Merging Tradition with Innovation: Red Shed WoodCrafts
2020 was a year of uncertainties. A pandemic, interrupted lifestyles , and time on our hands. With this newfound time, everyone began to look for ways to occupy portion of that time.
Late 2020, my daughter began making T-shirts, using the vinyl she cut on her cricut. It wasn't long until she branched into wooden door hangers and I had basic woodworking tools, so it was a given that I would provide the wooden blanks she needed.
She produced the door hangers and her simple posts on social media brought her customers… increased sales equals increased supply need.
I soon began investigating new ways to further personalize her products, hoping to add variety to her product line.
I purchased an inexpensive laser and plunged into the world of laser engraving with no absolutely no knowledge of how to keep from drowning. Trial and error and a lot of YouTube videos allowed my laser to become a useful tool in the shop, though I had several times considered watching it make a splash in a nearby lake.
Laser engraving moved me into the world of CNC design. Once again, as I did with my laser, I purchased the CNC with no experience with the equipment. I have since come to realize that having large dollar equipment sitting in your shop not making a return is great motivation to get you to figure it out. Thankfully, through a lot of frustration and prayer, it began yo make sense to me, and I began to be able to produce a few things that I would let my family see.
Combining the CNC and the laser techniques began to interest others outside my family, as they became less ashamed for my creations to be seen, and I began to get orders. As the demand grew, my little laser could not keep up and it necessitated the purchase of a much larger and faster C02 laser.
So from the pandemic of 2020 to today, God has blessed us abundantly. My product offerings have grown from wall décor and ornaments to various partnerships with a variety of organizations, who permit me the honor of serving them and their respective clientele.
Our product line now includes awards, garden benches, many memorial items, and a lot of custom order products as prospective clients now approach us with the question, "Hey, can you make this for me"? We do our best to assist them when we can.
​
Bad things happen to all of us, but sometimes those things we call bad are only bends in the road that turn us to a unexpected destination.
