Out with the Old, In with the New.

What a beautiful day to end the year of 2012, it is cold, cloudy, and absolutely beautiful with the birds flying in and out enjoying whatever they are finding in our yard. It inspires me to start painting so that is what I am doing today.

I am working on VW hippy vans, bird feeders, two barn birdhouses a New Orleans style house and probably more before the day is done.

When we build a birdhouse we always seal the house with a clear coat and then I prime it with a white primer. After the primer dries I paint the roofs black (except on the cars and RV's) and I use DecoArt's Patio Paints (http://www.decoart.com). I started using these paints last year when they asked me to do some projects for them and I really like them. When they dry the paint feels like there is a skin on the birdhouse.

The Patio Paint is an outdoor paint that is water and weather-resistant. The colors in the line are wonderful, in fact I'm going to use the metallic Patio Paints such as Pot O' Gold and the Sterling Silver on the RV birdhouses, I'll let you know what I think of them.

Changes Come in all Shapes

 

 This year we’ve had changes that we weren't expecting, we were unable to do many of the craft fairs and Grower's and Crafter's Markets that we usually did. We both missed the customers that would come back year after year to see our new houses and to just visit. In turn, we did much more business on the internet.

The internet was certainly a life saver this year, Etsy was great, Made in Oregon did great for us and I have learned more and more marketing ideas. I even went to a seminar at the Country Club put on by Facebook, I still need to put that to work but one step at a time.

Between selling from the computer and selling in person I would prefer selling in person. But I have to say the set up and take down of the booth is much more difficult. I learned that, at the Nazarene Church Christmas Fair, thank God for family. My sister, brother and sister-in-law all came to help me set up, Pat, my sister also came both days and helped me sell. I couldn't have done this without their help.

There are good aspects of both ways of selling but I’m really hoping we’ll get back into the swing of things and be able to go to some festivals this year. If not, then the Lord has a different plan for us and we are okay with that too.

I keep getting that nudge to teach, but I’d have to have a lot bigger studio or empty out a lot of birdhouses.

Made in Oregon

We have had other firsts, this year that I think are pretty important. We have decided to offer some of our birdhouses wholesale.

We started out the wholesale business with “Made in Oregon” and I just love working with Ron who is the contact person. We have ten different birdhouses on their website; http://www.madeinoregon.com  and they have sold several for us.

The only down side for offering wholesale is that Steve’s health problems have slowed down the manufacturing. I can build a birdhouse but I am not as quick about it, but I’ll do in a pinch. Anyway, I’m anxious to offer more of our designs but I think it will be a little while until we have the inventory to offer.

If you get a chance, check out Made in Oregon, they have an absolutely beautiful website full of gift ideas. They have gorgeous Pendleton blankets, various art pieces, food, wine and beer made here in Oregon. I know I love going through their website.

The Year of Firsts

We've had a lot of new things happen to us this last year that kept us on our toes. The new challenge for me was when Tabitha from DecoArt emailed me and asked me if I could come up with a couple of decorating designs for some birdhouses that are sold at Michaels Craft Store.

I have to say, designing for someone else took me completely out of my box. Not only did the design have to be appealing and pretty basic, I had to write the instructions on how to do the project too. I never did well in English in High School, so, you probably know how difficult this was for me and I have realized that is an area I need to work on.

But the wonderful part of this is that I was able to try out DecoArt  Patio Paints and I am so thrilled that I did. These paints are one-step paints, you don't have to seal or varnish after your project is done. they hold up well in the weather, they are water-based and compatible with the other DecoArt paints I use.  Most importantly they are non-toxic.

The paints being non-toxic is very important to Steve and me, we are trying to make sure our birdhouses are as environmentally friendly as absolutely possible, from the wood to the finish. These paints have a really good feel to them when they dry, you can almost feel the seal of the paint when you touch the house. I definitely recommend these paints to anyone painting projects that are to be put outside.

Out of two of the birdhouses that I turned in to DecoArt they used one of them on their website in their project library. What fun this was, I really appreciated the opportunity they gave me. This was one of the great first's of the year.

We're back!

It has almost been a year since I last posted to this blog, we have had a wild and crazy year but we have been blessed.

Steve ended up having many health issues this last year and some better than others but he's recouping now so I can get to started on things that I haven't had a chance to do, like talk about some new tools that we have purchased this last year.

One tool is a Panasonic 3.6 Volt Drill Driver(who knew Panasonic even had tools?) I absolutely adore this drill! It is light weight it can either be positioned straight or folded like a regular drill. I use is to put the wheels on our trailer birdhouses positioned straight. and I fold it when I have to get into a tight place to put the doo-dads on the houses.

When I came home with this tool, Steve, just about sent me back to the store to return it. I started reading some of the specs to him and he decided we'd try it and see. You see, it was quite a bit more money than the last one I had but I believe it is worth every penny. If the battery runs low you put it in the charger, fifteen minutes later it's ready to go again-that's absolutely fantastic in my book. Anyway, there is no way that I'll be returning this tool, it's the best!

Well I just wanted to let you know that we are still alive and kicking and thankful for it.

We Specialize in Special Birdhouse Orders.

Special orders seemed very popular this Holiday Season. We had at least 10 orders which included tear drop trailer birdhouses, air stream trailer birdhouses, personalized houses and three wonderful birdhouses which were far beyond the norm.

We had a victorian house, a southern plantation style house and a New Orleans style house. Not only were these houses fun to build and paint but the customers we built them for all gave us the reasons why they wanted them. One was for a special boss, two were for long time friends, reasons to want them to turn out extra special.

I have included pictures of these house, hope you enjoy: