Pastime to Profit
For Andrea Santella, it started with her daughter's eczema. Since birth, 3-year-old Sydnee was bothered by rashes, for which doctors prescribed steroid cream.
"She sucked her thumb," said Santella, of Slippery Rock. "And even though they said there wasn't gong to be enough to do harm, I still wanted something natural."
To remedy the problem, Santella spent time in her kitchen to devise a salve of olive oil, bees wax and calendula, which eased her daughter's discomfort.
But Santella soon gained other "clients." Her mother-in-law began using the salve as a moisturizer. An aunt used it as part of pedicures.
By last summer, Santella had begun selling Sydnee's Doop at the Slippery Rock Farmers Market.
"I think there's a growing market for it," said Santella, who also makes a scrub called Sugar and Spice.
"I did better than I thought I would."
Santella is not the only craftsperson to turn a pastime into profit.Some, like Dorrin Mace, have nurtured their craft to a full-time income. Formerly a purchasing manager for Wendell August Forge in Grove City, Mace began tinkering with clocks in the late 1970s, after failed attempts to find someone who could fix a family heirloom.The project led Mace, 46, to pursue his horologist credential, taking online courses with the British Horological Society in England."He was in the Air Force for four years and for three years we lived in Germany," said his wife, Patty, 45, who markets handmade soaps, medicinal and culinary herbs and other products."Germany is cuckoo clock central," she added.Mace then began doing clock repair as a sideline from their home in Findley Township, Mercer County, working full-time by 1992 and opening a storefront onsite in 2001. Orders began to pile up."We were backlogged a year," he said, explaining the pressure to leave the Wendell August job the following year."I do not regret it at all. There are ups and downs and the economy does affect it — but repairs remain strong."During her husband's professional evolution, Patty Mace was developing her own sideline businesses.Then a chair-side dental assistant, Patty had been dabbling in herb gardening, selling bedding plants seasonally from her home-based greenhouse on Route 58."I had more and more people asking me for herbs and thought 'Why not grow them and harvest them so I can sell them all through the year?'" she said.
During that process, Patty discovered soap making, experimenting to develop a line of soaps with coordinating scented lotions. Over a process of several hours, the soaps are made in her kitchen.Initially, Patty sold the items in her husband's Pine Knoll Clock Shop to expand an existing line of gifts.She later began frequenting the Slippery Rock and Grove City farmer's markets as well as various craft shows."The more I got out there and publicized myself by going to local shows and farmers markets, it grew. It's taking on a life of its own now," she said.Although Dorrin Mace maintains regular hours in his shop, Patty's hours are difficult to tally. During growing season she is always moving, but craft shows and soap making are more sporadic.Although a changing economy is ever-present, Patty anticipates an eventual full-time status, citing a steady climb upward — especially with the medicinal herbs.Through repeat exposure at annual events like the Pennsic wars hosted at Cooper's Lake Campground by the Society for Creative Anachronism, she has gained repeat customers with soaps and lotions, often selling holiday gifts via phone and Web site orders."I have noticed it going up," she said. "But you're going to have peaks and valleys."
Herb Thompson has taught high school journalism since the 1980s, but the Slippery Rock Township man still makes use of his family farm."I'm a farmer, I teach English to pay for it," he laughs, offering a tour of the 130-acre homestead near the Slippery Rock borough.Like many involved in agriculture, Thompson, 55, attests to the complex economics that plague today's small farms, which rarely can support families. To compensate, many search for high-value crops or niche markets still unsaturated.Although cultivating extra income is part of Thompson's agenda, he also is striving to keep the land from becoming overgrown."I could not farm this with conventional farming methods and stay afloat," Thompson said, explaining how grazing his cattle and goats eliminates the need to cultivate fields.Goats, which can sometimes eat plants unsuitable for other livestock, are a low-maintenance option that Thompson can sell.
"Goats have been a meat commodity in the U.S. long before cattle," said Thompson, explaining how today's end consumers often are from the Middle East. For this reason, Thompson plans his selling trips to the livestock auction barn around Ramadan and other ethnic and religious holidays.Along with maintaining 30-some head of breeding goats, Thompson is building a herd of Scottish highland cattle, grass-fed to meet a rising demand.Thompson also keeps bees for honey and raises pheasants, partridge and quail, which he sells to dog owners for use in hunting trials.Often selling honey at the farmers market, Thompson calls the venue invaluable. But in many cases farmers there offer similar products throughout the seasons."You have to find something that's a little different," he said. "In the fall (for instance) everybody has the same produce."Although Thompson's efforts add to the family coffers, he plans for the currently part-time endeavor eventually to gain profitability."The goal here is to be self-sufficient when I retire," he said.
Retired for about four years, Bill Fugate also is filling a niche.The Zelienople man spends time in his blacksmith shop, making ornamental items like plant hangars, trivets and hooks."I just did the Harmony Christmas market," said Fugate, 74, describing himself as mostly a hobbyist."I give most of my stuff away, frankly. What income I have from it I use to buy materials."Although Fugate spends about eight hours a week in his shop at the Passavant Retirement Community, the region is home to many more blacksmiths, some with business ambitions.Chris Holt, secretary and editor of the Pittsburgh Area Artist Blacksmiths Association in Pittsburgh, said the group has more than 250 members in the tri-state area, many in Butler County.Some members, like Fugate, focus on decorative items. Others like Curt Bonetti of Renfrew specialize in reproducing tools and fixtures from specific time periods. Bonetti's focus is medieval reproductions, sold at Renaissance fairs.
Jymm Hoffman of Ambridge, Beaver County, specializes in later periods. A full-time blacksmith, Hoffman started Revolutionary War re-enacting in 1975, earning an associate degree in heritage art in 1981. He later earned a bachelor's degree in museum studies.Those credentials, along with a love of his craft, keep Hoffman working full-time."It was never a hobby. It's always been a passion," said Hoffman, whose niche is the 1750s to 1820s.Although many clients are hobby re-enactors looking for authentic tools, museums like Fort Ligonier also seek him out to replicate gate hinges, nails or cannon hardware."Some people might accuse me of approaching this as a hobby because of how much I enjoy doing it. But I've never looked at it as a hobby," Hoffman said. "I rarely make anything for me."Although blacksmiths most commonly work as hobbyists or part-time professionals, Hoffman is not alone working as a full-time blacksmith."The marketing part of it is the real challenge," he said, noting some knife makers also work full-time."Some of the prices that knife makers get — the established knife makers — it kind of blows you away. ... But they didn't get there overnight," Hoffman said."It kind of reaffirms my belief there's a market for anything. You just have to find it."
