jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks, Spring, 2010: The Video

Check out all of my handmade wooden art at Design Style Guide and Etsy.

Participating in the I Made It Blog Party today, Thursday, June 10, 2010.

You, Too, Can Be Self-Employed, version 2010

Another year has passed by, so it's time for my annual pilgrimage to the local 7th grade Reading classroom for another "You, Too, Can Be Self-Employed" talk.

Each year I go to the Alvarado Junior High School in Alvarado, Texas, to the Reading classroom of my beautiful wife, Debra. I first gave this little talk in 2004, when I told the kids all about being a graphic artist and how important reading is in that job. Since I began doing this I have stopped being a graphic artist and started being a woodworker. So, a couple of years ago, I changed the talk, splitting the time between one job and the other. And this year I spent far more time talking about woodworking than graphic design. Obviously it's important to be able to read as a woodworker, right? If I can't read the operating instructions for my power tools I could do something wrong and lose a finger. Or a hand. As a drummer for the past 41 years I have to say I'm not in love with that idea. And I'm not a Def Leppard fan, either.

There were lots of intelligent, thoughtful questions during the day, and the usual goofy 7th grade questions as well. It was fun, and I may have inspired one or two kids to think about woodworking, at least as a hobby and possibly as a career. Only time will tell.

I brought props, some candle holders I've built, along with some unfinished wood so they could see the difference. Finished wood looks and feels so different than unfinished wood, so I felt it was important to see both so the finished product could be appreciated.

It was interesting to see how many kids had no idea what my tools were called or what they were used for. Several kids told my the router was a sander. That would make for some interesting sanding jobs.

Some kids knew the tools and understood their uses. Some had relatives who worked with similar tools. My goal with this presentation is to get all the kids talking about what I show them and then the cross-pollenization begins; Questions are asked of me, or of each other or of their teachers; Curiosity breeds learning. This is a great way to teach. It's a great way to learn.

Just like last year, I finished off the talk with a look at a Design Style Guide slide show. I'm an administrator of this group of artisans and I put this little tour together to promote what other members are creating. I wanted to show them that there are lots of other things they can do at home besides woodworking, lots of other Arts and Crafts self-employment opportunities out there. I think this little video makes the point in a hurry.

If more professionals in our communities took the time to go into our schools and pass on a little knowledge, or at least a little inspiration and wander, our children would be in better shape to make career choices and be encouraged to get better grades. If this opportunity is available in your community I urge you to take it. These kids will be taking care of us some day. I think it's pretty good idea to help them along the path, don't you?

Assembly Table: Mostly Finished

I still don't have the drawers built, and lots of tools still need to be reorganized, but here you can see the table with much of the clutter removed.

The chamfered edge has been sanded, and I'll apply a coat or two of polyurethane in the very near future. The poly will protect the surface and make everything just a bit slippery so it will be easy to move projects around as need. I could easily wax the surface if I wanted to make it slicker still, but I don't.

I have also moved the drill press arm from it's old, temporary location to this new spot, mounted high above the drill press itself. A higher mounting point means more stability as the arm will be used in a more vertical manner than before. This is how I designed it in the first place, knowing it would eventually live in this new location. the thing is mostly made of 1/2 inch plywood so it can flex a bit if needed. It works best when it doesn't have to support much of it's own weight at the same time.

Here you can see the arm from the side. It has a shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand to hold the vacuum hose in place. I used it about an hour after this photo was taken and it worked great with no adjustments during the operation. I always had to fiddle with it during use in the old location.

Now I must clean up a bit more, then start building the big star for Trevor's school group. After that I have a couple of things I need to do for my online marketing team, Design Style Guide. I'll be participating in the Easter Give-A-Way, and I think I'm going to build something specifically for that event.

When I'm done with those things I'll start building my router table. It will replace the right extension wing on my table saw. I've been itching to start this for the last few months.

Assembly Table Continues

I now have a top on the table. I used 3/4 birch plywood for the top.

The shelves are 11/64 inch plywood. The lower shelves are reenforced with 2x4 material spanning the space underneath, while the upper shelves are reenforced with 3/4 birch ply under the front and back, and from above on the sides, where the supports also serve as low sidewalls to keep things where they are intended to be kept.

I finally have a permanent home for my drill press. I'll move the support arm for the vacuum attachment in a day or two, and I'll be done with that. I'll also be routing a slight chamfer onto the edge of the table this week. The table sits at the same height as my table saw, so the chamfer will be of some benefit when I'm ripping long stock and need to use the table as outfeed support.

The first thing I'll be doing tomorrow is cleaning up and moving a few things out of my shop... like the display unit that looks like a ladder. Those weathered boards standing up on the table top are the shelves that bridge the rungs of the ladder. These pieces will have a very nice, comfortable home right next door in our cozy little storage building.

Next I'll build the drawers in the center section, but I'll have to wait a while to get started because I have a couple of other projects which must be completed first.

Assembly Table Progress, part one

I'm building an assembly table against the back wall of my shop. The building is VERY overcrowded at the moment. I'm stepping around stuff and moving things every day so I can reach the walls and floor and build this table. It's not much fun doing things this way, and the photos are difficult as well, but this is what I have, and it will be fine in the end.

This unit will consist of the table top (natch), a bottom shelf on both ends and the two sections beside the ends, and a middle shelf in the two sections beside the ends. The center two sections will eventually hold some drawers. The bottom shelf will hold an air compressor on one end, with no middle shelf over it to allow easy access. And I'm building the other end of the table the same way in case I have need of easy access to some other tool I haven't considered yet. And I have no idea whatsoever if any of that description was clear. There will be more photos, though, so that should take care of it.

Right now I have most of the framework built. I would have been further along, but the weather has been so cold lately it's been very difficult to work. It was 8º F here in North Texas a few nights ago. It's hard to pick up a drill driver or use a hammer when you can't feel your fingers, and my heater just doesn't have enough power to overcome that sort of arctic blast.

There will be more photos later, and I will update you at that point.

BeachyRustica: Design Style Guide Artist Interview

Okay, wood fans. I'm making a commitment to blog more in the coming months. Right now, however, you can read an interview I conducted over at our new Design Style Guide Community blog. Check it out. You'll get to read about the beautiful drawer pulls you see here. The artist is really an... well, an artist.

Getting Wood

I have this friend in Alvarado, another woodworker named Tim Marko. When I met him he handed me a card for the sawyer from whom he buys all his hardwood. The sawyer's name is Fritz Hannaman, and he lives about 10 miles away from me, on a little road outside of Mansfield, Texas.

Tim showed me several projects he's built with wood purchased from Fritz, and the wood was, in every case, as beautiful as Tim's craftsmanship. That's no small feat, either, as Tim is very good at what he does.

I figured I should head on over and see what I could find of interest in Fritz's shop. It turns out I found pretty much everything there to be of interest.

I picked up all the wood you see in the back of my truck last week, paid Fritz $43.00 for the whole pile. He even threw in some black walnut off-cuts he was going to use for kindling, charged me nothing for them.

I got lots of black walnut and some spalted pecan. I can't wait to use the pecan!!! I've already milled up some black walnut legs for a few candle holder blanks I had sitting on my bench. The stock he gifted to me was superior to the black walnut I had used previously, so I made the legs a bit taller to show off the wood.

I'll buy more wood from Fritz, and in the near future. He actually sells a lot of the wood from his small mill to the Rockler store I have been buying from. Going to Fritz directly will save me tons of money. I'll still shop at Rockler for tools and hardware, but Fritz is now my go-to guy for all things hardwood.

This new-found source of wood presents me with a new problem: Soon, and for the first time since I joined Design Style Guide I will have more products for sale online than I have spaces available to display them at our team website. What to do, what to do...

First Monday Trade Days, Weatherford, Texas, May 30, 2009

Saturday, May 30, 2009. The birthday of Tony Bartolowits and Jamie Ezell, two people you've probably never heard of. It was also the date for the June, 2009 edition of First Monday Trade Days in Weatherford, Texas.

Rachel Bates was there, in her usual location (K44) with her TileSmile wares, brightening up the scenery with her beautiful smile.

She had lots of foot traffic at her corner of the pavilion, though lots of that traffic was male. It seems that men stop and look at her tiles all the time, but they never buy them. When women stop there is a good chance they will make a purchase. I'm not sure why that is, but it could be because the men want a closer look at Rachel. That's only a guess, mind you.

I was also located in my usual spot, that being #K3, under the pavilion. I had company, this time in the form of Ellen Kreager instead of my wife, Debra. Debra was home, resting after a hectic week of school, and Ellen wanted to test the waters in Weatherford, selling her leather pillows, which are also available online under the name of Thunder Moon Designs. She has some absolutely beautiful pillows for sale, most of which I had not seen before.

Once again, I used my tie dyed t-shirt display as a flag pole, if you will, to call attention to our shop. It can be seen for a long distance, which is perfect in a crowded place like this. I have a hole already drilled into the top so I can add an actual flag to the display later. This will be a tie dyed flag, naturally.

I've decided I need a different display so my candle holders get more attention. I have a couple of tables set up at every event, and I built a small display to show off some of my products and separate them from the mass of wood and wax on the rest of the table. What I need, though, is to get the candle holders up in the air, in multiple layers, instead of all on the same plane, sitting on a flat table top. The way I have displayed my wares at every event I've ever attended, no one can really see them clearly at a medium distance, much less from across a crowded parking lot like we have in Weatherford.

I need to catch the attention of passers-by at a reasonable distance, and to do that I need to build a new display fixture. And I have drawn inspiration from the "step-ladder" fixture Ellen set up to show off her pillows. It spreads out wide, so it's fairly stable. Her version holds three shelves, so it can display lots of merchandise. And the ladder folds up for easy transport and storage. I figure I can have a slightly wider version ready to go for the next show in Weatherford, which will be on July 4. I'm looking forward to getting in the shop and building this thing.

Last time we were in Weatherford we had, for all intents and purposes, a yard sale next door. It was unpleasant. This time we were graced with Sheree Gailey and her cousin, Sarah Gailey, and later with her daughter, who's name I do not remember (sorry). They were selling purses, designer sunglasses, wallets and keychains. And they were fun to be around, easy on the eyes, and good company when we weren't talking to customers. I honestly hope they show up again, and I wish them much success. They had more sales than just about anyone in our area, and all of those sales were to female customers, obviously.

I had four sales Saturday, three of which occurred after I had packed almost everything away to drive back home at the end of the day. I sold two shirts and two candle holders, and I took a picture of the lady who bought the first shirt of the day. I don't know her name, but she was in her 60s, was really cool, and she had bright red hair with hot pink highlights! Unfortunately the pink barely shows in this photo.

So, next time in Weatherford I should have the new display built and ready to put to use. And I would love to have Ellen with me again, and to have the lovely ladies selling purses and accessories next door.

Rachel will be in Tennessee on the Fourth of July, so her space will be empty. But I will be in attendance, candle holders and t-shirts at the ready, to help bring a bit more beauty and joy to the world as we know it.

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If you make Handmade Home Decor Items, come and join our team by clicking on the image below. Not only will you be able to network with us, but also you will have the ability to post your listing on our team website.

Martine Petra

I'll be moving the interview I conducted with Martine Petra soon. I'm moving it to the Design Style Guide team blog so it can live with the rest of my interviews. As a matter of fact, all the interviews on this blog will be moved to the DSG blog within a couple of months.

In the meantime, you should check out this bit of beauty by Martine Petra. I love this photograph, and it's for sale, so maybe you're the one to buy it?

And while you're visiting Design Style Guide, read up on this cool contest.

DSG North Texas

On Saturday, April 18, 2009, three of the charter members of the DSG North Texas group met for the first time at La Madeleine on South Cooper in Arlington, Texas. And there was much rejoicing.

Present at this meeting were Ellen Kreager of Thunder Moon Designs, Liz Ballard of Lizardo Art, me, Liz's boyfriend, Ben, and my wife, Debra. Soup and sandwiches were eaten, tea consumed, and we talked for 90 minutes or so about DSG, Texas, our North Texas group, how to go about promoting each other's work, craft shows, interior designers, etc.

La Madeleine was a surprisingly good place to meet, even if they didn't have a private room. When I was still a member of Etsy Texas Crafters we met at a different La Madeleine, in Fort Worth, and we had a room to ourselves. That works better, but this was fine. On a Saturday afternoon there are lots of people stopping in from the Parks Mall, but they don't stay very long, and nobody bothered us while we were talking.

What will come out of this meeting and a couple of discussions in our online networking group is a plan of attack, a flexible idea of how to sell our own work while promoting the work of the other members of DSG North Texas. And one of the most likely ideas to come out of this will be attending en masses the various craft shows in the area. This will require reserving booth space next to -- or at least near -- each other, talking to customers about how something from another member shop will go well with whatever they are looking at in our own shops, and having fun with the customers while taking the whole concept seriously. I know this works because I've seen it very successfully demonstrated at comic book conventions and science fiction conventions.

I have really good feelings about this group. A few more members will help us spread the marketing message out to enough customers for the idea to take hold, and I have some candidates in mind, but this can work even with the three members who attended this meeting. We're all intelligent, we all want to increase our sales, we all produce high quality consumables, we all have hair on the tops of our heads...

Okay, not really sure where I was going with that, but I do know we can succeed, that this will work for us. I left this meeting with a big smile on my face. I can't wait to tell Kristina Law, our Design Style Guide Big Cheese in Charge, all about it!

First Monday Trade Days, Weatherford, Texas, April 4, 2009

This time out we had great weather in Weatherford! Now if we can only figure out how to keep Debra from frying in the sun...

This recounting of events will be short, due to my tight schedule this week and next. I'm building a set of shelves for a client in Irving, some drawer fronts and a cabinet door for a friend in Fort Worth, a pair of closet organizers for my son (haven't started that one yet), and I have to do some work for my mother today, Wednesday.

We made a few sales, had a lot of interest. Oddly we sold no woodworking at all, though lots of people were looking. The big display I built for the tie dyes caught everyone's attention, drew people in to our booth, but I have to tweak the setup a bit next time so the shirts don't obscure the candle holders. I think many people completely missed the rest of our wares, seeing only the T-shirts.

Rachele Bates of TileSmile fame (also a fellow member of Design Style Guide) was present, along with her friend, Beth. They had a better setup than we did, and they had more sales. From a distance you could see everything in their booth. Okay, maybe you couldn't see every tile they had for sale, but you could see that they were selling tiles, and you could see it clearly. That's very nice.

I'm considering placing the T-shirt display farther out in front of our booth. It will eventually have a tie dyed flag on top. By placing it way out in front it will still draw people toward our booth, but they will be able to see the woodworking as well.

Next month's space is already paid for, and we're expecting sales figures to climb again. And we'll be adding more shows in other cities as the year progresses. Maybe we'll be in your town sometime during the next few months. Look for us!

Meals on Wheels Benefit Show, Mineral Wells, Texas

On the 14th of March, 2009, Debra and I attended the Meals on Wheels benefit show in Mineral Wells, Texas. We took all my candle holders and most of my T-shirts, and we attracted a lot of attention. Very little of that attention was from customers, but we made out just fine anyway.

This craft show was designed to benefit Meals on Wheels of Mineral Wells. Unfortunately it rained for four days leading up to the show, which was held at the local rodeo arena, which has a dirt parking lot, which turns into a lake of fine, silty mud 1 to 3 inches deep in the rain. Not the ideal situation to encourage folks to take time out of their busy weekends for the purpose of buying candle holders and tie dyed t-shirts.

When we arrived, our Honda Element was reasonably clean. Driving the 50 yards from the street to the building was all it took to change that. And it took a pressure hose and lots of elbow grease to get it clean a few days later.

They let us drive right into the arena, set up wherever we wanted, and then we parked the truck outside and got to work arranging our merchandise in the most eye-catching manner possible.

A couple of days before the show we bought a 5 foot long table that folds in the middle. It fits behind the back seat of our truck. It worked out great, so we'll be purchasing another one soon, probably before the next First Monday show in Weatherford, Texas. We need the second table so we don't have to use the two saw horses you can see in this photo. Beautiful, ain't they?

As the day wore on, some of the venders left so we moved our tables. Twice, actually. We ended up right beside a vender we'll probably be dealing with for years to come.

We didn't make one red cent at the show. We actually lost money because we bought three candles from a great vender called Brown Sugar Antiques, and we bought our lunch. But we did get to listen to some truly horrific Karaoke that made me want to run a rusty ice pick through both my eardrums, so it all evened out.

Among the items that were being auctioned that night was a guitar signed by Willy Nelson. Also on hand was a Willy Nelson look-a-like. It was interesting seeing this guy just walk in, unannounced, and begin inspecting everyone's shops. It was funny to see people's reactions.

As I said, we didn't make any money at this show, but we picked up two jobs, possibly a third. I'll be selling three dozen t-shirts to one guy, and Brown Sugar Antiques wants to do some business with me as well. I'll probably be designing a candle holder just for the candles they sell, wholesale that to them, and they will be making a small scented candle as a refill for the ones I sell with my candle holders and I'll send all my clients to them. Their candles smell great even after burning them for two weeks.

Next weekend is the April show in Weatherford. I'll update that event right here after we get back.

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Interview with Kristin Love

I have interviewed Kristin Love, a potter from Washington. The interview is posted on the official Design Style Guide blog right now and I would appreciate if you would not only read it, but leave a comment and maybe even link back to it from your blog or in a forum.

Thank you very much.

Featured

I have written a piece for the Design Style Guide blog this week in which I talked about four Etsy shops and the beautiful art they produce and sell. And now I've been mentioned by one of those artists, in her blog. Thanks, Liz, of Lizardo Art fame, for the recognition. I appreciate it.

First Monday, part four

Wow... it was really cold and windy in Weatherford, Texas, last weekend. Seriously cold! Apparently the good people of Weatherford thought so as well. I know they didn't turn out to buy anything.

Friday we got our tables set up in space # K25. Next to us in K24 was a guy known as "Cowboy" who makes furniture and picture frames out of reclaimed wood, mostly from demolished barns and fences. We were the only two people under the pavilion and were all the way on the other end of it from the nearest booth, a metal sculpture guy who was setting up all day against the fence out by the road. And we sat there all day staring at the ground, reading, talking... certainly not selling. A grand total of six people dropped by our booth, and one of those was under five years of age.

The good news is that we figured out the best way to set up and display our wares.

Saturday the wind was high and it was below freezing until almost noon. I'm fairly certain I lost a couple of important body parts to frost bite. We set up on the ground this time so potential customers would have more room to move about and take a look at everything. The only problem was that, other than Cowboy, we were still the only people on our side of the pavilion, and since we were facing away from the rest of the venders, and were partially shielded by the pavilion itself, no one could tell we were there.

I talked to the nice ladies at the office and changed our location to the other end and other side of the pavilion, next to Rachel, a friend of mine who makes handmade tiles. She has a great Etsy shop called TileSmile. With a little tweaking we have arranged to have similar spaces near each other for the next few months. And we want to get the pavilion filled with artists, so come on out if you fit that description. And if you don't fit that description, come on out anyway and buy something from one of us. You'll be glad you did, and you'll probably get a really good deal.

It was still really cold all day Saturday. Most people were just rushing around trying to stay warm, which makes you wonder why they were walking around in the 35 mph wind in the first place. We had 25 or 30 people stop by our booth and we made one sale. But we saw enough to realize it will be much better as the weather gets warmer.

I took a short walk through the rest of the booths around lunch-time. There was the usual mix of crap and art, and people were buying the crap because it was cheap. I think they were just buying something to justify walking around in the bitter north wind.

During the day we found out about another show in Mineral Wells on March 14, this one benefitting Meals on Wheels. It costs us nothing for booth space but they are asking for either a donation at the end of the day or a donation of an item for their auction that evening. I spent part of yesterday and today building two candle holders to donate. They are both one-of-a-kind.

And so our adventures in craft shows have begun. At the end of this week our local school will be on Spring Break and Debra and I will be in Mineral wells, indoors, selling candle holders, bookends, wine rests, and maybe a few T-shirts. And I'll let you know how that goes.

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If you make Handmade Home Decor Items, come and join our team by clicking on the image below.

Not only will you be able to network with us, but also you will have the ability to post your listing on our team website.