Christmas dec idea

[jamiecrawford]

I've been churning out these name decorations since I got my saw, and they've gone down well on my Facebook page. I've sold over twenty at eight quid a pop, so thought I'd share the idea on here! They seem to be particularly popular with parents of young kids. The angel is copied from a medieval panel I saw, I made it for my daughters tree.

 

[Chippygeoff]

Very nice cutting Jamie. You have hit on a very good idea there. Are they all made from plywood, if so I would not get £8 each for them down my way.

 

[Claymore]

They look great Jamie! and well done with the sales too....... if you go wrong spelling the names don't throw them away put them on the Russian Ebay site 9-) lol

 

[nadnerb]

Very nice work, I wish I could get 8 quid for mine, I struggled to get € 3 for tree decs this year

 

[jamiecrawford]

I'm a few miles away from Brighton, which has turned into somewhere as expensive as a central borough of London, so the prices for handmade items are pretty good. I've taken individual orders, as opposed to making them and hoping someone comes along wanting a certain name, so people believe they're buying something unique, and to be fair each name has been individually 'designed' this far. I'm building up a collection of patterns for next year, from hardboard. They're all from ply, either rescued from old furniture or part of a sheet of 6mm I bought last week. I've been cutting some bluebirds, Xmas trees and stars, which have been going for £4, from all manner of scrap. To put all this in context, a pint of ale can cost four quid in Brighton, so I think it all pans out. I've even heard of a pint of lager going for a fiver down there!

 

[rob39]

Nice work mate

 

[jonluv]

Vey nice work, wish I was in Brighton - can only get £2 in Somerset!

John

 

[mind_the_goat]

Just curious, I'm not a scroller, how long would it take to make one of those, including design time? They look complex to me, with my usual work rate I think I could one in about 3 weeks, once I'd got up to speed

 

[8squared]

Very nice work.

Surprised that your able to get £8 each, but if you can why not.

 

[scrimper]

They are very good and look unique to me. Top marks.

 

[Baldhead]

Very nice Jamie, if your telling the taxman everything's fine, if not I'd keep prices to myself :lol: :wink:

Thanks for showing us.

Baldhead

 

[jamiecrawford]

Just curious, I'm not a scroller, how long would it take to make one of those, including design time? They look complex to me, with my usual work rate I think I could one in about 3 weeks, once I'd got up to speed

They take a bit of sitting down and thinking to get the designs, the shorter names are more difficult, funnily enough. It all depends. Some of them I draw straight down and others take a couple of attempts, but on average I'd say twenty minutes or so. The cutting is about the same, then ten mines of sanding and varnishing.

Getting back to the pricing, I don't think it's too much for something that's unique and individually crafted for someone. Like I said I'm charging four quid for the 'mass' produced trees etc. I have a couple of people who deal a lot on crafts and vintage stuff and they're always telling me to charge more for my work, which I struggle with to be honest with, but a couple of weeks ago I went to a reclaimed wood yard in Brighton and they have a shop selling all manner of wooden objects. The prices were astronomical, but there were lots of customers at the till. Pricey place, Brighton.

Thanks for the compliments, I've had the scroller for about four weeks now, and can see a fast learning curve with it. I love using it, it's totally absorbing.

 

[Bryan Bennett]

Well done Jamie,it has been said on here before.It depends on where you live how much people are willing to pay for our efforts.Geoff has said that he would not be able to sell them in South Wales at that price,and I would not expect to be able to sell them at that price in Merseyside,but may be possible in thee Cheshire county. :roll:

Bryan

 

[gilljc]

Pricing is the most difficult part of our lovely craft, my friends seem to fall into two camps, those who are surprised by how little I ask, and those surprised by how much :roll: A neighbour put it a little into context when she pointed out to me how much she is prepared to pay for a mass produced hair bobble for her grand daughter £8 for a piece of elastic with a bit of ribbon and plastic on it......

 

[jamiecrawford]

Crafters always say I charge too little, but when you're making mainly one-off pieces it's difficult to think of a price.whenever I look at comparable things on etsy they're either £100 or a tenner! I'm always happy to haggle a little when doing markets.