Tangible Tidbits 2010 #44: Must've Been A Slow News Day...

Well, I had my first-ever workshop today at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center. I only had one student, but it was good to be able to provide her with one-on-one instruction. The local paper sent a photographer! I should have thought about taking PR pics to send to them, but it totally slipped my mind. The picture could run this week or three months from now. I will keep you posted on that! ;)

It looks like we're on schedule for the Mother-Daughter workshop at Blue Life Karate and Fitness on Saturday, December 4 at 3:00 p.m. I mentioned this to the The News-Record of Maplewood & South Orange photographer also...it couldn't hurt to plug the karate center! ;)

I entered three contests this week: Artbeads.com's "What Inspires You?" beaded necklace contest (I'll send the voting link next week), BeadStyle magazine's Crystal Challenge, and a FIVE AND DIME STYLE contest by B'Sue's Boutique. Wish me luck! :)

I also found out about BuyArtNowGuys5 (BANG5), an exhibition and sale of small artwork at the 1978 studio in early December (12/4 & 5, 12/11 & 12). Apparently, I'm the only jewelry artist so far. Good news for me! ;) LOL

In internet news, I hooked up the company's blog to NetworkedBlogs on Facebook. It seemed like the logical thing to do. We'll see if it increases readership. :)

As I mentioned last week, I had a big decision to make over last weekend. I was offered a full-time temporary position with a former employer for two months. They have two people out on medical leave and are short-handed. I decided to take it because it never hurts to have a steady paycheck going into the holidays. Also, I'm just a natural pitch-in-and-help kind of person. ;) This means, of course, that I will be pulling back a bit on my projects here, probably until the New Year. :\

Another reason I took the full-time gig is because I was feeling a little overwhelmed after the back-to-back craft shows last weekend. When I was in college, I took three French courses and earned grades of an A, a B, and a C, respectively. By the time I'd finished the third class, I decided to soothe my bruised ego by taking Spanish, which I had studied for eight years, including AP Language and AP Literature classes in high school. I bombed on the Spanish placement test at Rutgers, so I placed in Intermediate (I wasn't prepared because I knew I was switching to French...I was bored with Spanish and thought another Romance Language would be just as easy for me. NOT!). So, I aced Intermediate Spanish with little effort and felt better. ;) Part of the reason I went back to the office job is because I knew it was something I did well, and that I was appreciated for my efforts -- after all, they asked me back, right? ;) In my experience, it pays to switch to something you excel at doing whenever you begin to doubt yourself in another area. It builds up your self-esteem and gives you the energy to go back and try again. :)

On that note, I have work to do! Have a great week! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #42: Our One-Year Anniversary and My Hedgehog Concept

Greetings, one and all! :)

Something Tangible LLC celebrated its one-year anniversary on October 26. It was a low-key event...I didn't even remember it until just now! LOL :o I had a lot going on this week, both personally and professionally, so it just kind of fell off my radar. :\ My, how things change in a year! ;)

My older niece Jamie wanted me to tell you that she made some spiral coil beads for me this week. She was home from school with cough-variant asthma on Wednesday -- the poor baby has it rough this time of year -- and ended up at my house because both parents were working. She's on a Disney cruise this week with her parents and sister, so I can't feel TOO sorry for her. (Love you, Jamie!) ;)

I also came to a decision regarding the after care job at the Karate center. I got a call on Wednesday while I was at my chiropractor's office, asking about an incident that had happened the previous Friday. Someone on the street overheard me scolding an obstinate child on the way to the park. I was trying to be heard over the construction on Springfield Avenue and the child's "Don't talk to me" rants while covering her ears. Apparently, in this day and age, raising your voice to a child is considered verbal abuse. This is the second time the owner and I had this discussion...regarding this particular child. I decided right then and there that I didn't want to deal with this situation any longer. I don't agree with "the system" that reprimanding a misbehaving child is abuse. I also have a naturally loud voice -- as most of you undoubtedly know -- and when I raise it, it probably comes across as shouting to others, as my mother pointed out to me. In any case, the job was taking too much time away from my own work for Something Tangible, and dealing with this child was stressing me out...to the point I dreaded even going there. So, that phase is over. Luckily, the owner understood my side and he also doesn't agree with the rule, although he does have to conform to it. Thankfully, I don't. I can just remove myself from the situation. He told me yesterday that he's been talking up the mother-daughter workshop to his members, so it looks like that will still happen. Keep your fingers crossed for me! ;)

Had I known about The Hedgehog Concept when I was mulling over the job opportunity, I would have turned it down. For those of you not familiar with the idea, it was originated by James C. Collins in his 2001 management book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't. I learned about it recently in a video by Gideon Shalwick. Anyway, you draw three overlapping circles, kind of like a pretzel. The first circle is "Things I like to do," the second one is "Things I do well," and the third is "Things I can get paid for doing." The middle section where all three circles intersect is called your Hedgehog Concept. I have learned over the past year that my Hedgehog Concept is making handcrafted jewelry. I never knew I had the talent until I tried, but I enjoy it and people do pay me for it. :D Since taking a job as an after care counselor does not fit in nor support my Hedgehog Concept, so I should have rejected it. Naturally, it is easier to make decisions about what direction to take once you know where you are going! ;) It's taken me almost 42 years, but now I know. :)

In other work-related matters, the November 2 workshop has been canceled because not enough people registered for it. I'm still holding hope for the November 14 one, but not a very strong hope. :\

I've been busily making wax models for my Monday night classes. I invested three more last week and I'm working on a special one at the moment...a promise I made to a friend earlier in the year. I will cast the three I invested last week in bronze tomorrow night. I'm running low on sterling silver, and I want to see how they turn out in bronze. ;) To date, I've made two rings, two pendants and a pin. The pin cracks me up. I just cast it to have enough pieces for a critique, which still hasn't happened yet. When I was cleaning it, I rotated it in my hand to see which way I liked it best. On the fourth turn, I noticed that it looks like a calf's head! I wasn't trying to make one, but it's a REALLY GOOD one! LOL Complete with a faceted black onyx eye. The funny thing about that is the Rutgers Marching Band Color Guard were called cows (a term of endearment, believe it or not!). So, I have a few friends who will laugh really hard when they see it. ;)

I got a response from "Mystery Moderator" last week. He claims he can't change his screen name, but he did see my point about transparency building trust. At least he wasn't singling me out, although he did delete my event listings without telling me. Not a big fan of that, either. :\ By the way, the group is Get Traffic 3.0 and they are a REALLY enthusiastic and supportive bunch! We're all posting our Facebook Fan Pages so we can "Like" each other's. The Something Tangible LLC page has 994 as of this morning (WHOO HOO!) and the Virtual Mall page has 378. The ad campaign I ran for that ended last week, so the new "Likes" are all probably from GT3.0 and new Friends on my personal page. :)

I still haven't received the price tags, bags, and boxes I ordered for next week's Holiday Bazaar on Saturday and Jewels of New Jersey on Sunday. I hope I get them early in the week, so I'll have time to price the items before Saturday morning! :o I have a lot of stuff I want to do before Saturday -- like making some chain maille bracelets and earrings in holiday colors, for example -- I just hope I have enough time to get everything done! At least I've gotten the 12+ hours back from not going to the Karate center in the afternoons. :)

One last note, as this message is pretty long already...I recently found out we can select personalized usernames for our Facebook Fan Pages, so I've done that for the two I have. These are much easier to remember than all of those numbers, etc. generated by Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/SomethingTangibleLLC

http://www.facebook.com/SomethingTangibleVirtualMall

I also did one for the Home page of the Something Tangible Application, in case that Facebook bookmark ever becomes viable again:

http://www.facebook.com/SomethingTangibleApp

The application is back again, but I can't change the bookmark because the viable link starts with apps.facebook.com, and the settings won't accept that. :( Anyway, if you've never seen the application, check out the Home page link above (it works) and see if you can get to this page:

http://apps.facebook.com/gifts-super/620805/

For whatever reason, I can't even post it as a link in Facebook...it won't work. :(

Happy Halloween, and go easy on the candy! ;)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #34: Increasing Exposure

Hey, all! Sorry I didn't get to this message last night, but I was involved in trying to match up material inventory purchases with receipts from Michael's and A.C. Moore. On the wholesale suppliers' receipts, it's pretty easy to discern what the items are and enter them in the database, but not so much with those two stores. It's gotten to the point that I will enter what I think an item is and hope that I eventually figure out what it really is! :o

I've had a very productive week...made a bunch of new items that I haven't had a chance to post yet. I find that I can do simple tasks while watching Another World on Hulu, so I use that time in the evening (when I can) to play with pieces. It seems that the show will be yanked as of October 21, and I'm so far behind I'd have to watch six episodes a day to catch up by then! I hope they decide to keep it...I'm really enjoying this trip down Memory Lane! :)

In addition, I've arranged to teach two workshops in November at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center, not far from my house. The center is owned by the town, and run by a board of directors. The president was very enthusiastic when I met with her last week, and even took some of my brochures and put them in the rack in the center! The first workshop will be held on Tuesday, November 2 (Election Day) from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This one is for at-home parents who are looking for an outlet for their creativity, a stress-relieving activity, or just a way to make some extra "side money." The second one is on Sunday, November 14, also from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The focus of that one is making your own jewelry holiday gifts, either to help save money or to harness your creative energies. I haven't decided yet on the project(s) to cover in each class. We're testing these out as workshops, and if there is demand I will probably teach eight-week sessions in the future. Wish me luck! :)

I don't think I ever mentioned that both of my nieces are also helping me promote myself and my business! The younger one asked her Daisy Troop leader if I could run a jewelry-making session with the troop...and she did this before running it by me and her mother! LOL Of course, I said yes. :D My older niece has to run meetings on her own in Girl Scouts, and asked for my help for her to teach an easy project to her troop. I will also be on-hand that day, just in case she needs some back-up. ;) She can be my helper with the Daisy troop, so she will have some experience under her belt before teaching for herself. :)

And last but not least, I have taken a part-time job as an After School Counselor at Blue Life Karate & Fitness, which is literally around the corner from me! I had to send out six resumes in preparation for my job assessment meeting at the Unemployment office this Wednesday, and this was one of the positions I found on NJO.com. The owner is a very kewl guy who wants me to help the kids (only three so far) with their homework, take them to the park down the street, and maybe teach them some jewelry projects or do other craft projects with them. :) He was really excited about my business...he liked my brochure and has placed some of them in his "Take one" display by the door. He even wants to host a wine-and-cheese event at the Karate center for the parents of his students featuring my work! Whoo hoo! :D I really think I'm going to get along well with this guy...he's a fellow Capricorn. ;)

In any case, the job is from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. weekdays, except on Monday evenings, when I have my second Metalwork & Jewelry class at Montclair State. That starts next week. Man, am I going to be tired with all of this running around I'll be doing! LOL As my father would say, though, "it's good for the soul." :)

One last note...I saw that the Softflex Company was running a steampunk-themed "Flex Your Creativity" contest in the middle of the week, so I put together a necklace for the contest that afternoon. I thought the deadline was at midnight, but it was really midnight the next night! At least I got it done and handed in on time. :) You can see the piece on our Facebook Fan Page or in the Design Samples Gallery on the Something Tangible website. ;)

I've gotta get back to my inventory. No rest for the weary! :p Enjoy your Labor Day and the rest of the three-day weekend if you are in the U.S. To everyone else, have a great week! :D

P.S. -- I saw this quote by Mark Twain in a horoscope earlier in the week, and it helped pull me out of a funk. "Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." There are a few illusions I really need to hold onto for a while to keep me going, so that message came at just the right time! :)