Iguanadon

Thanks Joe. I realized my camera angle wasn't great... see if this helps with the letter recognition...

As many of you know I live at the beach and have been selling puzzles for almost a year. I came up with this idea last week and had Harvey Byler draw them up for me and I cut them today. I live in Carolina Beach and just 2 miles down the road is Kure Beach. The two beach communities here on the island. I'm thinking of offering them with the blue base as well as the natural color base. What do you think? The original SEA TURTLE and DOLPHIN I always painted the base blue. See pictures. Let me know what you think.

Thanks Rolf. Square works with either WIFI or cell. My personal experience, I have found that if my phone is picking up a WIFI signal but it's not a strong connection it can cause issues, so I generally turn my WIFI off when I'm at an event in order to avoid any technical difficulties.

I may have an interesting story or two to tell in a couple of days... I'm waiting on phone calls from 2 different organizations that saw my stuff... One of which I wasn't even there, I had friends displaying some of my puzzles this past Saturday at an event I couldn't attend because I was at the mega event out of town.

Great question Kevin, Folks walk up all the time, try to pick one up and realize "YIKES IT'S A PUZZLE!" They didn't notice the big signs hanging up saying ANIMAL PUZZLES. LOL But as soon as they realize it's wiggling they either let it back down or they become very careful. I then stroll over and show them how to pick it up properly and I stand it up on the table as I'm giving my sales pitch. (Hi, everything you see are puzzles, they stand upright on their own, they're all hand cut, each one takes me about an hour to make...) I have not had any breakage (knock on puzzle) but I do have to keep an eye on children who will automatically want to start playing with them. Depending on their age, and which puzzle they head towards, I allow them to play. I set the PUG up spread out, apart, enticing people to put it together. I spend half my day separating it again, it works great for getting folks to touch and play and with it being only 5 pieces, it's durable and quick to assemble.

It sounds like you have a great setup Wayne, very nice. I'm still very much enjoying my hobby and I'll be careful about letting it overwhelm me. I'm still so new at this (not even a year yet!) and am learning on the fly how to juggle everything. By Christmas last year I was ready for a break. I'm in a nice rhythm right now and won't let it become a burden. That's the last thing I want from what is supposed to be a fun hobby. As long as I'm not cutting until midnight on a Tuesday night, I think I'll be OK. :-) Thanks for the reminder to keep things within reason.

Hi Ike, I went into last Saturday's event with 400 puzzles and sold almost 100 and I have til May 20th for my next big scheduled event, so I'm in pretty good shape to restock... but yes, if this new event materializes on May 13 I'll be hard pressed to be fully prepared for May 20th. I work full time (from home) and I have established a routine of cutting 5 puzzles a day, 7 days a week and it's just right for me. Right around 2 hours of saw time per day. After May 20 I only have my weekly farmers market which I average selling 26 per Saturday... I'll be glad for the slow period. ;-)

I'm very much on the fence as to whether I want to find out if I'm in or out because I have so much cutting to do... I'll just wait and keep it as a surprise.

Last week I had heard about an event coming up on May 13 an hour away from me. I found the information online but realized I'd missed the application deadline by a week. I emailed them anyway with the application asking if they had any spaces left. I didn't hear back, so I called the following day and the guy said no, they weren't taking any more applications. I told him I understood and thanks, I'd sign up next year. Well, an hour ago I got an email from the organizers saying "Hello Vendors..." talking about sending out booth location information, etc soon. So now I'm wondering if I did sneak in or if they simply snagged my email address by accident. I guess I'll find out in a couple of days. LOL Never a dull moment in Iggyland.

Beautiful piece.

Very nice, I really like those. Dog related items are always popular.

Thanks Jim. My next event is a bit smaller, so I'm trying to tone down my expectations. ;-) 50-75 pieces sold will be great. The kids dinosaurs are fantastic and they are what I started making when I first started scrolling, so they have a special place in my sawdust filled heart. Here is the pattern book they came from. Dozens to choose from. I make about 7 different ones and stick with them. Let me know if any questions. They're quick and easy to make from pine. I'm even considering selling them unpainted only and giving up the whole pain in the neck painting process... although I'm now paying my daughter to paint them. https://www.amazon.com/Making-Wooden-Dinosaur-Toys-Puzzles/dp/1565238907/ref=pd_sbs_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1565238907&pd_rd_r=DRN4W6NYMH64G6PSY4CX&pd_rd_w=c5tkE&pd_rd_wg=OzFBj&psc=1&refRID=DRN4W6NYMH64G6PSY4CX

Thanks Ralph. The trick is staying within the designated 10' x 10' area... usually there is very little wiggle room as they have vendors right up against each other at the bigger events. The way I set up Saturday fit perfectly and I was pleased. I had hoped to "flare" out the side tables a little, but there wasn't room, which was fine. And I only have a narrow walking and sitting area behind the tables and the extra table set up behind the tent with my duplicates.

Hi RJ, Thanks. Good question... $1350 via credit card, $650 paid in cash. And for the record, my Square worked flawlessly as always.

Thank you sir. Yes, I was standing behind the tables with the displays. The table in the background under my big banner held my duplicates so that I could simply reach back and grab a handful of ELEPHANTS for example, show them to the customer and let them pick the one they like based on wood tones. Each one is a little bit different with the poplar.

I really wish I could. LOL I crunch the numbers all the time and it just doesn't work out. And I've also thought about whether I'd continue enjoy cutting if I knew I had to do it in order to pay the mortgage. Probably not so much. I'll keep enjoying my "hobby". ;-)

Well, I just received an order thru my website for 2 Koala's... the result of the event yesterday. Someone asked if I did Koala's and I said yes, but I didn't have any with me and to look on my site for a picture. I hadn't sold one before so I gave the one I usually had on display to a friend. I guess I'll be making an extra one for display again.

I was just looking at the pictures I took and remembered trying to snap a couple from my perspective behind the tables as well as the setup in my area before the gates opened.

My first major event is now history and for me, it was one for the history books. A little background first... This was the 24th year for the Cary Spring Daze Arts and Crafts Festival. My first time as a vendor 170 vendors, food, music, kids activities, etc, etc Avg attendance 15,000 No rain in the forecast which was great. But... forecast high of 91 degrees which would tie the record high set back in 1914... and it was rather toasty. Not sure if it hit the record. I saw it hit 90 on the weather app on my phone, so close enough. Since it was my first time I couldn't tell if attendance was normal or low due to the heat The good news though is that previously my best 1 day event record was 46 pieces sold and yesterday I sold 96 pieces! Holy cow what a day. I had set a goal of 75 with a stretch goal of 100 for myself. During the 8 hours of the festival I sold 1 piece every 5 minutes when you do that math. I chuckled and told my wife that when we stopped for dinner on the way home when I calculated that in my head. It was a whirlwind day. I had my usual "Oh my gosh, those are so cute", "These are amazing", comments with no purchase and I had to replenish my business card holders twice during the day. Wait and see if I get any lingering sales. I'm not counting on it, I rarely do. Very much an impulse buy. A little more info, I now have 3 price point items: My signature lettered puzzles - $25 - Sold 69 Kid dinosaur puzzles painted - $15 - Sold 10 Kid dinosaur puzzles unpainted - $10 - Sold 17 I just started selling the dino puzzles unpainted and they're a big hit. While it brings my average sale price down, they're so simple to make I don't mind making them and having them on hand for folks that don't want to spend much money. Overall I'm obviously thrilled with how the day went. I must also add that the organizers of the event did an amazing job. They have it down to a science as far as scheduling and choreography of getting 170 vendors setup, in place, then tearing down and loading. Kudos to them. I now have to review my list of sold items and start cutting. I have another big event in 3 weeks, fortunately it's just 4 blocks down the road. Another potential 75 puzzle day if the weather cooperates. Pictures attached of my new "U" shaped setup that I used for the first time. Using two 6' tables and one 4' table. I was very pleased with the look. Let me know what you think. I was able to spread things out a bit more than usual and I liked it. Thanks for the continued support by all of my friends here at SSV. I seriously wouldn't be as successful as I am without you guys and gals. Iggy

Apparently you're doing something right... people want what you're making and they're willing to pay for them. Enjoy your hobby, keep making things, keep finding new and different things to make and maybe you'll stumble upon something you enjoy making that more people will be interested in buying. You're not forcing anyone to buy them, so no reason to feel "bad" in any way. Keep cutting.

First thing I do every morning is check the weather for Raleigh... and every day it tells me SUNNY 91 DEGREES... It's gonna be toasty but that's better than rain. Counting down... looking forward to the event. Then I'll have 3 weeks to restock for my next big event. And I have 3 custom patterns on the way to me from Harvey Byler. I can't believe it took me so long to come up with the idea as I'm sure they'll be very popular for the tourists here and even the locals. I'll share as soon as I make the first set.

Thanks for the reminder, I'd been meaning to add a statement on my website. I just added this to all of my puzzle categories, except the kids dino puzzles. NOTE: These puzzles are not meant for children age 3 or under due to potential choking hazard.

Hey Len, Debit cards act as credit cards when "necessary", you'll notice they have a VISA or MASTERCARD logo on them. I've had folks use them quite often. I haven't had any issues personally.

Yes.

During the setup you'll have the option of adding tax of not. I don't charge tax either, it's included in my sale price and I report state sales tax quarterly.