Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Fiday Night Sale

Good Morning,

Well, it's that time again.

The next Friday Night Sale will be held on December 2nd, beginning at 1:00 PM CST (US), 8:00 PM (CEST). We will de-activate all inventory Friday morning for price adjustment with an overall discount of approximately 20% - 25%. Everything will be re-activated at exactly 1:00.  Good Luck! (Please check your own individual time zone to make sure the start time aligns with 1:00 PM Central Standard Time in the United States.)
Have a great day!

Doug

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

My Happy Place

I think I may have found a nice settling place for awhile. 

But first I want to thank each and every one of you that have sent me a note or two since my last posting.  I received some really good honest feedback, and your moral support was inspiring.  So again, thank you.

One of the many suggestions, actually made by 2 different ladies was for me to come up with a less expensive design like the old banded sticks that I made back in the very beginning before I had a laser.  I never really liked making them, not that they weren't nice, but moreover, I wasn't very good at the time.  Fortunately I've gotten a bit better at what I do over the years, and today they're easier to make in terms of abuse to my hands, they take less time make because I'm not interrupted with the laser time, thus at the end of the day we can sell them at a lower price point.  I think it's a win/ win.  The real bonus though is that they are just naturally pretty, more so than many of the engravings, at least in my opinion.  Plus, I've got a bazillion color combinations to choose from.

So I think I may have found my Happy Place for awhile.

Have a Great Day!

Friday, November 25, 2016

TT Update

Good Morning All,

I've been gone for a while, working on the "double top secret" Design blog... but worry not, you didn't miss much.

Well, it would appear as if I'm all dressed up, with no where to go.  In other words, I finally figured out how to make the barrettes and forks and let's just say that they haven't been a resounding success... once again.  Glad at least that I still know how to make a stick.

So let me share with you a couple of reasons that I've been burrowing down these other various rabbit holes.   The driving factor is that our business is down by a whopping 30% from this same time last year, and folks, financially speaking, that hurts.  The simple fact of the matter is that in trying to support ourselves over the past few years, I think we've flooded the market, as I certainly haven't been getting worse at my job over the years, or at least I don't think I have.  So there's that.

The other reason, which actually is a supplement to the above stated reason is that I don't know how many sticks are left in these fingers.  My fingers hurt constantly, and it's from the repetition of making thousands of sticks.  So, in addition to the income side of things, I need to find something that is marketable which I can make, that isn't as demanding on my hands.  The other alternative, which I don't really relish is trying to get a real job again.  I don't want to do that, because I love what I do and I don't want to give it up unless I absolutely have to.

In terms of additional design ideas,  just like the "secret handshake only" Design blog, feel free to tell me what you like or don't like in terms of anything that I might be working on.  My obvious preference is to make that which you like, as I'm getting tired of practicing that which I think.

So here's your TT update, I hope that I haven't depressed you too much :)

Have a great weekend!

Doug

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Friday Night Sale

The next Friday Night Sale will be held on November 18, beginning at 1:00 PM CST (US), 8:00 PM (CEST). We will de-activate all inventory Friday morning for price adjustment with an overall discount of approximately 20% - 25%. Everything will be re-activated at exactly 1:00, (Please check your own individual time zone to make sure the start time aligns with 1:00 PM Central Standard Time in the United States.)

Thursday, November 3, 2016

The Design Corner

Hi All,

I've set up a new blog entirely focused on the design of clips and forks and whatever else we may come up with.  As it turns out, I can't have a portion of this blog that is private, so I just made a new one that is.

If you're interested in participating, just send me a note through ETSY, and I'll add you to the member list and send you a link to the blog.

Thanks
Doug

Update... 45 minutes later...

Wow, that went quicker than I thought, I was going to be happy with 2 volunteers over the next couple of weeks.  Josie, the charter member has now verified with me that I need your email address.  I wasn't sure if it was the user name or the email address, so thank you Josie!

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Update and Friday Night Sale

Good Evening,

I'm actually making some decent progress on the ideas that I had.  I think that I might have an actual prototype sometime within the next week or so.  Once I'm at a point where I'm satisfied with all of the preliminary behind the scenes type of stuff that I've had to build, I may ask for some volunteers.  I'm thinking of setting up a private thread that specifically lays out different design thoughts that I have, but the fallacy here is that I know virtually nothing about that which I'm trying to create.  So, if you're at all interested in helping me design the 1st one, I may ask for some help.  Caveat... (this may all be a monumental failure, and if so, you can say that you had nothing to do with it, and I'll back you up).   :)

The next FNS is this Friday, November 4th beginning at 1:00 PM... the usual time.

Have a great night!

Doug