It’s a branch!

            Ok, so it’s a Small branch, but I have started my first branch out with the Flaming Star Expedition Gear…. Sort of. And this small branch came after working 10 hour days to catch up on the back log of orders for the Flaming Star llama products. What I made was a tool roll for use with woodturning tools. It’s made with black 1000 denier cordura and has 1” nylon webbing to hold it closed and as a handle.

The next time I’m in Kalispell I am going to talk to one of the places that does embroidery so I can get a quote for them to put people’s names on the material before I sew it up. Making it a personal item as opposed to just another tool roll from one of the major wood working companies. Next in line is a tool roll designed for carving tools.

            Work on the back log is coming along well. IF all goes well over the next couple of days I should have five harness systems and the matching driving halters done and ready to send out to some very patient customers! Thank you to all those waiting on me to get them done.

            Along with all that, new orders are coming in every few days so I am looking at spending a few more long days getting them turned out as quickly as possible!

Busy times continue!

            The shop is set up and I have been sewing like mad! Forty of the order of fifty five halters are done, and only three more need sewn. The rest are sewn, but waiting on the last three so I can burn the holes in the poll straps. Those should be done by the end of the day tomorrow.

            An order for four more Flaming Star packs came in two days ago from Switzerland! That’s an amazing order and I sure appreciate that they trust my skills enough to order them!

            The orders for driving harnesses are coming in as well, I’ll be starting on the back log of those on Tuesday and hope to have the back log of those finished by the end of the week or early next week. One more came in late today!

            While I am behind yet, I’m gaining speed every day (eleven halters sewn today, and it was a short day) and I am making progress. With the shop set up and working well, I can concentrate more on the sewing and less on getting it organized.

            Barb came in yesterday, and of course arrived just as the snow storm did. With snow coming out of the north and passing by at about 40 mph, it was Not fun getting her trailer pulled in to place. But, she is now set up and all is working well.

            If you have been thinking about ordering any llama products, but were waiting for me to get established and going, now is the time! While the wait might be a few weeks, with more orders coming in, that wait might be longer if you delay making the order!

            I also have some non-llama owning friends hinting that they have some projects they would like me to make, and I’ll be working on a couple of those as soon as the back log allows me Any free time! 

Ever Forward!

            Well it’s been a Busy week. I've made one harness for a llama cart, and two driving halters for carting. I have one halter done and 5 more “in process” of the 65 on order. I’m Making progress, and will be increasing my speed as I go.

            Llama Hardware is now fully set up in my shop in Columbia Falls MT. There will be some changes made I’m sure, but it’s a place to start. The new hot cutter for cutting the webbing is So much faster it’s kind of scary.

            Barb is headed over here early next week for more training and to help me gain speed in how I do things. As I gain experience the number of items I can do each day will increase as well. The computer process is coming along as well. The “merchant account” is nearly in place (first of next week, like everything else) and with that I will be able to take payments and pay for shipping without having to leave home. Nice that FedEx, the USPS, and UPS all pickup from the door!

            Requests to attend numerous events are pouring in, and I have to say I appreciate the offers, but there is too little time and too much distance involved to be able to attend all of them and be home to make the product. I will be attending the Llama Rendezvous in Estacada OR at the end of June, but not sure what other events I will be able to attend. I need to fill the orders I have on the books before I can justify attending more events and taking time away from production.

            Please keep sending me invites though, you never know when I’ll be caught up and be able to attend. I’m also thinking about starting an event calendar on the web site or this blog to let everyone know about the events even if I can’t attend in person.

            EVER FORWARD! 

Blogging Quandary!

            By now I hope that most of my readers know we have purchased Llama Hardware http://www.llamahardware.com and that I am now in the process of training to make all the great items Barb has offered in the past. After this week of training I’ll load everything up from Barb’s shop and move it to my shop in MT and continue the learning process there. Barb will come over in a week or so and help me finalize production in the new location.

            So, on the learning/ production front everything is coming together quickly and I expect to be in full production by mid April at our shop in MT. What I’m in a quandary about is that I am not going to stop wood working and selling stuff off my Etsy site. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RockRabbitEnterprise In fact I have been shipping orders of darning eggs and bread troughs while working on the transition into Llama Hardware.

            That is what led me to this blog. Should I combine the two and just blog in one place about what is happening with both businesses? Or create a new blog just for Llama Hardware? I’m pretty sure that most, if not all, of the llama people appreciate the wood working, but I’m not so sure the people looking at the wood working are into llamas?

            Okay my friends and followers, what’s Your opinion? One combined blog or two separate blogs. Keep in mind I will be adding dates for pack trials, rendezvous, shows, etc. for the llama folks, but would also be posting photos of new wood work, asking about ideas for what items to build, turn, carve, next. Etc…

THANKS! 

Major Addition to our Life

            Before we headed to Alaska we had the chance to purchase the Flaming Star Pack production business. At that time we had to pass on the opportunity because we understood that trying to run a new business and make it productive and do graduate school would not be a good combination.

            A few weeks ago we learned that the business was again up for sale. Now a part of Llama Hardware, owned by Barb Brady, the Flaming Star Pack line was one of several lines of llama products that Barb had developed and incorporated together under the one business. A series of springtime floods on her property were the last straw and she was ready to retire and sell the business. Though a series of great connections we were able to obtain funding and purchased Llama Hardware from Barb.

            I will go to her place on the 24^th for a couple weeks of training on both the sewing of the packs and other items as well as the computer program she uses to track inventory and sales. After that I will move the production back to our place in the Old Bad Rock fire hall and start producing product here in MT.

            For now nothing will change, we will continue to produce and sell the same great products that Barb is known for making. Eventually we will add more items to the line and perhaps branch out into others as well.

            Orders are already coming in so I know the business will pickup and continue as before. If you would all help me and pass word along to anyone and everyone that might be interested in packs, halters, driving harnesses, etc. for llamas, mini horses, donkeys, etc…

            We have already considered how we would like to branch out and will be using the name Flaming Star Expedition Gear to market bags for trap shooting, pistol shooting, and rifle shooting. The first designs will be for fishing pole holders, rifle/ bow cases and float tube holders that will fasten on the Flaming Star Packs with quick release buckles for use on the llamas. We are also considering bags for motorcycles and 4 wheelers, etc… Helmet and boot bags, bags that will fasten to dirt bikes, etc. to hold tools and extras needed for day trips or longer.

            Wish us luck with getting the business up and going in the new location and we welcome ideas for new products that you would like to see made. We can’t promise we will make all of them, but will add as many as we can to the line as time and skills progress.

            The website is http://www.llamahardware.com and we are on FB as well, look us up! 

The CAR wheels went round and round!

            We have all done them, trips where there were just too many things crammed into one trip. Lynn and I left last Tuesday (Feb 25^th) and drove to Salem Oregon where I needed to be to attend training with ODOT on Thursday.

            Because my sister Elaine has been in the hospital lately we drove from Salem to Roseburg to visit with her and Don on Wednesday. We were only able to visit for a few hours since she was feeling pretty tired but it was a nice visit and one that we could not pass up since we had to be only a couple hours away for my training.

            Thursday I sit through an all day lecture type class with ODOT on what it would take to work with them as an archaeological consultant. I won’t know until later this week if I passed the test or not, but am pretty sure I did. Now all I need is a company to work For in OR and I’m all set!

            Friday we left the motel early and headed for NE Oregon. We were to visit with my sister Pat, see Lynn’s dad in the hospital, meet with our accountant for our taxes in Baker City, and have dinner with our good friends Jerry and Lynn Clark.

            Since we were on I-5 by 7 AM I figured we would be headed out of Portland by 8:30 at the latest. Wrong! Traffic on 205 from West Linn to Oregon City was slow and we were nearly stopped at several of the major onramps to the freeway as more traffic came on to 405.

            Because we wanted to see the Vista House and get some photographic studies for Lynn’s art work we took the Corbett exit off I-84 and enjoyed the view of the waterfall, etc. along the scenic highway. There were Many trees along there with burls, but since it is a part of the Scenic Gorge system I think they might have issues with us cutting trees down? And besides, we were in the car and didn’t have a saw, Dang!

            The drive from there to La Grande should have been uneventful and faster, since the traffic along the gorge is seldom held up for any reason this time of year. And it was no exception this time… it was Cabbage Hill that caused us more delay. Thick fog cut the visibility down to about 500 feet. What should have been an hour long trip from Pendleton to La Grande turned into an hour and a half.

            Being so far behind schedule we were only able to visit with Pat, Joe and Chris for about 30 min before we had to head on to Baker City. Arriving at the hospital in Baker City to visit with Lynn’s dad we were informed he had been discharged in the AM and was home. Well that was disappointing but did give us a bit more time to see Baker City before we had to be at our accountant. Seems that not a lot has changed in Baker City, but there were signs of little changes, like widened streets, some businesses that were gone or new business were where others were when we were there. We had talked to him about purchasing a new, existing business, and he confirmed what we already knew, it was a decent, if not great deal. All we need to do now is find a way to raise the money!

            From his office we met with our friends Jerry and Lynn for dinner at a local brew pub. The meal was very good and the conversation was even better! All too soon though we were out of time and headed back down the road to Hermiston where we were to spend the night with John and Kim… Again, the fog was an issue on Cabbage, putting us a good hour behind schedule and I soon found myself leading a string of about 20 cars off the mountain. Not sure why they decided to follow me, but it was better than having someone in front of me!

            The visit with John and Kim was made better when we found that Casey was there for the weekend as well. They were headed to the Tri Cities on Saturday morning to get Casey as new tattoo (a baseball coming out of his calf with his team number 7). We all left about 11 so they could head that way and we headed to Kayte’s to visit. No one home! Oh well, we took the long way to Pendleton up the Umatilla River were we saw a lot of dear and even more geese and other birds.

            In Pendleton we were able to visit with the girls until Robert got off work. Again the visiting lasted into the night and all too soon it was time for us to get up and head for home. Oh, did I forget to mention that there was a half inch of new snow on the ground and it was being covered with freezing rain? Yea, Slow trip to Walla Walla, but from there on the road were not bad until we reached Spokane. A slight detour there to get some tools from Harbor Freight and we were back on the now, snow covered roads. While the roads were not terrible, it was still enough to require we drive slower than the speed limit. What should have been an eight hour drive soon turned into a ten hour drive. Add in the stops in Spokane and for food, it became a LONG day!

            Overall it was a fun and educational trip, but in six days we did 1997 miles! Not how I like to do things, but it couldn't be helped, limited time and numerous places we needed to be required it to be so. Now to get back to our daily routine and rest up before we have to do it again…. It’s a Bad thing when going to work is easier than the week you just had! J

The wheels go round and round

            For a long time I have heard the saying: if you want something done, give the task to a busy person. It seems that I am that “busy” person!

            I’m behind in my blogging, but have more stuff listed on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RockRabbitEnterprise and have gotten a fair amount of feedback and will be making new projects in the near future based on that feedback. Look for more toys, both the durable, “play with them every day”, kind and the higher end, “looks good on dad’s bookshelf” version.

            Currently I’m working pretty much full time on the Toys for Tots toys so they will be done before I have to be in the field doing archaeology. (assuming I find a Job doing archaeology that is). A friend of a friend, soon to be my friend I’m sure, has volunteered to take over building the block truck so that takes some of the load off me. I have most of the parts cut for the doll cradle and the bulldozer. The parts for the tool box I’ll cut today and the tools for the tool box are an on-going process as I get scraps to cut them from.

            The job I was working on last fall has been shut down again so it is not looking like I will be going back to NE Montana in the spring to work there. I am in contact with the Portland Oregon office of the same company but currently there is no work there either. Time will tell.

            Next week is training in Salem OR so I will be a qualified “consultant” for ODOT projects. That should give me one more tool that I can use to get a job as an archaeologist in Oregon. If the economy will just improve a bit more I think that might happen.

            The trip will also allow us to visit with my sister who has had some health issues lately and to see Lynn’s dad while he is in the hospital to have one of his recently replaced knee joints replaced again. There was some kind of issue with the joint and they are having to put in a different one.

            With so much into such a short time we will not be able to visit with everyone we want to, but will try to at least touch bases with everyone we can while we are down there. If we are not able to visit with you, please do not take it personally, there are too many of you and too little time!

            As one last item of interest…. Why didn’t someone tell me that Pinterest was such an addictive thing? Please to take a look at some of my board there and share or re-pin some of my stuff on one of your boards. http://www.pinterest.com/llamanter/