Being a digitizing instructor at a high-end sewing gallery is a really fun and rewarding job. However, it also has a lot of pitfalls, mostly related to each customer's specific needs not being met. Digitizing as a whole is a very expansive and complicated subject, and every customer wants to do something different with their digitizing software. I don't teach classes on every single style because there are just so many styles and ways to do it and details that are particular to each person's needs that it's almost impossible to do.

But I'd like to :) However, I don't have the time at work to devote to learning the full spectrum of digitizing, and I have no access to the software outside of work. I work... maybe 20 hours a week at this job. 4 to 8 of those hours are spent teaching classes. 5 to 12 of those hours are spent doing managerial work (paperwork, receiving inventory, orders, repairs, shipping, stocking, pricing, sales setups, etc). 3 to 6 hours are lunch breaks and trips to the bank. 2-4 hours is cleanup and end-of-day closing process. Most of the in-between time that's left is spent helping customers. This means I usually have about ten to thirty minutes here and there to even mess with the software.

My solution? Buy the software for myself. As an employee, I can purchase it for up to half off, which is still about $1,400 USD after tax, and I just don't have immediate access to that kind of money. New solution? Start an indiegogo campaign to raise the funds to become a skilled digitizing instructor. This way I could finally have the knowledge and experience to help anyone who comes to me for help, no matter their skill level or desired project.

The plan is to buy the software, spend at least a month delving into it in my spare time (both at work and at home) until I've got a really good handle on at least a few different methods (I'm already well on my way, but it's getting down to the nitty-gritty that takes a lot more time and trial-and-error to really learn), then start not only teaching these classes at work, but making video tutorials to make available to those who wish to learn embroidery digitizing but can't attend my classes. All indiegogo supporters (if the campaign is successful) would have early access to the videos and be able to make requests for further videos that would possibly be included in the final set as "bonus tutorials". All indiegogo perks would center around my digitizing skills being put to use for the donors, creating unique designs for them to use as they please.

Stretch goals would include 24/7 tech support for the software and an embroidery machine to test the designs on and make products or samples for perk-holders.

So who's interested?

Okay, not quite. I got a new job last month working for the Viking Sewing Gallery in my local JoAnn Fabric & Crafts store, so I like to joke around that I'm a Viking now X3

I get to learn about the various machines we offer under the Husqvarna/Viking/Pfaff/Singer corporate umbrella (Yes, Husqvarna-Viking apparently owns Singer) and sell them to people. I'm really not a great salesperson because I can't be pushy, but I can give you my honest opinion about our machines and try to help you pick one that will suit your needs.

In fact, I just purchased one of the machines myself, since I was in need of a severely heavy-duty sewing machine to work on thick leather, vinyl, denim, and canvas projects. I bought it almost specifically to work on a project that I had to set aside about 2 to 3 years ago because I couldn't find a strong enough sewing machine to do what I needed done. Now I have one, and I am making quick progress =D

We are short staffed for the holidays though, so I'm working almost full time despite being a new and half-trained part-time employee. Due to this, I don't have a lot of time to devote to crafts, art, or any other personal projects this month. January should calm down a bit and allow us to hire another employee to even out the workload again though. I hope it's someone nice =3

Now, while I can't run any CV promos related to work or vice versa, I am considering a special promo coupon for anyone who stops by to visit me at work and check out our machines. You're not obligated to purchase anything, just come by, say hi, and if you're interested in a new machine at all, I can try to walk you through the features of it so you can decide if it's what you want or not. If you're not interested in buying a new machine, maybe you just want to see what kind of things we carry and what they can do, just for entertainment's sake. Goodness knows I've been taking serious advantage of my downtime at work to play with the embroidery machines XD



So here's what I'm gonna do for you guys:
1- Come see me where I work, let me give you a little rundown of a machine or two you might be interested in, give me your name and email address, and I'll send you a coupon for Creation Vocation products.
-or-
2 - Like us on facebook and when we get to 50 likes, I'll post a coupon as a big thank-you to everyone.

I'm sad that Miss Blum won't be attending the convention with me as planned, but I'll still be there at Artist Alley this coming weekend, the 17th & 18th. Not sure yet where my table will be, but I have a smattering of products available, though some are commercially made. Chopsticks, notepads, and little Ninja rubber ducks are part of the latter category. They were really popular at the convention in february, so I'm hoping they'll be just as popular (if not more so) this weekend.

There's been a lot going on back to back for the past few months, so I haven't made any more gamer bags <insert super sad face here> but I'm hoping to make a few this week. Hopefully I have enough fabric left x.x

I'm just so tired right now, or I'd start on the gamer bags. I need some sleep x.x

Edit: couldn't sleep, so I got up and tried to make some gamer bags... wound up coming up with a really cool idea for some new ones that I'll try to post as soon as I have one made. I've been a little loopy today, so my idea might not be as cute as I think it is.

Sorry for not being very active for a while. I've been back in the state, but just haven't felt very inspired in the crafting department. I have been working on a few small things in preparation for the convention in August, but nothing major yet. I've started looking for a new job, as well, though it isn't going well yet. If something doesn't come up soon... well... let's just hope something does. We had hoped to get rent money out of our huge stash of recyclables, but the price of aluminum has dropped quite a bit, so we didn't get nearly as much as we'd expected. We sold some gold jewelry neither of us wears anymore, but that didn't bring much either, since gold is down to about 2/3 what it used to be worth earlier this year.

My fiance is also deciding between two career options that will affect the rest of our lives, and once he's made his choice, there might be some big changes for me. I'll of course update you guys if it comes to that. Until then, though, I don't want to worry anyone since everything is still up in the air.

I'll be sure to post some pictures once I make more crafts for August. I just need to get out of my blah's first.

Just a quick note that I'll be out of state for a couple weeks and then recuperating for a short while afterward. I'm in the process of packing and preparing this week, so I won't be available to make anything for a while. Sorry!

So my beyond-wonderful friends have all been trying to help me in any ways they can, but not a lot of them have any real means to help with all this family emergency stuff since everyone is in bad straights these days, but Miss Blum, the artist behind Downfall Studios (for whom I have been coloring comic pages for the past 3 months) is willing to help me with art commissions to raise money for my little brother's lawyer. Her art is really good in my and many friends' opinions, and I'll be coloring and shading and whatever else too.

This is going to be a pay-what-you-can deal, because we seriously need any and every bit we can get. We have about 4k out of the total 15k already squared away, but that's after selling cars, vintage rifles, a camper trailer, etc, so we're out of the big stuff and now we're just scrambling to do all we can to raise money for him.

I also found out earlier today that there's this thing they do in the jail called "books" where the inmates have to pay for toilet paper, letter-writing supplies, etc, so we're trying to keep money on his books so he's not totally lost in there. Some of us have visited him while he's awaiting court stuff, and it's just... he looks like a baby puppy in a cage full of rottweilers, and it's just not right. I'm yard-saling and bake-saling as much of my stuff as I can and so are the rest of us. There's going to be more yardsales for the next couple weeks as we do what we can.

Sorry, got distracted. Anyway, If you want to see any of Miss Blum's art, she doesn't keep up with her DA a lot, but you can look at any of our three comics to see her drawing styles, and she livestreams a lot, so I'm sure we'll both be livestreaming these donation pieces if you guys ever wanna watch. We're gonna make a special side-by-side Livestream page with a chatbox below them so we can work on our separate channels at the same time and you guys can watch both (or just one, or whatever) and chat with us.

As for prices, it's totally just pay what you can, but there will be more quality and work done for higher donations to hopefully make it worth your while.

$1 or less you get a sketch (which is still pretty good for her work)
$2 to $5, you get lineart
$6 to $10, you get colors
$11 to $15, you get a background (nothing insanely detailed, we can't be spending 3 weeks on a single pic, but like a room, furniture, scenery, whatever)
$16 to $20, you get shades, highlights, etc
$30+ we will digitally sign the piece, print it on glossy photo paper and mail it to you in a rigid document mailer via USPS first-class mail.

And she reminded me about how I design custom avatars/emotes for our comic characters, so I could totally make some for donation incentives. $2 gets an animated walking avatar, and every $1 after that gets you 5 emotes of that same avatar. We have over 60 emote options at the moment, and I make more every time I work on them. Custom set requests are fine. This is separate from and/or on top of the art incentives. Like if you donate $10 you can choose to get colored lineart, a walking avatar, and a set of 5 emotes. Totally fine. You choose what you do or don't want as your donation incentive, we're just trying to offer what we can to give you more reason to do it

None of this qualifies for VIP points or anything, this is a separate deal, but the Ziaki $5 coupon will apply to anyone who donates at least $20, and the $10 coupon will apply for anyone who donates at least $35

The only real rules are nothing crazy complex (mechs, robots, stuff like that) and nothing super explicit (no genitals showing anyway).

The process for sending the money will be to send it to my email in paypal (osoccer_babeo[at]hotmail.com) and send it as a GIFT. If you put anything in the subject/message area, just put that it's about helping my little brother, these aren't commissions, these are donation incentives/rewards/thank-you-for-helping-me-in-this-crisis's

Please spread the word if you can, every little bit helps

Sorry for totally poofing from the internet, guys. Some of you tried to contact me and I was totally awol because I've been baking since 11:30 p.m. sunday evening until like, 7 pm last night for the bake sale we held today to help my bro, and then I was up til 4:30 this morning getting other merchandise and stuff together for it (it was a yard sale too) and got 3.5 hours of sleep before spending more than 12 hours at the sale, sign dancing, posting up big signs, organizing, packing, unpacking, etc.

I feel like my feet are going to explode from all the standing and moving around.

The good news is we have the lawyer, but now we have to make up the rest of the money for his commission or whatever they call that, and it's $15,000 total (the guy is cutting us a hecka deal) so we need to do what we can to come up with all that money in the next two weeks, so my sale/fundraising dealamabob is still up until all this is done and over with. T.T

Thanks to everyone who offered help or support. It's much appreciated. <3

I don't know how these things usually work, but I'm going to have a sale thru tuesday at midnight (or wednesday morning) for basically a pay-what-you-want type of thing. My only request is that it at least covers the cost of materials and shipping (which is fairly low, so it shouldn't be hard). Payment is requested up front (which is fairly normal for me), as this is an emergency situation.

I'm not supposed to go into a great amount of detail, but basically my little brother is going to court wednesday to be arraigned on criminal charges for something he never should have been involved with in the first place, and d**n well wouldn't have been if the people around him had done their jobs. It's too late now, but we know he can get a reduced sentence if we can just afford the lawyer who's trying to help us. He already knocked his rate almost in half for us because he knows the situation and that my bro is a good kid, and this never should have happened, but we're all far too tight on finances to have anywhere near enough to throw at this.

He is not my brother by blood, or by marriage (yet) but he has been the best little brother to me I could possibly have asked for for 8 years, and I desperately don't want to see him spend half his life in prison over something I can't even blame him for. I know this is a strange thing for me to be asking for, but please, if you have anything you wish to buy from me, I will knock down the price as much as I can, just please help me save my little brother from Hell in a Cell. He doesn't deserve that.

Man I just haven't had anything new to post lately... I need some inspiration! Someone quick, be my muse (or at least toss ideas at my head X3 ) I need to make some merchandise for August, and I figured pins and dice bags for sure, but I don't really know what else would be good. I had hoped to try out some ideas I had for oriental-themed pieces, but I haven't had the money to buy the supplies for any of it yet.

I did finally get a batch of mini clay pieces from a local crafter friend, and we've worked out an agreement for future batches as well, and I'm feeling optimistic. Just gotta have the money to pay her and time for her to make them before I need them (I like to give her at least a month since she does big batches every time).

Ugh. Spent the past week and a half sick with some unknown muck. I think it's finally going away though, so that's nice, since I wanted to spend tomorrow with my family. I'll be applying for a second job in June unless something drastic changes before then, so I'll probably be posting even less than I am now. Hopefully I get the job quickly and it's fairly decent. It seems like it could be interesting.

What few crafts I have been working on were mostly put on hold, but I'll do my best to post some pictures once they get somewhere. I really need to paint my prototype chibi figurine and get it posted so you guys can give me some feedback on it. I'm really proud that I was able to sculpt it at all, but it'd be really nice if I actually managed to make it come out decent in the end so I could make more.

My sales are still applicable for now, since I'm trying really hard to get some income and put off the job hunt. I was really hoping I could wait until after the convention in August, but it's just not happening.

Anyway, the original point of this journal was to ask for suggestions for merchandise to make for the convention in August, so let me know if you have any <3

Yep, it's that time of year again, and of course I entered. You can vote once per day, and every vote gets me one step closer to my goals of finally FINALLY fiiiiinnnaaaallllyyyyyyyyyyyy getting a huge, sturdy, well-planned organizational system to keep all of my supplies stored safely and easily, not to mention make them all easier to find. This would be a huuuuuge help to me, and would allow me to work more efficiently, more quickly, and also keep more of my supplies on hand, instead of having to store everything in a Derrel's unit, or in the garage. I've already sacrificed 90% of my bedroom to my craft business, but it just isn't enough. I just have so much stuff, and not enough ways to store it.

Creation Vocation's Small Business Wish

I honestly don't know how much it would truly cost to do what I'm planning to do, but I want to get some wall-mount storage shelves & racks, some sturdier boxes/tubs/whatever, drawer systems like I already have for the smaller things, some sturdier work tables (a card table and a crummy desk are not my idea of sturdy), and whatever else would help.


I of course entered the Downfall Studios team as well, if anyone would like to vote for that and help give us a chance at going to our first convention as a studio team. We have the indiegogo campaign as well, so don't forget if you wanna help that way, that's fine too. I'll be making some special Downfall and Fleur de Feu merchandise soon, which I'm totally stoked about, so that's something else to look forward to.

Downfall Studios' Small Business Wish

>>Our indiegogo campaign<<

So as of today, Downfall Studios Webcomics is on it's way to Artist Alley at Ani-Jam 2013, coming this August. Finances are too unstable for the both of us to know whether or not we could truly save up for the convention in time, so we've got our campaign up and running on Indiegogo to help us get there faster!

We've got rewards and plans for more if it comes down to that, but truly, we're just hoping to get the chance to share our creations with real, live, honest-to-goodness people. The internet is just so impersonal, but meeting people and showing them in person is just so rewarding!

Our biggest hurdle right now is that we're still only in our corner of the internet and society, and we have sooooo much planned that just isn't going to make an impact without an audience big enough to utilize it. Once we take this first step out of our current boundaries and into the big wide world of comic lovers, anime fans, friends, and other encouraging people, we just know our dreams will be even easier to reach.

To some, the $1,000 price tag of this campaign sounds like quite a stretch, and to be honest, it really is. However, we're on the flexible funding version, so whatever comes in, we'll still have access to, and any little bit will help. The problem is that it's a 2-part goal. Part one is getting us to the convention, which includes a plane ticket, hotel stay, the convention tickets, the table fee, and travel to and from the convention location. Part two is getting enough funds aside from part one to purchase supplies for our merchandise. While it's not entirely likely that our comic merchandise will sell like hotcakes, it's better to have some kind of merchandise for the fans we already have, and to entice the potential fans to come to the table and ask what all that stuff is for. Not to mention it gives us something to get feedback on, so we can improve our merchandise for the future, instead of waiting until we have a huge fanbase before even offering merchandise to begin with.

We will have more campaigns in the future, I'm sure, but this one is definitely our most important goal. Without the first step, there would be no other goals to achieve.

Check it out for yourself, and spread the word if you think we deserve it >>Our indiegogo campaign<<

I came home tuesday night this past week, but I've been sick pretty much since then. Tolerable, but moving around or eating just made it worse, so I did little of both.

I'm finally feeling better now that I actually had a real meal for dinner yesterday (it hurt, but I can tell it helped), so I'm back in the game.

Currently, I've got a small queue of pins to design for an acceptance campaign, and I'm running out of supplies to do so, so I'm sticking to digital designs at the moment, without actually putting any together until they're really ready. On that note, I would love suggestions of what kind of pawprints/track-marks I should use for the designs. I'm not good with tracks, but I can look them up to figure it out, and part of the deal is that I want to use different types of track marks or pawprints or whatever you'd call them in the background of each pin set, but so far all I have are those two basic pawprints from my old photoshop program, since I wanted to work with coloration before I went all crazy digging up tracks to use. Please respond here with any ideas you think would be popular, and if you have one, a link to a picture I could use to make the basic Photoshop shape from to use on the pins. <3

There's also an even smaller queue of clay figurines to make for Neko The Kitty (webcomic by Gearoid Molloy) of Bummy, this sort of where's waldo type dude that he sneaks into the comic strips, and is apparently very popular. I've been having a hard time with it because I'm trying to make them small for jewelry and such, but it's tricky since I have such a rough time with small stuff. My hands are shaky when I'm trying to focus on something little, so things are never as smooth or pretty as if someone more experienced had done it, obviously. It's kind of up to me what I want to make them into, but I figured earrings, necklace pendants, bracelets, and small charms that could be clipped onto just about anything, like your convention lanyards, purse, belt loops, cell phone strap, whatever.

After that, I just have lots of ideas for merchandise to make for the Downfall Studios comics, some of which I'm still tossing around plans for, but if I can make them successfully, I'll be sure to show them off here. At the very least, I'll be making pins, since we're planning to both head to a moderately-sized anime convention in August called Ani-Jam (which yes, I already mentioned in a journal, I know), and market both my crafts and our comics. I know we're not insanely popular yet, but I'd still like to at least have some kind of simple merchandise for people to buy in case they're interested. I'm also pondering and Indiegogo campaign to raise money for the comics so we can produce them more often (as it stands, we need some hardware, software, and time-frame improvements before we could really start cranking things out) as well as have more money to invest in spiffier merchandise down the road. It won't be for a while, since we're not a big enough deal to really have a successful crowdfunding campaign, but someday.

And that's pretty much it. Oh, um, I am considering a smaller indiegogo campaign to fund our trip and helpers and such for the convention in august. It's not a lot of money (hopefully), but we need it sooner rather than later, so saving up over time wouldn't really help. I'll post here about it if we go ahead with it.

So I got brought into a webcomic company as a colorist, and the artist is turning my story about red Havoc into a webcomic as well. We've just released it to the public at http://fleurdefeu.downfallstudios.com/ , so feel free to go check it out and see what you think. Currently, only the prologue is up, to get readers ready for the story itself. We'll be working together on some side-comics, merchandise, donation incentives, and more as time goes on, so keep an eye out for those <3

@^@ My foot injury has been healed for a couple weeks now, right? Yeah... so Murphy had to do something about it. I slipped and landed on my foot (bare) yesterday x.x TWANG! stupid murphy. It's not re-injured or anything, it just hurt for a few hours. It's just annoying that I managed to do that yesterday.

Ooooookay, so after... what... a month? Almost a month... not quite, but anyway, I'll be heading home today. Technically I'm only heading home to sleep at night after a day of LAN partying, but I'll be staying home after the party ends. I'm still working on two comics at the moment (though mostly just the one, since we're still trying to get the other one setup and ready to post with it's own website), so I'll be a little busier than usual, but I should still have plenty of spare time to work on stuff. Also, my new business cards are in, along with some other promo materials I ordered on the cheap, so hopefully they all came out okay (I'll be checking them out later today)

First up is to finish the bear bottle using the new method for PapaBear, to see what he thinks, and then to work on the prototype Bummy figurines for Neko the Kitty and run them by Gar to make sure he's okay with them. I'm hoping he'll let me do some kind of quick note or small ad or something to let his readers know that I sell them, but we'll see.

As for the fiance, he seems to be getting better, though we thought that the other day, and then he started persistently coughing like crazy. Sleep has been elusive for both of us because of it, sadly, but he's coughing less today than the past few days, so hopefully he'll be better soon.

So I'm still not going home just yet. Nis got sick the day after we had our Valentine's date, and has been getting worse every day with symptoms reminiscent of strep throat (I don't think it's actually strep since he still has his voice and isn't cringing every time he swallows food), so I've been taking care of him as well as I can without getting sick myself (Gawd, I hope I don't catch anything, I can't afford to get sick!)

I'm still working on those comics with my new friend/partner, and we're getting mine set-up and ready to start soon. I'm nervous about putting my creation on the web, but I'm excited too. I hope to add some interaction for the readers to make it more interesting for everyone, but that'll be a while yet.

Also, I know there's no way I can possibly get enough donations or commissions in time, but tax season is upon us, and due to all the emergencies that came up last year (and are continuing this year) we can't afford to pay our taxes, so we're freaking out badly. We're putting off filing our taxes until late in the season so we have more time to prepare, but unless a miracle drops in our lap, we're really toast. Between myself, my fiance, and my mom, we have roughly 15k+ in taxes, and even with a payment plan, it'll be more than our rent each month to pay them off. Due to this, I'm of course keeping my sales/promos up for a while, and taking just about any commissions or donations I can get, but I don't expect much. I know everyone else is hurting financially right now too.

Anyway, I'm sorry for being away so long, I know a lot of people are waiting on me to finish some projects I started in December, and now I'm just adding more to the list, but I reeeeeeeeally appreciate you guys being patient with me. It's been so nice to spend more than just a week and a half with my fiance, even with some of the stuff that's been going on (injury, illness, family problems, stress, etc).

Again, I hope you're all doing well <3 Most of my close friends here are ill right now, so I'm just trying not to catch anything @.@

My foot injury is almost completely healed, fiiiiiiiiinally. I've never had a torn arch take so long, so all I can figure is that I injured it worse than I first thought. I'm not limping anymore though, and the twinge of 'omgwhyyyyyydoesthishurtsobad' isn't hitting as hard as it was in the beginning, so this is good news. I'm still not at home yet, and I'm not sure what day I'll be going home yet. My fiance has some crazy family drama going on that we all just found out about on wednesday, and no one is quite sure how to handle it yet, so I'm sticking around until things settle down a bit. It's amazing the kind of moral support a home-cooked meal seems to provide <3

I really look forward to crafting more soon. I have product samples to make for 2 different clients, and some experimental products to try out. I expect to be busier now with the 2 webcomics I'll be working on with my new partner, but I intend to make sure I have plenty of time for crafts, since that's my first artistic love X3

I have to call the owner of the local game store tomorrow to ask about selling my dice bags and gamer jewelry in their store, but at the very least, I've already been okayed to leave my business cards there, and I ordered some new ones a while back which should be here within the week. I'm going to put a note on the blank back side about making custom dice bags and gamer accessories, so hopefully it'll drive in some business =3

Other than all of that, we're trying to hold tight to our finances until all of this stupidity with the borked paychecks is finally over and things go back to normal. We still haven't heard from the big boss about any new work coming in for my job, so I'm just hoping I can avoid having to get another job, since that would throw everything out of whack in my schedule. I'm not saying that to sound lazy, it just means I wouldn't have time for crafts or webcomics anymore, and that would be depressing for more than just me.

Anywho, that's all I got. Hope you're all doing well <3

It's like happy birthday, except that I get to be a colorist instead of having cake. I found an interesting webcomic that I enjoy, and wound up making friends with the artist/author, and she offered to let me be the colorist if I could do well. I explained my job situation and all, and she's cool with it, and we're hitting it off well as friends already. She likes my coloring style, and she's really helpful, and even wants to help me turn my story into a webcomic, and she's even already making plans for us to do wallpaper wars and stuff to have our comics sort of interact with each other or something along those lines. It's all still in the planning stages, and we're both just really excited to be working together, so the details haven't been sorted out yet.

I'm just really stoked. It's like an early birthday present <3

I'll post a link to my comic once we get it started, though beware that, like hers, it won't always be safe for work or PG-rated. There's violence, romance, darkness, harsh words, and more skin showing than necessary. Just a warning.

For now, you can read her comic if you'd like. It's unique (from what I've read so far), and interesting, though it starts off a bit dark. http://www.downfall.downfallstudios.com/

So I know I spent the past week not taking commissions so I could prepare for the con, but after the stress of that, the injury to my foot, and the upcoming Valentine's day plans, I was invited to stay at my fiance's home again for another couple of weeks, and I decided to accept. I just want to unwind and chillax for a while. You guys are totally welcome to message me about stuff still, I just won't be working on orders for a few weeks. I'm going to be posting pics of the products I didn't sell, so they'll be available as premades. Unfortunately I'm now out of potion bottles, but I still have plenty of others available. =3

I'm hopeful that I've found a new sculpey miniatures supplier, and I'm also hoping to ask a local game store owner about selling my dice bags in his store, or at least distributing my card. They already sell dice bags that were quite obviously handmade by someone, but they're very basic and simple, and already cost more than my bags, so I'm hoping he'll be cool with selling/promoting mine as well. Maybe I'll even be able to sell my eency-weency dice too :3

*deflates like a giant balloon*

Phew, okay, so.... From Sunday evening until friday evening I was making products to sell at Ani-Me here in Fresno. Saturday morning, after about... oh... 3 hours of fitful sleep, I got up and my friend took me to set things up. I really wish I could just give an A+, cheerful, happy, peppy recap of this event, but I just can't.

The event coordinator didn't have everything prepared, so he had to hash it out with mall security for where his vendors could set up, despite that all of this should have been discussed way beforehand, because he had already accepted applications from everyone, and had a lot of people bringing in cartloads of merchandise while he was finding out he couldn't have people set up in the areas he planned to have them in. He also promised an 8 foot table for each of us, and we got 6-footers instead. I realize that's not a huge thing, but 2 feet of planned space suddenly not existing is kind of bad for vendors. It didn't help that he didn't tell some of us until we got there that A) we had a 10x10 space to use for each of us (so we could have brought more tables, chairs, helpers, and product displays than any of us did, but nobody knew about it ahead of time), or that B) we'd be setting up in an exit hallway, almost blocked off by the commercial vendor set up at the inside-end of said hallway with like, 4 tables and a ton of those big metal walls to hang things on. It took a few hours before anyone even figured out that there WAS an artist alley behind the commercial vendors. You couldn't see us.

The price of the tables was at least double what it should have been to make up for the lack of admission fees, so it was really difficult for smaller sellers like me to turn a profit at all. Also, despite taking our payments in advance for the tables, we were told if we weren't there, set-up, and ready to go by an hour before the convention even started, he would give our table away to someone else. This is just bad business in my opinion, but what do I know?

Now, this part isn't really the hosts' fault, but it happened to be the case anyway: the event was held in a mall in a not-so-good part of town, with a LOT of homeless people and super-low-income families. I'm not talking the nice kind of people you feel bad for and want to buy them food and stuff, I'm talking the kind who would duck into your car the moment you weren't looking and steal it with all your valuables inside. Luckily that didn't happen to us, but a lot of those people came in early in the day while we were still setting up (no security to keep them out, after all) and stole little things from each of the tables for about an hour. I didn't know how to handle it, and neither did the others, but once we started eyeing them the third or fourth times they'd pass our tables, I think they got the hint, cuz they left.

Good news <3 Two of my best friends helped me set up the table and keep an eye on things and prepare, and I KNOW I wouldn't have been able to handle it all without them. They helped me SOOOOOO much. So thank you to Squirrel and Foxy for being awesomesauce friends who went totally above and beyond to help me out <3 <3 <3 <3

A group of people I still don't remember from high school recognized us all and came by to talk and give hugs and stuff. I feel bad for not remembering them, but there are days I don't remember who I am, so it's not really like I can do anything about it. Other people throughout the day came by to say hi, comment on my crafts, and say really nice things. I even networked with a cool clay sculptor who I'm hoping will become my mini-sculpture supplier so I can finally do all those nifty bottles I've been dying to make. My clumsy fingers won't let me sculpt stuff that small. Those two octopi were miraculous flukes, I tell you.

The other artist alley table owners were really nice and cheerful, and I really really wish I'd had time to go hug them all for being so encouraging and friendly. As it was, I didn't even have time to realize how hungry and exhausted I was until the con was half an hour to closing. The table to the left of mine had lots of awesome things that I really wanted to buy, but they left at 5, so I didn't even get a chance, and I'm so sad. I was going to buy a teru teru bozu and a poporing (sp?) amigurumi plush. Luckily Squirrel got to buy a Bacon 'n Egg scarf from them, and it was awesome. I had to take a picture.

Sadly there was one person there who was very pushy and inconsiderate, and it spoiled a good half of my day. If I go off on that tangent though, there's no coming back, so I'll just leave it at that.

I got to hang out with two of my friends, make some new friends, and I got a ton of compliments and new fans and such. Everyone was very positive towards me and encouraged me to make more things for Ani-Jam in August so they could see more of my work. I'm so excited, seriously. Nervous (again), but really excited. I'm hoping super hard that I'll be near Li'lmoon's table at Ani-Jam so I can sneak a petting of her gorgeous plushies without getting beaten on the head XD j/k. She's super nice and wouldn't hit me for that. I'm also fairly sure I'll get to borrow Foxy for my booth again, which will be awesome. He was a perfect merchant. So sweet and helpful and really good at remembering things for me and hearing stuff that I couldn't (I'm half deaf, so sue me), and doing math for me and keeping track of money and everything. he was SUCH a lifesaver, OMG no joke.

Hopefully by the time Ani-Jam rolls around, I can dig out one of my cosplays. I really wanted to dress up for this event, but I didn't even remotely have time for that. I forgot to even put on my apron and cat ears until after I'd been there a good 4 hours.

In the end I made a lot more money than I expected to, which isn't a whole lot (I actually broke even in the end), but it's still nice that I sold stuff at all. I'm just really happy people enjoyed my stuff, even if they didn't buy it. I felt bad that some of them said they couldn't afford some of it, but there were only a few, and they didn't seem upset, just moreso that they were on a small budget. I had a lot of super patient customers, and some really generous ones too, and it was such a nice atmosphere in that regard. I really had to try not to laugh my butt off when I walked up to the food court for some noms and got cat calls. I was wearing jeans and my CV shirt and my black messy apron (it's got paint everystinkinwhere), so I don't know what that was about. I guess cuz it was all guys up there, and I was the only girl?

Over-all, if I ignore the one obnoxious person and the thefts, it was a good time. Unfortunately I'm bad about letting stuff like that go, so it's going to kind of stick with me for a while.

Also... nobody's fault but my own... I tore my right arch (in my foot) by standing up to sew dice bags for a few days, and now it hurts like mad to put pressure on it at all, but I have to. Not something I'm happy about, but live and learn, right?

I'm officially registered, paid for, and licensed to sell on Saturday February 2nd at Ani-Me con in Fresno California.

I'll be making some pins, bottle pendants, and dice bags to sell at the convention. My hope is mostly to just have fun and not lose money, but it'd also be super cool to actually profit from this. It'll be my first convention vending since 2010, and hopefully it won't be a total bust. The host is expecting a turnout of 1,000 people or more, and says most vendors make their money back easily.

I only have a week to get things ready, so I'm not going to take any commissions next week, since I need to spend all the time I can making things for the convention. Any leftovers will be posted for sale after the convention is over.

(don't worry Diesel, I'll still get your repair kit sent out)

Wish me luck, and I wish I could see you guys there <3

I've been debating doing this for many months now, and finally decided what the hey, let's do it!

For anyone who purchases at least 10,000 words worth of story commissions in a single purchase from  egodominustuus I'm offering a discount code good for 5% off a single purchase from me. Any story commission purchase of at least 20,000 words will qualify you for 10% off a single purchase. Akira will give you the discount code at the time of story delivery, and will then notify me.

Rules:
-These codes are one-time use only.
-These codes do not apply to upgraded shipping fees, but do apply to regular purchases with normal shipping.
-These codes are unique to you. If you want to let someone else use it, you have to let me know that you're handing it over to them so I know you're no longer the one who gets to use it.
-You have to tell me if you wish to apply a coupon to your order. I will not automatically apply it, and I won't refund you the money after your order if you forget to use it.
-One coupon per purchase.

The first, last, and only time I've ever tried selling at a convention was a horrible bust. I lost a ton of money, didn't get to do much, and was treated poorly by some of the attendees. It was a big convention, I was WAY out of my league, and I wasn't at all prepared for it all.

Now, 3 years later, I'm really considering setting up another vending table for myself at a much smaller, more local, and cheaper convention. I'm not expecting to get rich, and it's not until August, so a lot of things could change between now and then, but I'm feeling optimistic.

I'd still have to get up early (really early since I won't be sleeping in a hotel room right down the street, but at home many miles away), and I still wouldn't get to tour the convention much, but it's a smaller, more familial gathering, and my favorite part is always artist alley anyway, so if I'm set up in there, I should at least be able to tour the room for a short while without problems.

I figure if no electricity is available for the tables, I'll bring my power box and just use it when necessary. It won't do a whole awful lot, but it should be able to support my use of a hot glue gun or laptop when I need it. I think it can run a small tv for something like 4 or 8 hours.

Now the only things to do are decide whether or not I really want to commit to this, and try to find someone to help me out with the table. I have friends who usually sell at this convention as well, but I don't want to have to rely on them since I know they have plans of their own, and I'm not out to become someone else's burden.

This is kind of just me tossing my thoughts out to see what people think of the idea.

I was just doing the Ziaki coupon promo for December, and the VIP bonus points for January, but things are looking far worse for this month and next month, so I'm extending both of those and offering an added promo, probably the last one in my arsenal.

The VIP Point Bonus Sale for giftcards is now being extended through the end of February. Ziaki's Yarn Tail coupon promo is being extended through the end of February or once her commission slots for the year are filled, whichever comes first.

Now onto the new promo:

If you purchase at least $10 worth of products from me, from now through the time that I can safely breathe without my pocketbook crying (probably March), I'll give you a 20% off coupon for any art or story commissions on my other account (Commission Journal on HavocKitten account).

For any purchase of $25 or more, I'll give you a 50%-off coupon instead.


Art/Story coupon rules:
-Coupon codes are unique, one-time-use codes specific to you. If you want to give the coupon to someone else, please note me first. Code transfer is subject to approval.
-These codes will expire at the end of this year (2013).
-Qualifying purchase must be for craft products only. Shipping fees do not count towards the minimum to receive a coupon.
-Coupon codes are only for art or story commissions from me on my other account ( :userhavockitten: )
-Coupon codes are compatible with other promos. For example, a $10+ purchase would get you a coupon from me for 20% off my art or story commissions, and a $5 coupon for Ziaki's yarn tails, along with the applicable VIP points. If it were a $10+ purchase of giftcards, it would also qualify you for the bonus VIP points.

For other promo details, click the above links for the appropriate journal postings. =3

Given that I live in California, pretty much all of the products I ship out will have to go over the mountains, and through completely opposite climates before reaching my customers. Due to this, sometimes things will arrive kinda borked. There's not whole lot I can do about it, since I try to ensure it won't happen, but sometimes it will.

In the event that you receive a product affected by travel (not broken completely, as that would be the mail carrier, and is only covered by postal insurance, which is about $2), please contact me as soon as you can and tell me what the problem is so I can instruct you on how to fix it.

Bottles may sometimes pop their seal during transit (so far it's only happened once, thank goodness), due to elevation changes and high heat. This can be remedied, though sometimes it will be difficult and may involve replacing the cork entirely. I will try to give you as many cheap & simple options as possible, though if it comes down to it, I might have to send you a Repair Kit. If I believe it's my fault (as was the case this one particular time), I will send it free of charge, because it certainly isn't your fault. If it happened after a while of being in your care, I would request that you purchase the repair kit, though I will tell you if it would be cheaper or simpler to purchase the items yourself at a local store, and will do my best to tell you which stores to look in.

I will be looking into rubber corks as soon as i can find some the right size here in the U.S.