If you'd told me ten years ago that I'd spend my evenings building jig templates for laser engravers, I wouldn't have believed you. But here I am.

I've always loved art. I mean really loved it. Enough to decide that's what I wanted to study. I enrolled, I started learning, I was excited. Then somewhere along the way programming grabbed me. The problem-solving, the building, the fact that you could create something from nothing using just logic and a keyboard. It clicked in a way I didn't expect. So I switched to computer science.

Tech took over, but art didn't let go

I got into tech, starting out in tech support and working my way up through consulting. Eventually I landed on the creative side of it in technical documentation, which is where I am today. I genuinely enjoy it. But art was always sitting in the back of my mind. That pull to make something with your hands, to see something physical exist that didn't before. For a long time I just pushed it aside.

Then I picked up a laser engraver.

I got one because it seemed fun, and it was. I started engraving things, small projects, gifts, experiments. But the more I did it the more I ran into the same problem every new maker hits. Getting things lined up, figuring out the right jig for the right item, not wasting material on a placement that was slightly off. It eats time and money and patience.

The question everyone kept asking

I started spending time in maker communities online, forums, groups, the usual places. And I kept seeing the same questions over and over. How do you line up tumblers? What jig works for business cards? Does anyone have a template for ornaments? The questions weren't complicated but the answers were scattered everywhere, half-built, or just missing.

So I made a couple of jigs. Put them up, shared them, got some feedback. People used them. That felt good in a way I hadn't expected. Not because of the jig itself but knowing that someone on the other side of the country had just set up a clean accurate engrave because of something I built. That's a different kind of satisfaction than finishing your own project.

Tools for makers, not making for myself

I kept going. More jig types, different machines, custom sizes, monogram builders, plasma DXF files. At some point I realized I wasn't really making things anymore. I was making tools for people who make things. And that turned out to be exactly where I wanted to be.

There's something that feels right about it. The art degree I never finished. The computer science skills I spent years building. Engraving as the thing that pulled them back together. Bonny Creations is all three of those things.

Every time someone downloads a jig and uses it to produce work they're proud of, that's the point. I don't need to make the thing myself. Helping someone else make it better is more than enough.

Why I built my own site

I started on Etsy. It was great at first, watching orders come in, seeing people find the files. But the platform kept getting in the way. There were things I wanted to build, ways I wanted to offer files, features that would make life easier for makers. Etsy doesn't really let you do that. You're working inside their box and the box doesn't bend.

So I built this. My own site, my own tools, my own way of doing things. Jig previews that let you see exactly what you're getting. Machine selection so the file fits your setup. A monogram builder, a vectorizer, plasma DXF files. Things I couldn't do on Etsy without fighting the platform the whole way.

You can still find me on Etsy but this is home. If you're here, thanks for coming directly. It means a lot and it lets me keep building.