I made a batch or two

[eliasbboy]

My daughter's school district had a "Family Fun Night" and they needed vendors to volunteer. Having never done a craft show before, I thought this would be a good warmup. I went crazy and made about 30 pens in just under two weeks. That's about all my spare time these days.

Here's my favorites of the bunch. Comments and critiques are always welcomed and listened to.

 

[plantman]

Michael; Great craftsmanship !! Your daughter must have been very proud. I realy like the football pen, and the copper realy adds to it's uniqueness. I see a bright future for you. Jim S

 

[eliasbboy]

Michael; Great craftsmanship !! Your daughter must have been very proud. I realy like the football pen, and the copper realy adds to it's uniqueness. I see a bright future for you. Jim S

Thank you sir! My daughter was definitely pleased, but I think it was more for the fact I traded with a booth next to me to get her a fancy dancy charm necklace for her birthday.:biggrin:

Just an FYI, I did not make the clay football blank. I always want to credit Keith Henning with those. There are available at Classic Nib and are amazing.

 

[The Penguin]

so...how'd you do at the craft show?

 

[eliasbboy]

so...how'd you do at the craft show?

It wasn't exactly a craft show. It was just 12 or so "vendors" in a middle school library. I had NO idea what I was doing. So much so that I didn't even bring a table cloth. I had to call my wife to run one over.:redface:

I sold a few but I really just wanted to get my feet wet. I don't have nearly the stock necessary for a craft show yet.

I was surprised at how unbelievable it was to mist people that I had made the pens. They seemed to think I was just there selling Bics or something.

Once I conveyed the handmade part the interest grew.

Here's a pic of my complete failure of a setup. I'm sure my choice of blue masking tape to hold up my sign won the crowd over.:biggrin:

 

[plantman]

:bananen_smilies051: Michael; You have some very good ideas in your display. The jewelry/pen display box, a pad of paper to demo the pens on, business cards, and the I-pad to show pens you may have made before or what you could make, all add to the thought put into your presentation. A word though !! Never say " Hand Made ", it's always " Craftsman Designed and Made ". And, yes, the tape realy realy looks bad. All in all though a realy good start. Only thing I would add, is a gooseneck light with a daylight bulb to show off the color and grain of your pens as you rotate them under natural light. Keep up the great work. Jim S

 

[panamag8or]

:bananen_smilies051: Michael; You have some very good ideas in your display. The jewelry/pen display box, a pad of paper to demo the pens on, business cards, and the I-pad

I'd like to add: the QR code on the sign is a nice idea. I'll make sure to incorporate one into my sign.

 

[eliasbboy]

:bananen_smilies051: Michael; You have some very good ideas in your display. The jewelry/pen display box, a pad of paper to demo the pens on, business cards, and the I-pad to show pens you may have made before or what you could make, all add to the thought put into your presentation. A word though !! Never say " Hand Made ", it's always " Craftsman Designed and Made ". And, yes, the tape realy realy looks bad. All in all though a realy good start. Only thing I would add, is a gooseneck light with a daylight bulb to show off the color and grain of your pens as you rotate them under natural light. Keep up the great work. Jim S

These are some excellent ideas! The blue tape just haunts me. I've had zero experience doing this so I'm glad I chose a small scale thing like this to practice on, and for that it was priceless.

I will definitely use your advice! Thanks so much!

 

[hobbyist2013]

These are beautiful work of art! You have great workmanship!

 

[dozer]

Nice looking pens looks like your off to a good start for the craft shows.

 

[mrcook4570]

I can see why they are your favorites. Very nice looking group of pens!

 

[wortmanb]

the QR code on the sign is a nice idea. I'll make sure to incorporate one into my sign.

I couldn't agree more! And I LOVE the football pen. Very creative.

 

[jttheclockman]

Very nice set of pens. You have to do us all a favor though and size your photos down. Not fair to others. Rules and regulations:biggrin:

 

[turnaround 360]

What is the name of the first three kits.very nice.

 

[mikespenturningz]

Nice job Michael.

 

[Coysquibbly]

They are all fantastic. I like the first 3. That is a nice kit. What kit is it? The football is quite awesome as well.

Kevin

 

[eliasbboy]

Very nice set of pens. You have to do us all a favor though and size your photos down. Not fair to others. Rules and regulations:biggrin:

Oh! I thought that was for hosted photos on the IAP. No problem.

All fixed!

 

[eliasbboy]

What is the name of the first three kits.very nice.

They are all fantastic. I like the first 3. That is a nice kit. What kit is it? The football is quite awesome as well.

Kevin

That's the Nouveau Sceptre twist pen from PSI. I really like it.

Here's some better images:

 

[Coysquibbly]

Even nicer close up. Awesome I really love the grain on the bottom pen. Grear work.

Kevin

 

[eliasbboy]

Even nicer close up. Awesome I really love the grain on the bottom pen. Grear work.

Kevin

Thanks! I just realized none of the photos show the finial. It' a really nice kit. It has a nice heavy feel to it.

 

[jttheclockman]

Very nice set of pens. You have to do us all a favor though and size your photos down. Not fair to others. Rules and regulations:biggrin:

Oh! I thought that was for hosted photos on the IAP. No problem.

All fixed!

I wish more people would read the sticky post at the top of each forum such as this one. Jeff has gone through the trouble of posting some rules for each forum.

The Penturning forum gets more abuse than any other here.

 

[turnaround 360]

Thanks for the pics and well done they are all exquisite.

 

[Tage]

That football pen is too cool. Nice work.

Just saw your post about where you got it. I'll have to check those out. Nice work and nice table setup.