Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Sweet Corn!!! & My So Called Life :)

It sure has been a LONG summer!  I think I over booked myself just a tad.  Full-time job has gotten too stressful for words and then I started a part-time job facilitating groups for men on probation and parole. It's something I've done before and REALLY enjoy it.  However, 12 hour days just aren't for me. 

Got some great news though, I got into graduate school so I'm actually going down to part-time at the one job and switching from working with women who are homeless to families who are homeless The families are not yet in the shelter because we have a long waiting list. I'm sure no one really thinks to get put on a waiting list before they become homeless!  So, it will be nice to go down to part-time but I'm not looking forward to seeing kids who are sleeping in cars or on the floors of other people's homes.  But working with single women gets difficult too because there is so much mental illness that makes everything so difficult.  NO ONE would deny a person housing solely because they have cancer or heart disease but a person with severe mental health issues really struggles to obtain and maintain housing sometimes.  It bothers me tremendously that people seem to think that mental illness is some sort of choice or a consequence for poor choices or something.  Mental illness is biological and develops by no fault of the person.  

Check out blogs from this insightful and amazing woman who was homeless if you want to learn more: http://www.squidoo.com/Homeless-Experiences

I really do have a passion for helping people with mental illness and I could probably go on all day about the injustices but I am BURNT OUT.  I very much plan to return to mental health related work but if I don't take a break I may end up quitting forever.  So, I'm going to work with families for awhile and see how it goes.

As far as AlyxAndrea Design goes you may have noticed that I've been a little absent.  I've been doing a few art fairs but my on-line presence has been nearly non-existent. Just too busy but as I switch to part-time soon I'm hoping I will be back in full force.  I also only have one more craft fair of the season which is the: 

Sweet Corn Festival 

Saturday, August 17 and Sunday, August 18
Sun Prairie WI



http://www.sunprairiechamber.com/Sweet-Corn-Festival.68.0.html

This will be my first 2 day show and I'm a little nervous that my fibromyalgia body won't be able to handle it.  But, I am excited because it is a really large festival and I'm hoping for some good traffic.  Many of the other fairs I did this summer have been really slow.  But since this was my first year I'm treating it as a learning experience.  I rather expensive learning experience but I'm hoping I will do better to choose shows that will work for me next year.

Coming soon....I need to finally share my experience at the RAW Artists Showcase.  I need to tweek a few things and get that up because it has been 2 months.  I'm excited to share how it  went but just haven't had time to write it all down.

I wish had some new products to share today but I haven't made much time for creating.  The only thing I've been doing is getting products for a $10 and $5 table for craft fairs.  My daughter made a ton of kids jewelry to be sold at $5 and I made some really simple adult jewelry for $10.  I'm not planning to put any of the kids jewelry on Etsy but maybe whatever is left of the adult stuff after my last fair.

I've listed this one sad pair of earrings recently:



https://www.etsy.com/listing/158362036

9 comments:

  1. YUM! Love sweet corn. We have a community near by that has a corn and apple festival (they serve corn on the cob and apple cider).

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  2. really cute earrings!corn festivals can be fun ..for selling jewelry i think you should try craft specific shows those will do much better!

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    1. Thx for the advice and the compliment. I have heard from a lot of ppl that art fairs are best and that is what I am finding out as well.

      All but one show so far has been art/craft shows so this will actually be the 1st big festival I'm trying. Since it's my first year I'm still trying out everything I can to see what works. My most successful show so far has actually been a really tiny art fair that didn't have a fee but asked everyone to donate a % to a charity. I chose the shelter I work for of course :) I think I did well more because it was in a wealthy neighborhood.

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  3. Hope you enjoy your fairs! And congrats on going to grad school!

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  4. good for you! hope you enjoy your new found time!

    Love the earring too!

    xox krys

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  5. I hope you do great at the Sweet Corn Fair. That sounds like a lot of fun,and I miss doing the fairs and craft shows. I can't seem to find one close enough where I live now, to make it worth the drive..

    Sounds like your job is very stressful. I have a friend in Idaho,who did the type of work you are doing now.She worked for the State and they put her through school, and she is now a psychiatrist , which seems to me she is more stressed. It takes a special kind of person to be able to do the work you do.

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    1. I wish I had a job that would put me through school!!! Grad school is SOOOO expensive and I can't imagine how much it would cost to become a psychiatrist! That requires med school...yikes!

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  6. Congrats on Grad School and Good Luck with the Festival and Your New position... :-)

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