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2. Sticking to a theme
2. Sticking to a theme
I have never been able to stick to just one thing. At a fairly young age I realised I liked doing a bit of everything. If it involves creating I am probably interested in it on some level at least. That includes both physical and mental creating. Like with the accordions for example, I love making them in unique grains and different colours and species of wood. Each type of wood comes with its own challenges and pay offs. In spite of that from the start we realised that it was better to have a signature look. Better for the customer to know roughly what to expect,(I say roughly because no two pieces of wood are never identical but you can get as close as possible), and better for us to keep the crafting of these instruments a bit more manageable. It also makes them a lot easier to recognise. The point is an overall theme can be beneficial sometimes. That is the aim with this endeavour. I have added a couple of new creations to the website. One is a wine caddy for carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses. Its meant for style and showing off to be honest, however it does really work and you can carry all three items with ease using it. The second one is a Guitar shaped bottle opener, pretty straight forward and self explanatory really. I could make many things out of wood but I am trying to stick to a consistent kitchen and lifestyle type of theme with a little musical flare and inspiration thrown in where possible. I will keep making and adding wooden items to the website that I think fall in line with this vision as often as I can manage. The next item I want to work on is candles because we always use them at home so why not make some. The challenge will be to make them unique and appealing enough to be wanted over others out there, perhaps with a wooden theme also an option (with safety 1st on the list of priorities of course). Time will tell what they turn out like but I hope people like them in the end. A period of testing for style, scent and safety will be first and then the making. Coming soon - Candles.
- A summer job and a fiddle shaped cutting board
It started like anything else with an idea. I wanted to give my 13 year old daughter her first summer job. I wanted to give her a reason to get up a little earlier in the morning, a chance to learn a few things and an opportunity to make a few quid for the summer. I make musical instruments you see, button accordions in fact and I have a cabin with a workshop in it beside my house. I couldn't teach her more modern forms of work with computers or anything like that except how to type badly so woodworking it was. I saw a fiddle shaped cutting board in my brothers house one time and I thought it was pretty cool. He suggested I make a few in my spare time and try to sell them at the Fleadh(Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireannn) (an all Ireland music event with competitions and concerts and a whole lot more). I thought this was a good idea but I was busy and did'nt pursue it any further. When I realised I wanted to give my daughter a job however this idea came to mind. We needed a craft project for just us and this seemed perfect. We decided to add a Bread Bow Knife in the end to have a fiddle and bow combination just for the fun of it. Whether we actually sold any at all in the end did'nt matter to me in the slightest, that would just be a bonus if we did. It was about giving my daughter a small job and spending a little part of the summer with her. A delivery of wood later and we were off handmaking wooden fiddle cutting boards. She was a natural to be honest and she learned how to use several tools quicker than I expected and got covered in a hell of a lot of sawdust sanding cutting boards while she was at it. We had our ups and downs over the few months, a few tears were even shed......but I eventually stopped crying in the end. We really learned a lot over the summer and it was definitely a worthwhile experience for both of us overall. We ended the summer with a trip to the Fleadh with a few of our crafted wares and sat at table outside my brothers Fleadh shop. It was a pretty quiet street just off the main street and I was tempted to move down closer to the crowd but it looked a little too busy down there and we weren't there for that experience. We sat and had a laugh and chatted with some lovely people and here again my daughter proved a natural. We also actually sold more cutting boards than I was expecting. Success in more ways than one. So to finish just in case anyone actually reads this gibberish(HIGHLY DOUBTFUL), We are as a matter of fact now making handmade wooden gifts and products in our spare time, starting off slow and trying to always add to the list of products whilst keeping the quality high. We will also endeavor to update this Blog as often as possible and otherwise chronicle the journey, you never know, just in case.
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