Tangible Tidbits 2012 #23: A Flurry of Activity!

Hey, everyone! Well, I’ve FINALLY finished my Bead Challenge project for BSNJ over the weekend. It’s not due until June 28, but I wanted to get it out of the way and not wait until the last minute. I changed the category from bracelet to necklace, as the cuff bracelet I was attempting to make was not coming together as well as I’d like. I still think it was a good idea, and I may revisit it at a later date. :)

I received my recommendation letter from my former professor at MSU the other day. He wrote a very nice letter, and specifically mentioned that I am “willing to take criticism,” which made me chuckle. I emailed him back and told him I thought the director of the Metalwork & Jewelry program at MSU might not agree. :)) I still have to take a couple more pictures this week before the deadline on Friday. I’m hoping my mother will either model pieces for me or be willing to take my picture. I have two necklaces I want to include as part of the application. Mom is not very technologically-inclined, so please wish both of luck! :-S

In addition to Wire-sculpture.com’s 2012 Druzy Contest -- which I had mentioned previously -- there are two more contests coming up that I may or may not enter. Beaded Impressions has a Beading Contest with a deadline of July 8. The categories include Whimsical or Romantic; Eclectic or Bohemian; and Traditional. I may enter my Bead Challenge project in the "Eclectic or Bohemian" category. Once you see a picture of it, you’ll see why. ;) I can’t post it or describe it before the June meeting because some of my BSNJ friends may read this or see my Facebook page. :-S I also received an email this morning about Fire Mountain Gems and Beads' Swarovski Elements Jewelry-making Contest, with a September 30 deadline. I don’t really have anything existing that I’d like to enter, so I have to see if I am inspired over the summer to come up with something appropriate...I'm thinking maybe an elaborate pair of earrings. :-? I still haven’t decided if I am going to enter the Druzy Contest, but I will concentrate on a project for that now that I have completed the Bead Challenge piece. The deadline is June 30, which is part of why I wanted to finish the Bead Challenge project early. If I can’t figure something out in the next couple of weeks, I will just skip it. :|

I'm looking forward to attending a workshop in Tinton Falls on Saturday called "Jazz Up Your Bead Embroidery," being taught by my friend Meg Fillmore of Bead My Love. :)

On a personal note, I had another NAET treatment on Saturday...this one was to complete the areas that were only partially cleared in previous treatments -- namely corn, chocolate, and nut mix I, which includes peanuts. I had headaches off and on all day Saturday, so I didn’t accomplish much. :P Man, will I be glad when these are over! #-o

Our weather can’t quite decide what it wants to be these days. Lots of storms passing through the area lately and it seems to be humid one day; cool the next. Morris County got hit hard with a storm yesterday. A couple of towns there may be without power for 2-3 days! :-O

Two ladies at work requested earrings, which I have to work on tonight...and I have a bunch of recent projects that I have not priced out yet. I seem to put that off as long as possible. Since I am switching out pieces at the chiropractor’s office again tomorrow, the last minute is pretty much tonight! I guess it's a good thing I am more or less required to do it every two weeks. ;)

Take care and have a great week! B-)

Tangible Tidbits 2012 #16: This Is It...Or Is It?

Hey, everyone! :) It's been busy around here for the past couple of weeks, so I basically hibernated all day yesterday. :o My cousin lent me her "This Is It" DVD, so Mom and I watched it. We both enjoyed it a lot, even though neither of us ever had any interest in seeing Michael Jackson in concert. I really wish he'd had the chance to open the show in London. Everyone worked so hard on the costumes, dancing, special effects, etc...it's a shame the full experience will never be realized. :( I also thought about the dancers...
these poor people thought they were about to get their big break, only to have it evaporate instantly. I'm sure they are all grateful to have worked with him at all, but it must've been an enormous let-down not to be able to tour with him. :\

One day last week, I started an application for the MJSA Education Foundation Jewelry Scholarship. I have until June 15 to pull everything together, but it won't be easy. The requirements include a Financial Information Worksheet I have to fill out, a Student Aid Report (SAR) -- I have no idea what that is, but I presume it comes from the school's Financial Aid office; a Transcript (it can be unofficial, so I got that off the internet already); an Essay (I can probably wing this LOL); three to five Work Samples and a Work Sample List -- I have plenty of pictures of my pieces, but they want photos of them being worn. I have very few of those, so I will have to take them; and a Letter of Recommendation...
this one could be tough! I know which MSU professor I would like to write it for me, but he's not on campus this semester and I don't think he's accessing his school email. I've reached out to a friend at the Metalsmith Guild to see if she can locate a contact email address for me. Fingers crossed!

My friend Meg Fillmore of Bead My Love and her mother Moggie Moyer were the guest speakers at the April BSNJ meeting this past Thursday. It was fun, as I haven't seen Meg in more than a year. They did a hands-on bead embroidery demonstration, and I started a piece that I have yet to finish. I may work on it later while catching up with last week's General Hospital episodes on YouTube. ;) Meg is teaching a workshop in June for our group, so I will get to see her again before long. :) That reminds me...I have to find the check I wrote and mail it! :o

I recently went through some estate jewelry I have here to disassemble for parts to be used in new pieces, as one of my coworkers was looking for something "vintage" to replace a pair of earrings she liked. I went through the entire collection and cleaned up all of the clip/screw back earrings and offered her whatever she wanted for $5/pair. I made the same offer to another coworker for any pierced earrings I found. Neither of them liked any of the earrings...but a third person liked some, bought one pair, and asked me to set aside two more! A nice way to make a few extra bucks with minimal effort. ;) I have to look through the necklaces and see if any are viable. One of the first two ladies may like them, as she wears longer necklaces of strung beads. :)

One of my female coworkers asked me last week out of the blue if I was "going with" anyone. She said she just wondered because I'm "so nice." LOL I've known her for five years, and this is the first time it came up! She suggested Internet dating, as she knows someone who met his girlfriend that way...I can't remember if it was her son or a nephew, but I'm pretty sure it was one or the other. Anyway, I tried that more than once and it didn't work for me. I guess I'm old-fashioned. That, and I really don't trust people to be honest in their profiles. Sad, but true. :\

Well, that's all I can remember for now. :o Have a great week! ;)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #27: Monday, Monday...

Sorry I missed you all last night. I spent all day at the Innovative Beads Expo at Raritan Center in Edison, NJ taking a workshop. I learned how to embroider around a rivoli, which is a faceted crystal focal piece. Embroidering around a rivoli is tricky because they are not flat like cabochons. I finished the focal piece last night and started the chain, but I don't have any cone findings here to finish it off, unfortunately. I'll order some this week and hopefully have it posted sometime next week. ;)

My pal Meg Fillmore from Bead My Love taught the class I took yesterday -- she also taught the class I took last fall to learn how to add a beaded fringe to a scarf. She works with her mother, Moggie Moyer, and I got a 20 percent discount on anything purchased at their booth for taking the class. I also visited renowned beader Linda Gettings' table quite a bit. I met her at a Bead Society of New Jersey (BSNJ) meeting in the spring, and she's just a wonderful person! So, I bought some jewelry kits from her and got a bunch of free ones as well! :D My beading skills will be exercised and expanded by leaps and bounds in the next few months! :)

I'm hoping to attend Bead My Love's weekend retreat during the first weekend in November. It will be in Rehoboth Beach, DE and should really be a blast! :D

I spent almost ALL DAY on Friday entering data into the Bead Manager Pro software program. It seems that allocating an hour a day isn't working out so well for me. I keep putting it off because of something that is more immediately pressing. I'm probably better off just getting in the groove when I can do it and go for as long as I can before my eyes cross! LOL

We'll be updating the website again toward the end of this week. The new Focal Piece of the Month will be a gift I made a while ago for a friend whose birthday is next week. He's the coworker who passed away a couple of months ago, so I don't think he will mind me posting it before his birthday. I ended up burying it at his grave in early June, so he technically already has it anyway. I put with it a crossword Lottery scratch card, since he used to always have me cash them in for him. Every once in a while, I wonder if I buried a card worth $20,000, which is the grand prize for those cards. Considering my luck with them, it's probably not even worth the $3 I paid for it, so I'm not too concerned about it. LOL I just hope someone who works for the cemetery doesn't find it and find out for themselves how much it is worth! :o

I almost forgot to mention that I am now the #1 jewelry expert on Factoidz! :D I posted a new article last week, but it's not about jewelry-making. It does, however, have to do with part of my motivation behind the mission for this company.

http://factoidz.com/coping-with-loss-a-personal-perspective/

We had a lot of thunder here this morning, but the sun is shining now and no rain in sight. Hope it stays that way! ;)

Have a great week! :D

An Oversight

I have an apology to make...and my only excuse is that when you're putting together a website, you're trying to remember 6,492 details and somehow #4,376 falls through the cracks.

I neglected to list the beaded fringe scarves (a black velvet one in the NOT FOR SALE section and a green shimmer one in the Non-Gemstone Items area) as being kits I obtained from Bead My Love at the Innovative Beads Expo last October. Also, the two pairs of earrings inspired by those scarves should have mentioned Bead My Love in their descriptions. That has been corrected. My sincerest apologies to Meg Fillmore and Moggie Moyer for the oversight. I don't know if Meg has had time to pop in here, but if she noticed, she's been too polite to mention it. :) In any case, I don't like to take credit for other people's work and I certainly wouldn't do it deliberately. Bead My Love was the first link I added to the website at the bottom of the page. However, even if you click on it, it wouldn't be obvious that I got the scarves from them. So, I wanted to set the record straight. Thank you, ladies! :D