Time flies!! It will be 20 years on May 11th and 12th that I had my open house to launch my woodworking and folk art business - see below an article written that week in 1996 by Eric McCarthy...
Gingerbread
trims, folk art
cornerstones
of new business
By Eric McCarthy (Western Bureau
Manager)
LAURETTA – Kerras Jeffery was growing
tired of seasonal work. He wanted
something that would keep him employed year-round. His search ended in his own back yard.
The Lauretta resident had
been working at woodcraft as a hobby for three years but this year he is turning
his hobby into a business. Kerras
Jeffery Woodworking in Lauretta will hold an open house and official opening
celebration on Saturday and Sunday. May 11 and 12, 1996. But he is not starting from scratch, he
already has a special niche in the marketplace.
Jeffery specializes in Victorian Gingerbread trims. He estimates he has over 500 decorative
brackets and approximately 100 gable trims in stock. Jeffery feels the market for his style of
trims is just starting to take off. With
so much emphasis on vinyl siding in recent years, Jeffery feels the trims he
has to offer help set one vinyl sided house apart from another. Customers can leaf through his catalogue of
brackets and trims to come up with their own unique design combination. Then he takes over, cutting out the patterns
and installing he trims, likely within a week of taking the order. While many of the brackets and trims he
stocks were found in catalogue designs, Jeffery has created some unique patterns
of his sown and they are part of his shop’s selection.
Jeffery
has been doing woodcraft as a hobby for three years. He worked out of his basement for one year
and then put up a shop in his back yard.
This year he has added a craft shop in which he stocks more of his
unique creations, including decorated driftwood, shelving, pioneer goose
decoys, pioneer fork and rake, and such wood carvings as double-headed pigs,
King Tut mask, ducks, and, guarding his back year, a bear carving. Other unique gift ideas include stools made
out of tree stumps and pioneer furniture.
It’s not your ordinary craft shop, Jeffery’s points out; in many cases
customers will find crafts not available elsewhere.
In
the craft shop, customers can also view Heritage house plans, available through
his brother, and, when entering the shop, they can check out one of this custom
made screen doors. Yes, screen doors are
another of Jeffery’s specialities. Like
the house trims, customers can choose the brackets and the spindles they want
to decorate their custom door, like the trims, the combinations are almost
endless. Other products available at the
Lauretta woodworking shop include lawn and business signs, patio rails and post
knobs and verandah and deck trims. He
even builds window boxes and gazebos.
Jeffery’s wood of choice is cedar because of its long-lasting qualities.
It
was the gingerbreads that got Jeffery going in the business. He took his first set to a local building
supplies store and the business just took off from there. His trims can even be found on a house in
Toronto. Tools of the business include a
band saw, scroll saw, table saw, drill press, thickness planers and carving
tools. To introduce potential customers
to his new business Jeffery will host an Open House from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on
Saturday and Sunday, May 11 and 12. His
normal shop hours will be 11a.m. to 6 p.m. His work day is longer than that
though, as mornings and evenings will often involve installation work.
* * * * * * * * * *
After some tough years I started to get more exposure. Here I am above, a photo taken by John Sylvester which appeared in the Prince Edward Island Visitors Guide for a few years!
