WAHM Bags

The last deliveries were made at Oz Comic Con on June 30, 2012. The event was an eye-opener and I think it will be my last event for a while. 11 gift bags were handed out to celebrity guests. I will post more on this over the next day or so. I’m still recovering from the 44 hours round trip (on public transport). The bags were very well received and now it is time to move on to stage 2, which inludes “Care giftbags” for those that need cheering up.

I didn’t update the site earlier as there was some issues on the domestic front that needed attending too. Supanova was tiring, and at the end of it I left unsure whether I would continue with the celebrity gift bags or just concentrate on phase 2 (gift bags for those that need some cheering up). It took me several days before I was able to concentrate on the next event (and last for a while); Oz Comic Con Melbourne.

Bags were handed out at Sydney to:
Christopher Lloyd (the lovely Carol of Outback Pampering gave the bag to Mr Llyod, and while he apprecaited the gift he was also extremely exhausted and pressed for time).
Noah Hathaway: he was a delight and hugged me (and planted a kiss on my cheek).
Natalia Tena was exhausted but seemed generally delighted to receive her gift bag (although she did ask if it contained a bag). I showed her the goodies inside that could give her a bit of a pick me up. Her response to the bag was “It’s all about the mums”.
Tom Taylor: was hard to track down as they moved him but I scored a big hug, a cheery smile and a kiss in thanks
Marianne De Pierres: Is such a lovely lady and had also supported WAHM Bags when I was in the running for the Suncorp Grant. Co-incidently I had already had Marianne on the intended recipients’ list before I knew she had voted.
Yvonne Craig:What a lovely lady and her sister (i think it was) was also charming. Yvonne was looking forward to trying the choccies and she poured over the contents of the bag; even testing out the spritzer (from “Miss Spice’s Sensuous Scents”).
Christopher Paolini: Had another huge line but his publist took a few seconds to let us give him his gift (Thank you). Although he was extremely busy he still took time out for his fans, posing for pics and even asking his publist to take pics of him with people that caught his eye (such as Carol – in her fabulous outfit).
Richard Harland: Of everyone that I was giving a bag to, Richard was the one that I was the most nervous about as he was my favourite lecturer at uni, some years ago. He is still so very friendly and he seemed taken aback by the gift.
Callum Blue Said he loves gifts
Eric Roberts:
Seemed to genuinely love his gift. He asked for me to have a few pics taken with him and the bag. Hugs and kisses were free flowing from Eric.

Carol and I took the bags around the event and asked some of the best cosplayers to pose with the pics, and even one of my fav stall owners (darren of Gifts for the Geek) was happy to pose with the bag. The bags received a lot of attention because of the pics with cosplayers.

Unfortunately I cannot shake the impression that this is a business and that I am profitting from the bags. I believe that I will not be attending more events in future, and that I will no longer be taking bags to certain events because the stress was too much for me. There was a minor incident when I inadvertantly broke the rules and I left the event feeling shaken. I am now giving a lot of thought to how I can change the perception that a few people have of the gift bags. They have always been a genuine, no strings attached gift. Nothing is expected from the recipients and no endorsements are sought or implied at all. The photos taken, when possible, are to capture the look of joy that is so often present on the face of the recipients. They are also taken as a reminder and also to show that I delivered the bags. But from now on, pics will be mostly taken with the cosplayers and stall holders.

A big shout of Thanks does go out to Carol Shearman of Outback Pampering for following me around most of the weekend and for taking amazing photos.

Today I am leaving for the Sydney Supanova Pop Culture Expo, where 10 celebrity gift bags will be handed out. At this stage unless word from the organisers change, there will be no pics with any of the recipients, but I’ll be there taking videos, interviewing people and taking pics of cosplayers so there will be lots to be seen anyway.

I applied for a grant (the suncorphelpinghand grant). Many people supported me but I was not one of the recipients. If I had been stage 2 of the bags would have been launched (gift bags for those that are sick or needing cheering up). I will still launch this, and my aim is to gift out as many bags as there has been delivered for the celebrities. More details soon.

The site needs a lot more updating yet, but as I am finally getting computers problems resolved this will be rectified in the near future.

have a fabulous weekend

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I am back online after a while without computer and internet. I have a lot to add to the site to update it which I will do over the next few days. Please bear with me……

Yes! At this stage we are full speed ahead. Almost all of the items items have arrived at my home or are on their way to Melbourne. Tomorrow one last delivery will be made to me, from Rozzi Smith (editor of the Molong Express). The Molong Newsagency and Sweetness Your Lollyshop are also sponsoring a bag each. My ticket has been purchased and I’m working on the site as much as possible.

Nearly all of the bags will be rather full, so I hope that doesn’t pose a problem for the recipients. I wish we could have made more bags but it took a lot to fill these bags. I’d love to have enough funds one day to have a stash of bags and goodies on hand to be able to send off on a moments notice or to have extra to give out to partner’s of guests or even for special people. That is part of the plan for later in the year.

I didn’t think we would make it this far, and personally it has taken a lot out of me. I would have liked to see the site advertising really take off to help recover some of the associated costs, but I guess some people need to be convinced a little further.

I am extremely excited about next weekend. On Monday the children and I begin the first leg of our journey, going the long way around via Wollongong. I still have some work to do on one costume (which I can do through the week), but there is still a lot of packing to do. I’m excited about catching up with family and friends (a.k.a my Con family). And I am very excited about the gift bags. I still worry that they will be rejected or left behind. If they have been left behind, no one has the heart to tell me. If they are left behind I hope someone special has adopted the bags.

Welcome to the WAHM Bags site. WAHM Bags is a venture that I started last year. I have a lot of plans for other types of promotional bags (including show bags) but those are for the future when there are a lot more funds available.

Everything is gearing up towards Supanova Melbourne. There have been a lot of hitches and stress this time, and frankly I wonder if I will even get to deliver this lot of gift bags. I have had a lot of help from some great friends but there is still so much to be done. What makes this harder is I do not have a regular job and I must be accountable to The Powers That Be.

Anyway, enough of that. I hope you enjoy the site. In the coming days and weeks, more pics will be added of the bags. A list of the recipients and people that have taken part in putting the bags together. FAQ and more.

Don’t forget there is now a dedicated page on Facebook for the bags: https://www.facebook.com/WAHMBags