I’ve gotten so used to seeing the stamp on the inside of my wrist that I got Saturday night when I went to a concert with K and E. It’s mostly faded now (thank goodness), but it’s been there for a while now that I’m going to miss it when it’s all gone. My sister suggested that I get a tattoo on the inside of my wrist – thanks for the suggestion, D. I have actually considered it. I really want to get the infinity symbol done, and a phoenix, and a Blythe pullring…

Saturday night, like I’ve mentioned, I went to see a concert featuring my favourite band with the best friend (K) and her boyfriend (E), who sounded horrible (and I hope he’s doing better now). The opening act was horrible (in my honest opinion) as he was a one-man show (his bandmates weren’t there for some illegal sounding reasons…?) and kept on stopping in the middle of songs to chat up the audience. The actual main act was wonderful. People violently moshed and pushed each other around, luckily no one seemed to get hurt and I avoid it (for the most part, except for when I went and got pushed straight into someone who managed to catch me before I fell, yay). It was wonderful though, there’s nothing like seeing your favourite band in person. Although, as K mentioned (and I fully agree), it’s weird when you’ve been listening to a band for X number of years and then you see them in person and the main singer (who’s the only original member of the band now) has aged so much and no longer has bleached blonde or black hair (and it wasn’t shaggy either… so weird). But amazing. Absolutely amazing. And that concert ticket was, for about 24 hours, the only thing on my bulletin board (joining it are my tickets for Les Miserables and Dan Savage, both from 2009, and a ticket from a musical I saw yesterday). ♥♥♥ The Ataris.

Sunday I was supposed to go to a parade, but when I went to call in to volunteering, L (who sort of supervises me) was so grateful that I was calling because she really needed a volunteer. Major guilt, hah, so I ended up going in to volunteering – which ended up really fun. Especially the part when we were singing Christmas carols for the church service (I volunteer at a long term care home) because the group that was supposed to be there didn’t show so we had to do something. We sang Amazing Grace, Jesus Loves Me, Silent Night, Oh Come All Ye Faithful and a few other songs that I actually knew the tunes to (thank goodness… one of the residents verbally abuses those who cannot sing properly, heh). And then later Sunday evening, I went to go and see The Lion King with my sisters. We had craptastic seats but it was so amazing and beautiful. I hated young Simba and Nala though (their singing voices), but everything else was fabulous! ♥♥♥

Anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. I bought new shoes today (and some other stuff… *cough*)! Super cute with bows!

What did you do this weekend?

It would be a great idea, if you cannot stomach the idea of abuse towards any living creature not to continue reading this blog entry. It would also be a great idea if you don’t like strong language, because I swear when I’m pissed off.

Yesterday was Canada Day (Happy birthday, Canada!). HST kicked in for British Columbia and Ontario. Some group of crazies wants to remain a park to something I cannot even pronounce (it’s got a bunch of X’s in it, which supposed to have a K sound). People protested in Ontario about the arrests of protesters – I love the symmetry of it all.

And yesterday, I went for a walk because one of the stores near my house was open despite the holiday and I wanted sprinkles – little red and white ball sprinkles (they only had green, blue, yellow and orange – I think people were too busy making Canada Day cupcakes or something, darn you all).

On my way home (with orange sprinkles… I love sprinkles too much to leave them all behind in the store), I spotted a group of youngish looking boys (maybe around 10? I’m a horrible judge of age sometimes, but they looked either preteens or younger) hitting what looked to be a ball around on the ground. This was in a back alley sort of area, they had sticks that they probably just picked up off the ground and were having a grand time until a car went by and they all scattered. I walked closer and I had to walk by this ‘ball’ in order to get home.

Click to read more of this entry.

I recently got this great little gem in my inbox (via my crafting website – Chelle-Chelle.com):

Do you wholesale your jewelry? We work with thousands of buyers from gift shops, boutiques, department stores, independent retailers and large chains around the country. I think your jewelry would be a great fit. We guarantee sales plus you can pick and choose who you want to sell to. If you’re interested in selling your jewelry to more stores visit us at [url removed for stupidity]

Sincerely,

Kevin Sanderson
VP Merchandising
866 -[phone number removed]
[url removed for stupidity]

For one thing, Mr. Kevin Sanderson, I believe that if you’re trying to woo someone into going into business with you, you should actually start off the email with the person’s name. It would not have been a hardship to find my name on my website and it would have been a lot more professional to go “Dear Michelle” at the beginning. Or even “To whom it may concern”.

Secondly, for anyone who ever receives an email like this – please, please, please check out the website. If it seems like it’s too good to be true, it probably is. For instance, this “VP” claims that they can guarantee sales. No one can do that. Unless it’s something that is a necessity for life, you can’t really guarantee a sale. Also, the website went on and on about how they “will” get you a sale and how you have “full control” over what you’re selling (then, tell me, what’s the point of going through another website?).

But the very small fine print? There’s a set up fee for setting up your account with them. And a monthly maintenance fee.

$325 for the one-time set up fee. $29 for a monthly usage fee for every month, regardless if you make a sale or not.

So if I wanted to sell through this super-awesome website, it would cost $354 for the first month alone.

This is the first time I’ve ever been contacted about wholesaling the jewellery that I make (and I’m sure it’ll be the only time, as I don’t dedicate as much time as I would like to making jewellery). But for those who are interested in wholesaling their crafting wares (or anything at all, really), just remember the following:

If a legitimate company is interested in selling your product, they will pay you for the product. They will also pay for you to send them the product and do the marketing for you. They should not require a set up fee or monthly maintenance just for ‘selling’ your stuff. If they’re serious about doing business with you and if they’re serious about selling the things that you make, they should be the ones paying you not the other way around.

I’m getting off my soapbox now.