June | 2018 | MowryJournal.com

I had no clue that Trivets would prove to be this popular.

They have become the source of the #1 question I get at craft fairs: “What’s a trivet?” Or, the #2 question, “What is this?”

Trivets.

They’re made from the same hardwood as my other pieces, but these have wide slots cut in them to help dissipate the heat from hot dishes. Use these on a well-appointed table to protect the table top’s finish.

Or, use them as a conversation piece. They certainly are working that way for me!

All are 8-1/2″square, and about 3/4″ thick.

Trivet 18 – 720. Hard Maple, Purpleheart, Yellowheart & Hickory.

Trivet 18 – 721. Jarrah, Bubinga, Purpleheart, Yellowheart, Padauk & Hard Maple.

Trivet 18 – 722. Jarrah, Jatoba, Hard Maple & Black Walnut.

Trivet 18 -723. Hard Maple & Padauk.

Trivet 18 – 724. White Oak & Padauk.

Trivet 18 – 725. White Oak, Purpleheart, Bubinga, Bloodwood, Hard Maple & Black Walnut.

Trivet 18 -726. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Purpleheart & Jatoba.

Trivet 18 – 727. Purpleheart, Mesquite & Black Walnut.

Trivet 18 – 728. Jarrah, Purpleheart, Black Walnut & Honey Locust.

I’m embracing my inner foodie.

I’ve created a series of signs to decorate my booth and complement my offerings of serving pieces & cutting boards. I’ve been told these signs will make good decor for kitchens, breakfast nooks & such.

Love it.

Each of these signs is on 3/4″ thick stock – either Cherry or Hard Maple, generally. The carved letters are often painted, and the boards are then coated in lacquer for long life. Hanging hardware is attached to each plaque.

With the addition of the mesh walls to our booth, I’m now able to display these signs well, and I’ve got several more ~~up my sleeve~~, uh, in my head waiting to break out.

It’s back to the ~~garage~~ woodshop I go, before something dangerous happens!

CNC Sign 18 – 21. Cherry. 12″ diameter.

CNC Sign 18 – 10. Hard Maple. 10″ x 16″.

CNC Sign 18 – 11. 6″ x 22″.

CNC Sign 18 – 14. Hard Maple. 10″ x 18″.

CNC Sign 18 – 13. Hard Maple. 10″ x 16″.

CNC Sign 18 – 15. Cherry. 12″ x 18″.

CNC Sign 18 – 19. Hard Maple. 10″ x 18″.

CNC Sign 18 – 16. Hard Maple. 12″ x 18″.

CNC Sign 18 – 17. Cherry. 12″ x 16″.

CNC Sign 18 – 12. Hard Maple. 12″ x 16″.

CNC Sign 18 – 18. Hard Maple. 10″ x 14″.

CNC Sign 18 – 20. Hard Maple. 12″ x 12″.

One of the challenges in a 1-man shop is how you can get more efficient. When it’s just you against the world, you can’t afford to waste time.

I decided some time ago that I would not hire an assistant … so I bought one.

My CNC router is a computer-controlled carving machine that will do what I tell it to do, generally. It will work on one project while I’m doing other tasks. I’m now doing some processes for many of my products on the CNC. Magic Bottle Openers, Trivets, Coasters and Pigs all go through the CNC now.

And in this case, “more is better” is definitely a true statement. I’m slowly adding more products. Wall plaques are now happening, along with some 3D carving. As I gain more skills there, you’ll see Cribbage Boards (I promise!) and new Cheese Slicers make it to the finish line.

For now, here are some of the ideas I have delivered sing the CNC.

CNC Sign 18 – 04 – Family. Hard Maple. 12″ x 16″ x 3/4″. Sold in it’s first showing.

CNC Sign 18 – 03 – Family. 12″ x 16″ x 3/4″. Sold in it’s first showing.

Wine Bottle Coaster 18 – 502. Cherry.

Cheese & Cracker Server 18 – 202. Hard Maple. 13″ x 16″ x 1-1/4″. 2 sided use, with the flip side being a plain surface for cutting or charcuterie or ….

CNC Sign 18 – 05 – Family. Cherry. 12″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

CNC Sign 18 – 06 – Family. Cherry. 12″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

CNC Sign 18 – 07 – Family. Cherry. 12″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

CNC Sign 18 – 08 – Family. Cherry. 12″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

Lazy Susan 18 – 12. Hard Maple, Cherry & Sapele. 18″ diameter.

Lazy Susan 18 – 13. Padauk & Spalted Maple. 18″ diameter.

CNC Sign 18 – 09 – In This House. Hard Maple. 13″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

The Board Chronicles is an ongoing series of articles about the adventures of Mrs M’s Handmade as a vendor at community festivals & craft fairs. Mrs M’s subsidiary, Mr M’s Woodshop, has been approved to create this chronicle for the good of vendorkind.

There was a time that I was staging promotional events on the road. It was a big idea. I hired a staff in 7 markets and we created over 200 night club music events during a 6 month period. After that project ended, I rolled right into another promotional project that was staging music events in 35 markets. All told, I saw a lot of this country, visited several states for the first time and logged 180 hotel nights in 1 year.

What did I learn? I don’t want to travel for a living. No amount of points or free stuff from Marriott or American Airlines or whatever could compensate me for the tough travel time.

So, here we are, at the glorious end of the 4th Annual Spring Fling. we’ve had some great events – and a couple of clinkers. We’ve gotten wet more than once. The main thing I’ve learned, though, is that doing 10 events in 11 weeks while balancing a real job is not for the faint of heart.

But, we still have one more to go. What’s in front of us?

The Palos Verdes peninsula is a landform between Redondo Beach and Long Beach. The event itself is in Rolling Hills Estates. It’s not easy to get there from here – I have to brave the Friday commute on the 405 again! – and we’ve never been to this event. We booked it kind of blind … it’s a big deal in the community and it’s a pretty nice neighborhood. But do these people need lotions & cutting boards?

New Ideas

This is an event “in LA,” but we still opted to get a hotel & avoid the 90 minute commutes to and from the event. It was a good decision.
We’re using our pop-up canopies for this Saturday morning set-up, but we are now adding mesh walls to the pop-ups. Made by Flourish who also made the Trimline canopy and its mesh walls, these new walls are sized to fit the pop-ups. Sta-Bars – rigid bars at the bottom of the legs – are added as well. These add to the structural strength of the canopy, stretch the mesh walls, and provide a nice unobtrusive place to put our weights. Importantly, artwork & signage can now hang on the walls at every event.

Observations

This is event # 10 of 10 in our 4th Annual Spring Fling.
Quoth Hamm in Beckett’s Endgame, “Finished. It’s finished.”
The Fling’s over, and I get a week off from events. Thank goodness.
This is not a cheap event for a spur of the moment kind of booking. Our double booth cost $700, plus a city business license of $39. I sure hope these people want some handmade soap….
We arrived Saturday morning to find a stainless wash station & big water tank in the middle of our booth. “Oh, that was for last night,” the volunteer told us. What in the world were they doing last night?
After I helped move the leftover infrastructure, we set up … right next to the entrance to the carnival. We were on the midway next to a carney thrill ride. We were in ‘tween central, and just downhill from the Domino’s Pizza trailer and its diesel generator. Pop music was booming all day. A perfect location … for what, exactly? Not selling soap. Not talking to customers in a relaxed setting. Not for Mrs M’s sanity.
Set up took a long time today … 4 hours later, we still weren’t done. Having to move the trailer to one location and then park the Jeep a block farther away didn’t help. Not an auspicious beginning.
The head of the Chamber of Commerce visited us first thing to verify we had a Rolling Hills Estates business license! Apparently, the city had threatened the COC if they didn’t police their vendors. The city didn’t have the staff for enforcement … so the Chamber of Commerce was responsible? Very odd.
A lady walked into the booth. “Excuse me, do you have a petting zoo?”
Uh….
Something I never expected to hear from Mrs M: “I guess you get used to the screaming after a while.”
I have 2 carved plaques right up front, and a nice moment was when a Mom was reading the sentiment on “In This House” to her brood and using it as a teaching moment. Very cute.
Dad asked the price … no sale, unfortunately. But I was entertained.
This event has a lot going on in a very compact space. It’s all parking lots and roadways, but they cram in a carnival, a concert stage, a beer garden, an “International Food Court” (AKA Fair Food) and 150 vendor spaces. Activities, drinking, music, people … but this year, there wasn’t much shopping. An excessive number of vendors were first-timers, too, and that’s never a good sign. If vendors don’t come back, there must be a reason.
A couple was in the booth shopping in Mrs M’s, uh, department, and the discussion turned to beard oil. Before long, I had the lady – and the guy – fondling my beard to see if it was soft. I was objectified while minding my own business. In my booth. That I paid for.
The things I must do to support Mrs M’s totally out-of-control hobby.
Saturday ended with an underwhelming number. We were OK … but not impressed.
And the screaming. Oh, the screaming.
A lady admired the product shots hanging on the wall. “Do you have this piece?” she asked. No, I’m out of that one. “How about this piece?” No, I’m out of that one, too.
Great. Now I have to manage my cutting board inventory because of the photography.
A guy walked into the booth. “I think you’re the guy my wife told me about.”
Uh….
A shade stealer (you know, a person more interested in the shade of your canopy then the products it shelters) came into the booth and started talking to me, then switched to Mrs M. He was a former biochem major, and they talked soap. It was a highlight of Mrs M’s day, actually. Later, his wife & 2 daughters showed up and they bought some stuff. Not all shade stealers are bad … you just never know who you need to be nice to … sometimes you just want to say “get out of my booth.” But, it’s better to be polite, every time. In my experience.
The weekend moved Oh. So. Slowly. Was it the screaming? Was it the engine fumes? Was it the long hours? Was it that most people were not there to shop? I don’t know. The final tally was really OK, but we certainly didn’t have fun at this Street Fair. Unfortunately.
Requests were for Cribbage boards (2x) (sigh), Chess pieces (2x) (sigh), a Pegs & Jokers board, larger Lazy Susans, lighter cutting boards and more photographs to be on sale.

The Food

Best Meal: Saturday dinner was at Gaetano’s Restaurant in Torrance. It was simply fabulous. Mrs M had found the place on Yelp … “I knew we were coming to the right place when one of the reviews said they use too much garlic.” She had the seafood special; I had the Marsala (naturally). We even had the bruschetta and a dessert. Exquisite. The best event of the weekend, by a country mile.
Honorable Mention: Sunday breakfast was at the Pinwheel Cafe & Bakery. Again, fabulous. French sourdough to die for.
Worst Meal: Friday dinner was at a horrible iteration of Mimi’s in Torrance. The only good thing was that parking the trailer was easy. Maybe that shouldn’t be how we choose our restaurants.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 164
Booth cost: $739
Food cost: $275
Travel cost: $283
Total sales: $2,202
Net Revenue (does not include product cost): $905
# of people we met during the event from the producer: 2
Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: several
Saturday alarm: 4:15a
Sunday alarm: 6:15a
# transactions: 77
# soap & lotion vendors: There was a booth that had mainly bath bombs, but no one else.
# woodworking vendors: There were a couple of buy & sell guys (imported crap). One turner might have been a real woodworker instead of an importer, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to him. Not sure. Certainly no other cutting board makers.
Edge grain vs. end grain: 28:2
Returning next year? As a solo act, maybe. Mrs M won’t touch this event again.

Boards sold: 30

Magic Bottle Openers: 6

Trivets: 5

Coasters: 4

Cutting Boards: 3

Small Boards: 2

Lazy Susans: 2

Chess Boards: 2

Cheese Boards: 2

Carved Signs: 2

Clipboard: 1

Medium Surfboard: 1

Chess 17 – 310. Birds Eye Maple, Black Walnut & Purpleheart.

Trivet 18 – 711. 8.5″ square.

Cutting Board 18 – 716. Cherry, Black Walnut & Hard Maple. End grain. 12″ x 15″ x 1-1/4″.

Clipboard 18 – 812. Letter size, 1/2″ clip.

Cheese Board 18 – 101. Honey Locust, Purpleheart, Bloodwood & Yellowheart. 9″ x 11″ x 5/8″.

Coasters 18 – 27. Hard Maple, Honey Locust, Black Walnut, Bloodwood & Canarywood.

Small Board 17 – 245. Hard Maple, Padauk & Yellowheart. 10″ x 11″ x 1″.

Magic Bottle Opener 18 – 119. Wall mount.

Magic Bottle Opener 18 – 402. Fridge Mount.

Magic Bottle Opener 18 – 403. Fridge Mount.

Magic Bottle Opener 18 – 117. Wall mount.

Lazy Susan 17 – 19. Sapele & Caribbean Rosewood. 18″ diameter.

Lazy Susan 18 – 10. Chaos Board. Purpleheart, Bloodwood, Hard Maple, Black Walnut & Yellowheart.

Small Baord 17 – 237. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. Edge grain. 7″ x 13″ x 1-1/8″.

Magic Bottle Opener 18 – 106. Wall mount.

Cheese Board 17 – 347. Hard Maple, Padauk, Black Walnut & Canarywood. 9″ x 11″ x 3/4″.

Cutting Board 18 – 317. Purpleheart & Hard Maple. 12″ x 16″ x 1-1/8″. Edge grain.

Trivet 17 – 06. Jatoba. 8.5″ x 8.5″ x .75″.

Trivet 17 – 09. Hard Maple, Jatoba & Yellowheart.

Trivet 18 – 703. Padauk & Hard Maple.

Trivet 18 – 713. 8.5″ square.

Magic Bottle Opener 17 – 669. Padauk, Hard Maple & Honey Locust.Double Magic.

Chess 17 – 309. Ash, Black Walnut & Cherry.

Cutting Board 18 – 717. Black Walnut & Cherry. 13″ x 15″ x 1-1/4″.

The Board Chronicles is an ongoing series of articles about the adventures of Mrs M’s Handmade as a vendor at community festivals & craft fairs. Mrs M’s subsidiary, Mr M’s Woodshop, has been approved to create this chronicle for the good of vendorkind.

How do people measure success?

My experience is that success is often a product of your own state of mind. If you thing that “X” is being a success, and you do “X,” then you think you are a success. In your mind. If you only do “X-1,” though, then you may feel that you failed.

It’s about what you think.

We had been highly recommended to do the Montrose Arts & Crafts Festival for 2 years before we finally got there. We’ve done the event twice now (2016, 2017), and it has proved to be a consistent event that’s slightly better than average for us.

Slightly better than average. That sounds marginal, doesn’t it? Who wants something “slightly” better than average?

However, average events are a good thing … it’s the below average events you want to avoid. This event has averaged over $2,100 in sales for us for the last 2 years, so we should be happy with that.

*Should be.*

Getting ready for the event this week, it was hard to work up much enthusiasm. I felt like I knew what we were doing, and it would be average. Hard to get excited about that, I found.

Success, you see, is all about what’s in your head. Could I fix that and enjoy Montrose?

New Ideas

This year’s event had rather temperate weather forecast, with Saturday in the 70s and Sunday in the mid-80s. That’s a refreshing change from the last 2 years which were both in the 90s – and 2 years ago visited triple digits. In spite of that, both years delivered … uh … slightly above average sales. Maybe we have an upside this year.

Observations

This is event # 9 of 10 in our 4th Annual Spring Fling.
Drove right to the booth, and unloaded the trailer by 6:45a. The event starts at 10a, but you have walkers long before that, of course. We were ready.
Mrs M had a good day on Saturday. Consistent sales – much more than me. It’s a good thing someone had a good day … and the sales kept going. I finally had a multiple board purchase in the final hour (of course) that made my numbers more respectable. We ended up with our best 1 day total at this event in 3 years of experience.
“Slightly above average.” Humans plan, God laughs.
Due to the odd curation of this event, my booth is right across the street – perhaps 25′ away – from another woodworker that does similar pieces in a different style. We each have unique products, but we have many similar ones. He sent people to me for larger Lazy Susans; I sent people to him for smaller coasters. I don’t think either of us contributed sales to the other, but we are very collegial and friendly. Good people, but it’s still odd to be neighbors. Both of our customers commented on that odd placement all weekend long.
As they do each year.
We both like our locations, though – he’s at the end of a block in a highly visible “middle of the street” kind of location, and we’re under a giant tree that keeps our booth 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding booths. I’m also on a corner, next to a walkway that’s the best access to the neighborhood ice cream store. Win, win.
I am concerned about this event. It’s a nice community get together, but promotes itself as all handmade. There seems to be fewer handmade vendors each year. My neighbor sold clothing (the rack next to my booth had a sign: “Sale! Everything Under $10.” There was also a dump bin selling flip flops. Handmade? Not so much.
A legacy customer from 2 years ago came by to pick up a board care kit. Back in the day, I made an end grain Bloodwood board they purchased, and they LOVE it. Those conversations are the best! Paradoxically, they only cut vegetables on their Bloodwood board, but they are adults. They get to choose.

Cutting Board 16 – End 004. A spectacular board in daylight when the wood flouresces. Jarrah & Bloodwood. End grain. 16″ x 21″ x 1-1/2″.

Sunday started slow, but did pick up right at the end, of course. Today it was 2 multiple board purchases at the end of the day, so my numbers ended OK. Mrs M had a good day, as well, with lots of legacy customers talking about how they came to the event just to find her. Sunday ended not better than Saturday, but we were both happy with the weekend in the end.
We were up 15% from prior year, with our best results ever for this event. So, our slightly above average event became … a little better.
Requests were for a tofu press, a backgammon board, a gravity-based locking towel holder, a stove-top board and … wait for it … chess pieces (on order).
We were packed & I was in the Jeep in 1 hour 49 minutes. It’s been a while since we were that quick; the Spring Fling has made us get better at what we do. I think. After all, what’s the alternative?
I sold 11 different items at this event, and 6 of those items were touched by the CNC. I’m going to call that a win for technology.

The Food

Best Meal: Dinner at the Grand Panda after a surprisingly good Saturday. This is the best Chinese restaurant in Santa Clarita, IMHO.
Worst Meal: We wanted a breakfast burrito from Jimmy Dean’s Sunday morning, but, alas, they don’t open until 7:30a and we had to be on the road. We had to settle, and it was disappointing.

The Facts

Total miles driven: 138
Booth cost: $650
Food cost: $118
Travel cost: $72
Total sales: $2,589
Net Revenue (does not include product cost): $1,749
# of people we met during the event from the producer: none
Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: none
Saturday alarm: 4:15a
Sunday alarm: 6:00a
# transactions: 104
# soap & lotion vendors: at least 4
# woodworking vendors: 4 cutting board ~~makers~~ sellers, including 3 makers, I believe. Many other sellers of wood products.
Edge grain vs. end grain: 24:2
Returning next year? Almost certainly. We like above average events.

Boards sold: 26

Coaster: 10

CNC Plaques: 3

Hearts: 2

Medium Surfboards: 2

Small Board: 2

Cheese Board: 2

Trivet: 1

Cutting Board: 1

Lazy Susan: 1

Clipboard: 1

Wine Bottle Coaster: 1

Clipboard 18 – 808. Oversized Legal size, 1″ clip. Commissioned piece.

Trivet 18 – 708. 8.5″ square.

CNC Sign 18 – 05 – Family. Cherry. 12″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

Heart 18 – 915.

Small Board 18 – 202. Black Walnut. Edge Grain. 9″ x 11″ x 1″.

Heart 18 – 916.

Coasters 18 – 06. Chaos Coasters. Yellowheart, Jatoba, Bloodwood, Cherry, Hard Maple, Jatoba, Purpleheart & Cork. Shown with Black Walnut holder.

Cheese Board 18 – 101. Honey Locust, Purpleheart, Bloodwood & Yellowheart. 9″ x 11″ x 5/8″.

CNC Sign 18 – 06 – Family. Cherry. 12″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

Wine Bottle Coaster 18 – 502. Cherry.

Coasters 18 – 11. Hard Maple, Bloodwood, Cherry & Canarywood.

Coasters 18 – 08. Cherry, Purpleheart, Jatoba & Cork. Shown with Jatoba holder.

Cutting Board 18 – 717. Black Walnut & Cherry. 13″ x 15″ x 1-1/4″.

Cheese Baord 18 – 106. Chaos Board. Black Walnut, Hard Maple & Goncalo Alves.

Small Surfboard 17 – 502. Jatoba & Hard Maple. 7″ x 16″ x 3/4″.

Small Board 17 – 234. Hard Maple, Purpleheart, Jatoba & Pau Ferro. 5″ x 11″ x 1-1/4″.

It’s been too long since I’ve made a batch of clipboards. So, once I cleared the shop time, I made sure I made enough to last a while. We’ll see how long!

I have a wife that tells me they aren’t needed in our modern paperless society.

At the same time, 2 of our kids have an open ended order for clipboards from me.

I’m pretty sure I’ll vote with the ~~kids~~ customers on this one. After all, I worked for a newspaper for over 20 years. I believe in paper … and I still do.

Electrons have their power, but they’ll never have the feel of newsprint. For that reason, I’m a clipboard maker.

Three of these clipboards are special orders; the other 16 go on sale Saturday morning at the Montrose Arts & Crafts Festival.

Clipboard 18 – 803. Letter size, 1/2″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 804. Legal size, 1″ clip. Bookmatched Goncalo Alves in the center.

Back of Clipboard 18 – 804.

Clipboard 18 – 805. Legal size, 1″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 806. Letter size, 1″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 807. Letter size, 1/2″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 808. Letter size, 1/2″ clip. Commissioned piece.

Back of Clipboard 18 – 808, showing the engraving.

Clipboard 18 – 808. Oversized Legal size, 1″ clip. Commissioned piece.

Back of Clipboard 18 – 809.

Clipboard 18 – 810. Letter size, 1/2″ clip. Chaos board.

Clipboard 18 – 811. Letter size, 1/2″ clip. Commissioned piece.

Clipboard 18 – 812. Letter size, 1/2″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 813. Letter size, 1″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 814. Letter size, 1/2″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 815. Legal size, 1″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 816. Letter size, 1/2″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 817. Letter size, 1″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 818. Legal size, 1″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 819. Letter size, 1/2″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 820. Letter size, 1/2″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 821. Notepad size, 1/2″ clip.

Clipboard 18 – 822. Letter size, 1/2″ clip. There’s nothing like Black Walnut.

I enjoy making these hearts.

Can they be cutting boards? Of course.

Most people, however, view them as either display pieces or cheese servers. Works for me.

What I know is that every heart has Bloodwood in it (wouldn’t you?) and no heart ever has Yellowheart or Black Walnut in it (because those do not belong in hearts).

I trust that you’ll agree that those are good decisions to make a nice heart.

If you’re out and about this weekend, come see us – Mrs M is finally joining me! – at the Montrose Arts & Crafts Festival. We’ll be there 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. Hope to see you there!