Tangible Tidbits 2012 #33: Slow And Steady Wins The Race

Hey, everybody! :) Well, a number of promising things happened as a direct result of last week’s blog post, so thank you to those who are actually reading it! :))

First, a family friend in Florida saw the bracelet I decided to submit to the 3rd Annual 1978 Maplewood Arts Center Members' Show, and liked it a lot. She had purchased a Murano glass necklace in Italy, but liked the beads more than the necklace itself. A couple of years ago, she had me redesign the necklace for her with sterling silver blanks – which she had also seen on a bracelet I made and liked. ;) As it turns out, she doesn't wear the "new" necklace much either, so she asked if I could make a similar bracelet to the one I posted last week and sent me the necklace. Making the changes won’t be too hard, but the glass beads are kind of bulky and heavy, so I'm afraid the bracelet will be too heavy. I guess there's only one way to find out! :P She doesn’t want the other components of the necklace back, so I will have four of sterling silver blanks left over, which I am hoping I can fashion into the Autism puzzle piece charms I mentioned last week. :)

Speaking of the puzzle piece charms, a friend from high school had a job interview at Tiny Tots Therapy this week, and mentioned my project while making small talk. The Director of Marketing overheard her and asked for my contact information. My friend says the group works with school districts all over the state, so it could be really good exposure for me. I have no problem working with not-for-profits, but I am not one myself! If they are only interested in donations from me and/or Something Tangible, I am not currently in a position to oblige on a larger scale. :\

My chiropractor's assistant loved her necklace, and a coworker purchased a pair of Evil Eye hoop earrings with a pair of orange eyeball beads on each 40mm black hoops for Halloween this morning. She also asked me to hold onto a pair with purple eyeball beads – her favorite color – on 40mm silver hoops for her. The orange and black pairing was her own idea. ;) As for the coworker who wants the puzzle piece charms, she’s on vacation this week and I'm away next week, so I have until early September. I have a 20" sterling silver box necklace chain she wants regardless, so she will purchase at least that. Hopefully, I can make puzzle charms out of the blanks from the Murano glass necklace that will be in her price range. The blanks are not too large, so I’m hoping it will work out. :) I ended up purchasing two sterling silver toggle clasps, one for the sterling silver chain maille bracelet I mentioned last week, and one for the Murano glass bracelet, as her preference is also sterling silver.

My internet friend decided to purchase the Peridot beaded ring -- this month's Focal Piece of the Month -- "as is" for her friend's birthday, after I offered to make any required changes/alterations the gift recipient requests for free. ;)

Here's a link to this week’s social media poster. It's not quite as popular as some of the earlier ones, but I thought it was funny. :))

Wednesday night’s America's got Talent filming was fun, although a bit long. They had us come in an hour earlier so they could pre-tape a performance for this coming Wednesday's show, so I have seen one whole live broadcast and two pre-taped segments in all. The show I saw live aired this past Wednesday; I may try to see it On Demand if I get a chance. I checked over the weekend and it is there, but I don't know if I will have time or the desire to see it before they take it down. :P

Wanna hear something totally bizarre? I got a missed call on my cell phone this morning from a number I did not recognize. I checked whitepages.com for a reverse phone look-up, and it came up with a land line in the Madison/Florham Park area. It turns out it was a wrong number from the New York Jets ticket office! Someone had left two numbers, and apparently one was recorded incorrectly because it was my cell number. I told the guy it was ironic because I'd had season tickets for 15 years! :-O He asked if I was watching from the comfort of my couch when I told him 15 years was enough...too many late, cold, dark games. :P Is that freaky or what? :))

I have to do laundry and pack this week, as I am leaving for the annual trip to Ocean City, Maryland on Saturday morning. Next week's entry will be posted on location! B-)

Take care and have a great week! B-)

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

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 2011 #3: Green Day and Gang Green

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