Unique handmade Tasmanian timber crafts by BlueSwallowDesignsAU

Shipping and Postage Changes:

I have decided to get rid of those annoying shipping and postage charges; from here on in all shipping is free within Australia. The main reason for this decision is the complication of pricing postage charges; there are so many variables, where the package is going, size, weight, etc.

I'll continue to use Sendle and Australia Post and all parcels will have tracking available - so no changes there.

Postage and packaging will become just another material cost, no different from all the other consumable and overhead expenses - it will just make it easier for shoppers (and me).

All products will continue to be priced based mainly on the amount of work that goes into making it; this is a hobby-based business and not a major source of income, I love making things from wood and I love it that other people can get pleasure from what I do.

Steve

The Story Behind Blue Swallow Designs

I started building things from wood a few years ago after moving into a new house with the room to have a workshop. I fitted the new space with some basic tools and started making various bits and pieces; the quality wasn’t great but I found it strangely relaxing and quite fulfilling. Since I work as an IT teacher having a break from a computer is a pleasure; more so working with hand tools as there is no ‘technology’ involved.

The collection of hand tools started to increase as did the quality of my work; a few power tools and machines were added to speed up some of the ‘donkey work’ but I found that I was making far more things than we needed round the house - so I started thinking about selling what I was making. I’m also not that far off retirement so I figured that making things from wood and selling them would be a nice little retirement activity for me.

Doing the rounds of local markets didn’t really appeal (mainly due to a lack of time) and then I discovered Etsy and this turned out to be perfect for me. So I went through the process of creating and registering the business name and ABN and all that other stuff; which was interesting as I have never done anything like that before.

The name Blue Swallow Designs is something I thought up inspired by the little swallows that come to nest at our place every summer. Technically they are Welcome Swallows, but I liked the name Blue Swallow – I believe there is actually a Blue Swallow in England or northern Europe - but I just like how it sounded.

My preference is to use recycled or scrap timber for most of my work and especially pallets; they tend to be well weathered and the timber used in them is generally not considered to be up to construction standard. This suits me perfectly as ‘construction standard’ timber is quite boring; it tends to have straight grain and is easily worked whereas the timber used in pallets can have twisted grain, knots, sap wood, cracks – all sorts of problems – which make it harder to work but far more interesting to look at.

In addition to recycled wood I also use some of Tasmania’s specialty timbers but I prefer to source mill ends and off-cuts where possible. Most of the things I build don’t need long lengths so shorter bits tend to be easier for me to handle and off-cuts, in particular, can have some really nice features.

The designs are all my own work; I get inspiration from lots of different places but everything gets drawn up, prototyped and tested by me. It is important that things look nice but, for me, it is equally important that they are functional.

I try to run my Etsy store as a ‘professional’ business; there are expenses just like any business but ultimately my woodworking is what I love doing. Many people comment that I should be asking more for the things I make but whiling away the hours in my workshop and making things that give pleasure to others keeps me sane in an otherwise crazy world – and it’s hard to put a price on that :-)

BlueSwallowDesignsAU

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