Yesterday I finished the majority of the front-end of the new UNIMA Australia site; there are still some tweaks to be done, but this means a lot of the site has been finished. More needs to be done of course, with a lot of the backend for members needing some design tweaks, but for the most part it should be finished in a couple of days - at which point it will all get transferred over for sandbox testing.

Of course, I’m still far behind on other things: progress has been made on my second moppet pattern, with just the hands and some text to do. I hit a snag on the weekend, discovering that floral wire is not good to use inside hands, so I had to scrounge up my old jewellery wire… I’m hoping that the pattern will be completed before the week is up, so I can move on to my next thing: getting ready for the market in November, which I think I’ll be panicking to be prepared in time; and getting ready to promote my moppet classes, for which I’ve booked in some time in Jan/Feb.

For the latter, I went and checked out my venue last week, and was very happy with it. Previously I’ve been trying to use the Richmond Library, because they’re pretty cheap and about 15 minutes drive from my house. But I think the staff are getting sick of me (well, getting annoyed because last two times I had to cancel my booking last minute), and getting into the room means going up a tight flight of stairs with little ease of access. In my hunt for other spaces, I came across a wonderful fact: other libraries offer meeting rooms for much less than Richmond, and the one I’ve got booked in - Northcote - ends up being $200 cheaper. (The added benefit of booking a library over another space is that they only ask a small deposit to be made before picking up the keys the day before using the room… which means no outlay of funds before I collect money from participants )

Norhcote offers a lot more too - easier access to the room, with predominantly wheelchair-friendly walkways. A sink right in the room, with bathrooms next door. All day parking behind and across the street from the library (on Saturdays, which is the day I’ve booked in), three modes of public transport only a few minutes walk away, it’s not too far out from the city centre either, it’s a 20 minute drive from me; plus shops and cafes nearby. All in all, a good place to be. So now that I’ve got the venue sorted, I’m itching to get the promotional stuff written and start selling spots.