Tag: Laser cut Christmas tree ornament

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Lasercutting TikTok Video

TikTok lasercutting video of Christmas tree bauble decoration - M - LaserSister

Woo, get me – I’ve been trying out 21st-century technology today, and have discovered how to put a lasercutting video onto TikTok.

I’m not sure it was worth all of the effort, to be honest. I’m hoping that TikTok goes away, and that I never have to interact with it again. Either that, or I’m hoping that as more middle-aged people (like me) start using it, TikTok will realise how much people hate the bossiness of an app that immediately starts playing video and audio content as soon as you open it up. Ugh.

Anyway, in an attempt to train TikTok’s algorithms into at least showing me more relevant looping streams of video, today I’ve been trying to teach it that I like crafts and art – especially laser-cut and polymer clay art.

Below is the actual video I uploaded. My first ever attempt at uploading some content on TikTok. It was such a giant, convoluted hassle that I might never bother again. But just in case I do, I wrote a reminder to myself on my KayVincent.com website, vaguely showing how I managed it.

@kay_vincent

LaserSister – my laser cutter making an M Christmas decoration. #LaserCut #LaserCutter

♬ original sound – K

It was a speeded-up video clip showing my laser cutter in action, cutting this ‘M’ Christmas tree bauble decoration:

Maybe I’ll stick to YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, and leave TikTok for the kids. Dunno.

Sander sadness…

In the meantime, the reason I’ve been making lasercutting TikTok videos instead of sanding the decorations is that my sander is broken. It’s the second sander this year that has spontaneously conked, so I’m going to hunt down the receipt to see if it’s still under warranty. In the meantime I’ve ordered another sander, but have gone for a more industrial model, rather than the (literal) home or garden version. Hopefully by Friday my little sanding station (in the garage) will be back up and running. Because I definitely don’t want to be hand-sanding hundreds of wooden Christmas decorations.

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Christmas Number One!

Screenshot of lasercut Christmas tree letter bauble at #1 on Amazon best seller list

Last month I wrote this article about experimenting with Amazon’s FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) programme – where the basic idea is that sellers ship a load of products to an Amazon warehouse, then Amazon do the picking, packing and postage for them. I’ll try to remember to do a more detailed report when the dust has settled and the Christmas rush is over, but for now let’s just say that the experiment appears to have been successful. In fact it’s been so successful that I have scored a “Christmas number one” this week, and here is my screengrab to prove it:

Screenshot of Christmas letter-bauble at #1 on the Amazon best sellers list

As shown in the screenshot, my personalised Christmas letter bauble is now officially an Amazon Best Seller.

When is a #1 not a #1…?

OK, it’s a bestseller in a subcategory of a subcategory of a subcategory. But I’m still taking it as a win!

It was hard work, though. In order to get to that stage I’ve had to sell a lot of bauble ornaments. And in order to get to that stage I’ve had to make a lot of bauble ornaments. For six weeks in the run-up to Christmas it felt like my whole house was a mini factory full of baubles, wood sheets, ribbons, boxes, and wrapping materials. My family became my factory workers, and my cat became very confused.

The final batch of ornaments was only processed by Amazon yesterday (21 December), so maybe that’s too late for even Prime customers to order my products. But in the meantime I’m just going to bask in the glow of having achieved a Christmas #1 in the charts.

They keep selling out, so by the time you see this they might all be gone again. And in that case it won’t be worth looking at any of my shops. But for just this brief window in time, I’ve been able to achieve a bit of an ambition to be a chart-topper on Amazon.

I guess my target for next year should be to try to reach #1 in a higher-level subcategory. So instead of Handmade > Home & Kitchen > Home Decor > Decorative Accessories > Ornaments, I should aim for Handmade > Home & Kitchen > Home Decor? Hmm – maybe that’s a bit too ambitious…!

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A Perfect Christmas Family Gift

lasercut wooden family tree

(Feel free to skip reading this post if you aren’t interested in my laser-cut products and services, because that’s basically what this post is about. The basic suggestion is that the perfect Christmas family gift is one that I’ve made with my laser cutter…)

Apparently the December 2020 issue of Family Tree Magazine should be available for uploading and reading today. I already have a subscription to it via my local library, but I’ll be interested in this particular issue because it contains my first-ever advert in a magazine.

screenshot of family tree magazine on my e-reader

The issue includes a picture of what could be the perfect Christmas family gift…a personalised bauble:

family tree magazine Christmas edition advert for LaserSister - lasercut Christmas tree bauble

OK – I probably should have put one of my family tree artworks in the ad instead of the bauble design (what with it being the “Family Tree” magazine), but

  1. I wanted to be friendly and wish the magazine a merry Christmas, seeing as it’s their December issue, and
  2. My family trees are bigger and more expensive than the baubles, so maybe fewer people would be interested in them.

So if you’re reading this post because you saw my ad in Family Tree Magazine, then welcome! Here is a picture of a Christmas tree ornament that could (literally) have your name on it:

personalised laser cut Christmas tree bauble

This is one of my family tree artworks in comparison:

lasercut wooden family tree

My Etsy shops:

I’m currently in the process of moving from my old ‘PolymerKay’ Etsy shop to my new ‘LaserSister’ Etsy shop. However, the personalised baubles should hopefully be available from both shops by the time you read this.

The shops contain a range of baubles; from pre-made letters to completely personalised messages.

…so in answer to the question of how to make a perfect Christmas gift for the family? Basically just visit one of the shops above, make an order including the family name, and I do the rest. Easy!

Do you have an idea for a personalised artwork that is a bit more ambitious? If so, please feel free to contact me, and I’ll be happy to discuss it with you.

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Free Laser-Cutting Resource File: Christmas Tree Bauble Ornament

lasercut merry christmas bauble decoration - Kay Vincent LaserSister

(Free downloadable laser-cutting resource file of a Christmas tree bauble shape that can be personalised by etching it with a name, date, image, etc.)

Quick! Christmas is coming! (*or not, if you’re reading this in February.) The whole world is trying to cash in on it join in with the festivities. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just relax for a moment and create a quick and easy laser-cut Christmas tree decoration (or room/door/window decoration, if you make it bigger) without having to put any time or effort into designing one for yourself? Well, that’s what this free downloadable SVG file is for. Download it, open it in your graphics package, insert a name, then cut it from your preferred wood or acrylic. Hey presto – you’ve got a quick Christmas tree decoration. You’re welcome 🙂

To find out how to create your own from scratch then here’s a tutorial showing how to create the bauble design.

Licenses and copyright:

Please feel free to make multiple copies and to sell any items you create with this shape – BUT:

  1. Copyright remains with Kay Vincent (me)
  2. Please attribute me as the copyright owner
  3. Do not distribute or sell the actual design or file (e.g. by uploading it to stock image sites or using it in collections of clip-art)
  4. If unsure what any of that means, feel free to ask 🙂
Free downloadable laser-cutting resource file of a Christmas tree bauble – by LaserSisterDownload

It’s very quick and easy to cut from sheet of wood (e.g. 3mm laser-grade plywood), and makes a great (fast!) gift.

lasercut merry christmas bauble decoration - Kay Vincent LaserSister

The downloadable file is a PDF file, but if you prefer a different format then I have also posted the design on Vectorstock.com as a free-for-personal-use file in various different formats.

Free downloadable laser-cutting resource file of a Christmas tree bauble – by LaserSisterDownload
(or click here to go to the design on Vectorstock site)

Any comments or suggestions?

I hope you found this resource useful. If you can think of any more tutorials or designs that you’d like to see in future then please let me know. You can use the comments section or the ‘Contact Us’ page, or interact via the social media buttons.

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