Tangible Tidbits 2010 #37: Fifteen Minutes of Fame

First off, I want to thank those who reached out to me after reading last week's message. I didn't intend for it to come across so morose...but I guess in the state of mind I was in, it was inevitable. Actually, I thought the tone was pretty middle-of-the-road, but I guess my perception was off. :o Anyway, I apologize for that. I've been feeling much better since the moon left Pisces...Pisces is a water sign and the moon was in Pisces when I was born, so I can be overly sensitive and sentimental at times. :\ I'm basically fine as long as I'm keeping busy and focusing on what I'm doing at the moment. It's the quiet times that I can get into trouble, because I get stuck inside my head, and I often hear negative stuff when that happens. Most of us do. So, I guess I'm better off just keeping busy for now, and I'll have to hope I can keep my stamina up without relying on quiet time to help me recharge. :p

I got home in time from my MSU casting class (we're learning to make wax casts for metal pieces -- I have a second degree burn blister on the middle finger of my right hand already!) on Monday night to watch Alex O'Loughlin's new "Hawaii Five-0" series premiere on CBS. I liked it a lot! It came across as a big budget mini action movie, IMHO. I liked the chemistry between the characters...and seeing Alex without a shirt never hurts, either! LOL

My Virtual Garage Sale auction is taking up a lot of time, but it will hopefully be worth it when all is said and done. An LFN fan friend told me about an opportunity for it to reach a wider audience via a mention on Lisa Steven's radio program for "Moonlight" fans. Lisa is one of my Facebook friends, but I didn't even know she had a radio show! LOL

On the business side of things, we posted the new Focal Piece of the Month this week, and the updates to the Virtual Mall are almost finished for this month. ;)

I've also been increasing the company publicity efforts by posting my 1978 Maplewood Arts Center workshops on three local website calendars: the Maplewood Patch online newspaper, Maplewood Navigator (affiliated with the local weekly newspaper The News-Record of Maplewood & South Orange), and Maplewood Online. The announcement ran in the print edition of The News-Record this week, but there was a minor snafu. They made it appear as though I am the contact person for ALL of the classes and workshops at 1978. I found out about the article when the president of the 1978 board copied me on an email to the paper regarding the error. Mom had already read and recycled the paper, and she missed it on page 3! Luckily, the recycling hadn't been picked up yet, so I salvaged the paper and cut the article out. ;)

In addition, I submitted Something Tangible to be included on Artbeads.com's Friends, Fans & Followers page, as well as created a profile for myself on Art Jewelry magazine's website. I've also been expanding my reach via various social media sites. :)

Both personally and professionally, it looks like my fifteen minutes of fame has begun! ;)

Have a great week and Happy Autumn all! ;)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #36: A Business Plan & Dreams

I'm doing this today instead of tomorrow because I have a lot of thoughts running around in my head right now and I want to get them out. Sometimes, writing helps. ;)

First, the business stuff. I attended a workshop hosted by SCORE, a group of retired business people who volunteer to counsel entrepreneurs, on "Starting and Managing Your Own Business" at the local library earlier in the week. I am registered for three more workshops with them this fall. The main thing I got out of this one is that I need to write up a business plan. Apparently, they are required if you want to obtain a business loan from a bank. My chiropractor suggested I get a template program from Staples (think "Business Plans for Dummies") and just fill in the blanks. That will be my next big project after I finish with the database, I guess. :\

On the personal front, I raised $104+ for Fondation MIRA in the first round of my Virtual Garage Sale auction. Not too bad, considering there were only half a dozen people bidding. I'm hoping that word will spread over the coming weeks, so that it will attract more bidders. I sold half of the items I listed, so I'm happy to get that much out of my house! LOL

Here's where I will get a little deep, so if you're not interested in that, feel free to disregard the rest of this message. ;) I don't often dream when I sleep, or if I do, I don't usually remember them. Lately, I've been having very clear, detailed dreams. I think I've had four or five this week. The overall theme seems to be loss, isolation, and loneliness. Given everything I've gone through so far this year, it's not really surprising that's where my subconscious goes. What bothers me is that most of the dreams seem to end with a dramatic sad or tragic ending. If the Universe is trying to tell me something, I don't think I want to know what it is! :o Many years ago as a teen, I had a dream that I was an old woman sitting in a rocking chair and I felt myself die. That scared the crap out of me, but the feeling that I will die old and alone has never really left me. In the past few years, I thought I'd made significant progress in dealing with my long-time emotional issues and healing from them. I guess that was just an illusion, because right now, I feel like I'm starting all over at the beginning again, and that I'm still damaged. It's very disconcerting to think that all of the progress I thought I'd made wasn't real. I went off of one of my anti-depressants at the beginning of the summer (with the consent of my psychiatrist), but I guess maybe it's time to go back on it again. :( Most of my life, I've kind of subscribed to the "fake it 'til you make it" philosophy. I guess my "act" fooled even me for a while. My question is, if you fake it over a long period of time, at what point does it stop being fake and start being who you truly are? :p

Well, enough of that! Off to get my oil changed and figure out what I'm putting up in next week's auction, which starts on Tuesday night.

Enjoy the weekend and have a good week! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #35: Workshops, Classes & Gallery Openings

Hi, everybody! :)

Well, I posted a new Factoid this week. This one is Five Ways To Promote Yourself and Your Small Business. It seems to be doing pretty well...82 views so far in the first 24 hours or so. My jewelry-making stories seem to get the most hits, so I may stick with those from now on. :)

My second class at Montclair State starts tomorrow night, so I will report next week on what we will be covering this semester. ;)

I started working at Blue Life Karate & Fitness this past Tuesday...and had off on Thursday and Friday already because there's no after care if the school district is closed. Happy Rosh Hashanah! :D

Two workshops to be taught by me in November are featured on the 1978 Maplewood Arts Center website. You can check out the listings here: http://www.1978artscenter.org/classes.php. I have no idea how popular they will be, if at all...I'm just keeping my fingers crossed they generate interest. :o

In addition, I attended a photography exhibit opening on Thursday at GAS Gallery and Studio in Maplewood. It's owned by someone I went to grammar school with, and he recognized me right away! That always makes me laugh, but I guess I have "one of those faces" because people always seem to recognize me, even if we haven't seen each other in decades. :p Anyway, the promotional cards for the gallery say they offer a photography studio, private events, exhibit space, films/discussion, creative workshops, and French language classes (one of the partners is a French teacher). Rick mentioned that they haven't really gotten into creative workshops yet, so I offered, "I can probably help you with that!" ;) He got pulled away and we didn't really finish our conversation, but I left him a note on the Facebook invitation I received for the event. I will follow-up with him at some point. I kind of have too much going on right now to push it. :\

As you know, the first installment of the Virtual Mall Deals & Discounts e-sales circular went out this past Wednesday. It took a while to put it together, but I think that was because it was the first one and I had been stockpiling stuff for it for a few weeks. I'm hoping it will be easier now that I will really only be highlighting one week's promotions at a time. :) If anyone has any suggestions on how to do it better, please feel free to let me know! I'm always open to suggestions. ;)

On the personal front, I spent the early part of the day preparing and photographing packages for my Television Memorabilia Virtual Garage Sale, which starts on Tuesday night. I've gotten some positive feedback about it, so I'm hoping it goes well. It's kind of strange, going through everything and selling it all. That was such a huge part of my life for such a long time -- six years -- it feels like I'm closing the chapter on that part of my life. I seem to be doing that a lot lately...closing chapters. This one doesn't bother me so much because I sort of left that phase behind me a few years ago. Some of the others I've closed this year weren't as easy (I'm getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it). :\ As the saying goes, "it is what it is." That's been quite a popular saying with a number of people in my life, including my late father. :)

I've got a number of orders to keep me busy this week, in addition to starting the first round of the auction and my class at MSU. I have a feeling this fall will be a flurry of activity for me! ;)

Have a good week and enjoy the "back-to-school weather" while it lasts! :)

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! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #33: Cee Lo & E-Sales Circulars

I'm pretty sure most of you are not from New Jersey, but today's Newark Sunday Star-Ledger ran an article in the entertainment section about a song that is a mega-hit on YouTube, but can't be aired on radio or music video stations. The name of the song can't be written in print publications either. If you're familiar with Cee Lo or the song, then you know to which one I'm referring. Apparently, everybody who is anybody knows this tune...and I'd never heard of it (not exactly surprising). :o Well, I checked out YouTube today after reading the article, and I have had the song playing on an endless loop for most of the day while working! LOL Aside from it having a good dance-in-your-seat beat -- the article likened it to the style of Smokey Robinson, although Smokey would never use foul language -- whenever the words penetrate my brain, they in turn make me laugh out loud, chuckle, and genuinely smile. I am not easily offended, so the language doesn't bother me. The concept in the song is something anyone can relate to...and I just find the delivery completely amusing! :D Maybe part of the reason I like it so much is because the song reminds me of someone I used to know who liked to talk dirty. We lost touch a while ago, and this song makes me feel like he's not so far away. I hope we meet up again someday. ;)

ANYWAY, before I forget again this week, the new Focal Piece of the Month went up last week. I know a few people saw it, so thanks for remembering to look for it! :)

I have a decision to make regarding the Virtual Mall (VM). I receive emails semi-regularly from vendors about special sales and promotions they are running. We can only update the website once a month right now, and the Virtual Mall is something that is beyond my capability to handle updating myself. So, I was thinking about sending out a separate message to those interested in keeping up to date with the various opportunities presented by the VM vendors. A weekly Virtual Mall Deals & Discounts message could be sent on Wednesday or Thursday, and it would be clearly marked to differentiate it from the Sunday (and occasionally Monday) Tangible Tidbits newsletter/messages. I would start out by sending it to the existing newsletter list, and then anyone wishing to be unsubscribed from that mailing can opt-out by sending a response email with "Remove" in the subject line. If someone decides that she wants to be removed from all correspondence, then she can respond with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line, and I will remove that name from both lists. My concern is that this second weekly message will be viewed as spam. My goal is obviously not to annoy anyone, but to offer information about special sales and promotions that they may be interested in checking out at the Virtual Mall. What I have been doing up until now is just "filing away" the messages if the time frame doesn't fit with our updating schedule, but I realize that is doing my audience a disservice. On the other hand, I don't want to take valuable time away from other necessary tasks to draft and send out these messages if people aren't interested.

Any feedback on this issue would be greatly appreciated. I do have a few messages held aside for Back To School and Halloween sales (ALREADY??), so if there IS interest in receiving this kind of "e-sales circular," please let me know. Next week, I'll report my findings and if it's a go, the first Virtual Mall Deals & Discounts issue will go out September 8 or 9. Naturally, if anyone just can't wait to find out about the discounts being offered, feel free to contact me directly and I can give you the scoop. ;)

Something Tangible had a number of sales and custom inquiries this week, so I'm happy about that. I'm not quite on track to make my sales goal for the quarter (50% more than last quarter), but we still have a month to go. We are past the half-way mark to making at least as much as last quarter, so surpassing that figure would still demonstrate steady growth. Can't ask for much more than that in this economy, right? :D

I hope people in the NY Metro area enjoyed the break in the summer heat we had this past week. Looks like we're expecting another scorcher this coming week! :p

Take care and catch you during the three-day Labor Day Weekend next time! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #32: Rain, Rain & More Rain!

I don't know about you...but when it is dark, rainy, and gloomy outside, I have virtually NO energy. I just want to hibernate and stay in bed all day, which I did for much of today! Unfortunately, we're not supposed to see much sunshine before Thursday. I have hopefully gotten out of my "hibernation mode" -- thankfully, today is Sunday and I could get away with it! -- since I have stuff to do during the week. ;)

I played around a bit this week and came up with some new pairs of earrings, a key chain, a crystal puffed heart pendant -- a lovely person from the Bead Society of NJ graciously sent me the instructions -- and a nickel & Chinese Turquoise ring. The ring was a complete experiment, but I think it turned out rather well. I'll post pics later on tonight. :)

I spent a lot of time this week working on a personal project, so I don't have a lot of business news to report today. :\ I decided last weekend to hold a Virtual Garage Sale of my television memorabilia from five years in the "La Femme Nikita" (LFN)(USA Network 1997-2001) and a year or so in the "Moonlight" (ML)(CBS 2007-2008) fandoms. I still have to go through my ML stuff, but I have acquired a massive amount of LFN stuff over the years, so I tackled that one first. Everything from wardrobe pieces to scripts to charity event photos to fan art. I even have a director's cut and other footage from a number of episodes on VHS and DVD. Cataloging everything and then typing up the 11-page list took up a ridiculous amount of time, but it will be time well spent if I make money from effort. I posted my announcement on Facebook, and received quite a positive response almost immediately, so I'm hopeful this will be a good experience. I forgot to mention that half of the funds received will go to charity: the ML proceeds will go to Donate Life America, as Alex O'Loughlin is an ambassador for this organization, and the LFN stuff will go to Fondation MIRA in memory of a good friend and the former fan liaison between the fandom and MIRA. :)

I did post a "shameless plug" thread in the auction forum on Five Light Years Farther (5LYF) -- I am an administrator of this former LFN board -- for Something Tangible. I don't spend much time there anymore, so I figured I'd let the folks know what I've been doing lately. ;)

Anyway, I will go through the ML stuff in the next week or so, since I have to start taking pictures of everything and creating descriptions before the first auction starts on Tuesday, September 14. I've decided to have multiple auctions of maybe 10 items/packages lasting three days each (I think a full week is too long on eBay, as people tend to forget things over a longer period of time), one a week until everything is gone. Wish me luck! :)

Keep dry and sane over the next few days. And if you happen to be somewhere bright and sunny, I'm jealous! LOL :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #31: Where Do I Start?

Hola, everyone! I've got so much to tell you this week, I don't know where to begin! ;)

First, Something Tangible LLC now has its own YouTube channel called Some Tangible Things. It seems that rapid video blogging is the way of the future. I don't have much in the way of appropriate technology to make my own videos yet, so I posted my steampunk PowerPoint presentation there to get started. :)

I also posted a new Factoidz article, since I noticed I slipped to the #2 expert slot in jewelry-making. It worked, as I am back to #1 again! LOL Here's the new story, if you haven't seen it yet:

Methods for Cutting Metal in Jewelry-making & Sculpture

In addition, I created a Testimonials form after completing one for Bead Manager Pro. The landing page when I finished asked me if I wanted to create my own...well, why not? ;) Anyone interested in leaving a testimonial for the website -- and I know a few of you have already expressed interest in it -- please fill in the form below. Thanks! :)

Testimonials form

As if all of the above were not enough to increase my exposure this week, I also started posting product reviews -- complete with my completed project photos -- on Artbeads.com. You never know who looks at the reviews...someone might get intrigued and take a peek here, right? ;)

I've also posted "shameless self-promotion" entries on four blogs that specifically ask for such content! They are hosted by people who stimulate social media networking as part of their coaching practices. Still, it's free exposure to a different audience than I usually reach! :D

One last item on the "shop talk" portion of this message...I just finished reading Finish What You Start by Craig S. Copeland. I received a copy of the book for free if I agreed to review it on Amazon.com. What did I have to lose? I have to say, it helped pull a lot of different things together for me. The subtitle of the book is Unlocking the Success Secrets of the Top 1%, and I believe there's really something to that. He outlines Five Power Principles, many of which I happen to do already naturally. However, it never occurred to me to combine these efforts to maximize impact. It makes a lot of sense, and the book is written in such a way that anyone can digest it pretty easily. If you're looking to complete projects that have been stalled indefinitely, I highly recommend this book! :)

On the personal side, I've had some major bad luck with transportation this week! I went into the garage to find a flat tire AND a dead battery on my car AT THE SAME TIME! Called AAA, who filled the tire enough to get me to the mechanic and tire place, and then checked my battery. It checked out okay, but the alternator was dead. NOT a cheap fix! The mechanic told me from his experience the battery wouldn't last much longer, even though it was in the "good" range. I asked the guy at the tire shop about replacing the battery, and he told me to hold off and see if it held the charge. The next morning, naturally, it was dead again! Jump started it with Mom's car -- she was nervous, but I was pretty confident I knew what I was doing -- and then went to the tire shop again for a replacement battery. In the midst of all this, I borrowed Mom's car to get to a social engagement I had on Wednesday night. Don't you know...I noticed the low fuel light was on when I got on the Parkway? :o Luckily, I had enough gas to get to the correct exit and hit the first gas station I saw. AND I was only about three minutes late! I guess I'm a lucky person after all? LOL

I think that's enough for this week. :p Have a great one! :D