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I was invited to join a new group of local artist and crafters and we had our first meeting last night. What was supposed to be a meet -n-greet actually ended up being all business talk. The girls barely asked my name then went right back to talking about craft shows and setting up a private show and press releases and sponsoring a charity... it was way beyond me especially considering I've never even been to a show. I guess I was expecting more of proper introductions and sharing what we do and possibly inspiring each other. Maybe it’s because I'm so new to everything and I'm still trying to find my way. The other ladies are all veterans to the business of selling there crafts and art and all know where they stand on that side so they were all just interested in marketing. I really felt like a noob. I don't have an inventory and right now I'm in a creative funk. I guess I was disappointed that I went all the way out there to meet them and felt so out of my element. Some of the ladies were border line snobs which made it a bit worse. I am not sure if this is the group for me. I will stick it out a bit and see what happens. At the very least the group agreed that having a team to support each other was important.

There was one other chic that did handmade cards and naturally I wanted to talk to her. She had been around a while and has done several shows and knew about all the important marketing stuff but when we talked about actual cards I was very surprised that she seemed not to know a lot of the techniques and materials. She is still having cardstock and packaging issues. She didn't even know what dry embossing was. I was shocked because I feel like I am the biggest Noob and am still learning and here she is a veteran cardmaker and I knew more about different techniques and materials than she did. I told her I would bring some of my cardstock and packaging to share with her at the next meeting. It made me feel a little better, like I did have something to offer after all. She could give me advice on marketing and shows and I can give her tips on different techniques for cards. That would be nice.