What I have been Doing

I have been a little silent on the internet lately.  It has not been because I have not been busy.  I have been working on some repeat items that have already been documented along with some designs that are just for the shop.  For some reason I still have Christmas on the mind.  I have been working on this year’s ornament, so I will be basically complete in February.  I also received a bunch of reclaim material.  I am making boxes out of this material.   I have some other things that I am working on and need to finish. 

Work has also contributed to the lack of presence online, both my day time job and trying to make a little money with woodworking.  I am trying to get in contact with some of the larger plan retailers to help sell my plans.  I do not know what I am doing.  Asking and marketing is not a strong point for me, but there is one thing that I try to keep in mind when asking a question: What is the worst thing that can happen; they say “no”.  Then move on.  I have been working on cleaning up my pictures and update my materials list to feature the different companies that I am presenting to.  It was one thing to be ready for Etsy, this is taking a little more time.

The other thing that I am looking into is a website called Instrutables.com.  I was notified of a toy contest on the website, so I entered. The website seems solid.  It is a DYI website for various areas of crafting and repair.  I entered one of the small car designs.  I did not win anything, but the contest was run differently.  The first part is for everyone to vote on a project.  The projects with the top votes move into a finalist round which is judged by select members of the instructable community.  This year I think that I am going to put more on this website.  It is free and all the content is shared, so I am not going to be putting my plans that I sell on the site.

Instructables.com has shed some light on how detailed I need to be in documenting steps.  This is causing me to slowdown more and take more pictures.  I am currently working on some saw adjustable saw horsed for table legs and my shop.  They are designed off of Ikea’s design with some changes.  It would have been cheaper to buy it but I wanted to change some things about them.  The other thing I wanted to do is make compound angled cuts.  The project has been a total mess but I have learned a lot.  Most will not see the design or execution flaws in the product.  I am in process of finishing this project and putting on instructables.