I've started two opossum criddles this month, a 4/4 size and a 1/4 size.  For the 1/4 size I am using some maple I've had in the shop for years that doesn't have as much figure as I'd prefer, but it will still look good.  I will be accessorizing it with persimmon, and I sure hope my son will want to learn to play it.
     I will also showing a young man how to build a mandolin and maybe a guitar, too. His school is involved in yearly competitions in academics, sports, arts and crafts, and one of the categories is wood carving.  He won this category in 2014 with a violin he made in my shop under my watchful eye, and is hoping to do well at the competition next spring with a mandolin and guitar.  Like a violin, almost all the parts on a mandolin are carved on to one extent or another, so it can be entered in the wood carving contest, but the guitar may be a different story and need to be placed in another category, but we have some time to figure that out.
     In July, I will be starting training for a part-time real job, and I'll make some entries on my progress.
     The Damascus Artisan Expo went okay.  This is it's first year, and I will be happy to participate in it next year, but events like this need to heavily promoted in order to attract more buyers.  It's fun to demonstrate crafts to the public and answer questions, but emphasis needs to be made on the fact that we are also there to sell.  This event needs to be nurtured and I hope for greater attendance and sales in the years to come.

     If you have been lonely and bored with nothing better to do than to keep up with my BLAH...G, then you've noticed some entries have vanished that were pertinent mostly to May only, but I will reiterate now the things that still apply.  The BIG MAY SALE wasn't what I hoped, but I did sell "Sassy" the mandolin to a NYC dweller, which means that 1/3 of all the mandolins I've made are in the Big Apple, and that's a proud statistic for me.  
     I have also pulled my instruments out of the stores they were in and am now selling only through my website and shop, resulting in lower retail prices now that there aren't consignment fees.  I think my violins are worth more, but times are hard and my current inventory of violins are now priced at $1,500.00, with the exception of my Opossum Criddles, which will stay at $2,000.00.  There are so many aspects to consider in any given marketing strategy, and I've decided that my Opossums are pretty special and that you will get a great value and uncommon instrument, and I'm not willing to sell them on the cheap.  In fact, I may dedicate my whole production to these criddles and establish my niche in violin making.  I started a 1/4 size opossum for my son, so look for some photos in the coming weeks. 
     In a deleted post I stated that I may have to get a REAL job, and that could begin this fall.  A real job would allow me to continue in my luthery while providing income, which will also allow me to hold out for higher sale prices.  So with that in mind, make me and offer on my existing inventory while I'm in the mood to deal.
     I will be demonstrating violin making at the Damascus Artisan Expo on Saturday, June 13th.  
     If all this sounds like self-promoting shameless capitalism, that's because it is.