1st fall craft show this year

[TerryT]

We just had our first fall show for this year and it turned out very well. I guess the economy may be starting to come back a little. Maybe the promise of the coming election, I don't know. I do know that it was in the top two or three all time shows for us. We could have done even more but we sold out on the two most popular items. Now the problem is re-supplying everthing we sold in the next week so we can be ready for the next show. I don't know if I can do it or not, we are gonna try.

The guy in the booth next door told me on Saturday that he had some wood in his garage that he wanted to get rid of so he brought it in to me on Sunday. It was a 6 foot 1x6 of 4x4 koa and another of something I haven't identified yet. It is extremely dense and heavy, very dark with redish color. I know the koa is worth about $40 for the 3 board feet of 100% heartwood.
Good luck, if you are going to be doing craft shows on through the holidays, besides the fun you might make a few bucks this year.

[myshop1044]

Terry T, I am in the same boat as you. I had 3 successful shows and not much time bwtn them to restock. The last one, this weekend was very good.
I was able to sell some items that I have been carring for a while and like magic they sold. My 2 best sellers, the coasters and yard signs went like
fire. I am in he shop right now with Boo and Thib. working nonstop. Boo is handling the coasters and Thib. is taking care of the yard signs. The finishing
will be hardest to do in time for Friday and this doesn't count the orders I have and that might come my way. But this is fun when the selling goes so good.
I will have about 3 months after this ,to sit back and take a good look at what I want to create for next year.
Most people were very impressed with the products that I was able to make with the CW, I even have 2 men instrested getting a machine.
I hope you have a good season and good luck.

Perry B.

[DickB]

How about some pictures of your popular items?

[TerryT]

I don't have many. The only reason I have these is I just thought about pics as we were putting these last two in the bag for a customer. Funny thing is, although we sold several different items, including a cribbage table, the majority of sales were for these guys. I had six at the show. They all went for $45 for the recipe box including sales tax and recipe cards and dividers and the tea box's at $40 each including sales tax. We also sold out on the folding cribbage boards (6) @$40 each. I didn't get any pics of the folding boards. One each of a couple of other things. We started including sales tax in the price that we we don't have to dig for change as much, just easier that way.

[myshop1044]

DickB, if you go to my web site and look at my gallery, I have many coasters, yard signs, address signs.
I also sell possiblies at the show. They see what I have made and then start to ask "can you make a sign with this on it?"
I have many after show orders. The small desk clocks that support the area colleges do well also.
Some of the POM do well. The Black Forest Mini me project went fast this weekend, they were small and well done,thanks to MT,
They are not quick sellers, but when the right person walks in the go.
This weekend is Catholic school festival, one day and parents come out and support the school. I will have a lot of religious articles,
praying hands plaques, last suppers, samples of the the stations of the cross, again sell possiblies. I also did a few yard and wall plaques with the
school logo to show them to the parents and take orders.

Perry B.

[henry1]

DickB, if you go to my web site and look at my gallery, I have many coasters, yard signs, address signs.
I also sell possiblies at the show. They see what I have made and then start to ask "can you make a sign with this on it?"
I have many after show orders. The small desk clocks that support the area colleges do well also.
Some of the POM do well. The Black Forest Mini me project went fast this weekend, they were small and well done,thanks to MT,
They are not quick sellers, but when the right person walks in the go.
This weekend is Catholic school festival, one day and parents come out and support the school. I will have a lot of religious articles,
praying hands plaques, last suppers, samples of the the stations of the cross, again sell possiblies. I also did a few yard and wall plaques with the
school logo to show them to the parents and take orders.

Perry B.
Can I ask you what the desk clock went for price wise, I have no ideal what to charge here, were I live people just don't want to spend the money, lol

[myshop1044]

The clock inserts cost me $9.50, the corian 4 x4 was free,scrap, carving time with setup was 12 min. round off the price and I double it.
People around here support their collages and want to display their colors.
I just setup a 4 clock set to match my coaster sled ( 8 x 8 ) and all four run 25 min carving.

[henry1]

The clock inserts cost me $9.50, the corian 4 x4 was free,scrap, carving time with setup was 12 min. round off the price and I double it.
People around here support their collages and want to display their colors.
I just setup a 4 clock set to match my coaster sled ( 8 x 8 ) and all four run 25 min carving.
This clock cost 9.50 http://home.customcarvingsbyperry.com:81/wp-content/gallery/custom-projects-clocks/thumbs/thumbs_carvewright-industrial-clock-032212-001.jpg the pattern on CW cost 40.00 is that were you got it

[chebytrk]

Hey Terry,
I recognize the patterns, but not the boxes. Is that box pattern something that you came up with? They look real nice.



I don't have many. The only reason I have these is I just thought about pics as we were putting these last two in the bag for a customer. Funny thing is, although we sold several different items, including a cribbage table, the majority of sales were for these guys. I had six at the show. They all went for $45 for the recipe box including sales tax and recipe cards and dividers and the tea box's at $40 each including sales tax. We also sold out on the folding cribbage boards (6) @$40 each. I didn't get any pics of the folding boards. One each of a couple of other things. We started including sales tax in the price that we we don't have to dig for change as much, just easier that way.

[DickB]

One of the reasons that I ask is a forum member is considering this as full-time employment. Would you be willing to offer your opinion on that? For the items that you make and sell, can you estimate what your hourly wage would be if you paid yourself?

[ladjr]

Terry

Really nice job on the boxes. You have some great ideas

[myshop1044]

Henry1, what you posted is not the corian clocks, That one just the insert was quite a bit more and the price
was quite a bit more. it took a while to find the perfect person for that clock, but I did sell it at 4 times the price
of the corian clocks. Again the right person for that price.

Perry B.

[TerryT]

Hey Terry,
I recognize the patterns, but not the boxes. Is that box pattern something that you came up with? They look real nice.

Hi Jerry. I felt that most boxes were too time consuming with miters, dados, etc, so I tried to come up with the most simple to build but good looking box I could and this was it. They carve and build fast, seem to sell very well and you can make a good profit on them. They will be on our site as downloadable projects in a day or two with the patterns you see in the pictures.

[myshop1044]

DickB I'm not sure I'm the one to be talking about full time employment. I am retired, I do this a a hobby. Sometime during the year it turns into a full time job. I do 3 or 4 craft shows in the spring and 3 or 4 more in the fall. I have come up with a price od $.30 a min carving time or $18.00 and hr. weather you consider that an hourly rate I don't know. It will cover my maintence time for the machine, then add the cost of the material and cost of paints, sand paper,etc.
At some point you can price yourself out of the picture. If I can keep myself in expense money that is good enought for me.

If I get a custom project, I have $50.00 up front fee for design, For the price of the design fee I will give them 1 carving out of foam for looks and adjustments. If they are happy we go from there. I then add the wood or whatever material at double the cost of the material, plus the carving time. I also consider any patterns I may have to buy. I then double that total cost , minus the design fee ,and that my way of getting a price.

[TerryT]

One of the reasons that I ask is a forum member is considering this as full-time employment. Would you be willing to offer your opinion on that? For the items that you make and sell, can you estimate what your hourly wage would be if you paid yourself?

I'm no expert but what I can tell you is this;
We have income from craft fairs and shows that range anywhere from $50 to almost $1000 for a weekend. Just depends on what your selling and where. Sale items need to be approriate for the venue.

I use $20 per hour as my time/labor estimate. What it really works out to in the end I can't say for sure. However, I make a profit on materials and machine time as well. My bookkeeper (Kathy) tells me retail sales of carved items has increased by 300 percent over last year, with our "unique gifts of wood (http://uniquegiftsofwood.com)" website and participating in craft fairs and shows. As was stated earlier, most of the sales come in the form of custom orders after a craft fair. Wood Wisdom, as a whole is up 56 percent over last year.

As far as making a living? That would depend on alot of things. It wouldn't work as a sole source of income for me but it may for someone else.

[TerryT]

Terry

Really nice job on the boxes. You have some great ideas

Thanks Leo. I hope your machine issues are resolved.

[ladjr]

Thanks, but machine still not fixed I'm waiting for parts.

[cnsranch]

Perry - do you use the $18 per hour for your finishing/sanding/assembly work as well?

[cnsranch]

Here's another question......

How to price lithos? A sign is one thing, a litho is "magical". Plus, you've got added material costs, a light source, etc.

I'm thinking about charging per square inch. Say you've got a litho with the Corian measuring 5x7, and another measuring 8x10. If you charged, say, $2 per square inch, that would make the smaller one $70, and the larger one $160.

Couple images as examples below....

What do you think?