More pictures

First the most important pictures.  Yesterday I was in Larence at a Flea Market on Massachusetts ST.  My 15 year old son was in charge of the store for the day and he did a great job.  To my total amazement he mopped the floor.  The just to really blow me away he built a dress.    A good dress.  Here's a closeup

The flea market was great.  Why doesn't KC have something like Mass. St.???  We have cute shopping areas, but not a long area that has a good mix of local and national stores.  And to be honest a lot of the cute shopping areas carry all the same stuff.  There was so much variety to be found.  I am envious.  Instead of P&L it might have been nice for KCMO to strive for something like that sort of shopping.  Invite big names in, but subsidize local operations while they get started.  Probably would have been cheaper and a lot less controversial.

I found a new consigner while I was there.  They make THESE.

I LOVE these. I did tell the women who make them to bump up their prices a bit though. They were way underselling themselves. Not that I don't love a bargin, but I don't want my supplier to go out of business! Prices are still reasonable, just not dirt cheap anymore.

Now just for a few shots from the shop. Shalana brought in some brooches that I thought looked good on hats, so I displayed some that way. Dan Smith's pictures look better in person than they do in my picture of them. The chairs and blue room sign are my favorites.

Finally, I've been making/selling reusable shopping bags for some time. Now I've added reusable swiffer pads. They hold up well and you can toss them in the wash.

Store front pictures

A couple of new pics from the store. The lights are really cool. I took down the icky boring track lights and put these up. These are the ones that for some reason wouldn't light up without a bulb (from a previous post)

I want a sticker

Actually I WANTED a sticker. I started out wanting two stickers, got one and got denied on the other. What stickers? One from Betallic and one from Qualatex. I wanted to put them on my door since I use both types of balloons in my work and at the boutique. Betallic said no problem and they would find me something. Qualatex said no. Actually they said only if you are a member of the QBN (Qualatex Balloon Network) This is an "organization" that you pay to join and apparently have to be a member of if you want to advertise for them. I would have to PAY them in order to advertise the use of their products. Hmmm....I don't think so. I have instead chosen to reduce my use of their products. Betallic has long been my favorite twisting balloon although I still used Qualatex in my decor. From this point on unless the product I need is not available in some form in a Betallic product I will not purchase Qualatex. That pretty much means I will use Geos, spider eyes, agates and a few of the 3ft. prints from Qualatex. The rest I will get from Betallic via Mayflower distributing, TMyers and Continental Sales.

I have long been opposed to getting a CBA (certified Balloon artist) designation from Qualatex. I don't find it essential to my life or my business and I have met plenty of crap balloon artists with that at the end of their name. Mostly my hesitation has been a feeling that Qualatex does not exhibit real support to the twister end of business. For many years entertainers were treated as unimportant with their exclusive focus being on the needs of decorators. Betallic realized years ago that entertainers were an important part of the industry and LISTENED to them. Also persistent rumors have it that Qualatex engages in some shady business practices. It's not just coming from one person, but lots. If a distributor wants to carry Q products they will not promote B products - at least latex ones. The foil market still seems pretty open.

So, I didn't get my sticker, but that's ok. I just got pushed to vote my opinion with my $$. It may not be a lot of $$, but it's going to go to Betallic, not Qualatex.

Of course maybe I'm just venting and I'll feel totally different in a day or two.

My Job things I Love, things I Hate

I would have to say that I have a pretty good job. I make balloon animals for a living, which is a pretty cool thing to do. Not that there aren't things I don't like about the job, cause there are. Spring is my busy season, so work has been on my mind more often this month. (It's spring despite what the weather would indicate) I decided to make a list of what I do and don't like about my job. I figured that if I put it in writing I might find a way to change some of the don't likes into likes.

Like
I get to look people in the eye and say "I make Balloon animals for a living."
I make people happy.
The Ego stroking. People tell me I am the most wonderful thing they have encountered all day/week/month/year.
I get to be creative.
I don't have a boss other than myself.
Balloon artist conventions are a lot of fun.
The people in the industry are creative and interesting.
I get to meet a lot of cool people.
I don't work in the same place day after day after day.
It pays pretty well in the busy times of year.
My kids & husband get to work with me making it a family business.
The job makes me happy.

Don't like
Paperwork. When you work for yourself, you have to do a lot of paperwork.
I'm my own boss and I'm a bitch to work for.
In the off season money can be tight.
The people in the industry are artists and can get kinda bitch at times.
Balloon conventions are expensive.
Loading the balloon apron takes forever.
Jobs are never close to home or even close together. . I may have a party in Liberty followed by one in Olathe on the same day.
People sometimes have the perception that all balloons are free. This sucks when I am not being paid by the restaurant, but working for tips only.
People think that $1.00 is ok for a sculpture that took 10 balloons and 15 min. to make. Would you want to work for $4/hour? Well, $4 minus the cost of balloons.
Kids who take their sculptures apart and then the parent demands that they be given a place at the head of the line since it "only needs to be fixed." It's not fair to the kids who have been waiting in line.
Parents who let kids chew on the end of their balloons. If the balloon breaks, they could choke to death.

I guess those last ones could be summed up by saying
People who don't think.

All in all it's a great job