Iguanadon

Hey Brian, Spring Daze was great again. I matched last years sales... to the penny, which is pretty amazing. Yep, Gail stopped by and she said you're doing Lazy Daze, is that accurate. I hope so, this year I want to beat you. I want revenge!!! ;-)

It was just li'l ol' me working the booth all day. The most difficult part is writing down what is being bought. But otherwise it's not too "hectic" most of the time, but very steady. I had a box lunch delivered to my booth that I took a bite of every chance I got but I'm used to being a one man operation and am able to sustain. We'll see how that works out as I continue to age. LOL I always feel kind of bad for my vendor neighbors that have to hear my "sales pitch" hundreds of times. :-D I finished cutting 6 puzzles this morning for the next event coming up Saturday, now it's time to do some yard work.

You're a very cruel person. LOL I just printed off the ones I need to cut this week in advance of my event next Saturday. Puzzle season is in full swing!

My biggest 1 day event is DONE! It was my best 1 day event last year selling 96 puzzles. And today, I sold... 96 puzzles... and not only that, but I made EXACTLY the same amount of money. That's like a one in a gazillion possibility... well not quite, but it's still mind boggling. Perfect weather, huge crowd. 96 puzzles in 8 hours = 1 every five minutes... EXHAUSTING. Load in time for my zone was 5:30am-6:30am, I got there at 5:45. I just got home after the 2 1/2 hour drive. I'll see ya all in about a week. :-) Iggy

I didn't have anything this past weekend. The 3 Saturdays begin tomorrow. Biggest event is the first one. Leaving today to head up to Raleigh around noon and will spend the night with friends. My designated unload time based on my booth location is very early tomorrow morning between 5:30 and 6:30. It's a very well organized event. 150 vendors in and out in a set order by groupings.

Two out of three Saturdays looking good so far... This Saturday - Sunny and 75 degrees Next Saturday - Partly Cloudy and 72 degrees (long range forecast, certainly subject to change but looking good)

I've shared it before and happy to share it again, below is a freebie for anyone that would like to try one of Harvey Byler's puzzles. A custom one I had Harvey make that says "RESCUE", one of my most popular puzzles. And you can see over 450 of his creations on my site. Scroll down to the patterns area. www.WoodcraftByScott.com Let me know if you have any questions and enjoy! Iggy Rescue1.pdf

Well, supposedly the new rules about no signature required have gone into effect, however I just tested my Square chip reader and it still requires signature... I had to go thru a firmware update when I turned it on and I had hoped that was to make the change, but alas, still requiring signatures at least for now. Too bad. It's up to merchants and apparently Square hasn't jumped on the bandwagon yet.

Hey Brian, nicely done. As mentioned, puzzle blades are for 1/8" or maybe 1/4" thick wood. For 3/4" use #3 or #5.

Hey RJ, still using DeWalt's. The Hawk is sitting in my shop looking at me with puppy dog eyes. So far the plan for the year is working out... stockpile during the winter so that I can cruise through the year. Based on last years sales and the events I'm signed up for this year I'll sell 1600 puzzles. Half of them are already made. LOL

Hey Larry, it's very much a hobby for me. I have a full time job and I've started up a new business (local advertising map). The puzzles are my relaxation. I get to cut between 1 hour and 3 hours a day depending on everything I have going on. I never feel that I MUST get out there and cut. Sure, when I have a major event coming up I make sure I have everything I want to have on hand, but if I don't get as many cut as I'd like, oh well. My event the Saturday after next for instance I'd love to have another 50 of certain items, but I won't be able to do it as I'll be replenishing next week what I sell this Saturday. As you said, to each his own. I love every minute I cut them and setup and sell them. It's pure enjoyment... except when it might rain. :-) And if I end the year with $20,000-$25,000 extra in my pocket I'm even happier. And so is Mrs. Iggy cuz we use it on fun stuff for the house.

LOL and to further blow your mind... some say that the term "Black Friday" for the big shopping day after Thanksgiving is named that because it refers to the single day of the year when retail companies finally go “into the black” (i.e. make a profit).

I'm happy to share information and I hope others get inspired to try expanding their hobby into something more, whether it's woodworking or anything else. Now that I have my LLC I'm tracking my costs, etc more closely this year, but yes, I operate very much in the black. Some things to be sure to take into account if you do decide to start doing this to make money, think about ALL of your actual costs... The easy stuff is wood, blades, etc, but also keep close tabs on your booth rental fees cuz they add up quickly. For example booth fees I've paid for so far in 2018 for several events coming up total $1,930 and I still have a few more that haven't asked for payment yet. My estimated costs per puzzle off the top of my head are roughly: Wood $1.75 Blades, mineral oil, shelf liner, shrink wrap bags $0.25 Booth fees $1.50 Misc (gas, food, new tent every couple of years, new saw every 2 years, etc) $1.00 Round that up and it's approximately $5.00 per puzzle to cover "everything" except my time. I hope this information helps and feel free to ask any questions you have. Iggy

If only it could pay me enough at my current sales volume. :-) In order to make a living doing it, I'd have to sell over double what I do now and then it would feel like a job rather than the enjoyable hobby that it is now.

Three sizable events in a row coming up and I've been stockpiling all winter so that I won't feel crunched on a week to week basis from now thru December... Here's the inventory sheet as of 10 minutes ago... 560 duplicates on hand, then add to that the 140 that I display plus the 100 kids puzzles I also put out... 800 puzzles. Holy crap. LOL

I use "food grade mineral oil" but be aware that it never 100% completely "dries". You can't really notice it after a couple of days but if you were set it on a newspaper or paper towel you'd see some bleeding.

For the "ooh's and aaah's" of course! OH MY GOSH! IT'S A PUZZLE?!?!?! HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!?! WHAT LASER DO YOU USE?!?!?... *yawn*... it's all done by hand, be amazed! LOL I am doing some as non-puzzle to test in a couple of retail stores... maybe... I hate doing inside cuts and they're a real pain in the neck to do. ;-)

I currently don't seal them but have thought about spraying them with a coat of something. My puzzles "usually" end up on bookcase shelves versus being played with.

Yes, I water it down. A lot of water and "some" food coloring. It takes some experimenting to get it the way you want. Be sure to use distilled water since you'll likely have a batch of it sitting around, you don't want any mold/mildew growth.

I use RIT fabric dye for my brown bases. Making brown out of food coloring wasn't easy... I tried, but failed miserably. LOL

Ever seen green or red Christmas cookies? This is how the batter is colored. Next time you go to the grocery store, look in the aisle with cake mixes, cake decorations, etc. https://www.amazon.com/Spice-Supreme-Assorted-Colors-Yellow/dp/B00GNHIBZU/ref=sr_1_4_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1524504475&sr=1-4&keywords=food+coloring&dpID=516RHwMYqlL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

You're a funny guy Ray. :-) Food coloring usually comes in 4 tiny bottles of red, green, blue and yellow in the baking aisle at the grocery store used for coloring cookies and other baking items usually. But I buy mine from Amazon in 16oz bottles. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GURKRK0/ref=sxr_rr_xsim_1_s_it?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3513574162&pd_rd_wg=fxrEu&pf_rd_r=5MN6V2FDJ59R8QDS3TSK&pf_rd_s=desktop-rhs-carousels&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B00GURKRK0&pd_rd_w=5uVkb&pf_rd_i=food+coloring&pd_rd_r=2c90f2b9-00d1-44de-a1de-b73cc152fb43&ie=UTF8&qid=1524503399&sr=1

I use watered down food coloring for my puzzle bases. The more food coloring, the more vivid the color. Here is an example of mine. I dip it in the liquid, shake off the excess and set it aside to dry. I used to wipe off the excess afraid of swelling or bleeding, but the colors weren't as vivid so I tried not wiping off and they come out very nice. P.S. This is poplar.

I have events the next 3 Saturdays... is it possible for the weather to cooperate 3 in a row? The first Saturday looks fantastic with sunny skies and 70 degrees for my #1 one-day event up near Raleigh. Last year I sold 96 puzzles in 8 hours and I fully expect to match that again this year. The next Saturday is a local event, a Street Arts Festival and I expect to sell 50-60 that day as I showcase new local items (attached) that seem to be very popular based on feedback I've received on local Facebook pages. Then the following Saturday is WoofStock, a dog festival that was postponed last month due to rain. That should be a good day also and I hope to sell 40-50. We shall see! I'm excited that the season has really cranked up. Then I have my weekly farmers market starting up Memorial weekend. Iggy

Nicely cut and good suggestion!