The Sewing Maching

So it’s been a while since my last post but it’s a good thing because I’ve been very busy. I do have a new topic that I needed to discuss so here I am. I just bought a sewing machine……I’m going from mancrafter to all around MANCRAFTINGSEW guy. If you are one of my guy friends and you’re reading this….well what can I say.

So, sewing machine. It’s not new but it’s new to me. I bought it at my brother’s second hand shop for a steal so I can try out sewing for a small investment. It’s funny I’ve moved from the paper and paints isle of the craft store to the stuffing, foam, batting and fabric side of the store. I now know my local craft store so well I could work there because I know where everything is.

I have good news…as I spend more and more oh and more time in the local craft store I see more men than ever before. It’s kind of refreshing. Men are in a lot of the isles I’m in. I always wonder if they see me looking at them proud of them for being in a craft store. I don’t creepy stare at them but I always try to figure out what they might be working on.

Last week I was in the Martha Stewart isle and I looked at a guy who was very into the stamps. I looked at his basket and he sheepishly looked at mine and I think we both realized we were proud of each other but the flash of embarrassment came over us and we both (at the same time) mumbled “hu” as we both scampered out of the very pastel Martha Stewart section.

We men have come a long way but we still have a long ways to go…that’s all for now.

Next post: Results of the first sewing expedition.

My first craft show….

Ok my insecurities and fear is coming alive this week because I committed to my first craft show. I know what you’re thinking….Oh that’s so great! Good for you, you’re probably so excited!....NO! I’m terrified, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never done this before….

Ok, I’m calm. I have the tables, I have the canopy, I have my cash box (which I made by the way….so cool!) I have some product….the only thing I’m missing is confidence and someone to boss me around and tell me what to do. I love being a business owner and having the freedom to do what I want but the reality now is that I am stepping into uncharted waters and I feel like a little kid on the first day of school. I have butterflies in my stomach and I’m scared.

It’s a strange reality for me. In corporate America I am the man. I can walk into a business and talk them into changing the way they do business but now I have the chance (again) to do it for myself and I am unsure about how to do it.

So what are you saying Joe? Is that what you’re thinking? Well, I’m going to whine, complain and drive my wife crazy until Saturday and then I’m going to do it and it will be great, I hope.

Even if it’s horrible the experience is what I need right…

Please I need encouraging words….

Recent Photos

Hello Blogging friends. Market Street Co. was recently featured on www.sandishipleyphotography.com for their October business of the month. Check it out on their website. Also check out their gallaries. They do amazing work and are very affordable.

Talk to you soon.

Going back to my roots

Going back to my roots….when I was 10 or 11 years old I would build bird houses and sell them to the ladies at church. It was a very lucrative business. I was quite the little entrepreneur and I didn’t even realize it.

At a young age my parents moved us to the desert outside of Phoenix and there was not a lot to do. Although we moved out there with my best friend I still needed to fill the time, so my dad’s woodshop was a great way for me to pass the time. We didn’t have much money so I would build with what I could find laying around. Most of my materials were old used wood (who knew recycling and being green at that age) and the occasional rusty piece of metal. Well as it turns out those items were in high demand and I sold every birdhouse I built. At 14 I was even getting special orders.

When high school started I signed up for the woodworking class thinking it would be an easy "A" because I already knew my way around the woodshop. Boy was I wrong. I learned so much in that class, to this day I use techniques I learned. High school woodworking was such a niche for me the high school let me take the class all four years even though the maximum allowed was two. They had me be a shop supervisor and machine tuner and repair man. My junior and senior year I was king of the woodshop and I knew it.

So, going back to my roots. 15 years later and there are three birdhouses in progress in my woodshop. It’s kind of funny, I’m not sure I am as creative as I was as a boy….but I am still having a lot of fun doing what I did that got me interested in the creative woodworking thing.

Made in America

I have to vent about something.

Recently someone very close to me who I care for a great deal was shocked about the prices I charge for the things I build. The comment made to me was not shocking because of the person that said it, but more about our Walmart washed mentality on how and where to buy.

Maybe it’s just me but something that is hand made by an American in America should have some value. There are so many complaints about things that are made overseas or even jobs that leave American soil, well this is why. Who cares that I make something unique and there is no exact match in the world…China could make it for $.40 and Walmart could sell it for $8.88….

Here’s the thing. If I build something and someone buys it my business continues. If my business flourishes my family gets to eat. What a great opportunity to have something unique and support a small American business. Instead people would rather buy cheap and get a product they will have to replace because it was made poorly and may or may not contain lead. The money spent goes to some corporate giant and the trickling down effect puts a few cents in the pocket of some factory worker that hates their job because they work in a factory.

I’m not saying you have to buy my products but I do think there is something to be said about things that are made in the good ol’ USA.

Enough said.

Sorry for venting.

So this is Blogging....

Writer I am not….But I am suddenly liking this whole blog thing. For a while I decided I was not going to try and learn a new thing. I recently learned how Facebook works and that was it. I was done with fads and following the way of the world and Martha Stewart pressuring us every day to blog. I was going to be a rebel and avoid it. To me there were enough places to share our lives and let our dirty laundry hang out. Now even as I type I wonder why this is even worth the time…..

Well I’ve learned, I’ve been trained to shut my mouth and do what I’m told. There is a lot of quality information found on blogs. How to fold an origami box, pregnancy announcements, best places to find a coconut crusted cupcake….what was I thinking.

As a new business owner wanting everyone to know who I am and what I do I am now and forever a blogger. If there’s something I need to get off my chest….blog….if there’s a new product I offer….blog…if I want everyone to know what I did today….blog.

So, here I am world, ready to blog and loving every minute of it…

Today I made a rooster pull toy not suitable for children….there. That’s today’s blog entry.

Being a Man Crafter

Ok perhaps I am making too much of this but I was at Michael’s (craft store) the other day with my wife and there was a fantastic sale. A lover of sales I decided to take part in the saving opportunity and shopped for things that make crafting easier. All was normal, we were enjoying the hunt of the good deals until it was time to pay. My wife for some reason thought it was important to let the girl ringing up our wonderful bargains know that, “all of this stuff is his.” She chuckled and said something about how she never would have guessed that.

So, here’s the thing, my manhood felt in question at that very moment. I suddenly realized I was a bona fide man crafter and I would forever feel weird walking into Michael’s even though I’ve been there hundreds of times before.

The question: does being a man crafter make me more of a man because I can enjoy a female dominated hobby?

Answer: I certainly hope so...