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

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 #13: Factoidz, Ferido™, and "Forum"

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 #11: All Work And No Play...

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