DustyNewt Keychains

School Fundraiser Project

Conquering the world... one keychain at a time.

I had never done anything like this and was, at first, skeptical about the logistics and time frame allotted for production of a large wholesale order in the midst of  my busiest season. After a couple of emails back and forth, we had the details worked out and the plan came together.

Mr. Toy had it all worked out. He created flyers/order forms, with photos of my handmade products for the students to take around and make sales. Beginning the first school day after Thanksgiving, the students had two weeks to sell and collect monies for their orders. He then scanned the orders into .pdf files, sent them to me. I totaled them up and sent him a PayPal invoice for the agreed wholesale prices. He paid the invoice immediately and production was begun at my end.

The students had sold 183 of my handmade, personalized keychains. After carving and finishing, I separated each student's order into their own zip lock baggie, with a copy of their order form, put them all into a Priority Mail box, and off they went.

Because of my pesky "real" job, turnaround (payment to shipping) was necessarily extended to 8 days, but could have been half that, had I been at it full time. Mr. Toy received my package exactly 2 weeks from the date of purchase and distributed the packages amongst the participating students for delivery.

These are the personalized items that they took orders for.

Standard Keychains
(5/8x5/8") in Red Oak, Cherry, Walnut, Maple and White Oak;

MiniTags
(3/8x3/8") in Red Oak, Cherry, Walnut, Maple and White Oak;

Love Keychains in Maple and Cherry;

As a sales incentive, I offered 1 free keychain to students selling five or more items on an order.

This was a positive experience for me. I really enjoyed doing these. Thanks to the work of Mr. Toy and the students who did such a great job selling, I will welcome future projects like this from schools, churches, and other organizations.

For more information on doing a similar fundraiser, feel free to email me at scott@dustynewt.com. You can review my body of work here on Flickr.

My website is DustyNewt.com

Peace in Wood,
Scott

Latest Workshop Doin's 7/18/11

I have a hard time delegating small pieces of beautiful wood to the fireplace or landfill. I have found these earrings fun to make and my clients say they are lightweight and comfortable to wear. They are a bit wearing on my fingertips as the hand sanding and polishing is very "close in".

New Items: Name Pendants - Two-Liner Keychains - Earrings

These pendants were inspired by a client in Australia. They are cut from the same piece of wood (MiniTag style), separated and bonded back together top to bottom.

The samples pictured are Amboyna and Eucalyptus Burls.
They can be done in any of my 28+ fine hardwoods for $12 each.

☀☀☀☀☀

All orders carved and shipped within 3 business days from payment.

Peace in Wood,
Scott
DustyNewt.com

New from the Shop: Wooden Earrings

These were developed at the request of customers, the urging of my wife, and the need to do something with all these beautiful little bits of wood that manage to overwhelm the horizontal surfaces in my workshop.

Purpleheart Wood

Eucalyptus Burl

Bloodwood

Paduak Wood

Peace in Wood,
Scott
DustyNewt.com

Woodstuffs with Vintage

This idea was inspired by a photo posted on Flickr, by a friend in Washington, of a white oak wine barrel cut in half to use as a planter. The inside of the barrel was stained a deep reddish/purple. And it occurred to me that wine enthusiasts might like to see these barrel staves upcycled into little personalized accessories, namely my keychains.

I did some searching, and I found a source for used barrel staves in the Napa Valley (of all places).

White Oak has always been a favorite of mine. Its ray figuring was prized by artists in the craftsman period of the early 1900s. The red wine gives such a beautiful coloring to the wood.

After freehand carving, I sand each name to 600 grit. There is a reminiscent scent of vino as I cut and sand. They are then finished with three coats of lacquer to protect it from the rigors of everyday keychain use.

I exaggerate the backs a little to give the barrel stock a good friendly shape, similar to the curve of the barrel it came from.

These will be $9.00 each, U.S. shipping included.

If you are a aficionado or amateur wino, please contact me to place an order. I can carve and ship within three days of payment. If you know someone who would enjoy these, please send them a link to me.

Peace in Wood,
Scott
DustyNewt.com

Within a day or two I will have these posted on my site and here as well;
My Etsy Shop
My Zibbet Shop
Facebook Page

New Woods and a New Friend

I have recently made the acquaintance of a man, a fellow woodworker, who has lived not three miles from me for the last fourteen years. His work is phenomenal. He builds fine chess boards. Kasparov has one of his boards. Here is Bill's site Woodworking Ltd.

He initiated the meeting between us a few weeks ago with an email to me, looking for a local woodworker that might enjoy some shop talk, coffee and comparison of "toys". Always a bit apprehensive about meeting up with an internet contact, we took it slow, and last week he stopped by my shop as I was finishing up a couple orders. Bill is a very interesting and educated man who has given up all his other hobbies, ie. golf, fishing, sports etc., to concentrate on his passions of woodworking and computers.

He has since loaded me up with a bunch of new woods to include in my collection. I believe I now have the largest selection of woods (23+) offered by any custom keychain maker. Here are a few of the newest ones.

Latest from the Workshop: 3/11/11

Cocobolo Rosewood

Purpleheart

Love Keychain in Red Oak

White Oak and Cherry Names - Unfinished

Paduak Wood

New Desk Names with Card Holder

I have just redesigned my Desk Name with Card Holders. The old design was to put the slot for the cards at the end of the name in the base. This made for unwieldy lengths on longer names. It also involved a stopped groove (mortise) that invited errors and waste and took more set up time.

For more information, please visit my shops at;

Peace in Wood,
Scott

New from My Shop: Love Keychains

Two names are carved in one of the 19+ woods I carry, Minitag style, and then pressure bonded atop each other.

The ♥ is carved adjacent to the name that I feel will balance the piece, and is colored with a non-toxic acrylic red ink.

The names can be up to eleven (11) letters each. Because of their size, no periods, dashes or other symbols can be done in a name.

I can carve names, nicknames, sport teams, car brands, group and company names. Just about anything you ♥.

The letters are approximately .375 inch tall x .25 inch thick, by however long your names are (up to 11 letters each). Once bonded together, the overall height is about .75 inch.

Due to the very nature of wood, all pieces are unique. Color variances and grain differences are inevitable and appreciated.

The freehand letter style is one I have developed over 28+ years for strength and legibility. No patterns, templates or computer programs are used in carving these.

Thanks for looking.

Peace in Wood,
Scott

Battle Elephant Returns: An Epic in Ebony

Visiting with our artist friends down in Venice last weekend, the discussion turned to my work with wood and how I acquire some of my stock. I search garage sales, thrifts stores and the side of the road for unwanted, broken, ugly pieces of furniture and such that has interesting color and grain pattern. I rescue it from almost certain demise and give it a new life as a token, a memento of affection that will last for years to come.

Frances Smith, the artist, remembered an ebony elephant that she had tucked away in her vast stores of treasures. A wonderful gift from a truly talented friend. It had been in her family for at least 70 years. It's origin is unknown, but with this posting I hope to get a little insight from readers responses.

Peace in Wood,
Scott