Going to Phoenix

So I went to Phoenix this weekend for Anthony's graduation.  It was nice, if a bit long in the car. Driving down and back is okay. We took the Las Vegas route down and the Flagstaff route back. I can't honestly tell you which route is faster, although google maps says that Flagstaff is faster. The Las Vegas way is more freeway so it seems faster, but you have to contend with LV traffic and Hoover Dam traffic. The Flagstaff route has more tourist traffic, but its prettier.

More to come...

Post project burn out

So about a week ago I ordered some Bengal Tiger fabric for work, and it arrived yesterday morning. I immediately got to work on building the new jumpsuit after a quick run to JoAnn's to buy white fur for the belly. I had ordered some white fur online, but I couldn't wait. The Homecoming parade for ISU is next Saturday and the arrival time for the white fur was around the same time. Not gonna work.

So I cracked out the Bengal Tiger suit in 6 hours. The only things that needs to be done to it are: attach elastic to the shoe covers and hem the sleeves and legs. So at this point it's wearable. Is it any wonder that I am exhausted today?

You learn something new everyday. I never really thought about how I get after finishing a project. I think back to when I worked in the costume shop at ISU and there was always a day or more after a show going up where we had time to recuperate, and if we didn't have that time we were running on fumes. Weird how I never thought about it before now. Even in summer stock, there was always a day or half day to recuperate.

Needing to set deadlines

So I am learning very slowly that if you don't give yourself a deadline-nothing ever gets done. You adopt the attitude of "oh, I'll finish it later." After my rant about my job,  I decided to make things for myself and merely use the store as a place to sell my stuff. I can't wait around for them to give me projects to do. That is what lead up to my outburst. The worst of it being their unwillingness to pay me. (By the way, I still haven't been paid for the work I did on the Marie Antoinette gown.) I'm not being greedy, they can pay me over time. It would be great if they paid me with one big lump sum. It would go directly on to my credit card. I am accumulating a lot of debt through this escapade. My jewelry supplies and all the fabric I've bought is adding up fast and I'm not making it back hardly at all. I've sold two pieces of jewelry. That's it. I can only hope that the fairy costumes I am making will sell.  My first one is a little plain. It needs something. But I also want it to be wearable outside of Halloween, and I'm afraid if I add some glitter and bling, all it will be is a costume.

What I really need to do is map out a timeline to get everything done. If I want these costumes to sell for Halloween, I need them to be done before October. If I dilly dally for much longer I will run out of time to do anything.

Time to get organized. Calendar here I come...

So I kind of blew my top yesterday...

So I kind of blew my top yesterday.  It was a long time coming. But all of my pent up frustration with my job finally blew yesterday. And of course I blew it way out of proportion. Everything is fine. We talked some things out at work and hopefully all in all it should get better. I still have that little wish in the back of my mind...something happen so that I don't have to be here anymore. But for the moment everything is ok. I've decided to make projects for myself and sell them through Etsy. It gives me an outlet for my creativity, and I can do what I love on my own time and hope that I'll recoup my investment. I'm still waiting for my jewelry to sell, but I have learned that working your own business works as much as you do and I right now I can't afford to turn all of my attention to it. Someday. But not today. My hubby has to get a full time job first and then I can play.

Saw it coming...

So for the last two months I have been modifying a Marie Antoinette gown. The original dress was a nice expensive sexy costume. Its got lace and a rhinestone applique on the front. My plan was to add a full pannier skirt and flesh it out for a complete costume.  A little voice in the back of my mind would say that it's going to be expensive and my stratagem was: get the most expensive one out of the way first and work on lesser projects later. This of course was at the beginning of the project back in July when I thought I would have the dress done in a week and move on to the next project. Well that didn't happen. The entire project from start to finish took 41 hrs and 15 mins. I was very meticulous about logging my time compared to how I tracked my time on a previous project. Now I kind of wish I had fudged with my time a little. I guess they don't have to pay me for my mistakes, and during the times I had to stop and start over. But that was a minor fix that didn't take me very long. I have never attempted a gown like this before. It was a learning experience.

Well now that the gown is done, the people that I worked so hard for are now crying that its too expensive, and that they would never pay that much for a costume. Which is of course ridiculous. They spent $2000 on a Storm Trooper costume that falls apart every time you put it on. What, are they worried that they're not going to get their money's worth on renting this gown. It rents for $75 a day. It only needs to be rented 8 times and they've made their money back.

Ok, maybe that's a little much for this area. But then again. The Storm Trooper only got rented three times last Halloween, so they're not anywhere near paying for it by how many times it has been rented. It needs to go out another 17 times before its paid for.

Mostly, I'm just disappointed with the fact that I know that their not going to ask me to make anymore costumes for them. They haven't said anything but I know its going to happen.  I know how they think. There is nothing I can do to convince them to invest in quality made costumes that will last for the next 10 years. No, they want to buy the cheap costumes that fall apart after being worn 2 or 3 times.

Whatever. I am so done with these people. I can give ideas to improve their business and help them make more money. But it seems like almost everything I say goes in one ear and out the other.  What the crap do they know about anything. They're never there. I find it ironic that the people that do most of the ordering for the store are the ones that spend the least amount of time there. 

 You know when I got this job I thought it was a god send. It was perfect. I could use the skills I gained while earning my Bachelor's degree in theater. But now I feel like the overqualified lemming. Pushing buttons and working a cash register for the ungrateful thieving masses. Working this job has really opened my eyes to how degenerate people can be. They take whatever they want and don't give a damn how it affects everyone else.

The original dress

The finished product

Well, here are pictures of the last costume I will ever make for them.  If they can't afford to pay me for the work that I do, then I will find somebody else who will.