Thursday, December 31, 2015

Last day of 2015



It was 55 degrees F and overcast today; everything still wet from last night's rain. It was a cozy 72 degrees F in the studio.


Working on several custom requests for January. As usual, there's a larger demand for Advent wreaths than my supply. I didn't make any wreaths this year because I find them a bit of a chore to make, but I had 3 that I had not listed. People still found me and asked for them so all were sold. Now I have requests for 3 more to be delivered in January. I need to find a faster and less fussy way to make them for next holiday season.

Last Spring someone asked for a purple yarn bowl with a moose design on it. When I had it ready I let the customer know but never heard back from them so I listed it thinking that it would linger in the shop because who wants a yarn bowl with a moose on it? Well, apparently lots of people do because it sold right away. The original buyer still wants the purple yarn bowl so I'm carving a moose on a yarn bowl again. And along the same lines, someone asked me for a yarn bowl with an alpaca design. Maybe I'll try my hand at carving alpacas.

My customers are constantly coming up with ideas for me to try out. The Starry Nights lamps are still best sellers and I had two customers asking for a variation on them. One customer wants a Starry Nights lamp that hangs on the wall. I'm noodling that idea and thinking that maybe it should be like a sconce or maybe an upside down shallow bowl. Another customer wants a cylindrical lamp (I can do that!) that's 15 inches tall to put on a sideboard in the dining room. That's a really cool idea, but I'm researching the issue of the snap-in socket and the light bulb. I'm thinking that a 4W bulb is not going to be large enough for that size lamp, but I worry that the lamp might get hot with a larger watt bulb. So, I'm doing research. I found a snap-in socket that can accommodate up to a 40W bulb and I'll test it to see what happens when it's left on for a while.

Other orders: teapots, personalized mugs, and brie bakers. Got my work cut out for me!