Brooks WoodShop has now made it onto the High Street (albeit just 5 items, n a shared space). "Not My Beautiful House" (not sure if it has anything to do with Talking Heads "Once In A Lifetime ", and certainly makes for a very long URL/Website Address: https://www.notmybeautifulhouse.co.uk /), but as a Community-led initiative to sell art and other creatives output it has certainly afforded me the opportunity to let people see and pick up (and preferably buy) items I have produced. The shop used to be in Fife Road Kingston, but now occupies the whole of the Ancient Market Hall, in Kingston Market Place. Fabulous location, and I hope it gets lots of passing trade from its new location (and everyone buys Brooks WoodShop Product!) The shop is run by students from Kingston University Art Courses and provides an outlet for students and Community Creatives. It can be found in the middle of the Market Place in Kingston upon Thames: HERE
I also have an "Etsy Shop", and whereas there are many MANY things "wrong" with the shop, it has - to date - provided more sales than any other channel Brooks WoodShop utilises to sell. I will shortly be offering products and services on "Nextdoor", but in the interim, decided to upload some videos onto Etsy, as another way of showing off ,my creations. I should have read their stipulations first, as I had spent a good 6 hours recording a "theme tune", and about a day working on the "Video Ident", only to find out that the Etsy Videos had to be between 5-15 SECONDS long! (My "opening sequence" with the music was over that on its own, before I even started showing the product! So, I went back to the drawing board, stripped it down completely and re-did the video. I think what I will have to do is provide the "Directors Cut" of these videos on my website (i.e. here), and then the short "Etsy Version" on the product page on Etsy! Look out on this site for videos to come, including product overviews, "How t's Made" and a video introduction by Karl D. Cockney-Cat.
Owing to contractual difficulties, we have been unable to officially announce...until now...we are proud and as pleased as the cat who got the cream to announce Karl D. Cockney Cat has joined Brooks WoodShop as the "public face" of forthcoming videos, from Shopping Channel-style sales videos, through to Video Blogs and "The making of..." videos. Watch this space... Karl's agent said: "Karl is very pleased to have his name associated with the high quality products coming from Brooks WoodShop. He can't wait to get involved in the day-to-day running and creativity of Brooks WoodShop and is looking forward to getting his paws dirty" (With wood-chips presumably?) Andrew Brooks, owner and Big Cheese at Brooks WoodShop said: "Karl will bring a much needed injection of reality and down-to-earthness typical of anyone dragged up in an alley in Bethnal Green. We have already changed the batteries on the Bleep Machine." Karl will be making his first appearances in the coming weeks.
I was a little slow to the party this year, as I've spent the summer undertaking a number of "outdoor" woodworking and "handyman"-type tasks. I have just released a number of gift ideas in the Christmas Gifts section of my shop, so please take a few moments to look around to see if there's anything suitable. On the Keyring side of things, there are also a number of Olive Wood Pen/Keyrings, or should that be Keyring/Pens? You can - of course - always order items from the other sections of my site, so - for example - you may want to consider a personalised cheeseboard or chopping board?
This is not my first woodworking project involving resin. I have created some storage tumblers/tealight holders from shards of wood, held together with resin and some bowls created similarly, but this is the first time I have created something of this nature for sale. When I saw this "split" piece of Walnut I immediately had in mind to make a "river" board...Although traditionally "River" products have blue resin...so I thought why not try orange sparkly resin! ...and lo and behold this unique, one-off piece was "created". I am very pleased with it, and it has paved the way for more of the same coming soon. I also love the figuring of the Walnut. I will be trying a "River" Tray shortly, made from Spalted Beech and probably with Sapele edging...I will have to wait and see what it looks like! I'm hoping this will prove to be a popular line (and means I get to spend many more happy hours at Surrey Timber selecting these beautiful pieces of timber. Head on over the the Shop to see more pictures HERE .
A complete Aladdin's Cave of the most beautiful timber I have seen in one place! Surrey Timbers are based just South West of Guildford in Loseley Park. Beautiful setting which winds down a single track road to reveal a semi-rural "industrial estate", with Surrey Timbers at the heart of it. I think they are the closest to my location in Kingston Upon Thames, but the 1 hour drive down there is worth it just to meander around the warehouse choosing wood! Similar to many timber merchants they have a website, but it is a completely different experience to actually go down there and choose your own wood! As a busy business, they also have a fine selection of "Bargain Bucket" items. Their staff were excellent as well, pandering to my last minute change of plans to visit the warehouse two days earlier than I had intended...and they still had my wood ready for collection. ...just need to start generating some sales in the shop now, so I can afford to pander to my hardwood habit!