Effective March 1, I (Jeff) am going part time at my day job! I'm officially calling it "semi-retirement" though I very well may go back to full time in the future at some point. Back in December when we were planning to launch the store I decided I really didn't need to spend as much time working in the corporate world as I do. I really wanted more time to work on projects for Ceres Studios and just live life. I have a very cool boss and mentioned to him that if the opportunity came up I'd love to be working part time. Lo and behold, the opportunity has come up and it's mutually beneficial. We're a little over staffed in my department right now, so cutting me to part time helped everyone.
I tend to write like I speak - way too much - so I'm going to try to keep my posts here brief. I'm very excited to have more time on my hands as I've got a long list of new products I'd like to develop in the wood shop and would really love to share a little more insight on what we're working on and some of the comedy of errors that goes on in the process of actually making something someone might buy.
One quick update - I've added an app to our Facebook page that will allow customers to view and purchase any item in our shop right from within Facebook. Very cool stuff.
If you haven't liked us on Facebook yet, please do so unless you absolutely hate us. Every time we get one new "like" it seems like we get a new customer. It's a great way for us to reach a lot of people quickly, and you can always block our updates from your wall if you don't want to see them.
Upcoming projects:
- Rosewood hair stick with swarovski crystal (hurry up Stephanie!)
- Marble cheese boards in wooden frames
- Wooden pipe tampers within inlaid stone accents
- Exotic wooden pendant jewelry - you'll have to see it to appreciate them
Stephanie also has a three day class on mokume-gane coming up soon. It's a metalsmithing technique to blend different metals and enamels in one piece based upon the ancient tradition of folding steel in Japanese samurai swords. I expect we'll see some neat stuff come from there, hopefully not too expensive.
A little phone cam eye candy to wrap up:
- a redwood burl pen I made for Stephanie today, satin nickel hardware
- a wooden pendant Stephanie is working on
- one of many piles of rocks Steph has all over our house
More updates to come soon!
- Jeff
