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I already got started on my Christmas section in my ebay store. I'm having too much fun, too. Finding pretty backgrounds and music and and..well, a little overboard?
Check it out, when you get the chance. http://stores.ebay.com/J-L-Giftwares
We got any crafter's out there that want to sell through my ebay store?? Give me a holler at red46@aol.com
One of my readers, who recently purchased the Mold Making for Ceramics instruction booklet, asked to be informed of future instructions books when I write them.
This is my question. Knowing there is a whole world outside of poured ceramics, such as resin products and items made from various plasters and concrete, I wonder if there are more who would be interested in detailed, down to earth, instruction booklets written specifically for these other mediums?
If there is enough interest, I'll sit right down and get to work.
For those who know absolutely nothing about me or my works, I'll explain what it is, that set my instruction booklets apart from other written materials you find at the book store.
Mainly, it's the fact that not only have I had to make these molds, myself, I've also had to (out of necessity) find unique ways around the huge list of expensive tools and equipment. I started out, literally on my lap-graduated to the kitchen table, then a small work shop then 2000 square feet that was crammed to the ceiling and needing more space.
I know what it is, to have the desire but not the money to get started. Some talent, some necessity, and some learning from others as I grew up, I have this odd talent of being able to invision a product then design with just about anything, including mud in the back yard or whatever is handy. I then use that model to make a mold then produce a finished product.
That may seem terrific, and in ways it is, but it has always tended to get me into trouble. Sounds crazy, I know. I found myself involved in business with customers who were actually the finishers of their own lines of products. When they would first meet me and hire me for a project, they were amazed but as time went by and they learned even more about me, they became more and more demanding.
I was literally producing new lines of product, out what seemed mid-air, and my own customers became so totally spoiled they expected miracles all the time. How, exactly to explain how this became misery, is almost impossible. Somehow, the relationships would become twisted. Instead of my customers seeing me as a source for their tomorrows, I became the underpaid slave. They became rich and I became poor. Sounds even crazier, the more I talk. Right?
It was as though, once discovering the possibilities, these people became demanding. Like snapping their fingers and I was to produce the golden egg. As my business grew, the demand for more and better equipment grew to meet the demand. Each time I added, I also added to my overhead, which demanded that I raise my prices. Makes sense? Right? Wrong. They didn't like that part.
Although, they themselves were experiencing this very same thing-the need for more equipment and help, they somehow expected that I would continue to snap my fingers and produce tomorrows products and even do all the groundwork, such as turning out the bisque for them to paint and finish, without also having to grow by adding additional equipment and help. How that was suppose to work, I'll never understand.
Starting out with each new customer, knowing that they were just getting the ball rolling, I helped out by keeping my prices low. Then when they began to grow and prosper, I'd decide it was time for me to get a slice of that pie and try to raise my prices 10%, just as my suppliers were doing. This is when my grateful customers, would step off and hire illegal Mexicans and teach them what they had learned by peering over my shoulder.
Well, for sure, I learned some hard lessons. At the same time I got old and tired. :) So.....I stopped. Now I'm writing about it.
What I know, I'd love to teach others. I can hardly be everybody's next door neighbor so the next best thing is writing and illustrating instruction books. In this case, e-books because it's so much easier and cheaper to just get the job done and out there where others can get their hands on it.
There's an outfit in New Mexico, turning out incense burners (for the past 30 years or so) out of hydrostone (a super hard plaster). I've not only been in their workshop but I saw how they were doing it in mass. Another technique I could teach.
I've designed and made molds for several resin products, so that the new owner of the mold could go home and begin reproducing.
So, not only do I understand mold making for ceramics, I also know about making molds for pouring resins and plasters and even concrete. And I know the resources for the materials.
So that's my question today. Is everybody interested in these other products? More instruction books.
