Project Creation Process:

I normally get my project ideas either from a need for something I don’t have like a book shelf an end table or something like that. Or I personally like to go to trade shows and farmers markets and see what other people are doing. If I see something l like I will make mental notes or even better if the owner will let me, I take a picture that way when I go home I have some kind of reference. As a rule I rarely build things exactly as other have because one I want to add my own personal touch and two I just would not feel right creating an exact copy of something someone else has already created.

After I have chosen a project I need to choose a size for some projects I have some wiggle room, for instance how big around do you want your fire pit to be? Where some projects are limited to a certain set of detentions for example an end table for a couch, I would not want it too low or too high and it needs to fit between two pieces of furniture.

Next I will choose a theme; when choosing a theme consider:

· What else is going to be around the finished project?

· What material am I going to use wood steel etc…?

· Am I going to leave the material bare or am I going to paint or stain?

· Am I going to add designs? If so what type

o Nature

§ Flowers

§ Animal silhouettes

§ Trees, leaves

o Shapes?

§ Stars

§ Diamonds

§ Circles

o Embelishments

§ Loops

§ Swirls

§ Horse shoes

§ Etc.

Creating a plan, after getting an idea of what I am going to build and how it’s going to look I will make a rough sketch. Sometimes a rough sketch is all that is needed to go to the fabrication portion of my project other times I will us a program like Google SketchUp to create a 3D model of what I am making (click on the link to see my Blog on Google SketchUp).

Finally after my size, theme, and plans are all created I will get my materials and start the fabrication process. When I start fabricating I like to think about efficiency some projects are not very complex and the order I do things may not make much of a difference. However other more complex projects may have parts that rely on one and other, so it is helpful to create some kind of order in which things are done. So while one thing is drying or cooling or whatever the case may be I have something else I can work on so I am rarely just sitting around waiting on one crucial piece to be done.

I hope you will find this method useful next time you start a project. If you think I have left something out or would like me to elaborate let me know and I will do my best to fix it, thank you for reading.