Tangible Tidbits 2010 #3: Keeping Busy!

I apologize for the delay in sending out this week's message, but I've had my hands full with taking classes, keeping up with the website, taking and fulfilling orders, plus working an unrelated full-time job to help keep this all going! Who needs sleep, right?

I attended my first meeting of the Bead Society of New Jersey (BSNJ) this past Thursday. I found out about the group at the Innovative Bead Expo last October. They meet monthly about 40-45 minutes south of here, which isn't bad as long as the Parkway isn't backed up. This meeting featured a challenge to create a piece of jewelry in 45 minutes given some chain, connectors, a focal piece and large piece of filigree. I didn't finish mine in time to be judged, but the winners received free merchandise from Kabela Design, hosts of the challenge and the guest vendor for the evening. They specialize in vintage materials -- antiqued gold, copper, etc. I bought some really nice things from them! :D BSNJ has some pretty fun and interesting things planned for the next few meetings from what I can tell, so I think it will be a good activity/organization for me to become involved with, and I met some nice people there.

I've got my final class at the Adult School coming up this Tuesday...and I'm FINALLY going to learn how to make RINGS! I'm pretty excited about that! I've really gotten a lot out of these classes and met some great people. I'm already looking forward to the one-day summer camp hosted by one of the teachers in July or August.

I also attended my first MSU Metalwork & Jewelry class on Friday night. This class is no joke! We have to do an oral presentation for the mid-term critique and submit 10 drawings a week in our sketch books. Luckily, I got a head start on those after I attended one class last fall, so I have 17 already done! :D

I've uploaded all of the sample photos to the GALLERY section of the Store, so the NOT FOR SALE section will be taken down soon. I'll wait until we update the site in the next week or so -- keep an eye out for the new Focal Piece of the Month -- so the intro to the Store will reflect the change and not confuse people. :)

Take care and thanks for your continued interest!

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #1: A Belated Happy New Year!

Well, we've finally got the website up and running, as you can see. The store was the last section to get squared away, and that seems to be functioning reasonably well. Please let me or the Webmaster know either here, through any of the links throughout the site or on the Contact Us page if you come across anything that doesn't seem quite right. We've been pretty thorough in checking everything out, but nobody's perfect.

I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the site so far, so thank you to everyone who has contacted me about it. It's always good to have positive reinforcement. ;)

The next few weeks and months should be pretty exciting, so anyone who is impressed with what you've seen so far, hold on to your seat belts because we've only just started this ride! LOL Next week, I start a three-week course in Advanced Wire Jewelry at the Chatham, Madison & Florham Park Adult School, so expect the Kits from sb designs section of the store to expand quite a bit in the next month or so! Toward the end of the month, I start my Metalwork and Jewelry class at Montclair State University, which will include working with jewelry saws and solder...so, we're talking heavy duty stuff! That class will go until May, so I expect to have some pretty interesting projects to share and topics to discuss this spring as a result.

I'm also starting to do a bit more work "by special request," so you'll be seeing some unique items going straight into the NOT FOR SALE -- Photo Gallery of Samples for Design Purposes Only area. Feel free to contact me if you have a specific idea in mind and I'll let you know if I can make it work, given the limitations of my current abilities, your budget and the materials available. If I can't do exactly what you want, I'll try to propose something as close to it as I can possibly come within those pre-determined parameters. :)

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year! May we all have a joyful, healthy, and prosperous 2010. :)