Iguanadon

DW, I'll play devils advocate here... actually I have found that people need to touch them, feel them and realize they're puzzles to truly appreciate them. I've had some in stores and of course had to shrink wrap them and they don't sell nearly as well. I keep all 120 of mine on display in their natural state when I'm at an event. When a purchase is made, I shrink wrap it for them on the spot for easier transporting. And of course the 200 duplicates I have with me behind the tables are all shrink wrapped in advance.

Looks like I'll be out of a job soon... Nice work Frank. You picked some great ones.

That's not fair, you guys sell great looking stuff. I sell silly little puzzles. ;-) Very nice.

Very nice setup you have there Jeff. I like how open it is. We have friends visiting for the weekend and I was talking with them about this topic and the husband had an interesting idea of hanging some puzzles from the front edge of the tent, swaying in the wind to catch peoples eye. I would simply glue the pieces together and hang each animal with a string. Sacrifice a few puzzles as decoration. I'm going to consider it. I don't want to get too weird or tacky looking. I think putting my main table out front again will make a difference. I'll report back after the next couple of Saturdays.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences and pictures as vendors and as customers. I'm glad it didn't take me a full season to figure out that I may have hurt my potential sales with my setup change. I'll switch back when I have the space on either side of me. When I'm stuck in a strict 10' space, I'll improvise. Anyone else, feel free to chime in.

Absolutely fabulous idea and execution. Great work.

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend. I'd like to ask for thoughts and input from my fellow scrollers as it pertains to my booth setup. I made a layout change recently and I'm beginning to question my decision. This is a bit of a sociology and human nature experiment. Early on, I set my tables up as a "U" shape, but along the front and sides of my booth/tent that folks would step up to, but recently changed to a "U" shape coming inside the tent so as to have people "step inside" and I think it's reducing the number of close-up views I'm getting. Some folks simply don't like coming in and look from afar, but are more willing to step up the tent/tables around the perimeter. See attached pictures of my old setup from last November, versus the one I used during my past 4 events (snapshot from yesterday). Some big events you are literally given exactly 10', the size of your tent and your neighbors are right up against you and I'd be forced to use my internal "U" shaped setup to maximize display space and accessibility by customers. Going back to my old setup would pertain to my weekly event at the Farmers Market and any events that I have extra elbow room and have plenty of space and I'm going to test the old setup next Saturday. I'd appreciate any thoughts and input from those that do events as well as those that attend events and think about if you're more or less willing to step "inside" a tent versus just stepping "up to" a tent. Thank you friends, Iggy

Well done Frank. Remember, you're not allowed in North Carolina. ;-)

The first Saturday for the Carolina Beach Farmers Market is in the books. Memorial Day weekend, beautiful weather and a good sized crowd. Sales were exactly average today. 27 puzzles sold in 5 hours. So, no complaints. However, 11 of the 27 were unpainted dinosaurs at my new low price point of $10 bucks. Still walked home with a little over $500 in my pocket and it's just 4 blocks from my house. Normally vendors are only allowed 7 Saturdays throughout the season but the guy that oversees it takes care of me and says I can come anytime I want, so any time the weather forecast looks good, I'll be there. Next Saturday looks good. So, not too many to restock this week which is good, gives me extra time to stock up for the mega event in August. I had heard about an event in downtown Wilmington 10 miles from home going on this weekend. We went and scoped it out this afternoon. It looked OK, but as my wife and I discussed it, it's 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) over Memorial Day weekend which pretty much ruins the holiday weekend for anything we want to do, so I likely won't be adding it to my schedule. I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. We're hitting the beach with friends who are visiting for the holiday. Iggy

Thanks RJ, hoping for a good day tomorrow after 2 mediocre events the past couple of weeks. I use a jigsaw to cut the long board into manageable pieces of 3 or 4 animals. Then head to my scroll saw and cut the outlines of each one and stack 'em up. Just finished doing that for the batch in the picture. Next is to drill the holes for each eye, closed letter, etc.

Very nice Frank. Yep, you started with one that has a lot of feature lines (cuts). Ooops, and I sent you the sitting Pug instead of the standing one... check your email, I just sent you the one you asked for. Sorry for the error. I use #3 Olson Mach Speed blade for everything. Keep sharing as you cut them, I enjoy seeing them!

Order received and I emailed the patterns to you in batches. Multiple emails. Please let me know you received them. Thanks Iggy/Scott

Hi Frank, I use Poplar simply because I like the color variations. It's a little brittle due to the tight grain and you have to be careful with it snapping at narrow places. By the way, if you hadn't seen my post where I describe my entire process and everything I use, see here. Let me know if you have any questions about my process or about ordering patterns. Harvey and I thank you.

Very nice. I have a friend that would go crazy for that. She's in England right now retracing every step they've ever taken. LOL

I take special orders for my puzzles putting pet names or kids names in various animals. At times folks order one for a pet that has passed away having the name put into the breed puzzle. Well, our local TV weather guy recently lost his dog to cancer so I had Harvey Byler draw a custom pattern for me so I could make one and send it out. Here is Godric the Rottweiler. I'll mail it to the TV station in a couple of days.

My goal is to cut 5 a day and if time allows, and if I feel like it, I just keep cutting... I got 17 cut between yesterday and today and I oiled them and have them drying on the rack. Laid out 26 more patterns on a 7' board and will start working on them tomorrow. I'm all set for my first week at the Farmers Market for the summer of 2017 this Saturday. Let's see if I'm as popular as last year. I averaged selling 25 each Saturday during the 5 hour event last year. Fingers crossed. Holiday weekend, great weather, hoping for a good one.

Thanks Brian, yeah, I've attended it a number of times when I lived in Cary, but never as a vendor. It's going to be quite the experience. They moved it just a block over so it surrounds town hall and isn't on the main streets, it's now on side streets that can be closed for the weekend. At their smaller show, Spring Daze last month they were very well organized and they had booth sitters available, but I didn't take advantage of it. We'll see if they offer them at this one. I need to set my expectations in that Saturday is 9 hours long (9am-6pm) and Sunday is only 4 1/2 hours long (12:30pm-4pm). Just hoping for no rain.

Frank, go to my website and any animal you see, that means I have the pattern and can sell it. You place the order thru my website, you'll see SCROLL SAW PATTERNS area. As a reminder, Harvey Byler is the artist and I have his permission to sell the patterns and he get's paid for each one. Let me know if any questions. Iggy

Nice cutting Paul. Make copies and start stockpiling... then send them to me for my upcoming show in August. :-) I'm glad you enjoy cutting them so much. You're right, it's very relaxing and I enjoy every minute that I'm making them. It's soothing and every half hour I have a finished puzzle which is very satisfying. You'll find people to give them to. Think about local elementary schools, libraries, etc. after you run out of friends and family.

I picture of my photo album...

Ah, thanks for the reminder. A few suggestions about pictures from folks and I meant to comment about that... I actually have a photo album that contains a snapshot of every unique breed/animal I've ever made and I have that with me at every show. It comes in handy for the rare times I'm asked about cats. I stopped taking cats with me because they weren't selling but I have room now on my display of horses (which also aren't selling) and may take them to the big show in August to try again.

Keep the feedback, thoughts and ideas coming. I appreciate it. Who knows what I'll end up with on hand 12 weeks from now. As the great philosopher Mike Tyson once said... "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." I have great plans, now we'll see what actually happens. As far as stack cutting... can't really do it. 3/4" poplar, using a #3 blade. I'd end up flexing the blade and causing issues. As to pricing... I feel good about my price point of $25. I get equal comments of "Oh wow, that's cheap." as well as "Oh, $25, well I'll think about it and come back." At an event 2 weeks ago I ended up selling several at a discounted price of $20 because $25 was a bit out of reach for the crowd. I'll see how sales go in my 2nd year and decide on any price increases down the road. As I tell my customers "Yes, they're only $25, I sell them cheap so I can make more of them, I truly enjoy my hobby."

Hey Len, it's definitely keeping me hopping. However, I spend only about 2 hours a day at the saw, spread throughout the day. I work full time, from home and I go into the garage in between conference calls or emails, cut an animal or two, go back in, do some work, sneak back out again... My mission is to cut 5 puzzles a day. That's it. If I have the time and feel like it, I'll cut a few extras. I don't cut in the evenings as that's my time with Mrs. Ig relaxing and watching TV. If I have the time on the weekends I'll put more time on the saw. But it's never a burden, I never dread having to go out and cut. I don't want it to get to that point. For the next 4 months I have the luxury of doing the farmers market 4 blocks down the street on Saturdays. I am allowed to show up whenever I want, or not. I just have to let the organizer know by Tuesday or Wednesday. If Mrs. Ig and I have stuff going on or friends visiting, I skip a week. Or if rain is in the forecast I won't bother. I won't let it wear me down. And I enjoy the extra cash. We use it for projects on the house. Last years earnings paid for 2 small decks to be built. We just bought the empty lot next to our house, so this years money is already spent. LOL I appreciate the warning about burn out.

I'll stick to elephants and dogs. Very cool though.

Having given this some thought for the past hour and discussing with Mrs. Ig over dinner at the local Mexican restaurant, I've decided I'll be sure to have 1 duplicate for everything I have on display, plus, based on what I know my popular items are, and what I sold at the similar event last month I'll have lots of multiples for the popular items. I just printed off 91 patterns that will be in addition to the 200 extras I currently have on hand. Over the next 12 weeks I will re-make whatever I sell at each event, plus squeeze in these extra 91 duplicates. It's very do-able as I average selling 25 each week at the farmers market. Let's see... that means 120 on display + 300 duplicates + 100 kids dinosaurs = 520. Goal is to sell half during those 2 days LOL ... I better look into renting a Uhaul... Oh, and I wondered something while discussing at dinner. The smaller event last month, I sold 96 in 1 day with an attendance of 15,000. This upcoming mega event is 2 days with 50,000 attendees. Will I sell double the number since it's 2 days or will I sell triple the number since the number of attendees is triple? Curious minds want to know... Or, will it rain the entire weekend and I don't even get a chance to set-up and lose my $245 booth fee.