Clarkston Results (it could've been better)

Weather: Wonderful
Crowds : good
Venue: Excellent
Sales: Pathetic

What can I say. You can lead customers to your product but you can't make em buy.
I haven't totaled up the receipts yet but I don't think I even made back my space rental.
Very disappointing. What were the reasons? All the factors were perfect. Plenty of potential customers but they just didn't buy. In the first three hours I made $14! I know my product is good. I am very proud of it. I know it is fairly priced. But folks just were not in the mood to buy it even though they had high praise for it.
I think I'm going to focus on just the lower end items from now on. People just don't want the good stuff. They'll buy a 6 to 8 dollar word art, a $8 to $10 puzzle, but they aren't going any higher. The same people will spend $25 to $50 on costume jewelry. They know what they want and I ain't got it.
Also I know that my displays in a word SUCK! I tried to build some new shelves to display stuff
but they weren't big enough and steady enough in the wind. One blew over and broke about half the stuff on it. I need help designing and building displays. Any body got any ideas include them in the comments section. As Bones used to say to Captain Kirk "Damn it Jim, I'm scroll saw artist not a carpenter."

Getting ready for Clarkston

Here are a couple of beauties I cut this weekend to sell at the Clarkston art and craft show.

People seem to really like word art and I think these should sell easily for my asking price.

Which brings to a delicate subject...Pricing. I have constantly been told I am way under pricing my stuff. I guess it all goes back to a lack of self confidence and underestimating what people will pay for things I made. But that is changing and I have to say I am no longer undervalueing my work. Today I sold a little piece of word art called "Home is where the dogs are". I made it special for the lady who sits next to me at work, one of what my wife calls, my "girlfriends". I told her it would be six dollars. She insisted in paying me ten. Gradually my wonderful test market ladies are teaching me what my work is worth. I've got to start getting it and this is going to be the weekend. I don't negotiate on my prices. I remember one crafter telling me that when people ask him how much less he'll take then what he's asking he says "actually the price just went up!" Don't think I could be that bold but I aint goin down either.

So for the show this weekend I've been concentrating on puzzels and word art. Will take last years left over Christmas ornaments. And, of course my wildlife wall art. And this being 4th of July weekend I hope to sell a few patriotic things to. Military ribbons and such. Wish me luck.

It's the first big show of 2010 for me. If it goes well, I'll do more. In any case, the scoll saw will always be hummin.

The Wizzard of Westwood

At first glance this looks like something Yogi Bera might have said. But when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Quick is good. Quick is decisive. Quick wins championships. Hurry is caused by desperation. Hurry causes mistakes. Hurry means turnovers. Hurry can cost you the game.
This is a quote from the great John Wooden, the greatest basketball coach and teacher this country has ever produced. You probably know that he passed away last week at the age of 99.
If you never saw him coach or watched one of his teams play you really missed something. I was in high school during the high point of John Wooden's career. It was amazing. It seems like his teams NEVER LOST. And they seldom did. They went 88 games without losing before Notre Dame upset them in South Bend. They won 10 national championships in 12 years! Nobody has ever done that. Not Dean Smith, Not Bob Knight, not Coach K (I can't spell his name either). John Wooden won all those national titles having to change players every year.
Back then freshmen could not play on the varsity so he only had Kareem Abdul Jabar (then Lew Alcindor) and Bill Walton and others for three years! His teams were so fundamentally sound it was ridiculous. They weren't flashy. They didn't dunk (it was illegal back then anyway). They used the back board and banked their jumpshots in because Wooden taught them how to use the angles. He taught them not only basketball but Geometry as well! They played a zone press defense that hounded teams into turn over after turnover. John Wooden would never let his teams over celebrate. They never beat their chest and said "look at me, Look at me" like today's players. They just beat your brains out with sound fundamentals and walked off the court afterword with their heads held high, because they knew that this one was over and another one was coming up and John Wooden always said, "You have to do it over and over and over again". Those of you who never saw him coach or one of his teams play, I encourage you to research this man. Learn the principles of his pyramid for success. You will learn why he was far more than just a basketball coach and why, sadly, we'll never see his like again.

Inspritational Word Art

I have been in to word art a lot lately. People seem to get such a kick out of it. A lady at my real job asked me to design the piece you see here. It was the theme of her church's retreat weekend. She wanted 3 originally, one for her and one for her pastor and another as a gift. I had a feeling when the others on the retreat saw them I would be making more. Sure enough, last week she came to me with orders for 12 more and that was just a start, she said. Another freind of hers had a weekend entitled "Still I Rise". If I get as many orders for that one I will be able to pay admission fees for several shows this summer and fall. That's all for now but there is another post coming right behind this one. So please read on.

Ahhh The Simple Things

A while back one of my wonderful test market ladies at work asked me to make something for her two daughters with their names on it. Well, we thought for a while and one of the other gals came up with the idea of a small coat hanging rack with their names on top. So I made her a couple before I knew it I had orders for three more. Then another and another and so on.

The one in this picture is a little bit fancier than what I usually do. I usually use the old fashion wood shaker pegs, but Grandmother decided she wanted something a little different so she picked up these glass knobs at Home Depot. They sell for about eight bucks a piece as opposed to about 40 cents apiece for the shaker pegs so it added considerably to the cost. But I'm sure she feels little Grace Elaine is worth it.

By the way, sorry for the lack of posts lately. Guess I just haven't been bitten by the writing bug till tonight. Cheers...

Forsooth! Thou dost fine scroll saw work.

Behold, a portrait of old Bill Shakespeare himself. It is not a self portrait, but rather one done by myself in 1/8th inch oak plywood. Portraits in wood are quite popular among scollers. It is amazing how close you can capture the image of some one by converting a photograph of them into a scroll say pattern. I have cut patterns of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Judy Garland and more and they are great fun to do. Some are very simple, like this one and others are very complicated.
Now...before you ask me if I can do one of your Dad, Son, Baby, dog, Grandfather or someone else I must ask you to consider the following:
First of all I do not have a system yet for turning photographs into cutable patters. There are a couple on the market but their cost is a little to high to justify my purchasing them right now.
But I must say I am tempted because cutting portraits is a lot of fun. I know of a guy on-line who will make a pattern from any photo you give him...at 25 dollars a pop!
The second thing is, when people find out what you need to get paid for these they just look at you kind of stunned, swallow hard and say "Well never mind then. I'll pass." Most of the scroll saw artists that I know of sell portrait cuttings for from $75 to $1oo dollars framed and at least $50 unframed. Let me know if you think it would be worth my while to look into some pattern making programs for portraits. I am tempted. I just need a little push.

Hey Kids, remember this one?

Found this pattern while looking for something else. Have had it for about 18 years or more so decided to cut one. A friend of mine hand drew this pattern and was kind enough to give it to me. I was going to make a ton of them and sell them at spring craft shows for $10 each and make a small fortune. Well, best laid plans...., but I plan to take it to work tomorrow and see it gets any action. I am going to offer them un painted becaue I think painting is half the fun. will Charge $7 unpainted. Happy Easter everybody.