Iguanadon

And for the record, for those sitting there thinking "Just pull everything up on your phone!" Sure, that's somewhat handy, but imagine sitting in your rental condo or house with 6 people trying to decide where to go eat... Yelp, Tripadvisor, etc are OK, but it's not easy pulling up the menus of 21 restaurants and sharing and comparing. The hotels and motels are ecstatic that I'm making this guide. They get asked dozens of times every day and night from guests where they should go eat. And as mentioned, the rental condos and houses, at best, have a basket full of outdated take-out menus. Old school is coming back into play. Internet/phones simply have too much to try to sort through. 2019 is going to be amazing when I expand it to beyond restaurants. I want it to be the "go to guide". No other pamphlet or booklet dedicates a full page to every business. I can't wait to start selling it in starting in September.

On the maps, coupons would be ok, but yep, couldn't do them in the guide/book... Each place gets 1 copy. They'll have to pay for replacements.

What's funny is I do all of this between 7am and 5pm. I don't do any puzzle cutting or anything else in the evenings and I cherish my 7 1/2 hours of sleep every night.

Good thought about coupons. I leave that up to the restaurants. Most, if not all don't really need to do them during the summer season, but it would be great to offer discounts for residents during the off-season.

Seriously, this one almost knocked me out... Way too aggressive of a timeline, but it's getting done. Oh, and I may be changing jobs within my company which will mean a little more "actual work", but still work from home and no travel, so that's good.

Well, I've been so busy with my new map business that I have not cut a puzzle in over 2 weeks... The map came out and it has rave reviews, folks love it. So I've been distributing it and getting it into the hands of tourists at key locations. Then, literally 3 weeks ago I came up with an idea... What's the most common question by visitors... "Where should we eat?" Not an easy decision when you don't know your options... so, how about a Dining Guide? Full page per restaurant showing their entire menu. Many hotels, motels and rental houses might have a basket full of take-out menus, many of them outdated. So something consistent and easy to read is needed. Each page has a similar layout and design. Key information about the restaurant at the top, then show their entire menu. Page after page. Rather than wait a year I wanted to get it created this summer. By July 1st in time for the next major holiday. So, I spent 4 days visiting every restaurant on the island and got 21 of them to sign. Then I had to create each of their pages, keying their menus and now my wife is formatting and making them look nice. Printing begins this Monday and then I have to bind them (myself)... 800 copies for every hotel, motel and as many rental condos and houses as possible. Images show my map, front and back and my new dining guide. I had 2 printed as prototypes to check the thickness of paper, colors, etc. It's been quite a whirlwind. Next year, the Dining Guide is going to become the Everything Guide (not the real name) which will include Restaurants, Bars, Ice Cream Shops, Retail Shops, Entertainment and Lodging... I can sign just about every business on the island in theory. I'll start the selling process in September so I can have it created and ready for distribution in March. Goal is to sign 100 businesses to be in it in 2019. If I'm successful at doing that I'll be able to let Mrs. Iggy quit her day job. Whew, I'm exhausted... Oh, and I'm still selling puzzles every Saturday at one event or another. Glad I stockpiled over the winter. Iggy

Welcome Rick. Nicely done. I cut that same bunny within a bunny puzzle out of 3/4" thick pine for kids to paint and play with. I started with those... and then moved up to these that I cut form Poplar... Be careful, puzzles are addictive...

I've actually done both. I always would pack up all my puzzles and take them with me, leaving the tent and tables overnight, but once, I decided to leave everything and just zip up the walls of my tent. The venue was only 4 blocks from my house and I knew the cops were watching over everything. I arrived the next morning and a freak windstorm had hit about midnight and just about blew my entire tent, tables, displays and puzzles away. Fortunately some nice folks reinforced my tent and I only lost 2 puzzles due to damage. Lesson learned, never do that again. P.S. For a typical 1 day event, my setup time is down to about 45 minutes but I take my time and it takes an hour. Tear down is only 25 minutes. I'm nothing if not efficient.

After the threat of a rainy holiday weekend, we dodged the bullet and had great weather yesterday (and today). Week #1 of the farmers market went very well. Big crowd, lots of vendors and I broke a personal record selling 42 puzzles during the 8am - 1pm event. I've averaged 27 each week the past 2 years (about 24 weeks). Next week I'm going to experiment by not taking my "kids puzzles" that I sell at half the price of my signature puzzles. I simply need the table space now that I've expanded the sea critter collection so much with several new CAROLINA BEACH and KURE BEACH options. I enjoy making the kids puzzles, they're quick and easy and they are a bit sentimental in that they are what I started scrolling for my grand-daughter. But I want to see how it goes without them for a couple of weeks.

It was perfect, thank you Jim. Another instance of "If you need help with ANYTHING, just ask on SSV, someone is likely to have the ability."

Nicely done Roly, however the image is now low resolution. If you're interested in playing with it again, I can email you the hi-rez version if you can save it as hi-rez and send back, shoot me an email woodcraftbyscott@gmail.com Thanks!

Thanks Jim, I just emailed it to you.

Hey gang, I shot this photo last night and caught it just the way I wanted, including the wave... then I noticed the cab of the truck peeking over the grass just below the wave. Do any of you geeks have the skills to photoshop it out and blend in the water to replace it? I can email the hi-rez photo if necessary. FYI - it was fireworks night last night and the truck belonged to the company doing the fireworks, they shoot them off from the beach. Thanks Iggy

My wife's favorite entertainer... she's still slightly in mourning since his death.

Anybody go to the event in Ohio yesterday/today? I just got a call from Harvey Byler Sr. and he said that Harvey Jr. attended yesterday and met Steve Good. I had mentioned Steve Good to Harvey Sr. a couple of times letting him know that Steve is kind of a "guru" of scrollers and is very popular and has quite a following, so it was kind of cool that Harvey Jr. got to meet him. I just wondered if anyone from here happened to go and saw an Amish gentleman wandering the event. He'd have been obvious in that he was the only one not taking a selfie.

I use the Amish font... Harvey Byler hand draws every one of mine. LOL

I had someone who saw me at an event contact me and ask me if I could put anything they want in the animals and I said "sure"... I've done names, I do beach towns, etc. Well she has 2 beach homes and sometimes like boats, folks name their beach houses. So she asked for FLIGHTED DESIRE and LUMINOUS OASIS in a couple of beach critters. Then she mentioned that she's a realtor and likes to give her clients a gift when they're closing on a new home and asked for one that says RUPP FAMILY. All done as non-puzzle and I'll glue the animals to the bases once they dry. At first I didn't really enjoy making non-puzzles, but they're starting to grow on me as I cut some now and again.

And that someone will also post a comment making me have to see what someone said.

Sorry - Ignore... duplicate post

Today was the 1st annual Woofstock dog festival... Strike 1 - It's the first year of it Strike 2 - It was originally scheduled in April but got rained out and this was the reschedule date so advertising/marketing was thin leading up to the new date. Strike 3 - They charge $10 admission So, I still came home with $410 in my pocket, but only sold 17 puzzles. I didn't take the usual batch of kids puzzles that I sell 2 for $25 because I wanted to display more dogs and from that aspect it worked out well, but overall the event was slow. It was only 4 1/2 hours long so at least I'm home at a decent time. No more new events... no more "festival" type events without first attending to see if it's worth signing up for the next year. I'm fully booked the rest of this year with "sure thing" events, so I don't have to waste my time at other events this year. Local farmers market cranks up 2 weeks from today. Looking forward to staying near home for a while. Funny/Odd thing though... A woman came up and was looking and said to her son "Ethan, look at this one, it's cool." And I asked "Did I hear you say his name is Ethan?" She confirmed and I reached over and showed her an Elephant with the name Ethan in it that I use as an example to show people that I offer custom names. She said "OMG! I love elephants and with my sons name in it, it's perfect!" She bought it. LOL Iggy

Ha! Hey JT, you're a funny guy... give it to the dog to solve! LOL It's a very good question and you'd have to see the folks when they walk by, see the animals and their reactions. It's really quite fascinating. Women and men, they all are just kind of mesmerized, curious, fascinated to see cute little animals. A lot of times people don't even realize they're puzzles until they try to pick one up and it "wiggles". Then when I point out and explain that they're puzzles they're even more amazed and then I tell them that they're individually hand cut and the conversation really takes off. The women usually are fascinated due to the "cuteness" of the dogs or other animals. Men are fascinated by the precision and detail of the cutting although they also get all soft-hearted when they see their favorite dog breed. Dog owners are the most passionate and they are the reason I take 70 breeds of dog with me now to every event. When they ask for and see their breed, their hearts melt. However there are a lot of people that are simply in love with elephants, giraffes, mermaids, unicorns or dragons and simply MUST have one. Out of the 242 total sold this year so far, 72 of them have been dogs or 30% which is consistent with 2017 total sales of 33% dogs. Then of course living at the beach, the sea critters are very popular, especially now the ones that I make that say CAROLINA BEACH and KURE BEACH in the bodies (my local island) The simple kids puzzles I sell at a lower price point account for another 28% of total quantity sales. I do my best to ensure that everyone takes the time to look at all 140 different dogs/animals because I'm almost positive they'll spot one that either they are passionate about or they know someone else who is. I sell them as "They all stand upright and are meant to go on a bookshelf and look nice." That's literally what I say, to every single person that comes up to the booth. I've definitely hit on a cuteness factor and Harvey's amazing artwork and attention to detail in the dog breeds and other animals hooks them. I also hear all the time "Wow, this is so unique! I've never seen anything like this." Just another 'wow' factor to go along with the cuteness factor. I'm sure we could get some psychologists hiding behind a curtain at a couple of my events watching and listening and figuring out the psychological nerve my puzzles have struck. But until then I can only guess. Iggy

Three events in the books... Event #1 - Goal of selling 100 puzzles - Sold 97 Event #2 - Goal of selling 100 puzzles - Sold 96 Event #3 Today - Goal of selling 50 puzzles - Sold 49 Coming up a little short, but at least my goal/expectations are within reason. Today's event was unusual in that of the 49 sold only 4 of them were the kids puzzles which I sell for 1/2 the price of my main puzzles. So, dollar wise I did better than usual which was nice. Event #4 next Saturday, WoofStock dog festival. Goal of 50. Let's see how much I miss it by. :-) Then I have a week off before my weekly Farmers Market begins Memorial Day Weekend. Iggy

Maybe I should bet on the upcoming Kentucky Derby... Last Saturday - Sunny 75 degrees Forecast for this Saturday - Sunny 76 degrees Forecast for next Saturday - Sunny 77 degrees I'm guessing I'll get rained out of 4 farmer's markets in a row at some point this summer as payback. ;-)

Mrs. Iggy saw an ad on Facebook of someone selling a bunch of shelving, displays and racks from a business. I arranged to go take a look this morning and snatched up 3 of these stacking metal basket systems. They're on wheels and they came with dividers. Absolutely perfect for my stockpile of puzzles. I was able to get rid of 12 boxes full of puzzles that were not easy to organize or search through when I needed specific ones. As soon as my shed is inspected by the town tomorrow I'll be able to clear out the garage of lawn and garden and beach stuff and re-arrange my puzzle area. I can't wait. Now I need to cut more puzzles to fill up the baskets. LOL

Perfect weather coming up for Saturday #2... We'll see how Saturday #3 shapes up in a few days as the 10 day forecast gives me a glimpse.