A MESSAGE from Kickstarter tells me my campaign needs some changes before approval. Mainly, I’ve referred to the campaign as a pre-order (which is, effectively, what I’m using it as) but they don’t like the terminology!
I amend all the award items and my ‘story’ accordingly and edit the video then re-submit.
In the office I try out some different ways to make the wee guitar pendants I prototyped last week. None of the ‘new’ methods/ideas work, but the process gives me some more options to try tomorrow. Meantime, I do some more on the new song and mess with another idea. Creative central!
Another message from Kickstarter tells me the campaign is now approved and good to go. I’m not gonna launch until Tuesday (27 July) but can spread a pre-launch link to start (hopefully) creating a bit of a buzz.
Margaret gets home with the shopping and once it’s all packed away we wander along to Betty’s for dinner…
Nice solstice paddle with Emma and chums from PaddleFast 🙂
AFTER breakfast I hit the studio and spend some more time on the new song – it’s morphed from hill country blues to country…and now somewhere in between. I make a quick demo so I don’t forget what I’ve done!
I make quesadillas for lunch then find some more pewter ion the office and give the new blow torch a whirl. Seems to be making a huge difference – faster, better melting and doesn’t seem to crate so much slag/crud. I cast a couple of loch pendants.
There’s a paddleboard event later this evening and I make a batch of brownies to take along and share.
A show has just been confirmed for Huddersfield on 23 July so I spend some time getting it listed online and start spreading the word.
In the office I finish off the loch pendant, add some colour and start sanding.
We have an early dinner as I’m off to Milarrochy to join the PaddleFast SUP Club’s solstice paddle. We have a great few hours heading out and around Inchlonaig, stopping on the island for a biscuit and cake break.
THE morning is taken up with admin, emails, socials and a Zoom guitar session with one of my students.
II also take the chance to update the forthcoming (hopefully) Kickstarter so the backers’ pin badges are not labelled as handmade by yours truly…that means a trailer video edit and rewards listing edit. I also take the opportunity to generate and add subtitles to the video. I should know sometime tomorrow (Tuesday) if Kickstarter has approved the campaign.
In the office I open up the silicon moulds I made yesterday. The wee guitars have some bubbles but I try casting with the small amount of pewter I have left. It doesn’t work out but that may well be down to not having enough pewter for the pour. The loch moulds look OK….
The Dremel blowtorch I ordered from Amazon – mostly paid for by a generous Amazon gift voucher from Catriona, Will ands the kids – arrives. Looks great, but I have no useable pewter left to try it out. There’s some on order.
Back in the studio I work on the new song idea. It morphs from a hill country style to a country vide which doesn’t sound very ‘Dave Arcari’. I try moving to over from regular tuning guitar to bottleneck and it sounds arts to show a little promise.
I take a short walk up the loch and rush back for my 7pm Zoom guitar student then it’s straight into my weekly Wildcats’ livestream on Facebook….
AFTER breakfast I open up the silicone mould I poured yesterday – at first it looks good..then I spot two bubbles that have caused tiny ’empty’ areas. The design is too intricate to try and fix. Back to the drawing board…
I work on a new song idea then pour some more moulds to see if they turn out any better. We’ll see in 24 hours.
Margaret’s busy putting plants in various hanging baskets and I take a walk up the lochside. Not such a great date weather-0wise today, but good to get out and have some fresh air.
Mmm…Kickstarter badge prototype didn’t;t work out too good. Fail at all levels…gonna have to rethink production!
WE have a bit of a long lie.
After breakfast I try and rescue the prototype Kickstarter badge but the result is an epic fail on all levels. Looks like my ‘process’ isn’t gonna work for the lettering…plus it’s too heavy and time consuming…not to mention expensive…to go down this DIY route.
I investigate some alternatives. Watch this space.
Next I make a silicone mould for the wee guitar necklaces. We’ll see how that fares tomorrow once it’s had time to cure.
In the studio I experiment with some guitar ideas for instrumental tracks to send DeWolfe. I really need to get buy finger out on that. I get list in the music and before I know it the day is done! Back to the house for dinner and some telly.
THERE’S a couple of CD orders to get packed up and taken to the post box…then I get into the office and carry on with the Kickstarter badge prototypes. The silicone mould I made yesterday has cured…
I also need to finish off a batch of loch pendants as a couple are getting picked up later today.
It’s an other glorious day and I take a laptop into garden to start the social media promotion and also all the ‘traditional’ press/radio/media for the Kilmaronock show on 14 July. Good to speak to a few enthusiastic journalists 🙂
Jeanetta comes to choose a couple of the loch pendants and we enjoy a coffee in the garden. Maggi comes to collect some local community survey sheets and we all sit and chat in the garden until the sun disappears, thunder rolls and the rain starts…
I manage to get the Kickstarter project all lined up and off for approval…all going well it’ll launch on Tuesday 27 June…watch this space…
AFTER my first guitar student of the day has had her lesson I hit the studio to make a video for the upcoming red vinyl Kickstarter campaign.
I get the video shot and into Final Cut but have no time to edit before I have to head for the school in Balloch where I have a good music session with some of the kids.
I’m home in time for my regular Thursday afternoon guitar student arriving. After the lesson I finish editing the Kickstarter video, dot all the Is and cross the ts then submit the campaign for review. It could take a few days so I change my planned launch late to Tuesday 27 June…if all goes well and the campaign is approved.
Back in the house Is start prep for to night’s enchiladas. First, I make a batch of sauce then prepare the chicken and all the fillings. I wait until Betty arrived before I put ’em in the oven…
Nice day for bike ride…from home to Gartocharn, Croftamie and back to drop off a couple things 🙂
ONCE the admin, social media and email stuff’s all out the way I arrange to drop off the Kilmaronock gig posters in Gartocharn and a batch of custom leather key fobs in Croftamie later on.
It’s another lovely day so perfect excuse for bike ride!
I need to hang about for a delivery – some production kit for the office – then I jump on the bike.
I’m back in time for a late lunch then I get busy with some of the Kickstarter stuff for the red vinyl release campaign.
There’s some pewter/epoxy loch pendants to be fi nailed and I also need to prototype some special pins for the Kickstarter. After a bit of experimenting I’m not happy with the results and decide to try making a silicone mould for the pins. It’s a messy job and the silicone’ll need 24 hours to cure, so I’m gonna have to wait that one out.
AFTER breakfast I some more research on Kickstarter and start trying to pull a project together. On the face of it, it seems like this might be a manageable way to run a pre-order campaign to finance the red vinyl edition of Devil May Care.
The rewards tiers need some careful thought and I need to create images of the reward items. Ic a mock up the red vinyl, create a graphic for the digital download collection…but the ‘backers only’ pin badge will need a prototype. Not just so I can show it, but also to make sure it’s viable for me to make ’em!
I make a sandwich and head out onto the loch for lunch and a short paddle.
Back home in time for a quick shower and take delivery of the posters for thew Kilmaronock show on 14 July and some other supplies I’ve been waiting on.
Then I spend some time on music stuff before Margaret gets home with the shopping.
Velvetised chicken and black fungus stir fry for dinner…and self-congratulatory or not, it’s magnificent!
A still from the ‘public’ Wildcats’ livestream…watch it here
ONCE I have my first Zoom session with a guitar student out the way I set about sorting the tangle of power and other cables round our router, ethernet switch and a load of electrical stuff.
Having had to to re-jig everything to accommodate BT digital voice we ran out of useable power sockets. I ordered a good quality single track 12-way trailer and have been putting off ‘installing’ it and sorting out the mess. Today’s the day!
Not, of course, as simple as it should be. Sonos system problems ensue and take a good while to sort out. But I get it done.
I reheat a leftover pizza in the air fryer for lunch then work on some Loch Lomond pendant orders.
Next, there’s a new song idea to be developed…and some other guitar stuff to be worked on.
Early evening I take a stroll up the lochside then get back to the studio and set up for the Wildcats’ livestream which – for one week only – is going ‘public’ on my Facebook page rather than in the Wildcats’ group.
After another session with a Zoom guitar student I do the livestream which goes pretty much to plan!
After dinner I spend some time working on a plan to launch a Kickstarter campaign to get Devil May Care out on limited edition red vinyl.
