Uggghhh…SPREADSHEETS! Spreadsheets suck the creative life out of me but I’ve been working on them a lot this past week, as I wrap up my 2014 bookkeeping for tax season! HOWEVER, I am also starting to build a FUN spreadsheet! A spreadsheet of those who live in or around the Twin Cities who are interested in jamming with me this year! If you live in the Minneapolis/St.Paul MN Metro area, or within driving distance of the Twin Cities, this post is for YOU!
I originally was thinking I’d make an edit-able document in a Facebook page, but figured you may not all want your contact info displayed within a Facebook page. So, I’m building a spreadsheet.
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| Want to be invited to a jam? I need YOUR info in here! |
I’ve been doing a lot of jams this past year and LOVE them! I learn something new every time and it’s always so encouraging to chat and compare notes and knowledge with other artists. It’s been so amazing to see our tight knit community of artists grow and prosper in 2014!
SO, here is my dilemma. I love to host jams. I’d love to jam with every artist in the area. My loosely organized list of artists who have expressed interest in jamming has grown beyond the capacity of my house. My kitchen table can seat 8, but when you factor in all our kits and space needed to paint, it’s just not possible logistically to get everyone over at once that I’d like to, and still be able to paint comfortably! So, this past year I’ve been trying to hold mini jams here and there, inviting a few at a time, so we can all get together but still have a good environment to spread out in. (of course when it warms up, we can spread out to the deck too!)
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| A few photos from 2014 jams! 🙂 |
I try to start out by inviting those who haven’t been to a jam yet but have expressed interest, then those who haven’t been to one in a while, then those who have, in an effort to include everyone. But, my list of artists is getting so big that it’s hard to coordinate, and hard to remember who can do what days, what everyone is interested in, etc. I need a little info from you to help me include you all!
Here’s where you come in!!
IF you are interested in jamming with me in 2015, please do the following:
1. Click here to email me through my web form (this will guarantee you’ll make it through my horrible spam filter…sorry about that! I’m having issues this past month with it!)
2. In your message, tell me what works for you typically:
- weekday morning jams,
- weekday evening jams,
- or weekend jams.
(This is your CURRENT schedule…I realize it may change with the seasons but let me know what works for you now, and if your life changes, just email me again and I’ll update your stats! Basically, I’ll email you whenever there’s a jam that fits in your chosen time frames.)
3. Tell me what type of jams you’d be interested in:
- face painting
- balloon twisting
4. (optional) Let me know what city you live in. Often times I am asked if there is anyone else who lives in the same city as someone coming, so they can carpool. But, in order to answer that I need to know where everyone lives. You don’t need to give me a full address, but if you would be interested in carpooling, let me know what city you’re coming from.
This information will really help me save time, so that I’m not emailing those only interested in face painters about balloon jams, or emailing people who work full time during the day with weekday morning jams, etc!
Here’s what I will then do:
I will send you an email when I have an upcoming jam that’s in the topic and time frame you’ve expressed interest in. Please then let me know if you can or can’t make it, because if you can’t, I’ll email someone else. This way I can make sure we have a variety of artists, but still keep the group small enough to be logistically possible and a comfortable environment to work in.
My schedule fluctuates a lot, as I’m sure yours does. Right now with preschool schedules and other commitments, I can only host Friday mornings and maybe some Monday mornings. But, I know that will change in the summer when my boys are out of school. So, please let me know what works with your current schedule, and if things change, just send me another email and I’ll update your info.
Before you do that, here are the details about the jams I hold, so you can decide if you’d like to join us:
- They are held at my home in Mound, MN. (west side of the cities)
- Weekdays we typically start 9 or 10 AM, and can go as late as 3:00 pm.
- Evenings & Weekends I will very rarely…only when my husband is out of town. (He is insanely supportive of my business, so he gets first dibs on any & all evenings & weekends that are not booked with gigs & family events!) But they DO still happen maybe a couple times a year, and I know some other Twin Cities artists host these as well!
- Everyone brings a food item to share…appetizer, dessert, whatever!
- There are no strict agendas …we are very loose! Visit, eat, re-organize your kit, paint yourselves or each other, etc! You get out of it whatever you strive to. If you have questions for everyone, ask! We love to share, teach, exchange ideas, vent, laugh, etc!
- Don’t forget to bring your supplies! I have a couple extra practice heads too that you can use!
- Other things to bring: camera (or phone) to document ideas, any photos from your “inspiration file” or pinterest boards you’d like to try, questions for other artists, etc…
- Kiddos are totally welcome as long as you’re able to juggle your kids and still enjoy yourself! (Especially if they’ll let us paint on them…ha!) I have 5 yr old and 7 yr old boys, and 2 large dogs.
- Yes, if you would like to buy stuff from my online store, you are welcome to pick it up at a jam (or any time) to avoid shipping, or even “shop” at my house! I do NOT ever expect people to buy stuff but it often happens just because it’s convenient. So just let me know if you’d like me to “bring you downstairs” and I will…I won’t push it because these are not Tupperware parties and I’m not inviting you to sell you stuff!! 😉 Remember, my store is internet based and run out of my house, so it’s no retail paradise, but I’ve tried to make it more shop-able in person over the past year for my local friends!
Thank you SO much for helping me get organized and enabling me to invite you to more jams this year! I am so excited to meet some more local artists and hope to see you in 2015!