Tangible Tidbits 2012 #21: Too Hot To Handle!

Hey, everyone! It's been crazy hot here in New Jersey for the past few days. The high today was 87 degrees Fahrenheit, and it's still around 84 degrees at 10:30 pm! Man, if this is the weather in May, what can we expect in July and August? :-S

Like most of the people living in the U.S., I went to a Memorial Day BBQ this weekend. My high school friends got together on Saturday...and ALL of us living in the area were in one place at one time...and with all of their kids, too! B-) It was a lot of fun. We celebrated the recent marriage of one of our friends...a second marriage for him and they had a civil ceremony in NYC not long ago. We also celebrated a soon-to-be new addition to the family....that would be MY family. My sister is expecting child #3 in November! :x I've known for a few weeks...and they told the girls on Mother's Day. My older niece is excited...she's been asking ME to get married and have a baby for the past three years. I told her that was her mother's department. :)) My younger niece is less excited, as she wanted to be the baby in the family FOREVER. She told me the other day that she's excited, "except for the diapers and room change." Each girl has her own room, but that will have to be reassessed sooner or later. :( She also told me I can't pay any attention to the new baby! #-o =)) I told her I didn't think that would be possible. ;) Mom and I also went to watch the girls in their Memorial Day Parade this morning...they march with the Brownies and Girl Scouts. :-bd

I was playing around a bit this weekend with some strung beaded necklaces for a coworker, although she's on vacation this coming week. I also ordered some supplies for earrings for her, made a new ring, adapted a crystal ring into a pendant -- it wasn't working as a ring, unfortunately -- and made another Chan Luu-style bracelet with braided black leather and multicolored eyeball beads. :-O I ordered them because a friend had asked me about an Evil Eye bracelet that Kelly Ripa wears, which I had never heard about nor seen. I ordered some supplies to see if I can make something similar myself, but the friend wanted crystals embedded in it, and I wasn't sure I could pull that off. I will eventually make the piece I had envisioned, since I have the materials...whether or not it'll be close enough to Kelly's Evil Eye bracelet remains to be seen. :-?

By the way, I did enter the second piece I mentioned last week in the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads' Seed Bead Jewelry Making Contest earlier today. I wanted to get it in before the May 31 deadline. ;)

I really have to start cleaning up product photos and uploading them to Facebook. I've fallen pretty far behind on that, although I believe I do have photos of everything I've made so far. I also have to update my product binder. A coworker borrowed it for a family friend, but I had to remind her that I hadn't updated it since late last year, in part because my printer wasn't working correctly. :( I'm beginning to think I should break it up into smaller binders by category...rings, bracelets, etc. I dropped the big binder on my foot last week...it's REALLY heavy! :((

The new Focal Piece of the Month is up here if you're interested.

And on that note, I will bid you all a Good Night! Take care and have a great week! B-)

Tangible Tidbits 2012 #13: Can You Reprogram Your Brain?

Hey, everyone! Just got back from my older niece's kids' party at GlassWorks. A dozen kids made glass pieces in the shape of their first initial. It was an hour-and-a-half party, but that was really long enough! :) I helped both nieces, but mostly the younger one, with their pieces. Sadly, I couldn't make one of my own this time. ;)

I was determined to learn how to make a Chan Luu wrap bracelet today, so I searched online for instructions and found a good set. I'd bought the materials at BSNJ's Vendor Night with the help of the owner (I presume) of The Birds and the Beads in Morganville, NJ. I've never been to the store, as it is in the general area where we hold the BSNJ meetings, about an hour south of me. However, the woman I spoke with was very nice and told me exactly what materials and how much of each I needed for one bracelet. It took me a few hours, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. I'm really happy with how it turned out, although it is a little small for me to wrap around my wrist four times and too big to only wrap it around three times. That's not because she told me the wrong amounts of materials, but because I didn't cut the beading thread long enough and was running late for the party, so I just ended it. :p I had to be a little creative to wear it today, but it looks really nice! ;) Next time, I will probably make it as a single bracelet instead of a wrap. I was thinking the look would make a nice decorative belt, but I think I'd go nuts if I had to make one that long! LOL Maybe one of these days...

Last night, I attempted to make a Shamballa bracelet, but I started it incorrectly and had to close it with a loop and dangling beads instead of the adjustable string closure. I realized my mistake when I got to the end of it, so I wasn't about to take it apart and start all over again. :o Needless to say, I looked up that pattern this morning, too, and will probably try again tonight. :p

Just in time for April, the new Focal Piece of the Month is up! :)

BTW, Happy April Fools' Day if it exists wherever you are. ;) Today would have been my parents' 45th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, Dad's been gone for the last decade of it. :( I miss him every day, but I still get help from him when I need it. Today, he saved a parking spot for me within walking distance of the party location. ;) My nieces think I'm nuts when I say stuff like that, but he was really into driving and if anyone would save me a spot, it would be Dad. :)

Did I mention I'm in second place (AGAIN!) for our office's Biggest Loser contest? This round ends near the end of May, so we have a number of weeks left to go. I tried an experiment earlier in the week, and it seems to have gone well. Time will tell if it was truly a success, but I'm getting positive indications so far. Basically, I used self-hypnosis to change my automatic thoughts about food. It seems that if you want to reprogram your brain, the best way is to plant suggestions when you are in the in-between stages of being asleep and awake -- right before you fall asleep or right before you fully wake up. I've suggested things like, "I eat to live, not live to eat," "I do not crave sugar and other junk foods," "I make healthy choices to nourish my body," and "I tune in to my body to determine if I am really hungry," among other thoughts. I've really noticed a difference in my eating habits and attitude toward food since I started doing this! I think I really nailed it once about a week ago, and I have tried to reinforce it a few more times since then. I don't think I'm always in the right state when I try it -- sometimes I'm already too awake when I think about it, and other times I'm too asleep to remember to do it -- so it isn't always as effective as it could be. Trial and error, ya know? I also planted the suggestion that I no longer have to chew the inside of my cheeks when I am stressed...something I have been trying to quit for years. I've noticed I'm doing it less, although I have not stopped completely. I'll keep working on that one. LOL

As always, thanks for being here and have a great week! :)