Travis

Halloween is over and Christmas is right around the corner. Scrollers are starting to think about gifts and patterns to cut for loved ones. But since the Holiday season is also about helping others in need, we thought we'd continue our own tradition here at Scroll Saw Village as a way to give back. This will be our 4th year of publishing an e-Book full of Christmas ornaments. These ornaments will be exclusive to this eBook and designed by our talented SSV members. Folks are can download the ebook in exchange for a donation to their favorite charity. My hopes is that we'd be able to raise some money for very worthy causes, and provide some cool patterns at the same time. You can see what we put together last year here. So I'll need some volunteers to design some ornaments. Each designer will provide 5 patterns (no more, no less) I ask that the designs are not made available anywhere else (this gives value to the e-book) Designs must be emailed (or PM) to Travis by November 27th (info below) A few things to keep in mind: Religious and secular designs are accepted. Other religions/traditions also celebrate this time of year, so lets not forget them. Keep detail and size appropriate for an ornament. The due date will sneak up on you quicker than you think. Get them to me ASAP. What do you get in exchange? Credit for your design. The warm fuzzy feeling that you're helping others in need. Submitting your ornaments: Email the ornaments directly to Travis (travis [at] scrollsawvillage.com) or PM me. Formats accepted are JPG, PNG. Please keep the pattern in black & White only (no gray) . That way I can convert them easier when putting together the ebook. I'll also accept Inkscape files (SVG). This is ideal if you know how to use Inkscape. That way there is no conversion. I'm designing. Are you? So who's in?

I had a couple people ask about the SSV Supporter renewal. The supporter badge (and benefits) doesn't automatically renew every year. I hate it when I subscribe to something and the website automatically assumes I want to renew and charges my credit card. I'm sure you're the same way. So SSV doesn't make those assumptions. I have it set up to where you get notified that it's time to renew, but won't automatically renew. You'll have to come in and add it to the cart and check out, etc. to extend your support. If your membership expires, your renewal email won't work. It'll say something to the order of the invoice is expired or has been paid. All you need to do is click the Support SSV link in the navigation bar (or click the Remove This Ad link below one of the ads) to go to the store. Add the supporter badge to the cart, then check out like you normally do. For those who don't know what the SSV Supporter badge is, basically it is a way to show support for SSV so we can keep the lights on. We don't have the luxury of being backed by a major publishing company. The servers, domains, maintenance, software updates, etc takes a lot of time an money. This is just one of the ways we can offset these costs. When you support SSV, you get some nice perks too. You can find out more info here. I want to thank everybody who has supported SSV, both monetarily and in participation. I really appreciate your help. I love seeing the great interaction of friends who share the same passions. Every year, you guys amaze me with your talent and friendship. Happy Scrolling!

I think it requires flash. It seemed to work fine for me.

The Lifter is advertised on this site too. They have a banner at the top, as well as a link in the Hot Deals & Announcements. He has a coupon code for 10% off that expires on Nov 1st. You can find his thread here: http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/topic/6481-arm-support-for-the-dewalt-788-delta-40-690-scroll-saws/?hl=lifter

I think that might be Christina's pattern. Nicely done!

Here it is! http://hidenseek.viquagames.com/hidenseek/play/travis-workbench

Howdy all. One of the goals I set for myself (and SSV) is to write a number of articles geared toward the newbie. These would be basic skills & information to those new to the world of scroll sawing. I'm even kicking around the idea of shooting some videos demonstrating these skills/info. At any rate, the first one I'd like to do is about transferring patterns to your project. There are a ton of different methods and we all have our favorite. Some people have some really clever ways of doing stuff that we wouldn't normally think of. I'd like to hear about them. So, this is where I need your help. List as many ways you can think of for transferring patterns to your project? Which is your favorite and why? Thanks for your help!

Nicely played!

Howdy. I'm working on the new cover for our upcoming "Ornaments For Charity" drive, and I'd like to put a few pictures of some cut ornaments from this ebook. Have you cut any ornaments from our ebook? If so, can I use them? Please post a link to the picture or upload it to this thread. If you'd like to cut one of the ornaments for the cover, I'd be open to that too. I don't have room for too many. I might put 4-6. I'd just like to have some options. A link to the ebook is: http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/ornaments-for-charity.html Thanks, y'all.

The best way to think about keywords is to ask yourself what you'd type into Google to find your website. So yours might be: handcrafted, toys, handmade toys, wood toys, handmade, natural, reclaimed, waldorf (this is a very specific kind of toy, so only use it if that's what you made), fun, earth friendly, non-toxic, play, imagination... Jump onto Etsy and look at other toy makers and look at the keywords they use. That should point you in the right direction. Now, there is a term called "keyword stuffing" which basically means you're putting keywords in there for keyword sake to boost your Google rating. Google is smart enough to figure this out and will punish you. So when you write up your descriptions, be sure to use key words appropriately and in a natural way.

Keep the pics coming! I'm really enjoying seeing the progress.

Basically, what you have is a solid shape (the cross). The outline of the shape is what you want your pattern to look like and the inside is transparent/empty. What happens if you Union a shape on top of that, it'll union the solid shape of the cross, not the outline. So what you need to do is make the outline your shape. To do that, select your object and choose Path>Stroke To Path. Now only the outline is your shape, and you can union another shape onto that outline. It's really hard to explain, but give it a go and you'll see.

Nope. This wasn't directed to you. The other day, 100+ threads were bumped, which buried current conversations. You only bump a couple every once in awhile, which is awesome because you find some real gems. You don't have to worry. You're doing things just fine.

I agree with Don...especially on the "Scraps" part. Here's a few things I'll throw in for your consideration: Website: It takes awhile, as Don suggested, for Google and other search engines to crawl your site. The idea is to use keywords and quality links so they understand what your website is all about. On your main page, I'd bring up your text to the top of the page and the pictures below. The thing that says "Hand Made Wooden Things..." That's all a graphic. Search engines can't read that and those are where all your keywords are. I'd use regular text for that so the engines can read it. Your page title Should say "Aeon Toys - Hand Crafted Wooden Toys" This new title is full of quality keywords that Google loves. Your About and Mission Statement should be only 1 page. Be conversational in your writing (you currently are) and be sure to use good keywords like; handcrafted, wooden, toys, heirloom, quality, safe, etc. Remove the disclaimer about adult supervision. That just says that your toys can't be trusted. create a page of nothing but toy pictures. Include price and a description of a few sentences. These sentences will have a ton of great keywords. Create a Contact page with all your info. Hyperlink your email address too. Even if you do a webform, show your contact info anyway. Lastly, you probably won't get a ton of sales directly off your website. But it is a nice place to point people to so they can see more of your work. Most of your sales will come from word of mouth, etsy, and socail media. Etsy. I love your banner. That's great! Write more about yourself in the introduction. Be sure to use keywords that folks would use for a search. Write good descriptions. Have a lot of stuff posted on your Etsy page. Keep posting new stuff. Instead of posting 10 items in one go, post those 10 items over a day or two. That keeps your stuff in the feed and more likely to be discovered. Join an Etsy Team. they're full of great advice. Take a look at the Etsy Blog and Handbook. Lots of great info. Read some articles on product photography (lots on the Etsy blog). Honestly, the photography sells the items better than the items themselves. Etsy take a lot of work to make it work. It really is tough to sell a ton of stuff. so there will be a lot of legwork. Use social media to promote your stuff. Social Media. If you don't have a Facebook account, get one. Then create a Facebook Page so you can update your clients of new items added to your etsy store. Link to your facebook page on Etsy and on your website. It's a great way to connect and keep people reminded that you make cool stuff. Tell all of your friends and family to "Like" your page. Tell everybody you know about your FB page and Etsy Store. These people will help promote you, like you, and share your posts. They'll also most likely be your first customers. Treat them well.

Happy Birthday, I hope you have an amazing day!

I came to SSV today to read about the goings-ons with SSV. I came to 4 pages of bumped threads from really old discussions. Unfortunately, nothing was added to the conversation other than "thanks" and "interesting." I'm probably not alone in thinking this is annoying. Especially when current conversations get buried 4-5 pages deep. Here's where I'm torn. I really like it when folks go through the archives and discover new items. I like it when they bump the thread if it contains really good info, or if they have something to contribute to the conversation. Sharing knowledge is awesome! That's the reason I started SSV. I don't want to discourage anybody from bumping old threads. But please don't get carried away. Some threads are just better left in the archives.

I bet if you turn something like that into a charging station too, you can sell those on Etsy and make a little extra cash.

I've looked into the Epilog lasers before. I don't know a ton about them, but I know a tish. Epilog is probably the biggest/best known. Someday I'd like to get one for an engraving business.

Rusty Bucket Bender (The robot from Futurama) The Swagger Wagon Tin Titan Tacky Shack (My old basement workshop was lovingly dubbed the Tacky Room.)

If anybody wants to organize a ornament exchange this year, let me know. I think that would be a lot of fun. Also, keep an eye out for SSV's annual Ornament Pattern Charity Drive this November. It's an annual event where we assemble an eBook of ornaments in exchange for a donation to your favorite charity. I'll post details on November 1st.

Yup, just upload it to the New Patterns section. I'll keep an eye out for it and will move it right away. Just to clarify, our mature patterns are non-nude and non-explicit. They tend to be more suggestive or pinup style. It sounds like your pattern will be fine though. So for now, upload it to the New Patterns section and I'll move it. Thanks!

I'd use liquid nails. That stuff works on everything.

Huge Dr. Who fan...can't wait to see it come together!

Nope...not me...just a cool gif.