As the year is nearing the end it’s time to look back and reflect. 2019 was a productive year. I made about 8 bowls, 9 segmented birds, 2 bottle stoppers, 2 dozen pens and Christmas ornaments, a handful of snowmen, trees and mushrooms and 1 light up maleficent staff.
At the beginning of the year I wanted to hone my skills, making one bowl per month and perhaps try selling at a market. I found a few colleagues from my woodcarving class to join me and at the end of the year we were present at 4 markets. This was another push in the back to make more (and more diverse) things as I didn’t want to be the one with the least amount of work. The friendly rivalry really helped me to push myself.
Looking back I have many favorites, but the Maleficent staff I made for my niece is one biggest. It’s a pretty simple construction with a plastic acrylic egg I chopped down and covered in resin. a small flashlight worked into the staff allows it to light up. My sister made the horns and matching dress and my niece was over the moon with the carnaval costume.
Another one I’m quite proud of is the bolt action, resin and pine cone pen. I cast that blank myself and for a first try I’m really pleased with the result.
I tried to make a selection of my top favorite items, but it turned out te be a pretty large “selection” 🙂 .
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”26″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″]I learned a lot and got even more project and technique inspiration, so I’m ready for the new year.
For those interested in a few statistics, I sold around 30 items this year. The best sellers were, in order, spinning tops, pens, segmented birds and bowls. Pricing items is the hardest part about selling your work in my opinion and the cheaper items definitely sell a lot better. However selling a bowl or a pen has a larger margin so I don’t have to sell as many. The type of items that do well at any particular market has proven to be next to impossible to predict.
However none of this is very important. The joy (and some pride) in making things that people like and take home to enjoy is far more rewarding. I’m not looking to get rich, but it is nice to sell some stuff and make room in the closet for new projects.
Some works are for sale in my Etsy shop, but in case you would like to inspect my work in person. I will be attending the Montmartre market in Haasdonk (august) and Christmas fair in Zandhoven (December) again next year. We’re still looking for a market in the spring. I think we’ll limit ourselves to 3 market per year as it’s just a hobby after all.
happy holidays!
