No posts in a while, how are things going?

I haven’t posted to Instagram for a few weeks.  Usually I try to post more frequently than that.  Is everything going OK?

The reality is that everything is going great.  I’m thankful to have a buyer for each piece I build, usually in a day or two.  The demand means that I have less time to prototype new stuff, and since I’m not making new ideas I have less interesting photos to take.  That doesn’t mean that my shop isn’t interesting right now.  There’s a lot of good satisfying work happening as I carefully build pieces that I’m happy with, that meet my quality standard.   But it doesn’t usually result in good pictures.

I’m doing other things in the shop that aren’t very picture worthy as well.  It’s been stormy and raining and the carport/tent behind the shop where I do my spray finishing has been under constant assault. I’ve been strengthening it and reinforcing parts of it so that it stays grounded to the earth.  Many parts of my shop and property are beautiful and rustic but the tent is decidedly not.  It’s an estate sale special which is glaringly white and a mess of poles and tarpaulin which don’t match the aesthetic at all.  So I’ve chosen not to show it in shop pictures.

Oh, and I’m getting better at things too.  More secure packaging, less glue marks in even hidden areas of pieces, I include a card with each purchase that I print here in house.  My finishing has improved too.  I used to try to just friction polish my finished work, but now I use an all natural finishing wax which gives each piece a nice sheen and a great smell too.

It’s all happening and I’m getting it done.  I had intended to use these months to ramp up my production so that I’d have inventory on hand for Christmas shoppers, but since my friendly customers buy everything I make available that isn’t happening.  I’m thankful to have the support, even if that means I can’t offer anything extra for holiday shoppers.

Thanks for reading, Isaac