soon I would have to go and get more. The baskets are geometrically shaped and play havoc with the lens and become quite distorted in photographs. I use a filter in Photoshop to correct this problem, but again it is more time and there is only so much you can do without adding to the problem. After several attempts however, they did turn out OK and I think they are good.

The candle trays looked alright, but the main problem I was having besides the usual "dark wood" problem on the Celtic Trinity and the FL Wright Inspired ones was that once you light the candle as it should be, it throws off the light source and changes everything. It wants to take over the picture and you lose the detail on the charms and the tray itself, which is what will sell the pattern. Add in the factor that as I said, these pictures will be only about an inch in diameter and you will understand the problem. However, after many, many retakes and configurations of light, I finally have acceptable pictures of everything. I finished around 8pm last night.

The three candle trays are the Sweetheart Candle Tray:


The Celtic Trinity Candle Tray:

And the Shamrock Candle Tray:


I was (finally) happy with how the Celtic Trinity pictures came out, with the wood being so dark. I think I finally figured out how to do the lighting for that one. You can click on the title of the picture and go to my Picasa albums to see the several views of each of them if you wish. I think they came out alright in the end. It was just a long road.

One thing good about the new set up that I will have for my website is that I can present several pictures for each item. This will assist greatly in allowing my customers to really see the products. It is much like the gallery page here on LJ's where there are several decent sized views. I still may retake the Final Shamrock Candle Tray Picture so that the charms are more visible, but I will see how the day is and how much light I have to work with. I actually did send a picture of it without the tinting for the catalog because you could see what was going on better. Right now the sun is just coming up and it it appears the sky is clear. So chances are good.

Today I will be writing descriptions for the products for the site. We are just about ready to unveil the new site and I am also quite excited about that. I hope to have it up by the weekend if all goes well. I have to figure for that one day delay where the domain name has to be hooked to it too after it is published. It will be exciting to see how it is going to be received. I just want to be absolutely sure that everything is in order.

It is good to have these catalog deadlines under my belt. I can get back to working on some of the other things that I really need to work on. I also want to get moving on my shoe and see how that will go. It will be fun to play with the Dremel and learn something new.

On a final note for today, I understand all the little bears from my Beary Tale have made it to their new homes in Apple Creek, Ohio. The girls volleyball team won the County Championships and they were each given a little golden bear to adopt. It was a wonderful experience to make these little bears knowing that they will be loved and appreciated. I am thrilled that they won the Championship too. Like icing on the cake. :)


Congratulations, Girls!
 
#1,072 ·
I Couldn't Do This Alone

There are so many different facets to having my own business as a designer. Drawing the pattern and making the prototype are just a small part of the process. Once those steps are completed, then there is the task of making the pattern packet. This includes photography and writing. It also includes laying out the pattern in a packet format. Then comes the marketing part. I need to decide whether it going to the magazine or directly to the wholesalers and for sale on my own site. If it is going to the magazine it needs to be packed up and shipped out and then forgotten for the next six months or so until it is published. If it is going directly to the suppliers and on my own site, I need to send the information to them and also update my own site. On top of that there is filling orders and maintaining correspondence and communication with not only the magazine and wholesaler, but also my customers. Then there is producing and maintaining an updated catalog as well as providing articles and tutorial that are of interest and can be offered on the site. All these things are happening on a daily basis and certainly fill my day.

I often receive comments as to how organized I am. After many years of doing this I found that the only way to make it work is to be somewhat organized. I am fortunate right now that I have a partner who assists me with some of these tasks, as well as introduces his own designs. Our styles are quite different and I think it brings another dimension to the company in general and is very positive. I believe that much of my recent success with my company is due to my partners' contribution. He has done the major backbone work on the site and is now in the process of compiling a completely updated catalog for fall which also will be presented in the next week. Both of these tasks are enormous and require a great deal of time and effort. As I see the progress on these two items alone, I know how very fortunate I am to have found such a person.

My own standards are quite high, as you may have realized, and it is very liberating to have someone working with me who constantly lives up to them and many times exceeds them. The more we work together, the more we see that things just fall into place as to the delegation of the day to day tasks. For many years I have worked alone and have had to do all these things for myself. I am humble enough to admit to you all that even though I did carry out what needed to be done, things weren't done with such polish and professionalism as they are being done right now. Many time I am asked "How can you do it all?" and I reply that I don't do it ALL. It is only with the help of my partner that I am able to do my work at the level it is.

Keith is also an excellent designer. I am amazed and very impressed at the level of his designs considering the short time he has been scroll sawing. It is a pleasure to work with someone so competent and talented. Although we don't agree on everything every single time, we usually come to a compromise which will be helpful to the company and our own interests. It is a very positive situation.

So why am I going on about all of this?

It seems that recently I have had a lot of people give me credit for doing everything. It makes me a bit uneasy. Although it used to be that I did everything, that is no longer the case. My partner feels most comfortable behind the scenes and I (as you realize) am most comfortable in the role that I have had for so many years with my company. I want others to be aware that it isn't just me that does all of the above things by myself. If my designs are better than ever, it is because I have the time to put into them because of the help and support I receive. I feel that the quality has been much higher than in the past because I can let go of the other aspects of the job for a bit and concentrate fully on the task at hand when drawing and producing a new design. There are still aspects that I do exclusively, but there are many times when I feel that things are covered and it makes things easier overall to concentrate and be creative. I suppose that is how a partnership should work.

As for today, I will be here at the computer for the day rewriting all the product descriptions for the new website. As I said, I took your advice and I am trying to include a rating to each pattern on the difficulty level. I have made it thorough 100 products so far and I hope I can finish the almost 400 products today. If I can achieve that then we are really close to finishing things up and being ready to publish. My partner already formatted the entire site and made things quite streamlined and easy to navigate. We hope that this will be a better experience for anyone coming to look for a certain type of pattern. We are also nearly finished with a brand new catalog that has been fully updated with over 50 new products. It is looking quite beautiful and I am very proud of it. It will be available for a free download on the site or I am going to print it and be able to send hard copies to customers who prefer it that way. It is all very exciting.

I have already set up the financial information and I believe everything is tied to the processor correctly, but I won't be able to test things in that respect until it is live. I am sure there may be a few corrections or typos that need fixing, as there is a large amount of information, but I believe for the most part things look pretty good. I also need to make the pattern packets up for the new products so they are ready when the site goes live. It is a busy but exciting week for sure!

So I am afraid that I don't have much exciting news for you all today. But I did want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank my partner for his part in making things so successful. I am a very fortunate girl.

I hope you all have a great day!
 
#1,073 ·
Sheila, Indeed you are so fortunate to be successful because you have them all. If you let me assess what have you been doing for years… I can say you are so persevering and having a lot of patience in owning the tasks. You really are a workhorse of the company. I do believe that you can organize it. Suggests that other tasks should be delegated and be facilitated by machines. I know that it will boom and if so, are you ready to cope with the demand? On your previous blog you mentioned back-up and plan B or C. Prepare for contingencies too. Don't get me wrong if I am too quick to suggest like this but I just want to help to best of my knowledge by relating my own experiences in the office where business is growing and demand is so high that we do train new ones to replace us on the tasks.

Good luck! More power. Take care of your health… your business cannot afford to let you be absent these days….
 
#1,076 ·
Every Day Isn't Exciting

Today's post will be short, I expect. Unless I start to ramble. I don't believe I have much to say that is exciting or very interesting.

I spent yesterday buried under a blanket of HTML working on the web site. Dawn to dusk if you will. (In between I made a meat loaf - but that was just to take a break and get away for a bit.) I did reach my goal though of checking each of the nearly 400 products and checking and rewriting the descriptions. Somehow it doesn't sound like much, but it certainly took a great deal of time. My brain was hurting.

Upon finishing however, I found that more things need to be attended to prior to publishing the new site. It seems that some of the photographs are huge and the new software doesn't automatically downsize the images the same way the older software does. So I need to go in preview mode and click on every picture to make sure it is not massive on the screen and correct the ones that are. I discovered this when I was checking on my dolphin segmentation pin and it took all of my 22" monitor screen and then some. YIKES! Many of the products such as the candle trays have 3-4 photos with them. So that is a lot of checking.

I also stumbled across the fact that the links pages didn't translate properly when migrated from the other site. They came in as text, not links and if someone were to click on one, it would take them away from my site and to the link. The problem with that is that I don't want people to leave the site like that. I don't mind doing link exchanges, but in the old site they are programmed to open in a new window, leaving them on my site too so they can come back easily and hopefully stick around and shop. This way, once they click they are gone. Anyone with any marketing knowledge at all knows that this isn't good for me. It is like pushing them out the door just because they are curious.

In order to rectify this, I need to hand code each link in. There are probably about 50 of them. I also need to check them and make sure they are still valid. I came across an event listed from 2008. (whoops!) I guess you can tell how much time I had spent keeping up with that part of things. Some days it is so hard to do everything. I need to get in the habit of checking everything once a month or so.

Oh, in a perfect world . . . . .

So I have no entertaining stories or exciting new projects to share with you all today. It's going to be just me, Mozart and the cats typing HTML today. If I finish that, I need to make the packets for the last three candle trays so I can add them to the site too. It won't be one of my most thrilling days. But it will be productive.

That's OK. I like Mozart a lot anyway. :)

Have a beautiful day!
 
#1,082 ·
Taming the Programming Beast

Yesterday is the type of day which should reinforce what I have been preaching all along - we follow where we focus. For those of you who are regular readers, you know that the past couple of days have had me doing what I wouldn't call my favorite aspect of the job - programming and data entry. Setting up the new site can be a tedious and daunting task for someone like me. I know enough to get by, but we all know how dangerous that can be.

I had set the entire day aside to finish up on some issues regarding setting up the site. My surroundings were clean and neat. I had nice background music picked out and a fresh pot of coffee. I was determined to make things as pleasant as I possibly could. And I am happy to report that things went surprisingly well. I actually almost had fun with it!

A couple of days ago I stressed the importance I felt of knowing how to do everything regarding my business. With a sole proprietorship, that is pretty much a given. However, now that I have a partner to help, there are some tasks that he excels in and others that I do. We kid each other and say that I am the "PR" girl and he is the "IT" guy because I do most of the customer contact stuff and he does most of the computer stuff. However, it doesn't mean that I don't want to know how to do it or what is going on. If I want to make a change or add a product, I want to be able to do it myself without having to wait and ask someone else to do it for me. I have been like that all of my life and that is probably why I have learned to do many things from laying ceramic tile to painting and drywall to installing a wood floor. Believe me, I am not expert at any of these tasks, but I do have a general knowledge and know at least the basics and make decent decisions regarding those things.

The new site software was quite intimidating to me because everything was so different. Like most of us, I am not very comfortable with change. I did realize that the change would be for the better though and now that I am almost finished with the set up, I am very happy and excited about it.

Yesterday was the first day I really got my hands into the meat and potatoes of the new site. I had worked on the order form which was a one time deal and also the basic product descriptions which were pretty much data entry work but I didn't really work with or understand the dynamics or layout of the site. Yesterday was my first opportunity to do so on my own and I found it surprisingly enjoyable.

I worked on the Links page as I said I needed to, and once I got into the swing of things, they went quite smooth. I got through the entire list and I finished everything by noon, which was a great surprise. I then added in the new candle tray products and really felt an understand of the structure of the site and how everything was set up. I don't know of the word 'relief' is the proper one to use, but I certainly felt a lot more comfortable working on the program and my fear of the new software turned into pleasure as it was quite easy to enter and categorize each product. I felt as if I had tamed the beast!

I worked a bit on my photograph files and got them into order. I am going to look into the software that was recommended to me for batch adjustments for the future, but these problems that I had were only spattered here and there and I think I pretty much fixed them.

I also needed to make a couple of additional adjustments on the order form, as some of the fields were incorrectly labeled and didn't make it over correctly in the migration. For example, when it asked your phone number it only offered a drop down menu of all the states from the US and Provinces from Canada. It was obviously wrong and not difficult to fix. I was able to streamline the ordering process a bit from the one I have presently and that made me feel pretty good too.

So all in all it worked out much better than I had anticipated. I had some errands to do in Yarmouth and spent the later afternoon and evening there and it was good to be out for a bit knowing that my major work for the day was finished and I had reached the goals I set for myself. Even though it rained, the sun was shining in my own little world.

So today it is time to do a final check and polish and perhaps by this evening I will be able to hit the "publish" button and go live. I also need to switch the domain name, which will take 24-48 hours so the new site won't be visible to the general public until their servers catch up. It may be a couple of days for some. But that will give me a chance to really see how things work, as some features aren't able to be effective until the site is live. Hopefully all the kinks will be worked out before the majority of people see things.

I am sure there will be small errors here and there, as it is just too much information for me to believe that everything is perfect, but I believe that for the most part it is good to go. It will begin a new era in the business and will definitely be a positive accomplishment.

I am quite excited about the possibilities!

Happy Friday to you all. :)
 
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