Custom Time - Friday Morning... perhaps more today

Good Morning,

 Who's up for a custom?

 As a reminder, here are the rules of the "Custom Time" game.

• Existing design only, no "create it from scratch" designs.  Ebony and Holly are not available.
• The only information needed is a link to the sold or active stick, along with allowable changes which are wood type, gemstone / metal/metal flake inlays and length.  If it requires more information than what's listed above, it's considered a "create it from scratch" design.
• Just one order, and the 1st to reply thru an ETSY conversation gets the custom.  
• You are only eligible to win once in a 30 day time frame, and the custom order is non-transferable.

Have a great day!

Update:

L S - You've got the custom!

Suricat - You've got the 2nd

Custom Time

Good Morning,

I've got 1 spot on the board... who wants it?

As a reminder, here are the rules of the "Custom Time" game.

• Existing design only, no "create it from scratch" designs.  Ebony and Holly are not available.
• The only information needed is a link to the sold or active stick, along with allowable changes which are wood type, gemstone / metal/metal flake inlays and length.  If it requires more information than what's listed above, it's considered a "create it from scratch" design.
• Just one order, and the 1st to reply thru an ETSY conversation gets the custom.  
• You are only eligible to win once in a 30 day time frame, and the custom order is non-transferable.

Have a great day!

Update:

Congrats Quasiquixotic, you won the custom order.

Surprise Custom

Good Morning,

I'm looking for Browncurtz23... send me a note please.

The board is full now, I probably won't be announcing any new customs for a day or two. 

Have a great day!

Monday Morning Custom Time

Good Morning,

It's that time ... who's up for a custom?

As a reminder, here are the rules of the "Custom Time" game.

• Existing design only, no "create it from scratch" designs.  Ebony and Holly are not available.
• The only information needed is a link to the sold or active stick, along with allowable changes which are wood type, gemstone / metal/metal flake inlays and length.  If it requires more information than what's listed above, it's considered a "create it from scratch" design.
• Just one order, and the 1st to reply thru an ETSY conversation gets the custom.  
• You are only eligible to win once in a 30 day time frame, and the custom order is non-transferable.

Have a great day!

Update:

Congrats OneBlueWeim, you've got the 3rd spot on the board.

Sunday Afternoon Custom Time

Good Afternoon,

It's that time ... who's up for a custom?

As a reminder, here are the rules of the "Custom Time" game.

• Existing design only, no "create it from scratch" designs.  Ebony and Holly are not available.
• The only information needed is a link to the sold or active stick, along with allowable changes which are wood type, gemstone / metal/metal flake inlays and length.  If it requires more information than what's listed above, it's considered a "create it from scratch" design.
• Just one order, and the 1st to reply thru an ETSY conversation gets the custom.  
• You are only eligible to win once in a 30 day time frame, and the custom order is non-transferable.

Have a great day!

UPDATE:

Congrats Morganaa and Annaleah (there were actually 2 open spots on the board)

Custom Time

Good Afternoon,

It's that time ... who's up for a custom?

As a reminder, here are the rules of the "Custom Time" game.

• Existing design only, no "create it from scratch" designs.  Ebony and Holly are not available.
• The only information needed is a link to the sold or active stick, along with allowable changes which are wood type, gemstone / metal/metal flake inlays and length.  If it requires more information than what's listed above, it's considered a "create it from scratch" design.
• Just one order, and the 1st to reply thru an ETSY conversation gets the custom.  
• You are only eligible to win once in a 30 day time frame, and the custom order is non-transferable.

Have a great day!

Congrats Slynr... you won the custom!

______________________________________________________________________

Update: 3:30 PM

I hadn't cleaned the board before I posted the announcement, and there were actually 2 open spots.  Slynr got the 1st one and Sleepingduty came in 2nd.

Sleeping... send me a note.

Custom Time

Good Afternoon,

It's that time ... who's up for a custom?

As a reminder, here are the rules of the "Custom Time" game.

• Existing design only, no "create it from scratch" designs.  Ebony and Holly are not available.
• The only information needed is a link to the sold or active stick, along with allowable changes which are wood type, gemstone / metal/metal flake inlays and length.  If it requires more information than what's listed above, it's considered a "create it from scratch" design.
• Just one order, and the 1st to reply thru an ETSY conversation gets the custom.  
• You are only eligible to win once in a 30 day time frame, and the custom order is non-transferable.

Have a great day!

Congrats Mariaasa, you've got the custom!

Friday's Discussion

Good Morning,

The "create it from scratch" custom is now underway, and I'm hopeful that it will be finished today sometime.  The result will be an empty board, and what fun is that.  So, I feel a game or two just might be in the wind.

Before I announce any new games however, I want to have an uncomfortable conversation.  While it's uncomfortable now, I assure you that it's 10 times more uncomfortable when your custom order is completed.  It's happened twice now in the last 30-60 days, and I would like to get it on the table, talk about it, and then hopefully try to avoid it from happening again.  It's an awkward and uncomfortable conversation for both of us, but we all need to be on the same page to avoid misunderstanding, I'm referring of course to the sensitive subject of pricing.

Have our prices gone up since 2009 when we started... Yes.  Are the prices of sticks sold today guaranteed to be the same price 6 years from now, or for that matter 1 year from now... No.  (It's likely a moot issue, as I don't think I have 6 more years of sticks in these fingers anyway... but I digress). 

While I have always just assumed it to be intuitive, apparently that's not the case.  Any custom orders placed today will be priced in accordance to the degree of difficulty and will be in line with any other sticks that are made on a custom basis or for general inventory.  Other than the occasional sale, I promise you that nothing will be priced based upon what it originally sold for, as there is absolutely no correlation between the two.

Forget the fact that the quality has gone up dramatically, which it has, I see it every time you send me an older link.  There is also the mere fact that for us, everything has gone up.  Just pick something... electricity.  Six years ago our average monthly electric bill was $167.  Today, I'm running machines 18 hours a day, and that $167 is now closer to $500 per month... and that is just one example.   I have to ventilate the shop, or I die.  Guess what happens in the winter... I'm ventilating all of dust, gasses and heat out of the house, resulting in a gas bill for heating that is nothing short of absurd.  Aside from the utilities, if I went to any of my suppliers and demanded the same price I paid 6 years ago, they would laugh me right out the door.

So, the long and short of it is, if you want a custom order, great.  If you're price sensitive, or just simply don't agree with the reality, PLEASE don't place a custom order, you're only setting us both up for failure.

Finally, the links you send me.  Believe it or not, I have never gone back and looked at our "sold" section of the shop.  When you send me a link to a stick I made years ago, I may or may not like it.  While I can appreciate the angst over the comments such as "I wish he'd make the old style of XYZ stick", the fact of the matter is that often, I don't like today what I made yesterday.  I suppose it's part of gaining more experience, and finding what works for me... it's been a 6 year learning curve.  So, with that said, I reserve the right not to re-create a stick that disturbs my sensibilities.  The fact that I recently had to move the laptop and place it directly in front of the lathe so I could continually see the requested stick in order to intentionally "Ugly it up", didn't work for me, and I'm not doing it again.

So there you have it, my cards are on the table.  While TT couldn't exist without everything that Erin does above ground, the fact of the matter is that the rubber meets the road below ground.  I'm sorry if this seems rude or gruff or whatever synonym pop's into your head, but it is what it is and I just want to make sure there are no misunderstandings in the future, as it's simply not worth it.

Thanks
Doug

Thursday Afternoon

Good Afternoon,

28% discount yesterday, pretty darn good.  8% less than FNS pricing.

So what the heck, let's do it again.  This time the prices on different items will begin moving around 2:00 this afternoon.  It's 12:30(ish) my time, so we'll just let this simmer for an hour and a half or so.

Good Luck!

Where's The Bottom

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your comments yesterday, I'm glad to be back also.

I think all of the details are now finalized on the custom order that's pending and I'll probably start on it tomorrow.  While I'm still not ready for any more customs, that doesn't mean we can't play a game in the meantime where in theory I shouldn't confuse myself... again, it's a theory.

So the Turkish Flag stick... where do you guys come up with this stuff?  I've never even seen a Turkish flag, I guess until now :)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/241188524/the-princess-eve-full-body-stars-and-red?ref=shop_home_feat_1

So, Where's the bottom... you all know how I feel about aged inventory... it's gotta go!

It's $175 right now, and it's 2:00 in the afternoon.  At 3:00, the price is going down about every 20 minutes until we find the bottom.  Sounds like fun to me, but then again all of my games sound fun to me at the time.

Good Luck, so who's going to get today's smokin' deal!

By the way, I forgot to mention that we'll be offering a discounted rose stick (blackwood), that I'm just now wrapping up.  It appears that the pearlessence (for the lack of a better term) kind of globbed together in one small spot.

Where's the Bottom?

 

$175

$156

$142

$126

... We Found it!
$126.00... a 28% Discount

Have a Great Night!

Tuesday - 7/21

Good Morning,

I'm back.  That was quite a hole I dug for myself, but I think I'm almost out of it.

I want to take a moment and thank everyone for your outpouring of support after my meltdown.  Your kind words offered comfort during the storm, and while I didn't respond, please know that I did read every comment and truly appreciate your kindness.

Have you ever had the feeling that the walls are closing in on you, and the harder you fight, the worse it gets?  Well, that's pretty much where I was last Sunday when the walls finally collapsed.  After that, I kind of went on an "aussie walk-about", only underground and in my own shop.  One by one, I tackled the majority of the issues that were plaguing me, and for those that remain, I can live with them for now.

So, enough about me, heck, I'm boring myself.  Is anyone ready to start playing some games again?  When I post a picture of the board later this week, you'll immediately notice some changes.  There are no longer 6 slots for customs, it's now 3.  Hopefully that's a number that I can manage without mixing up the orders, geez... you'd think I was trying to perform brain surgery over here. 

I still have one custom order that I'm working on and it's rather complicated.  It's a true "create it from scratch" design that I committed to well over a year ago.  I won't be announcing any new games until this order has been completed, it requires my full attention and I can't have anything competing with it.  So the games will begin when this order is completed and winging it's way through the mail.

Again, thank you so much for your kind words, you'll never know how much they meant.

Doug

Sunday

Good Morning,

I had a bad day yesterday, I mean it was bad.  Nothing seemed to go right, and it just kept getting worse.  The crowning point in my day was when I discovered that a custom order that I had struggled with and completed earlier in the day, wasn't even remotely close to what was requested.  I managed to somehow combine orders together I guess, because I have no clue what I was thinking.  So there's that.

Recently (as within the last week), I've had 4 sticks go in the trash can.  That's almost 16 hours of work, for nothing.  Then the crowning point of my day yesterday... so, let's make it 5.  Comparatively speaking, I haven't screwed up 5 in the last 6 months, so, this is a problem.

You may recall early on that we discussed "stress".  Last night, I was a prime candidate for a heart attack, Erin and Ivy can attest to it.  The fact is, I have too much that I've tried to wrap my arms around, between the blog, custom orders, and endless ETSY conversations.  On a personal front, we just moved my 93 year old mother to a new nursing facility that's much further away and I need to visit her more frequently. 

I'm not trying to make excuses, because I asked for all of it.  However I'm finding that I'm failing on a number of different fronts, and that just simply isn't acceptable.   I think you all know that I truly love what I do, and I don't ever want to put that in jeopardy.  Last night in my fit of anger, I told Erin that I'm going to close the shop and go get a real job again.  Fortunately sleep has a way of clearing the head, and I have zero intentions of giving up that which I love.  Something has got to give however, and this is how I'm going to attempt to dig myself out of the hole that I've dug.

I'm going to finish all of the custom orders that are on the board, and then back off for a while.  I'm not saying that I won't do customs in the future, I will, but just on a much more limited basis.   I don't need practice, and when things go in the trashcan, that's all it is... 16 hours of practice.

I'll still blog occasionally, but I have to get my act together.  I hope you understand, I do truly love all of you, and I want to keep it that way.

I guess all that's remaining to be said is "I'm sorry".  I thought I could do it all, but I apparently can't.

Cones & Roses

It's that time!



Rose - engraved and inlaid

Prices:

 

Non-Engraved - $105

Non-Engraved with 1 gemstone inlay on the foot - $135

Reserved - CMorantz

 

 

 

Surprise Custom

Good Morning,

I'll post a picture of the board in a little while, but for now... Sweet Aderyn... please send me a note.

Thank you, you're on the board!

Custom Time

Good Afternoon,

It's that time again... who's up for a custom?

As a reminder, here are the rules of the "Custom Time" game.

• Existing design only, no "create it from scratch" designs.  Ebony and Holly are not available.
• The only information needed is a link to the sold or active stick, along with allowable changes which are wood type, gemstone / metal/metal flake inlays and length.  If it requires more information than what's listed above, it's considered a "create it from scratch" design.
• Just one order, and the 1st to reply gets the custom.  Once the custom is acknowledged I'll ask that you send me a note through ETSY to confirm the details.
• You are only eligible to win once in a 30 day time frame, and the custom order is non-transferable.
• Custom Time winners have 1 week to claim their custom order, after which the offer expires and you are once again eligible to participate in future offerings.
• For the purposes of responding to the Custom Time announcement, we will accept an email through ETSY as opposed to a blog entry only.  The first time stamp through the blog or ETSY wins the custom... you're just going to have to trust me on this one.

Have a great day!

Custom Time

Good Morning,

It's that time... who's up for a custom?

As a reminder, here are the rules of the "Custom Time" game.

• Existing design only, no "create it from scratch" designs.  Ebony and Holly are not available.
• The only information needed is a link to the sold or active stick, along with allowable changes which are wood type, gemstone / metal/metal flake inlays and length.  If it requires more information than what's listed above, it's considered a "create it from scratch" design.
• Just one order, and the 1st to reply gets the custom.  Once the custom is acknowledged I'll ask that you send me a note through ETSY to confirm the details.
• You are only eligible to win once in a 30 day time frame, and the custom order is non-transferable.
• Custom Time winners have 1 week to claim their custom order, after which the offer expires and you are once again eligible to participate in future offerings.
• For the purposes of responding to the Custom Time announcement, we will accept an email through ETSY as opposed to a blog entry only.  The first time stamp through the blog or ETSY wins the custom... you're just going to have to trust me on this one.

Have a great day!

Custom Time Winner - Simacross

____________________________________________________________________________

Today's Board

Where's The Love

Good Morning,

https://www.etsy.com/listing/239724229/the-princess-eve-hair-stick-featuring

Man, when I swing and miss, I do it big time don't I.  136 views and not a single heart, now that's just hurtful.  After all I do to try to accommodate everyone, can't someone at least give it a sympathy heart for Heavens sake? 

So like I said in a previous post, I don't like seeing inventory so we're playing a new and exciting game today entitled "Where's the Bottom".   You may or may not realized it, but we've already begun playing the game.

About 30 minutes ago Erin lowered the price from $125 to $95.  Periodically throughout the day I am going to continue lowering the price until someone bites.  While the views to heart ratio would indicate otherwise, it's not actually a horrendously offensive looking stick.  In fact, I'll go out on a limb here and say that it's actually kind of a nice looking stick IRL, but then again, I'm probably biased. 

One of you lucky ladies is going to pick up a smokin' deal today, in our 1st "Where's the Bottom" game.  I'm predicting that it won't be in inventory by nightfall, because unlike the "Make an Offer" game, there is no minimum price, that said, we're not shipping it for free.

So Ladies, Where's the Bottom?

Here's the board:

 



What?  The 3rd line is empty... it can only mean one thing... later.

Have a Great Day!

$125.00

 

$95.00

 

$87.00

 

$82.77

 

 The Bottom



Today's Lineup

Good Morning,

I've got a full board, and a full day ahead.  No tornados, no shop accessories that need to be built, or other distractions... just sticks today, I hope.

So here's the lineup, please double check me and let me know if I've missed anything.

Have a Great Day!

 

 

 

Cones & Roses

Who Wants to Play?

  

Full body stars or other engraving, or no engraving,

Tiger Stripe Maple only

Gemstone  / Leaf inlay of your choosing

Resin Colors - up to a maximum of a 3 color pour

Engraved and inlaid Paua or other topper choice if you choose

Please provide the overall length desired

Prices:

Non-Engraved - $105
Non-Engraved with 1 gemstone inlay on the foot - $125
Engraved and inlaid, no  engraved top - $135
Engraved and inlaid with engraved top - $160

Action shot

Here you go Michelle, thought you might like to see your stick turned about half way through.  Fuzzy picture I know, but trust me, the colors are intense.

I also realized as I dug deeper into her order that I have inadvertently misled everyone on the "Cones and Roses" game. 

Remember a few days back when I said I had a breakthrough, well, I did.  That day (after spending 3 hours on the Harley) I successfully created a new system for casting pinecones.  While it had taken a few days to iron out the bugs, it was on this day that I roughed out and built 9 pinecone sticks ready to be cast, in less time than it had previously taken for me to make 2.  That's HUGE in my world.

The catch, as I discovered on Michelle's order and as I've explained to her, is that in this current batch of 9, none of them have a wooden top portion, it's all resin.  It can be engraved and inlaid as usual, but just no wooden top.  I told Michelle that if she wants it as is, great.  If not it will go into general inventory, and I'll re-make hers tomorrow, it's no trouble at all.

So, going forward, please help me out on this specific point, because it's easy for me to miss.  Just simply point out, in addition to all the other stuff that the stick "does" have a wooden top and I can make it accordingly.

Thanks, sorry if there was any confusion. 

Tuesday's Lineup

Good Morning,

Rough night last night, fortunately we fared much better than others in our city.  With quite literally all of the machines unplugged, out of fear of lightning, TT shut down early. 

That, combined with the fact that for the first time in years I slept in until 7:00 AM today means only one thing, I'm way behind schedule.

I'll update this post later with the schedule.

Have a Great Day!


_____________________________________________________________________________

Noon Update:


While it's a bit blurry for you, I can now say that I'm organized, or at least for now as organized as it's going to get.  When I say you're "on the board", this is what I mean.  Quick math tells me, (and you) that there are only 6 lines on the board and they are all full.  How does that relate to the games we play?  As each line description gets erased, and the custom order is completed, we play!  Here's a little secret, I like it when the board is full. 

There's that, plus I found another little time saver, because now I don't have to (2 finger) type it.

Have a Great Afternoon!


______________________________________________________________________________

Update: 2:00

Another benefit of showing you the board is so that you can double check me, as Christine just did.  She had switched to rosewood and I didn't catch the change.  So please, send me a note if I've got anything wrong.

Cones & Roses

Who Wants to Play?

 Full body stars or no engraving, paua or other engraved  top optional

Wood choices are African Blackwood, Honduras Rosewood or Tiger Stripe Maple

Gemstone  / Leaf inlay of your choosing

Resin Colors - up to a maximum of a 3 color pour

Paua or other topper choice if applicable

Please provide the overall length desired

Prices:

Non-Engraved - $105
Non-Engraved with 1 gemstone inlay on the foot - $125
Engraved and inlaid, no  engraved top - $135
Engraved and inlaid with engraved top - $160

The first 2 win today's "Cones & Roses" game.

• Reserved - Morganaa
• Reserved - Annaleah

Today's game is closed.


Great, we're under a tornado warning right now.

Hunkered down... it's bad!

Monday's Lineup

Good Morning,

Here's what's lined up on the bench for today:

• Susan Haylet - Paua Seashell, resuming work
• Powertreats - custom tbd, will resume design convo's today
• Michelle Zarinelli - Pinecone, cast about 15 minutes ago
• Miss X - Rose - Will be cast today
• Christine - Pinecone - Will be cast today

I tried starting the database just to learn that the software I have is too old... on to plan "B", whatever the heck that is, I guess I need to do some homework.

I'm thinking that there may be a game today,  hmmm, I'm not quite sure yet which game we're going to play, I guess we'll all be surprised with the "game of the day".  I can however tell you which game it's not going to be, "Surprise Custom",  I've got to get my head around this database issue first.

Have a Great Day!


___________________________________________________________________________

Update:

Good Afternoon

It occurs to me that we might inadvertently create some confusion when posting reserved sticks for sale.  The order in which I have the custom orders organized is first in, first out.  While this is the chronological order, it does not necessarily mean that someone below you might have their stick finished before yours.  Each stick is a multi-stage process, and it's a function of these various stages that determines when a stick will be finished.  So no, I'm not playing favorites, the stages just are what they are, so don't worry, your stick is being worked on.

Also, I wanted to let you know that I've created a new system whereby I can inset virtually any color of resin in the top of the stick without the wide circular border, more seamless if you will. 

An example might be a purple, blue and green resin, but since you're really more of a purple kind of person you want a purple inset as opposed to paua, or the already established stick colors.  It's just another design option for you.

Finally, there is no requirement on the "Cones & Roses" game that if a "Cone" picture is shown, that pinecones are actually in the mix.  Let's face it, some of these color combinations are pretty dialed in all on their own.  Again, just another option.

Have a Great Afternoon!

Cones & Roses

Who Wants to Play?

•  Full body stars, paua or other engraved  top optional
• Wood choices are African Blackwood, Honduras Rosewood or Tiger Stripe Maple
• Gemstone  / Leaf inlay of your choosing - you may want to hold off on a final decision, I'm still working on the new inlay technique, it may be an option also.
• Resin Colors - up to a maximum of a 3 color pour
• Paua or other topper choice if applicable
• Please provide the overall length desired

Prices:

Non-Engraved - $105
Engraved and inlaid, no  engraved top - $135
Engraved and inlaid with engraved top - $160

Sunday's Plan

Good Morning,

Today is going to be a good day.  I had a breakthrough yesterday, I think I finally cracked the elusive code that's plagued me for years.... it's a good thing, it's going to speed me up.

I've taken too much time off the last 2 days, so we skipped Church.  I'm going to be underground all day.  So this is what I'm working on, in this order:

• Just finished Morganaa's, it will be posted shortly.
• Non-reserved full body pinecone, I'm not taking any reservations on this one.  The reason being is that I am going to try a new inlay technique, one that I've thought about for years, but have never tried.  I snuck a test inlay into a recent stick (no you can't see it, but for my purposes I could).  It looked pretty cool, but I don't know how that translates to an entire stick.  You may or may not ever see this stick, it depends on how it turns out.
• Susan Haylet - Paua Seashell
• Powertreats - Custom tbd
• Michelle Zarinelli - pinecone
• Miss X - Rose

Thank you for all of the emails with your aliases.  I want to give a shout out to Suricat.  Thank you so much for the suggestion, I've been writing code in my head for the last 24 hours.  I think I can build a database that's basically linked to ETSY where I can download all of our customer information, which could be a handy little tool when printing address labels and customs forms.  I've got to dust off that part of my brain though.  I'll probably start working on it tomorrow morning.

Have a Great Day!

Addendum to the Surprise Custom Game

Good Afternoon,

We had some errands to run, so it's questionable if I'll finish the sticks that I thought earlier would be finished today.

So here's the deal as it relates to the "Surprise Custom" game.   I'm having a tough time (and it's getting harder every day), trying to connect the dots between your blog name, forum name and etsy name.  Some of them are self apparent, with the same name on all 3.  By in large however that's not the case.

So, I need to build a database ... in all of my spare time, with the 3 aliases along with your real name.  I assure you all of the information will be confidential.  I would also like to get your country name so I can be cognizant of your time zone.

Given the number of individuals involved, I've made the decision that if you're not on the list, you won't be eligible for the "Surprise Custom" game.  I would ask that you send Erin an email through ETSY and give her your name and 3 aliases along with your country.  She is simply going to write  the information down and give it to me in order to manage the database (fortunately, I'm pretty good at building databases from my previous banking life). 

So if you would like to participate in this game going forward, please send Erin the information.  Yes, I know our inbox is going to be active, fortunately we only have to go through this exercise once.  Many of you we know well, and even if  that's the case, I would ask that you send the email anyway, so you don't inadvertently get overlooked.  Please use the conversation topic "ADDENDUM", that way I know which emails  that I don't need to look at.

Now, I'm really going back to work.

Thanks

4th of July

Good Morning and Happy Independence Day!

We've got a lot of activity on the bench, and for everyone's benefit, or more specifically primarily mine...  here's what I'm working on:

• Sterlyn - Pinecone - will be finished today
• Morganaa - Diamond border - will be finished today
• Oh Susan, send me a note please... I feel a seashell coming on, perhaps today.  Just to clarify, this stick was not a custom or game winner, it was a suggestion.  Susan is under no obligation to purchase it, she simply gets the 1st look at it, and can decide if she wants it or not.  Since this is a Holiday weekend and she may be out of town, it won't be posted until we hear from her, or next Tuesday (7/7) at the earliest.
• Powertreats - Custom - in design process
• Michelle Zarinelli - Pinecone - will be cast today
• Miss X - Rose - will be cast today

So I've got my work cut out for me, it's time to make those machines hot!

Have a Great 4th Everyone, I'll check in later.

Cones and Roses

You can thank my brother for the name, it's his play on words... get it? Guns and Roses. 

Whew, long day, but we got her moved, so let's play Cones and Roses.  For more information, look at the July 2nd post.

In this game I'm going to give you a picture of what I'm planning to cast.  It may be a single rose or pinecone, both, or mix matched.  So you can see how they'll be presented, I'm going to give you in today's game both a pinecone and a rose picture, which is what I'm planning to start work on.  So, going forward I'm not going to present this long winded explanation, just a picture, design and your available choices.  The rose that's in the picture will be used in this game, going forward however it will be the same rose in the picture, but it will actually be a different rose, at last count I have 37 buds that are dried and ready to go.

So here's your 1st picture:

Pinecone:  Full body stars, paua / engraved  top optional

• Wood choice
• Gemstone choice
• Resin Colors - up to a maximum of a 3 color pour
• Paua or other topper choice if applicable
• Length.

Price:

Engraved and inlaid, no  engraved top - $135
Engraved and inlaid with engraved top - $160
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Rose - engraved and inlaid, design depicted in the photo below

• Wood choice
• Gemstone choice
• Length.

 

 

Price:

Engraved and inlaid  - $135

_________________________________________________________________________________

Blog Post's only (on this round only), because it's been a long day, I'm tired and need to get cleaned up.  As with all customs, we'll nail down all of the specifics through ETSY, but for the purposes of this game all that's needed on the blog post is an indication that you would like either one.  Fear not, they are going to be made either way, it's just a matter of whether it's your way or mine  :)

Now... off to the shower!

Friday's Plan

Good Morning,

I just finished slynr's custom, and am getting ready to run out the door.  Today is moving day for my 93 year old mother.  We're moving her to a different skilled nursing facility.   I'll be tied up the better part of the day, but will check back in this afternoon. 

There will be some games to be played when I get back.

Have a Great Day!

Pinecones or Roses

OK,  I've got a new game and I think you're going to dig it... or at least I hope you're going to dig it.

It's a takeoff on the wildly popular internet gaming sensation, the "Who Want's It" game.

In the posting I am going to include a picture of either a pinecone or a rose, the 2 primary things that I've been casting recently.  In addition to either of these 2 botanical items, there will be a picture of the design that's going to be engraved, (it's non-negotiable).

This leaves a few decisions to be made, and you get to make those decisions, they are:

• Wood choice
• Gemstone choice
• Resin Colors - up to a maximum of a 3 color pour
• Paua choice if applicable
• Length.

In essence, what I'm doing is giving you a heads up that I'll be casting something in the next couple of hours, and this is how I intend to engrave it.  So instead of me guessing on the multitude of choices that I have, someone, just tell me what to make.  Lord knows, I don't need the practice, and that's exactly what it is when I guess wrong. 

A final request, please keep it simple, challenges slow me down.   I don't mean to be rude, but if the ETSY convo's seem a bit abbreviated on my side on this game, I'm sorry in advance.  It's not that I don't love to chat, this blog is proof of that, but they're time killers, and I have to be able to blow and go on this game.

This isn't the actual game, just the announcement.  I'll probably be casting again within the next day or so.

Pricing:

$10 additional above the normal price.  So, a $125 stick would be $135.  I hear it already, but the bottom line is that customization in this game isn't free, sorry.

Have a Great Afternoon!

Surprise Custom

powertreats... drop me a line.

July 2 - Gameplan

Good Morning,

What a day yesterday... $279 to snake our kitchen sink in order to fix the floor drain clog next to the shop.  It took him 20 whole minutes.    Don't have a calculator?  That's $837 per hour... I'm definitely in the wrong business, except for the fact that I don't do plumbing and schlepping around a snake and plumbers stuff holds zero appeal, so I guess I'll just stay with the sticks.  To top it all of, he had the whole plumbers butt crack thing going on... Ivy found it interesting... I found it appalling, and people complain about my prices.

Between the drain, blogging, 5 different ETSY conversations going on at once, roughing, engraving and inlaying, I was toast by 6:00 last night.   Oh ya, lets not forget the stick that quite literally blew up in my face, first time ever, thank goodness for safety glasses... otherwise I would be blind right now.     Well, I managed to get myself incredibly confused, I couldn't remember whose stick was who's, inlays, lengths... anything.  So, I shut the shop down and found a beer.

Also, I forgot, after a couple of hours yesterday afternoon sitting at the bottom of the trash can, I pulled the exploded stick out, and managed to find a pretty little petite that was just crying out to be found, so that's a little bit of good news.

For today it's pretty much trying to wrap up the pending pinecones.  Here's how I resolved the confusion issue, the sticky's weren't there yesterday so you can see how one can get confused.

Have a great day, I'll be checking in later.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Update: 8:00 AM

I just finished that little exploding petite and Erin will be posting it shortly.  Don't worry, the section that exploded was "turned away", he's a sturdy little guy.

I also just caught up on LHC, so let me put my 2 cents in as it relates to stress.  I understand that Friday Night Sales are probably stressful for some, not on our end though.  :)  With the majority of inventory  generally being sold in under 2 minutes, so yes, I get it, that's stressful.   The absolute last thing that I want with this whole blog thing is to create stress, I need it to alleviate stress. There's that, and also to let you into our  life a little, and perhaps see behind the curtain.  So, if it gets stressful for whatever reason,  heck, I'll just simply change the rules.   I have enough going on where I don't need this to create stress.

My hope is that through all of these silly-ass games I'm playing that each and every one of you gets a stick that you want, some how or some way.  Just because you've been beat out on one, please... don't sweat it.  Here's a little secret:  That's the exact reason I'm doing "Surprise Customs".  Unfortunately, customs slow me down, no matter how simple the design.  So, no I can't pump them out as fast as in the past,  but my preference is zero inventory and you (at some point), get what you want.

Hope this helps.

Surprise Custom

Morganaa... send me a note!

Who Wants It.

... #2

Total Length - Maximum stick length -  7"

Blackwood Base

Resin throughout, no visible wood on the top

Inset top of your choosing is optional

Resin colors - blue and silver

 Price

• Full Body Pinecone, engraved and inlaid - $125
• Full Body Pinecone with Paua top, engraved and inlaid - $150
• Full Body Pinecone with no engraving - $105

Update: 

Reserved - Sterlyn

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and # 3 ... Both Erin's and my reaction, at exactly the same time when I turned off the lathe  was OMG!

Total Length - Maximum stick length -  6 3/4"

Blackwood Base

For engraving purposes,  existing designs only

Resin throughout, no visible wood on the top

Inset top of your choosing is optional

Resin colors - purple, red russet and green

Paua colors - purple, green, blue, pink, red, natural and root beer

Leaf colors - silver, gold, copper or mixed leaf (contains only gold and copper leaf)

 Price

• Full Body Pinecone with no engraving - $105
• Full Body Pinecone, engraved and inlaid - $125
• Full Body Pinecone with Paua top, engraved and inlaid - $150

Update:

Unavailable, will be finished and put into general inventory

 

 

Who Wants It

Here we go, the 1st "Who Wants It" game.

• Total Length - Max 6.25"
• Blackwood Base
• Resin throughout, no visible wood on the top
• Inset top of your choosing is optional
• Resin colors - blue, purple and green

So here you go ladies, let the creative juices start flowing, sorry it's a bit fuzzy.

Update:

I'm such a dork... like I said yesterday, I usually and eventually get there.  Here's a handy bit of information that I failed to provide... the price.

• Full Body Pinecone, engraved and inlaid - $125
• Full Body Pinecone with Paua top, engraved and inlaid - $150

Sorry about that.

Today's Plan

Good Morning,

Yesterday was my "chatty" day, not so much today, I need to make some sticks!  Here's my tentative lineup,  it's an ambitious plan:

• Possibly a "Surprise Custom"
• 3 "Who Wants It"  games.  A quick note on this game.  Given that I need to keep things moving, the window for claiming the stick as yours will generally be a couple of hours, and I will announce if it's no longer available.  After which it will go into my standard lineup of selecting a design and finishing the stick. 
• Finish Moonfool, Willowyn, and Christine's sticks.

Have a Great Day!