LIFE

I don't keep up on this because i don't think people look at it. I had two people tell me they loved my stuff on my blog the other day and didn't even think they'd look on here. So here's the skinny on my life right now. Life got crazier. I'm still working at Evolution Design. I am now the operations manager "booya". I still build a lot of wood projects. My summer got crazy with soccer games, work, hiking trips, and everything in between. I'm still loving life and  loving my wife.  I am blessed enough to have a few things going on right now that will maybe give me some steady side work. I'm still not in love with my shop space i got but we have learned to try and get along.  I lose more tools now because everything gets misplaced for some reason but it's exciting when i find it again. So if your here just checking my blog because you grabbed my card from my booth thanks for checking me out. If your family checking to see if I still use this "hey". I'm going to be working on maybe getting a etsy account soon but till then don't be afraid to call or email me. I'm a fair price and I'd love to make you something unique.

-cheers-

Board Game Notebook

Hello old friends and heya to new ones. What a busy summer I've had. First off if you came out to the market this year thanks for checking out my booth. I had a lot of fun and met some great people. So I made a few new things I'm hoping to catch up here in the next few months. 

          So here is one I just pounded out this evening. It's just a prototype so it's not fantastic. Repurposed game board turned into a note book. I try to make Bowes using board games earlier this year but I was having issues keeping parts of them together. So I need to use up a lot of boards I bought. I saw something like this awhile ago so I gave it a try. I will be making more soon.

A lot of the same

So in my last post I said I was moving and Kels and I were expecting another baby. Well life has settled a bit. We are all in good health and doing well. My hands have been idle for a while because I've been trying to set up a new shop.  I got it functional but not ideal. Here are some projects I've done over the last year. I'm mostly at this point just working on gardener market products but I got some things coming up.

Made this side table at work. Made out of a full slab of granite. Was way fun to make.

One of my market products. A box made from a board game. 

Bubble wands. I had to mod them a bit after this pic but they are fun.

Was going to be a coffee table but decided to just have it be a piece of wall art.

Just a selfie of me having fun in the shop.

Signs and coat racks.

Single hook coat racks.

More coat racks.

Coat racks and a letter station.

iPhone docks from pallets.

Flatware necklaces packaged for market.

Flatware windchimes. 

I'm really focused on doing good this year at the market. I plan on venturing out of the valley and going to some bigger markets. Thanks to everyone who supports me and helps me go forward.

-Cheers-

Blah...Blah..Blah...

So yeah I really don't do good at taking photos for my blog.  I built quite a bit in 2012 just didn't take a lot of photos.  Well here's the skinny on whats going to happen in 2013.  Kelsie (my love) and I are moving.  Kelsie is having a baby in July and our little home is just that little.  We will be moving into my mother-in-laws rental home for awhile.  To any friends out there who read this we will miss you and you should keep in touch unless you are glad to see us go then don't.  Any who that means my shop is getting packed up for a few months.  I guess it doesn't matter I can't go outside as it's been 0o outside for a while now to cold to build.  So yeah beside I don't post a lot in the first place don't expect anything for a while now.

Flatware Bracelets

 Okay for my crazy story.  At the beginning of the market season I was doing bad.  I wasn't getting anybody to really buy my stuff.  Well not enough to make it worth going every week.  The thing that really got me was that I there was lots of people coming and buying stuff but not my stuff.  So instead of giving up I looked at what people were buying.  Jewelry and there were lots of booths selling jewelry.  So I went home and thought about it.  what could I make that nobody else was that would get people to notice me.  Well I like my silverware coat hooks and silverware wind chimes so I thought flatware bracelets.  Went online and looked some up and came up with a design I could do.  So I made maybe fifteen and went back to the market. BOOM BABY that was it.  I sold almost all of them.  So I made more and once people looked at my bracelets they started to look at my other stuff.  I started to do good after that and it was all fun after that.  I now do necklaces and rings but didn't take any pictures once I get my stock built up I will take some photos.

 These are some of the first generation prototypes.  They are a better looking now and easier to make.

Windchimes

 So at the beginning of the summer I had a hard time getting people into my booth.  It got frustrating.  So I thought that if I had a wind chime that I could smack once and awhile and get people to notice me they would come check my stuff out.  Well it sort of work.  I made one for show.  Instead I had someone want to buy it.  So what do I do, Sell it of course.  Well then I made another and agian sold it.  So then it became another item.  They weren't the most popular but they were fun

 A muffin pan and silverware.  I did this one a couple of times it was a fan favorite.

I thought this one would sell fast but it didn't old wrenches.  I have modified it a little since this photo.  I think I might just keep it for myself.  Or just keep hanging it someone might get it someday.

Signs and Coat Racks

 Summer is now over and so is my stretch at the Gardeners Market.  I had so much fun at the market and got to meet some great people.  I got some fun stories I will share.  Most likely you won't care but they were good times for me.  To start off this was my main product so to speak.  I made so many of these coat racks and signs.  I didn't even take pictures of all of them, mostly because I made the same ones over and over.  If you are interested in any of these I can remake them in any color just as a to let you know.

 So my big seller was coat racks with birds on them.  Had to do with some TV show.  Well I got tired of doing so many birds I'd mix it up a bit and do some different things.  One of my favorite ones was this octopus.  I liked painting the one on Ethan's bed so I wanted to do it again.

 Besides the fact mustaches are the big thing right now who doesn't like a mustache coat rack. 

So everyone has a vinyl board in there house that is inspirational.  I wanted to do it but with style i guess.  So instead of vinyl that peels off I painted mine which means my are permanent.  Then I did a rustic technique I learned to make them my style.

 I had this lady come in to my booth and give me some knobs she said she had just laying around.  This is one of the coat racks I made with them.

 This is my sign.  I made so many of these.  People loved them.  I loved them.  I don't think that I ever brought one home after I made it.

 This was my bird design coat rack that sold the best.  I did it in so many colors and with so many different hooks and knobs.  These knobs were also donated by the same lady.

 Just mixin it up.

 I did this one a couple of times.  One guy traded me a box of produce for one.  There is acually a billboard in town with this quote on it.  Kelsie loved the quote so I thought it would be a good one for one of my signs.

 So Ethan got in this habbit this summer of going around and telling me " I can't".  Know matter what he said "I can't" drove me crazy.  I would tell him over and over how do you know you can't you havn't tried.  I saw this quote and had to do it.  I had it for a long time.  Then I got to trade it with this awesome guy I met at the market.  He made these belt buckles out out recyled bike parts and metal. 

 I got a lot of comments on this one.  I thought it was a fun design.

 Towards the end I was doing many different bird designs.  Can't complain if they are going to sell.  i liked this one a lot.  The more I do the more designs I want to try.  Next year is going to be even funner and I'm already working on my stock.