Another Weekend of Craft Show Agony

If you haven't already heard, I am somewhat a creative person. I only have a degree in Graphic Design. I also create items on the side. I make my own jewelry, sketchbooks, and cards. With the cards, not the Stampin' Up stuff, but actually designing patterns.

I have done 3 craft shows in the past month. I am a total of around $30 in the hole. This is a result of poor publicity and acknowledgement of "hey look! A craft fair!" In particular 2 craft fairs.

The first one was on February 12 in Arden Hills. I had a massive hangover, because my company party was the night before. I paid $40 to get into the craft fair. I made $6. It wasn't even worth the gas that I used to drive up there. I understand that I was not in top shape, but the mutual sense with other crafters in the area was that there were a lot of looks and no bite.

Second one was on February 18 in Inver Grove Heights. This was sponsored by the Park and Rec Department of the City of Inver Grove Heights. I did amazing! I recouped costs and then some. One of my better performances at a craft fair.

The third one was on March 3 in Eden Prairie. Talk about dying of bordom. Not one cent. I paid $40 to get into this fair. I swear that tumbleweeds gave better look at my stuff than the people walking through. Horrible publicity. A lot of us crafters were not happy. We pay good money and the person who organized the craft fair pocketed $1000+ that day. Mind you this is the same person that organized the Arden Hill show. I am at a combined total of $72 in the whole with those 2 shows.

I have a few coming up in April. None with that one organizer. The first one is April 14 in Maple Grove. That should be interesting. The next one is April 28 in White Bear Lake. That one is sponsored by the school district. I have had good luck with shows that are sponsored by schools, city, or organizations. The Arden Hill and Eden Prairie were my first two shows that were private and was a disaster. I think that I have learned my lesson. They offered me a spot in their upcoming Roseville show, but that is the day before Easter and my parents are coming into town that weekend. I am also not paying $55 to sit around and not make jack.

I will take my luck with Maple Grove and White Bear Lake. I will let you know what happens. If you are in the Twin Cities during either one of those times, please stop by and see me.

!@*$ Phone Part III

New phone arrived on Tuesday. Of couse when I am trying to program it, everyone decides to call me or text me. My question out of all this, why now did people want to contact me! On a Tuesday of all days! That was a hour of my life that I am not going to get back.

Back to programming the phone. It had the old system and I had to upgrade to the new system. Done. then redownload all the apps that I consider worthy. At least with my previous phone crapping out that it got rid of the apps that I don't care about or use anymore.

I still have a few minor things to program, like speed dial and custom ring tones. At least the good part is that all my contacts and images transfered over.

I don't want to replace this phone until I have to renew in late November. Or whenever I get to Milwaukee again. I pay for my parent's phones as well.

!@*$ Phone Part II

Ok, so I spent the entire noon hour plus at the Verizon store. They were trying manually reset my phone. After sitting there for 45 minutes (give or take 10 minutes), I decided to get a bite to eat. Go to Chipotle. Dine-in and have the usual. Go back and they still have not got my phone up and running. So more sitting at the store. Then standing. Then more sitting. Then more standing. This got old real quick.

I asked if they could just replace the phone. I am not eligible for an upgrade until November, but at least my phone is under warranty. They said you could get a new phone, but it would cost a lot. They don't carry replacement phones in the store so I have to wait until Tuesday to get a new phone. What the hell!? After god knows how long, another associate was able to power start my phone to get me through the next couple of days. At least I will be ok for the next day or so while I am waiting for a new phone.

So another rant with in a rant...

So I am at the Verizon store and one of the other associates was butting in to my business with my phone. First off, stay the hell out of the way. If she actually listened to any of the conversation, the battery was removed several times. One more time is not going to solve the issue. Second, don't show up to work looking like you are doing the walk of shame. Is it really that hard to stop at home to take a shower to wash a majority of the same out of your hair before showing up to work? Another thing...you really had to use the whore makeup to go to work. Last I checked, Verizon store is a place of business, not a night club.

I really like my service at Verizon. The people are very cooperative and help out. The exception is the Verizon store in St. Cloud. They suck. I have cussed them out several times. I have had no other problems at other stores.

The story will continue on Tuesday...

!@*$ Phone

So last night I was at my in-laws checking scores and what not on my phone until it decided that it didn't want to cooperate with me. I think it is something with the SD card. I restarted my phone. That didn't help. I removed the battery. That reset my phone to December 31, 2004 at 6pm. What is really weird about this whole thing is that I can make phone calls, text, and with a little maneuvering, browse the internet.

This has happened to me before. Usually with in a couple of hours, it fixes itself. Not in this case. I check it out this morning and it is January 1, 2005. Happy New Year, everyone!

!@*$.....

At least the Verizon store is not that far away so I can go in and get this fixed. I just thing something with the coding got screwed up and everything is going to be fine. The phone still works. The phone is lucky that I do not have much to do today other than the usual Sunday routine of laundry, grocery shopping and vegging out. Maybe get Chipotle for lunch because it is not that far away.

To be continued.....

*bleep* hockey

It is the weekend during hockey season. As usual, my team had to lay an egg. They did play well for the first two periods. The third period, the power play/offense looked like chickens with their heads cut off.

I am use to disappointment with my hockey team, but can they at least play 60 minutes of hockey instead of 40 minutes.

We shall see tomorrow night what happens. We these two teams last met, the home teams one. Can one hope for 2 points?

Craigslist Rant

Ok, so I am trying to sell my wedding dress. I have placed it on Craigslist.org since October. I have had several hits, but for some reason or another, the deal falls through. Seriously, if you know that there is another big purchase in the near future, do not contact the person to have you hold the freakin' dress! Seriously! Every. Single. Time.

I want to get rid of the dress. It was taking up too much space in my 1-bedroom apartment. It is in my car. The reason why it is my car is because there was a person interested in buying the dress and we agreed to meet in Columbia Heights. I drove all the way up there. This person is lucky that I have a friend in the area where I was hanging out with that afternoon. I have not removed it from my car since that trip.

There was this other person that wanted me to ship out to Utah. They wanted to pay with Money Order. I am not giving out my information and shipping it to Utah. Shipping along would be $80.

So this is just one of the things that bother me about Craigslist.

Another thing that bothers me is people not getting back to you. Why the hell did you post the ad in the first place?! You have wasted your time posting the ad and wasted my time responding to your stupid ad. Respect people!

I understand the point of Craigslist and I have had success previously on either job searches, finding craft fairs, or hockey tickets. Ok, the job search not so much because the job that I did get off of Craigslist drove me to the brink of my sanity and affirmed by belief that there is no God. If you know the background of the people I previously worked with you would understand. The best thing I got off of Craigslist was the 2008 WCHA Final Five tickets. Seats were on the corner on the ice. Funny enough, I sit one row behind that seat now. Ha!

To sum it up. Stop wasting people's time! If someone responds to your ad, respond back. Is it really that hard to say "yes" or "no"?

New Year, New Thoughts

So everyone knows that I have made a drastic change in my life. Is it a change for the better? Definitely yes! There are sacrifices that go along with it. The main one was remembering responsibility. It is not like I was not responsible when I was living in Wisconsin. It is more along the lines that the partying and gluttony days are over. If anyone knew me in Wisconsin, let's face it, my drinking and eating was way out of control. I hated everything about living in Wisconsin. I take great pride being from Wisconsin, but living at your parent's house with your spouse for two years is not ideal.

Th move has been a great challenge. I love having my own place, eating my own food, and sleeping in my own bed. The downside it the financial aspect. Because I was the only one with income for the past two years, I drained a lot of my own hard earned money to make the move possible. My husband didn't realize it until I told him how much I have in my checking account and I still have one more bill to pay. "Ouch" is all he could say.

If it is not a give away, my top two New Year's Resolutions are:

1) Lose weight.

2) Get finances back on track.

For resolution #1, it is more along the lines of portion control. I am also looking at gym memberships. I drive past the Eagan Community Center everyday to and from work. Now that I have health insurance, I can see what discounts gyms offer.

For resolution #2, you already know the background story. It is now, less spending. It is also "need" not "want". I am also working on marketing myself for side projects here and there to get some extra money. I have even gone to the borderline extreme and have been selling some of my stuff. Just yesterday, I went to Half Price Books and made $40 selling VHS and DVDs that I never watch.

Ok, selling stuff that you don't use anymore is not that extreme. It is borderline when you bring in a huge box full of movies. Oh well...

Anyhow...2011 brought huge changes to my life. I hope 2012 can help me prosper.