Crafters Anonymous: West Point mom of seven shares wood crafting with others
Liseanne Chapman of West Point, owner of Sawdust Sanity, creates wood decorations to sell.
Liseanne Chapman of West Point, owner of Sawdust Sanity, creates wood decorations to sell.
WEST POINT — With headphones on and Netflix playing on her tablet, Liseanne Chapman can tune out her family for several hours while she cuts, sands and paints wood decorations for customers.
Chapman of West Point owns “Sawdust Sanity,” where she takes orders for finished products and books events like “Super Saturdays” for church groups that want to spend several hours making their own crafts.
While growing up, Chapman had no desire to work with power tools. Her wood crafting began shortly after she was married in 2000, and even then, it was a slow start.
Chapman had her husband, Jeff Chapman, cut out the wood with a scroll saw for her personal decorations she wanted in her home. But soon, Chapman said she realized she had to stop being afraid of the power tools and learn to use them herself.
“I’ve used it a bazillion times,” Chapman said of her saws.
Friends started asking her to make wood decorations for them, and in 2008, she went online with “Sawdust Sanity.”
Liseanne Chapman of West Point, owner of Sawdust Sanity, creates wood decorations to sell.
“I’m always covered in sawdust. It’s my sanity,” said Chapman, a mother of seven children, including two sets of twins.
Her sister, Melinda Allred, made her a plastic case for her tablet that hangs on her wall to prevent sawdust from getting on it.
“When I come down here and put my headphones on and turn on the music or Netflix, this is my own time. I’m not a mom,” Chapman said.
At first, Chapman bought inexpensive power tools, like a small table saw. But after replacing them yearly because of wear and tear, she decided it was time to go for the big guns.
Her first major purchase was a band saw. When she picked it up from Sears, the salesman who helped her load it in her truck said, “Man, your husband is going to love this.”
“I just looked at him and said, ‘It’s mine,'” Chapman said.
Courtesy of Liseanne Chapman
Liseanne Chapman of West Point, owner of Sawdust Sanity, creates reversible blocks so customers can decorate for two holidays.
Chapman now owns five saws, and her newest purchase is a big belt sander.
Those tools get a lot of use this time of year, with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner. The holidays are Chapman’s busiest time of year.
She is cutting out wood into decorations like blocks that say “Noel” or nativity sets for local church groups.
Chapman also has photos posted on her website of painted wood decorations for customers who want to see the finished product.
When she first started her business, Chapman said she would make 10 sets of decorations and then mail out the orders. She learned that was not an efficient or cost-effective way for her to do business. What she assumed would be a hot seller would bomb out, and the decorations someone would coax her to make would end up being hot items.
Now, she makes wood decorations to order.
Photo supplied/Liseanne Chapman
Liseanne Chapman of West Point, owner of Sawdust Sanity, creates reversible blocks so customers can decorate for two holidays.
Many of her wood decorations can be seen in her home, except one. It’s a reversible block set, with one side saying, “Gobble, till you wobble,” and the other side saying, “Jingle, all the way.”
“I made over 500 of them, and I can’t stand to look at them, but they are cute,” Chapman said.
Chapman said she hopes to someday branch out to bigger wood projects, like furniture for her family. And her dream job?
“I would love to teach a high school wood shop class,” Chapman said.
You can reach reporter Loretta Park lpark@standard.net or at 801-625-4252. Follow her on Twitter@LorettaPark SE or like her on Facebook.