Tag Archives: 3D

Where Has the Time Gone? Crafting, Fishing, and a Little Health Update

31 Saturday Oct 2026

Posted by in Arts and Crafts, Cancer, Family, Fishing, Kayaking, Leukemia, Life, Photography, Uncategorized, Woodworking

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First, I need to apologize for not posting anything on the blog lately. I haven’t forgotten about all of you! I’ve just been a little busy lately, and by a little busy, I mean I’ve been making enough sawdust to start my own lumberyard.

Apparently, this is what they call craft season, and I’m beginning to understand why!

I now have three out of four craft shows confirmed, with the fourth one still pending. With my first show coming up this Saturday, I’ve been spending weeks working on projects and trying to build up my inventory. After all the hours I’ve put into woodworking, you would think I’d have enough items to fill a booth. Nope! I still feel like I’m running behind.

For years, I’ve used my laser engraver to burn designs into wood and cut shapes out of thin sheets of wood, which I can then assemble into various decorations. I’ve also engraved images and designs onto wooden picture frames. These are fun projects, but I’ve learned over time that just because something looks good in advertisements doesn’t necessarily mean it will sell well at a craft show. Apparently, customers don’t always share my enthusiasm for every brilliant idea I come up with!

So, I’ve been branching out and trying some different things.

Instead of relying so much on the laser, I’ve been putting my woodworking tools to work making items such as wooden lanterns and Grinch Christmas trees. I’ve also been experimenting with my 3D printer, producing things like ghost and snowman tea lanterns. It’s been fun trying new ideas, and I’m hoping some of these items will be popular with shoppers this year.

Of course, coming up with new projects is only half the battle. I have to actually MAKE them!

That means I’ll be spending pretty much every day this week in the shop, working to get as many items finished as possible before Saturday. At least, that’s the plan. Whether I can get everything done is another story!

When I’m not busy making sawdust, I’m usually sitting at the computer looking for new project ideas and downloading plans. I now have a binder full of measured drawings for things I want to build. Some of those projects will get started soon, while others will have to wait until I have a little downtime. There are even a few that I’m in no hurry to make or sell. Those can wait for a rainy day when I need something to keep me occupied.

If I’m not careful, I’ll have enough projects planned to keep me busy until Christmas 2035!

Taking a Break to Go Fishing

With all the woodworking I’ve been doing lately, I decided I needed to take a day off and spend a few hours doing something I enjoy. So yesterday, I loaded up the kayak and headed out for a little fishing.

Notice I said fishing, not catching.

There’s a reason they call it fishing. Sometimes you catch fish, and sometimes you just get a lot of practice throwing a lure into the water. Yesterday was definitely one of those days.

After spending four hours on the water, I managed to catch exactly ONE fish. And it wasn’t much of a fish, either. It weighed about half a pound. I’m not sure it was even big enough to qualify as a decent appetizer!

I also spent quite a bit of time doing what fishermen affectionately call “tree fishing.” For those who aren’t familiar with the term, that’s when you cast your lure into the trees instead of the water.

I’m apparently getting pretty good at it.

Unfortunately, one of my attempts to retrieve a lure from an overhead tree ended with me breaking a fishing rod. That’s right. I went fishing for four hours, caught one little fish, lost some time wrestling with trees, and came home with a broken rod.

I probably could have stayed home and made sawdust. At least then I would have had something productive to show for my efforts!

I’m hoping I can get the rod replaced without too much trouble. In the meantime, I guess I’ll have to be a little more careful about where I throw my lures. Of course, if I knew how to do that consistently, I might actually catch more fish!

A Little Health Update

On the health front, I’m doing about as well as can be expected.

My iron levels have improved somewhat, which is good news. Over the past several months, I’ve gotten a little tired of having to be at the oncologist’s office at 7:30 in the morning every other week for iron infusions. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for the treatments, but those early morning appointments can get old after a while!

Unfortunately, I know this improvement may only be temporary. My iron levels have a way of dropping again, and there’s a good chance I’ll eventually have to start the infusions all over again. For now, though, I’ll take the improvement and be thankful for it.

Later this week, I’ll be going back for more blood work to see how things are looking and, hopefully, get a better idea of how well my new medication is working.

Living with CML has taught me that health updates don’t always come with clear answers or guarantees. Sometimes things look good, sometimes there are setbacks, and sometimes you just have to take things one day at a time. That’s pretty much how I’ve learned to approach it.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep doing what I enjoy, stay as busy as I can, and make the most of the good days.

What’s Coming Next?

For the next few weeks, my attention will be focused on getting ready for these craft shows. I’ll be building, cutting, sanding, assembling, printing, and probably making a few more trips to the store for supplies than I’d care to admit.

Hopefully, the new items will be a hit with shoppers, and I’ll come home with fewer things than I took to the shows. That’s always the goal!

I’ll try to keep everyone updated on how the craft shows go, what sells, and what new projects I come up with along the way. And if I manage to squeeze in another fishing trip, I’ll let you know how that goes, too. Maybe next time I’ll catch more fish than I catch trees!

Thanks for sticking with me, even when I disappear for a while. Between woodworking, craft shows, fishing adventures, and keeping up with my health, there’s usually something going on around here.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some sawdust waiting to be made!

Fifteen Vendors Signed Up… Four of Us Got the Memo

15 Sunday Mar 2026

Posted by in Retirement, Uncategorized, Woodworking

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Patriotic Black Slate Coaster

I can’t really say the craft fair/food truck extravaganza was a total bust… mainly because technically it did happen.

Of the fifteen vendors who signed up, four of us actually showed up.

Four.

Now, no one really seems to know why the other eleven didn’t make it. Maybe they overslept. Maybe they checked the weather and decided it looked suspicious. Maybe they looked at their alarm clock that morning and said, “You know what? I’m good.”

Whatever the reason, part of me is honestly glad they didn’t show up.

In fact, being one of only four vendors worked out pretty well for me. I didn’t make a lot of money, but I did make enough to get my registration fee back. When you’re doing craft fairs, sometimes breaking even is considered a small victory.

There were at least five food trucks set up at the event, and I suspect that’s what most people came for. The smell of barbecue, fried food, and whatever magical seasoning food trucks use tends to pull a crowd much faster than a table full of handcrafted items. People were definitely walking around with plates of food in their hands.

But every once in a while, someone would wander over to the vendor tables between bites.

One of the great things that often comes from doing these shows is meeting other craft vendors. I still remember the first show I did a couple of years ago. I was extremely nervous. I had no idea what to expect.

I kept asking myself questions like:

Am I charging too much?
Am I charging too little?
What if someone is selling the exact same thing I’m selling, but for half the price?

After that first show, though, I slowly started learning the ins and outs of how these things work. The more shows I did, the more comfortable I became with what I was selling and how everything operated.

Around here, there’s a local state park that hosts a monthly craft fair that brings in over a hundred vendors each month. These shows have been around for a long time. I remember going there as a teenager just to walk around and see what people were selling.

Things have definitely changed over the years.

Back then, it seemed like most people were selling handmade crafts. These days, a lot of booths are filled with boutique items people bought in bulk somewhere and are reselling at a markup. Others are selling what I would politely call “yard sale items”—things that were probably sitting in their garage a week earlier, and they finally decided it was time to part with.

Several people stopped by my table on Saturday, asking if I set up at those big trade days events.

The short answer is no.

The longer answer is that those events require a lot of product because of the amount of traffic they get. I simply don’t have that kind of surplus inventory.

What I sold Saturday was pretty much everything I had made over the past few weeks. With the equipment I use, each project takes time to complete. It can take close to an hour just to cut one item.

Then you have to sand it.

After sanding, it needs to be painted or stained.

Then, in most cases, the pieces have to be assembled together.

On average, I’d estimate it takes at least three hours to complete a single item.

Now I do try to stay organized. While something is being cut, I’m often sanding another piece or painting something else. Sometimes I’m assembling one project while another one is drying. My little garage workshop tends to look like a carefully managed mess most days.

One of the things I really enjoy about doing these shows is meeting people who are doing something similar. The vendor set up to my left on Saturday was a young guy selling 3D-printed items. His stuff looked really good.

I’m not sure what he was charging for his pieces, but as we were packing up, he told me he hadn’t even sold enough to cover his vendor fee.

That’s the risk you take with these events.

Since there were only four vendors there and the crowd wasn’t exactly overwhelming, we had plenty of time to get to know each other. Turns out he’s in his late twenties and has two kids—one five years old and the other just five months old. His wife came by toward the end of the day, and I had the chance to meet her as well. They seemed like wonderful people.

At one point, he mentioned that he owns fifteen CNC machines—everything from diode lasers to CO₂ laser systems.

“Hobby?” I asked.

Because that sounded more like a small manufacturing facility than a hobby.

He laughed and explained that he also has a full-time job installing granite countertops for new home construction. He showed me some photos of his work, and it was actually pretty impressive. From the looks of his product table, his 3D printing work was pretty impressive as well.

He told me he regularly sells at the trade days event I mentioned earlier and has been doing it for several years. Most of the time, there’s a waiting list just to get a spot at those events. I’ve actually looked into selling there myself, but as I’ve already said, I just don’t have the inventory to support a show that size.

But then something interesting happened.

This coming Saturday and Sunday is the next trade-days event, and he has invited me to set up a table beside him. His idea was simple: bring some of my products and see what it’s like to sell there.

I haven’t given him an official answer yet.

But the more I think about it, the more it sounds like it might be a good idea. I think I’d probably have a lot of fun just experiencing the event from the vendor side.

Truth be told, I suspect he might just want the company I’d bring to the table—so to speak. He certainly kept my ear busy most of Saturday, and honestly I didn’t mind the conversation myself.

The downside to all of this is simple math.

I already have two confirmed shows coming up. If I add this trade-day event to the list, that means I’ll be spending a lot more hours out in the garage making things to sell.

On the bright side, it will keep me out of my wife’s hair and out of trouble.

And historically speaking, staying out of trouble has always been a pretty good life strategy.