Tangible Tidbits 2010 #18: Hanging In There

Hey, all! Not much business news to report this week. I kind of took a "time out" much of this week to recover from a few major blows. My colleague's wake and funeral were Wednesday and Thursday. Very emotional for me. :( And then on Friday, we were hit with layoffs in my department, including my immediate supervisor and another friend. Talk about a week I never want to repeat! :p

Ironically, I found myself doing something I hadn't done in eight years...I took solace in watching movies this weekend to escape reality. That was something I'd done for the majority of my life, even going so far as to work in the local movie theater during graduate school. I always enjoyed "disappearing" into the world on the screen for a couple of hours, and not thinking about real life and/or the problems associated with it. After my father died in 2002, I stopped doing a lot of the things I "had always done" because they were too painful. All music reminded me of him, as he was a drummer and liked all kinds of music. So, I stopped listening to it until a year or so ago. It took that long for it not to push negative buttons in me. I'd stopped watching television because everything on TV seemed trivial after 9-11, and reality TV really turns me off. I stopped watching movies because everything I did try to watch had a traumatic element to it, even if it was not publicized as a dramatic film. I had enough drama in my life...I didn't need to watch movies to get even more depressed! :\ I had replaced one screen for another, opting to spend most of my time online instead. For whatever reason, however, I found myself turning to movies again for solace. The idea of spending time on the computer holds less appeal right now than it did most of this past decade. I ended up watching "The DaVinci Code" with Tom Hanks on Friday night, and the special features disk on Saturday afternoon. I had read the book years ago and enjoyed it...I'd been wanting to watch the movie for a while. Then, I saw "The Back Up Plan" with Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin on Saturday night. Very cute movie! Of course, I am partial to anything with Alex in it, since I was a fan of his short-lived "Moonlight" vampire series. He really carried off his leading role in "The Back Up Plan" well! Looked good doing it, too! ;) Then today, I watched "Romancing the Stone" and "Jewel of the Nile" -- both with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. I loved those movies back in the mid-1980s, and I'd recently found the Special Edition DVDs for a good price at Columbia House. I also watched the special features for both movies...I've always loved that behind-the-scenes stuff. :)

Two more weeks to go at my current job. It should be an interesting experience, since there will be so many people missing and the rest of us will have to pick up the slack. I am a team player and I don't mind pitching in, but my primary responsibility will be to train my permanent replacement. He or she is being transferred in from another department, and training starts tomorrow.

Hopefully, my "weekend off" will help me get my head back in the game, as I do have a couple of projects I'd like to complete for colleagues before I leave. If not, I will still be going to the gym next door to the office for at least a few months -- until my personal trainer contract runs out. Don't you know, I had just signed up for 36 sessions before I made the decision to leave?! :o

So, now you're up to speed on my personal life. I will try to have "something tangible" to report next week. ;)

Take care and stay safe!

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #17: Happy Mother's Day...What's Left Of It!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day. My sister and brother-in-law took us all (the two of them, my two nieces, Mom, and me) to The Melting Pot for Mother's Day...part of their gift to Mom. The kids don't eat much, but they love putting everything in the fondue pots for us. :) I posted a photo of the Memory Wire bracelet I made for Mom in the GALLERY on the website and on the Something Tangible LLC Facebook Fan Page. I also gave her "The Thorn Birds" on DVD...something to keep her occupied after she retires July 1. ;)

Things are going okay with the business..."Slow and steady wins the race," as my grandfather used to say. I have three orders to deliver tomorrow. My presentation book made its way around the office last week. I kind of shocked everyone with my decision to take the voluntary layoff. Unfortunately, one of my colleagues must not have liked me being the center of attention, so he had to make himself the center of attention by dying suddenly on Tuesday. He was only 41 and we don't know exactly what happened yet. Such a waste! He was a good man and a good friend. I will miss him terribly...I already do. :(

So, with this abrupt change in personnel, I have extended my stay at Registrar and Transfer Company by a couple of weeks...until the end of May. They certainly didn't expect to replace both of us at the same time! :\

The final critique for my MSU class was this past week (the same day my friend died, to be exact). I've posted my school projects in the Non-Gemstone Items section of the Store on the website and on the Facebook Fan Page. Check them out when you get a chance! :)

Have a good week! And stay safe and healthy! ;)

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #16: Taking the Plunge!

I don't have a lot of time this week -- I'm rushing to finish my projects for the final critique at school on Tuesday. I spent 5-1/2 hours at the studio yesterday, but when I went there this morning for the scheduled hours, the door was locked! On to Plan B...went to borrow my brother-in-law's cordless drill, so I can affix the steampunk pieces to the container I was required to make. I pretty much suck at soldering, so the box looks "distressed"...but I actually like it that way! Anyway, my brother-in-law only had wood drill bits, so I stopped by Home Depot on the way home -- after a detour to Glassworks in Morristown with my niece for her birthday. I made a picture frame for her sister...I'll probably post in the GALLERY when it comes back from being fired. :) The guy at Home Depot told me he had the size drill bit I need (3/64 works the best), but that it would be too small to fit in the collet of a standard cordless drill! Sooooo, I had to but the collets AND a Dremel 300 variable-speed rotary tool! :p $87 later, I'm back in business! Actually, I can use this tool long-term for other projects, so it wasn't really a waste of money. There are sanding, cutting & cleaning attachments -- similar to the ones at the MSU studio. I liked playing with the cleaning tool...brought a nicer shine to my pieces than they had when I left school yesterday! :D Anyway, so I now have two out of the four sides of my box decorated...after losing a drill bit (it flew off and I can't find it anywhere. I knew that it didn't lock, but it seemed tight anyway. Lesson learned! ALWAYS make sure the drill bit is locked into place!). I also broke a second drill bit -- the aforementioned 3/64. So, I now have to start the hole with the smaller size (1/32), but the tiny screws I bought don't fit into those holes, so I have to use the broken drill bit to make the holes larger. :( Very time consuming! Plus, I think the antique keys I have are too thick to drill through...I don't want to break any more drill bits! I may have to skip those entirely. Too bad, they look really kewl! Who would think you could buy antique keys on eBay? LOL I do have vintage watch faces and some gears of various sizes. And I did find one small key in Dad's old in-box while looking for the lost drill bit, so I used that. It looks like it may have been to a file cabinet or something. We have nothing locked here that I know of, so I'm pretty confident I won't turn out to need that key one day! :p Some of the gears have depth to them, so if I use them backwards, I can place cabochons in them like a bezel. I did that once already, but I had to glue it in place, since the sides aren't really high enough to bend over like a proper bezel. :\

Okay, I spent MUCH more time on that than I planned! LOL On to the "BIG announcement" I promised last week. As of the middle of May, I will officially be a full-time entrepreneur! :o The company where I work is having layoffs again...third summer in a row. I've decided to take a voluntary layoff and devote my efforts to building up Something Tangible, as well as continue classes at MSU. I can get health insurance through school -- about 1/6th of what I was paying through my employer, and the prescription co-pays are a lot lower, too! :D I'll also apply for Unemployment benefits. I just read in yesterday's paper that it is up to 99 weeks with the extensions in New Jersey. A few people have told me they might also pay for school -- investing in people's education helps to keep them out of unemployment in the future, I suppose. :) I'll definitely have to look into that!

So, there you have it. Look for some MAJOR changes over the summer, since I will have more time to devote to creating pieces, new business development, etc.

Have a great week! It's MUCH too hot and humid for May here in Jersey! I think it was 86 today? :p

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #15: Stay Tuned...

There's a good chance I'll have a BIG announcement to make next week, but I don't want to say anything until it's official, as it might not work out. Fingers crossed! ;)

A good friend ordered one of the Zodiac cameo bookmarks I made recently. I made it on a lark...I had bought two Capricorn cameos, but I wasn't sure what I would do with them. Once they arrived, I wasn't really thrilled with how they looked (one of the perils of ordering materials online). One happened to fit in a filigree setting I had lying around, so I decided to put them together on a gunmetal bookmark, which I also bought a short time ago with no specific plan in mind. It looks really great! Unfortunately, shell cameos are a bit pricey and so the bookmark costs a bit more than most people would probably pay for a bookmark. Since I'm a Capricorn, I may end up keeping it for myself! LOL

Luckily for me and my friend, Wire-Sculpture.com is having a sale on cameos this weekend! Sometimes, Lady Luck just smiles on you, eh? :D

Almost finished with the St. Petersburg Medallion bracelet from my workshop a couple of weeks ago. I'm not happy with some of the medallions, particularly the center one, so I may take them apart and start again now that I know more what I'm doing. ;)

I'm also making a presentation binder with photos of all of my pieces to loan a coworker. She asked me for one to take to an Eastern Star meeting, How could I refuse that kind of opportunity? I'm pleased with how the binder is turning out, but it's very time (and ink!) consuming. :p

Two coworkers are working hard at convincing me to register for the a craft show being held at Nomahegan Park in Cranford, NJ next month. I have enough pieces, but the cost for a table is a bit steep. Still, my friends assure me that I'll make it back easily. Since I have to reduce my inventory due to storage space. My sister gave me a huge wooden jewelry box that you can hang on the wall like a medicine cabinet for my birthday last year. It's FULL. That's how I know I have enough pieces for the craft show. LOL I'll keep you posted if I decide to do it.

I also heard back from the Bead Dreams 2010 contest and my Welcome Back Spring! necklace was not accepted. That's okay...I didn't really expect it to be. So, it will be up on the site for sale in the next couple of days (I have a number of additions/edits to make, so I will hopefully get to them one night this week). :)

Enjoy your week!

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #14: Busy, busy, busy!

Hey, everyone! I went to an all-day workshop yesterday taught by Linda Gettings and presented by the Bead Society of New Jersey (BSNJ). She's pretty well known in beading circles...her work is published pretty regularly in magazines. I learned how to make St. Petersburg medallions. My background is mostly in wire work, so I'm not familiar with the basic beading stitches like Peyote and St. Petersburg chain. I thought it would be good to get started with this one, since the opportunity presented itself. I still have to finish my bracelet, but you'll see it once I've finished it. Apparently, my brain doesn't work like other people's (not a big surprise to those who know me well! LOL). I made a number of "artistic" choices that Linda herself had never considered! It's nice to know that I can inspire people who have much more experience than I do. :)

Looks like we've FINALLY got the Facebook application up and running again! Many thanks to Jesús J. Ortega Weffe and Omar TheOne for posting instructions on the "My app is not working" thread at the Gift Creator forum! :D

I have three more weeks of classes at MSU, so I'll be under the gun to get my projects finished for the final critique. My cuttlebone casting piece is finished, but the rest are in various stages of "almost there." And I still have to make a container from scratch! :p

Fire Mountain Gems and Beads has a jewelry-making contest for designs featuring gemstones with a May 3 deadline. I've had this on my To Do list for a while, but I didn't realize the deadline was coming up so soon! I hope I can carve out some time to work on a piece for that. I haven't really figured out what I want to do yet... :0

We're scheduled for website updates this week. I didn't bother to change the Focal Piece of the Month in March, since it went up so late due to technical difficulties. Look for a new one by the end of the week...I hope! ;)

Have a great week!

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #13: I Used My Muse!

Hey, all! Tomorrow is the deadline for Artbeads.com's Use The Muse IV contest, so I spent most of today making my piece for it. I decided a while ago what I wanted to do, but I just never got around to it. This morning, I realized today was my last shot if I wanted to enter...and since I paid $40 for the kit, I figured I'd better get my butt in gear and do it! :p

I can't post a photo of my piece until "the big reveal" of the Muse on Artbeads.com in a few weeks, as the muse is supposed to be kept secret. It's a cuff bracelet, but a bit different than what you've seen me do before. The kit contained walnut wood components, Swarovski(R) crystals, Hybrid TOHO™ and other seed beads, brown Tiger's Eye, and blue turquoise Picasso Czech glass roundelle beads, plus I mixed gold-colored aluminum wire with bronze wire and added my own Lava Stone, some faded rose/gold square seed beads, and some large faceted round AB finish black beads. It all came together quite nicely, if I do say so myself! ;)

Aside from that, I've got one school project basically done and two others pretty close to completion. You'll be seeing a sterling silver pendant made from a cuttlebone cast very soon. I just have to decide what to hang it on and find the right bail for it. The silver that leaked out of the bottom of the cast and fused itself to some stones in the pan below will become a pin. It looks pretty kewl...I just have to figure out how to affix a back to it. And I have a brass bangle bracelet that needs some finishing touches added to it. I haven't decided just what they are yet, so that's still "in progress." Two other pendants will be done, hopefully, during next week's class. They have to be cleaned up and have stones set in them. One will have the stone set in a gear steampunk-style. The other will be set in a bezel cup made by me. As I am not such a master with the torch and solder, it's a challenge. :p The last project I am required to complete is to make a container. I've decided to make a brass box with steampunk gears, watch faces, and keys affixed to the outside with rivets. I ordered some watch faces and antique keys from eBay today. :)

Still working on earrings for a coworker and I have a couple of bracelets to do. I've ordered a few DVDs to help me advance my wire-working skills over the summer. In particular, I want to learn wire-wrapping stones, as I have a couple of stones (well, rocks, really!) here a friend sent to me months ago and I've been trying to figure out what to do with them. She said she wasn't in a hurry, but I think I should probably get them back to her before the seasons change again! LOL

BSNJ has its monthly meeting on Thursday and I'm attending an all-day workshop with Linda Gettings on Saturday. I'll be learning how to make a St. Petersburg chain as a circular medallion. I believe there's sewing and seed beads involved. :o LOL

Enjoy the spring weather! I know I am! :D

Tangible Tidbits 2010 #12: Welcome Back Spring!

Happy Easter and a belated Happy Passover to those who celebrate; Happy Spring to everyone else! :D

I've been busy working on a project for Bead & Button magazine's Bead Dreams 2010 contest, which has an entry deadline of Monday, April 5 (tomorrow). I got inspired by some Crazy Lace Agate round beads I bought earlier this week in ruby and larimar blue, paired them up with lavender and royal blue irregular Mother of Pearl squares I already had, added some of my own handcrafted wire "spring" beads in sapphire blue and pink, plus 1mm azure and merlot WireLace(R) accents to create a two-strand Welcome Back Spring necklace for the contest. I also made two pairs of earrings -- I liked the idea of a mis-matched set, one blue and one ruby...but decided to make a pair of each color in case some people didn't "get" that concept -- and a bracelet to match. Pictures will most likely be posted tomorrow, since I have to upload the photos of the necklace for the contest application. ;) I can't sell the necklace until after the contest is over, since they may want the original for the next round of judging, but I'll add it to the Facebook Fan Page and the Something Tangible website GALLERY so you can see it. :)

Still working on earrings for a colleague at my office. One pair of clip earrings has turned into four so far. :D I've come up with a kewl design with 6mm WireLace(R), seed beads and one larger focal bead that looks like a flower. You may have seen the pink version on the Facebook Fan Page or in the GALLERY this past week. I'll be making another pair in blue and possibly yellow [the WireLace(R) colors marigold and pale gold aren't very "yellow," so I'm not sure about that pair yet...we may go in a different direction altogether]. I like the design a lot, and I want to find a way to make it more versatile.

Had my first client offer to keep me "on retainer" today! :D I repaired a charm bracelet for an old friend that she's had since she was a child. She adds a charm whenever she travels somewhere new. I replaced all of the jump rings for her because the ones she had didn't close properly, most likely due to years of repositioning the charms. So, she's decided she wants me to maintain the bracelet for her, since it's such a prized possession! How kewl is that? It may not ever be a very lucrative project, but loyalty definitely counts for something! ;)

Have a great week everybody! :D