Year in Review 2020

New home, new state, new job are just a few of the "new" things that happened.  There was also a loss of job, a pandemic and a shut down.  This year was very much unpredictable.  I was able to get some woodworking done.  I found a guild that I was going to until meetings were canceled.  I did not find any locations that take handmade toys, so I did not make any.  In August I found out I would be moving again after the school year so I am not as motivated to set roots down and establish the charity connections.

My favorite project was probably the desk.  It did not perfectly as I had hoped, but it is a simple looking desk that is well built.  The other furniture was a nice change of pace to the toys that I was making.  I had the opportunity to make a lot of mortise and tenon joints and work with some really nice cherry.  I also gave my hand tools more of a work out than they are use to.

Tools I picked up this year.  The list is small, but they are large.  I picked up a planer.  Now that I am buying lumber in the rough I have to do more processing.  I picked up the benchtop Dewalt.  It works well for the amount of lumber I use.  I also updated my cordless tools.  My current set did not hold a chare and were only 14v.  I upgraded to the 20v and purchased an additional driver and circular saw.   I now understand why cordless is becoming so popular.  I also purchased a couple of small tools and they were game changers for me.  I bought a Woodpeckers square and ruler.  The company is known for precision tools.  I learned quickly that the big box squares are not square.  Layouts were better and they are enjoyable to work with.  I also purchased a couple of marking tools.  I have also enjoyed using them.

I did not have any new toy designs.  I am not sure where to go at the current time and looking for some inspiration.  The furniture designs are not published.  There are several plans for mission style bedroom furniture.  I did not want to add mine to it.  It was also nice just to make and not worrying about the quality of the drawings and instructions.

From a business standpoint I did ok for what was going on.  My Etsy sales doubled and the interest has increased a lot.  I have received more toy sales that I have "free" shipping on everything. I have had several people reach out about projects and personal designs.  Some I can do others I cannot.  I had to turn business away this year.  Usually I have one or two projects during the holidays this year I had six solid requests.  I was only able to custom make 4 toys.  Winfield has slowed down a lot.  My designs are stale there.  I have thought about reaching out again to add more, but they have not been very responsive in the past.  I have signed up with a startup web page that just sells plans.  Traffic is light right now but time will tell.

I am not sure what next year is going to bring except another move, another lumber yard, hopefully another club.  

A year of cleaning the Kitchen

 I made it a goal this year to clean the kitchen every Saturday for an entire years.  I just want to preface this post with "this is not a cleaning post and I do not consider myself as an expert cleaner. "  I will never say "it is not clean until..."  because most likely I didn't do it.

I will start with the assumption "If I tell everyone that I am cleaning the kitchen every Saturday, everyone will just leave all the dishes for Saturday for me to do."  In part that was true.  My wife did plan dinners depending on what pans were clean towards the end of the week. The kids complained when they had to load the dishwasher, but they always do that.  I also found myself falling into another assumption.  "Do I want to have the fight with the kids to clean the kitchen or do I just wait until Saturday to do it."  It would be easier and less of a fight.  I think that happened just as often.

About the floor.  There are two philosophies that I have heard.  One is that you sweep the floor before cleaning the kitchen so you don't worry about the water that gets on the floor.  The other is that you sweep the floor after you are done, so you can wipe things onto the floor and then sweep it up.  I am efficient (that is what I will call it), so the latter was more appealing.  Besides, sweeping water is like mopping the floor, right?

When I cleaned was determined early on.  I tried to clean the kitchen before the kids woke up.  This way it was done before the breakfast dishes and before the three tornados come through.  Later in the day made it hard to get the motivation to do it.  I also made a point to clean the kitchen before I did any woodworking in the garage.  It is the philosophy of get what you don't want to do first.  I was hoping that my kids would get this concept.  They did not.

I hoped that this goal would do a couple of things.  The first would be a cleaner kitchen and it did that pretty well.  If I had done the deeper cleans periodically it would be better, but I am lazy.  I hoped it would set an example of work for my kids and show them to get things done early and consistently makes the job easier.  That did not happen.  They still do not understand why they have to do things they hate to do.   I was also hoping that with a clean kitchen the rest of the house would not be too bad so we could invite other over to meet new friends.  I think everyone knows how that went in the year 2020.

I don't know if I will continue this through the next year.  It was a good thing for me to do and it was somethings that I could accomplish over and over again.  What will next year bring, I don't know.

Anderson Family 2020

 

Dear Friends and Family,

We had all intentions of writing a Christmas letter this year.  Well, that did not happen just like the family pictures we wanted to take.  This year did not turn out like we had expected but there are many things that we are be grateful for.

This year was going to be a new section, not just a chapter, in the Anderson household.  I received a job offer that moved the family at the beginning of the year.  We moved across the country and settled in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  The move went surprisingly well.  We were able to purchase a home in a sought-after community. We are very happy where we are.  So here is an update on the family.  We will be omitting the names of the kids because this is going on a public site

I am back working for American Woodmark after a brief time at idX. I was able to find a woodworking club until March, but they did not have any toy drives.  I have made some toys, but I have been focusing on building bedroom furniture this year.  I have had my best year on Etsy, and there has been a lot of inquiries in the neighborhood.

Katie had been keeping herself busy by being a fulltime stay-at-home teacher and mother.  She recently started teaching English to Chinese kids though the online program VIP kid.  She is really enjoying it and the kids seem to like her also. 

Number one is enjoying himself in middle school.  He has joined the strategic games club at school and is mastering the ninja rope outside.  He enjoys climbing things even though he cannot always get down.  He is getting taller everyday and staying healthy.  We are hoping he will be able to run track in the spring.

Number 2 probably had the hardest time with the pandemic because he needs to be around people.  He is doing will when he is in school and with others.  He enjoys Legos and Minecraft.  The best thing that has happened out here for him is all the bugs he has been finding and all the animals.

Number three is definitely the youngest and thinks he can get away with anything.  When he is in trouble, he turns on the charm.  This works on everyone else but his parents.  He is enjoying the First grade and doing everything that his brothers are doing.  He is becoming quite the reader

This year we have been able to visit the Natural History museum, Air and Space Museum, and the National Zoo.  With social distancing the crowds have been lite, and the hands-on exhibits have been closed.  We are liking it here on the east coast.  The pandemic has made it difficult to make friends and meet people, but we have overcome despite the challenges.

Hope you and your families have a happy holidays and stay safe.

With Much Love,

Sometimes I just want to stop

Fair warning this is a little bit venting.

I have been on Etsy for over 5 years now.  I consider it passive income because most of the items I sell on the platform are plans.   For the most part it has been a good experience.  There are times where I wonder if it is even worth it.  My store has been gaining more popularity in the past couple of years.  In part from social media and a couple of magazine articles I have written.  I have also seen an increase in sales where the person thought they were buying a product when it is only the plan.  I have also seen an increase in people wondering why my Etsy price is cheaper than the price I quote them to make the toy.  

When people ask about prices it is usually pretty easy to explain.  I will try and go out of my way to explain and offer suggestions.  I had a non profit that wanted me to make toys for them to sell.  They did not understand why the plan was $3 and I was quoting them $15 for each toy.  I wasn't going to be able to take the business because they were out of the country, but I wanted to help.  I ended up sending them the plans and told them to find a local wood worker to make them at the sizes they wanted.  Usually the price concerns are easy to resolve.

I have been having more people order plans and expecting the product.  I do have a no refund policy on plans because they are immediately downloaded.  This is typical in plan sales.  Usually when a plan is ordered in mistake the person will notify me of their mistake.  I handle these case by case. Be kind to me and I will reciprocate.  It is the emails saying something like, "When is this going to ship.  I have been waiting for two months," that bother me.  This year I have decided to take an unapologetic approach to these mistaken plan sales.  This is my typical reply:

Thank you for purchasing ______ plan.  You should have received an email with a link to download the plan.  Sometimes this is sent to spam.  I have attached the plan you purchased.  Thank you again for your purchase.

Most of the time I don't get a response.  When I do it makes me question if I want to continue in the retail environment. The customer feels it is my fault and I am not clear that this is just a plan.  The plan that has been the most problematic has been the cradle.  I have reviewed the description and title and could not find a better way to say that this is a plan.  I don't want to capitalize "PLAN ONLY".  It looks like I am shouting and it is tacky. Here is my little vent:

If you are buying on-line it is your responsibility to read the descriptions and understand what you are buying.  My shop is called All Natural Toy Plans (italics added).  The title says "Wood Toy Plan" then the item.  The summary in all my plans say "plans can be printed on 8.5 x 11" paper."  The last sentence reads: purchase is for the plan only.  I think I say it enough.  But just in case, I have added "*plan only*" at the beginning of each description.  I think this looks tacky.  Seriously, if you purchase one of my plans thinking it is a product, own the mistake an move on.  It is not my fault you made the purchase so stop blaming me that you didn't read the description.  I have no fine print. I have no disclaimers.  I definitely am not trying to deceive any one. I have over 400 sales and only about 2% order plans by mistake. Only two people think that I have actually deceived them.

My rant continues with the cradle since this seems to be the most mistaken as a product.  The plan is $10.  Something must go off in your head that this deal is too good to be true.  This plan is for a 21" cradle with custom fretwork on the side.  There is no shipping because it is a download.  My small toys cost $6-$8 to ship.  Seriously, if the deal looks too good, make sure you understand what you are buying.  I sell these cradles for $100 each at craft fairs.

I know that Etsy is not the best place to sell plans, but it is a platform that I use.  Others also use it because there is a total section for digital downloads and plans.  It has worked well for me.  I know that I am not the only one that has this issue.  I have read one star reviews on other plan stores, they are all because they expected an object and got a digital download.  

Rant over.

I am not shutting down my shop anytime soon.  It has been too much fun meeting new people.  Others sharing what they have made from my plans.  There has been some great things come from this experience.  

This year has actually been a good year for me on Etsy.  I contribute a lot of the success to being published and covid.  It is nothing to quit my job over, but it offset the costs of a planer, and lumber this year.

Workshop Classes

This is probably the best location to put consistent information about the workshop classes that I am currently doing.  Information will probably changes and adapt as covid regulations increase or decrease.  

I am holding workshop woodworking classes in my garage about twice a month; at least that is the plan starting in January.  I will be posting links on Facebook and NextDoor.  I am working on a google sheet for sign ups so that people can sign up for the project and date.  I have space for two people at a time for the smaller projects and only one for the larger projects.  All tools and supplies will be provided.  Currently everyone will need to come with a face mask or shield.  Shields are preferred because they do not fog up the safety glasses.  Classes will range from 1-3 hours in length.  These projects are on the simpler side to teach basics of nailing, drilling, cutting, sanding, and assembly.  It will not go into fine woodworking joinery and furniture.

Here are a list of potential projects.  Not all the designs have been vetted out so I don't have pictures of all of them.

• Construction trucks - 1-3rd grades
• Napkin holder - 1-3rd grades
• Holiday luminary - 4th grade and above
• Christmas Ornament - 4th grade and above
• Cell phone holder - 4th grade and above
• Bird House - 2-6th grade
• Cradle - 9th grade and above
• Scroll saw basics - 4th grade and above (prerequisite for many of the other classes)
• Catapult - 4th grade and above
• Name Plaque 1-3rd grade
• Puzzles - 4th grade and above
• Car launcher - 3-4th grade

To sign up for the workshops please look for the posts on social media sites and respond via email.  This is a first come first serve basis.  I will have some priority for new kids for the younger classes.