Tangible Tidbits

Tangible Tidbits 2012 #8: MSU Metalsmith Guild, Oscars, & Pinterest

2012-02-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

Good evening to those of you not watching the Oscars right now! LOL Can you believe the build-up to the Academy Awards has taken on Super Bowl-size proportions? I've only seen one of the nominated films this year (The Descendents), so I'm not all that interested in the show. :\

I caught a lucky break this week...a friend from Montclair State University had invited me to participate in this semester's MSU Metalsmith Guild Jewelry Galleria on campus. I wasn't online much this week, so I didn't see the invite until the day after the deadline. However, they only got four artists to participate and they wanted at least six. Soooo, they extended the deadline! I emailed my friend and asked if I could participate even though I'm not enrolled in school this semester. She said I definitely could and that I should do it! :) The show is 7-9 p.m. in the University Hall Conference Center on the 7th floor of University Hall at Montclair State. I've already enlisted a good friend from the office to be my model. I just have to make sure she can be there at 5:00 p.m...I didn't realize she'd have to show up that early. :o We both have to wear black to show off my pieces. I have to see what I have in my closet...there was a time that I wore a lot of black, but not so much anymore. ;) Ordinarily, I would have had to submit pictures of my pieces to be evaluated, but since my friend was the one who picked up my items from the Allwood Branch of the Clifton Public Library last week, they can just evaluate the pieces! :) I have no idea what they will select, but we can apparently put other pieces, including non-jewelry items, on a table at the event. As it so happens, my Chinese take-out set was on display at the library! LOL Sometimes, you just get lucky. :)

In the "not so lucky" column, I also found out this week that there are registration and transcript holds on my records at MSU due to an "outstanding balance." I have no idea why, as I have not been enrolled since last spring. According to my Sallie Mae TuitionPay account, I'm all paid up. I left a message at the school on Friday afternoon, but I didn't receive a response yet. Luckily, the MSU Metalsmith Guild doesn't care about stuff like that! ;)

I started working on the scarf my niece made for me again last night while I was watching a movie I had already seen, so I didn't have to pay that close attention to it. ;) I wasn't in the mood to start something from scratch. I have a freeform bangle and a pair of earrings to make for a coworker, but I have until March 25 to deliver them. I worked on another coworker's copper cuff bracelet earlier today. She just wanted me to "decorate" it for her. After sending her some sample photos, she decided she wanted me to add hammered texture and oxidize (darken) it to highlight the texture. I'll have to see what she thinks tomorrow. The difference is pretty subtle, but hopefully she is not be expecting a drastic change.

I don't know how many of you are on Pinterest, but I'm getting a kick out of it. One of the online suppliers I use occasionally has a contest on there. We're being asked to set up a board and pin 10 items from Fusion Beads such as our favorite necklace inspiration, favorite tool, etc. Since I already had a Pinterest account set up, I entered today. I also have boards for my Factoidz articles, Birthstones, Product Reviews I've written, and pieces I've listed on Yardsellr. At first, I thought it was "just another new social media site," but it seems to be taking off. It will be interesting to see if it eventually gives Facebook a run for its money. :o

In the immortal word of Porky Pig, "That's all folks!" Have a great week! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2012 #7: A U.S. Holiday & Houston's Funeral

2012-02-20T15:24:00.000-08:00

Hi, everybody! :) I received a number of private responses to last week's blog post, so thanks for letting me know you're reading!

Today is a holiday in the U.S.; it's Presidents' Day. I hope everyone here enjoyed their long weekend...we won't get any more holidays at the office until Memorial Day! :o

Not surprisingly, I watched Whitney Houston's funeral on television on Saturday, along with much of the world. The Star-Ledger in Newark reported that there were news crews from as far away as Japan and Australia to cover the event, even though it was closed to the public. I really liked Kevin Costner's comments. I got to see The Bodyguard again this weekend on cable; it was kind of strange watching it and knowing in the back of my brain that she wasn't among us anymore. At least actors and musicians live on forever through their films and music. Earlier today, police had to close down the cemetery in Westfield, NJ where she was buried yesterday. It seems that the fans who could not get close to the services over the weekend descended on her grave site today. May she finally Rest In Peace.

We had our February Bead Society meeting last Thursday. Not a lot of people showed up, which is a shame. Unfortunately, I didn't sell any of the coiled spiral wire beads I had made, but the good news is that I can use them in my own pieces! :) I really do like how they look, so I'm okay with that. ;) I have a Board meeting tomorrow night and I will have to report on the progress we're making with the Nominating Committee. We need five or six new officers for next year or we won't have a Society. No pressure! :\

A coworker requested a bracelet and matching set of earrings for an outfit she has to wear to a concert in March. It will be a bit of a challenge, but I think I can pull it off. ;)

The display at the Allwood Branch of the Clifton Public Library ends tomorrow. Luckily, a friend will pick up my pieces for me, as I will be running around all afternoon and then heading down South for the BSNJ Board meeting. I can only be in so many places at once, ya know? ;)

I don't think I mentioned it before, but I registered to attend the MJSA (Manufacturers | Jewelers | Suppliers | Artisans) Expo in New York City next month. I learned about it through the Montclair State University Metalsmith Guild, and I will be hooking up with some of my former classmates for the trip. :) I didn't even know this organization existed, so it should be interesting to see exactly what they do. I've registered for a number of workshops, but we'll have to see how many I can attend. Registration is free for students, so I took advantage of my association with MSU for that perk. :)

Not much more to tell this week, so I will sign off. Have a great week!

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Tangible Tidbits 2012 #6: At the end of your life, will you be happy with how you've handled things?

2012-02-13T17:46:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone! Well, I didn't get the IT position. Apparently, the other candidate has more experience with Proxy processing and with proxy season coming up, there would be less of a learning curve with her in the position. At least, that is what one person speculated to me today. I have to admit, his assessment made me feel a little better about it. When I found out on Friday, I was really bummed. C'est la vie, right? :p

While I was watching a TV movie over the weekend, I encountered a though-provoking question. One character asked another, "At the end of your life, will you be happy with how you've handled things?" Talk about deep! LOL For the most part, my answer is "yes." I do have a few regrets, but I have made amends for most of my earlier life indiscretions in due time. Presently, there is only one situation in which I am now not comfortable with my actions. Unfortunately, I cannot address it because the other person passed away a couple of years ago. Honestly, I doubt he would hold my actions against me...it's more my own moral code that makes me wish I had handled things differently. I know I did what I thought was right at the time, but in hindsight it was somewhat immature and probably even cowardly. Given that he is currently among the angels, I guess he knows how I feel now and forgives me. I certainly hope so! :o

When I was in the bank this afternoon, the "greeter" there -- I'm not sure what they call the people in the lobby who chat with you while you're waiting on line -- noticed one of my wire-wrapped rings and complimented me on it. It turns out she occasionally "plays" with beads and other materials from Michael's or A.C. Moore. She took my business card and promised to check out my website. :)

I'm actually thinking about revamping the website; I have to discuss it with my web designer. Since I am putting less and less effort into the Virtual Mall page, I'm thinking about doing away with the store section also. I've only made two sales directly through the website since it went up at the end of 2009, and those two sales were from a friend of mine who lives a couple of towns away! :p I'm thinking the website should be more of an "online brochure"...it will showcase what I have done and can do, and encourage buyers to contact me directly if they are interested in making a purchase or ordering a custom piece. Customers who know me personally tend to do that anyway...and I usually tell people living in the area to contact me directly to arrange delivery and save on the postage that is automatically charged via the website. I have to mull the whole thing over...there's the possibility that people might not want to take the extra step to call or email me, so I could potentially lose the sale. However, people aren't buying directly from the site either, so I doubt it will matter much one way or the other. Do you have an opinion on this? Please let me know! :)

A coworker requested a Snakemaille bracelet for her granddaughter's birthday in a few days, so I have to work on that tonight. The good thing about the rubber jump rings is that they stretch, so it is easy for a child to wear. ;) My nieces each requested one a while back because they thought they were cool...I consider that an endorsement! LOL ;)

Mom and I watched the Grammy Awards last night and have been following the coverage of Whitney Houston's death. She was only five years older than I am, and she was apparently much more reckless than I am. I am saddened by her untimely death, but I can't say I'm terribly surprised. Such a waste! :(

That's all for now. Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow and have a great week! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2012 #5: KG's 'Week In Review'

2012-02-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone! Like the "sporty" headline this week? ;) Some of you will notice that I'm posting this week's message in the middle of the Super Bowl. Being a life-long NY Jets fan, I'm not much interested in watching the battle between the NY Giants and the New England Patriots, as true Jets fans despise both teams. :p In fact, I watched a really good documentary on Joe Namath on HBO earlier this week! If you get a chance to catch it, it's called "Namath" and produced by HBO Sports. ;) I do have two boxes in a Super Bowl pool this year, so I am interested in the end-of-quarter scores. If any of them end with Giants X6 and Patriots X6 or Giants X0 and Patriots x7, I will win some money. :) Wish me luck...I can really use it! :p

I took my younger niece to Earth, Paint & Fire yesterday for her birthday, which is a place where you select ceramic pieces and paint them. It was a long, fun day...as is tradition, we had to start with bagels for lunch and end with ice cream. :) I came home inspired with an idea...I wanted to see if I could adapt my wire-wrapped ring technique to bracelet-size. Experimenting, I made three bangle bracelets yesterday afternoon. Upon waking up this morning, it occurred to me they might be better as cuffs, so I did that as soon as I got up. The ends are a little clumsy because I made them after-the-fact, but now I know how to proceed with future pieces. ;) Unfortunately, putting off eating breakfast gave me a major headache, so I ended up spending most of the afternoon in bed. :(

Before picking up my niece yesterday, I had to stop at Michael's to pick up some specific beads I knew they had carried. They are for a pair of earrings requested by a coworker. I had made a pair earlier in the week for a different coworker, and when she saw them she wanted a pair "exactly like" them. Easier said than done sometimes! LOL Luckily, Michael's had the beads I wanted. I also bought a package of colored craft wire in about a dozen colors -- there are 15 coils in the package, but some are duplicated. Last night, I started making coiled spiral beads to sell at the upcoming BSNJ meeting. I decided that they would most likely be the easiest for me to make in a short time, and unusual enough for the non-wire people to want to buy. :) I can make a dozen beads with each coil, so the math will pretty easy for me...once I figure out the price per coil, I can just charge the appropriate amount for each dozen beads. There are some pretty nice colors in the package, so there will be a decent variety to offer. If this works out well, I may start selling them on Yardsellr, too. ;)

No word yet on my interview last week. I have no idea what the timeframe is, so I am just doing my own thing until I hear something more. I did finally get my merit raise this week -- my review was due on December 27, but I got it a couple of weeks late. :\ The raise didn't make a noticeable difference in my paycheck, but it's still better than nothing. :p

I've been catching up on posting pictures to Facebook -- my goal has been five pictures a day. Some days I skipped getting online, so I posted 10 pics the next day. :) I'm almost caught up, and may finish them up this week. I came to an important conclusion this morning...I think I want to do my computer work at night during the week and do other things like create pieces, etc. on the weekends...or occasionally take them off entirely. The idea of getting on the computer -- I'm on my Netbook at the moment, which is much less daunting for some reason -- fills me with dread some days. I think it's partially because I feel "stuck" there for most of the day when I do it. There's just so much to do, it's just overwhelming. I still have to figure out my business expenses for 2011 to give to the accountant. That alone will probably take me a whole day. Anyway, if I devote part of my weekends to non-computer-related business activities, I think I will feel less guilty about it. Maybe setting up a mental schedule will help me get more organized and be more productive. :)

BTW, the new Focal Piece of the Month is up.

Well, I guess I will go see what the score is and make some more wire beads. Have a great week and enjoy the second half of the Super Bowl! :)

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Tangible Tidbits 2012 #4: Beaders and Birthstones...

2012-01-30T16:06:00.000-08:00

Hello, readers! Well, I've had two interviews for the IT position since I last posted. The first one was with HR last week, which was pretty informational and only lasted about 20 minutes. The second one was this morning with the Manager to whom I would report if I took the position. She and I had never really crossed paths before, so I was curious to see whether or not we would be able to work together. I've had difficult bosses in the past, but I really don't think I have the emotional and/or physical energy to go down that road right now unless it's absolutely necessary. At this time, it isn't. ;) She's very nice, and seemed genuinely interested in my jewelry-making...she even asked me for a brochure! LOL I'm glad I don't have to keep that part of my life "quiet" anymore. For a long time, I didn't talk much about it at the office because I didn't want The Powers That Be to think I wasn't focusing on my job. That hasn't been a problem since I got back, and I'm glad it doesn't seem like it will be one if I make the transition. :) In any case, I hear there's one other person applying for the job, although I have no idea who it is or how we compare. I'm not really worried about it...if I don't get offered the position, I know my current superiors will be relieved! :)

Do you believe it's already February?! :o I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but it's pretty mild here for this time of year. I can't complain, although I think it's supposed to dip over the next few days and we might even see some flurries. As long as they don't stick to the ground, I'm okay with that! LOL

At the upcoming Bead Society of NJ (BSNJ) meeting, members will have the opportunity to bring in items to sell to other members...not a lot, just what will fit on the table in front of each person. Since the membership consists largely of beaders, I was thinking of bringing some wire-wrapped pendants, handcrafted link and wire knit chains, and handmade wire beads and coils. There are a few people who work with wire in the group, but the majority of them are into working with seed beads. They probably don't want to buy pieces made by other people that they can make themselves (I know I don't!), so I want to offer items that are more likely to be of interest to them. Jewelry-makers are always looking for different and interesting items like beads, chains, and pendants, so I think I can probably stand out in that area. I'll let you know how I make out after February 16. Wish me luck!

I'm still working hard to get my unfinished projects cleaned up. The February BSNJ meeting is also a UFO (unfinished object) night, so people can work on unfinished projects at the meeting. February can be difficult because potential snowstorms could interfere with a lecture, so we opted to have a "low key" meeting instead. Ideally, I'll find something that I can transport easily, and hopefully I can finish it in the one night! ;)

The new Focal Piece of the Month should be going up this week. For the February birthstone, I created an Amethyst pendant on purple silk. I happened to find a sale on selected birthstones at Beaded Impressions last week, so I stocked up the rest of the year's stones that I could find. I may still be missing one or two, but I'm pretty sure I have the ones I need for the next few months, at least. :)

As always, thanks for reading and have a great week! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2012 #3: Expanding My Horizons

2012-01-23T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hey, everyone! My work life got pretty hectic toward the end of last week, when a colleague moved up her departure date by a couple of weeks! She took over my old job when I left in mid-2010, and I've gotten my old duties back as of today. In theory this change will allow me to leave on time more frequently, since my workload and schedule are no longer tied directly to anyone else. However, I left today a half-hour later that "normal," and I left one project unfinished. I kind of dumped it in the lap of my supervisor, but I suspect it will still be waiting for me tomorrow morning. :\

I'm still investigating the opportunity I mentioned last week, and I'll know more by the end of this week. Essentially, it's a transfer to the IT department and a promotion, but the concession is that it is a full-time position. I think I'm ready for a change -- particularly at the office -- so this may work out well. The upside is that I'll be able to afford to finish my Metalwork & Jewelry courses at MSU. In making that part of my incentive to take the position, it reinforces for me that I'm not giving up this business entirely...just putting it on the back-burner for a bit. ;) The downside is that I will miss my "family" in the Transfer Department. Many of us have weathered quite a few storms together. Hopefully, the space between my [possible] cubicle and them wouldn't be too far to travel. ;)

Last week, I started an experiment to see if yardsellr.com is a viable avenue for me to showcase my pieces. It's kind of like a cross between Etsy and eBay, with merchandise broken down into "blocks" by interest or material. My thinking was that it would be easier to reach people who are interested in wire-wrapped items, for example, by including my pieces in that block. The site automatically places the items in various blocks based on the title and description of the piece, so they are more likely to be seen by people looking for similar items. Unfortunately, I can't dictate where they should go, which means I am sort of at their mercy in that regard. I have received quite a few compliments on the Bird's Nest bracelet I posted, which has been placed in blocks for jewelry, Swarovski, sterling silver, and bracelets. It has received 138 views in a week, so that's not bad. :) Yardsellr is also connected to Facebook & Twitter, as well as Pinterest, which I also joined this week. I'm hoping to reach a wider audience through these sites than I have so far via my website and social media. What I like about Yardsellr is that the blocks are basically defining target markets. I've never investigated Etsy and Artfire thoroughly, although I did sign up for both shortly after starting this business. My impression is that Yardsellr took the concept of the former two sites a step further. My one concern is spreading myself too thin. I've had trouble finding the time to post pictures of my latest creations to my website and Facebook, let alone adding a third venue. However, I want to primarily use Yardsellr to help promote older in-stock pieces. I will be more selective in what I post there, based on what blocks I've seen available and the items I have come across in visiting them...I purchased some large-hole square glass, Amethyst, and Amber beads there recently. Custom work can be gratifying -- especially when a client is thrilled with the one-of-a-kind piece -- but it would help a lot for me to sell off my current inventory. Plus, if I ever decide to downsize or close up shop, I can probably sell my materials and tools more easily on Yardsellr than eBay. I tried selling some of my older or rarely used tools on eBay last year, and it was not very encouraging. :\

Gotta run...it's time for Hawaii Five-0! Have a great week! :)

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Tangible Tidbits 2012 #2: Better Late Than Never?

2012-01-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone! Sorry I never made it here last week, but I had a persistent headache that started mid-afternoon Thursday and continued off-and-on throughout the weekend. I'd taken Friday off from work and stayed in bed all day. I'm planning to get my eyes checked, since I haven't done it in something like three years. I can't say for sure that caused the headaches, but it could have made them worse. :\

I was on a wire-wrapped ring kick last Wednesday...I made six rings in one night, and I've already sold two of them! Whoo hoo! :) I also made a new bracelet with wire-wrapped Crazy Lace Agate and Blue Ribbon Jasper beads today. I've taken photos of everything I've made to date, but I am really behind in uploading them to my computer, editing them, and posting them to Facebook and the website. I think my "new" New Year's Resolution is not to start any new projects until I finish my UFOs (unfinished objects) and clean up around here. In finishing the pieces I've started, I am slowly cleaning up my work area. I have/had a bunch of materials piled up for those projects -- so I wouldn't have to look for them in my huge stash of materials -- and I can finally put them away as I finish each one. :p

Earlier today, I finished the large aluminum earrings I mentioned in my last post. They were probably 75 percent completed before today, so I decided to finish them up. After all, they will generate revenue! ;) I go through phases of incredible productivity, and then phases of incredible inactivity. I think I'm feeling productive because the office is closed tomorrow for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so I have an extra day this weekend. :)

As you may recall, I was going to pick up pieces in Jersey City last weekend. Mom came with me, since she used to spend a lot of time in Jersey City with Dad. She also went to school at Jersey City Medical Center and Jersey City State College, now known as New Jersey City University. Not surprisingly, we got lost both ways. :p Dad was undoubtedly looking down on us and shaking his head at me. I have a decent sense of direction, but that doesn't help me with all of the ramps, circular roads, and multiple highway intersections near Newark Liberty International Airport. Even with good directions, the signage is terrible. Anyway, I didn't sell anything, but the owner of the gallery said that it was due to the economy. The highest individual selling piece was $90, which is apparently low.

I'm exploring an opportunity that may help me get out of debt quicker and also allow me to go back to school in the fall. Don't worry...it's nothing illegal! ;) However, it will mean restructuring my schedule and my priorities. I'll keep you posted as things become more concrete. Right now, a lot is still up in the air. :\

With the doctor's blessing, I'm heading back to the gym this coming Friday for "light workouts" on my knee twice a week. We would have started on Tuesday, but I had already made appointments for medical scans I need -- strictly routine. ;) I hope I remember to take my gym clothes with me on Friday! :p

I hope those readers in the U.S. enjoy the rest of the three-day weekend, and all of you have a great week! :)

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Tangible Tidbits 2012 #1: A New Year And A Clean Slate

2012-01-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your respective New Year's celebrations. I went to a family-friendly party, complete with children's activities. My nieces were there and they got a kick out of saying "see you later" after midnight, since I had dinner at their house on New Year's Day. :)

First order of business: the new Focal Piece of the Month is up, highlighting a Garnet necklace. I've already ordered and received some Amethyst beads for next month, so I will have to decide what to do with them in the next week or two. I think the majority of the pieces featured in this birthstone series will have to be new ones. Although I have created numerous gemstone pieces in the past 2+ years -- believe it or not, I started this business two years ago this past October (October 26, 2009) and I totally forgot about the anniversary! :o -- I don't think many of them incorporate birthstone gems. :\

I received word this morning that I can pick up my remaining items and a check -- although the email was a general one to all participants, I am being optimistic that there will be a check for me ;) -- from Woolpunk Studios in Jersey City next weekend. The owner of the gallery said the STOCK'N STUFFrz event was a big success, so that's good news. :) In addition, I was invited to participate in a display of pieces by members of the Montclair State University Metalsmith Guild this week. It will be at the The Allwood Branch of the Clifton Public Library, 44 Lyall Road, Clifton, NJ. My participation has not yet been confirmed, as I cannot make it to drop off my pieces tomorrow morning because I'm working. I am hoping they will let me drop them off in the afternoon, between work and the first Bead Society of New Jersey Board meeting of the new year. Wish me luck! ;)

As I mentioned last week, my younger niece made me a woven scarf for Christmas. I wore it to the office on Friday and received A LOT of compliments on it! Unfortunately, though, my bracelet got caught on it and I am afraid it will easily unravel. So, I've decided to add a Picot edge of seed beads all around the edges of the scarf. I'm hoping that will minimize the opportunities for it to unravel, although the center of the scarf may still get caught on something. :\ I started working on it on Saturday, and showed my niece my progress on Sunday. Thankfully, she approved. ;) Luckily, I have seed beads here that almost perfectly match the two colors of the scarf, and I'm also using black ones because that is the base color she used in the scarf. I'll post a picture when it's finished. :)

A number of people at the office want me to make them very large aluminum earrings with dangling chain and accent beads on them. I made one pair for a coworker a while ago, but they were not big enough for her. Another coworker purchased them, and she wore them to the office one day last week. Thanks to that "walking advertisement," I now have orders for three more pairs! LOL Luckily, I have plenty of leftover scrap aluminum from my Chinese take-out box set. In addition, I found a vendor who sells pre-cut aluminum circles in multiple sizes, and I ordered a dozen each in three-inch, four-inch, and five-inch diameters. If the five-inch diameter discs aren't big enough for some people, then I can't help them! LOL One coworker suggested I use squares instead of circles, since cutting the circles is so time-consuming for me. I ended up cutting, filing, and sanding two rectangles, which do look pretty kewl dangling from the ear wires. ;) In any case, I will be working on those requests this week.

I've finished about ninety percent of the projects we started at the Chinese knotting workshop last month. I still have to work on my Double Connection knot, which needs a lot of work! :p I also have to finish the Star Gazer Bracelet from Laura McCabe's November workshop. I stopped working on it because I can't find the crystals used in the center of each flower, and also because it was uncomfortable to work on my bed with my bad knee. I had been working on it while watching television in the evenings, so now that my knee is better (more on that in a minute), I can probably start doing that again. I'll just have to order more crystals in the required size and color. :\

About my knee, the doctor wants me to use a heating pad on it rather than an ice pack, and he also suggested I start some light exercises on my own. I ordered the heating pad from a catalog that people who have been working at Registrar and Transfer Company for five years received. I achieved that milestone in July, but it was announced at a company-wide meeting about a month or so ago, and I was presented with the catalog at that time. Am I practical or what? LOL

Back to the "real world" again tomorrow. Have a great week, one and all! :)

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #51: Holiday Season and Year Wrap-up Report

2011-12-25T18:37:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone! I just got back from having Christmas dinner at my sister's house. My younger niece made me a scarf in a weaving class! I keep thinking she will join the "family business" one day...maybe in high school to make some extra money. ;)

We spent yesterday afternoon/evening with my extended family on Mom's side, as we've done for as long as I can remember. I received a couple of unexpected birthday gifts, which was really a nice surprise. :) Mom and I exchanged Christmas gifts this morning before heading out to my sister's. I also received a couple of presents from a family friend in Florida, who obviously reads this blog! ;) She gave me a gift card to Kmart for my birthday, so I can get a couple of items from Sofia Vergara's clothing line there; and a gift certificate to Fire Mountain Gems and Beads for Christmas. I guess she won't ever have trouble figuring out what to buy me ever again! LOL

My knee is much better after a month of using a cane. I was determined to get rid of the cane by Christmas, so I started getting around without it a couple of days ago, and today was the first day I didn't use it at all. :D The knee is still sore...I've got an ice pack on it as I type...but the doctor thinks I may be able to resume working out twice a week with the trainer by mid-January. I won't rush back into my old 3-5 days a week workout schedule, as I don't want to push myself too hard. I will work out with the trainer for a month or so before trying to expand my workouts beyond those "supervised" workouts. :)

Of course, being as accident-prone as I am, I now have a burn mark on my chest from baking cookies with my nieces on Friday. I had just put the cookies on the counter to cool, and I pulled the cookie sheet back from the counter, scraping the corner of it on my chest. I was trying to get it out of the way of the girls, who were hovering nearby. :o I'm putting A&D ointment on it, so it will hopefully heal without leaving a scar. I'm not safe anywhere, even in my own house! :\

As for business, I've completed a number of pieces I started at the Chinese knotting workshop a few weeks ago. I'm really pleased with how they turned out! :D I still have a couple that are incomplete, but I will hopefully get those done sometime this week. I'm working a lot of overtime at the office until the end of the year (we're short-handed again), so I will cut myself some slack if I don't finish them until later in January. ;)

The STOCK'N STUFFrz sale at Woolpunk Studios in Jersey City was extended through Christmas, so I will find out one day this week if I sold anything. Fingers crossed! :)

I'm off tomorrow, so Mom and are are planning to see The Descendents with George Clooney in the afternoon. I worked at the Maplewood Movie Theater in grad school, and the manager recently reached out to me via Facebook. She has some beads she wants restrung and also a bunch of materials she thought I could use, including some 14K gold beads! If she's there tomorrow, we'll chat about it...if not, she will call me after the New Year. :)

I hope you all had wonderful holidays and got everything on your "Wish Lists." ;) Since my next post will be on New Year's Day, I will wish everyone a fun-filled -- and responsible ;) -- New Year's Eve! Catch you in 2012! :o

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #50: Still Unconnected and Making Changes

2011-12-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

Hey, all! Sorry I missed you last week. I had my nieces over all weekend and I'm still experiencing computer problems, even though the malware scanner the guys at work gave me keeps coming up clean. I am writing to you from my Netbook in my kitchen, as the idea of turning on the computer upstairs and "fighting" with it does nothing for me. I dragged out the Netbook on Tuesday night, and I still have some upgrading to do before I can more or less use it as my primary computer. In addition, I keep getting a "no connection" message on my phone...in my own house that has a WiFi connection! Needless to say, the Universe seems to be conspiring to keep me unconnected. :p

I stayed up until 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday night, getting my five pieces ready to submit for Woolpunk Studios' STOCK'N STUFFrz event this weekend. One of the clasps on a necklace I made early on needed replacing, but I hadn't connected the piece to jump rings between the chain and the clasp, so I could not disconnect the clasp without destroying the piece. I have to remember not to do that anymore! :p Anyway, I ended up coiling thin wire around the toggle hoop and bar, so it looks better now. I showed my coworker the next day, since she was delivering the pieces for me. She said it looks like it requires a lot of patience! Especially that late at night. :)

My pieces sold fairly well at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center the previous weekend. I sold the beaded Crystal Geode, a ring, a bookmark, and another pair of earrings, in addition to the necklace and earrings I sold from the exhibit to a friend. I also sold another necklace and two more pairs of earrings separately last weekend. All in all, this Holiday season seems to be going fairly well. :)

As you may recall, I attended a Chinese knotting workshop last Saturday. I had a lot of fun learning how to make four-, five-, and eight-strand braids, Snake knots, Button knots, rolled satin nylon chains, and a criss-cross knot that I am still having problems making. We covered a lot of material in a relatively short period of time, so I spent some time this week working on these techniques to help commit them to memory. ;)

I am seriously thinking about discontinuing the Virtual Mall in the New Year. I've been spending a lot of time, money, and energy on it...and after 1-1/2 years, I don't feel I'm getting enough back from the effort. I'd rather spend the money updating the store on my website, as I have not had the time to do that myself for quite a while. Originally, I took that over from the web designer to save money, but it's not working out. I don't think I've updated the store in almost six months, if not longer. And the time I spend posting links to the Virtual Mall Facebook page could be better spent on administrative tasks or creating new pieces. I haven't updated my financial spreadsheet since the summer, and I have to get working on that to give it to the accountant for tax preparation. Ideally, I will have more time to keep on top of these things, rather than constantly playing catch-up at the last minute. :\ I won't shut the Virtual Mall down completely right away, as I have to meet minimum commission rates in order to close out some of my affiliate accounts, but I hope to have everything resolved by the summer.

Although I have completed my Christmas shopping, I still have gifts to wrap. My little elves (read: nieces) helped me wrap the gifts I had here last Sunday, but I was only about half done shopping at that point. They are coming over this Friday afternoon to help me bake cookies for the family party on Saturday...so if I don't get it all done by then, they can hopefully come to my rescue again. ;)

As next Sunday is Christmas and Hanukkah is this week, I believe, I will wish you all Happy Holidays now. Best wishes to you all! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #49: Holiday Headaches and Menacing Malware

2011-12-05T18:28:00.000-08:00

Hey, everyone! Sorry I'm late, but I had a bunch of malware on my computer, so I had to take it to the office and let the "computer gremlins" there (someone else's phrase, not mine!) clean it out. I was offline all weekend, but that wasn't such a hardship with my knee problem. I am seriously behind on my emails and other virtual business, though! :o I'm doing most of my Christmas shopping online, since walking around a mall is out of the question right now. :o

I still have a bunch of pieces to price out for the chiropractor's office tomorrow -- with my injury, I am seeing him weekly instead of biweekly, so I have the opportunity to change out the merchandise more often leading up to Christmas -- so I will make this brief. ;) My doctor's ex-wife wants a pair of custom earrings, and they are also buying a pair for their daughter for Christmas, so I made those over the weekend. I also beaded a small glass heart-shaped ornament. I saw a pack of six at a holiday bazaar kind of thing, and picked them up so I could experiment. I'm thinking about doing completely different things with them...this one is sort of wearing a red-and-green necklace, as the shape makes it look like a bust. :)

The most recent Focal Piece of the Month is up, by the way. :)

The Nunn Design Innovation Team folks contacted me already and I was not accepted. The big surprise was that I heard back so quickly...it often takes months to hear anything about one of these kinds of applications, if you get a response at all. :\

I met an old friend at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center yesterday to show off my display, which I did get to deliver on Thursday. He purchased a couple of Christmas gifts from the display, so I'm happy about that! :)

On the deadline date of November 30, I did finally apply to the STOCK'N Stuffers exhibit at Woolpunk Studios in Jersey City. No word back on that, but the sale is toward the end of December, so there's a little time yet. Fingers crossed! I haven't heard back from my friend at GAS Gallery And Studio's Holiday Art Days in South Orange, so I don't know if that will happen or not. :\

The good news for me is that my colleague at the office has only 2-1/2 vacation days left to use up before the end of the year, so I won't have to work as much OT this month. And I have my own last vacation day next Monday. I have to put my car in for maintenance, so that will take a chunk out of the middle of the day.

Unfortunately, the pain in my leg is still disrupting my sleep. The chiropractor will use ultrasound on it again tomorrow...that seemed to help a lot for about 1-1/2 days last week before it wore off. :p

I've gotta run if I want to get the pieces priced for tomorrow and still watch Hawaii Five-0. Enjoy this rather mild December weather we're having and have a great week! ;)

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #48: First Glasses, Now A Cane...What's Next, A Pacemaker?

2011-11-27T21:14:00.000-08:00

Hey, folks! My mother used to always say "Into each life, a little rain must fall" while I was growing up. Well, it rained again last night in my life. Instead of attending my 25th high school reunion -- in hindsight, maybe I should have gone after all! -- I messed up my left knee...again. I had a "very bad sprain" 2-3 years ago and had to walk around with a borrowed cane for more than a month. Out of necessity, Mom bought me one of my very own this morning. My older niece wanted her father to buy her one to play around with, and I told her she could use mine after I was finished with it. My younger niece, in her infinite wisdom, said, "You'll probably need it other times." Cute kid, right? :p

It all started when I was sitting on the floor in my computer room/studio, pricing out pieces to deliver to 1978 Maplewood Arts Center this morning for next weekend's BANG VI exhibit. I was reaching for something out of my grasp and leaned forward to get it, rising up on my knees a bit to extend my reach (I was sitting "criss-cross applesauce"...formerly known as Indian-style). Something popped, but that's not terribly unusual. However, when I sat back down, I realized I couldn't bend or straighten my leg, and I couldn't get up off the floor! Serves me right for being too lazy to get up the first time. :p I was in so much pain, I had tears in my eyes! Naturally, I didn't sleep well last night and I did not make it over to 1978 this morning. I emailed the coordinator, and she graciously extended my deadline until Thursday, and she will be there to help me unload the car. My mother also offered to help. I still have a few items to price out and record on the required inventory sheets, since I bailed on finishing that once I got hurt last night. I already have an appointment scheduled with the chiropractor for Tuesday, so I will muddle through until then. I have to work a full day tomorrow, as a supervisor and my partner/colleague are both out. I backed the car out of the driveway earlier to make sure I can manage the clutch on my stick shift. Remind me next time to get an automatic, "just in case." :o

Aside from my personal drama, I applied online for the Nunn Design Innovation Team last night, as I noticed a call for participants on the Beadaholique blog while looking for something else. Swarovski has a similar team, and I know someone from the Bead Society who is on it. Nunn Design makes vintage-looking materials, so I thought that would be a great fit for me. Fingers crossed that they agree! ;) I also submitted my Jeweler's Saw necklace in Fire Mountain Gems and Beads' Metal Clay, Metal Beads, Wire & Chain Jewelry-making Contest. I received a letter that I was not selected as a finalist in their Pearls, Organic Beads & Clay contest, which I didn't even remember entering. Still waiting to hear about the Swarovski Crystal ELEMENTS contest. I also apparently did not place in Beadaholique's "Falling Leaves" contest, which I only found out by checking their website. I wasn't even sure it had been evaluated yet. :\

My Thanksgiving was very nice....lots of extended family, food, and Nintendo Pictionary. A fun game, although a lot more complicated than you would think. I hope those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving enjoyed yours, too. :)

I know this is short (for me, anyway), but my knee is throbbing and I have to get up earlier than usual tomorrow to allow myself extra time to get ready for work. Everything takes a Herculean effort right now, and I don't want to be late because I took too long to get dressed or had trouble driving the car. :(

Take care, one and all...and have a great week! ;)

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #47: Working, Workshops, and "One Life To Live"

2011-11-20T18:15:00.000-08:00

Hey, everyone! :)

Okay, so let's start with last weekend. On Saturday, I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. pricing pieces for the Third Annual Jewels of New Jersey show on Sunday. Then, I got up at 7:15 a.m. to shower, dress, load up the car, and drive one hour south of me to the show. Business was not as good as last year, and that was also the general consensus of the other vendors I spoke with that day. There was a lot of work to put into it with not such a great return, but I made more money than I would have staying home and sitting on my butt. :p BTW, I have a few pictures from the event that I will post to Facebook when I get the chance. My sister brought my nieces for the last two hours, which was a nice distraction. However, I might have made a few more sales by focusing on the people browsing my table and chatting with them instead of keeping my nieces occupied. :\ Anyway, next is the BANG VI exhibit at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center. I have to decide what I want to bring and fill out the appropriate forms and labels this week. Luckily, I found pictures from last year (and also posted them to Facebook), so I know what items I had there already. :) No word yet on the events in Jersey City and South Orange. Fingers crossed! ;)

We had our December Bead Society (BSNJ) meeting this week, and I attended a workshop yesterday. At the meeting on Thursday night, Dr. Josephine Yeh gave a presentation on Chinese knotting. She's one of our members and a really sweet lady. There's a picture of the two of us in the Facebook album link I posted above. :) Her presentation was really enjoyable -- she's very funny! -- and she will follow up with a workshop in early December. The workshop I attended on Saturday was to learn how to make a Star Gazer Bracelet with internationally-renowned bead artist Laura McCabe. She's 35, but looks 10 years younger! LOL She's really very nice and patient. ;) We were there for six hours, and I think the most anyone accomplished was one flower our of the eight needed for the piece. :o I'd imagine by the time you get through making all eight flowers, you'd be pretty adept at it! Let's hope so! :)

Also, BSNJ's Autumn newsletter came out this week, and it included my Ten Life Lessons... article! I will paste it up and post it in the clips album on Facebook when I get a chance. :)

I was so wiped out from the past couple of weeks that I slept until NOON today! I guess I really needed the rest. After that, I baked cookies for our family Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. That's my assignment every year...bake Crisco cookies! They are basically butter cookies, but made with Crisco instead. The recipe goes back to World War II, when butter was scarce. ;)

Still working a lot this coming week, even with Thanksgiving on Thursday. We have early dismissals on Wednesday and Friday -- we cannot close the day after Thanksgiving, unfortunately. It has something to do with the stock market not being allowed to close for more than three days (meaning no four-day weekends) since 9-11. However, we are open a lot of days the Depository Trust Company (DTC) is closed, so that doesn't really make much sense to me. Anyway, my colleague is out again Monday and Tuesday, so I'll be working more OT this week. :p

I entered into an online discussion about Joe Paterno's firing from Penn State earlier this week. If you're interested, you can find the discussion here on The Maplewood Patch. I was in the minority, and decided to get out before things got nasty. I don't mind sharing opinions with people, but when they start to lecture me on morality I lose interest VERY quickly. :p

Well, I'm off to YouTube to catch Thursday's and Friday's episodes of One Life To Live, another ABC soap opera that's going off the air in a few weeks. I used to watch it in college, but I only really started watching it again when they announced it was being canceled. In actuality, I think it is moving to the internet sometime early next year, but it will be different than it is now, I'm sure. :\

Take care and Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it! :)

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #46: My 101st Post!

2011-11-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone! I just noticed on Blogger that this is my 101st blog post! How do you like that? ;)

Well, my life is crazy at the moment, especially having worked all weekend getting ready for and attending the Jewels of New Jersey juried show in Monroe Township yesterday. More on that and everything else next week. Unfortunately, I have a bunch of stuff to get done this week, and I am working a lot of overtime at the office because (1) my colleague is out Monday and Tuesday and I am subbing for him, and (2) I have to attend a two-day workshop -- four hours each day -- on Excel 2010 Wednesday and Thursday at work. That will basically take up the entire time I'm usually there, so I will get very little work done and I will probably have to stick around to finish up some stuff. With all that being said, I will fill you in on all of the gory details of my busy life next weekend, and perhaps offer my thoughts on the whole Penn State/Joe Paterno controversy...of which I have many! :p I'm taking the "easy way out" again and posting a Focal Piece Flashback, for your reading pleasure. ;) We will return to our regularly scheduled programming next Sunday. Thanks...and have a great week! :D

From April 2010:

For this month, I thought I'd showcase the first finished piece from my Metalwork & Jewelry class at Montclair State University (MSU). It's a solid sterling silver pendant, created using a cuttlebone cast. I've used a gunmetal pinch bail and 2mm black leather, which I had left over from Artbeads.com's Use The Muse contest kit. I also used a silver-tone claw clasp.

Cuttlebone casting is not too difficult, although it did take me two tries to get this right. The first time, only the bottom of the piece came out...the top must've been the victim of an air bubble or something. :\

Cuttlebone is the internal shell of the Cuttlefish, and can be purchased at pet supply stores, since it is used as a supplement and exercise toy for birds. Apparently, it is high in calcium, according to About.com.

To make a cuttlebone cast -- which can only be used once, BTW, since it is scorched during the process of pouring the molten metal of choice into the cast -- you take a piece of cuttlebone and cut it in half for smaller pieces. If you are making a larger piece, you can use two separate pieces. There is a smooth side and a rough side. Rub the smooth sides together to make a flat working surface. Be sure both sides of the cast are close to the same size...otherwise, you run the risk of having the metal seep out. This happened to me both times...it leaked out the bottom of my cast, even though I did my best to take precautions. Once you have two similar-sized halves of your cast, carve a "funnel" in the top to make it easier for the metal to travel to your carving. If metal stays in this portion when making your piece, you can saw it off later. When carving your design into the cuttlebone, keep in mind the use of negative space. The metal can flow into any areas that are carved out, so if you want areas without metal, do not carve those out from the surface. If you want a three-dimensional piece, carve the mirror image out of the opposite side of the cast. Also, molten metal can only flow downward, so if your design has any parts that point upward, they won't receive metal. Be sure to keep at least 1/4" or so around the perimeter when creating your design, which will minimize leakage. Don't carve too deep if you're making jewelry because the piece will be thick, chunky and heavy. It's fine for sculptures, though. Also, there is a natural pattern in cuttlebone, which will appear in your piece. See all of the ridges and lines in the pendant? That's all natural texture provided by the cuttlebone.

Once you have your carving all set -- cuttlebone is pretty soft, so you can use any tool to carve it...I used one of my needle files -- tape the two pieces of cuttlebone together with masking tape. Be sure the two sides are lined up as you want them, since you only have one shot per cast. Put the cast in a third arm (a stand with a set of tweezers to hold the item in place), and use a high powered torch to melt your metal. Be sure you have enough metal to fill in your piece! Better to have too much than too little. Fine and sterling silver, brass, bronze, and gold can all be used. Copper can be used if it is mixed with 30% silver. Otherwise, it won't hold the shape of the cast.

Borax flux (sprinkles like salt) is added as you melt the metal. Sunglass goggles are recommended because of the power of the torch needed to liquefy the metal. Once the metal is fully melted, pour it quickly but carefully into the cast, as it will cool and take the shape of the carving pretty quickly. Try not to waste any metal, especially if you're using precious metals like silver or gold!

Once the metal has cooled -- the metal at the top of the cast will change from a lava-looking orange color to dark -- you can cut the tape holding the cast together and reveal your piece. Put the piece into a bowl of cool water using tweezers to cool the piece off, then you can pick it up out of the water. Before you dowse it in water, it's too hot to touch. Put the piece in a pickle solution to clean off any oxidation. Cut off any extraneous pieces with a jeweler's saw, then file and sand the piece to make the edges smooth. If you wish, you can polish it with compounds on a wheel; we have bobbing, tripoli and red rouge at school, so I used those. I drilled a hole in the top of the pendant for the bail, and voilà!

If you're interested, I found step-by-step instructions with photos on the web.

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #45: Cell Phones, Credit Cards, and Daylight Savings Time!

2011-11-06T15:53:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone...welcome to the other side of Daylight Savings Time! ;) I hope you all remembered to turn your clocks back last night. I only remembered because I had set an alert on my cell phone! :o

Speaking of cell phones, I upgraded mine this week to a Samsung Fascinate. I needed an Android with a 3.5mm headset jack for next weekend. A few weeks ago, I signed up for a free Square Credit Card Reader, but the phone application is not compatible with my Palm Pixi. Luckily, I found a phone that was free -- my regular upgrade isn't really until the spring -- and met most, if not all, of my requirements. I should get it this week, in time to download the application and test it out before the Jewels of New Jersey show next Sunday. Which reminds me...I will probably not post on Sunday next week, as the day will be more than long enough by the time I get back from Monroe Township -- approximately one hour south of me. Anyway, the Square reader and application will allow me to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover credit card payments with my cell phone and have them automatically deposited to my bank account the next day! There was someone at the show last year who offered to accept credit card payments for vendors, and she charged 5 percent per transaction. Square charges 2.75 percent per swipe for all transactions, so that seems like a pretty good deal to me! Naturally, the idea is not to lose potential sales because someone does not have a check or enough cash on hand. Fingers crossed! :D

Needless to say, I will be getting ready for Sunday's "road trip" almost every night this week! I also received my postcard proofs (my name will be on them this year!) for BANG VI, as well as the press release, 2011 artwork inventory form & labels. Last year, I signed up too late to receive those materials in advance, so I had to write it all up when I dropped off my pieces. Thankfully, I have a little more time this year to pick and choose what to send and properly identify my pieces. :)

I spent a lot of yesterday working on two bracelets for my nieces. They were here mid-week because they still had no power from last weekend's storm. The girls each selected colors for "Snakemaille" metal and rubber ring chain maille bracelets, and laid the rubber rings all out nice and neatly in patterns on my bead board. Of course, I bumped into it once and then knocked over completely in the following two days! :o I decided I'd better just make them and get them out of the way before I forgot the order in the color patterns entirely! :p The bracelets turned out really cute. I've noticed recently that my work is becoming more consistent, which is gratifying for me to see. :) I've started reworking some of my early pieces, which were not as "polished" I am capable of now. ;)

BTW, the latest Focal Piece of the Month is up and I posted a bunch of new pictures to our current Facebook photo album. I still have a few more to edit and post...I will hopefully get all caught up with that this week, since I have to have the pictures in my presentation binder on Sunday to show examples of my work not on display. :)

As I mentioned last week, I showed a friend the binder on Saturday. She is interested in getting some new earrings (and I have TONS of them here!), but she has to try them on and see them in person. We still have to decide if she wants to give me some ideas of what I can bring to her, or if she wants to come here to see all of them. :)

Did I tell you that I figured out how to alleviate the paragraph separating problem I was having with Blogger? I noticed a "Post Options" link below the tags window while posting last weekend, and I checked it out. One choice is "Press 'Enter' for line breaks," so I clicked on it and...problem solved! ;)

Well, I'm off to watch Once Upon A Time, the new show on at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday nights on ABC-TV. I watched the pilot a couple of weeks ago, and then forgot about it last weekend. :o Luckily, I found it on Comcast On Demand, so I caught up yesterday afternoon. I get a kick out of programs that take widely known characters -- and who's more widely known than Snow White, Prince Charming, the Wicked Queen, the Seven Dwarfs, Geppetto, Pinocchio, Red Riding Hood, Granny, Rumplestiltskin, etc.? -- and putting them in non-traditional settings and situations. The series may not be the most original...another network is airing Grimm this season, presumably based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales...but I do think it's fun to figure out who the different characters are in modern day Storybrooke, Maine. It's not always obvious, which is part of the fun factor. ;) I have no idea if the series has a shelf life given the premise, but I don't think series' in general look for longer than 4-5 years (if that!) anymore. Long gone are the days when a TV series lasted 12, even 15 years (animated series and reality TV shows notwithstanding)!

Take care and have a great week! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #44: It Was a Dark And Stormy Night...Emphasis on DARK!

2011-10-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! Well, it was indeed a dark and stormy night here in New Jersey last night. We lost power again yesterday afternoon -- thankfully, it was not only us this time! -- got it back for six hours this morning, then lost it again for another 3+ hours! I won't be convinced we're out of the woods until we have it back for a full 24 hours! :p This snow/slush storm wasn't supposed to be that big of a deal, and yet driving around town today...it looks like it did in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene! My sister is without power until "sometime next week." Tree limbs and uprooted trees are all over the place, some taking power lines with them! The town tree on our neighbor's property lost another large limb, taking their cable lines with it and blocking their car in the driveway again. It didn't pull out our power line this time, but it is leaning heavily on it. With the added weight of snow last night, it is close to the ground now. It's still plugged into the house, but it has pulled out the industrial-strength hook it was on and the pipe connecting the line to the house is now bent at a 90-degree angle! The wooden shingles on that corner of the house have snapped, and are visibly separating from the house, too. It's a shame the town didn't get rid of that tree while they had the chance. In fact, I'd say about 99 percent of the damage I saw today was from town-owned trees lining the streets. They are obviously dead inside or diseased, and should be replaced. Looks like it's going to be a loooooooooooong, dark winter here!

Aside from being powerless most of the weekend, I tried to use some of the time to my best advantage. I sat at my work desk with a candle and played around with a few jewelry ideas I've had percolating in my brain. Unfortunately, some of them were severely hampered by the lack of light and my aging eyesight, so I had to put them aside and try something else. I was kind of hoping to stumble across something I could almost literally do with my eyes closed! LOL After a little more than three hours with moderate success, I decided to call it a night. I did manage to revamp two twisted bead necklaces that I made last year. I didn't like the way they hung on store-bought necklace frames I purchased from Michael's or A.C. Moore (I can't remember which off the top of my head), so I put one on thin black P'leather cord and the other on black braided Greek leather. I'm much happier with them now. ;) Anyway, I woke up to find power in the house! Alas, it was not to last. :p We're back up right now, and keeping our fingers crossed it stays that way! ;)

Last week, I sold a pair of earrings that I had "in stock" (YAY!) to one coworker, and I also worked on a bracelet for another coworker -- my second attempt. Since I haven't been able to be online much, I haven't priced out many new items yet. I'll have to play catch up on that this week, as well as fixing up and posting new pictures to Facebook. I'm bringing my photo binder to a friend next Saturday, so I have to get all of the photos print-ready and print them out! I can't remember the last time I updated the book...I think it was in the spring sometime! :o Being a one-woman-show, it seems that I often put off certain tasks until I run up against a firm deadline and I literally cannot put them off any longer! Not necessarily the smartest way to run a business, but it's worked out okay for me so far. ;)

OH! A new coworker -- she was hired within the past month or so -- at the office asked me for my business card! She'd heard me talking to some of the girls about different pieces they wanted or were buying. It turns out she works part-time for a gallery in Jersey City -- ironically, my father's old stomping grounds -- and said they are "always looking for new talent!" I like being put in that category. :D A couple of weeks ago, I connected with the owner of GAS Gallery & Studio in South Orange about their Holiday Art Days exhibit. He and I went to elementary school together. I'd heard about the exhibit last year too late to participate, but he said he'd let me know once they have the dates set for this year. :D In addition, I received flyers this week for the 3rd annual Jewels of New Jersey, and posted one to Facebook. There's also one on the half-wall next to my desk at the office. ;)

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I've been competing in our office's Biggest Loser contest since July. I came in SECOND for the THIRD time! :D No cash prize this time around for second place, but I'm happy I'm consistently doing well these days. ;) Of course, we ended this last round on Friday, as we are having a Halloween party in our department ALL DAY tomorrow. ;) Hopefully, I won't undo ALL of my hard work in one day (not very likely)! :p

That's pretty much all I can think of at the moment. Wherever you are, keep warm, stay dry, and have a great week! ;)

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #43: In the Midst of Middle Age...

2011-10-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hello, everybody! Well, today I finally accepted my growing need for magnifying glasses while doing intricate beadwork and reading. My eyesight has been a bit blurry for quite a while, but I've had nearly perfect vision all of my life...21/20 and 21/23 at my last two appointments, if I recall correctly. Obviously, I'm due for a new eye check-up! :p I've also acquired credit card debt for the first time in my life this year. A mere two months and one day from my 43rd birthday, I think it's safe to say I am officially a middle-aged grown-up. How and when did THAT happen? :o

Being off from the office, I accomplished a lot this week...although not as much as I wanted (of course!). I completed three custom pieces for coworkers that I will present to them this week for approval. I also finished the "Falling Leaves" Contest entry piece I mentioned last week, which I have to submit by Wednesday. I made and sold two new children's bracelets, an order I received via Facebook message last week. I ordered supplies for a bracelet that a friend inquired about a couple of weeks ago. I finally emailed the winners of Something Tangible's Strut Your Stuff Photo Contest with their discount coupons. And I completed a new kit that I'd acquired at this week's Bead Society meeting (more about that in a minute). It was while working on the Fire & Ice Ring kit by bead artist Amy Katz that I decided I couldn't really focus well enough on the small beads. I did, however, finish the ring before heading out to Rite Aid for the glasses. ;)

The guest speaker at this month's Bead Society meeting was the aforementioned bead artist, Amy Katz. She's got a similar professional background to mine...she worked in marketing and publicity for most of her career before switching to her craft full-time. Her work is very classy...she looks at high end jewelry pieces and recreates them in seed beads. The Fire and Ice Ring I made this weekend is really elegant...lots of tiny Swarovski crystals on a silver band. It reminds me of a bejeweled wedding band, although not nearly as expensive! LOL The Even-count Tubular Peyote stitch was used to create the band, and it reminded me of an elastic metal watch band. I think I will make one to replace the worn pink leather band on my silver Tommy Hilfiger watch, using Even-count flat Peyote. I'd been thinking about making a new one for a while, but I hadn't decided how I wanted to approach it. Methinks I've found my solution! ;)

I missed dinner with the BSNJ Board before the meeting because I'd had a headache in the afternoon -- another sign it was time to get glasses -- but I did go out with a few of them after the meeting for "coffee." I had water and a piece of chocolate mousse cake, since I don't drink coffee. Naturally, none of us planned to have dessert, but one trip up to the diner's display case and we all ordered something! :p Anyway, Ms. Katz was also there, so I got to interact with her a bit more. Never hurts to network, ya know? ;) She taught two workshops this weekend, but I couldn't attend them. I'm glad I had this alternate opportunity fall in my lap. Ironically, I initially turned down the invitation because I knew I had an hour drive back home up the Garden State Parkway, and it was already 9:30 p.m. Then, I remembered I didn't have to get up for work the next morning, so I decided to tag along after all. :D

Although my budget is tight these days, I was persuaded to sign up for a Society workshop next month, taught by a renowned bead artist whose schedule is booked for the next two years! She happened to have an opening, and our Workshops Chair was in the right place at the right time. The Workshops Chair is the one who persuaded me to "do this for yourself." She called it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (she's good at her job, isn't she? LOL). Who am I to turn that down? ;)

On a somber note, my father would have turned 70 this coming Tuesday (October 25). I can't believe he's been gone for nine years. Man, I AM getting old! :o

Anyway, it's back to the daily grind tomorrow. The guy I work with will be out on Wednesday, so that automatically means extra hours for me. He has a fair amount of time left to use up before the end of the year, so I will be working a lot of extra hours leading up to the holidays. :)

I've still got to write the new Focal Piece of the Month tonight, since it was due to the web designer today. Take care and have a great week! ;)

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #42: A Little "Working Hard"...and A Little "Hardly Working!"

2011-10-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hey, folks! I took this week off from the office -- if we don't use all of our vacation and personal time by the end of the year, we lose it...and I'm not about to let THAT happen! ;) I have some personal goals for the week, like taking the air conditioners out of my bedroom and the computer room and putting them in the attic, getting my flu shot, etc. I already got my hair cut on Saturday...that was loooooong overdue! LOL Anyway, I also hope to get caught up on a few orders that I have received in the past few weeks, and perhaps fix and/or finish some of the UFOs (a term for "unfinished objects" used by craftspeople) I have laying around.

As I mentioned last week, I had a very social weekend last weekend. On Saturday, I met with a group of ladies for an equine session at a stable in western New Jersey. The idea was to work with the horses, and observe your interactions with them. The theory is "how you do this is how you do everything." I have to admit, I did see a pattern in my attitude and demeanor. We were trying to get the horse to follow us each individually. I started out polite and respectful, but then...the more frustrated I grew, the louder my voice and harsher my words became. I absolutely do that with people, too! LOL Anyway, we went into Frenchtown for lunch afterward and walked around a bit. The author of the book, Eat, Pray, Love owns a shop there, so we checked it out. All-in-all, it was a very nice day! And on Sunday, we had an 11th birthday party for my youngest cousin. I partied a bit more than I should have, which is part of why I didn't post a new message last week. :p

The 1978 Maplewood Arts Center is holding its B.A.N.G VI (Buy Art Now Guys 6) exhibit during the first two weekends in December, and I've signed up again this year. I have to decide what pieces I want to display and price them accordingly -- since it is a not-for-profit, they request prices be whole numbers only to facilitate transactions for the volunteers. I also have to start figuring out what I want to bring to the Third Annual Jewels of New Jersey show in Monroe Township in November. Last year, I pretty much brought everything I had. That is completely unfeasible this year, so I want to pick items that are more likely to be sold (or ordered, but preferably sold to decrease the volume of my inventory). ;)

I started working on another contest piece this last week -- the theme is "falling leaves," and the contest is hosted by Beadaholique. I'm calling my piece "No Two Are Exactly Alike," as I figure leaves are not unlike snowflakes. ;) It's going to take a bit of time and effort on my part, but I'm hoping the result turns out like the picture I have in my head! :p I have a couple of weeks left before the deadline, so I'm hoping to get a fair amount of it done while I'm home this week. :)

By the way, I've added Hatchlings nests to both the Something Tangible LLC and Something Tangible's Virtual Mall pages on Facebook for those who play. All traffic is good, n'est'ce pas? ;) Also, I just found some photos from a workshop and the two craft shows I worked last year; I've posted them in an album on the Something Tangible page. I have to remember to always bring my camera with me and take a few shots whenever I do something like that. I don't have photos from BANG 5 or the workshop I held at 1978 -- the one that ended up in the newspaper -- because it didn't occur to me! ;)

A quick rant before I go...Blogspot is irritating me! They changed the format somehow and now whenever I write a post, I have to insert the HTML code manually for space breaks between paragraphs! Otherwise, it shows up as one big paragraph...how STOOPID is that? >: I keep forgetting to do it as I'm writing, so I always have to go in afterward and insert them. :\

On that note, I will bid you all adieu. Have a great week!

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #41: Focal Piece Flashback

2011-10-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! I had a busy weekend -- socially, not work ;) -- and I'm still playing catch-up. As a result, I am taking the "easy way out" this week and reposting the Focal Piece of the Month from February-March 2010 instead of my usual blog post. I will update you all next week on what's been going on. Take care and have a great week! :D

You will rarely see me feature an item that was designed by someone else as a Focal Piece of the Month, simply because the purpose of this section is to highlight projects that support Something Tangible's overall mission and that showcase the work we do here. That being said, this month I am breaking that rule, and putting the spotlight on one of kits by sb designs I purchased and assembled during my Advanced Wire Jewelry class at the Madison, Chatham & Florham Park Adult School last fall.

It is the Time Is Precious Necklace, which features the inside mechanism of a vintage watch in a claw setting as the focal piece of the necklace. It is an example of Steampunk jewelry, the subject of an oral presentation I am researching for my Metalwork & Jewelry class at Montclair State University this semester. I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and cover the subject here, too. I am a master at multi-tasking, you know. ;)

According to a brief description I found at Beading Daily:

"The steampunk culture takes its cues from the Victorian era, and speculates on how our world would be different if steam power had become the driving force behind our culture. Gears and watch hands are used to decorate larger pieces. Old-fashioned keys are also very popular, as are bits of antique cast-offs, such as pill cases, thread cutters and tiny knives."

The movement not only encompasses jewelry, but also clothing, goggles, and other fashion accessories such as boots and hats. This, I found out by conducting a search for "Steampunk" on Google.

Looking at Steampunkopedia's (Yes, there was such a site! Unfortunately, the link I had no longer works) Steampunk Chronology, the earliest images of the Steampunk culture can be traced back as early as 1962. One item on the list surprised me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made perfect sense to be included: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in 1968. It was a blending of Victorian-era and modern technology for the time, was it not?

Although its roots are much older, the actual term "Steampunk" wasn't created until the late 1980s. According to Wikipedia,

"Although many works now considered seminal to the genre were published in the 1960s and 1970s, the term steampunk originated in the late 1980s as a tongue in cheek variant of cyberpunk. It seems to have been coined by the science fiction author K. W. Jeter, who was trying to find a general term for works by Tim Powers (author of The Anubis Gates, 1983), James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986) and himself (Morlock Night, 1979 and Infernal Devices, 1987) which took place in a 19th-century (usually Victorian) setting and imitated conventions of actual Victorian speculative fiction such as H. G. Wells's The Time Machine. In a letter to the science fiction magazine Locus, printed in the April 1987 issue, Jeter wrote:

Dear Locus,
Enclosed is a copy of my 1979 novel Morlock Night; I'd appreciate your being so good as to route it Faren Miller, as it's a prime piece of evidence in the great debate as to who in 'the Powers/Blaylock/Jeter fantasy triumvirate' was writing in the 'gonzo-historical manner' first. Though of course, I did find her review in the March Locus to be quite flattering.

Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like 'steampunks', perhaps...

—K.W. Jeter[1]"

^ Sheidlower, Jesse (March 9, 2005). "Science Fiction Citations". Retrieved May 10, 2008.

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #40: Fortunes and Fashion

2011-10-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! I wasn't sure I was going to post today, because I didn't know if I had anything to say. Then, I got this fortune from the Fortune Cookie application on Facebook: "Every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward." That sort of sums up my week, so I decided to go with that. ;) LOL

I've had a lot of "false starts" this week. It seemed like the majority of jewelry projects I picked up went nowhere. I have a rather large and messy pile of pieces and tools sitting right next to my computer -- and they've been there for more than a week. Every once in a while throughout the week, I picked up one to see if I can come up with something new, as the original is either flawed or incomplete. Almost everything I tried just didn't work. So, I abandoned them again and played Hatchlings on Facebook. :p I haven't played that game in probably a year or more, but I kinda got sucked back into it again...most likely to avoid facing another failure. They say everything is about perspective, so the Facebook fortune helped me to reframe my difficulties and look at them not as failures, but as "wrong attempts discarded." That makes it easier for me to admit defeat, and potentially chuck a project out the window entirely, rather than try to force something that will never be acceptable. ;)

Another theme in my life this week has been fashion. Mom and I were watching Rachael Ray's show on ABC earlier in the week on a day off from the office, and she had Sofia Vergara on to promote her new Kmart clothing line. We were both impressed with some of the clothes modeled by one of the larger models. Most of the tops have ruching on the sides or the front, which makes them more flattering because they camouflage "curves in the wrong places" more easily. ;) Anyway, we went to a nearby Kmart and tried on clothes this afternoon. Neither one of us enjoys shopping, and particularly trying on clothes! Still, we both found items we liked on ourselves and each other. She purchased one top today, and I made a note which ones I want in what sizes for a future purchase. :) I usually buy a few new things at the beginning of each season, but I'm short on funds at the moment, so my splurge will have to wait a bit.

I did order a couple pairs of Curve Control® Jeans by Kymaro earlier this week, since I now have three pairs of jeans that are too big for me! I've lost around 15 pounds since the beginning of the year, thanks to my new trainer, I'm sure. ;) I'm currently in second place in our department's Biggest Loser contest, which ends just before Halloween. Anyway, I decided to try these jeans because I liked the improvement from the "before" to "after" pictures posted on their website. Worst case scenario, I'll send them back...but I really want to see how they look on me. ;)

I also tried on a bunch of clothes I've had stored away because they didn't fit too well when I bought them a year (or more) ago. Most of them look really nice now! :D I know you should really get rid of anything that doesn't fit, but sometimes it pays to keep them "just in case." LOL

The new Focal Piece of the Month is up...I featured the Blue Bling Bracelet I made for the Swarovski Elements contest I mentioned last week. I've decided to focus on birthstone pieces in 2012, so I want to start putting together some items for the early part of the year. The Garnet post for January will be added to the site with the December updates (usually around the 23rd of each month), so I have to get moving. It will be here before I know it! :o

Have a great week, folks!

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #39: My Photo Contest, the Economy, and Farewell to Pine Valley

2011-09-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! I don't know how many of you currently watch or have ever watched soap operas, but they are a dying breed. The dynamics of families have changed, and there are not nearly as many stay-at-home Moms anymore to watch them and buy the "soap" advertised in the commercials. :\

I started watching All My Children (AMC) on ABC when I was in the 7th grade. It was the first soap opera I ever watched. It was either just before or at the beginning of the Jenny & Greg era, and I think that's what sucked me into it. I switched over to NBC soaps in college because a roommate watched them. I eventually started watching AMC again when Mom came home from work to watch it at lunch time while I was unemployed a number of years back. After 41 years, AMC ended its network run on Friday -- although they say it will return on the internet in early 2012, along with One Life To Live, which will end its run at the end of the year. It will be interesting to see how many of the stars return for the online format. Given that the show was ending, a number of characters came back "from the dead" in a bizarre stem cell storyline, so that the actors could be part of the ending. I don't foresee too many of them sticking around, so my guess is that the online Pine Valley will differ quite a bit from where the network version left off. :\ In any case, I watched the tribute to AMC on The View on Friday -- thank God for YouTube! ;) -- and it was really touching. Among others, the actors who played Greg and Jenny (Laurence Lau and Kim Delaney) were on! I think it's the first time they've been reunited since the mid-1980s! :p Not only was the end of this show the end of an era, it was also a nostalgic trip down Memory Lane. It's funny how you associate things like that with certain times of your life. Anyway, I hope the new format does the old one justice. Guess we'll see next year!

Now that I've submitted my Blue Bling Bracelet for Fire Mountain Gems' Swarovski contest, they've announced a new one for pieces featuring metal clay, metal beads, wire, jump rings, and/or chain. I have to give this some thought, but I have until January. Since I started out in wire work, it shouldn't be too hard to think of something. :)

I have eight photos from five people so far for the "Strut Your Stuff" Photo Contest, with only five days until the deadline! And the pictures I have, I had to take myself! They are all coworkers, who were happy to submit photos. One coworker asked me to take it myself -- she definitely does NOT like having her picture taken! LOL Since I was going to have my camera there, anyway, I offered to take pictures of the others, too. What better way to ensure I get the photos than by taking them myself?! I'm sorry I can't offer the same service to those of you who live too far away. ;) However, I would appreciate it if some more of you sent me your pictures...I still have room for seven (7) more winners! If I don't get any more by the deadline, I have to decide if I should give more than one 20 percent discount to people who have submitted multiple photos. I was hoping to have at least enough entries to give one to each participant, but that may not happen with only five days left to go. Then again, I still haven't updated the website, so I may buy myself a little time with an extension. I can't see myself updating the site on a week night after work...that's really more of a get-started-early-on-the-weekend-and-hope-it-gets-done kind of job. :p

I think I forgot to mention last week that I've signed up for the 3rd Annual "Jewels of New Jersey" fundraiser for the Monroe Township Public Library. It's a better deal than last year, as we are asked for 10 percent of total sales instead of 20 percent, in addition to the table fee. Since I participated last year, I will be placed in the large community room (or whatever they call it). People who participated two years ago but not last year will get the remaining spots in there, and others will be placed in the main section of the library. I did pretty well at that show last year, so I am hoping to sell off some of my inventory, which is becoming overwhelming. :o

One thing I've started doing recently is disassembling pieces that I've had for a long time, or ones that I've never been happy with the final result. I'm still keeping the pictures in the Photo Gallery on the website and on Facebook, since they demonstrate concepts and techniques I can adapt for newer pieces. I have at least three or four unfinished pieces still sitting here, and I finished up at least as many today. I'm still giving it my best shot, but I'm starting to think I won't be able to hang on until the economy turns around. I heard on the radio yesterday that we are at the beginning of another recession. My mother said we are actually in an economic depression. Either way, it doesn't look like things will turn around any time soon. As the saying goes, "timing is everything."

I haven't decided if I'm going to relax tonight before starting the work week, or if I'm going to continue working on the unfinished pieces. I have a feeling the break will win out! ;)

Take care and have a great week! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #38: Beads, Bling, & BET

2011-09-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! Well, we've gotten some back-to-school weather here in NJ. I keep wanting to pull down the storm windows, but I know in another week or so, I'll just have to push them back up again. :\

It's been a pretty hectic week. We had our first Bead Society meeting of the new year, which goes from September to June. Members were asked to bring in pieces they made over the summer and speak about what they learned and from where they learned it. The Board -- I am the Secretary, although I'm still not quite sure how that happened! ;) -- was specifically asked to participate, as a lot of the members are too shy. I brought my red, white, and blue rubber chain maille bracelet, the silver wire-wrapped pendant and wire knit chain I made from the class I took back in July, the copper wire-wrapped crystal geode pendant on copper WireLace® knit chain, my Coach purse with the aluminum link extension chain I made for it, and a new watch band I created this week for one of my watches because the leather strap broke off. :) Everyone's projects were very well received; it's really a very nice group of people. We've already got some impressive presentations and workshops lined up for this year, so it should be both fun and educational! :)

A friend from the Czech Republic emailed me yesterday. She purchased a breast cancer necklace for her grandmother when I was first starting out. Now, she wants a cervical cancer necklace for her younger sister. I had to do some research, and found that Zoisite/Ruby-in-Zoisite is associated with the cervix. Since the cervical cancer ribbon is teal-and-white, those will be the main colors I use. I had to order some Zoisite beads, so I can't really decide what I want to do until I get them. Hopefully, the color of the beads -- which looks greenish on the wholesaler's website -- won't clash with teal! :\

I've been working most of the weekend on a Swarovski® crystal bracelet for Fire Mountain Gems and Beads' "Get Your Sparkle On" Swarovski® Elements Jewelry-making Contest. I'm really proud of the piece I've made, called the Blue Bling Bracelet. It's much more elaborate than most of my work, but it was a fun challenge to see if I could go there. I've noticed that the majority of the winning pieces in many contests, and especially the Fire Mountain contests, are more like art pieces than functional jewelry. I guess this is my first attempt at something that falls into that category. LOL The deadline is tomorrow, which is why I had to get it done this weekend. I just submitted my entry a little while ago, so wish me luck! ;)

I took a break last night to visit a comedy club with some friends. My sister couldn't use a Groupon coupon, so I used it rather than have it go to waste. ;) The two warm-up comics were okay, but the headliner -- he is the warm-up comedian for audiences at Rachael Ray's television show -- was hysterical! And his entire act revolves around talking to the people in the audience...asking their names, where they live, what work the do, etc. and improvising off what he's given. He was even cracking himself up! :p What struck me as interesting was that all three comedians made jokes that could be considered "in poor taste" from a politically correct point of view. I haven't been to a comedy club in probably a decade or more, so I was pretty shocked that they still do that...and get away with it! Some of the jokes were funnier than others, but I don't think I would have had the guts to perform one of their routines in front of a bunch of strangers. You never know when something said along those lines could really offend someone. :o Even so, I laughed harder than I had in a really long time...quite possibly because I was so shocked at what was being said! :p

While having lunch this afternoon, I came across a play on BET called "Love in the Nick of Tyme," written by David E Talbert. It starred Morris Chestnut, Ellia English, Terry Dexter, and Avant, among others. Morris Chestnut reminded me of someone I used to know, so I looked up his biography online. He was born January 1, 1969...that makes him 8 days younger than I am! LOL I found that amusing. Subconsciously, I think I assume everyone on whatever screen I'm watching is older than I am. Maybe because they seem so much more accomplished. :\

I have to get up early for work tomorrow, so think I will call it a night. Have a great week!

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #37: Teen Idols & A Day of Remembrance

2011-09-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! Sorry I didn't get here yesterday, but I was watching a series that ran for eight episodes on VH-1 at the beginning of 2009 called Confessions of a Teen Idol. I found it on VH-1's website after seeing The Pirate Movie (1982) earlier in the week for the first time in nearly 30 years, and looking for more recent pictures/footage of Christopher Atkins. He was one of the seven former "heartthrobs" from the '80s and '90s in the series. Although I never saw The Blue Lagoon -- which I may soon rectify -- I had a major crush on him back when The Pirate Movie first came out. He's still a cutie, and he seems to have aged better than I first thought...guess I saw a bad photo. :o Anyway, I have three more episodes to watch, so I'll be doing that as soon as I finish up here! ;)

While watching the series on the internet, I started making a dual color macramé spiral necklace. I saw a few in shops on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, and I wanted to see if I could do it myself. I figured it out pretty quickly, but the spirals are very small because I'm using 1mm WireLace®. Next time, I will use a thicker material. :)

Yesterday's (Newark, NJ) Star Ledger newspaper reprinted the whole original front section from September 12, 2001 in a special section for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. You couldn't get away from the news coverage all last week, although I do realize it is not something we should ever forget. Needless to say, it was a very emotional week for many, regardless of where they live or their native culture. United Airlines Flight 93 -- the plane that went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- took off from Newark International Airport, which is just 20 minutes from my home. A number of students from my high school were killed that day, including one from my class. We could see the smoke at Ground Zero from a lookout in the nearby South Mountain Reservation almost a week later. We wore "patriotic" clothing to the office on Friday, so I made some new red, white, and blue pieces, as I didn't have any! I made a tricolor rubber and metal jump ring bracelet, a pair of simple earrings and a beaded macramé pin in the shape of a commemorative ribbon (see below). I watched a special with Tom Brokaw on Friday evening that recreated the sequence of events. It was educational for me, as much of the timeline was not clear in my memory. I cried many times watching the program. My mother put the ceremony from Ground Zero on the television Sunday morning; I saw parts of it, but I couldn't make myself watch the whole thing. I did read some of the newspaper articles from 2001, as I do not think I read them at the time. Some were very prophetic in terms of our country's anticipated reaction over the decade to come.

Don't forget, there are still two weeks left in our Strut Your Stuff Photo Contest! I haven't received any entries yet, although my nieces did wear some of their "stuff" on vacation and their father took pictures for them. They wanted me to assure them they had places in the display, but I told them I had to be unbiased. LOL Luckily for them, my relatives CAN participate in the contest! ;) If I don't update the website in the next two weeks, I may have to extend the deadline. Then again...if no one enters, I guess I can just scrap the idea entirely. :p

Well, I'd better get back to my teen idol viewing! Have a great week!

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #36: Hurricane Update & Well-Deserved Down Time!

2011-09-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! Well, the tree is still in the street in front of the house, but we reportedly have power back. We also no longer have to boil our water as of Friday evening. I've seen a lot of messages from friends all over the state, and it seems like most of them fared well enough, considering how hard New Jersey was hit. I read on Facebook today that some college friends from the southern portion of Central Jersey had their entire neighborhood flooded out, resulting in lots of mold and mildew everywhere. Thankfully, their friends and neighbors are all pulling together in the clean-up effort. When I told my mother about the flooding, she reminded me that things could always be worse than whatever our own problems are.

Guess what? I rode a Segway again this morning! One rental shop has four of them here in Ocean City. SO MUCH FUN! I'd much prefer to ride a Segway on the Boardwalk than a rental bike. The seats are always so uncomfortable on those bikes. :p

I made a couple of new bracelets from a kit by Linda Gettings this week. She calls them Crazy Easy Bangles. They were a little awkward for me to get started, but once I got going, they weren't too difficult...although I think "crazy easy" is a bit of a stretch for me! LOL I made two variations, and the second one is more complicated...which is, of course, why I messed it up! :p I have to undo a small section (maybe an inch-and-a-half?) are start it from scratch...I tried to salvage that part when it started to unravel due to a loose thread end, but that didn't work out very well. I also have an idea for a simpler variation to use for rings. I will try that when I get a chance. ;)

Spent a lot of this week with my family -- my nieces love playing miniature golf and swimming in the heated outdoor pool. They aren't much for the beach, but I did manage to jump a few waves yesterday. ;) All in all, Ocean City seems to have recovered quickly from Hurricane Irene. It seems that New Jersey is having a much more difficult time of it. :\

Back to the "real world" tomorrow. Luckily, it's a holiday and I won't have to report back to the office until Tuesday. :) Happy Labor Day to those in the U.S.! And I hope everyone has a great week! :)

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #35: Irate Irene - Hurricane Happenings

2011-08-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! Sorry I am later than usual. Hurricane Irene swept through New Jersey this past weekend and left a big mess in her wake (no pun intended).

A large tree limb fell from a Township tree and yanked the power lines out of our house. Unluckily for us, we were the only house affected with a loss of power. We also lost our landline phone and internet service (I presume because the router is not plugged into a viable power source at the moment) and water. Rumors are that it may take up to five days for the power to be restored, and up to two weeks for water to be drinkable. We were told to boil water before use prior to the service being shut off completely.

As our sump pump is electric, we had almost a foot of water in our basement before my uncle stopped by and suggested we run an extension cord over to the neighbor's house. The basement is now dry, but it smells awful...as does our garage. We will have to air them out considerably -- or buy a case of Febreeze! LOL

As of yesterday, the town and power company did not move the tree branch or the live wires on the ground. Unfortunately for our neighbors (on the opposite side from the extension cord family), the power lines are draped over their car parked in the driveway, and the yellow police tape blocks their house in entirely, so they are stuck for now. The branch is blocking their driveway, anyway, so they couldn't leave even if the tape and wires were not an issue. :p

Needless to say, I am glad the damage was not worse. When comparing Irene to Hurricane Katrina, she's little more than an extreme inconvenience.

I've been online all day trying to catch up, and I need a break. If I don't post again until early next week, it's because the power has not been sufficiently restored or the cable company has not fixed the phone/internet lines.

Take care and stay safe!

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Tangible Tidbits 2011: Special Edition -- Our First Contest!

2011-08-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Something Tangible's Strut Your Stuff Photo Contest!

Time: Friday, August 19 at 10:00pm - September 30 at 12:00am

Location: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, other social media, email, snail mail, carrier pigeon, personal delivery...whatever works for you!

Created By: Something Tangible LLC

Background: I have a wall mount jewelry case that I received as a gift from my sister & her family. There are 12 spaces for photos on the front door, currently displaying the photos of strangers that came with it. I want to see people wearing Something Tangible pieces in those 12 slots!

Here's the deal: Submit a candid photo of you strutting your stuff -- i.e. wearing piece(s) from Something Tangible -- or of your friends or family members strutting theirs if they were gifts. ;) Some items aren't really wearable, so any "in use" photo will suffice. :) I've created a Strut Your Stuff! album on the company's Facebook page, and, hopefully, photos can be uploaded there directly (I have to find out where to set the access for that), or to our other social media pages (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) For those not on Facebook or uncomfortable posting pictures publicly, feel free to send me your photos via email at info@something-tangible.com, snail mail (contact me for the address), in person, etc. Please let me know if I have permission to post your picture in the Strut Your Stuff! album on Facebook (I know some people are technically-challenged)...I will happily honor your wishes in that regard. ;)

Photos will be collected until midnight EST on September 30 (giving you that final day in case you need the extra time to take photos :D). Twelve pictures will be selected at random to go into the jewelry case collage. Each of the 12 winners will receive 20 percent off one in-stock item from our website (there's my incentive to update the store by the deadline! LOL)! I will probably have to handle the discounts personally via email, as I'm not sure I can add a coupon code to Go Daddy...I will let you know about that as we get closer to the deadline.

I hope you all have fun with this! I can't wait to see you strutting your Something Tangible stuff! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #34: A Week of "Firsts!"

2011-08-21T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hi, everybody! I started using Microsoft OneNote this week to help keep my thoughts/ideas organized, and one of the first things I put in there was a section for Blog Notes! This way, I can remember everything that happened during the week that I want to mention. Until now, I'd pretty much posted what I remembered, unless I specifically wrote myself a note. I have a paper cup FULL of notes that have piled up over time I now have to go through! Hopefully, OneNote will keep me much more focused. I've also set up Windows Live ID account so I can save OneNote notebooks on the web and access them remotely. :)

I'm super excited because I received my first affiliate marketing check from the Virtual Mall's social media activities this week! It wasn't a lot, but I was especially pleased because it was unexpected. :D Followers have been steadily growing on Twitter, and I have been following the companies we promote in the hopes that they will retweet some of their own promotions. It's taken a little more than a year, but I'm not really surprised it's taken this long. I think people needed to get comfortable with me and see what we have to offer. Hopefully, the activities will eventually bring in enough to hire someone to take over that function for me. It takes up a lot more time than I'd anticipated. So much for "passive" income! :\

BTW, I did sell the necklace I've been telling you about for the past couple of weeks. I'm so relieved she loved it! :D

In social media news, my Facebook profile hit 1,000+ friends (1,002) this week! I don't pay too close attention to that number, as I usually focus more on the page numbers -- which are more or less constant. I did gain a half dozen or so new "Likes" this week on the Something Tangible LLC page. I suspect that's because I recently tagged people who have purchased items on those Facebook product photos. I also tagged a few people whose kits I used...it couldn't hurt to show them what I've done with their concepts. ;)

And, finally, I created a Facebook photo album for people to upload pictures of themselves (or others) wearing my pieces this week, as part of Something Tangible's Strut Your Stuff Photo Contest. This is my first official "promotion." You can check out the details on the Facebook event page I created, and I will also be posting the information on the blog for those who don't have Facebook. There will be 12 winners, each of whom will receive 20% off an in-stock item if their photos are randomly selected to put in my wall mount jewelry case. The contest goes until midnight EST on September 30. Wish me luck that I get at least 12 photos submitted! :o

Stay tuned for the details on the contest, and have a great week! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #33: Win Some, Lose Some

2011-08-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! I hope you didn't think I forgot about you. ;) The weather was dreary, wet, and gray yesterday, so I took a Mental Health Day and just watched movies with my mother. I may have mentioned this before, but I tend to have low energy when the weather is bad. :\

So, what's new this week? I saw an old friend at a pool party on Saturday. We've known each other since junior high school. He's one of those people that I can potentially not see for a decade, and when we do finally connect it's like nothing has changed...except we're both a bit older, and possibly wiser. ;) Anyway, he didn't know I had started my own company -- he's a Facebook friend, but if it isn't on Farmville he doesn't know about it! LOL Anyway, he's very charismatic and a good salesman, as well as a kindhearted person. He immediately offered to help me out! That's why I love him, ya know? :D Given my public relations and marketing background, I may have already thought of or tried some of his suggestions, but I also know he'll give me a different perspective and possibly a few avenues to explore that had not occurred to me. :) I may have said it before, but I will say it again...any success I have already achieved, as well as my future success in this business, will be attributed to "a little help from my friends." ;)

The private lessons are on hold until after Labor Day. The person I was working with canceled on me twice, then she finally opted to hold off until the end of the summer. I may or may not hear back from her, but at least I gave it a shot. :)

The necklace I told you about last week -- the one I ended up putting on a ready-made chain instead of a handcrafted wire knit chain -- did not impress my client. So, I went back to the drawing board and worked with the second chain I had made last weekend. I ended up making it long enough by pulling it through the drawplate a number of times, compacting the wire more and more and lengthening it each time through. I'm sure this will be what she wants, but the price tag is out of her usual range. I had warned her about that, so we will see if she loves the necklace enough to pay the price or if she passes on it. :o

Ideally, I would like to get some stuff on my To-Do list completed -- finishing incomplete projects, updating the database and website, etc. -- before next week, but I don't think I will get it all done. My coworker will be on vacation all next week, so I'll be working a lot of overtime. I've accepted the fact that I can't do his job and leave before 5:00 p.m. (or later). Luckily, he doesn't take full weeks out too often. ;) Anyway, I will be out the week after that on my own vacation. YAY! I plan to work on a few of the jewelry-making kits I have here during that week. That seems to be the only time I can work on them, as I have not much else to do during my downtime away from here. ;)

Can you believe summer will be over in a few weeks already? The weather has cooled off considerably here due to frequent rainstorms, so it's been more bearable. When it gets cool in early September, I always think of that as back-to-school weather. It is often followed by a final burst of summer heat, usually around the third week of September. :p

As always, thanks for sticking with me and have a great week! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #32: Thank You For Your Support!

2011-08-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! The line "thank you for your support" always reminds me of the two old-timers in the Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler commercials from the 1980s. Do they even make that stuff anymore? ;) :o

I really do want to thank those of you who heeded my mid-week plea to check out Wire-Sculpture.com's 2011 Gold Club "OOAK" (One-Of-A-Kind) Contest and vote for the Popular Choice winner. Although I could not campaign for my piece, a few determined friends did email me to verify their choices were the one I'd created. ;) Most knew my style, although one or two were a bit overwhelmed with the choices. I did not win, which didn't at all surprise me. Most of the entries were well beyond my current wire-wrapping capabilities. That will hopefully change by next year! :) I have to say, some of the pieces were beautiful, but others were too elaborate for my taste. Some of the wire and beadwork overshadowed the one-of-a-kind pieces, which is a bit silly in my opinion. If you have a special stone, why would you want to detract from it with a lot of embellishments? Save that for the plain, ordinary stones! :p

The reason I did not post yesterday -- aside from the fact that I sent out a Special Edition on Tuesday -- was because I had a wave of inspiration/creativity hit me last night, and I thought it best to go with it rather than stop to write my blog post. I struggled most of the day with one particular project, and once I finally completed it, I tackled another three relatively painlessly. ;) Most of them are "on spec," so I may or may not sell them even though they were made by request. I have a hard time estimating projects in advance, simply because I don't know what materials will end up in the final piece until I've completed it. I started out with the intention to create a wire knit chain for a pendant, but after three attempts -- two using different wire gauges and a third switching to WireLace® -- I ended up using a ready-made chain I had in my stash. The first chain was too bulky for my drawplate and I had to fight with it to make it fit through the holes. The second one was too short, and I ran out of one of the three colors of wire I was using. The WireLace® knit chain turned out very nice, but it ended up making the overall piece too expensive for my buyer. So, I looked through everything I have and came up with something that complimented the pendant nicely. However, that was not at all my original plan, so had I given an estimate it would have been inaccurate. :\

In any case, I've completed most of my "promised" pieces...I have two more that were "abandoned" concepts from last year, but I came up with ideas for both during yesterday's burst of creativity. :) I hope to develop them this week, and maybe salvage those potential sales. :)

Second quarter sales weren't much better than the first quarter, but I was not surprised in the least by that. I kind of "burned out" after the December holidays from working full-time as a temp at the office and trying to maintain my business at the same time. Plus, I was devoting a fair amount of time to holiday craft shows/exhibits, so that took up many of my weekends. Accepting a part-time position at the office back in January took the pressure off a bit to generate sales so that I could pay my bills, and I took a physical and mental health break for a few months. Needless to say, that affected the bottom line. In the past month or so, I have gained some of my momentum back, and I will hopefully be able to balance things better from this point forward. Wish me luck with that! LOL ;)

I have a bunch of new photos to post to the Facebook photo album later this week...I will be starting a third one pretty soon, as the second one is approaching the 200-picture limit. :) I still haven't updated the website, but I don't think it gets much traffic, anyway. :o

Moving right along...I have go price out some items for display at my chiropractor's office tomorrow. Have a great week! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2011: Special Edition -- Got A Minute?

2011-08-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

I'd like to ask a favor, and it can't wait until Sunday's blog post.

As I think I mentioned, I entered Wire-Sculpture.com's 2011 Gold Club "OOAK" (One-Of-A-Kind) Contest this past week, and the popular voting is open from now until Friday morning, August 5.

Voting for the Popular Choice Prize is open through 10am Mountain Time Friday, August 5. Winners will be announced Friday afternoon. Please vote! Just click the button on the page, or email rosem@wire-sculpture.com with the name of your favorite entry. You can only vote once, so choose wisely!

I can't tell you which entry is mine, as they asked we not "campaign" for our pieces. However, if you've seen the Facebook page or read recent blog posts, you can probably figure it out. ;)

Thanks so much for your support!

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #31: Shifting Gears ...Temporarily

2011-07-31T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I decided to write this week's blog post early, as I am going to a barbecue later today with some high school friends -- and I know I won't want to do it whenever I get home! I also needed to shift gears from what I was doing earlier.

I spent much of this morning figuring out a pair of earrings a coworker recently requested. She showed me photos of two very large pairs of earrings, and asked if I could make similar ones for her. I came up with a few viable ideas over the past couple of days, so I worked on one last night and the other one today. Last night's project is far from finished, but it will take me a while to get it done. It involves beading over a base bead with seed beads, making the original bead larger, more textured, and a totally different color! The photo in question uses crocheted beads, I think. I couldn't find anything appropriate online the other day and I can't crochet, so I thought I would try this approach. Since each earring has nine gradually larger beads on it, I have to make 18 beads and then string them on Memory Wire for the earrings. I figure I will work on them a little bit at a time over the next week or two, since my coworker isn't in any hurry. :) The second pair are less complicated, but I used Brown Jasper beads on the "prototype" and in pricing them out, I realized they were way above her budget. I've got smaller Czech firepolished glass beads that may work -- they are much cheaper than the gemstone beads -- but I am not motivated at the moment to take the first pair apart and start all over again! Hence, my decision to write today's blog post instead. ;)

In addition to these two pairs of earrings, I have one other simpler pair to make for another coworker, and a necklace for a third coworker, with possibly a pair of matching earrings. I also have to put a lot of my recent material purchases in the database, so that I can price out pieces accurately. I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed at the moment, but this was what I asked for when I started this business, right? ;)

Thankfully, things lightened up at the office this week, so I wasn't as worn out most days when I got home. I did end up working overtime on Friday, but that wasn't as stressful as a few weeks ago. :)

This past Tuesday, I began the private lessons I mentioned last week. The student is very nice, but a bit unfocused. Hopefully, I can help her complete a pair of earrings soon. My mother suggested something I already knew -- that if she can finish something, even something simple, it will boost her confidence and enthusiasm to continue. We have our second session tomorrow afternoon.

The new Focal Piece of the Month is up on the website. I also posted it to both Facebook pages this morning. Facebook is acting weird. The Virtual Mall page had 1 "Like" this morning until I refreshed the page, then the 450+ came back. The Something Tangible page had 23 "Likes" before refreshing...and it is back down to 1 now! :( Luckily, the lists of "People who like" seem to still be intact. :)

In other social media-related news, the STVirtualMall Twitter account reached 1,000+ followers this week! :D

That's about all I've got for now. Have a great week, everyone! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 30: Experimenting, Private Lessons, & Hiding From The Heat!

2011-07-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, people! :)

I've been doing a lot of playing/experimenting this week. I was attempting to create a piece in time for Wire-Sculpture.com's 2011 Gold Club One-of-a-Kind (OOAK) Contest deadline on July 31. I'm a Gold Club member, meaning that I purchased enough supplies from Wire-Sculpture.com to qualify for this "elite" status. I wanted to submit a copper-wrapped pendant I made last week using a small leftover piece of the Crystal Geode that I beaded as a paperweight, but the contest rules state the OOAK item must be purchased from Wire-Sculpture.com within the past three months, and they will ask for an order number if you move to the next round. Looking at my records, I purchased the Crystal Geodes in November 2010, so that's too long ago. :\ I purchased a new OOAK gemstone cabochon earlier this week, and it arrived on Saturday. I worked on it this morning, and my mother LOVES the final piece! I'm still finding my way with wire-wrapping. I had to use sterling silver wire, which mars easily if you aren't careful. The piece isn't perfect, but it's nice enough to the untrained eye. Unfortunately, the judges will undoubtedly have trained eyes! :o

Anyway, I was playing around with WireLace®, and created a copper knit chain for the Crystal Geode pendant using 1mm WireLace®. I like the way it turned out! For the piece I made for the contest, I didn't have 1mm in the correct color (seafoam) to pick up the shade in the pendant, so I decided to braid together 6mm WireLace® in black, seafoam, and aluminum. The stone is black and green, and the wrapping is silver. I wanted to knit a chain, but I tested that out on 6mm copper, pale silver, and brass WireLace®. I ended up with a bracelet with a focal knit bead in the center, as the three pieces of wider WireLace® made a very bulky weave. Mom likes the bracelet, too...I'm not sure I like it. However, if Mom does...hopefully someone else will, too! ;)

You can read about another experimental piece later this week, when the new Focal Piece of the Month is posted. ;) I REALLY have to start cataloging my newer pieces in the database and pricing them out. I've been posting pictures to Facebook, but I haven't updated the website store in eons!

I forgot to mention last week that I'm testing out a new feature on Facebook: it's a Payvment storefront. A while back, I entered some pieces and prices, but I never activated it. I activated it last week on both the Something Tangible LLC and Something Tangible Virtual Mall pages. If you want to check them out, click on "Shop Now" on the left-hand side menu on either page. :)

I received an exciting email earlier in the week from Suzanne Banfield, who taught the five-hour workshop I attended recently. She wanted to know if I would consider giving private wire jewelry-making lessons to a student who wants extra help! She doesn't offer private lessons herself, but she thought I might enjoy it. I was very flattered she thought of me! :D I've been in touch with the student, and we will hopefully get together later this week. She only wants a couple of 1-1/2 hour sessions, but that's fine by me! Any extra cash is better than none. :)

If you're following weather news lately, you know we're having a major heat wave up and down the East Coast. Man, it is BRUTAL here in New Jersey! I think it was up to 105 degrees mid-week, and "down" to 99 degrees on Friday. I just want to hibernate in the air conditioning until fall.

Have a great week and STAY COOL! :)

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 29: Seriously Overworked and "The Thorn Birds"

2011-07-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! As anticipated, I worked a lot of extra hours at the office last week. As a part-timer, my work week is regularly 25 hours. I clocked in 43-1/2 hours last week! I will be grateful when the paycheck comes, but it was torture getting to the weekend! :p Luckily, the coworker whose job I was doing is back in tomorrow...although he may be going to Jury Duty on Tuesday! :\

On Friday night, Mom and I watched the second half of The Thorn Birds 20th Anniversary DVD (2003). I had bought it as a gift for Mom sometime last year and we started it last weekend. It's still a moving story, and the deaths of various characters still got to me, even though I knew they were coming. I must've seen the mini-series at least three or four times before, but it had been so long that I forgot some key details. In the DVD commentary, Richard Chamberlain called it one of the "three or four best films ever aired on American television." I can't argue with him on that! I watched The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years by myself last night. I'd only viewed it once before and concluded there was a reason they were missing! LOL :o Having just seen the original, the incongruities were magnified. There was a lack of continuity, largely because no one involved -- with the exception of Richard Chamberlain -- were part of the original, not even the production staff! Needless to say, it showed IMHO. :\

While watching TV last night, I worked on my beaded Crystal Geode paperweight. I still have a little bit to do in the back. I had to switch to smaller seed beads because I was running low on the larger ones. Obviously, using smaller beads takes much longer. :p Earlier this week, I finished up the brass, bronze, & copper wire knit chain I started at last week's workshop; and then today I created a silver one for the wire-wrapped pendant I made at the workshop and took a stab at creating a knit bracelet with hemp cord. It turned out pretty well, although not perfect. Working with the wire is much more forgiving because pulling it through a drawplate compacts the chain and hides the flaws. ;)

I still have a few chores to do and I want to get to bed early so I am ready for work tomorrow morning. Have a great week, everyone! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 28: Wireworking, Girls' Softball, & A New Car

2011-07-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hey, folks! Boy, am I glad this week is over...but next week looks to be just as hectic!

As I mentioned last week, I attended a five-hour workshop yesterday. It was taught by Suzanne Banfield (sb designs), one of the teachers of the Madison, Chatham & Florham Park Adult School classes I took last year. I learned how to make a wire knit chain and to wire wrap a cabochon pendant. I'm so excited! These two skills will help me immensely, as they will open up a lot of new options for me in creating pieces. :D

Sales are picking up again with the help of a couple of ladies in my office. They both like their accessories to match their outfits, so they are always adding to their collections! ;)

I joined the CraftEdu Community this week, a Ning-style group for crafty people. One of the BSNJ members is teaching a class through them and sent the link to the Society's Yahoo group, so I checked it out. I wasn't really planning to be an active participant, but one of the instructors asked me to post pictures of my work, so I may as well get that exposure. ;) I also asked to be put on the outreach list for the South Amboy Arts Festival in September, after another BSNJ member passed on that information to the Society.

As expected, I ended up working really late at the office Thursday and Friday, and I will probably end up working late at least four out of five days this week, since we are short-staffed in our department. I didn't get online at all after Wednesday night, since I had the BSNJ Board meeting on Thursday and I was totally fried on Friday night. I ended up staying up until 3:30 a.m. last night going through 155+ emails after my all-day workshop! Needless to say, I hope to keep up better this week to avoid that situation again. :p

Did I mention I got a new car? I leased a 2011 Nissan Sentra (6-speed manual) after being told that my 1997 Nissan Sentra GLE could not pass inspection the week before. It was really time, even though the car had less than 75,000 miles on it. The visors didn't stay up without Velcro and duct tape, the rubber pad was affixed to my clutch with electrical tape, and the "check engine" light had been on for three years -- ultimately the reason I failed inspection. There was also a slow leak in one of the tires, so I was monitoring it regularly to fill it with air every few weeks. Needless to say, I am thrilled to leave those issues behind me, even if the car cost more than I was originally led to believe (not surprisingly, of course!).

I spent this afternoon out in the hot sun watching my younger niece play softball at the Bridgewater, NJ stadium where the Somerset Patriots (Atlantic League of Professional Baseball) play in a fundraiser for the Patriots Children's Fund and local softball programs around the New Jersey. Her team won 15 to 6! The coaches pitch in the tournament league, so she wasn't on the pitcher's mound today. She did make a few really impressive plays and batted at least one double! :D It's a nice stadium...I hadn't been there before.

That's about all I have for now. Have a great week, everyone! :D

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #27: Happy Independence Day, USA!

2011-07-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! I've been a bit lazy for the past couple of days. It's been unbelievably muggy and today was gray and rainy all day, so I had no energy to do much. I caught a head cold in the middle of the week because I slept with the air conditioning on, so that knocked me for a bit of a loop. I had switched from the name brand Allegra-D over-the-counter medication to a pharmacy store brand, and it did NOT work! I had to go get the name brand...and I felt better within an hour of taking it! Who'd think a minor change in the inactive ingredients would make such a difference? :p

As promised, the new Focal Piece of the Month is up. Chime in and let me know what you think of the modified writing different style!

I submitted a few pieces for consideration in the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council's Wearable Art for women, Men & Children fundraiser in November. One of the BSNJ members is active on the council and forwarded the information to us. Atlantic Highlands is pretty far south of me, but it would be worth it for the exposure and to hopefully sell some of my inventory. :)

In addition, I sent eight pieces for inclusion in the Bead Society's display at the Rumson Oceanic Library this month. Just like last year, it's a fundraiser for the Library, with 20 percent of the proceeds benefiting the facility. I sold a few pieces there last year, so I'm hoping to do so again this year! Ideally, I would like to submit pieces to shows that do not require my presence at a table all day. Less work for me and I can also take advantage of more opportunities, since I can't be in two places at once. ;)

We have our final wrap-up Board meeting for BSNJ this week, and I am attending an all-day wire workshop on Saturday, as I mentioned last week. Things at the office are going to be quite busy as well, with people taking summer vacations and the rest of us being shuffled around to fill in the gaps. July is going to be a crazy month! :o

I hope everyone celebrating the 4th of July enjoys the three-day weekend!

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 26: Half-way Through 2011 Already!

2011-06-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! This being the 26th weekly edition of my blog, that puts us at half-way through the year already! :o

I posted some more items on eBay this week, both on the company account and my personal one. I sold a broken soldering tool for $10 and a saw frame for $15! Taking out the listing fees, charitable donations, and -- in one case, shipping costs -- I'm not making out all that well. At least I am getting these things out of my house and into the hands of someone who will use them! :)

After a three-month hiatus, I published a new Factoid this week! I have to say, I'm pretty proud of this one: Ten Life Lessons I Have Learned From Making Jewelry. Coincidentally, this is my 10th contribution to Factoidz. :) I actually have a bunch of ideas for articles running through my head...I just haven't taken the time to write them out. I received an email earlier this week touting Microsoft OneNote for putting all of your lists and sticky notes in an electronic format. I'm thinking about doing that, so I can toss all of the piles of scribbled notes on my desk and book case. Hopefully, that will help me get more organized. I can then type my preliminary story ideas in OneNote and flesh out the articles later. Not to mention making sense out of all of my reminders and To-Do lists! :p

The article was also submitted to BSNJ for their newsletter. The editor said she may use it as soon as the August issue! :) I had sent her a bunch of other stuff, so I wasn't sure if she'd want to use an older one first. In any case, it seems I will be a "regular" (maybe semi-regular?) writer in that publication for a while! :D

I received an email today from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads regarding their Pearls, Organic Beads & Molding Clay Jewelry-Making Contest. The deadline is July 11, so I entered a couple of my pieces online this morning. For pearls, I entered my Cascade of Pearls pin. Had it won the Rings & Things contest I created it for last year, I could not enter it in this contest. For molding clay, I entered my Ferido™ resin pendant with Cowrie Shells, Turquoise chips and Freshwater Pearls on turquoise Greek leather necklace. I had to name the piece for the contest, so I came up with Summer Beach Party Necklace. It would probably have made more sense if the resin was sand-colored, but I came up with it on the spur-of-the-moment. :\

I'm caught up with posting product photos to Facebook, but I still have to update the listings on the website. I was adding data to my database today to price some of the newer pieces...I have to finish that before dealing with the website store updates. :o

Speaking of website updates, look for the new Focal Piece of the Month coming up later this week. This one consists of a bit more "storytelling" than many of the ones in the past. I think I may have to take that into consideration when selecting items for future spotlights if it is well-received. Let me know what you think when you read it! :D

One other "new" thing I did this week -- I cracked open a crystal geode! I ordered a set of three a while back, but was surprised when they looked like ordinary rocks when they arrived. I found a video online this week that explained I had to crack it open to see the crystals inside! DOH! I had already started experimenting with creating a beaded netting for one to make a paperweight, so I had to take the beads off to crack it open. Luckily, they still fit after! I ended up with two additional small pieces -- it did not crack in half -- that I will eventually wire-wrap as pendants. Always thinking ahead! :D

I had another NAET treatment yesterday -- it seems to be endless -- but I won't know how well it worked for another week or so. I will let you know my progress in next week's blog. :)

Gotta run...I still have a few chores to get done before bed. Later, all! ;)

Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 25: Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! Hope all of the fathers out there were appropriately feted today! :)

A few ladies at the office asked to see my "latest creations" (as one put it), so I am updating my binder. I had the majority of my photos already formatted, but I hadn't printed them out and inserted them because the ink is pretty expensive and the photos use a lot of it. Still, I'm glad I have a reason to get it done. I'm not finished, but it should be done by mid-week. :p Being slightly OCD, I have to have even numbers of pieces to fill the pages of the binder, since I usually fit 2-4 to a page and the pages are double-sided. I don't want to show it to people with blank pages in it. Therefore, I spent most of today creating new pieces to fill in the "open" slots: two bracelets, two rings, two pins/brooches, and a key chain. The new photos will be posted to Facebook this week. :)

As I've been working on the binder, I did not finish the last 10 percent of the office/studio clean-up, hence no video today. :\ I did charge the camera, though, so it's ready when I do get the job done!

Sadly, I did not win my category in BSNJ's Bead Challenge this past Thursday. :\ There were two other people who submitted pieces in my category, but even I have to admit the winner deserved it. :)

I forgot to mention last week that I signed up for a five-hour workshop in July. There are a few projects being covered that I want to learn, including wire knit chains and wire-wrapping a cabochon. :)

OH! And I placed in another affiliate marketing contest! Vans selected my submission on the Virtual Mall Facebook page as the 2nd place winner in the Show Us Your Best Placement Contest for the Yo Gabba Gabba Collection! That's a Vans gift card in the amount of $75! Two for two! :D

I've been a bit more active on eBay this week, posting three more items from the company and two personally: a ColdHeat™ Soldering Tool, which sold pretty quickly for parts, as it is not working (WHOO HOO!); a Eurotool® Soldering Tripod; and self-pickling flux. It turns out the $20 listing fee is for heavy duty metalworking equipment, so I listed these under Home & Garden > Tools > Welding & Soldering Tools. :D In addition, I listed a plantar fasciitis splint and the Buttoneer Fastening System from myself. The listings benefit, respectively: Habitat for Humanity International, the Alzheimer's Association National Office, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the American Heart Association National Center, and the Central and South Jersey Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. ;) Last week's two auctions should end in a few minutes.

Have a great week, one and all! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 24: Back To The Daily Grind...

2011-06-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Hi, all! I had a pretty productive "staycation" this week. That's the first time I've ever done that; I will definitely do it again! :D As the saying goes, though..."all good things must come to an end." Back to the office job tomorrow! :\

I've just finished putting up two items on eBay. I have a bunch more, but since it takes me forever to write the listings, I think I will quit for the night. ;) I posted a hot glue gun and all-purpose glue sticks, if anyone is interested. I was going to list them together, but it seems more advantageous to list them separately so that's what I did. I also posted them on my Facebook profile and two company pages, since a percentage of the sales is going to charity. :) I tried to list a soldering tripod, but there is a $20 insertion fee for metalworking equipment! :o I may have to rethink some of these items...or list them in a different category to avoid that fee. I will try a few other items later in the week and see what I can do. :p

A major task on my To-Do list this week was to organize my studio/office. I'm about 90 percent there, and I will try to get to the last 10 percent this week. Once I'm finished, I think I will film a quick video to show it off, and for posterity since it may not last long! LOL

I also started working on some minor repairs and unfinished projects that have been sitting around here. I would like to keep up with that as well, so I can finally get to a "clean slate." I'm maybe one-third of the way done with those. One thing I am trying to do is secure/reinforce some of my clasps...particularly toggle clasps. I decided to "enhance" the bar side with wire-wrapping, which will make it bulkier and therefore less likely to slip through the loop and open. I think there may be a Factoid on that subject to be written soon! LOL

One of the projects I completed is a second Bottle of Hope for the Bead Society to donate to cancer patients. This one is dark blue, in memory of two friends who had colon cancer. Here's the first one, in case you missed it. That one is purple and lavender for general cancer and pancreatic cancer (Grandma). I have one more kit to do. Since I don't have periwinkle beads for stomach cancer (Dad), I think I will do teal and white for cervical cancer. I will have to track down some periwinkle beads for the next go-round! ;)

Our final Bead Society meeting is this Thursday. We will break for the summer and resume in September. This week is the Bead Challenge, so people who participated will submit their projects anonymously in brown paper bags. All entries will be displayed and the members will vote in six categories. Mine is in the Wearable Objects category. Wish me luck! :) I asked the BSNJ President if I could bring my video camera and record the results in my category -- I thought that would make a fun and interesting blog post -- and I offered to submit it to the Society's Yahoo group and website. Unfortunately, she is afraid other members will get upset if their pieces -- or themselves in background shots for that matter -- end up on the internet. I plan to bring it up at the next Board meeting, as she suggested we get their feedback for future events. ;)

I had a follow-up NAET treatment for sugar and yeast yesterday. That was by far the easiest one to date, as I did not have to avoid water! Of the six calcium oxalate-related treatments we did a few weeks ago, four are all clear. I'm going back for the other two (calcium oxinate and oxalic acid) again on June 25. If this doesn't alleviate the itching problem, I will have to have treatments for vegetables, nuts, fruits, and spices, etc. individually. I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that! :o

That's more than enough for now. Have a great week! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 23: Back in Time...to January 2010!

2011-06-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Since I am technically on vacation this week, I've decided to give myself a break and repost one of our early Focal Pieces of the Month. I'm sure most of you never saw these early ones, since the majority of my readers and followers have not been with me since December 2009. ;)

For our second Focal Piece of the Month, I thought I'd profile the pendant that is featured on the banner head of this website. It is a heart pendant framed in silver wire that was inspired by the Lavender Fields cuff bracelet kit by sb designs that appears to be very popular! The kit was purchased as part of the Intro to Wire Jewelry class I took in the Fall of 2009 at the Madison, Chatham & Florham Park Adult School. The technique is to create a frame out of thick wire -- in the case of the bracelet it is 16 gauge, but since the pendant is smaller and more delicate, I used a smaller gauge...I believe it was 20 gauge (in wire, the higher the gauge number, the thinner the wire). For the heart, I used my WigJig Olympus, a transparent plastic pegboard (think the children's games Battleship or LiteBrite, only smaller) into which metal pegs are inserted to create a pattern. The wire is then wrapped around the pegs to create the desired design. Check out WigJig's website here if you're interested for more information about the product: Beads & Jewelry Making Supplies By WigJig Store.

Once you have the frame, a thinner gauge wire — in this case 24 gauge was used, — string beads inside the frame. This project was created at the request of a coworker who wanted a Christmas gift for a friend. Her favorite colors are pinks and light purples, so we chose those colors for the beads. I also threw in some clear crystals and silver spacers to make it more eclectic. I used pink-white Freshwater Pearls in the piece. According to an article I found on Factoidz (it seems "Pearls: History, Uses, and Legendary Metaphysical Properties" is no longer available):

"Pearls are said to aid in meeting and overcoming various obstacles, while absorbing negative vibrations and energies; they are protective, yet they are also very soothing. They encourage loyalty, truth and honor as well as aiding in developing personal integrity and physical strength. They are useful for guarding off infections and irritability, as well as being beneficial to the digestive system. They transmit vibrations, which attract wisdom, love, and prosperity, while also aiding in balancing the emotions. They increase fertility as well as clarity of focus, and have an overall healing quality about them."

Have a great week! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 22: Thank Heaven for Air Conditioning!

2011-05-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! I don't know what's going on in your part of the world, but here in New Jersey it has been hot, HOT, HOT all week! I finally had to put the air conditioners in upstairs today because sleeping was so uncomfortable. Our house is more than 100 years old and very drafty, so no central air. I have to put air conditioners in the windows at the start of summer and then take them out at the end of summer. I tend to put off doing both as long as possible...there have been years I didn't put them in until July 4! :o Anyway, I'm much more comfortable now that it's done. :D

I forgot to mention it last week, but my "Steampunk" article from Factoidz was published in the Bead Society of New Jersey's (BSNJ) spring newsletter! I've submitted many of my other articles -- the ones that I thought the members would find interesting and appropriate. I also brought my final school projects to the May BSNJ meeting at the request of one of my fellow Board members. I got a lot of compliments on them! It made me feel good to know I can impress these people, many of whom have been doing this stuff for decades! :D

While I was adding my blog videos to the Something Tangible Facebook page the other day, I figured out how to save the narrated version of my Steampunk PowerPoint presentation in windows media video format, so I've finally added that to our YouTube channel and Facebook. This is the presentation I gave to my class in the Spring 2010 semester. :)

We held a Biggest Loser contest in my office -- they've been doing this off-and-on for a couple of years. I came in second the first time we did it...I think that was back in the fall of 2009?! Anyway, I came in second again this time around, losing 14.2 lbs. and winning $80! LOL I'm very proud of myself. ;) I have to decide if I want to participate in the next round...the last time, I hurt my knee and had to stop exercising in the round after my win, so I didn't do very well. I guess I should give it a go and see if I can break the bad karma, right? ;)

I've put in to take a "staycation" during the week of June 6. I really need to get some stuff around here done, and the best way to do that is to take the week and concentrate solely on that. There are a lot of things that have been on my To-Do List for ages, and I'm hoping to at least put a dent in the list that week. :)

I hope everyone in the U.S. enjoyed their three-day weekend! I kept pretty busy...Mom and I went out to dinner on Saturday night with my sister's family for Mom's upcoming birthday (next weekend), and had a great time at The Melting Pot fondue restaurant; attended a pool party at my aunt's house yesterday with most of the extended family; and checked out my nieces marching with their Girl Scout/Brownie troops in this morning's Memorial Day Parade.

Speaking of which...Happy Memorial Day! I'll catch you next week. :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 21: A Bit of Business & the Schwarzenegger Ordeal

2011-05-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! Sorry I'm a day late, but I felt sick most of yesterday and I didn't come online at all. I'm not sure if that was the result of Saturday's NAET treatment for six calcium-related additives in an attempt to relieve my issues with calcium oxalates...but I never had that reaction before, so it may be a coincidence. It may take a week to see any improvement, but I have a feeling based on the results on Saturday that I will have to repeat at least two of them. I already have to repeat the treatments for yeast and sugar in three weeks, since I am still approximately 40 percent "allergic" to them. I just have to keep plugging along...

I got an A- in my Metalwork & Jewelry class! I'm really happy about that, given the teacher is one I respect a lot. :)

Our new "Links We Like" page for link exchanges is up and running. The idea is posting reciprocal links on sites that are willing to host my link in an effort to increase search engine optimization (SEO).

I FINALLY started posting product photos on the Facebook page again this week! There are still quite a few to go, but at least I'm making progress! ;)

Also, I received a kewl email this week, informing me that I won a $100 gift card for See's Candies as the First Place winner in the See's Easter Promotion Contest! I sent links to the Virtual Mall website page, Facebook page, Twitter and Google Buzz messages. The irony is that I don't think the links generated any sales for See's. LOL :o Anyway, $100 buys a lot of chocolate, so my mother has enlisted my nieces to help me spend the money. :p

And now for something completely different! ;) "Showbiz Tonight" reported that Hollywood is appalled (I'm paraphrasing because I can't find the original clip) over Arnold Schwarzenegger's actions that led to the break-up of his marriage to Maria Shriver. I have to say, I'm surprised by this reaction. Hollywood has always tolerated "indiscretions" by celebrities...to the point of studios covering them up so as not to damage the reputations of their stars back in the day. Frankly, I hope Hollywood IS appalled, as well as the public. One of the reasons celebrities act the way they do is because there are no real repercussions for their negative behavior. Charlie Sheen has a nasty, inappropriate public meltdown, yet his "Violent Torpedo of Truth" shows are selling out in some cities. WTF? I can't tell you how many celebrities I used to respect have "fallen from grace" over the years. It's really sad that positive role models seem to be nearing extinction. The fact is, people who choose a career in the public eye -- actors, sports figures, politicians, musicians, etc. -- are held up as societal role models whether they like it or not (and many don't). Is it a coincidence we have a generation of children who are growing up to be self-involved, bratty adults? I don't think so. How can children learn how to act appropriately when they see celebrities acting like spoiled brats...and getting away with it? Maybe if we start holding celebrities accountable for their bad behavior -- hit them where it hurts...in their wallets -- we can start to change the cycle. It's long past time, IMHO.

Have a great week!

Tangible Tidbits 2011 # 20: Socializing, Social Media, and Softball

2011-05-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! :)

Well, my semester is officially over as of Tuesday night. I did get my projects completed (not completely ruined, thankfully!), and the teacher seemed pleased with them. I also got a lot of compliments from my fellow students, which was flattering because many of them are more advanced than I am. As I mentioned previously, we were to have a picnic for our final critique. One ambitious student made a grill for his project, so we turned the picnic into a barbecue. Unfortunately, the guys got a little carried away with the denatured alcohol used instead of lighter fluid, and there were a couple of casualties ("Boys will be boys!"). Everyone is fine now, but it definitely put a damper on the evening's "party"...not to mention the final critique of our projects. It seemed a bit anti-climactic at the time, but "all's well that ends well." Grades should be posted by May 17, so I will have mine by next week's post. :)

I also attended my second BSNJ Board meeting this week, as well as the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) thesis show for the graduating MFA students at MSU on Friday. The MFA show was okay...the space was pretty small and a lot of people showed up -- not just jewelry students, but all graduating MFA students showed their work. Much was not my cup of tea...it seems everyone tries to make a political statement of one kind or another. Either that, or they are aiming for shock value. Regardless, I prefer work that is more authentic, IMHO. To each her own! ;) After the show, my classmate and I hooked up with one of the teachers I had not previously met, and we ended up at a Cuban restaurant for dinner. The food was good, but the music was much too loud for me. I had a headache anyway from waiting to eat until 9:30 p.m. I should have put a snack in my purse! :o My Brazilian friends will be happy to know I tried a caipirinha. Not bad, but a bit strong for me and I'm not a huge fan of lime. I'd heard so much about them on the message boards back in the day, I had to try it for myself! Mission accomplished. ;)0

Now that I have my Tuesday evenings back to myself, I plan to focus on getting the photos of my recent pieces posted. I've let that slide for far too long, and the content on the Something Tangible LLC Facebook page is pretty thin these days as a result. :o By the way, the Virtual Mall Twitter page is still racking up followers...we have 578 as of today! :D I have 1,615 on my personal Twitter page, which mainly focuses on Something Tangible LLC news. :)

Mom and I did see my older niece pitch in her softball game yesterday. We were there for the first time she ever struck out a player! We played croquet afterwards in their backyard, using the same set my brother-in-law used with his parents as a kid. His mother was also there and played with us, but she was a bit out of practice. ;) Unfortunately, the second game was called on account of rain. It had starting drizzling earlier before the softball game, but we were lucky it held off until after dinner. :D

According to numerous horoscopes, a lot of planets are converging in my house of true love this month into early June. Jupiter, the planet of gifts and luck, will be visiting there for the first time in 12 years! I can honestly say, I've felt that! LOL :o :p I'm not holding my breath, but I'll take all the help I can get. ;)

Until next week...have a great one! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #19: Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! I hope all of the mothers out there were properly feted today. Mom and I went to see Curtains at the Paper Mill Playhouse, then to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. Walking back to the parking lot, we saw the star of the show walking down the street and enter a local eatery. Very kewl! The show was enjoyable, but Mom and I agreed not many of the songs were memorable. :\

I just finished putting the top pieces on my aluminum Chinese take-out box. Unfortunately, there were some flaws in my execution...the box is shaped more like a trapezoid than a rectangle. Either I scored the template incorrectly or, more likely, the aluminum didn't bend in exactly the correct place on both sides when I went to put it together. I got the top pieces all affixed with wire coils like a spiral notebook, but the tab doesn't close properly and one top piece is too long because the side measurement was affected by the bending error. So, I now have to cut the tab so it will hopefully insert into the slot on the opposite side, then cut the protruding edge of the longer piece off. This will be tricky because the box is already assembled, and I have no intention of disassembling it to make these alterations. I hope I don't completely wreck the piece in making these adjustments! I also still have to make the wire handle. Regardless, this project will either be complete or completely ruined by the final critique Tuesday night. Let's hope for the former! ;)

Earlier in the week, I received an email from an internet marketing guru with a tip to register my blog for downloading on the Kindle eReader. I don't expect it to be very popular, since I do not really post an instructional blog on any particular topic. You never know, though, so I registered it anyway. :)

It occurred to me this morning I have some tools that I purchased early on, which I have since upgraded or rarely use. I think I'm going to try to sell them on eBay. I may not make back what I spent for them, but any funds recouped are better than none. Plus, someone else may get some real use out of them and it will reduce the amount of stuff in my studio! ;) Along similar lines, I'm thinking about creating some handcrafted beads and jewelry-making kits (step-by-step instructions with materials) to also sell on eBay. I may try a few samples of each, just to see if they sell. If I'm not mistaken, you only pay for the listing if your item sells, so I can't lose too much by giving it a try. If eBay turns out to be lucrative for me, I may try to sell select pieces there. One step at a time, though...I will start with the unused tools. :)

This week coming up is a busy one for me. I have the final crit on Tuesday for school, a Bead Society Board meeting on Wednesday, and a thesis show in Brooklyn, NY to attend on Friday. One of my fellow classmates is being displayed in the show, so another classmate and I are going to go check it out. ;)

This past Friday, Mom and I went to see my younger niece pitch in a softball game -- her father coaches teams for both her and her sister. We're going to see the older one pitch on Saturday. Hope the weather holds out! :o

Gotta run...I was at a Cinco de Mayo party with high school friends last night and I got home at around 3:00 a.m. I am beat! :p

Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #18: May Day...May Day...

2011-05-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, one and all! :) I want to thank everyone who responded via email or on Facebook regarding my "rant" last week. It's good to know I'm not alone in my assessment after all! :D

Well, I survived the studio reception at school I mentioned last week. A lot of people had some really nice stuff to show, but I was not the only one who didn't have my final class projects finished. I did get to finish the plate and condiment dish in the class studio time after the reception, though. My teacher liked them a lot! :D The head of the department, who was also my teacher last semester, was there. He greeted me as he walked past me after the reception was over. I didn't go out of my way to speak with him because, quite frankly, I have nothing to say to him. I didn't want his feedback on my work because I knew he'd hate it. As long as my current teacher is happy, that's all I care about now. ;) Also, my current teacher has three pairs of earrings featured in the May 2011 issue of Art Jewelry magazine, which I happened to see in the magazine's email newsletter I received a few days ago. Pretty impressive stuff! :)

We don't have a scheduled class this week, since Tuesday at MSU will be Friday's classes to make up for being closed on Good Friday. The studio will be open, though, so we can finish our projects. The final critique/picnic will be the following week, May 10. I still have to decide what food to bring and what to wear -- he prefers "dressed up" or at least respectable for the final critique. I usually wear my sweats from going to the gym after work, so I will have to go home between the chiropractor (after the gym) and heading up to school on that last day. It's gonna be tight! :o

Someone approached me a week or so ago regarding a link exchange. I had never heard of such a thing, but apparently there are groups I can join and agree to host links on my website in exchange for those sites posting links to mine. Cross-linking helps boost search engine optimization (SEO), which helps rank your site higher in search engines such as Google and Bing. I will definitely look into that! I'm having the web designer set up a "Links We Like" page to host them, so the links aren't plastered all over the main site like ads. ;)

By the way, the latest Focal Piece of the Month went up this week. I've featured one of my class projects, since I have yet to post one from this semester. :)

Having arrived safely at May 1, I think we can finally say we have Spring-like weather here in New Jersey -- bright, sunny and warm! It actually got up to 81 degrees one day last week, which was a bit TOO warm for me! Then again, anything is better than the dead of Winter, IMHO. :p

Oh, and like 30 percent of the rest of the world, I was captivated by the Royal Wedding toward the end of this week. I watched a very good Lifetime movie "William and Kate," and then, of course, the media coverage of the wedding festivities was practically on every channel on Friday. :) I thought her dress was gorgeous and she carried herself very regally. I have a good feeling about this Royal couple. I think they will do a lot to bring the British Monarchy into the modern age. :)

Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #17: When Did Courtesy, Taking Responsibility, & Accountability Go Out Of Style?

2011-04-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! Happy Easter and Passover to those who celebrate these holidays. Happy Spring to everyone else! ;)

My mother told me yesterday morning that I must "attract flakes" into my life. I can't argue with her given how often people seem to blow me off. If I make plans with someone or say I will do something, I generally do it. I'm very big on keeping my word to others. That doesn't mean I'm perfect; I do occasionally forget things if I don't write them down, or if something urgent comes up I may have to cancel or postpone plans from time to time. I understand quite well that "life happens." However, I can't help but notice that I seem to be in the minority when it comes to this innate sense of responsibility toward others. Is it because people perceive me to be so "easy-going" they figure it won't bother me if they disappoint me? I can't tell you how many times in the past year or two that people have stood me up with no explanation or a lame excuse, or have dropped the ball when they agreed to do something for me. I realize that this is to some extent my own fault, as there are often no repercussions for their actions. Still, why is it that people in general seem to take others for granted and can be so self-involved that they don't feel it necessary to keep their word to other people? I've often felt like I have a different set of standards than society in general, and that I don't necessarily fit into this era. I find it hard to believe in this day and age that people haven't figured out yet that "it's not all about them." I said last month that people forget their actions affect other people. Maybe if more people thought about how their choices will affect others in their lives, life would get a lot less complicated? All I know is that I have come to expect disappointment from people I should be able to count on...both friends and family members. I don't often ask for help...I'm not comfortable asking for it, and I've learned to be pretty self-sufficient most of the time. At times like this, I am reminded why I became so self-sufficient in the first place. It seems like every time I reach out to someone for assistance, they let me down. It's very hard to be a team player when the other team members are all out for themselves. I saw a quote in today's Parade magazine by Shirley MacLaine regarding the supposed end of the world on December 12, 2012, due to the Mayan calendar ending on that date. She said, "The 2012 end date represents a cosmic choice we must each make. It really might be the end of our karmic drama, so to speak. I think we're in for some big changes, but I don't think it's the end of anything. It's a chance for new beginnings." I hope she's right because as I see it, we need all the help we can get. :p Rant over. ;)

Earlier this week, I entered to win $5,000 by creating a green shopping list as part of the eBay Green Team My Green List Earth Day contest. I don't expect to win, but it's a good way to promote the use of previously owned, resource saving, and sustainable products. :)

We found out in class last week that the MSU Metalwork & Jewelry department's end-of-semester studio opening will be this coming Tuesday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. It's a bit early this time...a lot of people in my class haven't finished their final projects yet, myself included. I will bring in the previous class projects that are finished, but I was hoping to finish the companion plate and condiment dish for my Chinese take-out box in time for the event. There's no way to have the box finished in time, so I won't even attempt that. I started the plate and dish last week and they won't take too long to do, but I need to use a drill in the studio because the Dremel I have at home takes much longer to drill through the metal and it also mars it if I'm pushing too hard on the drill because aluminum is so soft. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the studio this morning as planned, so I will most likely not have them for Tuesday. :( We still have one more class period the night of the opening, and the following week will be open studio hours during our class session, so I plan to be there as well. Everything will get done by our final critique...it just would have been nice to have more to show on Tuesday. :\

Going to my sister's for Easter dinner in a bit, so I will sign off for now. Take care and have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #16: From Japanese "Noodle Westerns" to Chinese Chopsticks...

2011-04-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Hi, gang! I hope everyone is doing well. :)

I've had a busy week! During class on Tuesday, we watched a Japanese "noodle western" -- a spoof of the old "spaghetti westerns" -- with subtitles called "Tampopo," the Japanese word for "dandelion" and the main character's name. Our teacher loves this film and he wanted to convey to us that we should put our all into whatever food we plan to make for our last class, when we use our "Out to Lunch" projects in our final critique. I've watched films with subtitles before, and even a very good one in Japanese ("Shall We Dance"), but this one was way too over-the-top for me. It gave me a headache! Needless to say, we didn't get much work done in that class, but I did manage to show my teacher the aluminum template for my Chinese takeout box. He seemed very pleased with it, and said "it showed" that I put a lot of time and effort into filing and sanding the edges! He gave me some suggestions regarding the hinges for the top flaps, so I will be working on those this week. I also cut up the remaining piece of aluminum sheet into two squares and one rectangle, which I will use to make a serving platter and condiment dishes...for sweet & sour sauce and hot mustard, for example. I still have a lot to do, and we're nearing the end of the semester, with two or three classes left at the most! He hasn't given us a date yet for the final critique. Wish me luck! ;)

On Thursday, we had our monthly BSNJ meeting. The program was revamped at the 11th hour to provide interactive demonstrations of various wire and metalwork tools, as well as a bead loom. I knew about a lot of them -- not all -- and waited for the crowds to die down at the stations before checking them out. I used my time wisely, though, and finished the embellishment on my chopsticks. I used half hard nickel wire (much more difficult to work with than dead soft wire, but it was what I had in the 18-gauge size I wanted to use) and coiled it around the top end of each chopstick. I added a pewter oval bead to the end of each stick...one side says "love" and the other side has Chinese characters on it; I presume they also say "love." I had them in my stash to be used as weighted charms for the clasp end on bracelets, but I liked the idea of using Chinese character charms for the chopsticks. :) So, that part of the project is finished! :D

I also added turquoise Greek leather to one of the resin pendants I made a few weeks ago. The pendant has two Turquoise chips in it, along with a couple of Cowrie Shells and Freshwater Pearls. The turquoise color of the leather picks up the color of the gemstone beads perfectly! :D

Today was spent with my older niece for her 10th birthday outing. We went to lunch at the Bagel Chateau -- both of my nieces LOVE bagels -- then to a local bead shop, and finally to Carvel for ice cream, which this niece LOVES. :) We made necklaces at the bead shop, something I had done with my younger niece last year. Jamie chose two puzzle piece "Best Friends" companion charms, and made a necklace for herself while I made one for her sister. Both girls love their necklaces, so it was a successful day overall. ;)

I'm still very behind on updating my photo files. There are only so many hours in a day, and I have to fit some downtime in there or I will go crazy. :p I should probably take a week off from the office job for a "staycation" at home to get my other stuff done. Maybe after school ends next month. :)

Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #15: Minutes Turning Into Hours!

2011-04-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

Hey, folks! I can't believe how quickly this month is flying by. Easter is only two weeks away! I thought it was further away for some reason. :o

I just finished typing up the minutes from the Bead Society's two-hour Board meeting this past Wednesday. It was my first Board meeting, although the President thinks I've "been around forever...that's a good thing" as she put it. :) It took me almost as long to type up the minutes as it took to have the meeting! Actually, I think it took a bit longer. :o I've sent them to the President for her input...I don't know if I reported more than was necessary or we just covered a lot of material that night. :p Our next general meeting is this coming Thursday instead of the third Thursday this month, due to Easter festivities at the Church where we hold our meetings. So, next weekend I'll be typing up minutes again! :\ Luckily, the Board is made up of a nice group of people. That makes the time pass more pleasurably. ;)

I spent three hours yesterday afternoon sitting in my backyard in the sunshine, filing and sanding the metal shape for my Chinese food container. One of my classmates probably saved me a month of sawing by showing me the electric jeweler's saw in the studio, a recent acquisition. It was like operating a sewing machine, only to saw metal! I broke half a dozen blades on my project, but it would have been 10 times that much if I had done it by hand. :p I'm really pleased with how the piece is shaping up. I just have to find a way to clean up the scratches left behind by the sandpaper and files. I don't really have the patience to sand the entire piece with multiple grades of sandpaper until the scratches all disappear. I did go over the entire piece twice each with four or five grades of sandpaper, but I wasn't thorough enough to make all of the scratches disappear. I'm hoping there's an electric tool I can use to cheat a bit on that. LOL

The reason I was working outside yesterday is because my Vitamin D level is low, and my psychiatrist mentioned this week that the supplements given to me by two other doctors are useless unless I take something to help my body process them or get exposure to sunshine. You'd think Vitamin D would come with the "processing agent" if that is the case, wouldn't you? So, I took advantage of the sunshine and worked on my back steps. :)

The Spike channel ran a "Star Wars" (IV, V, & VI) marathon last night, so I had it on. I know most of the first one (now called "A New Hope") by heart, so I didn't pay too close attention to that one. I watched "The Empire Strikes Back" more intently, although it is my least favorite of the three. I fell asleep within the last hour of "Return of the Jedi," since it was over at 3:00 a.m. I didn't like the newer three films (I, II, & III) nearly as much, although I liked the third of those the best because it seemed closer to the original series. I presume that's because Anakin finally became an adult. The first one seemed really boring to me, but I think that's because he was so young and I was impatient for him to grow up! LOL

I will be filing my income taxes this week. According to the accountant, I will be getting refunds from both the IRS and State of New Jersey, which is mind-boggling. I used to always owe New Jersey, even if the IRS owed me. Believe it or not, there is almost a $13,000 difference between what my annual income was last year on my Federal income tax form and what the State's form records. Naturally, the State amount is higher. I wonder what my State income taxes would be if I moved to San Diego? ;) Plus, there's more sunshine there...better for my Vitamin D level! :D

BTW, my coworker liked both pairs of white hoop earrings! She purchased one and may take the other at a later date. :) I also delivered a triple-strand Freshwater Pearl bracelet that I made for the owner of the salon where I get my nails manicured. She was really happy with it after I made it longer and changed the slide clasp to a toggle. :D

I received an upgrade for Bead Manager Pro last week and a second upgrade a few days ago, since people reported a few bugs in the first upgrade. I had already done the first upgrade, but it took me almost a half hour to make the second one today. It really should have taken about 10 minutes. I definitely find that when Mercury is in retrograde (as it is has been since March 30 and will continue to be until April 23), technology goes haywire. Mercury is the planet of technology and communication, so the internet, cell phones, email, and the like all become very unreliable during the three-week Mercury retrograde periods, which occur three or four times a year. I've noticed this for myself over the past couple of years. I also tend to get moody during certain aspects of the moon (I often learn about them after the period has past, so it's not a self-fulfilling prophecy), since the moon was in Pisces - a water sign - when I was born. I really find astrology fascinating. :)

I have to find some time to straighten out my office/studio soon. It's become a major disaster area, with notes to myself, tools, unfinished projects, new materials not yet recorded in the database, and items to be fixed all over the place. It's getting to the point where I can barely find anything! I used to be so neat and orderly in here. I wonder when that went out the window? :o

Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #14: NAET, Social Media & My Latest Video!

2011-04-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! What's new?

On the personal side of things, I've been undergoing allergy treatments to help stop my reaction to calcium oxalates. Yesterday, I had my second session of Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Techniques (NAET), which incorporate acupuncture and avoidance of certain "food energies" for 25 hours following the treatment. Two weeks ago, I had the treatment for calcium and eggs. The egg one worked, but the calcium only relieved 50 percent of the problem. I'd inadvertently put my hand under tap water that afternoon, and tap water contains a certain amount of calcium in it. I will have to repeat that one at a later time. This week, we did grains, yeast, and sugar. Let me tell you...it is REALLY HARD to avoid these items for 25 hours! I spent most of the day in bed with a major headache. I also had to avoid tap water again, since it was not listed on the "okay to consume" list for sugar or yeast (I forget which one). The last time was just as bad because I had to avoid anything related to eggs, including fowl and anything with feathers in it such as down comforters and pillows. Calcium is in many vegetables, toothpaste, and a lot of other things you wouldn't necessarily associate with calcium. I also spent most of that weekend in bed with a headache. The doctor is inquiring about getting a calcium oxalate sample, so we can treat me directly for that. The way we are going about it now, we're not entirely sure what will alleviate the itching and what won't. :\ Hopefully, I will get through these soon, as I can't take too many more "fasting" weekends! :p

A quick update on the projects I told you about last week: I received the aluminum sheet metal for the Chinese box project for school. I also went to Staples and made 11" x 17" copies of the template I found on the internet, so I'm ready to rock on that this coming week in class. I made the chopsticks last week...I even broke the second one while trying to whittle it down to a tapered end! Luckily, super glue and a vice worked a minor miracle, and I can't even tell which one was split! I had already sanded them both down to make them smooth, and I applied one coat of Tung Oil yesterday. I'll probably apply at least one more coat, maybe two. A classmate also suggested I reinforce the ends with metal...it will not only help make the broken one stronger, but also embellish the chopsticks and make them totally unique! I will try to get to that this week or next. :) I also finished the enamel-covered metal white hoop earrings I mentioned. In fact, I made two pairs...one with large filigree hoops and a second smaller pair with wire donut spacers that have spokes going around them like bicycle wheels. Both turned out really nice! Hopefully, my coworker will like at least one pair. :)

In social media news, the Twitter page for the Virtual Mall seems to be drawing attention from somewhere, but I'm not quite sure where. I've been adding followers pretty regularly without much effort on my part. I think the page added 15 today alone! :o Between that page and the Facebook Page, we have close to 800 followers now! :D I also added a Company page for Something Tangible on LinkedIn. I was doing something over there and the option popped up, so I took it! :)

Lastly, I finally finished my fourth San Diego video and posted it to YouTube. I think it turned out pretty well! ;)

Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #13: Factoidz, Ferido™, and "Forum"

2011-03-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

Good evening, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the first full weekend of Spring...not that you could tell it's Spring around here. It's been bright and sunny for the past few days, but colder than it was before the seasons officially changed. :\

It's been a while, but I posted a new Factoid article today: Six Basic Publicity Tips To Help Promote Your Fundraiser or Special Event. It was a quickie I developed yesterday after posting a response to a request for help in a private Ning forum group to which I belong. After posting my reply, I realized that it would make a good Factoid with only a few minor tweaks and elaborations. :D I've also got another one "in development," but I'm not quite comfortable with it yet, so I posted this one first. I'll probably post the other one in April, since Factoidz calculates a monthly activity bonus based on the number of articles posted. Rather than double up in March, I may as well wait a few days and publish it in April, so I can build up next month's activity early. :)

I purchased a hardwood dowl and Tung Oil (a non-toxic finish) from Home Depot this week. I need them to make chopsticks for my school project. I found instructions on eHow.com for the chopsticks and the Chinese food carton, along with a template for the carton. I made one out of paper the other day and it turned out really nice! I also ordered aluminum sheet metal from a jewelry supplier in Manhattan, so I will hopefully get it in time for Tuesday night's class. The professor suggested I also make some kind of serving plate to go with the other pieces. I'll see how much time and materials I have left after the chopsticks and the carton...hopefully, I will have enough of both to come up with something suitable. :)

While I was at Home Depot, I also purchased some white spray paint. I have some lightweight metal hoops that I wanted to paint white for a pair of earrings. I think I mentioned last week that a coworker asked for white plastic hoops. The resin ones I made a couple of weeks ago are too stiff for earrings, I think. They will probably become pendants eventually. :) Anyway, I coated one side of the metal hoops with the white paint yesterday and they look pretty good. I have to wait 48 hours before I can flip them over and spray paint the back side. Once that dries, I will figure out what to use above the hoops as the attachment piece for clip earrings. I'm hoping I have something appropriate in my stash. Keeping my fingers crossed it all works out! :)

Since I didn't have the materials for my school project yet last week, I brought some rose Ferido™ Formula x1 epoxy adhesive with me to use up, since it is best used within two years and it was coming close to that time since I bought it. It comes in two parts that get blended together to make a clay-like substance, and one part was already a bit crunchy. I think I got in just under the wire on that one! LOL I created three pendants using the epoxy and some miscellaneous items such as broken beads and a button from an old winter coat...you never know what can be recycled, eh? ;) When I got home from class, they were solid enough to add wire bails to them, as well as some texture to one. I really like two out of the three. The third one is the textured one with the button. I may have to figure out a way to jazz that one up a bit. :\

I saw the fourth production of the Paper Mill Playhouse's season today -- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Even though I'd never seen the play, I recognized the opening song ("Comedy Tonight!"), but I'm not sure where I've heard it before. It may have been on a recent birthday tribute to Stephen Sondheim I saw on PBS. It was an amusing show, although I think I've seen funnier ones. The final play of the season for me will be on Mother's Day...and yes, I'm taking my mother! LOL It's Curtains, another one I heard about but never saw. I believe David Hyde Pierce performed it on Broadway. This production will star Robert Newman and Kim Zimmer of CBS-TV's Guiding Light soap opera. I've never watched CBS soaps, but I do know the actress and the actor looks familiar from his picture. He may have been on another soap at one point....I have seen all of the NBC and ABC soaps at one time or another. :)

I have some chores to finish up, since I was out most of the day. Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #12: "The Way We Were" and Taking Action

2011-03-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! I just finished watching The Way We Were. I saw it once a long time ago, and all I could really remember was that I didn't like the ending. It's a good movie, but I still don't like the ending. Call me a sap, but I think if two people really love each other that much, they should be able to find a way to work things out. Sadly, that's not the case in real life, so I'll give the film points for being realistic. On the other hand, we watch movies to escape reality, so a "happily ever after" ending would have been nice. I know...I know...it would have been an entirely different film if the ending were different. Still, who wants to experience someone else's heartbreak? Someone who hasn't experienced the real thing, I guess. :p

I've been working on my final wrap-up video from San Diego. It's about 75 percent finished. I'm lacking footage that will fill in some of the gaps, so I have to check around and see if I can scrounge some up in order to finish it. :)

Also, I added links to the appropriate sections of the website store in the photo albums on Something Tangible LLC's Facebook page this week, as well as ten new product photos. I still have a dozen or so to fix, and I will update the photo gallery and store pages on the website once I have them all completed. ;)

BSNJ's St. Patrick's Day Party was fun. I got a nice pair of earrings in the Swarovski® Earring Exchange, as well as the materials for a pair of green beaded earrings as the party favor. I made mine right at the table while I was waiting for the food line to get shorter. ;) I also won some recycled paper beads in the silent auction and our table's centerpiece -- a candle decorated with leprechauns. All in all, I'd say I did pretty well! LOL

One of the blog's regular readers sent me a really nice email this week. She said one of my posts helped her decide to get a medical test she would have otherwise put off. While the results weren't serious, there was an issue to be addressed. She was grateful for my message. It's gratifying to know my words touched someone and resulted in her taking action. :D

I've been hearing a lot about "taking action" lately...it's being encouraged by many life coaches and business mentors these days. Taking action isn't always easy. Sometimes, it's pretty d@mned hard. And it doesn't always turn out the way you'd anticipated in my experience. I will admit that I've been doubting the wisdom of some of my actions over the past year. People forget that every single thing we do affects someone else in one way or another -- directly, indirectly, purposely, or incidentally. Too often, we don't realize the effect our actions have on others, good or bad, until some time has passed...if we ever learn about it at all. In the end, we just have to trust our own judgement, go with our instincts, and hope for the best. I do that more often than not, but I have been burned a few times in the process...sometimes, painfully so. Still, I suppose taking a risk that failed is better than not taking a risk that would have succeeded. The only way to learn the outcome is to make the effort. :\

Off to finish my Sunday night. Have a great week, folks! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #11: All Work And No Play...

2011-03-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hello, everybody! I got a late start today, but I was on kind of a creative roll, so I decided to keep going with it rather than stop to write my blog post earlier. Unfortunately, my "creativity muse" isn't always around, so I try to pay attention when she is. ;) I finished my Swarovski earrings for the Bead Society's exchange coming up at the St. Patrick's Day party this week, three other pairs of earrings, two bracelet repairs, one earring replacement, and three new elastic rings this weekend. :)

I was playing around with the Virtual Mall Facebook Page earlier this week. I added some photos with links to the various sections on the Virtual Mall web page. I'd thought about adding the photos a while ago, since the blank spots at the top of the page were not aesthetically pleasing. ;) I got the idea to add the links from a webinar I attended a few days ago offering tips to enhance your FB pages. I also added "Welcome" and "Handcrafted Gifts" pages...the Welcome page is supposed to appear if someone doesn't already "Like" the page, but I tested it earlier and it doesn't work for me...possibly because I created the page. I'm not entirely happy with the Welcome page anyway...it needs a little more work. The Handcrafted Gifts page turned out pretty well. I may add that to the Something Tangible Facebook page, but I haven't given that much thought yet. The reason I started with the VM page is because I had already come up with visuals for that one when I created it, but the dimensions were wrong -- too wide for the space -- and I couldn't use them. I basically used those as a starting point, which is why the Welcome page needs work. It has too much text and not enough "white space" to be effective, I think. Plus, the image itself is not as clear as it should be. :\

Once I'm happy with the VM page, I will start revamping the Something Tangible Page. I did change the profile picture there from the logo -- I've heard that's a big no-no, but I'm keeping it on the VM page because I don't know what else to use there -- to the pendant from the header on the website. I had the picture in my files from creating the YouTube channel. Anyway, I like the way it looks, and it depicts the idea of what Something Tangible is more than the logo does. :)

As for the class project due this past week, I ended up making a wire-wrapped representation of a jeweler's saw using wire instead of an actual blade to avoid cutting clothing. I put it on a silver-plated chain with a copper toggle clasp, since the saw was silver-plated wire with a copper accent on the handle. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and my teacher seemed to like it well enough. :) We have Spring Break this week (YAY!), but our final project will take up the last four weeks of class. The theme (this teacher seem to like those) is "Out to Lunch"...we have to create something that carries food -- hinges, a handle, and a latch must be incorporated into it -- along with the appropriate corresponding utensils. We will apparently be having a picnic for our final critique using these items! :o I'm thinking about making a metal Chinese food container and chopsticks. The top of the container will have to have hinges to fold over and close, and the latch will be the closure. I haven't decided how to close it yet, but I don't think the tabs on a traditional Chinese food box will work because cardboard has more flexibility than metal. I will line the container with aluminum foil to protect the food. I think the chopsticks will be made of wood, although I have seen them in plastic also. I have a lot of research to do, as I don't know if this project is too ambitious for me or not. I really enjoy these classes...they make me stretch my imagination and also broaden my skills. Unfortunately, it looks like I will have to skip taking a class next semester, as it will not fit in my budget. :( Hopefully, I will be able to go back after a semester or two.

It's late, so I will close now. I still haven't worked on the final San Diego video, but I will try to get to that this week. :) Take care, one and all! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #10: Emails and Videos and Sculpting, Oh My!

2011-03-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

Hey, gang! Today was very gray and rainy here...hope some of you saw sunshine! :)

As those of you who receive this message via email already know, I started using the Madmimi auto responder last week. Unfortunately, it wasn't as smooth a transition as I would have liked. :o First off, the system would not let us use the existing format for my email messages. It's close, except the header is no longer above the banner, but below it. In addition, we can't put the issue number and date on the same line, as we had before. I don't like that they are one above the other, but I have little control over that. :\ We also can't customize the footer on the message, which bugs me. And no more smileys! :( The other major problem was that my links didn't work. I received an email from Madmimi afterward, with a tip to use a screen capture from the video that links to the video itself. I may try that in the future...but if that becomes too time-consuming, I will revert back to using text links. I did find a link at the bottom of the email that asks if you want to read the message on the web, including a clickable link. That takes you to a web version of the same message, complete with working links. Of course, you can always visit the blog on our website or our YouTube channel directly to view any links or videos mentioned. ;)

In other news, our Video Sales Page is finally up and running! Check it out and let me know what you think. This is the PowerPoint presentation I developed in San Diego last month. The template they gave us had a lot of coding problems in it -- my web designer's browser kept shutting down -- so we modified it to fit in with the overall look of the website. I'm breaking some network marketing guidelines by doing this...apparently, it has been proven that a white background with black and red block lettering generate the most conversions. Still, I think that people visiting a jewelry designer/artisan expect more aesthetics in a web page. Personally, I don't think I would by jewelry or other artistic items from a white, black and red page. It lacks imagination, in my humble opinion. Time will tell if I've made a mistake or not. ;) I do want to make a second one for the Virtual Mall down the line, so I will have to see how well this one works before I make any decisions regarding that one.

My nieces slept over this weekend, so they helped me make some new pieces yesterday. I'll try to post photos over the next week or so. I have a bunch that I've taken already, but I haven't cleaned them up yet. :)

No video this week. I still have some raw material left from San Diego, but I have to go through it and decide how I want to cut it together. The videos I've posted to date were pretty simple. This one will be more of a "production." I will hopefully have it for next weekend, but I can't make any promises. Sadly, I have another family funeral to attend this week. :(

I played with Apoxie® Scuplt sculptural epoxy today. What a mess! LOL I was trying to make white hoops for a coworker. I won't know until tomorrow if they turned out all right. It takes 24 hours for the epoxy to fully dry. I also added some to my sterling silver guardian angel pendant from last semester. If the white turns out okay, I will try to make flesh color for the head and feet. Crossing my fingers!

Well, I'm outta here. Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #9: Another Month Bites the Dust...

2011-02-27T16:26:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone! Hope you have all been enjoying your weekend. It was pretty chilly here on Friday night and again today, but it was mild yesterday...and it's been SUNNY! We did end up having another snowstorm last Monday. I had predicted that the snow would melt just in time for us to get some more. :p Luckily, it was only a few inches and a lot of it is gone already. :)

As promised, here's Something Tangible's new Focal Piece of the Month. It's an Irish pin, in honor of St. Patrick's Day coming up, that I made as a birthday gift last year. :)

I've also uploaded my new video to YouTube. This was the final group activity from the Empowered Entrepreneurs weekend in early February. As you can see, I still have to work on improvising my "script" on the fly. :o Considering this was only the third day I'd even attempted to record myself on video, though, it could have been a lot worse! ;)

We're still working the kinks out of the new video sales page, but I think we'll have it up by next week's post. :)

I made my deliveries this week, and got a few new orders, too! One month to go in the quarter, so I'd better get moving if I want to make my sales goals. ;)

Our new class assignment for my MSU Metalwork and Jewelry class is to make a palm-sized, wearable replica of one of the tools in the studio. Preferably one that actually functions! :o We'll have another week on this one, thankfully, as I still don't know what to make! :\ I'm hoping for divine inspiration by Tuesday, so I can use the class time to get going on it.

Can you believe February's over already? :p Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #8: A Sudden Surge in Productivity

2011-02-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

Howdy, folks! :) I've gotten SOOO much done today, I'm really proud of myself! LOL I think I've gotten more done today than I had all week! :o

This burst of energy is coming off a couple of days without internet service. It's really kind of sad, but the amount of stuff you can actually accomplish without the internet these days is pretty small. Things you don't even realize require an internet connection -- like installing a new set of headphones with a microphone to my computer, for example -- require an internet connection! :o Anyway, the repairman showed up late yesterday, and we're rockin' and rollin' again! :)

As I just mentioned, I got a new headset for my computer. I had an older one from a few years ago when I was on Skype -- I deleted my account after a guy I didn't know kept wanting me to talk dirty to him in very graphic terms...I had no idea Skype was used for that kind of thing! :o When I tried to use the microphone the other night, it wasn't working for whatever reason. So, I went to Staples and got a new one yesterday. I also purchased a small flexible tripod for my Flip video camera, so I will eventually be able to film video tutorials at my workspace. :)

I purchased the microphone so I could finish the PowerPoint presentation I started in San Diego for my soon-to-be-revealed video sales page. I had to rerecord the audio MANY times to get it right! Then, feeling ambitious, I recorded an audio track for my Steampunk PowerPoint presentation, which is already on YouTube with a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang instrumental as the soundtrack. That was a MAJOR headache, trying to get the verbiage right and not stumbling over my words. I finally got it to the point it is "passable" -- you can't really be a perfectionist doing this sort of thing or you will NEVER publish ANYTHING, IMHO -- but YouTube is having trouble converting the file. That's probably because it is in PowerPoint 2010. I'll eventually get it posted, but I temporarily shelved that for more pressing matters...like writing this blog post! ;)

I worked on my latest video on Friday night, since I didn't need an internet connection for that, thankfully! It's my Improv exercise from the trip to San Diego a few weeks ago. If you didn't know it before, you will realize that I don't take myself too seriously -- and I have a bit of a troublemaker streak -- after watching this video. ;) Thanks to Jonathan Budd and his team for enabling me to make this one...I doubt I would have done if they did not require me to "perform" in this way! LOL :)

At the Thursday's Bead Society meeting (my first as Secretary), we were making Bottles of Hope -- adding a netting design with seed beads -- to donate to cancer patients in Central New Jersey on behalf of the organization. Mine is almost finished...I'll post a picture when it's done. I made mine purple, as that is the generic color for cancer, as well as the color for pancreatic cancer (R.I.P, Grandma :))

I've got a couple of bracelets and a pair of earrings to deliver this week, so I've been working on those today. I may have my nieces help me finish them up tomorrow, as the office and schools are closed for President's Day. My brother-in-law is working, so I'm watching the girls. Their Mom and my Mom are in Chicago to attend a taping of Oprah on Tuesday morning. I can't say I'm too envious, as Chicago is probably colder than here right now. :)

BTW, most of the snow from the last few storms has melted after a few Spring-like days here! WHOO HOO! It's supposed to get cold again, but at least any new snow won't be on top of the old snow anymore! :p

The new Focal Piece of the Month will be going up sometime this week, so keep an eye out for that. As a matter of fact, I have to write that now! ;) LOL

Have a great week, everybody! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #7: Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone! Well, I'm back in the groove after my weekend get-a-way last weekend. It took almost the whole week to get caught up on everything, but that's not too surprising. LOL

We received our second project assignment in my Metalwork & Jewelry class two weeks ago. Naturally, I didn't do much with it last week before my trip, but I got it done this week and it's ready to hand in on Tuesday. :D The theme of the project was some kind of fastener, or "Keep Your Knickers Up." My piece is a pair of copper wire earrings, each formed and forged into the shape of a fibula -- an ancient brooch. I then wire-wrapped beads around the outer edge and dangled a heart bead from the bottom to make them more decorative. I'm really pleased with how they turned out...now, we'll have to see what the teacher thinks! ;)

On Friday night -- with my nieces' help -- I made two name bracelets and corresponding name necklaces for a coworker's granddaughters. The children are about the same age as my nieces, so I wanted their feedback on what they would and wouldn't wear, as well as sizes. :)

While at the nail salon on Saturday...the same place where I displayed my pieces for their holiday party in December...I received orders for two more bracelets and a pair of earrings! One was a request from the owner! :D

And for those who missed the announcement on Facebook, Twitter, etc., I have been "drafted" to be the new Board Secretary of the Bead Society of New Jersey (BSNJ)! I knew my predecessor had to step down for personal reasons, but I figured I was "too new" to the organization to hold an office when they asked for volunteers. I guess I made a bigger impression on them than I'd thought! LOL They also asked me to submit my bio for the Member Profile in the upcoming newsletter, as well as submit my Factoidz stories to include in future issues! I've also agreed to donate something for a raffle at the St. Patrick's Day party/meeting (I haven't decided what yet...I may create a kit with materials and printed instructions from one of my workshop pieces), and I may also teach a workshop in the spring! When it rains, it pours! ;)

I spent part of this afternoon creating a opening sequence for my videos. I wish I could get rid of the black background, but then the black would show up in the transitions, since I don't know if you can or how to insert a background color in transitions with Camtasia Studio. Keeping the black throughout makes the opener appear seamless, so that's how I left it. :\ I will probably work on a closing sequence next week. I kind of forgot about it on this week's video. :o

Speaking of this week's video, here it is! It's my second video from San Diego...my execution on-camera still needs a little work, but I'll get there with practice! ;) I tried to make the thought bubbles appear long enough to read them, but not so long that they ran into each other. They seem to be a bit short in this one, but it's hard for me to tell how the final video will actually flow in Camtasia because the audio and video are not always in sync. :o

I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day! <3

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #6: My First Video Blog Post!

2011-02-07T19:31:00.000-08:00

Hey, all! Sorry I didn't get to post sooner, but I slept ALL DAY after returning from the Empowered Entrepreneurs workshop in San Diego this past weekend! :p I had a fabulous time, met a lot of very kewl people from all over the world, and learned a lot of incredibly useful information that will help me move my business forward. :)

Here's my first attempt at video blogging/vlogging. It is VERY unpolished and pretty raw, so be gentle with me if you make comments! Thanks! ;)

I'll be sharing lots more from my trip in the next few posts, but I have a lot of editing to do first. ;) This one was pretty down-and-dirty in the interest of time. :D

Did I mention I think I want to move to San Diego? 8D

Catch you later! I'm off to shower and head back to bed. I have to go back to "real life" in the morning. :\

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #5: Snow, Snow, GO AWAY!

2011-01-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone! :) Man oh man, are we ever buried under a ton of snow here in New Jersey! :p Once the snow melts, it will be like a tsunami hit us. Where is all of that water going to go? :o And we're due for another snowstorm in the middle of this coming week! There's nowhere to put any more! :( I can't wait to get to San Diego next weekend and get a short reprieve from the wicked white stuff...I may just "forget" to come back! ;)

So, what's new around here? Well...

* The new Focal Piece of the Month is up on the website.

* I won a Flip video camera in an eBay auction last week for $112 (it ordinarily goes for about $200 retail).

* I've opened a new Twitter account specifically for the Virtual Mall: @STVirtualMall.

* And, I've set up a Google profile for Something Tangible LLC.

I decided I didn't want people to associate my "personal" kglanzman accounts on Twitter and Google Buzz with "spam," so I am now filtering the Virtual Mall messages through appropriately-named channels. ;) No one has ever complained, but I would rather keep the two activities separate...although I was once counseled to use one account under my name for everything in order to create my "personal brand." To that end, Something Tangible general messages will still go through my original accounts. :)

I have to start packing for the Empowered Entrepreneurs conference next weekend. I'm just hoping the snow won't delay my out-going flight on Thursday! At this point, I wouldn't really care if I got delayed coming home. LOL :o

On the personal side of life, I took my younger niece to Glassworks in Morristown, NJ for her 8th birthday last weekend. As I did last year with my older niece, I made a picture frame for the absent girl. I promised them I'd post the picture in the website photo Gallery and on the Facebook Fan Page. They love it when I post stuff I made for them for all the world to see. :D

I also saw "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at Millburn's Paper Mill Playhouse today with an old friend/former boss & coworker. We had a great time catching up and the show was very funny! :)

Lots to do before I leave toward the end of the week. I will probably be posting from the San Diego airport next weekend. My flight lands in Newark at 5:28 A.M. on Monday! :o

Take care and stay warm! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #4: In Loving Memory...

2011-01-22T17:58:00.000-08:00

For this week's blog post, I am re-posting the first-ever Focal Piece of the Month from Something Tangible's website, which was a necklace I created as a gift for my friend Karen a little more than a year ago. Sadly, she passed away last weekend at the age of 42. I will miss you, my friend. :(

For the site's first Focal Piece -- for those who don't know jewelry lingo, a "focal piece" is a pendant or large bead that that draws your attention to it in a piece of jewelry, so I thought that was an appropriate name for this section -- we're highlighting a prototype necklace I made as a gift for a friend. This particular necklace features Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, and Moonstone, with a cross of Lapis Lazuli. I picked these stones because they are all reputed to affect cancer according to SobrietyStones.com, and my friend has colon cancer. With that last fact in mind, the stones are connected with blue Niobium wire, since the ribbon color for colon cancer is dark blue. I selected a cross as the focal piece for her necklace because my friend is a religious person and when I saw the Lapis one, I thought it was perfect for this. Here are some additional properties of the gemstones, as reported by various sources:

Carnelian: A mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone, according to Wikipedia.org. "...Applied physically, [it can] promote balanced digestion. For lower abdominal pain, especially in woman and in pregnancy, this stone placed on the pubic bone each day for twenty minutes will reduce the pain. Carnelian encourages the formation of new blood cells, and bleeding will respond favorably to treatment with this stone. Physically, carnelian has been used to encourage healing of open sores, rheumatism, kidney stones and other kidney problems. It is said that this stone will help cleanse and purify the blood, thus giving more physical energy."

Lapis Lazuli: "It is useful for treating fevers, headaches including migraines, pain, hypertension, depression, anxiety and stress as well as being an excellent aid inspiring a peace of mind and heart. It is resourceful for healing various problems including those associated with the brain, eyes, ears, throat, the thyroid and the glands surrounding the thyroid, the heart, spleen, lungs, the sinuses, while giving the immune system a boost. It is also useful for insomnia and the feelings of restlessness. It is also interesting to note that Lapis Lazuli is a crystal that aids in reducing cruelty and violence and may be another worthwhile stone for those who suffer from the antics of bullies as well as for those who have a tendency of a bully." (Note: The article on Factoidz from which I obtained this quote originally is no longer there.)

Moonstone: "[It] is said to assist with female issues and with childbirth. By unblocking the lymphatic system, it can heal and balance the stomach, pancreas, and pituitary gland. It can reduce swelling and excess body fluid. Placed under the pillow it will allow for a more peaceful sleep, and is often used as a cure for insomnia, and used along with the amethyst."

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #3: Green Day and Gang Green

2011-01-16T21:08:00.000-08:00

Hey, all! I hope everyone in the U.S. is enjoying their three-day weekend! :D

I've had a busy couple of days! Yesterday, I went to see "All Shook Up" at the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. It's a musical with all music by Elvis Presley. It was very entertaining! My sister bought Mom the tickets for Christmas, and I was invited to tag along. ;) Today, Mom and I went to see "American Idiot" on Broadway, featuring the music of Green Day. The production was well done and the cast had incredible energy...the show was 90 minutes without an intermission! As for the plot -- about three friends and the disparate turns their lives take -- Mom described it as "very disturbing." My take on it was that it made "Rent" look like a fairy tale! :o I can't quite say I enjoyed this one, although I do respect the talent of the cast, set designers, and technical crew. And the music was pretty good, too. :)

After the play today, Mom and I caught the second half of the New York Jets vs. New England Patriots game at a sports bar. WHOO HOO! Jets vs. Steelers next weekend. Dare I hope the roll continues? I've literally waited my whole life to see the Jets in a Super Bowl...I was a month old when they were in Super Bowl III in 1969! :p LOL

As you can imagine, I'm grateful for the day off tomorrow...I plan to sleep late! ;)

Coming up this week, I've got my first class at MSU on Tuesday and the first meeting of the Bead Society of New Jersey for the New Year on Thursday. I've also bought some new tools and supplies recently, so I hope to play with them soon...probably not until after class ends in May. :\ I still have a pile of kits to assemble, not to mention a lot of data entry work still to complete. I kind of burned myself out in the two months I worked full-time leading up to Christmas, so I've been taking it easy lately. I did work with the bead loom I bought for my younger niece at Christmas on New Year's Day. Her mother says it's too difficult for her. I don't recall the recommended age on the package, but I think she could handle it if she tried. I'm thinking of getting a loom for myself. :)

Well, it's past my bedtime. Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #2: Not Quite Making The Grade

2011-01-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

Hey, gang! We had another dusting of snow Friday/Saturday, but nearly as bad as the one on December 27. Rumor has it we're due for another six inches on Tuesday/Wednesday of this week. I've had enough of winter already! LOL

Well, I got a B+ in my Metalwork & Jewelry Beginner II class. I was disappointed, more in the professor than the grade...although it does bring down my GPA. Had I gotten an A-, I would have accepted that as an acknowledgment of my efforts, even if he didn't agree with my taste. Giving me a B+ tells me that he can't separate technique from personal style. Luckily, he's not teaching my class this semester. :\

I submitted photos of pieces for consideration in two juried craft shows this week. There's an application site called ZAPPlication, and I registered for notifications of upcoming events. The two I am interested in attending are ARTRIDER's Spring CraftMorristown in Morristown, NJ March 18, 19, & 20, and Sugarloaf Craft Festival in Somerset, NJ October 28, 29, & 30. First time applicants to the ARTRIDER show are waived the $40 application fee, but I paid $45 to apply to Sugarloaf. I'm not sure how long it takes to find out if I have been accepted, but wish me luck! :D

This was the first week I haven't sent out a Virtual Mall Discounts & Deals e-mailing since the summer. It saved me a lot of time, so I'll be taking the option to subscribe to that mailing off the website with the monthly updates in a couple of weeks. ;)

You'll notice there are a bunch of new commenting options on the blog. I'd registered for CommentLuv a while ago, but they didn't have plug-ins for Blogger at the time. I found some this week, so I downloaded them...all by myself! LOL :)

In terms of the year-end figures, I didn't make my 50% increase in sales from the previous quarter goal, but I did surpass the previous quarter's figure. In fact, I more than doubled my sales from the 4th quarter last year. I think there was only one quarter since I've started that I didn't beat the previous quarter's sales. All in all, I'm making steady progress in a difficult economy, so I can't complain. :)

In personal news, I attended my younger niece's roller skating party on Thursday. I used to have my own skates (not roller blades) and went skating with my sister and a friend every Sunday morning in high school. Let me tell you, it is NOT like riding a bike! LOL :o It took me most of the party to get comfortable and loosen up on the skates. Naturally, after 20+ years, my center of gravity has changed. :o I also didn't have a bad knee back then. It popped out three times while skating on Thursday, but luckily I didn't do any long-term damage. :p And I think I only fell on my butt once. I don't think my brother-in-law got that on video, but he did get me skating like an old lady once or twice. :o

Enjoy your week! If you haven't checked it out yet, tune in to the People's Choice for TV's Best New Drama...Hawaii Five-0! It airs Monday nights at 10:00 p.m. on CBS. It's must-see TV! ;)

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #1: A New Year, A New Decade, A New Leaf...

2011-01-02T17:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2011, everyone! I hope people rang in the New Year safely. :D

Well, I have to admit that I don't have much to report this week. I kind of took a lot of the week off from my Something Tangible efforts. I'd been "burning the candle at both ends" for quite a while working here and at the office, so I decided to take a mental and physical break from the business. I didn't have anything pressing to deliver, although I do have a few projects to do "as time allows." However, since I wasn't given a deadline by the clients involved, I figure they will forgive me for taking a bit of time for myself over the holidays. ;)

I did make my flight and arrival shuttle reservations for the Empowered Entrepreneurs conference I am attending at the beginning of February. I still have to look into off-site parking for that weekend near Newark Liberty International Airport. I will be leaving work at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday (February 3) and my flight is at 2:45 p.m. I may as well go straight to the airport, rather than go home to drop off the car and then take a taxi. I've been assigned a roommate, so she made the hotel reservations for us both. We're staying at the conference hotel...The Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego. I've eaten at a Hard Rock Café before in Las Vegas, but I've never stayed in one of their hotels. Should be fun! :D

On a personal note, I started my New Year's Resolution early. Having been snowbound at home on Monday -- we had a MAJOR snowstorm in New Jersey, in case you missed it on the news -- I went to the gym right after work on Tuesday, and went every day for the rest of the week! :D I basically decided to start immediately with my new work schedule, so I could develop the habit right away. There were a few days I left work later than I'd planned, and I thought about skipping the gym...but I made myself go anyway. :p

Looks like my Intermediate level Metalwork & Jewelry class starts on Tuesday, January 18. That gives me a couple more weeks before I start Tuesday night classes. At least I can now watch Hawaii 5-0 on Monday nights! LOL Still no grades posted for last semester. :\

I'm going to find something relaxing to do for my last "vacation" night. Take care and have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #50: 24 Hours Too Late...

2010-12-26T15:55:00.000-08:00

It seems that Mother Nature and Father Time had trouble coordinating their schedules this year. We are in the middle of a blizzard warning here on the East Coast not 24 hours AFTER Christmas Day! You'd think they could have at least given us a White Christmas in the bargain!? LOL :p Regardless, I hope all of those who celebrate this holiday enjoyed it. :)

I finished my friend's grandmother's necklace in time for Christmas, and posted it as the new Focal Piece of the Month. Starting this month, I'm going to post the new Focal Piece on the Something Tangible LLC Facebook Fan Page, since I think people are more likely to see it there then counting on folks coming to the website to read it. ;)

No word yet from the Bead Society of New Jersey on whether or not any of my pieces were selected to head to Tucson at the end of January. I also just checked the MSU Blackboard and my semester grade isn't posted yet. Still keeping my fingers crossed for both! :)

Earlier this month, I signed up for the Beta version of a new online payment service called Paybox.me. There's no fee like there is with PayPal, but you can't add or deduct funds from your account yet in the Beta version. Once the service is up and running, I will let you know...but I'm thinking of adding it or the Store section of the website, possibly replacing PayPal entirely. :)

I'm also thinking about discontinuing the email version of the Virtual Mall Discounts & Deals circular in January. It seems that the majority of activity is coming from posts on the Virtual Mall's Facebook Fan Page, so it's really a waste of time and somewhat redundant to do both. If anyone has strong feelings about it one way or the other, please feel free to let me know. As always, I will take the absence of feedback as implied consent. :)

Along similar lines, since the blog posts are now automatically posted to both Facebook Fan Pages via NetworkedBlogs, I will no longer be posting Tangible Tidbits in the Discussions section of the Something Tangible LLC Facebook Fan Page. No one ever replied to them there anyway, so I may as well ditch the duplication of effort. :)

On the personal side, we're up to having raised $629.16 for Fondation MIRA in the Virtual Garage Sale...a few unclaimed items are generating some interest. I will be ending that effort officially on January 1. It's been very time-consuming, so it's definitely time to move on. :)

My Birthday Wish on Facebook has raised $85 for Donate Life America (including my $25), so I feel better about the Virtual Garage Sale being a bust in that effort. :D

And last but not least, tomorrow will mark my first day back to permanent part-time work with my former employer. Unfortunately, one of the people I was helping to replace will not be returning from medical leave. I'll be working 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, which enables me to participate in company benefit programs (25 hours is required). It wasn't a tough decision to make...while I will no longer have the flexibility I've enjoyed for the past couple of months, I will have a steady income to help me fund my efforts here. It's been nice to go to an office full of people again -- I missed the socialization working by myself. I hope to eventually be able to afford to work on Something Tangible full time, but for now, this is the best solution. :)

As my next message will not be until after the New Year, I wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year's celebration! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #49: The Holidays Are Upon Us!

2010-12-19T18:48:00.000-08:00

Hey, everyone! :D

Well, I baked Christmas cookies today with my nieces, and then we went to their house for dinner. Santa is driven down streets in their town accompanied by a firetruck, and he made his visit after dinner. We each got a candy cane. The Christmas Season is officially here! LOL :D

I've been working on my coworker's grandmother's necklace this week. I finished with the pendant part, so I now just have to reinforce the chain section. I want to get it to her before Thursday, since it will be a half-day in the office and people will be going nuts. The office is closed on Friday, as Christmas Day falls on Saturday. :)

Just a little while ago, I submitted six photos of original pieces to the Bead Society of New Jersey. A three-judge panel of Board members are selecting pieces to represent the group at the Tucson Expo Center next month. The J.O.G.S. Gem & Jewelry Show and Art Bead Circle LLC is looking for superior, high quality, completely original work to be exhibited there January 28 through February 9, 2011. I sent some metalwork pieces, wire work, an embroidered pendant, and my Steampunk Box. They will select 15 pieces to represent us, so wish me luck! ;)

My final critique for the semester at MSU was on Monday night. The professor said to my friend (a teaching assistant) afterward, "That was not easy." LOL My friend replied, "She should have been a lawyer." That made my night! :D I wasn't disrespectful or trying to challenge him, but when he talked about aesthetics as opposed to techniques, I justified my choices. A few reasons were admittedly lame, but they were the truth and I stood by my choices. :) I think it rattled him a bit that I would not be intimidated by him and I could really care less about my grade. I didn't even ask him about the grade, to the shock of my friends! It didn't matter to me, because I knew the grade was based on his own taste. :\ I just checked and grades have not been posted yet. I should know by January 4 at the latest. ;)

I posted a new Factoid this weekend: If You Can Tie a Knot, You Can Macramé Your Way To Handcrafted Jewelry! That's eight articles in all now. Two more and I move up from Factoidz Writer to Staff Writer! And thanks to a new Buzz It Up! process at Factoidz, all of my older articles rank high or very high in search engine optimization (SEO) for their categories! :D

One other small business coup...I applied and was accepted to attend a special seminar during the first weekend in February in San Diego, CA. It's professional and personal development, and only 25 or so people will invited/allowed to attend, so that everyone can get to know each other on a first-name basis. A lot of work will be completed at the event, as opposed to them giving us tools to take away and work with on our own. I think attending this event will force me to take some steps I've been putting off because of a lack of time or other resources. I have 70,000 Continental Airlines OnePass miles racked up, so I will at least have that part of the trip covered. ;)

As for my Virtual Garage Sale, the last official week ended on Friday night. I am leaving the unclaimed items on the board until the New Year, as a few people have asked about them. So far, I've raised $624.16 for Fondation MIRA and $2.50 for Donate Life America. As I mentioned last week, I did make a personal donation of $25, and I made Donate Life America the recipient of My Birthday Wish on Facebook, as my birthday is conveniently next Friday. Hopefully, that will make up a bit for the lack of interest in "Moonlight" items. :)

The next time I post will be on December 26. So, best wishes to those who celebrate Christmas! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #48: As Grandpa Always Said, Slow And Steady Wins the Race!

2010-12-12T16:08:00.000-08:00

Hey, all! It's rainy but warm in New Jersey on this December Sunday evening.

Just got back from picking up my pieces at the 1978 Maplewood Arts Center's Buy Art Now Guys! (BANG) 5 art show. I sold a bracelet -- to another one of the vendors, as it turns out! -- and a cell phone charm there. The coordinator of the event spoke with me when I picked up my stuff, and told me "Your stuff is perfect and perfectly priced for this show." That was nice to hear! :D She also said that they had foot traffic, but sales were down this year for all the vendors, even those who have historically done well. She said I'm on the mailing list, so I will definitely be put on the posters and postcards next year and I should definitely come back! She also recommended two other local craft shows -- one at the Baird Center and another at GAS Studio and Gallery, which is the one owned by my high school classmate. As this was my year "showing" my work, I will definitely have to keep an eye out for those two next year! :)

In addition, I spent about seven hours at Salon Sung in Millburn yesterday for their holiday celebration. I sold two more bracelets and three pairs of earrings there! :D I'm happy that my pieces are selling, even if not a lot of them or the more expensive pieces. It's incentive to keep going...even if my progress is slow, at least it is steady! ;)

We had our "opening" at Montclair State on Wednesday night. At least one piece was selected from each student to show in the display case until next week. Mine is a bronze and sterling silver pendant that I created into a necklace. I wasn't surprised they chose that piece...it's pretty artistic, if I do say so myself. LOL

The fall semester's final one-on-one critique with the professor is coming up tomorrow night...then I'm free until sometime in January, at least from school obligations. ;)

On the personal side, I'm winding down with the Virtual Garage Sale. I think this will be the final week. :D To date, we've raised $589.16 for Fondation MIRA and $2.50 for Donate Life America. I will most likely send a check for $25.00 to Donate Life America out of my own pocket, as I would be embarrassed to send them a check for only $2.50. :\

Heading into the "holiday frenzy" period, I have my shopping pretty much done. However, I still have wrapping to do, packages to mail, and cookies to bake. I usually manage to get everything done on time, although some years I have no idea how I'd done it! LOL

Enjoy the remainder of your Sunday evening, and have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #47: 'Tis The Season To Be Busy!

2010-12-05T11:26:00.000-08:00

Hey, all! I'm posting this early today because I will be spending most of the evening into the night at the MSU studio, preparing for our "opening" this coming Wednesday with an advanced class. Tomorrow night is the last full studio period we have before the show, and I want to make sure I have enough time without being there until almost morning! LOL I am required to have eight projects finished and I have a few extra, so if anything doesn't get completed in time, I will just save it for next semester or finish it on my own. Wish me luck! ;)

About the critique a few weeks ago, he was pretty harsh overall...but that's not surprising. I think more than half of the students in class are Industrial Design students who have to take this class as a requirement, and they haven't put a lot of thought and energy into their work. They also look to be out of class for Monday Night Football's kickoff. LOL I think he liked my stuff in general -- he knows the hours I keep with the teaching assistant in the studio -- but he took issue with me gluing stones into pieces, even though he didn't teach us how to do it properly. Maybe he assumed we learned it last semester? In any case, he asked for reassurance there would be no glued stones in my final pieces. I said there might not be any stones at all! He suggested I fill some of the gaps with resin, so I will try that today. I did set stones in a few of the pieces...I was never told you should start with the stone first and then create a piece around it. I was doing it the other way around, which I suppose is much harder to do. :\ Anyway, I'm not in the class for the grade, but for knowledge and the experience. If he doesn't like my work, so be it. :p

In other artistic-related news, I just got back from my younger niece's first juried art show. She won First Place in her age category (6- and 7-year-olds) at the Watching Arts Center. She submitted two works and the winning one is called "Little Birds." Both pieces were in paint -- one in watercolors and the other in tempura. I'm so proud of her! :)

They are standing behind me right now, waiting for me to help with a gingerbread house, so I will make this quick! :)

I created another set of step-by step instructions with photos for a workshop this past week -- macramé and beads. I learned macramé in junior high school, taking a club during our alternate lunch period. I completely forgot about it until recently, and I made a few pieces to make sure I could still do it. I now have a pair of earrings, a pendant on a hemp necklace, and a bracelet finished, all using hemp cord. ;)

This coming week, I have the school projects to finish and a few other pieces "on deck." Luckily, people are not in a hurry and these are not holiday presents, although I did just receive the Fireline for my coworker's restringing project that I'd mentioned previously. That one IS a Christmas present, so I have to get directions for the square stitch and get moving on that one ASAP.

I will be displaying some pieces at Salon Sung this coming Saturday, December 11, as part of their holiday celebration. It's on Main Street in Millburn. Come say hi if you're nearby! ;)

Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate! Christmas (and my birthday) will be here before you know it! :o :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #46: The Holiday Season 2010 Begins!

2010-11-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone! Hope all you U.S.-based folks enjoyed your Thanksgiving. :)

As I mentioned last week, I had a family funeral to attend on Wednesday. I hadn't been to their house in probably 25 years, but I recognized the neighborhood when the funeral procession passed the house. That choked me up. It's a nice thing to do, and I've heard it's becoming more commonplace. I think my immediate family members would have liked that, had it been done in the early 2000s. :\ I also went to visit a friend at the cemetery on Thanksgiving morning, but I couldn't find his grave. I should have looked for landmarks the last time I was there in June, but it didn't occur to me at the time. :p Got caught in the day's snow flurries while I was there! It didn't stick here in New Jersey, though.

Still trying to promote myself and my company, I submitted some pieces to Buy Art Now Guys! (BANG) 5 this morning at the 1978 Maplewood Arts Center. Check out the second exhibit listed here for more information. I was approached to participate after the deadline for the postcards and posters, so my name isn't listed. :\

I also posted a new Factoid this week: Procedures For Preparing A Wax Cast in Jewelry and Sculptures, based on last month's Focal Piece of the Month. The new Focal Piece is up on the company website, BTW. :)

In addition, I made a trip to Monroe Township (exit 8A on the NJ Turnpike) to deliver a necklace that was requested at the Jewels of New Jersey earlier this month, as well as a ring. We chatted for about an hour and discussed ideas for future pieces she would like. I have some materials already on-hand, so I will hopefully get some time to pull them together for her soon. :)

I have another custom necklace to make this week, which I hope to get to by the middle of the week. I have school tomorrow night right after work -- remind me to report on last week's critique next week! -- and the Virtual Garage Sale to set up on Tuesday night. I was out most of the day today with my mother and sister at the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of Les Miserables. Mom took us there and to dinner for our birthdays, which come in December and January. GREAT performance, BTW! They are really promoting it, too...I heard a commercial on WBGO-AM this morning (Mom's Sunday morning station) and saw three ads on The Hallmark Channel last night! The TV spots impressed me. I don't recall seeing them for any other Paper Mill production before. :o

Still on the back-burner is restitching my coworker's grandmother's necklace. I ordered 4 lb. Fireline (stringing material) for it this week. Hopefully, it will get here sooner rather than later to give me more time to work on it before Christmas. :)

Thankfully, I've done most of my Christmas shopping already through Something Tangible's Virtual Mall. I had read from one astrologer that shopping would be difficult in December due to Mercury going into Retrograde later in the month. Items would be backordered, hard to find, or not enthusiastically received if purchased during that period...so I decided not to take any chances and get my gifts early. Got some great deals, too! ;)

Can you believe December is less than a week away already? Is it just me or does time speed up the older you get? LOL Have a great week! ;)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #45: I Forgot What I Was Going To Write...

2010-11-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone! I generally have an idea of what major points I want to hit each week when I post to my blog. My earlier thoughts pretty much went out the window when I got two emails -- 15 minutes apart, mind you -- alerting me to two different wakes/funerals I have to attend on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Happy Thanksgiving, eh? :o

One is my friend's mother...I've known this friend since the early 1990s -- she was my first boss out of college -- and she considers me like a younger sister. Her mother has been deteriorating for a long time, so this news was not exactly a surprise. The other one is my mother's cousin by marriage, whom I've known for most of my life. Mom is Godmother to one of their daughters. She's also been ill for around two years. It's still kind of shocking to me, since I really hadn't heard much about her until the past two days. Naturally, I feel empathy for anyone who loses a parent, having been there myself.

Getting back on track...I promised to post a link to the Artbeads.com contest entry last week, didn't I? Click here to see it. Public voting starts November 23, 2010 and ends December 8, 2010. Wish me luck! :D

The photo from my Make Your Own Holiday Gifts Workshop appeared in this week's News-Record of Maplewood & South Orange! I posted it to the Something Tangible LLC Facebook Fan Page if you want to check it out. :)

I have a big challenge coming up this December. A coworker asked me to restring a vintage seed bead necklace that belonged to her grandmother. I send photos to a renowned beader I know to ask for advice. She has confidence that I can do it without taking the necklace apart, so I will try to get that done for my coworker to give to her niece for Christmas. Wish me luck again! ;)

We are FINALLY having our first critique -- and a quiz! -- in class tomorrow night. The professor forgot to tell us about it a few weeks ago and then he forgot about it entirely on the night it was rescheduled. I have to ask him for some advice on a few pieces that are "in process," but I have three pendants and three rings completed. We are only required to have eight pieces finished for the final critique, and I will have at least nine or or by then. :) I have to reread the chapters of the book for the quiz during my lunch break tomorrow. :o

By the way, I added the NetworkedBlogs box on the right side of our Blog page ALL BY MYSELF! LOL You can now follow this blog using NetworkedBlogs on Facebook. :)

I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. December will be here before we know it! Where did the year go?

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #44: Must've Been A Slow News Day...

2010-11-14T18:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I had my first-ever workshop today at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center. I only had one student, but it was good to be able to provide her with one-on-one instruction. The local paper sent a photographer! I should have thought about taking PR pics to send to them, but it totally slipped my mind. The picture could run this week or three months from now. I will keep you posted on that! ;)

It looks like we're on schedule for the Mother-Daughter workshop at Blue Life Karate and Fitness on Saturday, December 4 at 3:00 p.m. I mentioned this to the The News-Record of Maplewood & South Orange photographer also...it couldn't hurt to plug the karate center! ;)

I entered three contests this week: Artbeads.com's "What Inspires You?" beaded necklace contest (I'll send the voting link next week), BeadStyle magazine's Crystal Challenge, and a FIVE AND DIME STYLE contest by B'Sue's Boutique. Wish me luck! :)

I also found out about BuyArtNowGuys5 (BANG5), an exhibition and sale of small artwork at the 1978 studio in early December (12/4 & 5, 12/11 & 12). Apparently, I'm the only jewelry artist so far. Good news for me! ;) LOL

In internet news, I hooked up the company's blog to NetworkedBlogs on Facebook. It seemed like the logical thing to do. We'll see if it increases readership. :)

As I mentioned last week, I had a big decision to make over last weekend. I was offered a full-time temporary position with a former employer for two months. They have two people out on medical leave and are short-handed. I decided to take it because it never hurts to have a steady paycheck going into the holidays. Also, I'm just a natural pitch-in-and-help kind of person. ;) This means, of course, that I will be pulling back a bit on my projects here, probably until the New Year. :\

Another reason I took the full-time gig is because I was feeling a little overwhelmed after the back-to-back craft shows last weekend. When I was in college, I took three French courses and earned grades of an A, a B, and a C, respectively. By the time I'd finished the third class, I decided to soothe my bruised ego by taking Spanish, which I had studied for eight years, including AP Language and AP Literature classes in high school. I bombed on the Spanish placement test at Rutgers, so I placed in Intermediate (I wasn't prepared because I knew I was switching to French...I was bored with Spanish and thought another Romance Language would be just as easy for me. NOT!). So, I aced Intermediate Spanish with little effort and felt better. ;) Part of the reason I went back to the office job is because I knew it was something I did well, and that I was appreciated for my efforts -- after all, they asked me back, right? ;) In my experience, it pays to switch to something you excel at doing whenever you begin to doubt yourself in another area. It builds up your self-esteem and gives you the energy to go back and try again. :)

On that note, I have work to do! Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #43: Tired With A Capital "T"

2010-11-08T08:18:00.000-08:00

Hey all! I am worn out after traveling out to Hunterdon County on Saturday and then down to South Jersey on Sunday for the back-to-back craft shows. As I told one lady yesterday, my goal is not to have to do that long-term! LOL It's a lot of work and payback is not assured, by any means. Overall, I cleared just under $300 for both shows. I sold one watch, a bookmark, two necklaces, a bracelet, and five pairs of earrings. I did also connect with a lot of nice people, some of whom signed up for the mailing list and others who requested custom orders. All in all, it was a valuable learning experience for me, but one I would not like to have to repeat regularly. ;) I can see doing a few at holiday time each year -- it's silly not to take advantage of the opportunities -- but I don't want to be one of those people who travel from place to place every weekend all during the year. I know some people love it, but it's not for me. :p

I forgot to mention last week that I started posting the Virtual Mall discounts and deals directly to the Virtual Mall's Facebook Fan Page, just to see if it worked better because the links don't show up in the Discussions section when I copy and paste the mailed version. I'm also reaching a wider audience, with 400+ "people who like this" there. ;) It seems to be going fine...I've gotten an occasional thumbs-up for an item posted or a comment. As long as no one feels like it is a constant stream of spam, I guess I will keep it up. It's still time-consuming...I can't decide if it is more or less so than doing it the other way. I'm still mailing it out for now, but down the line, I may have to cut that part out, since it is duplication of effort to some degree. :\

Being out for the entire weekend has put me behind the 8-ball with my Virtual Garage Sale, but I seem to be making progress in that endeavor, too. I will be happy when that's complete, so I can get my personal life back! :p

I have a big decision to make that I will tell you about next week. It will change a few things around here for a couple of months, but I'm not entirely sure how yet. In a way, it will contradict what I said last week about accepting offers not in my Hedgehog Concept...but in another way it indirectly supports it. We shall see...

Gotta run! Have a good week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #42: Our One-Year Anniversary and My Hedgehog Concept

2010-10-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

Greetings, one and all! :)

Something Tangible LLC celebrated its one-year anniversary on October 26. It was a low-key event...I didn't even remember it until just now! LOL :o I had a lot going on this week, both personally and professionally, so it just kind of fell off my radar. :\ My, how things change in a year! ;)

My older niece Jamie wanted me to tell you that she made some spiral coil beads for me this week. She was home from school with cough-variant asthma on Wednesday -- the poor baby has it rough this time of year -- and ended up at my house because both parents were working. She's on a Disney cruise this week with her parents and sister, so I can't feel TOO sorry for her. (Love you, Jamie!) ;)

I also came to a decision regarding the after care job at the Karate center. I got a call on Wednesday while I was at my chiropractor's office, asking about an incident that had happened the previous Friday. Someone on the street overheard me scolding an obstinate child on the way to the park. I was trying to be heard over the construction on Springfield Avenue and the child's "Don't talk to me" rants while covering her ears. Apparently, in this day and age, raising your voice to a child is considered verbal abuse. This is the second time the owner and I had this discussion...regarding this particular child. I decided right then and there that I didn't want to deal with this situation any longer. I don't agree with "the system" that reprimanding a misbehaving child is abuse. I also have a naturally loud voice -- as most of you undoubtedly know -- and when I raise it, it probably comes across as shouting to others, as my mother pointed out to me. In any case, the job was taking too much time away from my own work for Something Tangible, and dealing with this child was stressing me out...to the point I dreaded even going there. So, that phase is over. Luckily, the owner understood my side and he also doesn't agree with the rule, although he does have to conform to it. Thankfully, I don't. I can just remove myself from the situation. He told me yesterday that he's been talking up the mother-daughter workshop to his members, so it looks like that will still happen. Keep your fingers crossed for me! ;)

Had I known about The Hedgehog Concept when I was mulling over the job opportunity, I would have turned it down. For those of you not familiar with the idea, it was originated by James C. Collins in his 2001 management book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't. I learned about it recently in a video by Gideon Shalwick. Anyway, you draw three overlapping circles, kind of like a pretzel. The first circle is "Things I like to do," the second one is "Things I do well," and the third is "Things I can get paid for doing." The middle section where all three circles intersect is called your Hedgehog Concept. I have learned over the past year that my Hedgehog Concept is making handcrafted jewelry. I never knew I had the talent until I tried, but I enjoy it and people do pay me for it. :D Since taking a job as an after care counselor does not fit in nor support my Hedgehog Concept, so I should have rejected it. Naturally, it is easier to make decisions about what direction to take once you know where you are going! ;) It's taken me almost 42 years, but now I know. :)

In other work-related matters, the November 2 workshop has been canceled because not enough people registered for it. I'm still holding hope for the November 14 one, but not a very strong hope. :\

I've been busily making wax models for my Monday night classes. I invested three more last week and I'm working on a special one at the moment...a promise I made to a friend earlier in the year. I will cast the three I invested last week in bronze tomorrow night. I'm running low on sterling silver, and I want to see how they turn out in bronze. ;) To date, I've made two rings, two pendants and a pin. The pin cracks me up. I just cast it to have enough pieces for a critique, which still hasn't happened yet. When I was cleaning it, I rotated it in my hand to see which way I liked it best. On the fourth turn, I noticed that it looks like a calf's head! I wasn't trying to make one, but it's a REALLY GOOD one! LOL Complete with a faceted black onyx eye. The funny thing about that is the Rutgers Marching Band Color Guard were called cows (a term of endearment, believe it or not!). So, I have a few friends who will laugh really hard when they see it. ;)

I got a response from "Mystery Moderator" last week. He claims he can't change his screen name, but he did see my point about transparency building trust. At least he wasn't singling me out, although he did delete my event listings without telling me. Not a big fan of that, either. :\ By the way, the group is Get Traffic 3.0 and they are a REALLY enthusiastic and supportive bunch! We're all posting our Facebook Fan Pages so we can "Like" each other's. The Something Tangible LLC page has 994 as of this morning (WHOO HOO!) and the Virtual Mall page has 378. The ad campaign I ran for that ended last week, so the new "Likes" are all probably from GT3.0 and new Friends on my personal page. :)

I still haven't received the price tags, bags, and boxes I ordered for next week's Holiday Bazaar on Saturday and Jewels of New Jersey on Sunday. I hope I get them early in the week, so I'll have time to price the items before Saturday morning! :o I have a lot of stuff I want to do before Saturday -- like making some chain maille bracelets and earrings in holiday colors, for example -- I just hope I have enough time to get everything done! At least I've gotten the 12+ hours back from not going to the Karate center in the afternoons. :)

One last note, as this message is pretty long already...I recently found out we can select personalized usernames for our Facebook Fan Pages, so I've done that for the two I have. These are much easier to remember than all of those numbers, etc. generated by Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/SomethingTangibleLLC

http://www.facebook.com/SomethingTangibleVirtualMall

I also did one for the Home page of the Something Tangible Application, in case that Facebook bookmark ever becomes viable again:

http://www.facebook.com/SomethingTangibleApp

The application is back again, but I can't change the bookmark because the viable link starts with apps.facebook.com, and the settings won't accept that. :( Anyway, if you've never seen the application, check out the Home page link above (it works) and see if you can get to this page:

http://apps.facebook.com/gifts-super/620805/

For whatever reason, I can't even post it as a link in Facebook...it won't work. :(

Happy Halloween, and go easy on the candy! ;)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #41: I Probably Should Post Tomorrow, But...

2010-10-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! I'm really annoyed at the moment because I just got a notice from someone who calls himself "Mystery Moderator" at a new coaching program group on Ning that I joined this week. I was told not to promote my products or services, or I would be suspended for spam. First of all, I think the moderator should have the guts to use his real name and show his picture. Everyone knew who I was when I moderated Michael's Retreat, and they respected me for being fair, as well as being upfront and open about what would and would not be tolerated on the board. Secondly, I do not recall "promoting" myself aside from telling people who specifically asked me what I do. I did post photos of my pieces and events on My Page, but it is MY PAGE. What should it reflect if not who I am and what I do? I did not invite anyone to the events...I just put them on My Page. I did not send anyone the photos...again, I just put them on MY PAGE. I replied to Mystery Moderator that I would be happy to leave the group if My Page offends him, once he refunds my money. I also asked what I did to deserve the "warning." Anyone who knows me knows that I am basically a rule-follower. I admitted I was not aware that promoting your business was against the rules -- generally, it is the point of groups such as this one. However, I also do not recall doing that beyond setting up my My Page. We'll see what happens next, but I'm thinking I may not want to be there after all. :(

But I digress...so, back to business (we allow that here)! My first critique at school is tomorrow night. I currently have five pieces to show the teacher, and two more wax models I finished up this week at home to cast after the critique. I had to clean up my newer pieces yesterday, so I wouldn't be embarrassed showing them to Dr. Browning. Did I ever mention he is the head of the Metalwork & Jewelry Department? :o One or two are not quite what I wanted them to be, but we'll have to see how nitpicky he is. My guess is very nitpicky. Wish me luck! ;)

I missed this month's Bead Society of New Jersey meeting on Thursday due to a migraine headache. My sister gets them on occasion, but I never have. When I was on Topomax -- the psychiatrist suggested we hold off going back on it when I saw her this week, BTW -- I did have bad headaches, but Topomax is supposed to help migraines. I often wondered how bad those headaches would be if I wasn't on Topomax. Now, I know! I was miserable from about 2:30 p.m. until 7:15 a.m. the next day! Slept a lot, thankfully. I'm not looking forward to getting one again, so hopefully I won't! >:

It looks like the Mother/Daughter workshop at Blue Life Karate and Fitness will be on Saturday, November 13. Time TBD. I will keep you posted on how that goes. My after care coworker is interested, and so is the owner's fiancee. Those are two good signs, IMHO! :)

I had a dry run teaching experience today, working with my nieces to make pearl and crystal rings from kits we got at Michael's. Given that working with two of them took maybe 45 minutes, I'm wondering if making a double-strand bracelet with my younger niece's 13-child Brownie Troop is a bit ambitious. I may have to rethink that one and switch to rings! :o

I'm getting ready for the back-to-back craft shows the first weekend in November. I bought a bunch of supplies from Staples and Walgreens, so I think I'm pretty close to set. I had a checklist I found online, so it helped me a lot in knowing what to bring...items I would not have thought about such as a mirror, first-aid and jewelry first-aid kits, etc. The only thing I don't have is back-up, unfortunately. My sister's family is away that weekend, and Mom has plans with her sisters. Hopefully, the days won't be too long. I'm used flying solo most of the time, but every once in a while, I really wish I had a wingman! ;)

Given that I was otherwise occupied most of the weekend, I'm still working on the photos for this week's Virtual Garage Sale, so I had better get back to it. Have a great week! Catch you on Halloween! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #40: From Factoidz to Facebook

2010-10-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! I've been very productive this week...published a new article on Factoidz, signed up for a second holiday craft show, finished up my second class project, and invested three more last Monday night to cast tomorrow night! I'm also still auctioning off my TV fandom stuff, so that takes up most of my weekends these days between grouping items into packages and deciding what to sell each week, finding the items, photographing them, and then posting them on the message board. :p If I calculated the hours spent vs. the funds brought in, I think I would probably be in the red. :\

As I mentioned last week, I thought I would get more mileage out of the instructions I wrote for my November workshops by reworking them for Factoidz and YouTube. The Factoidz article was not too time-consuming, so that's here: How To Make A Twisted Wire and Bead Necklace -- No Tools Required! I've slipped to the #2 jewelry-making expert on Factoidz again, so I have to keep publishing to recoup and maintain the lead. ;)

As for YouTube, I started playing with a tutorial, but Windows Movie Maker projected it would be something like six hours long, so I may have to kill that idea. LOL If I get a Kodak Flip camera for my birthday or Christmas, as I don't foresee myself splurging on one between now and then, I will start making videos for YouTube and my blog in the new year. ;) "They" -- those in the know about internet marketing -- say videos are the way to go in order to reach your audience more effectively because it gives them a clear image of who you are...lets them get to know you and become comfortable dealing with you. The same "they" are also touting Facebook as "the next Google" in terms of network traffic and becoming the next pay-per-click goldmine. That might explain why there are ads ALL OVER my pages lately...and you can't even click them off! I don't mind them on the sides, but keep them out of the middle of my profile page, please! :( Ironically, I posted about the benefits of Facebook advertising in one of my early blog posts back in mid-January. My father always liked us to be "in the vanguard" as he called it. He'd be so proud of me! LOL

Speaking of Facebook, the Something Tangible application has disappeared completely. There's not even an error message anymore. And I can't find Gift Creator, which was the application I used to create it. I guess they got fed up with people complaining that their apps were going down all the time, so they pulled the plug. Nice of them to notify us, though. :\

As I said last week, I started some new Facebook pages for my workshops, since my phone hasn't been ringing off the hook with registrations. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the people responding "yes" are serious and not just being Facebook polite. LOL I also started running some Facebook ads to promote the Virtual Mall Fan Page. I think I came up with six for this campaign -- that option wasn't available last December, if I recall correctly. Anyway, one or two of them seem to be doing really well. I think I have something like 336 "people who like this" since the middle of the week. :)

Regarding the second craft show, it's the 2nd annual Jewels of New Jersey to benefit Monroe Township Library. Only New Jersey jewelry artists are invited, and I received the invite on the Bead Society's Yahoogroup. The terms aren't as good as the Round Valley United Methodist Church is offering, but it's the day after (Sunday, November 7), so I figured I may as well go while everything was still packed up. ;) I just realized that I will probably be exhausted on Monday and I will have class that night! I haven't gotten out of there before 10:00 p.m. (one week it was after midnight!) the past couple of weeks, but I think that week I'll call it a night early. :p

In addition, the owner of Blue Life Karate wants me to hold a one-hour Mother-daughter workshop there. He thinks it would be good to do it before the holidays to generate interest. Nothing's firm yet, so we'll see if it comes together. :)

I will be posting my first class project as the new Focal Piece of the Month -- I haven't written it yet, but I figured I may as show everyone what I'm doing this semester. :) The monthly website changes should be going up in the next two weeks, so keep an eye out for them. ;)

As for my personal life, my Virtual Garage Sale auctions have been a bit slow going, but I have enough stuff to raise a respectable amount for Fondation MIRA. No one's buying the "Moonlight" stuff so far, so we'll see what happens. I may just make a nominal donation to Donate Life America myself. ;)

Well, I think that's enough for now. Have a good week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #39: Blame It On the Cable Company & Calcium Oxalates

2010-10-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! I'm really sorry to be so late this week, but we were without a land line phone and internet connection from Sunday morning until late yesterday afternoon. Lots of miscommunication with the cable company, so the services finally came back up just in time for me to leave for class last night. That's the trouble with having one provider for your phone, internet, and cable services -- if one service goes down, there's an increased likelihood another one will go down with it! :o Then, I didn't get home until approximately 1:00 a.m. from school! I went straight to bed, but I haven't slept well the past few nights because of an allergic reaction to calcium oxalates. If I have anything with calcium oxalates in it, my entire body itches 48 hours later. I mean, my ENTIRE body...inside my ears, inside my nose, my scalp. It's really irritating, and it sometimes keeps me up at night, too. :p I had vegetable soup on Friday night and a filet mignon prepared with some seasoning mix on Saturday night. Both contained black pepper, which is a no-no. Lesson learned...NO MORE BLACK PEPPER! I would say "I need my Mommy to take care of me so that I watch what I eat more closely," but she's the one who fed them to me! LOL :\ Anyway, I slept late because I was awake a lot last night, and I got up just in time to make an appointment. Now, I'm fitting this in before I go to the after care job. ;)

As a result of these delays, I will probably send out this week's Virtual Mall Discounts & Deals on Thursday or Friday. ;)

Quick rundown of what progress I made last week: I opened up a new Facebook Fan Page for the Virtual Mall, three Facebook Event pages for my November 2 and November 14 workshops and my Virtual Garage Sale, created a new necklace while typing up the instructions and taking step-by-step photos to use as a guide in my workshops, and spent the internet down time entering data into my database. I'm getting close to finishing that up! :D

I will probably post the instructions as a Factoidz article without photos at some point, and offer readers the opportunity to get the full version by email. I may also create a video from them, and post it to our YouTube account, making the same offer to viewers. :)

I also posted the back issues of the Virtual Mall Discounts & Deals emails on the new Fan Page, but the links don't show up in the Discussions section. I will have to suggest people receive them by email if they want the direct links, as it makes shopping easier than having to copy-and-paste the URLs or searching for the sites. :p

Oh! And a college friend is chairing her Church's Holiday Bazaar, so I will be taking a table there! My first live event will be on Saturday, November 6, at Round Valley United Methodist Church in Lebanon, NJ. Wish me luck! :D

Gotta run...have a good week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #38: Feeling Frustrated

2010-10-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is having a better day than I am! :)

I've been having a lot of "technical issues" lately...and Mercury isn't even in retrograde anymore! That cycle ended in the middle of September. Regardless, I've been having trouble setting up a new application I bought for the website since the middle of this past week -- the technical support people have been taking up to two or three days to get back to me at each step. We also seem to have a problem with the Something Tangible Facebook application, as I am receiving a 502 error when I try to access the application itself (this is outside of my control, according to a Bing search. It seems to be a "bad gateway" error.). The set-up and home pages both appear to be working fine. :\

I also looked at the quarterly figures for the third quarter, and noted that we did not surpass last quarter's numbers. We came close to matching them, but fell about $11 short. I realize this is to be expected from time to time, but it's still disappointing to see it in (red) ink. :(

I've also decided that I should include photos of my inventory materials in the database, since there are a few with vague names or items that have similar names and descriptions, so I can't figure out which one was used in a given piece. The photos from the vendor websites will facilitate that, but it's adding a lot of time to the data entry process. :\

In last week's class at MSU, I invested the wax cast I had created the week before. My teacher is away for a few weeks, but the substitute professor (from the same department, so our paths will undoubtedly cross again) seemed to like my piece, as did my own professor. Investing is basically encasing the wax figure in a plaster-like substance. The hardened cast is then burned out so that the wax melts, leaving space for the molten metal to take that form. The professors do the burning out for us, so I will be attempting to create my piece in metal tomorrow night. We only get one shot, as the process destroys the cast. Wish me luck! ;)

As for my personal life, I've been keeping busy with the after care job and my Virtual Garage Sale...the auctions are taking up a lot more time than I'd anticipated. The results have been mediocre, but at least I am getting rid of stuff in each round. ;)

I spent all day yesterday in Piscataway at Rutgers University's Homecoming. I haven't attended since 2001 for personal reasons, but I'm glad I went...except for the sunburn on my face! :o Today, I saw the "Hairspray" matinee at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn -- I purchased a 4-show subscription, as Mom is taking my sister and me to the fifth show for our birthdays. :) The show was very good, but it would have been more fun if I could have found someone to go with me. I didn't realize the date of the tickets until the middle of the week because it didn't show up on my Palm calendar, although I do remember entering it. Anyway, I had seen the movie version of "Hairspray" starring John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer a few years ago with my sister and two nieces. I don't remember it too well, so I can't say how close this production was to the film. :p

It's definitely feeling like October here in New Jersey! It's gotten a bit chilly in the past week, which is a refreshing change from the heat of the summer months. :)

Take care, everybody! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #37: Fifteen Minutes of Fame

2010-09-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

First off, I want to thank those who reached out to me after reading last week's message. I didn't intend for it to come across so morose...but I guess in the state of mind I was in, it was inevitable. Actually, I thought the tone was pretty middle-of-the-road, but I guess my perception was off. :o Anyway, I apologize for that. I've been feeling much better since the moon left Pisces...Pisces is a water sign and the moon was in Pisces when I was born, so I can be overly sensitive and sentimental at times. :\ I'm basically fine as long as I'm keeping busy and focusing on what I'm doing at the moment. It's the quiet times that I can get into trouble, because I get stuck inside my head, and I often hear negative stuff when that happens. Most of us do. So, I guess I'm better off just keeping busy for now, and I'll have to hope I can keep my stamina up without relying on quiet time to help me recharge. :p

I got home in time from my MSU casting class (we're learning to make wax casts for metal pieces -- I have a second degree burn blister on the middle finger of my right hand already!) on Monday night to watch Alex O'Loughlin's new "Hawaii Five-0" series premiere on CBS. I liked it a lot! It came across as a big budget mini action movie, IMHO. I liked the chemistry between the characters...and seeing Alex without a shirt never hurts, either! LOL

My Virtual Garage Sale auction is taking up a lot of time, but it will hopefully be worth it when all is said and done. An LFN fan friend told me about an opportunity for it to reach a wider audience via a mention on Lisa Steven's radio program for "Moonlight" fans. Lisa is one of my Facebook friends, but I didn't even know she had a radio show! LOL

On the business side of things, we posted the new Focal Piece of the Month this week, and the updates to the Virtual Mall are almost finished for this month. ;)

I've also been increasing the company publicity efforts by posting my 1978 Maplewood Arts Center workshops on three local website calendars: the Maplewood Patch online newspaper, Maplewood Navigator (affiliated with the local weekly newspaper The News-Record of Maplewood & South Orange), and Maplewood Online. The announcement ran in the print edition of The News-Record this week, but there was a minor snafu. They made it appear as though I am the contact person for ALL of the classes and workshops at 1978. I found out about the article when the president of the 1978 board copied me on an email to the paper regarding the error. Mom had already read and recycled the paper, and she missed it on page 3! Luckily, the recycling hadn't been picked up yet, so I salvaged the paper and cut the article out. ;)

In addition, I submitted Something Tangible to be included on Artbeads.com's Friends, Fans & Followers page, as well as created a profile for myself on Art Jewelry magazine's website. I've also been expanding my reach via various social media sites. :)

Both personally and professionally, it looks like my fifteen minutes of fame has begun! ;)

Have a great week and Happy Autumn all! ;)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #36: A Business Plan & Dreams

2010-09-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

I'm doing this today instead of tomorrow because I have a lot of thoughts running around in my head right now and I want to get them out. Sometimes, writing helps. ;)

First, the business stuff. I attended a workshop hosted by SCORE, a group of retired business people who volunteer to counsel entrepreneurs, on "Starting and Managing Your Own Business" at the local library earlier in the week. I am registered for three more workshops with them this fall. The main thing I got out of this one is that I need to write up a business plan. Apparently, they are required if you want to obtain a business loan from a bank. My chiropractor suggested I get a template program from Staples (think "Business Plans for Dummies") and just fill in the blanks. That will be my next big project after I finish with the database, I guess. :\

On the personal front, I raised $104+ for Fondation MIRA in the first round of my Virtual Garage Sale auction. Not too bad, considering there were only half a dozen people bidding. I'm hoping that word will spread over the coming weeks, so that it will attract more bidders. I sold half of the items I listed, so I'm happy to get that much out of my house! LOL

Here's where I will get a little deep, so if you're not interested in that, feel free to disregard the rest of this message. ;) I don't often dream when I sleep, or if I do, I don't usually remember them. Lately, I've been having very clear, detailed dreams. I think I've had four or five this week. The overall theme seems to be loss, isolation, and loneliness. Given everything I've gone through so far this year, it's not really surprising that's where my subconscious goes. What bothers me is that most of the dreams seem to end with a dramatic sad or tragic ending. If the Universe is trying to tell me something, I don't think I want to know what it is! :o Many years ago as a teen, I had a dream that I was an old woman sitting in a rocking chair and I felt myself die. That scared the crap out of me, but the feeling that I will die old and alone has never really left me. In the past few years, I thought I'd made significant progress in dealing with my long-time emotional issues and healing from them. I guess that was just an illusion, because right now, I feel like I'm starting all over at the beginning again, and that I'm still damaged. It's very disconcerting to think that all of the progress I thought I'd made wasn't real. I went off of one of my anti-depressants at the beginning of the summer (with the consent of my psychiatrist), but I guess maybe it's time to go back on it again. :( Most of my life, I've kind of subscribed to the "fake it 'til you make it" philosophy. I guess my "act" fooled even me for a while. My question is, if you fake it over a long period of time, at what point does it stop being fake and start being who you truly are? :p

Well, enough of that! Off to get my oil changed and figure out what I'm putting up in next week's auction, which starts on Tuesday night.

Enjoy the weekend and have a good week! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #35: Workshops, Classes & Gallery Openings

2010-09-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

Hi, everybody! :)

Well, I posted a new Factoid this week. This one is Five Ways To Promote Yourself and Your Small Business. It seems to be doing pretty well...82 views so far in the first 24 hours or so. My jewelry-making stories seem to get the most hits, so I may stick with those from now on. :)

My second class at Montclair State starts tomorrow night, so I will report next week on what we will be covering this semester. ;)

I started working at Blue Life Karate & Fitness this past Tuesday...and had off on Thursday and Friday already because there's no after care if the school district is closed. Happy Rosh Hashanah! :D

Two workshops to be taught by me in November are featured on the 1978 Maplewood Arts Center website. You can check out the listings here: http://www.1978artscenter.org/classes.php. I have no idea how popular they will be, if at all...I'm just keeping my fingers crossed they generate interest. :o

In addition, I attended a photography exhibit opening on Thursday at GAS Gallery and Studio in Maplewood. It's owned by someone I went to grammar school with, and he recognized me right away! That always makes me laugh, but I guess I have "one of those faces" because people always seem to recognize me, even if we haven't seen each other in decades. :p Anyway, the promotional cards for the gallery say they offer a photography studio, private events, exhibit space, films/discussion, creative workshops, and French language classes (one of the partners is a French teacher). Rick mentioned that they haven't really gotten into creative workshops yet, so I offered, "I can probably help you with that!" ;) He got pulled away and we didn't really finish our conversation, but I left him a note on the Facebook invitation I received for the event. I will follow-up with him at some point. I kind of have too much going on right now to push it. :\

As you know, the first installment of the Virtual Mall Deals & Discounts e-sales circular went out this past Wednesday. It took a while to put it together, but I think that was because it was the first one and I had been stockpiling stuff for it for a few weeks. I'm hoping it will be easier now that I will really only be highlighting one week's promotions at a time. :) If anyone has any suggestions on how to do it better, please feel free to let me know! I'm always open to suggestions. ;)

On the personal front, I spent the early part of the day preparing and photographing packages for my Television Memorabilia Virtual Garage Sale, which starts on Tuesday night. I've gotten some positive feedback about it, so I'm hoping it goes well. It's kind of strange, going through everything and selling it all. That was such a huge part of my life for such a long time -- six years -- it feels like I'm closing the chapter on that part of my life. I seem to be doing that a lot lately...closing chapters. This one doesn't bother me so much because I sort of left that phase behind me a few years ago. Some of the others I've closed this year weren't as easy (I'm getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it). :\ As the saying goes, "it is what it is." That's been quite a popular saying with a number of people in my life, including my late father. :)

I've got a number of orders to keep me busy this week, in addition to starting the first round of the auction and my class at MSU. I have a feeling this fall will be a flurry of activity for me! ;)

Have a good week and enjoy the "back-to-school weather" while it lasts! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #34: Increasing Exposure

2010-09-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! Sorry I didn't get to this message last night, but I was involved in trying to match up material inventory purchases with receipts from Michael's and A.C. Moore. On the wholesale suppliers' receipts, it's pretty easy to discern what the items are and enter them in the database, but not so much with those two stores. It's gotten to the point that I will enter what I think an item is and hope that I eventually figure out what it really is! :o

I've had a very productive week...made a bunch of new items that I haven't had a chance to post yet. I find that I can do simple tasks while watching Another World on Hulu, so I use that time in the evening (when I can) to play with pieces. It seems that the show will be yanked as of October 21, and I'm so far behind I'd have to watch six episodes a day to catch up by then! I hope they decide to keep it...I'm really enjoying this trip down Memory Lane! :)

In addition, I've arranged to teach two workshops in November at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center, not far from my house. The center is owned by the town, and run by a board of directors. The president was very enthusiastic when I met with her last week, and even took some of my brochures and put them in the rack in the center! The first workshop will be held on Tuesday, November 2 (Election Day) from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This one is for at-home parents who are looking for an outlet for their creativity, a stress-relieving activity, or just a way to make some extra "side money." The second one is on Sunday, November 14, also from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The focus of that one is making your own jewelry holiday gifts, either to help save money or to harness your creative energies. I haven't decided yet on the project(s) to cover in each class. We're testing these out as workshops, and if there is demand I will probably teach eight-week sessions in the future. Wish me luck! :)

I don't think I ever mentioned that both of my nieces are also helping me promote myself and my business! The younger one asked her Daisy Troop leader if I could run a jewelry-making session with the troop...and she did this before running it by me and her mother! LOL Of course, I said yes. :D My older niece has to run meetings on her own in Girl Scouts, and asked for my help for her to teach an easy project to her troop. I will also be on-hand that day, just in case she needs some back-up. ;) She can be my helper with the Daisy troop, so she will have some experience under her belt before teaching for herself. :)

And last but not least, I have taken a part-time job as an After School Counselor at Blue Life Karate & Fitness, which is literally around the corner from me! I had to send out six resumes in preparation for my job assessment meeting at the Unemployment office this Wednesday, and this was one of the positions I found on NJO.com. The owner is a very kewl guy who wants me to help the kids (only three so far) with their homework, take them to the park down the street, and maybe teach them some jewelry projects or do other craft projects with them. :) He was really excited about my business...he liked my brochure and has placed some of them in his "Take one" display by the door. He even wants to host a wine-and-cheese event at the Karate center for the parents of his students featuring my work! Whoo hoo! :D I really think I'm going to get along well with this guy...he's a fellow Capricorn. ;)

In any case, the job is from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. weekdays, except on Monday evenings, when I have my second Metalwork & Jewelry class at Montclair State. That starts next week. Man, am I going to be tired with all of this running around I'll be doing! LOL As my father would say, though, "it's good for the soul." :)

One last note...I saw that the Softflex Company was running a steampunk-themed "Flex Your Creativity" contest in the middle of the week, so I put together a necklace for the contest that afternoon. I thought the deadline was at midnight, but it was really midnight the next night! At least I got it done and handed in on time. :) You can see the piece on our Facebook Fan Page or in the Design Samples Gallery on the Something Tangible website. ;)

I've gotta get back to my inventory. No rest for the weary! :p Enjoy your Labor Day and the rest of the three-day weekend if you are in the U.S. To everyone else, have a great week! :D

P.S. -- I saw this quote by Mark Twain in a horoscope earlier in the week, and it helped pull me out of a funk. "Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." There are a few illusions I really need to hold onto for a while to keep me going, so that message came at just the right time! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #33: Cee Lo & E-Sales Circulars

2010-08-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure most of you are not from New Jersey, but today's Newark Sunday Star-Ledger ran an article in the entertainment section about a song that is a mega-hit on YouTube, but can't be aired on radio or music video stations. The name of the song can't be written in print publications either. If you're familiar with Cee Lo or the song, then you know to which one I'm referring. Apparently, everybody who is anybody knows this tune...and I'd never heard of it (not exactly surprising). :o Well, I checked out YouTube today after reading the article, and I have had the song playing on an endless loop for most of the day while working! LOL Aside from it having a good dance-in-your-seat beat -- the article likened it to the style of Smokey Robinson, although Smokey would never use foul language -- whenever the words penetrate my brain, they in turn make me laugh out loud, chuckle, and genuinely smile. I am not easily offended, so the language doesn't bother me. The concept in the song is something anyone can relate to...and I just find the delivery completely amusing! :D Maybe part of the reason I like it so much is because the song reminds me of someone I used to know who liked to talk dirty. We lost touch a while ago, and this song makes me feel like he's not so far away. I hope we meet up again someday. ;)

ANYWAY, before I forget again this week, the new Focal Piece of the Month went up last week. I know a few people saw it, so thanks for remembering to look for it! :)

I have a decision to make regarding the Virtual Mall (VM). I receive emails semi-regularly from vendors about special sales and promotions they are running. We can only update the website once a month right now, and the Virtual Mall is something that is beyond my capability to handle updating myself. So, I was thinking about sending out a separate message to those interested in keeping up to date with the various opportunities presented by the VM vendors. A weekly Virtual Mall Deals & Discounts message could be sent on Wednesday or Thursday, and it would be clearly marked to differentiate it from the Sunday (and occasionally Monday) Tangible Tidbits newsletter/messages. I would start out by sending it to the existing newsletter list, and then anyone wishing to be unsubscribed from that mailing can opt-out by sending a response email with "Remove" in the subject line. If someone decides that she wants to be removed from all correspondence, then she can respond with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line, and I will remove that name from both lists. My concern is that this second weekly message will be viewed as spam. My goal is obviously not to annoy anyone, but to offer information about special sales and promotions that they may be interested in checking out at the Virtual Mall. What I have been doing up until now is just "filing away" the messages if the time frame doesn't fit with our updating schedule, but I realize that is doing my audience a disservice. On the other hand, I don't want to take valuable time away from other necessary tasks to draft and send out these messages if people aren't interested.

Any feedback on this issue would be greatly appreciated. I do have a few messages held aside for Back To School and Halloween sales (ALREADY??), so if there IS interest in receiving this kind of "e-sales circular," please let me know. Next week, I'll report my findings and if it's a go, the first Virtual Mall Deals & Discounts issue will go out September 8 or 9. Naturally, if anyone just can't wait to find out about the discounts being offered, feel free to contact me directly and I can give you the scoop. ;)

Something Tangible had a number of sales and custom inquiries this week, so I'm happy about that. I'm not quite on track to make my sales goal for the quarter (50% more than last quarter), but we still have a month to go. We are past the half-way mark to making at least as much as last quarter, so surpassing that figure would still demonstrate steady growth. Can't ask for much more than that in this economy, right? :D

I hope people in the NY Metro area enjoyed the break in the summer heat we had this past week. Looks like we're expecting another scorcher this coming week! :p

Take care and catch you during the three-day Labor Day Weekend next time! :)