Tangible Tidbits 2012 #45: I Saw Her...And Held Her!

Hey, everyone! Well, I finally got to meet my new niece yesterday...and I even held her! :D Mom said that because I was half-way through with the antibiotics, I wouldn’t be contagious…and I promised not to cough on her! :P She’s very small, very pink, and – at least for me – very quiet! :)) Although, she seems to be more prone to taking formula than breast milk, and she apparently can only sleep at night with someone holding her! :-O My sister and brother-in-law have been taking turns. Man, I’ll bet that makes for some long nights! :-/ Other than experiencing cold fingers and toes – which her parents keep covered -- she seems pretty perfect to me. :D

While over there yesterday, the girls made me play the “Smurf Dance Party” Wii game, which they had borrowed from the library. In my four rounds, I was undefeated! :)) At least I got some exercise in the process. ;)

I hope everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving had a good one. Ours included lots of people and lots of food, as it should be. ;) Mom and I brought the girls to my cousin’s house, since the baby had just gotten home from the hospital that morning. She had a quiet Thanksgiving with her parents in her new home. :)

I delivered items to 1978 Maplewood Arts Center for BANG VII (Buy Art Now Guys), which takes place the first two weekends in December (12/1-2 and 12/8-9 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). There’s a preview party this coming Friday evening, November 30, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. that I’m planning to attend. I didn’t go last year because I had messed up my knee that week, so it will be the first time I’ve gone. ;)

Some of the members of the Bead Society are getting together tomorrow night in Tinton Falls to finish the projects we started in the recent workshops with Melissa Grakowsky Shippee. I’ve taken off from the office on Wednesday, since the last time I was down there socially, I ended up getting home at 3:00 a.m.! :-O I really want to finish the bracelet I started in class, and I will also bring the Peyote crystal project from our September meeting, which I have not touched since that night. :-/ Hopefully, I will be able to at least complete the bracelet and get some momentum going on the crystal. :)

With Mercury ending its retrograde period this week, hopefully I will be less frustrated getting on the desktop computer. It seems that whenever Mercury is retrograde, my computer gets annoyingly slow and frustrating to use. I haven’t been on it since before Thanksgiving, but I really have to get some stuff done that I can’t do on my Netbook or cell phone. I’m wondering if a tablet would help…or if that would be as limiting as the Netbook. I really have to find a way to motivate myself more to get online, which my former message board friends will find very ironic! :))

I finally got around to publishing a new social media poster today! Better late than never! :-O

Can you believe it will be December next week? Did this year fly by, or what? :P Until next time, take care and have a great week! B-)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #46: The Holiday Season 2010 Begins!

Hi, everyone! Hope all you U.S.-based folks enjoyed your Thanksgiving. :)

As I mentioned last week, I had a family funeral to attend on Wednesday. I hadn't been to their house in probably 25 years, but I recognized the neighborhood when the funeral procession passed the house. That choked me up. It's a nice thing to do, and I've heard it's becoming more commonplace. I think my immediate family members would have liked that, had it been done in the early 2000s. :\ I also went to visit a friend at the cemetery on Thanksgiving morning, but I couldn't find his grave. I should have looked for landmarks the last time I was there in June, but it didn't occur to me at the time. :p Got caught in the day's snow flurries while I was there! It didn't stick here in New Jersey, though.

Still trying to promote myself and my company, I submitted some pieces to Buy Art Now Guys! (BANG) 5 this morning at the 1978 Maplewood Arts Center. Check out the second exhibit listed here for more information. I was approached to participate after the deadline for the postcards and posters, so my name isn't listed. :\

I also posted a new Factoid this week: Procedures For Preparing A Wax Cast in Jewelry and Sculptures, based on last month's Focal Piece of the Month. The new Focal Piece is up on the company website, BTW. :)

In addition, I made a trip to Monroe Township (exit 8A on the NJ Turnpike) to deliver a necklace that was requested at the Jewels of New Jersey earlier this month, as well as a ring. We chatted for about an hour and discussed ideas for future pieces she would like. I have some materials already on-hand, so I will hopefully get some time to pull them together for her soon. :)

I have another custom necklace to make this week, which I hope to get to by the middle of the week. I have school tomorrow night right after work -- remind me to report on last week's critique next week! -- and the Virtual Garage Sale to set up on Tuesday night. I was out most of the day today with my mother and sister at the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of Les Miserables. Mom took us there and to dinner for our birthdays, which come in December and January. GREAT performance, BTW! They are really promoting it, too...I heard a commercial on WBGO-AM this morning (Mom's Sunday morning station) and saw three ads on The Hallmark Channel last night! The TV spots impressed me. I don't recall seeing them for any other Paper Mill production before. :o

Still on the back-burner is restitching my coworker's grandmother's necklace. I ordered 4 lb. Fireline (stringing material) for it this week. Hopefully, it will get here sooner rather than later to give me more time to work on it before Christmas. :)

Thankfully, I've done most of my Christmas shopping already through Something Tangible's Virtual Mall. I had read from one astrologer that shopping would be difficult in December due to Mercury going into Retrograde later in the month. Items would be backordered, hard to find, or not enthusiastically received if purchased during that period...so I decided not to take any chances and get my gifts early. Got some great deals, too! ;)

Can you believe December is less than a week away already? Is it just me or does time speed up the older you get? LOL Have a great week! ;)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #45: I Forgot What I Was Going To Write...

Hi, everyone! I generally have an idea of what major points I want to hit each week when I post to my blog. My earlier thoughts pretty much went out the window when I got two emails -- 15 minutes apart, mind you -- alerting me to two different wakes/funerals I have to attend on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Happy Thanksgiving, eh? :o

One is my friend's mother...I've known this friend since the early 1990s -- she was my first boss out of college -- and she considers me like a younger sister. Her mother has been deteriorating for a long time, so this news was not exactly a surprise. The other one is my mother's cousin by marriage, whom I've known for most of my life. Mom is Godmother to one of their daughters. She's also been ill for around two years. It's still kind of shocking to me, since I really hadn't heard much about her until the past two days. Naturally, I feel empathy for anyone who loses a parent, having been there myself.

Getting back on track...I promised to post a link to the Artbeads.com contest entry last week, didn't I? Click here to see it. Public voting starts November 23, 2010 and ends December 8, 2010. Wish me luck! :D

The photo from my Make Your Own Holiday Gifts Workshop appeared in this week's News-Record of Maplewood & South Orange! I posted it to the Something Tangible LLC Facebook Fan Page if you want to check it out. :)

I have a big challenge coming up this December. A coworker asked me to restring a vintage seed bead necklace that belonged to her grandmother. I send photos to a renowned beader I know to ask for advice. She has confidence that I can do it without taking the necklace apart, so I will try to get that done for my coworker to give to her niece for Christmas. Wish me luck again! ;)

We are FINALLY having our first critique -- and a quiz! -- in class tomorrow night. The professor forgot to tell us about it a few weeks ago and then he forgot about it entirely on the night it was rescheduled. I have to ask him for some advice on a few pieces that are "in process," but I have three pendants and three rings completed. We are only required to have eight pieces finished for the final critique, and I will have at least nine or or by then. :) I have to reread the chapters of the book for the quiz during my lunch break tomorrow. :o

By the way, I added the NetworkedBlogs box on the right side of our Blog page ALL BY MYSELF! LOL You can now follow this blog using NetworkedBlogs on Facebook. :)

I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. December will be here before we know it! Where did the year go?