End of phase one, start of phase 2!

            Well, today was the last day that Barb will be here to help me learn all the tricks to making the Flaming Star products. With her expertise and time we both feel like I have a pretty good handle on how to make everything in the product line now. How fast I make them will only increase with the number of them I make.

            She leaves for home early tomorrow and I get to finish up three halters before starting the process of loading up our trailer for 2 weeks away from the shop. I have potential orders from France as well as here nearer to home. Just waiting on them to figure out exactly what they want.

            The next two weeks will be used to recoup some much need time with my wonderful wife, and other family members. We will end the time at the Rendezvous before heading home to start on all the new orders. I will have stuff with me to work on while away, but won’t be spending 10-12 hours a day on them like I have the last couple months.

            Now starts the process of research and development for the new products I want to add to the Flaming Start Expedition gear line. Rifle, bow , and fishing rod carriers that will quick attach/ detach from the Flaming Star pack saddle system. Have always wanted a system to attach my float tube to my pack system as well. Bungee cords do the job, but they are not all that user friendly and it only worked on the one tube design. I want something more universal in design.

            If you have ever wanted something specific for your packing system now is the time to send me the idea. I’m not going to guarantee that I’m make them a production item, but I might. Big or small, complicated or simple, let me know what you are thinking and I’ll give it a go!

Learning the right mix

            It has taken some time, but I’m starting to learn the right mix of time for sewing things for Llama Hardware and doing wood working. At least a mix that is working for now. I have made a few small projects on the Rock Rabbit Enterprise side and have a couple more to do once the supplies show up.

            On the Llama Hardware side, the big order is finished and I’m working my way through the remaining orders. I have my first event coming up next weekend, an auction here in Montana. I won’t have much in the line of product to sell, but I’m making a couple dozen halters for the people doing the auction and will have a catalog (printed at home, not a “professional” printed one. I am thinking the face-to-face contact will be worth enough to make the 2 hour drive worthwhile.

            Barb and I start on the last complicated item to learn on Monday and I hope those go easy so I can complete the last of the back orders before heading out in mid June for a week’s vacation (planned before we purchased the business) and then the Llama Rendezvous in Estacada Oregon. I hope while I’m there I get to renew some old friendships with people I knew when I still owned llamas and was attending other Rendezvous, and get to  make some new friends that were not into llamas at the same time we were.

            Along with getting back into the llama world, I am being pulled back into the writing business. I’m working on an article for Leave No Trace for The Back Country Llama that will appear in the fall issue.

            Funny how the direction of our lives makes twists and turns, and spin back on its self if you give it enough time. 

Is that right?

            I was busy working on pack saddles and panniers today and realized that I was putting things together without having to ask questions or refer to the instructions every step. I was still asking questions, don’t get me wrong there, but not nearly as often. I think I might actually be getting the hang of this!

            Baring any major delays (family member is having some extreme health issues) I hope to have the pack order finished this week and be able to start on the next order. If I have to travel to Oregon for the family crisis I’ll be delayed a few days, but I am sure everyone will understand.

            The new cutting/ assembly table is working wonderfully, and I think it’s going to be worth the time and effort it took to get it made and in place. The next project is to stretch a cable from one wall to the other so I can hang lights under the overhead garage door so there is equal light on both ends of the table. Right now it’s a bit hard to see the lines on one side of the straight edge when laying out parts to cut.

            Now I’m starting to think farther down the road and that I’ll need more orders to work on in a couple weeks. So, if you have been considering making an order, now is the time! 

Interested?

            One of the things we have been considering with the tool rolls I am designing is having one of the custom embroidery places put a person’s name on them. While I was talking to them, they also said they could put names on the panniers I’m making for the llamas, donkeys, mini horses, goats, dogs, etc…

            So my question to all of you, my readers, is this. Would you be willing to wait an extra two weeks and pay an additional $20 to $30 (it depends on how long the name is) to have your name put on your tool roll, panniers, etc. (for panniers it could be one pannier or for double the amount, both sides).

            It would have to be an extra item to the list, and the colors would be your choice. An additional concern would be that once they are embroidered, they are yours. There would be no exchanges, no returns, etc, because they would be too customized to sell to anyone else.

            Let me know what you think, what suggestions you might have, etc. and I’ll use that information to decide if this is an extra worth offering. 

Nearing the End

         It’s true, I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true! I am getting closer to the end of the back log of orders. Not At the end, but closer.

            Barb is here making up instructions as we go along. The panniers I’m working on now are going well and I hope to have them done in a couple more days. Three orders went out yesterday and I got notice that another one was delivered today. I’m finding that a lot of stuff has changed since Barb took over from Sid, but also, a lot has stayed the same. What worked then, Works now, what didn't work, has been changed.

            Next week I’ll start on an order of four packs, by the time I’m done with those I’ll have the packs down as well as I have the harnesses down. The new order of foam came in, so I have all the parts needed for the next harness to do after the packs.

            While this week has flown by, I’m pretty confident that I will be nearly finished with the current orders in less than two weeks. With the instruction sheets finished the flow will be a bit better and I’m gaining speed in my sewing daily.

            If you are one of my clients who is waiting on a product, know that I’m working on them as fast as I can and will get them to you with as little delay as I can while making sure I will be able to maintain the quality that Llama Hardware is known for. Thank you for your patience.

            If you are a possible new client, I’m taking new orders now and the wait time  is getting shorter day-by-day. 

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!