Tangible Tidbits 2012 #33: Slow And Steady Wins The Race

Hey, everybody! :) Well, a number of promising things happened as a direct result of last week’s blog post, so thank you to those who are actually reading it! :))

First, a family friend in Florida saw the bracelet I decided to submit to the 3rd Annual 1978 Maplewood Arts Center Members' Show, and liked it a lot. She had purchased a Murano glass necklace in Italy, but liked the beads more than the necklace itself. A couple of years ago, she had me redesign the necklace for her with sterling silver blanks – which she had also seen on a bracelet I made and liked. ;) As it turns out, she doesn't wear the "new" necklace much either, so she asked if I could make a similar bracelet to the one I posted last week and sent me the necklace. Making the changes won’t be too hard, but the glass beads are kind of bulky and heavy, so I'm afraid the bracelet will be too heavy. I guess there's only one way to find out! :P She doesn’t want the other components of the necklace back, so I will have four of sterling silver blanks left over, which I am hoping I can fashion into the Autism puzzle piece charms I mentioned last week. :)

Speaking of the puzzle piece charms, a friend from high school had a job interview at Tiny Tots Therapy this week, and mentioned my project while making small talk. The Director of Marketing overheard her and asked for my contact information. My friend says the group works with school districts all over the state, so it could be really good exposure for me. I have no problem working with not-for-profits, but I am not one myself! If they are only interested in donations from me and/or Something Tangible, I am not currently in a position to oblige on a larger scale. :\

My chiropractor's assistant loved her necklace, and a coworker purchased a pair of Evil Eye hoop earrings with a pair of orange eyeball beads on each 40mm black hoops for Halloween this morning. She also asked me to hold onto a pair with purple eyeball beads – her favorite color – on 40mm silver hoops for her. The orange and black pairing was her own idea. ;) As for the coworker who wants the puzzle piece charms, she’s on vacation this week and I'm away next week, so I have until early September. I have a 20" sterling silver box necklace chain she wants regardless, so she will purchase at least that. Hopefully, I can make puzzle charms out of the blanks from the Murano glass necklace that will be in her price range. The blanks are not too large, so I’m hoping it will work out. :) I ended up purchasing two sterling silver toggle clasps, one for the sterling silver chain maille bracelet I mentioned last week, and one for the Murano glass bracelet, as her preference is also sterling silver.

My internet friend decided to purchase the Peridot beaded ring -- this month's Focal Piece of the Month -- "as is" for her friend's birthday, after I offered to make any required changes/alterations the gift recipient requests for free. ;)

Here's a link to this week’s social media poster. It's not quite as popular as some of the earlier ones, but I thought it was funny. :))

Wednesday night’s America's got Talent filming was fun, although a bit long. They had us come in an hour earlier so they could pre-tape a performance for this coming Wednesday's show, so I have seen one whole live broadcast and two pre-taped segments in all. The show I saw live aired this past Wednesday; I may try to see it On Demand if I get a chance. I checked over the weekend and it is there, but I don't know if I will have time or the desire to see it before they take it down. :P

Wanna hear something totally bizarre? I got a missed call on my cell phone this morning from a number I did not recognize. I checked whitepages.com for a reverse phone look-up, and it came up with a land line in the Madison/Florham Park area. It turns out it was a wrong number from the New York Jets ticket office! Someone had left two numbers, and apparently one was recorded incorrectly because it was my cell number. I told the guy it was ironic because I'd had season tickets for 15 years! :-O He asked if I was watching from the comfort of my couch when I told him 15 years was enough...too many late, cold, dark games. :P Is that freaky or what? :))

I have to do laundry and pack this week, as I am leaving for the annual trip to Ocean City, Maryland on Saturday morning. Next week's entry will be posted on location! B-)

Take care and have a great week! B-)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #25: Happy Independence Day!

I seem to post a lot on holidays, I've noticed. LOL

Well, I'm back! Had a great time on vacation in Ocean City, but not entirely restful. That's what happens when you travel with a 7-year-old and a 9-year-old who want to do EVERYTHING with you! :D Not that I would trade that for anything in the world, but it does take a toll eventually since I don't have their energy anymore! Suffice it to say, I have been home more than 24 hours and still haven't unpacked yet. :o

Thanks so much to those who responded to my plea for feedback last week! The general consensus seems to be that I'm doing this blogging/email newsletter thing right, so I will keep doing what I'm doing. ;)

Although I was "on vacation" last week, I did manage to get some work done. I had brought some kits with me that have been sitting in a pile on my desk, so I worked on a couple of new techniques/items. One is a copper Helix Knot Bracelet by sb designs and the other is a Totally Twisted Pendant designed by Paulette Baron. I started a second variation on the pendant (the kit includes enough materials for both), so I will try to finish that up this week and put both of them on color-coordinated bead necklaces. The first pendant looks like a seahorse's tail and the second one looks like a dragon, according to my nieces. I am much happier with how the second one turned out, but that is probably because I was more comfortable with the technique by the time I got to that one. :\ Anyway, all three of these items will be posted on the Facebook Fan Page and website, hopefully, sometime this week. ;)

I know a lot of people have off tomorrow, so enjoy the extended weekend! My nieces decided that Something Tangible should also be closed tomorrow. LOL We'll see...it may just happen that way! ;)

Have a great week! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #24: Six Month Status Check

Greetings from Ocean City, MD! It doesn't have the same ring as "Greetings from Asbury Park" -- an early Springsteen album for those not familiar with the reference -- but it's where I am at the moment. :)

Since I'm technically on vacation, I'm not going to spend too much time on this week's message. I just wanted to check in with my audience, since this is the 24th message posted here. I'm new to blogging, so I would like to get some feedback on what I'm doing right and what I'm not. In the six months I've been writing here, I've gotten two off-list emails about these entries. For all I know, that means only two people have read anything I've written. I'm used to the interactive dialogue of message boards, so I kind of feel like I'm talking to myself here. :o

If you can please take a minute or two to let me know what you like and don't like about these weekly messages, I'd appreciate it. What content do you like to read here? What stuff do you think is uninteresting? Is there anything you would like me to include more or less of in future messages? What kind of content would be beneficial to you? Does the stuff about my personal life feel like TMI, or do you like reading about I'm up to these days? I basically recap what's going on in my life at the moment, both personally and professionally, when I sit down to write. I tend to put more of the educational-type stuff in the Focal Piece of the Month feature on the website (the new one is up, BTW). Is that working for you? I would be grateful to receive any and all thoughts, suggestions, critical commentary, etc. directly on the blog and/or Facebook Fan Page, or via email. My first preference would be to have them on the blog, but feel free choose whatever method works best for you. The important thing is to get the information to me, as it will help me map out a direction in which to take Something Tangible's blog/email newsletter in the future. Thanks so much in advance for your input! :)

It was 101 degrees here today, and I got sunburned while crabbing. :\

Have a good week, one and all! :)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #23: Happy Father's Day!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Father's Day.

Mom came with me to the Rings & Things Bead Tour in East Hanover, NJ today. Man, was she blown away! LOL She had no idea what to expect, so seeing a large hotel ballroom set up with rows and rows of tables full of bead strands and findings made her eyes pop out! :p I think she was mildly impressed that I knew what I was doing. I spent way too much money -- but I got a lot of good deals, and I even found some of the stuff that was on my Wish List at their website, so it made the trip worthwhile. ;) They will be back again in September...I'll have to make sure I get there! :D

I also made time this weekend to finally finish my first bead stitching project...the St. Petersburg Medallion piece that I started at Linda Gettings' workshop in March. I decided to undo the medallions and start over again, since my first ones were pretty sloppy. :o What started out as a bracelet turned into a necklace because I had seven medallions and attached them to each other across the top, then realized the bracelet would be too large. So, I used the piece I created as the center of a necklace and sewed a St. Petersburg chain onto each end to finish it. I'm pretty pleased with the result, although I apparently took an unorthodox approach to the project. Apparently, people usually pick one base color and one accent color and use that pattern throughout the piece. In my "dare to be different" mentality, I mixed and matched the combinations, choosing a different pair in each medallion. I also alternated back and forth between the two colors in the attached chain, so I think it balances well. :)

This past week, I had a minor coup when Factoidz accepted my first submitted article! I adapted the Focal Piece of the Month on cuttlebone casting and submitted it as a how-to article. It's gotten a lot of positive feedback and I am now ranked the #3 expert in jewelry-making on Factoidz! LOL I haven't even been doing this for a year and I'm already an expert. Only in America, folks! ;) In case you missed the article, you can find it here: Cuttlebone Casting: A Technique for Jewelry and Sculptures.

I'm making headway on the administrative projects I mentioned last week. Breaking down overwhelming tasks into manageable chunks of time definitely takes the stress out of them for me. :)

We're due for website updates later this week, so keep an eye out for a new Focal Piece of the Month. We'll all be surprised, since I haven't decided what it is yet! LOL

Next week, I will be writing from Ocean City, Maryland via my new Acer Notebook. My family goes there during the last week of June every year, and we're leaving on Saturday morning. :)

Have a good week, everyone!