Tangible Tidbits 2010 #23: Happy Father's Day!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Father's Day.

Mom came with me to the Rings & Things Bead Tour in East Hanover, NJ today. Man, was she blown away! LOL She had no idea what to expect, so seeing a large hotel ballroom set up with rows and rows of tables full of bead strands and findings made her eyes pop out! :p I think she was mildly impressed that I knew what I was doing. I spent way too much money -- but I got a lot of good deals, and I even found some of the stuff that was on my Wish List at their website, so it made the trip worthwhile. ;) They will be back again in September...I'll have to make sure I get there! :D

I also made time this weekend to finally finish my first bead stitching project...the St. Petersburg Medallion piece that I started at Linda Gettings' workshop in March. I decided to undo the medallions and start over again, since my first ones were pretty sloppy. :o What started out as a bracelet turned into a necklace because I had seven medallions and attached them to each other across the top, then realized the bracelet would be too large. So, I used the piece I created as the center of a necklace and sewed a St. Petersburg chain onto each end to finish it. I'm pretty pleased with the result, although I apparently took an unorthodox approach to the project. Apparently, people usually pick one base color and one accent color and use that pattern throughout the piece. In my "dare to be different" mentality, I mixed and matched the combinations, choosing a different pair in each medallion. I also alternated back and forth between the two colors in the attached chain, so I think it balances well. :)

This past week, I had a minor coup when Factoidz accepted my first submitted article! I adapted the Focal Piece of the Month on cuttlebone casting and submitted it as a how-to article. It's gotten a lot of positive feedback and I am now ranked the #3 expert in jewelry-making on Factoidz! LOL I haven't even been doing this for a year and I'm already an expert. Only in America, folks! ;) In case you missed the article, you can find it here: Cuttlebone Casting: A Technique for Jewelry and Sculptures.

I'm making headway on the administrative projects I mentioned last week. Breaking down overwhelming tasks into manageable chunks of time definitely takes the stress out of them for me. :)

We're due for website updates later this week, so keep an eye out for a new Focal Piece of the Month. We'll all be surprised, since I haven't decided what it is yet! LOL

Next week, I will be writing from Ocean City, Maryland via my new Acer Notebook. My family goes there during the last week of June every year, and we're leaving on Saturday morning. :)

Have a good week, everyone!

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #15: Stay Tuned...

There's a good chance I'll have a BIG announcement to make next week, but I don't want to say anything until it's official, as it might not work out. Fingers crossed! ;)

A good friend ordered one of the Zodiac cameo bookmarks I made recently. I made it on a lark...I had bought two Capricorn cameos, but I wasn't sure what I would do with them. Once they arrived, I wasn't really thrilled with how they looked (one of the perils of ordering materials online). One happened to fit in a filigree setting I had lying around, so I decided to put them together on a gunmetal bookmark, which I also bought a short time ago with no specific plan in mind. It looks really great! Unfortunately, shell cameos are a bit pricey and so the bookmark costs a bit more than most people would probably pay for a bookmark. Since I'm a Capricorn, I may end up keeping it for myself! LOL

Luckily for me and my friend, Wire-Sculpture.com is having a sale on cameos this weekend! Sometimes, Lady Luck just smiles on you, eh? :D

Almost finished with the St. Petersburg Medallion bracelet from my workshop a couple of weeks ago. I'm not happy with some of the medallions, particularly the center one, so I may take them apart and start again now that I know more what I'm doing. ;)

I'm also making a presentation binder with photos of all of my pieces to loan a coworker. She asked me for one to take to an Eastern Star meeting, How could I refuse that kind of opportunity? I'm pleased with how the binder is turning out, but it's very time (and ink!) consuming. :p

Two coworkers are working hard at convincing me to register for the a craft show being held at Nomahegan Park in Cranford, NJ next month. I have enough pieces, but the cost for a table is a bit steep. Still, my friends assure me that I'll make it back easily. Since I have to reduce my inventory due to storage space. My sister gave me a huge wooden jewelry box that you can hang on the wall like a medicine cabinet for my birthday last year. It's FULL. That's how I know I have enough pieces for the craft show. LOL I'll keep you posted if I decide to do it.

I also heard back from the Bead Dreams 2010 contest and my Welcome Back Spring! necklace was not accepted. That's okay...I didn't really expect it to be. So, it will be up on the site for sale in the next couple of days (I have a number of additions/edits to make, so I will hopefully get to them one night this week). :)

Enjoy your week!