A Fan's Dilemma

     I've discovered that there's a problem with my idea of working at conventions and other geek events... I want to go to these things and have fun. Take this month's Midsummer Night's Eve festival in Flovilla. I was planning to go with Heather in the evening, have a few drinks at the bar, and wander around having fun while dressed like a fairy. Solid plan. Now I find out they still have space for vendors. Not only do they have space, but it's affordable space! And it's fantasy geeks, so my stuff might sell really well. But then I'd have to be there all day, outside, in the heat, stuck in one place, not participating in any events, etc. How lame is that? So now I have to choose between money and fun. I need more minions to help me run my booth at these things. Blah. Also have to decide if I want to journey down to Florida for Time Lord Fest... can't decide if it's worth the drive.

     So yeah, no idea what I'm going to do yet. Everything is kind of falling apart on me at the moment, and my head is an absolute mess. But the good news is that I've started sculpting a quaffle for my quidditch necklace. That counts for something, right?

Better TimeGate Post

     All right. Now that I'm not dead on my feet, I can actually post something significant about my weekend. It really was a lot of fun, even if I was working most of the time. First let me say that hanging out with Heather, Crystal, LynCee (did I spell that right?), Jude, and Liz was awesome. They're a great group of girls and they kept me from making a fool of myself... most of the time. Special thanks to Heather for being such an amazing friend and helping me out with my booth. I really couldn't have pulled this off without her.

     My booth was a decent success and a huge self-esteem boost for me. People actually kept coming back over and over again to look at my work instead of just glancing at it and moving on. It felt so much better than the other festivals I've participated in. Also, while in other places they whine about the price of my pieces, this time a lovely woman actually looked at my two most expensive pieces and said, "Wow. Those prices are very reasonable." You have no idea how much I appreciated that. In addition, I sold the most expensive piece I had. My pride and joy, Yule Blossom, was my greatest masterpiece to date and featured freshwater pearls, garnet, and peridot stones along with a beautiful pendant that functions as a clasp. The best part is, I sold it to Crystal, so I'll get to see it again someday. It's always hard to part with a piece that you've spent so many hours on, so it's great that it went to someone I like who I know will take good care of it. Thanks, mate!

     Anyway, my time spent in the dealers room was a little boring at times since I was there for around 19 hours during the course of the weekend, but I had great company in there. My fellow dealers were fantastic people, and I plan to stay in touch with them (you know how good I am at staying in touch, though...). Special shoutout to Kerry, Connie, Illya, and GuineaPigLady! Thanks for keeping me entertained and giving me great tips on improving my business! Love you guys! Please check the links on the side of the page to look at their work. They have fabulous pieces. I also had a ton of great customers who gave me good advice and encouragement. It was wonderful. So thanks to everyone who bought my work, and I hope you'll visit me again in the future!

     I think one of the best parts about the weekend was the room party on Saturday night. If you have a full bar, open door, and blaring music, the geeks will come. What started out as a small gathering of friends turned into a room full of strangers, and it was great. I spent the early portion of the night chatting with Billy Dee Williams aka Doug as he drank his Colt 45 and shared his amazing drawings with me. Not only is Doug an accomplished professor in Norfolk, but he also has his own webcomic and some crazy awesome ninja dance moves. Later in the night I spent several hours talking to the amazing Ken Spivey of the Ken Spivey Band. I think he might be one of the most interesting men I've ever met, and his music is wonderful. He's part of an upcoming event in Florida called Time Lord Fest, so if you're a Doctor Who fan, you should definitely check that out. I might wind up going myself. Anyway, keep an eye out for links to both Doug and Ken on the left side of the page.

     So there are the highlights from my first convention adventure. I definitely plan to attend more conventions in the future. Anyway, my schedule is currently empty, so I need to go off and find more events to fill it, as well as restock my inventory. I have plans for a crazy awesome quidditch necklace, so look for that sometime soon. Yay for geeky inspiration!

I'm Alive and Mostly Well

     Another very short post here... I'm super tired and my voice is shot, but TimeGate was overall a success. I actually made money this time! Woohoodle! Aside from that, it was great to spend three days with "my people" instead of the average joe who looks at me like I'm an idiot when I go off on a geek rant or want to wear a circlet to dinner. So yeah, I met some really cool people that I want to a) keep in touch with and b) promote... so you can expect a post about some of them in the future (you know who you are, booth buddies and room party people). But for now, I'm going to rest. I've never done so much talking in my life.

Site Update

     I'm too tired and feeling too sick to really say anything useful here, but I thought I'd post a quick update on the price adjustments I've been working on lately. Nothing major, just reduced the price of some pieces on my site. I also finished adding buy buttons to the miscellaneous category in my jewelry. Now to go back to doing more work. Yay me.

Geeks of the World, Unite!

     So yeah... Berry's Arts and Crafts Festival was a bust. I made enough to cover the cost of the $15 table, but I'm pretty sure I didn't make enough to cover the cost of the gas I used to get all the way up to Rome. I only sold two things. Did you know that in the year I've been doing this, I've only made $1,200? And the cost of my expenses is waaay more than that. I'm down several hundred dollars. Yay me. As if my financial failure wasn't enough, I also completely destroyed my body at the festival, pulling muscles in my arms, getting a smiley face sunburn on the one part of my back that I couldn't reach with sunscreen, and dropping a table on my ankle to make what is now a very large, oddly shaped bruise. Gaaaah...

     Anyway... I have a very short break until my next event which is TimeGate in Atlanta on May 27-29. For those of you who have no idea what TimeGate is, it's a Doctor Who/Stargate convention that my friend Heather pointed out to me. I'm actually kind of excited about this one, but I'm nervous too because if I fail here, I don't know where else I stand a chance. See, I'm kind of hoping that maybe I'll find my niche selling jewelry to my fellow geeks at conventions. Geeks spend a lot of money, especially on costumes for cons. So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I can make this work. In preparation, I've been researching jewelry and other items used on both shows to see if I can make reproductions or pieces inspired by various characters, places, and things. Now, I know absolutely nothing about Doctor Who, so I'm pretty much relying on Heather, my favorite Doctor Who fanatic, to point me in the right direction. I am, however, a fan of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, so that part is kind of fun. Except for the part where I can't afford a Stargate costume because I have very little money coming in. That part sucks. Anywhooo, I've got several possible pieces running through my brain, including Replicator block pendants, Adipose charms, Eldrad's ring, Harmony's pendant, and necklaces worn by Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Osiris, Bynarr, and Amaunet, just to name a few. Knowing me and my lack of motivation, I'll be lucky if I make even half the stuff I have planned out, but still, if anyone has suggestions, let me know. I might just do a collection inspired by the most famous Goa'uld from SG-1... like Ba'al, Amaterasu, Kali, Apophis, Morrigan, Camulus, Cronus, Hathor, Nirrti, etc.

Opinions?

Creative Musings...

     I don't know how it is for most artistic people, but for me, the creative life is an extremely difficult one. When I was younger, things would flow so freely that there were times I was struggling to get all of my ideas out before they could overwhelm me. Most days were an unbarred flood of creativity straight from my brain and heart into my hands. Then at some point about five years ago, I somehow managed to construct a dam, and now I can't seem to get any of my ideas out. It's incredibly frustrating because I have all of this stuff inside me building up and 90% of it never gets out. The 10% that does make it, I have to force out, and it's usually an exhausting process. There's this huge wall between what I think and what I do, and I don't really know how to tear it down. The biggest problem right now is that I've spent my whole life building up to a career in the arts, and now I can't create. I can't draw, I can't write, I can barely even make jewelry anymore.

     Most people don't even know that I want to write a novel. Did you know that? I have this whole story in my head... and only in my head. I've been working on it since I was about 15 years old. I have these wonderful characters, amazingly beautiful cultures, an entire world that I created all on my own... Back when I started it, I wrote about twelve chapters. Of course, since then I've grown up and completely revamped the plot and the characters, so those twelve chapters are worthless. But at the time, I would pass my story around to my classmates, and I had at least ten people waiting on the edge of their seats for me to finish the next chapter. It made me proud of myself and eager to create more. In fact, all of my art has always made me feel that way... until recently. I want that back.

     Art in any form is a huge self-esteem boost for me, as well as a release of all of this creative energy I have inside of me. That's what I desperately need, and I'm not sure what's holding me back from getting it. I need to feel good about myself and what I do, and I need to share my ideas with the world, as terrifying as that might be sometimes. I wish I could just take a sledgehammer to all of these walls I've built up around myself. No idea how to do that. Anyone know a good shrink? Sometimes I feel like I'm just crazy.

     Anyway, maybe I'll make some future posts about my book... if it's something anyone is interested in. I don't know. It might make me feel better to at least talk about it since I'm obviously not writing it. Bleh. Ok, I'm done ranting.

     Quick update on things... Berry's festival was cancelled because of rain and has been moved to April 9th. I'll probably still be there... trying to work things out so I can make it. Hampton's Yellow Pollen Festival was a moderate success. Nothing great, but I sold about seven pieces of jewelry, so I guess that's good. Trying desperately to get up the motivation to finish the commissioned portraits I have lined up since people have been waiting a long time for them. Some people have promised to have jewelry parties for me soon, so hopefully that will happen and I can get some money there. I don't know. I think that's it. Off I go to do more of nothing.

Thank Ya Very Much

     I don't really have anything interesting to talk about right now, so this post is purely for updates. First, thanks to the four people who voted in the poll that was open for two weeks. I have no idea why you're actually interested in me and my stuff more than tutorials and other artists, but I'll do my best to spend more time talking about the work of yours truly. Just don't try to stalk me or something. I'm really not THAT interesting. Anyway, I spent some time today working on my website, so there's a new piece or two up and I'm pretty sure everything on the site has a buy button on it now. Finally, don't forget that for the next two weekends, I'll be out and about peddling my wares. If you have the chance, please drop by the Hampton Yellow Pollen Street Festival on the 19th or the Berry Arts and Crafts Festival on the 26th and say hi.

     In preparation for the upcoming festivals, I'm attempting to wring as much creative energy as I can out of this feeble body of mine. Just now finished baking a new bracelet and ring (yes, I'm starting to make rings!), and I'm cranking out some other clay stuff as well. Hopefully I'll have some pictures later. Aside from making jewelry though, all of my free time is about to be devoured by Dragon Age II (WOOHOODLE!) so don't look for many posts this month. This might be it. Sayonara!