And Now... For Something Completely Different

As I told my lovely wife, when the Craft Fair is over, I'll focus on the living room. It has been several weeks since we had decided that it was time to do something. Our little two year old had ripped off a couple pieces of the old wallpaper already. And by pieces, I mean sections. This stuff is older than I am and came off in full sheets. Unfortunately, it has sat that way since then as I've been a little pre-occupied. But with the show over and Christmas looming, now is the time.

I got the primer put on today after spending most of yesterday removing the last remnants of wallpaper and patching some small holes in the plaster. I have even got the first coat of paint on most of one wall. This is the same wall that is going to be receiving the new DVD shelf that I liked in one of the latest editions Family Handyman Magazine. I'm going to build this out of some Oak that I've got and coat it with my very favorite Boiled Linseed Oil. This will give it a nice warm look that will compliment the Athenian Green that we are putting on the wall.

pictures will follow...

Show Results

Well the show's over and here's how it went:

I think that overall it went pretty well. The only real disappointment were the cutting boards. To high a price or lack of interest, I'm not sure.

The cigar pens did pretty well, as did the wine bottle holders. The turned tree ornaments probably did the best, including the newer ones that were made last night.

Now to figure out where to go next.

New Stuff

Yeah, that's right. It's 11:54 the night before my show and I have just finished making several new tree ornament designs. None of these look the same, not that they are supposed to, and that's what I like the most about them. Free form designs where I can just let the creativity flow.

...and in about 9 hours we'll find out if anyone else likes them!

Nice Savings in Time for the Holidays!

I've been wanting to buy a chuck so I can start making some bowls and other items on the lathe. I've been watching for some sort of sale and I got one today!

List price: $119.99
Sale price: $69.99
gift certificate that I've been waiting to use: $25.00
free shipping on all orders through 11/29/06 saves another $10.25

brings my total cost to $44.99!

And it should be here Tuesday or Wednesday.

Sneak Peak

3 days to go...

Would you like to see what my display may look like? Ok, here we go.

First up, here's a shot of the wine bottle holders that I have talked about but have yet to get a picture of. This shot also includes the business cards that my friend Jeremy made for me.


This is a shot that shows a bit more of the table setup. The actual table being used on Saturday is two feet longer than this, so I'll have a little more room. As I was trying to focus more on the actual crafts, I bought the pen display box at Michael's... I can't build everything.


And here, you can see the very few tree ornaments that I have available...


Over the next two days I hope to get a few more things done, but I'd say that for the most part I'm ready to go with what I've got.

Enjoy!

Bang Your Head...

4 days and counting...

yesterday I prepped two new ornaments. BOTH of them broke apart today as I was working on them. BOTH of them... grrrrr. where's the brick wall... I need to bang my head.


On a positive note, my friends showed up with a small gift for me tonight. It's not my birthday, and it's still a bit early for Christmas, so I had no idea what it could be. They made me some business cards for my show! I had thought it would be nice to have something like that, but with the time cruch I'm under and all I figured they would have to wait.

Thanks Mary & Jeremy!

5 Days and Counting

The cutting boards are done!
I can make more pens, but I think I have enough for now.

Now to focus on the home stretch. I cut all the pieces I need for another eight wine bottle holders. These should go together fairly easily.

I've got two ornaments gluing up, and another smaller one piece ornament that just needs a finish applied.

A couple hours each night with some additional focus on Friday's day off and everything should be fine.

7 Days and Counting

Ok, so I've got just over a week now before my inaugural craft fair. I've finally got a grip on the cutting boards, no problems there. The cigar pens are now in full swing and I hope to finish most of them tomorrow (assuming the rest of the family doesn't think I am ditching them). I think I'd like to make a few more of the wine bottle holders. My gut tells me that as the lowest priced item, these could have a decent chance of selling well. And then there is the Christmas tree ornaments. I'm not sure I'll have as many as I initially thought I would, but I think I can still double the number that I've currently got available.

I passed out a few postcard reminders today at the real job to some people that have shown an interest in what I'm doing. That will hopefully secure a couple of visitors to my table.

All in all, I think I've got a pretty good grip on everything right now... We'll see how I feel about that come Monday!

Time to get Serious!

ok, I've got 14 days before my first ever craft fair. Let's do a quick review of inventory, shall we.

~ I have less than half of the cutting boards done that I want to finish.
~ I have a third of the cigar pens that I'd like to get done.
~ I have a few of the wine bottle holders (that I still haven't taken a picture of) done, and I think I'd like to at least double what I've got.
~ I haven't even started making any new tree ornaments...

I've always thought that I work better under pressure... I just don't know why I do this to myself!

Stay tuned, it's gonna get exciting!

Not Sure What to Say

I had mentioned once before that I was first introduced to woodworking while in school. In my junior year of high school, I built a rather large bookshelf made of Rock Maple. As with everthing else I had ever made, this bookshelf was given to my parents.

My parents are currently redocorating their house a little bit and they let me know that if I wanted this bookshelf back that I could have it. I thought about it a little bit and decided to go ahead and pick it up this past weekend.

I have to admit that I haven't really looked at this bookshelf since... well since I made it. While considering to pick it up, I had visions that this bookshelf was built with the same attention to detail that I have with my current projects.

All I can say is that my little fanasty of picking up this "antique" is not what I thought it would be. There are rough spots that weren't sanded out. There are pencil notes on the underside of shelves. I'm a little disappointed...