Tangible Tidbits 2012 #44: Baby Watch 2012

Hi everyone! I am sleeping over my sister’s house tonight so I can get the girls ready for school in the morning. My sister is being admitted to the hospital so they can induce her tomorrow and my brother-in-law, naturally, is staying with her. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow MacKenzie Glanzman Linton will be here! B-) Unfortunately, I caught another cold over the weekend, so I may not get to meet her for a while yet. :P

Last Thursday night, we had the November BSNJ meeting with guest speaker Melissa Grakowsky Shippee. She also taught two weekend workshops, and I attended the one on Friday evening. I was working on a beaded Filigree bracelet, and I am probably two-thirds of the way done with it. I’d like to finish it sooner rather than later, but I have a bad habit of leaving things like that undone for a while. :-o Anyway, I had a lot of fun at these two events, but stayed out too late both nights. :-/

On Saturday, I was at the National Arts Honor Society Holiday Art & Craft Fair at North Warren Regional High School in Blairstown. It was about 1-1/2 hours by car each way, so it was a pretty long day. The gym where the event was held was pretty cold, so that’s how I caught the cold I now have. :( I left a voicemail for my allergist’s office before I left there, requesting they give me antibiotics or Prednisone again. :P I’ve got to get better so I can meet my new niece later in the week! ;) As for the event, it was a bust…but I made friends with the vendor sitting next to me, so it made the day pass more quickly, at least. :) All of the vendors were unhappy with the turnout, so it wasn’t just me. I’ve decided not to participate in any “unknown” events without first checking them out as an attendee in the future. I may have to wait a year to participate in anything worthwhile, but it would spare me the wear-and-tear of vending at an event with very little purchasing traffic. :P

While at the show on Saturday, I made a pair of silver and black macramé beaded hoop earrings requested by a coworker. I was really pleased with how they turned out, and so was she! :D

I heard back from the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco last week. I was not awarded a scholarship. :-/ However, I did clear up my back fees at Montclair State, and am registering for the 400-level Metalwork & Jewelry class for next semester! B-) The downside is that the class is being taught by the director of the program, whose taste differs from mine. :-/ I suppose I will have another chance to win him over. Wish me luck with that! :))

I didn't have a chance to post a social media poster this weekend, so I will post one later in the week and show it to you next week. :)

To those of you in the United States, enjoy your Thanksgiving on Thursday! ;) To everyone else, take care and have a great week! B-)

Tangible Tidbits 2012 #41: I Love Rock 'N' Roll...

Hi, everyone! Well, posting last week’s blog entry turned out to be even more arduous than the previous week’s had been. :P As it turns out, Blogger is not compatible with Opera, so I ended up trying four different browsers before I could get it posted correctly. I did get the main message posted, but I’d forgotten to add the tag labels, and the browser I used to post the message wouldn’t let me publish an edited post! :-O I ended up deleting the original post and starting over again...luckily, I’d left the other browser windows open so I could just copy-and-paste them. :P I think Chrome ended up being the winner, but I will find out while posting this message. I’d better start early! :))

A little while ago, I submitted my application for the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts’ 2013 Scholarship for Beaders. The deadline is today, so I kind of waited until the last minute. :-/ At least I DID get it done! ;) Wish me luck! :D

I received a call for entries to participate in a Holiday Art & Craft Fair on November 17, sponsored by the National Art Honor Society of North Warren Regional High School in Warren County, NJ, earlier this week. I decided not to apply for it this year. The entry fee wasn’t that much, but considering I’m not familiar with this show I didn’t really want to take the gamble that I could be throwing my money away. I’ve also kind of made a decision not to start any new projects unless they are for a specific purpose or the result of a class I’m taking. I have an obscene amount of inventory sitting around here, and until I sell off a fair amount of it, I really don’t have the room to stockpile more stuff just for the sake of “playing around.” I’m hoping the Jewels of New Jersey show in November and BANG VII (Buy Art Now Guys!) in early December will help reduce my inventory. :-/

The new springs for my pliers came in this week, and I tested them out yesterday while making a present to give my sister at her pre-baby luncheon this coming Friday. So far, so good! ;) My nieces were over last night and they really like it, but the jury is out on whether or not my sister will actually wear it. Regardless...it’s the thought that counts, right? ;) I’ll let you know what it is and how it was received next week. I don’t want to publish what it is yet, on the off-chance one of my readers sees and/or talks to her before Friday. Better safe than sorry! :P

Here’s this week’s social media poster. ;)

On the social scene, I had a double-header on Friday night…first was dinner with two coworkers who treated me to celebrate my Feature Artist of the Month page on Wire-sculpture.com. They are two of my best clients, so it was really sweet of them to take me out! :) After dinner, I hooked up with some high school friends for darts and pool. I scored a designated driver at the last minute, so I had a really good time! :)) We played two games of darts and three games of pool revolving players on teams...and I was the only one of the five of us who was undefeated! :)) We laughed a lot and got a little silly, but that’s allowed from time to time. :P We left about 2:30 am...and I got to bed about 3:30 a.m. Guess what time I finally got out of bed on Saturday? 4:00 PM! :-O I pretty much missed Saturday, but I guess I really needed the rest. :-/

Mom and I watched Rock of Ages On Demand on Saturday night. I consider the 1980s my "era," so I really like the music in it. I saw the show on Broadway a couple of years ago with high school friends and we had a blast! B-) Mom and I agreed Alec Baldwin was miscast in the role of Dennis Dupree. And I’m not much of a Tom Cruise fan in recent years, but I enjoyed the movie in spite of him. :)) All of the actors did their own singing in the flick, so I give them a lot of credit for that...
especially the ones who are not known for their singing ability. ;) All in all, it was a pretty good weekend. :D

Next weekend will be even busier, but I will save that for next week’s post. Until then...take care and have a great week! B-)

Tangible Tidbits 2012 #39: It's A Good Thing I Have A Sense of Humor!

Hi, everyone! I will explain the delay next week. :-O Let’s start with a chuckle today, shall we? ;) This was my Facebook status update this past Saturday:

“Just got a hot cider at Dunkin' Donuts...Fall has arrived! If only the kid at the register didn't tell me I could have a free donut with an AARP card. :P”

For my international friends, AARP is the American Association of Retired Persons. I believe you have to be at least 50 or 55 to join. :-O The kid was lucky...I just laughed it off. :))

I posted my last social media poster yesterday, so I have to make some more this week. I try to make a bunch at a time, so I don’t have to think about it every week. ;)

It looks like I didn’t place in Beadaholique’s Autumn Colors contest, as the top 10 entries were posted on Facebook for public voting and mine wasn’t among them. :-/ I think I’m going to submit it and a few other pieces to the The Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts’ 2013 Scholarship for Beaders. The scholarship is open to “anyone who makes beaded jewelry and would like to learn more about traditional jewelry making in metal” to apply. The winner will receive a scholarship for full tuition, kit fees, airfare from anywhere in the U.S., and lodging in San Francisco!” Can you imagine? The deadline for applications is October 15. I have to call them to check and see if it would apply for the Spring; if so, I can’t do it because I will lose the MJSA Education Foundation scholarship for $900 to attend MSU next semester. I’m hoping it would be good for all next year, in which case I could go in the fall if I won. Not that I expect to win…but I will never know if I don’t try, right? ;) It’s really too good of an opportunity to pass up with literally everything covered! :-O In addition to the glass Opal ring, I want to submit my Totally Twisted Swan, Pretty in Purple, embroidered red and green teardrop rivoli, and black & gold embroidered pendant necklaces. I think they are the best examples of my beadwork to date. :)

Speaking of MSU, I made my first payment in September toward alleviating my debt, and I’m now enrolled in a payment plan. I want to have it completely paid off before the beginning of next year, so I have three months to get it done. It should be manageable...although throwing the holidays and my sister’s new baby in there may make it a bit harder than it would be otherwise. :-/

Some of my sister’s stay-at-home Mom friends are throwing her a pre-baby luncheon in mid-October and she asked if I wanted to attend. She’s not really comfortable with people making such a fuss about it, since it isn’t her first child. She said it wouldn’t be on a Wednesday because one of the hostesses works on Wednesday, so I may try to switch my day off that week if I get enough notice. I have a Gund My First Puppy already for the baby because my older niece has a Pink Puppy (which is now gray from constant companionship! :)) ) and the younger one has a Blue Puppy. The style the girls have was discontinued, but we all wanted Mackenzie to have the same one in a different color. I was lucky enough to find a tan one on eBay, so I snatched it up. The girls were so excited! :D I figure I will bring that to the party if I go, possibly along with something else for my sister. ;)

Here’s the link to my Wire-sculpture.com’s Feature Artist of the Month page! WHOO HOO! B-)

And please vote for my two entries in Stones and Findings Component Design Contest! Voting closes 4:00pm EST, on October 15th. Thank you! :D

Gotta run now. Take care and have a great week! B-)