Alright no substack. One has got to prioritize if anything’s going to get done and the thing I’d like to get done is a little web shop. The crosses and icons I’ve been making are worthy of sale, and I enjoy making them. I enjoy the process of improving them, of seeing them appear, it’s fulfilling, even. I doubt it’ll be the kind of money I’d like to see in this life, but I also hope it won’t be none. 

I’d like to get ten crosses made of varrying sizes, all out of ebony. I’ll need a better solution for the attachment point. I think a little brass loop would do it, but I should really learn how to solder that. Truly, I think a jeweler friend of mine will have a better idea, so maybe I’ll make the crosses first and worry about the chain later. 

Beyond the ten crosses, the icons are more easily manufactured, once it gets going. I have to do each one maybe 5 times, tweaking the files, speeds, and feeds between takes, but then I have all of that saved and I can pop one out pretty easily. It takes about 5 minutes to plane up a board, sand it roughly, load it up in the laser cutter and press go. Then about 2-3 hours of laser engraving, but that’s happening while I’m doing something else. 

From there I need to make decisions about how much gold leafing and finish work to do. I should oil them for longevity, I think, and as for the goldleaf, I’m reluctant to do the whole surface as the wood grain is so beautiful. So I’m thinking about goldleafing the Halos and the borders, which will be either rounded or champfered, depends on how I’m feeling, I suppose. 

I’d like to get a good Jesus, maybe two good Marys, Rublev’s trinity and...that’s likely enough to start. A John the baptist would be fun as well, and I could work down the list of apostles, adding on other saints by request. I’ll want to do Saint Joseph for myself, and Saint Abigail for Abby, and each one I do gets filed away and can be made to order. 

I should probably charge about $100 per, at least. 
Though I think I’ll charge less than that when I try selling a few to my parish for Christmas gifts, and half the money will go right back to the parish because that feels right.