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

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

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

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 2010 #14: Busy, busy, busy!

Hey, everyone! I went to an all-day workshop yesterday taught by Linda Gettings and presented by the Bead Society of New Jersey (BSNJ). She's pretty well known in beading circles...her work is published pretty regularly in magazines. I learned how to make St. Petersburg medallions. My background is mostly in wire work, so I'm not familiar with the basic beading stitches like Peyote and St. Petersburg chain. I thought it would be good to get started with this one, since the opportunity presented itself. I still have to finish my bracelet, but you'll see it once I've finished it. Apparently, my brain doesn't work like other people's (not a big surprise to those who know me well! LOL). I made a number of "artistic" choices that Linda herself had never considered! It's nice to know that I can inspire people who have much more experience than I do. :)

Looks like we've FINALLY got the Facebook application up and running again! Many thanks to Jesús J. Ortega Weffe and Omar TheOne for posting instructions on the "My app is not working" thread at the Gift Creator forum! :D

I have three more weeks of classes at MSU, so I'll be under the gun to get my projects finished for the final critique. My cuttlebone casting piece is finished, but the rest are in various stages of "almost there." And I still have to make a container from scratch! :p

Fire Mountain Gems and Beads has a jewelry-making contest for designs featuring gemstones with a May 3 deadline. I've had this on my To Do list for a while, but I didn't realize the deadline was coming up so soon! I hope I can carve out some time to work on a piece for that. I haven't really figured out what I want to do yet... :0

We're scheduled for website updates this week. I didn't bother to change the Focal Piece of the Month in March, since it went up so late due to technical difficulties. Look for a new one by the end of the week...I hope! ;)

Have a great week!