Tangible Tidbits 2012 #48: A Time For Reflection

Hey, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your respective holidays. :) Ours were chaotic, as usual. ;) The kids all enjoyed themselves and most of the adults ate too much. :)) We even got some unexpected snow flurries on Christmas Eve! :-O MacKenzie got her first White Christmas already! :)) It also snowed today, enough to make everything slushy. :(

I tried to get on my computer yesterday morning to post my message as I had promised, but it froze up on me. I think Mercury is out to get me. :))

Given my recent birthday and Christmas, and New Year’s being only a blink away, this is usually the period when I tend to look back over the past year and think about how far I’ve come (or not). It seems like no matter how hard I work or what I do, I always seem to be in basically the same place from year to year. I look at the chasm between what I want my life to be and what it is, and I can’t figure out how to get where I want to be (the phrase "You can't get there from here" often comes to mind! :p). Many years ago, I joked with some friends that I would throw myself a "mid-life crisis shower" if I was still on my own when I was 45 years old, in order to make up for all of the bridal and baby showers I attended for my friends over the years. ;) Well, it looks like 363 days and counting before that happens. It would not be the first time I made a sarcastic crack about my life that eventually came true. :-O I understand the concept of self-fulfilling prophesies, but I never really thought I was turning the tide in that direction. I’ve learned a lot in the past few years, but somehow bridging the gap between knowledge and execution has still eluded me. Astrologers say 2013 will bring many positive changes, but I can’t help but think that this time next year, I will still be in basically the same place I’ve always been...although the Universe is free to prove me wrong at any time! ;) The two things I never wanted to be are broke and lonely. I haven’t always been broke (thankfully), although I am now...but I have been lonely for most of my life. Being surrounded by people does not change that feeling of deep down loneliness. Apparently, there is some secret to resolving this issue that I have not yet learned. Maybe next year? :P

This is my last post for 2012. I wish everyone a safe, healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year! Until next time, take care and have a great week! B-)

Tangible Tidbits 2012 #47: Holiday Season Wrap Up

Hi, everyone! I’m really sorry I didn’t get here last week. I actually did write the blog post, but I never got online to post it. Other than access via my phone and a little bit on my Netbook, I wasn’t online for nearly two weeks! :-O My oldest niece even complained to my mother about how slow the Netbook is while she was trying to get some of her homework done one day last week. :-/

Things at the office have been crazy lately – I clocked in 86 or 87 hours in the past two weeks, and my regular work week is usually 25 hours! :P In addition to the regular end-of-the-year surge in activity, we got hit with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The vault of the Depositary Trust Company (DTC) in Manhattan was flooded in the storm...what do you expect with the address of 55 Water Street?...and they began processing the replacement of all of the certificates that were lost/damaged/ destroyed. It’s going to be a long time before any of us forget Sandy, I assure you. :P

I finally repaired my coworker’s Freshwater Pearl necklace on Saturday, and priced out a necklace and lanyard for two other coworkers on Sunday. With working so many hours and Christmas coming up next week – I finished shopping, but haven’t wrapped anything – I will have my hands full this week. My two older nieces are sleeping over on Friday night so we can assemble gingerbread houses and bake Christmas cookies. The baby isn’t ready for a sleepover yet...much less accomplishing anything other than eating, sleeping, and pooping! :)) She will be making her first public debut on Sunday, though, at a friend’s holiday open house. ;)

I posted a new social media poster yesterday...I only have one left, so I have to make some more. :P I’m embarrassingly behind on typing up the meeting minutes from BSNJ’s November general meeting and recent Board meeting. That’s something else I will have to get done this week. :-O

My birthday is next Monday...which also happens to be Christmas Eve...so I may not post until Tuesday. We have our big family celebration on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day is more low-key until Mom and I go to my sister’s house for dinner. So, I anticipate having some time in the morning and early afternoon. Hopefully, by putting it in writing, I will actually deliver as promised. :))

There are no words to express my feelings about what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT on Friday. I can only say there are 26 new angels in Heaven...all of whom had no right being called back as soon as they were. My sincerest condolences to everyone affected by that tragedy. Having a "Merry Christmas" will be inconceivable for them, and it will be a really long time before their lives can be put back together again, if that’s even possible. I may not say it a lot, but I am truly grateful for the wonderful people I have in my life, including all of you. :D

Until next time, take care and have a great week! B-)

Tangible Tidbits 2011 #51: Holiday Season and Year Wrap-up Report

Hello, everyone! I just got back from having Christmas dinner at my sister's house. My younger niece made me a scarf in a weaving class! I keep thinking she will join the "family business" one day...maybe in high school to make some extra money. ;)

We spent yesterday afternoon/evening with my extended family on Mom's side, as we've done for as long as I can remember. I received a couple of unexpected birthday gifts, which was really a nice surprise. :) Mom and I exchanged Christmas gifts this morning before heading out to my sister's. I also received a couple of presents from a family friend in Florida, who obviously reads this blog! ;) She gave me a gift card to Kmart for my birthday, so I can get a couple of items from Sofia Vergara's clothing line there; and a gift certificate to Fire Mountain Gems and Beads for Christmas. I guess she won't ever have trouble figuring out what to buy me ever again! LOL

My knee is much better after a month of using a cane. I was determined to get rid of the cane by Christmas, so I started getting around without it a couple of days ago, and today was the first day I didn't use it at all. :D The knee is still sore...I've got an ice pack on it as I type...but the doctor thinks I may be able to resume working out twice a week with the trainer by mid-January. I won't rush back into my old 3-5 days a week workout schedule, as I don't want to push myself too hard. I will work out with the trainer for a month or so before trying to expand my workouts beyond those "supervised" workouts. :)

Of course, being as accident-prone as I am, I now have a burn mark on my chest from baking cookies with my nieces on Friday. I had just put the cookies on the counter to cool, and I pulled the cookie sheet back from the counter, scraping the corner of it on my chest. I was trying to get it out of the way of the girls, who were hovering nearby. :o I'm putting A&D ointment on it, so it will hopefully heal without leaving a scar. I'm not safe anywhere, even in my own house! :\

As for business, I've completed a number of pieces I started at the Chinese knotting workshop a few weeks ago. I'm really pleased with how they turned out! :D I still have a couple that are incomplete, but I will hopefully get those done sometime this week. I'm working a lot of overtime at the office until the end of the year (we're short-handed again), so I will cut myself some slack if I don't finish them until later in January. ;)

The STOCK'N STUFFrz sale at Woolpunk Studios in Jersey City was extended through Christmas, so I will find out one day this week if I sold anything. Fingers crossed! :)

I'm off tomorrow, so Mom and are are planning to see The Descendents with George Clooney in the afternoon. I worked at the Maplewood Movie Theater in grad school, and the manager recently reached out to me via Facebook. She has some beads she wants restrung and also a bunch of materials she thought I could use, including some 14K gold beads! If she's there tomorrow, we'll chat about it...if not, she will call me after the New Year. :)

I hope you all had wonderful holidays and got everything on your "Wish Lists." ;) Since my next post will be on New Year's Day, I will wish everyone a fun-filled -- and responsible ;) -- New Year's Eve! Catch you in 2012! :o

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Tangible Tidbits 2011 #50: Still Unconnected and Making Changes

Hey, all! Sorry I missed you last week. I had my nieces over all weekend and I'm still experiencing computer problems, even though the malware scanner the guys at work gave me keeps coming up clean. I am writing to you from my Netbook in my kitchen, as the idea of turning on the computer upstairs and "fighting" with it does nothing for me. I dragged out the Netbook on Tuesday night, and I still have some upgrading to do before I can more or less use it as my primary computer. In addition, I keep getting a "no connection" message on my phone...in my own house that has a WiFi connection! Needless to say, the Universe seems to be conspiring to keep me unconnected. :p

I stayed up until 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday night, getting my five pieces ready to submit for Woolpunk Studios' STOCK'N STUFFrz event this weekend. One of the clasps on a necklace I made early on needed replacing, but I hadn't connected the piece to jump rings between the chain and the clasp, so I could not disconnect the clasp without destroying the piece. I have to remember not to do that anymore! :p Anyway, I ended up coiling thin wire around the toggle hoop and bar, so it looks better now. I showed my coworker the next day, since she was delivering the pieces for me. She said it looks like it requires a lot of patience! Especially that late at night. :)

My pieces sold fairly well at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center the previous weekend. I sold the beaded Crystal Geode, a ring, a bookmark, and another pair of earrings, in addition to the necklace and earrings I sold from the exhibit to a friend. I also sold another necklace and two more pairs of earrings separately last weekend. All in all, this Holiday season seems to be going fairly well. :)

As you may recall, I attended a Chinese knotting workshop last Saturday. I had a lot of fun learning how to make four-, five-, and eight-strand braids, Snake knots, Button knots, rolled satin nylon chains, and a criss-cross knot that I am still having problems making. We covered a lot of material in a relatively short period of time, so I spent some time this week working on these techniques to help commit them to memory. ;)

I am seriously thinking about discontinuing the Virtual Mall in the New Year. I've been spending a lot of time, money, and energy on it...and after 1-1/2 years, I don't feel I'm getting enough back from the effort. I'd rather spend the money updating the store on my website, as I have not had the time to do that myself for quite a while. Originally, I took that over from the web designer to save money, but it's not working out. I don't think I've updated the store in almost six months, if not longer. And the time I spend posting links to the Virtual Mall Facebook page could be better spent on administrative tasks or creating new pieces. I haven't updated my financial spreadsheet since the summer, and I have to get working on that to give it to the accountant for tax preparation. Ideally, I will have more time to keep on top of these things, rather than constantly playing catch-up at the last minute. :\ I won't shut the Virtual Mall down completely right away, as I have to meet minimum commission rates in order to close out some of my affiliate accounts, but I hope to have everything resolved by the summer.

Although I have completed my Christmas shopping, I still have gifts to wrap. My little elves (read: nieces) helped me wrap the gifts I had here last Sunday, but I was only about half done shopping at that point. They are coming over this Friday afternoon to help me bake cookies for the family party on Saturday...so if I don't get it all done by then, they can hopefully come to my rescue again. ;)

As next Sunday is Christmas and Hanukkah is this week, I believe, I will wish you all Happy Holidays now. Best wishes to you all! :D


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Tangible Tidbits 2010 #47: 'Tis The Season To Be Busy!

Hey, all! I'm posting this early today because I will be spending most of the evening into the night at the MSU studio, preparing for our "opening" this coming Wednesday with an advanced class. Tomorrow night is the last full studio period we have before the show, and I want to make sure I have enough time without being there until almost morning! LOL I am required to have eight projects finished and I have a few extra, so if anything doesn't get completed in time, I will just save it for next semester or finish it on my own. Wish me luck! ;)

About the critique a few weeks ago, he was pretty harsh overall...but that's not surprising. I think more than half of the students in class are Industrial Design students who have to take this class as a requirement, and they haven't put a lot of thought and energy into their work. They also look to be out of class for Monday Night Football's kickoff. LOL I think he liked my stuff in general -- he knows the hours I keep with the teaching assistant in the studio -- but he took issue with me gluing stones into pieces, even though he didn't teach us how to do it properly. Maybe he assumed we learned it last semester? In any case, he asked for reassurance there would be no glued stones in my final pieces. I said there might not be any stones at all! He suggested I fill some of the gaps with resin, so I will try that today. I did set stones in a few of the pieces...I was never told you should start with the stone first and then create a piece around it. I was doing it the other way around, which I suppose is much harder to do. :\ Anyway, I'm not in the class for the grade, but for knowledge and the experience. If he doesn't like my work, so be it. :p

In other artistic-related news, I just got back from my younger niece's first juried art show. She won First Place in her age category (6- and 7-year-olds) at the Watching Arts Center. She submitted two works and the winning one is called "Little Birds." Both pieces were in paint -- one in watercolors and the other in tempura. I'm so proud of her! :)

They are standing behind me right now, waiting for me to help with a gingerbread house, so I will make this quick! :)

I created another set of step-by step instructions with photos for a workshop this past week -- macramé and beads. I learned macramé in junior high school, taking a club during our alternate lunch period. I completely forgot about it until recently, and I made a few pieces to make sure I could still do it. I now have a pair of earrings, a pendant on a hemp necklace, and a bracelet finished, all using hemp cord. ;)

This coming week, I have the school projects to finish and a few other pieces "on deck." Luckily, people are not in a hurry and these are not holiday presents, although I did just receive the Fireline for my coworker's restringing project that I'd mentioned previously. That one IS a Christmas present, so I have to get directions for the square stitch and get moving on that one ASAP.

I will be displaying some pieces at Salon Sung this coming Saturday, December 11, as part of their holiday celebration. It's on Main Street in Millburn. Come say hi if you're nearby! ;)

Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate! Christmas (and my birthday) will be here before you know it! :o :)