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Fire in the Hole! Handcrafted Drumsticks Ignite Into Profits
Today, at least some of us will learn about pyrography for the first time. Pyro- fire. Graphy - descriptive science like writing, drawing, or otherwise recording. In short, it's the art of writing with fire.
Ella Cordial-Brockelsby is a full-time graphic designer for a large newspaper company. When she's not busy at her day job, she used to paint and hand letter windows for businesses. She now spends her evenings and weekends as a pyrographer for her Etsy store, Cordial Greetings.
Ella stumbled into this line of work when her mother passed away and left her with a lot of art supplies and tools. Digging through the tools awakened Ella's inner muse, and before long, that muse led to her burning elegant, eye-catching designs into wooden objects.
She made a wine box as a gift for a relative. Shortly after, another relative requested the same thing. It was also around this time that Ella's husband lost his job of 20 years. Needing more household income, she realized she might be able to monetize her pyrography skills into a profitable project.
She started mainly selling to family members—$5 here, $20 there. So she started thinking outside the wine box. She knew Etsy was the place to sell handmade goods online, so she figured "why not?" She didn't know a lot of people in the area and didn't have a platform to draw from. But with that Etsy shop, she could reach all kinds of people, no matter where they lived.
It took a month and a half to get her first sale, but the holiday season gave her a big boost. What truly set her apart in the wood-burning space was her custom drumsticks. In less than a year, she had a percussive bestseller: those wooden drumsticks were ablaze.
She could hand draw, hand wood burn, and hand paint a variety of designs. This set her apart because most customized drumsticks were made with machine laser burners. No machine can do what Ella does because of the way she wraps her designs around the drumsticks. She offers fancier designs and colors, even hand painting items upon request.
Those sticks attracted the attention of celebrity drummers, like Carrie Underwood's drummer, Garrett Goodwin. Meanwhile, her Instagram posts were drawing the attention of both musicians and non-musicians alike.
Her best tip: using time-lapse videos of her work creations. People love the videos she posts and often watch them over and over.
Fun Fact: The word pyrography means writing with fire and has been used by ancient Egyptian and African tribes since the dawn of time.
Quote: "I would advise you to find your own niche item and don't go with what's popular on Etsy. Ask yourself what makes you stand out in a saturated market? Customized work gets you noticed."
