It's open. God help us.

So I finally spilled the beans to the House Cup about my store last weekend, to coincide with the new term. Which is great! They've already bought me out of house-emblazoned undies (must go to Target to get more materials), as well as a fair few purchases of the tshirts, and even one Whoodie. That's a lot of profit, considering the really fairly low base cost of the supplies. I'm hoping I can keep the momentum going despite my sojourn to Europe over the summer, and I'm really hoping I can ramp it up in the weeks leading up to the new films this fall. I think there's a pretty good chance of that, really, because Boston is kind of a hub for Wrock (that would be Wizarding Rock, and yes, it's as dorky as it sounds), and the shirts have always been really popular at other Wrock events.

About that whole "more smoothly next time" thing

Yeah, not so much with the "more smoothly." Prepping for my presentation yesterday almost gave me a stroke, it was so anxiety-laden. I wanted to have something ready for them to participate with, but then I couldn't get Johnny's LOST jumpsuit tshirt to cut out properly (the Dharma initiative apparently even baffles die-cutting machines), so I thought I'd go with a Property of Azkaban shirt, but then my sticky mat got un-sticky, and I had to find the spray glue, and then that was TOO strong, and I ruined one because it wouldn't come unstuck. But eventually I got one together, and stuck it to a shirt, and brought it in. And I was going to show them how the gazelle actually worked, but then I thought I forgot the registry key that makes it go (and then, upon my return home, immediately found it in the storage drawer in the front of the machine, meaning I had it with me the whole time, which...dumb). But the painting turned out kind of fun, and I had some stuff in the store to show them, and that was great. And now if I can just keep stuff in the store, that will be super.

The fateful time is at hand

...I finally made something on my Gazelle. Seriously, I have been terrified of it for weeks, probably as a result of the trauma of the fire in the laptop. But I saw Ashley and Jack (Ally's sister and nephew) last week, and we were in the craft store, and he wanted some vinyl stickies to go on his wall, and all they had were princesses, so Ashley said "I bet Juju would make you some dinosaurs if you asked really nicely," and then he did, so obviously I had to make them.

So we bought some vinyl (which was unconscionably expensive - $9 for a 12"x24" piece), and I started attempting to make him some dinosaurs using clip art from the internet.

And wow, did that ever involve more cursing than I would have anticipated. First the drivers wouldn't install. Then my computer wouldn't recognize the USB port that the authentication key thingy was attached to. Then, for whatever reason, the auto-vectorization program got all crazy and did every line as a dotted line. Then it went even crazier, and went over every line three times, ever so slightly off register with the previous lines.

Fortunately, I was practicing these on paper, because otherwise by this time the hideously expensive vinyl would have been gone.

I finally, finally managed to get them done, and popped them in the mail. I hope he likes them - it was a true struggle to get them accomplished. Hopefully I've figured out most of the kinks and it'll be smoother sailing from now on.

busy busy busy busy

Things that are super:

1. All the stuff for the Lather tomorrow has successfully arrived, and I am cleared to go to bed early
2. My mum just got word on her externship for the summer, which means she can start working in the fall
3. Superman
4. I am high as a kite off cough medicine right now.

Things that are not-so-super:

1. Oh my god, the Lather is tomorrow, and I'm going to be awake for like twenty eight hours in a row making it happen.
2. She's going to be working all summer (yay) for free (boooooo) before she can get a job. And I won't be employed this summer, because I'm going to be in Garfagnana/my job doesn't really happen in the summertime, anyway
3. Clark Kent (Really, does he have to be such a DORK in his secret identity? Batman's still cool when he's Bruce Wayne!)
4. I am high as a kite off cough medicine because the thing that I've had for the last four weeks is PNEUMONIA AS A RESULT OF WHOOPING COUGH. Which...two days ago, they told me that I just had allergies! What the hell, UHS!

On a positive, crafty note, I came up with a new idea for some superhero-themed tshirts that I'm hoping to make as soon as I get my Harry Potter stuff established.

I can't believe it.

...I sold something. I don't even have a STORE yet, and I sold something! So that's exciting!

I was at Happy Hour last night, actually, and I was wearing one of my shirts, because the theme was "All Things British," and hey, what's more British than Harry Potter? And some girls saw me, and demanded to know where I bought my shirt. So I told them I'd made it a couple of years before, and they were astonished! And one of them offered me $30 to make her one. So clearly I accepted, because hey, I wasn't even planning on charging that much for them when I have the actual shop! Yay in-person advertising!

Ew

I am so incredibly disgusting right now. Fever of 102, so I'm all sweaty, and a cough building that has made it really hard to fall to sleep.

On the plus side, it's given me lots of time curled up in bed with my new laptop. Which is good for two reasons:

1) I have made a ton of new designs

2) I finally caught up on all the TV I haven't been able to watch over the last few weeks

And I bought some business cards to carry with me to fan events and include with people's purchases, so they can tell their friends. I mean...I say "bought," but I actually got them for free. I paid $5 for shipping.

Is Geek Good Enough

So I spent last night with some friends, and we talked about my shirts. They've got...some ideas about things that I need to start focusing on. You know...branching out some more from the geeky stuff and into more punky things. Which is tempting, because I can make a good Clash joke as well as anybody, but then I wonder...should I just focus on building my brand among the geeks for now? Work on the Harry Potter and Doctor Who fans, eventually branch out into Battlestar Galactica and LOST, and see where I go from there? Or should I try to build the two lines at once, so that it's not as hard to switch gears?