Faced my fears

 So I mentioned that I had gotten some of the cups I ordered. They are Stanley dupes and have gold plating under the powder coating, so when you engrave them the gold shines through. So awesome. I was afraid of engraving them. Afraid that I would screw them up. But I realized that the only way I was going to figure them out was to do it. So I took a cup and did a test grid on it. By doing that I found the best settings for engraving nice and clean. So then I attempted to make Hubby a cup and ended up screwing the placement up. I had to figure out the placement of the design. These are the cups: 

I have them in this creamy white and in black. The handle is removable but getting the placement right is difficult. Using the cup I did the test grid on, I marked where I lined up the laser and then did a test run. I was able to figure out the placing and attempted another cup for Hubby. It came out amazing. 

It came out so nice. The gold on the black is amazing. I love them. 

Then, since I had faced my fears of messing up the cups, I decided to face my other fears. A while back I had ordered some acrylic with different color cores so that you can engrave it and a different color comes through. Saves you from having to paint the engraving. I tried to use some of it but struggled greatly. So I decided to do the adult thing and do a test grid on all of it. So I spent the afternoon doing test grids. They take about 40 minutes of each one and it is not that exciting. But I now have a good idea on what a good setting will be to engrave this material and get the inner core. 

So I'm being an adult and facing my fears and not letting little things jam me up. Very exciting day. 

Sometimes you have to take a step back

 that's what I did this week. I did not look or think about my business all week. Okay, that's not entirely true, I thought about it some, but I didn't really dwell on it. I did start a sort of social media planner that I will be working on this weekend also. I did get some of my cups from China so I'm going to play with them also. And I'm going to work on how I want to approach things with my business. But that's all for later. 

This week at school was rough and I'm not sure completely why. I was very grumpy and the kids were squirrelly and it made for a rough week. It could be because of my business. Trying to figure that out may have impacted my mood. That means I need to do fun things this weekend and make some progress so I feel good about things. I'm also going to clean this room, it is a hot mess. I've got crap everywhere and that makes me feel crowded and cramped. I've got new resin I haven't played with yet, definitely going to try that this weekend. I got the rotary and the fire system for my new laser and I'm going to get those on it so I can play. Yeah, lots to do, lots of fun things. 

Okay, I'm off to get things rolling. 

Time for a change?

 So I started this little business about 1.5 years ago. The idea was to make a little side business that would keep me busy when I retire. I didn't want to make a ton of money and I sure don't want to work at it 40 hours a week, but just a little something to keep me busy. So I started making stuff and I started doing craft fairs. What I quickly discovered, and has been proved over and over again, is that craft fairs are hit or miss. And they are mostly miss. There has only been 2 shows where I actually made my booth fee back. Most shows end up costing me more than I make. This was highlighted yesterday. I signed up for a show that was touted as a dog rescue event. I thought to myself, this will be awesome. There will be animal lovers there. There will be people needing things for dogs. This will be great. So I had some leash holders ready to go and some key holders with dog themes plus my onsite engraving. I was ready. More importantly, I was optimistic (as I said yesterday) and thought it would be a good day. UGH!! I was so, so wrong. First, it was in the parking lot of a retirement community. Then there was limited parking available. Finally, they placed the rescues at the entrance to the event. This all resulted in foot (and I use that term loosely) traffic that was primarily people from the retirement community. People interested in adopting stopped at the front and never even made it back to us. I was even giving away free engraved tags and only made 3. It was absolutely horrible. Oh, and it was super hot. The event was supposed to last until 3pm but by noon people were bailing. We started packing up at 1:30. 

After, in the pool, we were talking. I don't think the craft show is the way to go for me. I'm going to have to come out of my self-imposed shell and start putting myself out there. I have some ideas that I just need to follow through on. I wanted to make Lori at the gym a tumbler and show her what I can do. Of course, I was hoping to get my cups from China but that doesn't look like it's going to happen soon. My luck, they are on a ship sitting in Baltimore harbor. But I'm going to put together some marketing emails for some places and try to sell to them. I'm also going to start doing fundraising things and try to drive some traffic to my site. I did get a good lead at the show for a sports cup. I have it coming today and I'm going to mock it up and see what I can do with it. Of course, that means I need to bust out the rotary and learn how to use it on the P2. I also need to learn to use the new software since apparently it is much more powerful than the current software that I'm using. I'm also going to work on my Amazon store. I put up my item and I literally have not been back to check on it at all. I need to work on that, get more things posted. I'm going to start posting in more places, Facebook marketplace, Instagram, maybe even get a TikTok - although I understand they may be going away. I think I need to start working on my marketing. Maybe even approach other gyms and things owned locally. But it is definitely time for a change.

I've got 10 minutes

 Let's see how much I can get down in that time. 

Well, it's been another week gone by. I tried some things with my laser and they weren't working so that's a bummer. Then I didn't really do anything to get ready for the show I have today.. I have some things, so I'm hoping for the best. I would very much like to actually sell some stuff and make a profit. We shall see how that goes. It's a rescue event and a lot of my stuff is dog related so I'm optimistic. 

It was testing week at school, so pretty uneventful. Did get some things done though and that is always good. 

Not much else to say. Up early to get ready for the show. Going to be a longish day. I just hope things go well. 

Okay, I'm off and it's only been 4 minutes. 

It's been a week

 After last weekend's productivity, this weekend was a bit of a letdown. But there is good reason for that. Let me explain. 

Last week we had Monday and Tuesday off. So on Monday I scheduled a demo of the xTool P2 down in Tucson. We drove down, spent an hour with the guy showing us how it works and giving us the rundown on it. It was good because not only does he use one, he has a laser business himself and has one of his own. It was awesome. Then we went to lunch in Tucson and drove home. Hubby was of the opinion that I should get one. So I did. It was delivered on Friday. 

Friday morning the science club went to the worm farm. It was actually pretty cool and I learned a lot. It also got me inspired to revitalize the garden in our backyard. But it was a very early morning and I was excited because my new laser was coming. We got home around noonish and I dove into tearing down my D1 laser. Also, we were planning on having a garage sale on Saturday so there was that to get ready for. After my laser was torn down, I made some signs for the sale with my vinyl cutter. While this was going on, my new laser was delivered. So once I finished the signs, I dove into setting up my new laser. It came with a base that had to be assembled. Then the laser itself had to be lifted from the ground to the base on my craft table and that sucker is heavy. It took Hubby and I some careful planning to get it up there, but we did. I got it all set up only to discover that I did not have any distilled water for the CO2 tube. By this time it was 6 or 7 and I called it a night. 

Saturday morning we were up early getting ready for the garage sale. What a flop that was. Literally the only person who stopped was a friend of ours. A few cars drove by but didn't stop. Ugh!! What a waste. But I had the opportunity to work with my small laser. I worked on a full tumbler wrap and it worked. I need to master that but it's not that hard. We shut the garage sale down about 11 am and packed everything all up. Took the time to organize things because we have a show next week, so that was good. Once that was all done we went shopping and grabbed some lunch and picked up distilled water. It is now about 1pm and I finally get to my laser. Got it filled and primed and fired the puppy up. It is so exciting to be able to cut acrylic. It cut well. 

When I purchased the laser, I purchased a bundle that has an extension on it so you can cut material up to 3 meters long. I was excited for making big things. But the arms of the extension would hang off my table. I needed to figure out a way to make them fit. This morning I got up with the idea of turning the laser around. I currently had it set up landscape on a landscape table. What if I put it portrait on a landscape table? I did some measurements and it looked like it would work, so I spun that puppy around. I put the extension on and it fit great. Yay!!! I figured out how I could use the extension. I then spent the next hour or so trying to figure out how to work it. Once I got that down, I was excited to make something large. My first item I discovered a major problem with the extension. Normally the laser head moves back and forth and up and down to cut the pattern on the material laying on the bed. Well with the extension moving the wood, the laser head just moves back and forth. If there are little cutouts, they fall to the bottom and just stay there with the laser going back and forth over them. I watched little fires keep starting. I was afraid that a real fire would start and I could not figure out how to get the pieces out of the way. So I stopped it. Most of the things I create have small pieces cut out of them. This was not going to work. So I decided that I would use the extension only when I needed it and proceeded to take it off and spin the laser around again. 

All this is to say that I had no time to really make anything or work on anything. That means I will have to be on it this week and next Friday. I also have to figure out how to get the wood I have cut down to fit inside the bed. 

So while a very busy weekend, I did not get anything done in terms of my business. I will need to work on that this week. 

The follow up

 After Saturday's post, I really dove into my business. I finished up about 50 pairs of earrings that I made about a month ago and they were in various stages of completion. I have cut a number of things I've been wanting to make, I haven't been able to paint them yet because it's been raining here. I came up with ideas and immediately started putting them into action. I have some ideas for things I want to sell that are different and unique and I'm working on that. Just admitting that I had been treating this more like a hobby has seemed to release the floodgates. Saturday I worked at this for like 10 hours. Yesterday I worked at it for about 6 hours and then some friends came over. After they left I worked at it for another couple of hours. I sat on Saturday night and got posts made for a week. That's the kind of work that I need to do. Not just when I feel like it, but all the time. Today we are heading down to Tucson to get a demo of a laser I am interested in. I really want it because it will do things my little diode can't, but I want to see it in action first. Considering I bought this laser not even really knowing what a diode was, I decided to be a little more adult about the next one. So I want to get a few things done before we leave here, but the rest of the day will be spent on the road. 

I am feeling so much better about this thing. I have some ideas I need to work out and I think I can do this. 

Hobby or Business????

 I've really been struggling with my business since the first of the year. I have unmotivated and just not very inspired to do much of anything in regards to it. I have a couple of leads on sales and have I followed up on them? NO!!!! Have I done much of anything to promote my business? NO!!! Have I really put in the effort to make this thing successful? Kind of. I did do a lot of shows towards the end of the year last year and was very, very disappointed with how they went. I got few sales and overall think I made a little over $600 for the year. Not good. It really got me down and in the beginning of this year I just didn't want to do anything with my business. I went for weeks without using my laser. It was not good. I have actually been considering shutting the whole thing down. But the fact is, I enjoy making things and I just need to get my act together with the business side of things. Part of the problem is that I keep saying I don't want it to get too big too quick because I still have a regular job. Well, what if it did take off? Would that be horrible? I have about 12 days every month that I can devote to it so I could keep up. If I push myself and had a plan or a system. It could be done. I have been treating it like a hobby and not like a business and I need to change my mindset. I need to put myself out there. Whatever that means. On social media. At shows. With people I meet. I just need to do it. When I first got into this, I read a post of girl who sells earrings and she said that her biggest way to sell it by wearing her earrings. Why can't I do that? Every single time I wear some of my own stuff, I get compliments on them. Why don't I get my earrings up on my website and carry some cards with me when I'm wearing them? Why don't I push them? I am in the process of designing earrings with beads and such. I will need to wear them and be ready to promote my business if anyone asks. 

The bottom line is that I have to start treating this like a real business. I have created a work flow chart on my whiteboard to keep track of what I need to do: 

This eliminates the whole, what do I want to do? Also, I have a habit of getting things half done and then not finishing them. Or even worse, not taking pictures and posting on website. This way, as soon as I do something I can move the item to the next thing to do. This way I can keep track of everything that I need to get done. 

Also, I need to find some craft shows to do. This is ridiculous. People are not going to buy my stuff if they can't see it. I also need to build up my email list and that is the best place to do that. 

Okay, I'm feeling a little better about this. I need to find the right combination of work/sales/profit/etc. and I just haven't been putting much effort into it at all. Time to change that. I'm taking a trip to Tucson on Monday to look at a laser. The laser that I have is really very limited in what it can do, I would like to do more. Especially with earrings. So I'm going to look and check it out and make a day in Tucson. All business stuff. 

Alright, off to get things rolling with this today.