Quite a bit has been going on at Sunriver Metal Works since our last post in January. The most important things first – our marriage!
Marriage
You may have seen Sunriver Metal Work’s Facebook post on Sunday, April 20, 2014. It’s true. We’ve talked about getting married for quite some time and finally tied the knot! In many ways, marriage was just a formality. We “committed” to each other in the Rocky Mountains two years ago. A trip to a justice of the peace seemed the easiest, low key solution. Friends, Brett and Dana, were visiting and Brett is an ordained minister. The result – a quiet, intimate exchange of vows sitting in our living room. While drinking Sunriver Brewing Company‘s Lazy River Lager… Required dress – blue jeans… The vows were perfect – short and to the point. Brett said he had never seen so much kissing in a ceremony.
The “I Do’s” and The Kiss
Media
Whether it’s social media or photo media, it always takes up a significant amount of time. The photo media is a slow process, because Pat is trying to get all of the photos labeled to include proper SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Good SEO means that when people are looking for metal work, our pictures will come up in the search results. The website galleries will need to be totally rebuilt once the media is re-added. The store photos will be added separately (we have yet to find a store that can use the same gallery photos). Job security (or frustration) for Pat.
On the Social Media front, we have determined that Facebook is basically a social tool to let friends knows what’s going on. The majority of custom work comes from our website. If we decide to advertise on Facebook, there are ways to identify people who have visited the website and include them in a campaign as well. Right now, we are as busy as we want to be.
Bring your love of fishing into your home decor with metal fish decor art!
Metal
February was devoted to restocking inventory and creating new pieces for the NW Fly Tyer’s Show we attended the first weekend of March. Mike created some new fishing related pieces and spent time learning how to use the airbrush to create more realistic fish colors. They proved to be very popular at the show – all airbrushed pieces sold out. Now we have another tool in our toolbox! We’ve been working non-stop since then on custom pieces as a result of the show and local new customers. We also have several shows we’ll be doing over the summer. They are: Crazy Mama Craft Faire on May 10; Sunriver Home & Garden Show on June 10 (details to follow); Sunriver Quilt Show on August 2 (details to follow); and Sunriver Fly Fishing Festival on September 19-20. Launching an online store will be worked in as we have time.
Focus and Fun
Focus and Fun are the keywords we are using in 2014. Our marriage started this trend. We want to focus on getting things done with an emphasis on the fun part of living in Central Oregon. After the push of getting things done over the holidays, we decided that we aren’t a production shop. If we don’t have fun doing it, then it becomes a chore. Mike loves the artistic aspects of custom work and has gotten quite good at using the touch screen computer to create metal wall art from someone’s photo. I’m trying to keep the website, social media, office books, and store going, as well as enjoying the design and patina work with the metal. We also want to have fun in the sun, while we hike, bike, and kayak this summer. Stay tuned…