jerrybritner

Hey Steve You and I think alike, as I agree with you one hundred percent...a customer who paid twenty dollars for one of our pieces in the first hour of a show would not be a repeat customer if someone purchased a similair item in the last hour of a show at a much lower price...I and the wife do shows all over our state however last summer we did several shows in the same area and kept our prices uniform across the board.. I think if I were to go up or down I would do so in the off season for us the months of January through March....

For several years I had a booth out at a local flea market, and dearly loved the flea market family most of whom I am still very close to, friendships don't sell product however nine times out of ten, and as Travis stated flea market folks are use to flea market pricing which is usually well below fair market value. For instance there was the time I was literaaly giving one of my pieces away for twenty dollars, a gentlemen to be polite said he would give me five dollars, my German temper raised a little and I told him that before I sold the item for five dollars I would destroy it with a hammer...so as I have read before if you are out to sell your art work flea markets are not the place to do it... Like Kadar2 I am horribile at pricing my work, I usually can't even give a good guesstimate..and would undersell myself nearly everytime...our business is not like selling a pair of shoes where you can go on the internet and search for the price of a similar pair and whoolah you have a price figure, around here I will put a price on and item and my wife will usually raise it by doubling my price. I think the promblem is I don't see in my work what my wife and kids see in my work..Anyway my wife must be in the ballpark as I am having very little problems selling my art on the festival circuit...so I will continue to trust her judgement...but I like the formula Travis layed out in the orginal post...

Hello Ray welcome to the "Village" we have two things in common we both love scrolling, and you are a pastor and I am a retired pastor...suggest going into the Village University and take Travis' class on Gimp and Inkscape....they will get you started and hooked on designing your own patterns...

Welcome Austin, I can only echo what has already been said...do yourself a big favor and take the time to do the courses that Travis has put together in the Village University..the course is free and Gimp and Inkscape are also free so you have nothing to lose and so much to gain. One thing I will say is that the higher the quality of the orginal photo, the easier it is to pull a pattern from it... There is plenty of free patterns on this sight and more is added daily..I also cut a lot of Steves patterns as well as patterns by Arpop...they have an excellent pattern of John Wayne...as far as paid sights I think most here will agree the best pattern designer in the business is Sue Mey....my profile picture is a cutting of one of Sue Mey' patterns "Tiger In The Leaves." Mikes workshop is a good place to shop for blades and drill bits.... I learned this art by trial and error, mostly error which is not only time consuming but expensive as well. As Kevin says you have found a "village" of artist that are more than willing to share their expierence in our art form...don't be shy about asking for advice.... Again welcome may you come to love this art form as much as the family of artist here at the village...

Good evening everyone, I have been around scrollsaw village for over a year now, and learned to draw patterns through the village university in Travis' class on Gimp.. In July of 2012 I established Breighner Woodworking and have a facebook page under that name..what I wanted to pass on to my friends here is a web sight called Festival Network Online. There you will find listings with all the information for craft festivals and shows all across the United States, they allow you six free searches with all the information, membership is around $59.00 per year. Members also have an online store on the sight should they choose to make use of it. I have been a member of the sight since July and have not been disapointed...

Good morning, happy New Year, I also think the key is doing what you love to do, and if you make a few dollars in the process well that is nice as well..I do craft fairs and festivals around the state of Oklahoma, and have found that part of the problem with selling our art form is the confusion between lazer and scroll saw..selling actually becomes a teaching session, however once people understand the difference between the two processes they are more apt to make a purchase.. However like it has also been said you aren't going to get rich selling your art work, I have been able to cover expenses and if lucky make a dollar here there and yonder. So once again it goes back to doing what you love... Welcome back to the village...

I can't say I am a pattern designer equal to many of those here in our little village, yet I do dabble in pattern design, and sometimes even pull off a good usuable pattern, Travis is and excellent teacher on both Gimp and Inkscape, I like that when I forget a step sometimes four, I can always come back to the village and take a refresher course. I have learned that the better the orginal picture the easier it is to pull a pattern, and likewise the opposite is true the poorer the quality of the orginal the greater difficulty it is to pull a good pattern. At the art festivals people are forever bringing me small poor quality photos of pet Fido or Uncle Bobby Joe, sometimes as I have learned you just have to say no. For instance at a Tulsa Oklahoma show recently a customer brought me a small photo of a favorite pet that passed ( my favorite subject matter) however in this case the photo was faded, the lawn gave the picture a dark background, so that her dog blended in with the background, try as I might I just couldn't pull a usuable pattern from the picture...

I usually get caught up on what I am working on an forget time then the numbness in my hands and legs start ringing the break bell, I think that taking a short break (five minutes or so every thirty minutes or so is perhaps a good idea to keep the blood flowing

I agree with Capt. Lucky Travis has put together a great step by step course on using both Gimp and Inkscape in the Village University....Don't become easily discouraged with a little practice and time you will be amazed at the patterns you will be accomplish.

By the way I think it is interesting that the first ones to welcome me here in the village are from places where I have deep roots...I lived in Tiffin Ohio as a teenager and was born and raised in Saint Petersburg Florida. Not sure where Crestview Florida is however I moved here to Oklahoma City around twenty years ago from Orlando where I worked in the laundry of the recently opened Walt Disney World... Sure is a small world made smaller by the internet...

Hey Thanks for throwing open the welcome mat, so when is the pool party again chuckle... Actually Kevin the flea market is working well for me of course it could always do much better..I have a saw in the booth with supplies so simple projects like name signs can be done while the customer continues to shop. More complicated projects are done at home and I try to deliver them the next weekend...with a notation that I don't rush any project so if it takes longer it takes longer what can I say. I also maintain and artist privilege clause where I have the freedom to change things up bit if I choose.. Portraits I am allowing myself two to three weeks so I have elbow room to play around with it..Still wet behind the ears on this part of the business.. That being said like you have read a thousand times over on the internet flea markets are not the best venue if you are attempting to get a fair market value for your projects. For instance decorative wood plates that I have seen on the internet selling for fifty dollars I am getting around twenty five dollars for the same plate. Craft show booth rental at least in these neck of the woods start around one hundred and twenty dollars for the weekend if your lucky. I get a good size space front row across from the doors and the office for the entire month for just a little more than that. So it doesn't hurt so bad to settle for a little lower price than usual. If anyone wants to see pictures of my little shop go to the Golden Goose Flea Market page on Facebook and bring up the pictures for Pa Pa's Woodcraft Emporium

Guess it is about time I introduce myself I am Jerry Britner "Pa Pa Okc". Three years ago I started out making small jewelery boxes and took five or six of them out to a local flea market for sale...Three years down the pike I still have three of those boxes the others were given as gifts.. Two weeks perhaps before Berry Basket shut down their site and sold out I stumbled on to their site and was flabbergasted by what I saw..I was like a kid at a toy store looking in amazement at what could be done with a scroll saw whatever that is...So I ordered their CD and the rest is history as they say I now have a small shop in a local flea market well stocked with projects of every description.. My partner in the shop and I have a standing joke someone will stop by and ask us to create a special project for them and of course neither of us know the meaning of the word no so we answer sure we can do that then whisper to one another we ca do that can't we?? Hats off to Travis for the tutorials on using Gimp it has taken my work to much higher level one day I will sit down and go through the tutorials on Inkscape..

When I first got into this about a year ago, a well versed scroll saw veteran wrote in an article two things that stuck with me. And I might add make my life on the saw more enjoyable and less stressful One pattern lines are only suggestion markers its OK to get off line. Second mistakes add character to the piece. Only you will know the error of your ways, unless you point them out, so sit back, breath, sip sawdust tea, and enjoy this art form to it fullest. Pa Pa

I noticed that a lot of those that have offered input have put a thumbs down to the flea market arena. And some of there comments are right on track flea marketers are looking for bargains and the better the bargain the more likely they are to become buyers. However that said I have been at a local flea market for three years now and have found it a good place to jump in and get your feet wet at a cost that doesn't break the bank. Recently my partner and I added a scroll saw to our booth so the customers have a better idea of the process of the art which provides them a little more appreciation for our form of art work. Having the saw in the booth also allows us to provide on site name plaques and other forms of simpler art which acts as a drawing tool into the booth. Pa Pa Oklahoma City