Five to Nine Design

New Year... new attitude... new designs... new...everything!

2012-01-06T23:42:00.001-05:00

I'd be surprised if I had any followers left.. I'm pretty sure I don't since I haven't written in quite some time. Life has been a crazy roller coaster in the past couple of years and I've just barely started to regain my footing. Lost my passion for quite awhile but slowly, slowly, slowly I feel it rekindling.

And.. now that it's coming back, I've decided to take it in a different direction. Better put, I decided to focus on one direction instead of being kind of all over the place the way I have been. Don't want to say too much about it now but there will be a change. I'm selling off or tossing almost all of my inventory and starting over. New Year, new me. I know that phrase is a little old and dusty, but it's succinct and simple and it says it. Stay tuned.

Adventures in Wire Wrapping

2009-07-03T12:20:00.007-04:00

An interesting observation: it's hard to concentrate when you're under stress due to financial troubles. Duh, right? My ability to multitask seems to be temporarily affected these days. I'm not getting work done in the house that I should be doing; I've been neglecting some of my artisan groups because I've been distracted and unfocused.... but somehow I've managed to try my hand at a new skill.

Sitting at my worktable surrounded by beads and findings brings me a kind of peace and comfort that is lacking in other areas of my life. Hmmm... I should qualify that. Sometimes it brings me peace... other times when you're working on something that's not quite turning out right, you have to beat down the urge to throw your tools across the room. :-)

Anyway... art evolves so I thought I'd try my hand at wirewrapping. I've always liked the look of it but was afraid to try because my attempts weren't perfect enough.. or so I thought. We Virgos have a hard time with imperfection. No matter what I did, it seemed the wire wasn't wrapped tightly enough or the ends were sticking out or the wire wouldn't lay neatly across the gemstone the way I'd seen other artisans do it. Then came the lightbulb moment: it doesn't have to be perfect. Part of the charm and soul of handcrafted jewelry is just that: it's crafted by hand, not machine. I used to drive myself nutty trying to find a set of gemstones that matched exactly in order to make a perfect pair of earrings.... until it occurred to me that due to the nature of gemstones, it's sometimes difficult to find two that are exactly alike, but that's OK.

So my wire wrapping is just a little bit messy. But I sold a pair a couple of weeks ago at the place where I vend so I guess I'm doing alright. :-)

Featured on the 1000M Community Page

2009-07-02T14:48:00.004-04:00

Look Ma, I'm sorta kinda famous again!

I've recently joined the New York Festival Market over at 1000 Markets. The market manager put out a call for members to share their July 4 memories for the blog. I got in touch and sent her my little blurb and the next thing I knew I got a message that my post was being featured on the main Community page. Sweet. :-)

The Community page changes fairly often so I don't know how long it will be up, but if you'd like to read it, do visit: http://www.1000markets.com/pages/community

On The Road Once More...

2009-06-26T20:28:00.005-04:00

Dear Blog -

So sorry I've been neglecting you! Seems my mind is going at a million miles an hour these days. I've always been pretty good at multitasking but lately it seems I've been dropping a few balls... hopefully things will smooth themselves out soon.... I hope, I hope.

I'll be on the road again tomorrow, weather permitting. Got caught in a freak thunderstorm tonight and was totally drenched when I got home. Tomorrow there's a 10% chance of thunderstorms... which means a 90% chance that there won't be storms, so I'm going for it. I'll be at the oh-so-fabulous Habana Outpost in Brooklyn.

A New Attitude

2009-06-14T03:27:00.007-04:00

My life is as tumultuous as ever. Preparing to let the house go, thinking about where to go next, what my life will look like a year from now... it's all a bit much. But as always, I find comfort and peace when I'm working on my art.

I used to wonder if I was hurting my sales by not focusing on one style but have decided that doing that just wouldn't work for me. I have no interest in making several variations on the same theme and am always looking to try something new to see if I like it -- and if I'm any good at it. My latest 'thing' has been wire wrapping. Takes more skill than I thought but what I love about is that the wrapping doesn't have to be perfect; in fact, it almost looks better when it's a little askew. Or perhaps it just looks better to me. :-) Anyway, I must be onto something because I sold my first pair of wire wrapped earrings last week at the place where I vend.

I'm also working toward using more color in my designs. When I did the seasonal switch of my clothing, I found a closet full of New Yorker-black, brown, and navy blazers that must be banished. Dwindling funds made me go for the safe choice. But life is short and 'safe' chafes. Just got some new supplies and I can't wait to see what I come up with.

More Tales from the Road

2009-06-08T07:24:00.005-04:00

This past weekend, I sold my wares at the fabulous Habana Outpost restaurant in Brooklyn, NY. This was my second time there and if I can possibly arrange it, I plan to spend most of my summer weekends in that spot.

Habana is a popular outdoor restaurant that brings patrons from all over the area and beyond. I've heard mixed reviews about the food, but the atmosphere cannot be beat. Vendors line the outside fence in a very busy mixed commercial and residential area while music of all kinds, Caribbean, Spanish, disco, old-school R&B, is pumping in the background. The sun can get a little intense so some vendors bring umbrellas to shield them from the rays throughout the day. This time around, I brought sunscreen and shared it with my fellow vendors. I forgot to pack my camera and I sorely missed it. My mind's eye captured the image of three women of color sitting behind tablecloths of various bright hues, each carrying a different color umbrella, each displaying her creative wares in her own style. Would have loved to get a snapshot, but I will definitely remember to bring the Kodak next time.

Sales were slow on Saturday but still, it was a great day for me. Aside from the terrific music, wonderful atmosphere, and camaraderie from fellow vendors, several members of my family came by to visit also. They all live in the NYC area where I'm originally from, and though we keep in close contact via phone and email, it's terrific to be able to see them more often and to have them come out to support me. In fact, my brother was the one who gave me the umbrella! We were sitting there, baking in the sun, drinking bottle after bottle of water and iced tea when I remarked that it would be great if I had an umbrella. My brother carries a backpack everywhere, so he immediately replied, "Wait, I think I have one." Yay! After spending a couple of hours with me, he got up to go and as I started to hand over the umbrella, he said, "Keep it."

Even my 79-year-old mom came out and baked in the sun with me for a little while. She's used to the heat because she loves to fish and has been doing it since she was a kid. She's lucky enough to live right near a bay that feeds directly into the Atlantic Ocean so while visiting her, I've spent several long afternoons under huge sun hats and umbrellas reading a book while she threw out her rod. (My siblings and I learned to fish when we were young also but I'm a little rusty and I hate baiting the hook!) After a few hours, the heat got to be too much even for her so after a quick hug and wishing me good luck, she disappeared down into the cool of the subway.

Sunday's sales were much better. The heat was still overbearing but the music was still flowing, the atmosphere was still pleasant, and this time around, the passersby were more in a buying mood. And wouldn't you know it, for the first time ever, I sold a pair at the show and came home to find I'd sold the exact same pair online. I don't usually duplicate my designs, but luckily, this time around, I made two. :-)

On the road yet again.... and other stuff

2009-06-02T14:07:00.010-04:00

This weekend, weather permitting, I will be vending at Habana Outpost again, an oh-so-cool, eco-friendly outdoor restaurant in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn. I used to live just around the corner from there, and oh, how I wish I'd never left.... but with a little work, a little sales, a little patience (I have NONE!) and a little intestinal fortitude, I hope to move somewhere in the general vicinity before the end of the year, when all is said and done. A friend took this photo of me when I was vending there on Mother's Day (please ignore the Sideshow Bob hair, I beg you.)

Musing along...... I changed my hair yet again and uploaded the new pic to Facebook and my shop on 1000Markets today. Here's an odd thing: one of my closest and dearest friends is having some difficulty in her relationship (aren't we all?? Or is this my imagination? What stressful times we live in!). She commented that when she left her ex-husband a few years ago, she had some piercings done (yikes -- I'm cool with my tattoos but piercing? Egad...). As she was sharing her most recent conflict with the current Object of Her Affection, she said, "He'd better watch out because I'm about to have something pierced!" LOL! She further commented that she recognized this as a pattern with her, which triggered a strong memory for me. Ages and eons ago when I left my daughter's dad, I went through several hairstyles in a relatively short period. He commented one day that he always knew when I was really upset because I'd change my hairstyle. I'd never given it any thought prior to that but now, of course, I recognize the pattern. I understand. It's not about hair or piercings, it's about regaining control, no matter how small or how insignificant it may seem to others.

Interesting, isn't it?

More...

I'm using a new newsletter outfit, and so far, the experience has been very good. I was more than happy with the old company. It was all very drag and drop, point and shoot, lots of templates to choose from and lots of help for the PC-challenged, of which I am NOT by any means but it was nice to have all the bells and whistles without having to do a lot of designing. There are some things I do not miss from my webmaster (-mistress?) days. However, the monthly cost had to be eliminated so I moved to a new (free!) company which requires a little more in the way of set up. It wasn't very difficult to manage and after putting my page together, editing, editing, editing, and sending a test to my email address several times, I felt confident that it was good to go. I scheduled it to be sent to my meager list of 75-odd participants and was very pleased to find that it went on time, and that I only had one individual unsubscribe. Except... I'd forgotten to add my email address to the subscriber list so I didn't get a copy via email. Faux Pas #1. When I went back to the newsletter site to check on it, I found Faux Pas #2: I'd changed the photo of one of the items but neglected to change the description. Argh. Double Arggh.

I considered sending a correction but decided against it. What would I say? Ummm... "you know that newsletter you got yesterday that you probably either glanced at for a nanosecond or sent directly to your spam folder -- if it doesn't go there automatically -- well, I made a tiny faux pas, so I'm invading your mailbox yet again so you won't think I'm a total idiot." No. Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent. Better to be considered an idiot than a spammer, right?

More still...

I'm wondering if I shouldn't change my name to Five to Nine Earring Design since that's all I make. A craft show organizer posted a link to my shop on her site and mistakenly mangled my business name. I wonder if that's a sign. I'm fooling around with a necklace design right now but I've discovered that I have no burning interest in making anything other than earrings. I love earrings. I don't leave my house without them; I mean, never. I fall asleep in them half of the time. Contrary to what some believe, they're not always easy and not always quick to make, but it constantly amazes me how one can turn some beads, rocks, and baubles into something so small yet so beautiful. Making bracelets feels too much like work... and necklaces? Maybe... we'll see...

In any case.... if you're in the area of Habana Outpost this weekend, do drop by....

Hay Fever is the devil....

2009-05-29T07:56:00.009-04:00

I always thought that hay fever was something you were born with, like poor eyesight or flat feet. Little did I know that you could develop it later in life, out of the clear blue sky, while you're walking around minding your own business.

I've tracked it back and I think I've pinpointed the year that spring time allergies began taking over my life. When my daughter was very young, someone at her day care center offered me a kitten. I've never met a kitten I didn't fall instantly in love with so I took it home. My daughter named it "Blue" for no reason that made sense and we settled into making a home for him (her? I don't remember). Shortly after, I developed the worst allergy symptoms ever: sneezing four or five times in a row, itchy, watery eyes, constant sniffling, fatigue, etc., and it took weeks before I realized that it wasn't a cold. I'd never had allergies and assumed it was Blue's fault. I now know that it probably had nothing at all to do with the cat. That year may just have been my year to develop a sensitivity to tree pollen. But I didn't know that at the time so the cat had to go. Bye, bye, Blue. I explained to a sad child that Blue had to go um, .... somewhere else.... washed all my clothes, got rid of the litter box, and tossed all Blue-related items. I started to feel a little better after he/she left but I now recognize this as a pattern. Late spring/early summer is miserable for me but I'm usually OK by July. If I'd known it wouldn't have made any difference, I'd have kept the little beastie. Darn.

I feel the same way about selling at craft shows as I do about small kittens; I can barely resist the temptation. I've had a burst of creativity lately and have been making new stuff, thinking about new designs, and ordering a few supplies here and there. I had scheduled myself to vend at a small show this Saturday but not sure I can make it now. Darn. This is one I've never done before, and going to New York means spending more time with family, especially Lukey Lou. Although I didn't wake up with the same screaming headache I've had every morning this week, I still feel like someone ran over me with a large truck. Sigh. Will have to play it by ear. Off to make a large cup of tea, maybe a fried egg on a mini-bagel, pop a Zyrtec and see what happens.

Back from the road... More Tales from the Craft Show Circuit

2009-05-24T06:17:00.007-04:00

Please notice the open coffee cup on the chair... and the odd lighting... and the fact that I'm sort of leaning to one side.

This is all due to the fact that it's about 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning. Operating on about 5 hours sleep, I'm standing there waiting to get the go-ahead from the organizers to set up my table for the Collingswood May Fair. Collingswood May Fair is kind of a big deal in my part of the world. It's a juried art and craft fair in southern NJ where they close off the streets in most of the downtown area -- which is pretty quaint and charming anyway -- and put on one heck of an event. It's widely publicized, well-run, and brings visitors from all around the area.

By 9:00 am, we were all set up and ready to go, although part of me was ready to go back to bed and get a couple more hours of shuteye. An hour later, the early birds started arriving and before long, we were off to the races. This was our third year participating in this event ("our" = myself and my soon - to - be - ex - but - we - remain - good - friends - and - occasional - business - partners. More about that some other time). It was hot as Hades with the kind of oppressive humidity that the northeast is famous for. It usually doesn't hit until July but the weather's been very unpredictable lately. A mini heat-wave at the end of May requires a little mental and physical adjustment, particularly when you know you'll be out in it all day. Thank the Universe for tents and sunscreen!

The first hour of the day is the most stressful for me. That's the hour right after you get your table or booth set up just the way you want it and then begin to wonder, "Will I sell anything today? Should I change my displays again? Are my prices OK?" Sooner or later, folks start trickling in and after you've been doing this long enough, you get pretty good at figuring out which are "lookers" and which are "shoppers". Body language is key! Almost everyone has a "tell" whether they know it or not.

Male shoppers are the best. Women look, touch, handle, go back and forth over this item or that one and often go back to the first item they picked up. My male shoppers are quick. They walk in, look around for five seconds and then point and say, "That one. I'll take that one for my girlfriend." In and out in under a minute. (Hmmm... how can I attract more male shoppers, one wonders. Perhaps I should keep a couple of copies of Sports Illustrated lying around, or ask to be placed next to the pulled pork sandwich vendor. ha!)

One might think the flagging economy would have affected sales negatively; on the contrary, we did the best we've ever done. My theory: Many people can't afford to go away for the holiday, or don't choose to, and so they stayed in town. One of my shoppers told me specifically that she is usually out of town when the Fair is scheduled but this year, she stayed home. Along with the crafters and food vendors, the Fair features two live bands, a car show, and hair and face painting for kids. Who needs to go away when you can get all that for free? Well, not free, exactly... but there's no admission fee to attend a street fair, and on a personal level, I'm always pleased when people make a point to shop local.

Despite the oppressive heat and an abundance of jewelry vendors, we made out pretty well. Experience being the best teacher, we've learned how to pack efficiently, so we broke down, packed up and were ready to roll in less than forty minutes. A quick stop for pizza and a cold six pack of Beck's; get home, count your cash, chill the beer, heat up the pizza, jump in the shower, and there you go: the perfect ending to a near-perfect day. The next morning, stretch the aching muscles you overworked lifting and carrying bins to and from the car, make no plans for the day since you need recovery time, reflect on things you could have done better, faster, whatever, be glad it's all over... and then start thinking about the next one!

On the road again.. and again....

2009-05-22T23:51:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, May 23, I will be selling my wares at Collingswood May Fair in Collingswood, NJ. If you're in the area, do drop in!

Creativity and other musings

2009-05-18T20:30:00.002-04:00

Just looked up and it was nearly 8:30 pm... which totally stunned me since it's still light outside. You'd think I'd have gotten used to daylight savings time by now! :-)

I'm loving it. I like working while the sun is still up, and in a burst of creativity, I made over 10 pairs of new earrings over the last few days. I'm sure the warmer weather and longer days have something to do with it. I spent way too much money on supplies this week also but that's how it goes, doesn't it? Creativity waxes and wanes like so many other aspects of life and when it's right, you just have to go with it, I think.

I haven't posted many of my new creations, though, because I'm participating in a craft show this weekend and I haven't made many duplicates. When I make something that I really love, I lose all interest in making another pair... and I often wonder whether it's better to sell it in person or online. Is that crazy? Some items just don't photograph as well as I'd like so I have no problem putting them in the 'save it for show' pile, but in other cases, I just feel better about selling a particular pair at a show rather than online. Wonder if any other artisans are as nutty as I am where this is concerned....? :-)

Star Trek and other stuff...

2009-05-16T11:14:00.004-04:00

If you haven't seen it yet, go right now. Star Trek is a kick-ass movie! The casting was spot on, the special effects were fabulous and it kept me engaged from beginning to end which is saying something for a two-hour movie. I love good film but I don't get a chance to go to the movies very often. The one theatre in the one-horse town I currently live in is inconvenient to get to, alas and alack... and as an aside, why do / when did men devolve from "let's get to the theatre on opening day" to "I think I can get the bootleg copy so we can see it at home"? (I'd be surprised if I had any male readers but in case I do, here's a tip for the Neanderthals out there: don't get complacent. Bootlegs and DVDs are not a substitute for throwing some clothes on and actually taking us out to the movies. You don't even have to buy us popcorn; now that we know about the liquid death they pour on it, we hardly eat it anymore.)
But I digress. As a long time Star Trek:TOS fan, I can say this movie doesn't disappoint!

It's another cloudy day here in my part of the world which makes it a good day to stay indoors. I'm glad I didn't schedule anything this weekend because I really need the down time. My goal this summer is to book as many craft shows as possible but of course, I need time to create as well, and time to just veg. I need to build up my inventory a bit but I had a little bit of drama going on this week and couldn't seem to get comfortable at my worktable. I have learned not to push it when that happens. Sooner or later, creativity comes back and when it does, I'm like a house afire. Ideas just seem to appear out of thin air.

I keep trying to clean up my table but somehow I almost seem to work better when there are a certain amount of beads and balls and findings sprawled out, mixed up and jumbled all over the desk top. It's odd -- on the one hand, clutter frustrates and unnerves me, on the other, it enables me to see everything and try this and that until something clicks. Guess I should just stop fighting it and just accept that this is the way I work. I was always more of an Oscar than a Felix and I suppose I still am.

For the third year in a row, I've got a tent at the upcoming Collingswood May Fair in Collingswood, NJ next Saturday. If you see a tent with a big "Abelee's Handcrafted" sign, stop on by.

Look Ma, I'm Sorta Kinda Famous...again

2009-05-11T14:06:00.004-04:00

Chanting works! After 10 days of off and on rain, the sun came out on Mother's Day and stayed out. Except for some pretty brisk winds, it was a perfect day and I landed in the perfect spot.

Habana Outpost is an oh-so-cool, eco-friendly outdoor restaurant that opened up in Brooklyn not long ago that leases sidewalk space to vendors. Only two of us showed up and we were in a prime location. Lots of foot traffic, we were surrounded by other restaurants and shops and best of all, Habana has a DJ! They spun everything from Caribbean to Afro-Cuban to Motown to old school oldies... this vendor was in heaven!

I've resisted accepting credit cards in the past but I finally signed up with a service last week and I'm so glad I did. It's a little more work but it definitely helped sales and I'm sorry I didn't do it when I started.

Best news: A man walked up to my booth and asked, "Were you at P.S. 9?" It took me a minute to get the reference: when I decided to venture into the NYC craft show circuit a few months ago, the first one was at P.S. 9, a small school in a neighborhood not far from where I used to live. I said yes and as he started to reply, he seemed familiar.

"Were you at the show with a little boy or a little girl?"

"A little boy; that was my two year old son. I bought a pair of earrings from you for my wife and she loved them. But my son got a hold of them and mangled them! When I saw you and your table, I wasn't sure if it was you but I decided to come over and find out."

I remembered which pair he bought because I hadn't had many sales that day. It just so happened that I had a pair that were nearly identical and I showed them to him. He was thrilled that he could replace them for his wife and needless to say, I was thrilled that he remembered me! Look, Ma, I'm sorta kinda famous!

When it was time to go, the street corner was crowded with people enjoying the weather, waiting to get into the local restaurants, and just hanging out and I was tempted to stay and do the same because a friend of mine came by and chatted with me for the last couple of hours of the show. She took the photo accompanying this blog entry; please overlook the Sideshow Bob hairdo -- I told you it was windy!

But it had been a long day and I was anxious to get home. Best of all, the subway station was right on the corner, just a few steps from where my table was. In less than 20 minutes, I was packed up and ready to go.

Nice weather, a prime location, chatting with a friend, grooving to great music, and I made my table fee back several times over. Who could ask for anything more?

Here Comes the Sun... and There It Went....

2009-05-09T08:44:00.005-04:00

We've had rain nearly every day for the past ten days in my part of the world. Definitely affecting my mood and absolutely influenced my decision not to vend today. The sun's been playing peekaboo, sneaking out for a minute here, and a half hour there, and then scuttling back behind dark, puffy, pregnant clouds. I was scheduled for a two-day gig at an oh-so-new-and-trendy outdoor restaurant but the weatherman is predicting showers this AM and a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon.

A little sprinkling, OK. Thunderstorms? Lee don't play that. It's just as well. I had promised myself not to book anymore two-day shows at any venue I hadn't previously visited but I'd bent my rule for this one because it's in my hometown, New York City!

Tomorrow will see cooler temperatures but the rain is mooooving out tonight! I've been watching the hour by hour reports like a hawk and so far, all looks good for manana. It's Mother's Day; I'll get to see my daughter, son in law, and grandson; vend in a neighborhood I love; and hopefully my wares will entice patrons and passersby to purchase something for their mothers/stepmothers/sisters/friends/anyone who ever had a baby!

The photo above is from last year but I love it so until I get a new one -- very soon, I think -- this will have to do. It's a sort of Mary Tyler Moore-ish image (ha!) and I will need a moment or two to gather up the exuberance I felt that day.

Thanks to all who did sun dances and chanted to bring the sun back. It took awhile but it's on its way.

Here Comes the Sun....

2009-05-05T09:01:00.006-04:00

How about a group chant: Sun, sun, sun, here it comes!

I'm participating in a craft show at an outdoor restaurant over the weekend and it's been raining in my part of the world for the last three days. The Weather Channel is predicting thunderstorms tomorrow. Thunderstorms. And showers off and on for the rest of the week, possibly into Saturday. Give me a small break, please. Yes, I know. It's spring. But I've got this show to do in a few days, see, and rain just won't do.

I started doing craft shows about two years ago. Since many of the larger craft shows require vendors to have a sales tax ID, I decided to try to turn my passion into a legitimate business. To be honest, my business expense reporting has been hit or miss over the last couple of years, probably because I have no idea what I'm doing. As computer-savvy as I am, just thinking about sitting in front of my PC entering every single transaction into Quickbooks or even an Excel spreadsheet makes me want to head straight for the liquor cabinet (if I had one. Do people still have those?)

At tax time, I download my info from PayPal, look through the paper receipts I've thrown into a drawer over the past year, drag out the ancient calculator that I got for free from I-don't-even-remember-where and get to work. Hey, remember when you actually had to pay for a calculator? Now every time you order a subscription to TIME magazine or start a new job, someone hands you one. How cool is that?

But I digress. My understanding is that if you show losses for three years, the IRS sends you a nasty note advising you that since you're not showing a profit from selling the widgets you've been making in your basement, you need to give up, kill your dream of never again having to answer to Mr. or Ms. Bozo in the corner office, and deem your passion as just a hobby. And don't bother knocking on the IRS' door again until you're ready to bring in the bucks.

So. This year, I'm going full-tilt. I'm signing up for every show that I can afford and that will have me. I'm buying nicer business cards, just signed up to accept credit cards at shows (picture me freaking out a little about this one), and I'm trying to make smarter choices regarding my business expenses. Buy in bulk; resist the temptation to buy every shiny bauble on my suppliers' web pages; pick and choose craft shows/flea markets more judiciously. And somewhere in there, I'll carve out some time to do what I truly enjoy: making pretty earrings. No, I haven't been entering my business costs into Quickbooks or Excel. I will not with a mouse, I will not in a house, I will not here or there, I will not anywhere... Maybe next year.

All I really need now is for the weather to cooperate. Ok, everybody! All together now: Here comes the sun, and I say, it's alright....

A Bowl of Bumblebee

2009-04-30T22:37:00.004-04:00

Running around preparing for craft shows, getting ready to sell my house, looking for a job back home in the NYC area so I can be closer to family and friends, changing my hair, trying to find time and inspiration to make new stuff for the shop and the craft shows, trying to quit smoking for good (again, dammit!), trying to stay on my meal plan (I refuse to use the word "d i e t") ... busy, busy, busy.. and my cat Bumblebee follows me around like a puppy. I think he was absent the day they taught "aloof".

I'm crazy mad in love with him but sometimes my mind is all over the place and I just don't have it to give, you know? But I should know by now: ignoring him never works. If I sit still for a minute, he's on my lap. If I take a nap on the couch, 13 pounds of orange tabby winds up stretched out on my hip. When I go into the kitchen to cook, he runs after me and I have to keep one eye on the stove and one on him to to ensure that I don't trip over him and wind up breaking a leg (his or mine); and while I was in the bathroom trimming my hair, I guess he was thinking, "If you thought you could escape me, forget it."

A couple of years ago, my daughter gave me a plaque that reads, "Dogs have owners. Cats have staff." Truer words were never spoken. I surrendered. After taking this picture, I went and got him a treat. After he finished it, he came over to where I was sitting on the couch and proceeded to thank me by kneading my bare legs with very sharp claws. (Note to self: Remember to throw the blanket over you when Bumblebee is awake and you're sitting on the sofa in your Hanes for Her.)

Back from the road.. again...

2009-04-26T16:13:00.004-04:00

I participated in two different selling events this weekend and both turned out to be a bust, but surprisingly enough, I'm in a very good mood today.

The first was held at a community college where a women's empowerment seminar was being held. Sounds like a built-in audience but unfortunately many of the participants who signed up didn't show, and those that did, didn't shop. The vendors were set up in a very nice area but the exit was smack in between us and the classes. I'm guessing that for some, having been cooped up all day in class, they were ready to bolt when it was over, especially since we're experiencing a freak pre-summer heat wave in my part of the world.

The second was held at a craft "market" whose name was much grander than the place it was being held: an old theater in one of those allegedly "up and coming" areas where artisans are starting to move in. Perhaps it is up and coming, but unfortunately, it hasn't arrived yet. The building was in a very desolate area; no passing traffic, not even foot traffic. It just isn't the kind of area that people would be going to; more like an area where people would pass through on the way to somewhere else. The tables were jammed so close together that you could barely move and the aisles for shoppers to walk allowed for single file walking at best. I took a look around and noticed that I had been placed directly in front of a merchant who was selling items similar to mine but at half the price. I will refrain from having yet another tirade about crafters/artisans who underprice... those who know me know that I'm fairly rabid on the subject.

Anyway... having done this craft show thing for over two years now, I knew that spending seven hours in that overcrowded, overheated, very cramped space would be a waste of my time. So I left. But I'm OK with it. I did a lot of traveling for yesterday's show, on and off trains, cabs, elevators, rolling my suitcase around the streets and up and down stairs like a bag lady, so I was a little beat anyway! :-)

Every time I do a show, I learn something and as I've said before, sometimes that something is that I should not do that particular show again. Oh well. The whole craft show circuit thing is crazy and tiring and a lot of work... but I'm hopelessly, head over heels in love with the whole nutty enterprise. Bring on the next one!

Do it Anyway

2009-04-23T09:36:00.003-04:00

I used to work at a company that claimed to value its people over its profits and their actions supported that for awhile. One example of this was the Cookie Meeting. Each month, my department held a birthday celebration for that month's celebrants. We'd buy cookies from the local bakery and all the staff would gather in a conference room. The birthdays were announced, the cookies were eaten and much merriment ensued for 15 or 20 minutes before heading back to our desks.

My job was to order the cookies, set up the Cookie Meeting (without checking anyone's schedule), and send out a reminder email. It was expected that everyone would show unless they had an important prior commitment. At first, everyone looked forward to this little event and would often stop me in the hall to ask "When is Cookie Day?" so that they could plan their day or their week around it.

Several years later, the company merged with another and became a corporation... and with that, came more work, more stress, more "Sorry, I'm too busy. Can't make Cookie Day this month." Sometimes there would only be 4 or 5 people in the conference room; some months Ken, the manager, would be the only one in the room at the start of the meeting and he'd ask me to walk around the office and grab people, reminding them that the celebration would only take 10 or 15 minutes.

Eventually I got tired of feeling like I was dragging lambs to the slaughter. I called Ken one day and asked him if he and I could have a chat. I told him that no one seemed to care about celebrating birthdays anymore, everyone seemed too busy, sometimes even *I* was too busy to stop what I was doing but I took the time anyway not only because it was my responsibility but because it had become a tradition. Still, I was frustrated with the lack of participation and wondered if maybe it was time to put the tradition to bed.

The manager listened intently and when I was done, he quoted an excerpt of a writing credited to Mother Theresa:

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

He said that with all of the corporate changes that had happened, scheduling the Cookie Meeting was more important than it had ever been; it should continue to be held monthly even if he and I were the only ones in the room. So I pressed on. I stopped walking around trying to coerce the staff, but I continued to order the cookies and I continued to send the reminder email each month until I left the department.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. I've just started making the rounds on the craft show circuit again with uneven results. Crunching the numbers has revealed that so far, I've lost money doing shows. In addition, I've had to replenish some supplies and as it is for so many of us, money is tight, tight, tight. As I sat at my worktable yesterday, packing up for my shows this weekend and starting to work on new stuff, I wondered, "Will this ever actually become a viable business? I want this so badly but I can’t seem to make it happen and, I live in the real world. I can't maintain this financially forever if I don't see more return on my investment."

I have two shows to do this weekend and for a fleeting moment, I thought about not doing either of them. I thought, "if they go as badly as my last one, I'll really be discouraged, so what's the point?" The thing is, I don't remember what I was doing before I fell in love with jewelry making and I'm not sure what I'd do with myself if I stopped. It occurs to me that no matter how discouraged I become by slow sales, I would be even more melancholy if I couldn’t do this thing that I have come to love.

So. Do it anyway, right? And so I will. And before this gets too sappy....read on....

That company I used to work for? Six years ago, I was called into a conference room one morning and 30 minutes later I was laid off after 14 years of service. "Nothing personal. Corporate downsizing, you know."

Ouch.

Earth Day Musings

2009-04-22T11:37:00.003-04:00

Having grown up in New York City, I never had the urge to learn to drive. Didn't need to so I never thought about it. My brother and I don't drive; my other brother and older and younger sisters learned to drive in their 30s because their respective jobs required it. Now that I live in a somewhat suburban area, I sometimes wish I had a car. I can get around fairly easily by bus, but it's a pain. I have to laugh at myself when I think about the many times I fussed and complained about NYC buses or subways being "late". Late in NYC can be 5 - 20 minutes. Late in suburban NJ could mean an hour. The bus schedule here isn't a 'schedule', it's more like a suggestion. Argh. But it is what it is. When the weather is nice, I sometimes walk the mile and a half to the supermarket. Not much to see on the route; houses, grass, trees, and I've often thought I'd be more likely to walk if the landscape changed just a little bit.

In any case, I'm kind of proud of not having succumbed to the car culture even though I currently live smack in the middle of it. I'm not a very proactive tree-hugger but I do what I can. When I buy fruits and vegetables, I try to buy locally. That's pretty easy in south Jersey and they grow some of the best tomatoes I've ever tasted. I buy most of my jewelrymaking supplies from Etsy.com sellers in order to help support small business. I bought a small heater because the house gets chilly during this time of year and I'm determined not to turn up the thermostat. I've already adjusted to having to wear sweats and socks instead of lounging around in my Hanes for Her the way I did in the overheated apartment I used to live in. I buy some of my clothes from the local Goodwill stores and I donate the clothes I've outgrown back to them when I can. And of course, like most of us, I already recycle my bottles, cans and newspapers.

In a perfect world, we'd be able to afford solar panels, our municipalities would build more and wider bike lanes, the local hardware store wouldn't have been driven out of business by the likes of Lowes and Home Depot, and the corner bakery wouldn't have folded under the weight of the shadow of yet another Dunkin' Donuts, built five blocks from the other Dunkin Donuts in the neighborhood.

But this isn't a perfect world. I shop at (the dreaded) Walmart sometimes and I like Dunkin Donuts coffee. But I do what I can.... and if we all just do what we can, we'll all enjoy the beautiful and bountiful fruits of our labors in the end.

Happy Earth Day... today and every day.

It's Earth Week - celebrate!

2009-04-20T09:44:00.007-04:00

April 22 is Earth Day! There are a lot of things, big and small, that we can all do to acknowledge it this week... and every day to help preserve the planet.

The Peace & Love Market blog on the art/crafting site, 1000Markets.com is highlighting just a few of those things we can all do (including shopping online -- save gas, time, and energy!).

Take a look: http://www.1000markets.com/groups/peacelove/blog_posts/6120

On the Road Again....

2009-04-18T05:57:00.006-04:00

On Saturday, April 18, I will be at the Artists and Fleas Market in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I've heard good things about this venue so I can't wait to get there. If you're anywhere in the vicinity, drop on by!

Back from the Road... and various musings...

2009-04-05T09:20:00.006-04:00

Can I just say .... I think I'm done with doing craft shows at colleges. Tried two different colleges; once in the fall, once in the spring -- same results. Abysmal. Now that I've been doing this 'show on the road' thing for awhile, I've learned quite a bit about the world of craft show promotion and I'm still learning. The main lesson? Consider carefully who is putting the show together. Organizing a craft show is not just about renting a room and placing tables in it. It's a skill that some do very well, others not so much. Lesson 2: Craft shows that are about crafting or celebrating the indie spirit are the best; craft shows that are focused on fundraising, not so much.

Complete change of subject: The world is becoming a hard place. I'm frightened by the news lately concerning an amazing amount of gun violence. If I live to be a thousand, I will never understand why anyone is able to purchase assault rifles -- or guns of any kind, for that matter and hide behind their so-called Constitutional rights. My opinionated opinion: if a man is going to kill many people in a murderous rampage, he will no doubt find a way to do it with a knife.... but perhaps he would not be able to kill quite so many at one time. Yeah, I said it.

I'm sure Oprah and Suze Orman meant well and I don't begrudge them their good fortune but really... it's difficult to take advice on financial prudence from two very, very rich women... One of Suze's brilliant suggestions was to stop buying $8.00 lipsticks. Er, um... Suze? I'd have to START spending that kind of money on lipstick before I stop it, OK, sweetie? And Oprah? Stick to actors, musicians, and relationships. No more shows about money. The last one you did with the spiritual advisors truly irritated me. A woman appears on the show close to tears, who tells you that she has put every dime that she and her husband have into her bakery, and it's failing, and that all her family depends on it for their survival. Your first suggestion to her was to be grateful that she is breathing. (No, kids, I'm not making this up.) If I were that woman, I think I might have been thinking that if I appeared on the Oprah show, perhaps the Grand Dame would part with some her gazillions and send me a check. Just sayin'....

Back to the crafting world -- hope springs eternal. I bought some new stuff (that I can't afford, of course, but what the hell) and I've signed up for a few more shows this spring and will do as many as I can afford this year. Even when I don't make sales, I truly enjoy the atmosphere and the easy camaraderie between vendors. Onward and upward, right?

Got my first custom order! Wowza! I'm thinking I didn't charge enough but I sold them to someone I'm very fond of so of course, I had to give her the "I'm so fond of you" discount!

On the Road Again

2009-04-02T23:16:00.002-04:00

On Friday, April 3, I will be at Rutgers University-New Brunswick at the Rutgers Craftivists fair. If you're in the neighborhood, drop on by!

On with the show

2009-03-24T10:05:00.004-04:00

Greetings and salutations!

Have been very bad about keeping up here. A bit of turmoil in my offline life has adversely affected by online life just a bit... but I'm dancing as fast as I can.

One bright spot: Craft show season has begun and I'm gearing up to go, go, go. I have four lined up so far and would love to do more depending on the status of my ever dwindling finances. For the first time I'm doing some of them in my hometown, the Biggest of Apples, New York City, where my heart lives (as well as many of my friends, family, and so-cute-I-could-eat-him-with-a-spoon- grandson).

This first show is relatively small, I think. I'll be at the P.S. 9/Prospect Heights Craft Fair on March 28. This will my first show ever in New York and large or small, I'm happy to be involved.

My creativity seemed to have gone into a dormant phase for awhile but over the past few days, I somehow found a burst of inspiration and energy and have made some designs that I really like. They won't all make it to either of my two websites, Abelee's Handcrafted on Etsy.com and Five to Nine Design on 1000Markets.com. Some items just do not photograph as well as I'd like so I'd prefer to sell those at shows rather than put up a bad photo. Most women like to handle and view jewelry closely before buying and of course, that option is not available online. Buyers must rely on good descriptions and outstanding photos. I'm pretty proud of most of my camera work, but I'm no expert; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

If you're in the vicinity of the show this Saturday, do drop in.

Abelee's Handcrafted is now Five to Nine Design

2009-03-13T11:27:00.004-04:00

During this transition, the website http://fivetoninedesign.com will be down for updating for just a little while. In addition, if you happen to see me at a craft show, you may still see signage for Abelee's Handcrafted. But before long, the name change will be complete!

Exception: On Etsy.com, the name will remain Abelee's Handcrafted - a FivetoNine Design Production.
On 1000 Markets.com, the name has already been changed.

The name's changed, but the game's the same. There are some new styles for spring in the collection and more will be coming. Take a look!

Peace and Love, Baby!

2009-02-10T08:53:00.005-05:00

If ever there was a need for peace and love, it's right now. Let's not sugar coat it. You've already heard -- and perhaps have been a victim of -- some of the bad news: job loss, foreclosures, hard times. Hard to find one's center, locate one's chi, settle one's wa when all this is going on. Worry and stress are enemies of inner peace.

But all is not lost. There are bright spots on the horizon. Our elected officials are busy hashing out a way to help us all as we speak. Debate is good and when the dust settles, we won't all be happy but most will feel that our representatives have done their best. In his efforts to foster peace on the other side of the world, the current leader of the Free World hopes to begin by using negotiation and an environment of mutual respect rather than bombs, bullets, and young enlistees.

And. More good news. The Peace & Love Market at 1000 Markets is now open for business. If you're a baby boomerette like me, or even if you just loooooooved the era, you'll want to take yourself over there right now and check it out. Jewelry, clothing, art, featuring not just peace signs and flower power -- although you'll definitely find those -- but the artisans there have worked hard to create a real 60s and 70s atmosphere. I grew up just a few blocks from what was then known as Greenwich Village (we just called it "The Village"). We hung out there every weekend and I shopped there as often as I could. I squeezed my size 10 feet into size 9 1/2 Frye boots, bought my living room furniture and 'decor', such as it was, from a store on St. Mark's Place called Azuma. It was sort of a Pier One kind of place (but not nearly so pricey). I had your typical milk crate and whatever-I-can-salvage-from-the-street-or-friends-and-family furniture, so I bought my first set of wind chimes, my first package of incense, my first lamps and pillows from that shop. I still have a cotton throw from there and just realized recently that it's probably the oldest thing I own. I fell in love with those big brown fuzzy bear coats the first time I saw one while browsing a very cool, very cheap thrift store near 7th and Broadway with my sister. I still wear those kind of coats to this day. That store was my source for old jeans, cool 'boyfriend' coats and funky earrings until it got written up by the style section of the Daily News one Sunday. I could have killed the author of that piece. My sister and I knew that was the beginning of the end and we were right. A month later, you could barely get in the place.

To check out the offerings -- very cool, very hip, very 60s-70s, very stylish, very-evocative-of-a-kinder, gentler time, come on over: Peace & Love at 1000Markets.com

Flowers, Lace and Chocolate

2009-01-27T06:54:00.006-05:00

Flowers, lace and chocolate... hmmm... what does that remind you of? Valentine's Day! (she said, slapping forehead!)

I sometimes enjoy bah-humbug-ing this made-up holiday, but let's face it, even we curmudgeons have some teeny-tiny expectations. Anyone in a relationship knows that they dare not step foot in the door without at least a card unless they want to be sleeping on the couch until March. Besides all that, it's kinda fun.

The Artisan Beaders Street Team is celebrating flowers, lace and chocolate by highlighting and in many cases, discounting selected items in their respective shops. How do you get there? Easy, breezy: Go to Etsy.com, type in "absteamsale" in the search box and you're IN! Or just follow this link to save a couple of steps: ABSTEAMSALE
Click on the (lovely!) item(s) of your choice for details. Hurry up, February 14 will be here before you know it. In many cases, items can be shipped to arrive in a few days and some offer gift wrapping and/or very pretty packaging. So you don't want to wait until the last minute and take a chance on not receiving your item in time. Unless you have a really comfy couch.

And you know, whether you have a significant other or not, it's okay to treat yourself every once in awhile too. You deserve it. You know you do.

Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T13:33:00.010-05:00

Excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King's speech in Memphis, on April 3, 1968:

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!

---------------------------------------------------------

My heart is so full right now... I'm ready to BURST.

I lived to see it. And more importantly, my mother, who was very active in the civil rights movement lived to see it. And my grandson will not know a world where there was a question about whether a person of color could make it to the White House.

My heart is full.

Top Chef and other stuff

2009-01-15T11:47:00.004-05:00

I'm too bummed about Top Chef dumping Ariane. She's been up and down and may not deserve to be Top Chef, but she definitely did not deserve to go home. On the other hand, I'm not at all sure why Leah is still there. She's pretty consistently in the middle and I don't see her working very hard overall... and this thing with Josea is just getting annoying, frankly. It's immature on both their parts: "We have chemistry but we're both in a relationship so we're just friends"....while they hang all over each other at every possible moment. What are you, 12? You're adults. Act like it, please. This isn't a wartime romance, it's a reality show. If you want each other, then act like grownups and CALL YOUR RESPECTIVE SIGNIFICANT OTHERS and tell them that you're getting ready to embarrass them (and yourself) on national TV, then do what you wanna do.

And can I just say I'm not that fond of the new judge. This guy seems determined to be clever and mean-spirited whether it's warranted or not. I guess he's trying to be the Simon Cowell of foodies, but here's the problem with that, honey. You don't have that much in the way of charisma, and also believe it or not, some of us grow weary of Simon's nasty attitude. Be honest and direct, sure, but there's no reason to be unkind. You're not clever; you're just mean.

Ok, on to more pleasant topics. I have a very limited amount of cash but if you've been following this blog, dear readers, you know that I'm thinking of branching out. Metalsmithing has totally captured my attention lately. As much as I love gemstones -- and I do -- I have some great ideas on making some new jewelry out of copper and possibly sterling silver. I'm also thinking about brooches. I haven't left the house without earrings since I was 12. But the other stuff, not so much. I have necklaces and bracelets but I don't wear them as often as I do brooches, so that may be my newest experiment. Stay tuned.

Bush, Hoda and other musings

2009-01-12T10:11:00.004-05:00

Just saw outgoing President G.W. Bush giving his last press conference. Surprise, surprise. He didn't suck. I haven't seen very many of his press conferences in the past. I found his policies so repugnant and his demeanor so off-putting that I preferred to see the highlighted clips and the ad infinitum dissection from all the talking heads on the following day. But I watched most of this one and for the first time, the man seemed, almost, well, human. Less posturing, less defensiveness, more grace. Good for you for finally doing something right, George: going out with a little bit of class.

New subject: For no reason I understand, I'm fascinated by true crime stories. They scare me to death but I can't stay away. The first one that ever captivated my attention was the case of Jeffrey McDonald in the book, "Fatal Vision". I read it when I was 27 or 28, I think and it haunted me. I don't care to read those kinds of books anymore but I do watch Dateline on MSNBC occasionally and they do a fair amount of true crime stories. That may have been the first time I ever saw reporter Hoda Kotb (who used to spell her last name "Kotbe", by the way). I liked and respected her demeanor and delivery, the way she interviewed the individuals in each case, with the right amount of seriousness and straighforwardness. To see her now on the last leg of the Today show playing straight man to Kathie Lee Gifford is painful. Perhaps Hoda felt she needed to lighten things up, that too many serious stories were weighing her down emotionally. But I wish she'd go back to being serious. I have nothing against Kathie Lee but she doesn't share the stage well and I think their pairing is a huge waste of Hoda's talent. Just my two cents.

Back to business: I'm so excited about the new directions I'm thinking of taking in my crafting. I made my first serious attempt at making a bracelet recently and now I'm thinking about brooches. I have a few that I've collected over the years and I'm anxious to try my hand at designing them. As usual, funds are low so I'm going to have to wait just a little bit before I can lay in some supplies. Sigh. Is this always the life of the artisan/artist? Waiting, waiting to make a sale so that you can finance the next creative urge. It's maddening, really. I'm not a patient woman and the waiting is sometimes excruciating! I'm excited and anxious and edgy all at the same time; it almost feels as if I'm holding my breath...as if something wonderful and thrilling will happen with the next breath but I need to hold it, hold it, hold it until someone tells me it's okay to exhale. (Hmm... that sounds vaguely like... nope, not gonna go there).

:-)

Help. Really.

2009-01-09T07:31:00.005-05:00

All experts, off the stage. Just stop talking, because, really, you're not helping.

Financial expert Suze Orman was on Oprah yesterday espousing her usual advice. Save money, don't borrow from your 401K, pay down your debt. Good advice... for those who can do it. Problem is that many of us just can't. We just can't. There's no "extra" cash to save. If you're scraping by on unemployment insurance, there's just enough to cover the bills, maybe, and no more. Many of us have stopped using credit because we're maxed out and there's no credit to use. We pay the minimum asked because that's all we've got. Get it, Suze? That's all we've got. There is no "extra" to save. None.

My daughter and I chatted on the phone about this recently. We talked about how great it would be if there could be a complete paradigm shift. The current system is not working, and isn't the definition of insanity repeating the same things and expecting different results? How about this: what about a moratorium on foreclosures, not just in some states, but nationwide? What about credit card companies taking a moratorium on calling customers every other day to "remind" them that their payments are late? If one doesn't have the money to pay you, calling the person and harassing them is not going to change that. Do you think the money will magically appear if you call ten times vs. five? Five times vs. one? If it's not there, it's not there. Yes, we owe the money. Yes, some of us were irresponsible in how we used credit. But how some of us got there doesn't change the fact that we're there. Blaming people for past mistakes doesn't feed the kitty; it's a wasted exercise. How about employers who can afford it pay a decent wage instead of offering an insulting $10 or $12 an hour? That's a child's salary; no adult can pay rent or mortgage with that. How about a little more equity in the pay ranges? How about the guy who calls the shots takes home a little less money so that the guy who actually does the work can take home a little more? How about adjusting your profit expectations just a little in order to keep more people employed? Surely if given a choice of losing one's job altogether and taking a minor pay cut, employees would choose the latter as long as EVERYONE, including the boss was willing to do the same. How about the next stimulus offering being something like $2000 per person for families making less than $150,000 a year? 'Cause that's the only way any of us can catch up. $500 or $600 just won't do it; we've already seen that. Maybe a couple of thousand would forestall or prevent some of those foreclosures.

Those who whine about "big government" and "government handouts" certainly did not send back their stimulus checks last year, did they? I expect my government to hand out whatever it has to hand out to help the least of us; in fact, I demand it. 'Cause, the way I see it: help us now or help us later, either way it has to be done. If more people lose more jobs, that will mean more people on public assistance, more people collecting unemployment insurance, and surely, more people homeless, and the government will have to take care of all of that. I really don't understand anything about the national debt; all I know is that individuals and families are on the brink and someone has to help. That's all. They have to help.

Out with the old

2009-01-08T11:57:00.007-05:00

I tossed my Christmas tree today. There's something a little sad about seeing a bare Christmas tree lying on its side at the curb or the side of the road waiting to be scooped up and munched into bits by the sanitation truck. Normally I'd drag it to the curb the day after New Year's, but the Object of My Affection acknowledges Three Kings Day, so we kept it an extra few days.

I can't help but think about the day I went to buy it. We went to a 'tree farm' nearby and walked through rows and rows of beautiful, lovely-smelling trees, large and small, and finally settled on a 6 foot tree for the bargain price of $45. I've noticed that over the years, in good ones and in bad, you can always get a fabulous tree for a very fair price. And then of course, you haul it home, go through boxes and boxes of bows, bulbs, lights and spend an hour placing everything just so. Hit the lights and voila!

I've almost always had live trees for Christmas. I bought a small artificial tree when my daughter was born and used it for a few years before I went back to live ones. I remember one year when she was 6 or 7, I didn't have much money and there weren't many places that sold trees near where we lived at the time. I went out and bought the saddest, most anemic, Charlie-Brown-looking tree you've ever seen. It broke my heart every time I looked at it but she didn't seem to mind or even notice. Years later, I bought another very large and full-looking artificial and everyone who saw it thought it was real. It was a pretty good replica and I used it for years because aforementioned daughter was in college and it felt indulgent to buy and fix up a live tree just for myself. But I missed live trees and a couple of years later, I went back to live trees again and will have one every year until the end of my days.

I was going to post a picture of it here but changed my mind. Christmas trees are like fireworks, meant to be seen live. Watching fireworks on TV is like watching paint dry - bleh. Sort of like watching epic films on TV like, "Lawrence of Arabia". If ever a movie needed to be seen on the BIG screen, it's "Lawrence".

Anyway.

Christmas tree is now mulch. Bulbs, bows, lights are being packed away. The New Year has begun and new plans have to be made. Just watched the President-elect's news conference which solidified something I already knew. It's gonna be a long haul... but his tone was hopeful. My feelings are hopeful. What choice do we have but to remain hopeful? It can be difficult sometimes.

I watched part of Oprah the other day and turned it off in disgust. The show was about trying to hold on to or find spirituality (not religion, spirituality as a sense of peace and wholeness) when your world is falling apart. She had the usual panel of experts that she insisted on talking over as usual. I respect Oprah, I really do, but it's irksome when one of her experts speaks and then she says, "What Dr. Jones is trying to say is...." whereupon she gives her interpretation or explains how she approaches the problem at hand. It's her show; I guess she can do what she likes but I often think, "We have ears, Oprah, we heard what they said so what makes you think we need you to interpret it?" On this particular program, a young woman appeared by satellite TV, fighting back tears because she and her husband had put every dime they had into a bakery business that was failing. They had put their lives into it and depended on it to pay their bills and take care of their family and their retirement. If the bakery folds, they will have nothing. Oprah and her panel listened and tried to come up with comforting spiritually based advice, but it sounded so lame. Oprah tried to get the woman to re-focus on the positive things in her life but she was struggling with it. She finally came up with, "Well, you're breathing. That's good, right? When things are bad, the first thing I look at is that I'm taking a breath, I'm breathing and that's a first step...." and then she looked toward the audience for support for this lame-ass suggestion. Puh-leeze.... if I'm about to lose everything, I don't think I want the richest woman in the world to advise me to keep breathing; I think I want her to send one of her minions to my house with a check for a few bucks, you know what I mean? Don't know what the outcome of the segment was. The woman looked as skeptical as I felt when I turned it off. Hope she got some comfort, or found it elsewhere. I felt her pain. The fear of losing all you have is ever present and is sometimes paralyzing.

But I remain hopeful.

I'm still in love with my new 'handcrafted home': 1000 Markets. I still believe that when it really builds an audience, when the economy eases up a bit, when things get better, it will be THE place to shop for quality handcrafted items. I've got my eye on a fabulous handcrafted butterfly barn I saw there. I'm not a huge fan of birdhouses or birdbaths although I enjoy watching the birds in my neighbor's birdbath. Birds are fascinating but a bit, well, messy.
But this butterfly box is lovely and I'm determined to have it in my backyard this spring, one way or the other.

Curmudgeonly Musings, etc.

2009-01-07T07:54:00.003-05:00

My curmudgeonly musings for the day:

Just saw a trailer for the new movie, "Not Easily Broken" starring Morris Chestnut. (Can I just say, I have a serious crush on Mr. Chestnut??). Gotta confess: I'm so glad to see a black-oriented movie coming out that is neither written, directed nor performed by Tyler Perry. Every time I see him on TBS saying, "Very funny", I want to say, "Not so much, Tyler!". Just can't get into this guy.

Why do all employers use the same damned rejection letter? "Although we found your resume impressive, we have decided to select another candidate who more closely fits this position." Obviously you weren't all that impressed. Don't say you were. I'd almost prefer that you not respond at all rather than be so dismissive by sending the same canned rejection letter you sent to a million candidates. Sometimes it's kinder not to say anything at all.

Re the aforementioned movie, I wish they didn't show that creepy Tristar horse, Pegasus right before the clip. That horse completely freaks me out, I'm not kidding. A few years ago, I noticed that when I'd go to the movies and that horrible horse came flying at me on the screen, I would avert my eyes until it was over. I was thrilled when Columbia merged with Tristar because that creepy thing didn't fill the screen when the movie started. I guess Tristar is back in business. Sigh. Now I don't even look at the screen when I know I'm watching a Tristar picture, and even the trumpeting music freaks me out because I know what's coming. Am I the only person with this phobia, I wonder?

Fifty bucks is all that stands between me and some new supplies and I don't have it. Darn! I'm dying to try my hand at metalcrafting. I found a fabulous website for metal blanks, chasing hammers, sheet metal, etc and loaded up the shopping cart. Got thisclose to hitting the SUBMIT button and then common sense took over and I left the site. I'm developing a serious lust for metal but I have to wait until it's financially feasible. I just know I'd be good at it. Argh. I guess this is the life of the artisan -- lusting after things you can't have right now. Darn.

Who is Billy Mays and why is he screaming at me?

2009-01-04T11:26:00.004-05:00

Who is this guy anyway? I just saw yet another commercial with this clown, this time shilling for some kind of super glue that holds together ripped parachutes long enough for another clown to jump 13,000 feet from the ground and land safely. What gets me is that Mr. Mays is not only always willing to double your order for only $19.95, but he always uses the pronoun "we"... "If you call right now, WE will send you...." Billy doesn't really work for any of the companies he shills for, so who the heck is "we", white man?

Just musing about oddball things today...

New Year's Day is so anticlimactic, don't you think? Seems to me that after the clock strikes 12, there should be some kind of fanfare: the earth should tremble, or there should be a lightning bolt or something to mark a new beginning. We all make resolutions as if January 1 represents a huge blank clean slate that allows us to start all over again. Does it? I hope so. I'm ready for change and I think it can start with small steps, right? Doesn't have to be "losing 20 lbs" or "quitting smoking forever" or "saving 10% of my income (what income?)"... could just be saying I love you to someone who you really do love just a little more frequently, eating one less cookie or candy bar, adopting a pet from a shelter (hmmm...not such a small step, but you get my drift).

Good Morning America's first host, David Hartman, used to always end the show by saying, "Go out and make it a good day." Wonder if I can go out and make this a good year? Last year was so crappy, this one would just have to be better by comparison!

Stay tuned.

This may be the only post I've ever written that didn't mention jewelrymaking. My new favorite place on the web, 1000 Markets makes space for each artisan to have a blog right on their selling pages. I will probably focus more of my jewelrymaking/- selling posts there and more personal observations here in the future.

Just so you know. Don't know if you care. But now you know.

New Year, New Me

2009-01-01T00:30:00.002-05:00

I respect Oprah's accomplishments, but I'm not a huge fan. Still, I love the idea of "living your best life" as Oprah puts it. I try to avoid New Year's resolutions but let's face it, whether we do it formally or informally, most of us can't help but look forward to the coming year with thoughts of making improvements in our lives.

This year, I resolve to be the best person I know how to be. Yes, I'd like to lose some weight and really stop smoking (I "officially" quit a year ago, yet I still indulge every now and then when I'm stressed). But I'd also like to become a better businesswoman, a better crafter, a better mom, a better daughter, a better significant other, not necessarily in that order. No lists, no set goals, no racing to the finish line; I'll know I've made it when I get there -- and so will those around me.

To better days ahead!

Happy New Year, everybody!

Joyeux Noel!

2008-12-27T10:33:00.006-05:00

I learned French in high school... back in the Stone Age... and barely remember it. Some phrases stuck with me, though, and I always loved the way the French say "Merry Christmas": Joyeux Noel!

This year's celebration truly was joyous for me. With the economy being in the tank, we'd already decided that we would not give gifts this year, except to our youngest members. I bought my grandson a Playskool activity toy, which of course, he played with for about 30 minutes and then spent the rest of the day throwing things around the room and happily exclaiming "cat!" every time he saw my cat Bumblebee. One of the true joys in the world is watching a two year old learning how to speak and making the connection between what he hears and what he understands. When asked how old he is, he shouts, "TWO!" at the top of his lungs while holding up one finger on each hand. It's hilarious!

I ruined my paella by adding too much liquid. The rice turned to mush and the scallops were undercooked. But my mom, two brothers, my older sister, brother in law, daughter and son in law, played the game Outburst all afternoon and had more fun than we've had in a long time. I haven't laughed that hard in days, weeks, maybe!

Oddly enough, after all that merriment, I barely slept last night. I had one of those horrible nights where you have bad dreams and wake up every hour on the hour. I was hot, I was cold, I was troubled... and I'm not sure why but one good thing happened. I woke up early this morning with new designs dancing in my head, thinking of new materials I want to buy and an itch to get back to my worktable. My tools were all piled together on the table reminding me of a bouquet. So I snapped the picture of my 'bouquet of tools' that you see here and here we go. Not sure what I'll come up with this year in terms of my wearable art, but make room in your jewelry boxes, ladies and stay tuned.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-21T14:44:00.004-05:00

I miss the Andy Williams holiday show. I miss Dean Martin's Golddiggers dressed up in Santa hats. I miss Laurel and Hardy's March of the Wooden Soldiers. The other day I saw a poll on TV where people were asked about their favorite holiday movie. "It's a Wonderful Life", "A Christmas Story", "A Christmas Carol" were most often named. I've never seen "A Christmas Story", some film about a boy and a bb gun that never seemed remotely interesting to me. Still doesn't. When I was growing up, every year on Thanksgiving or Christmas (can't remember which), my brothers and sisters and I sat on the floor and watched "March of the Wooden Soldiers". I waited all year for that, and now they don't show it on TV anymore, at least not where I live. One of these days, I'll probably go and buy a copy so that I can watch it whenever I damned please. I'm showing my age here I know, but I don't care. :-)

I'm a bit of a Scrooge-etta most years. I haven't had enough money to do Christmas the way I'd like to in some time, and frankly, I'm a little tired of being poor. But some fabulously wonderful things have happened recently that have softened me up just a bit.

First: A few weeks ago, one of my wonderfully crafty friends sent me a surprise package with some beautiful beads and a lovely card. Took me totally by suprise! I'm still amazed at the warmth and generosity of this person and others I've met only through cyberspace.

Second: I spent the Thanksgiving holiday in NYC with my family. My youngest sister suggested that instead of exchanging gifts this year, we would all donate whatever we had, no matter how small to a needy family. She had gone to the Post Office and gathered a few of the letters to Santa sent in by children, and some adults as well, who were in dire straits. I'd forgotten about it until my sister called last week and told me she would like to have the money by a certain date. Funds are pretty low for us but there's no doubt that many are in a much worse situation than we are. I told her I'd send her something later that day. A few hours later, the Object of My Affection and I were walking through a parking lot when at the same exact time, we saw a $20 bill lying in the street. It was a cold and rainy day and the money had been flattened to the ground; no doubt that's why it had been overlooked by others. I live in suburban New Jersey -- people don't walk in this town! Everyone is in a car and really, where I live you can get around without one, even though it would be a little inconvenient. Apparently New Jerseyans rarely travel by foot, hence someone probably dropped this $20 bill in the parking lot, jumped into their car and drove away. We decided we would send the money to my sister. An hour later, we walked out of another store and found a $10 bill. On the street. Again. AMAZING. We decided to send the $10 to my sister as well for our donation.

When I got home, there was a box in my mailbox, about the size of a book but much heavier. Inside were dozens of bags of supplies; earwires, headpins, beadcaps, copper and brass beads -- I could hardly believe it. I knew I hadn't ordered anything so where did this come from? I opened the card and found that another one of my wonderfully crafty friends had decided to take her art in a new direction so she sent me these fabulous things, knowing that these were the kinds of materials I like to worth with. I don't cry easily but I was very near tears after I read the card. Money is extremely tight for me these days so I've cut way back on buying new supplies and -- the next thing you know, two wonderfully talented, warm-hearted, giving individuals sent me these gifts in the mail.

If this keeps up, I'm gonna have to stop being so curmudgeonly. To my friends in the crafting world -- and you know who you are -- thank you again. And to them, and to all who read this, have the happiest of holidays.

I wanna be Bumblebee

2008-12-10T20:55:00.007-05:00

Meet Bumblebee. I know he looks like a cat, but the Object of My Affection and I have concluded that he's a dog-in-a-catsuit. He was absent the day they taught aloofness. He follows me around from room to room most of the time and I have to watch that I don't trip over him when he races me down the stairs (I think that's what he thinks he's doing). He's figured out that I have to be stationary for awhile when I'm talking on the phone, so he pushes his way into my lap and promptly falls asleep, even if it's only a five minute phone call.

Much to my disappointment, I don't get a lot of sun in my western-facing house, but my office/workroom gets a few rays in the early morning. If I'm in the workroom, Bumblebee is soon to follow, heading straight to the windowsill to curl up for a mid-morning nap. (I must do some research to find out exactly how long cats sleep per day; it certainly seems as if he's asleep more than he's awake.)

The other morning, I was fussing over an earring that just wouldn't come out right. We jewelrymakers have those days. Some days, you're cranking 'em out like biscuits. Other days, one of your loops stays crooked no matter what you do, or you spend hours on something only to look at it and pronounce it too ugly to be seen by anyone else. It's those days that I want to toss my tools across the room. (My room is so small, though, they'd probably hit the wall, ricochet and knock me unconscious.) That frustrating day, I let out a very loud "AAARRRGGH!", whereupon Bumblebee woke up and looked up at me, yawned, and then of course, went right back to sleep.

If reincarnation exists, I want to come back as Bumblebee. No money worries, no relationship worries, no artistic angst, just eating, sleeping and chasing imaginary mice. Man, that's living.

I'm doing my last craft show before Christmas tomorrow so that's adding a little extra stress. Now that I've opened a shop on a fabulous new site called 1000 Markets, I couldn't help but wonder, suppose I sell everything? Suppose I get a sale on 1000 Markets and it's something I've already sold at the show? That never happens. Probably won't happen tomorrow. But I think I'll put my shop on vacation for the day.... just in case. I'm going to try not to worry about it. Do cats worry, I wonder? Nah. There's no time. Sleeping, eating, sleeping, litter-boxing, sleeping, chasing imaginary mice, and sleeping takes a lot of time. What is there to worry about?

Spreading the love...

2008-12-07T16:00:00.006-05:00

I confess, I've been cheating. Where I once was enamored of Etsy.com and haunted the forums and my shop like a woman possessed, my affections have been turned. I'm now under the spell of 1000 Markets. Truly, madly, deeply!

Yeah, yeah, I know. A bit much. But those of you who've been reading awhile know that I have a penchant for hyperbole.

And the thing is, my shop on 1000 Markets features a space for blogging so I've also been paying less attention to blogspot (she said, hanging her head in shame). But I won't abandon you, blogspot! You were my first love and so you shall remain.

But I may visit just a little less often. :-)

Look Ma, I'm Famous.. Again (ok, not really)

2008-12-04T12:07:00.001-05:00

Amazing what you can find on line for little or no money...!

1000 Markets

2008-11-21T23:32:00.005-05:00

Just discovered a fabulous new online market called "1000 Markets". It's an artisan website that I think will definitely give ETSY.com a run for its money. Etsy is fine for what it is, but I think it's grown a bit too large, too fast and the Kids in the Hall are having a hard time managing the growth. I've been toying with the idea of selling from my own domain for quite awhile. Not quite ready now, but ultimately that's the goal. In the meantime, 1000 Markets is looking very appealing. Clean design, a juried site (LOVE that), no apparent favoritism, and an administrative staff that seems to care as much about its merchants as it does about the buyers. Refreshing! So. I've opened a shop there in addition to my Etsy shop.
Do drop in.

The Craft Show Circuit

2008-11-19T08:51:00.003-05:00

Who knew there was a craft show 'circuit'? I've been doing craft shows for a couple of years now and lately I've been running into vendors I've seen before at other shows. The cutest thing happened at the last one -- a little boy walked over to my table, smiled and kept looking at me. I smiled back and said, "Hmm... I don't think you have any use for my earrings, do you?" He said, "You sat next to us at the Handmade Faire in Medford." The lightbulb went on -- "Oh yeah, I knew you looked familiar! Where's your mom?" He pointed to a table a few rows back and I saw the woman I'd been chatting with at the show he mentioned.

I've heard some horrendous tales but so far, the craft show folks I've met have been great. Friendly, helpful, chatty; when you're spending your whole day sitting in a chair, hoping, hoping, hoping someone will like what you make and sell, it's nice to have others around, cheering you on, chatting you up, and generally keeping your spirits up. The best thing? Someone I'd met that day gave me a ride home. I was gathering up my stuff and asked someone to point me in the right direction so that I could be in front of the building. I wanted to make sure a cab could find me when I was ready to go. It turned out that one of the women I'd been talking to all day lives a few towns away and was going in my general direction, so she offered me a lift. I offered her gas money but she flatly refused. How lovely is that? I made no sales that day and actually lost money: my table fee, the cab ride to get there, and materials I'd bought specifically for the show.

For those of you who've been curious about craft shows but have been afraid to get out there, I have three words: Get out there. I was cripplingly shy as a child and I still fight it every day. But this has been one of the most fun things I've ever gotten myself involved with. Even if you don't sell, you meet nice people, you'll get to browse interesting (and odd!) merchandise, and the energy in the room is always fun. And don't forget the people-watching. Get out there. Do it afraid.

Look, Ma, I'm sorta-kinda famous -- again!

2008-11-17T07:31:00.004-05:00

When I first started out making jewelry, I became totally addicted to the forums on Etsy.com. If I was at work, I'd always make sure to keep two browser windows open -- one for the company website and one for Etsy forums that I'd sneak on whenever I had a moment. Sellers were always posting suggestions about how to improve your business or ways to advertise, and one of the things they often mentioned was appearing on other people's blogs. I didn't really set out to get my name out there that way, but I've met some really great people on this journey and have been featured on a few blogs. To those out there who might be reading, here's a great big whopping THANK YOU. I'm truly honored and touched. It also helps me to retain a mental memo -- those little things you keep in the back of your mind -- as to where I'll be shopping when I have a little extra money!

I already shop at the Brass Bouquet. I'm addicted to the look of aged brass and Jill from the Brass Bouquet does it sooo right! The other blog I'm featured on is created by John Greco, a guy who makes really beautiful handcrafted toys out of wood. Reminds me of the toys I played with as a kid before the world got taken over my Nintendo and Playstations! The kind of stuff you keep forever and pass down to your kids. Do take a look when you get a moment by clicking on the links above.

I Give Up

2008-11-11T13:08:00.012-05:00

Yep, I give up. No, not on life or anything serious like that. On dieting. On trying to lose the same 20 pounds that I've been trying to lose for the last 20 years. That's it, I give up. I'm in my 50s now -- double nickels as a matter of fact. 55 on my last birthday and it occurs to me that I'm tired of beating myself up about this.

It would be different if I were very overweight and it was affecting my health. According to the "official" charts, I'm about 40 lbs overweight but according to REALITY (meaning, what most women really look like), I could stand to lose maybe 20-25 lbs. But I'm done with it. The Atkins diet has always worked the best for me but it's very hard to maintain. Did it once, lost 25 lbs -- gained it all back. Did Weight Watchers innumerable times -- lost 20 - 25 lbs. Gained it all back. That's it, I'm done. I joined the YMCA a couple of months ago and I try to get there 3-4 times a week. I do 30 minutes of cardio and then 30 minutes on the machines. That's it. I'll be fat, but I'll be fit, dammit. Hmmm... maybe not "fat", exactly.... Fluffy. I'll be fluffy... but I'll be fit.

This month, I'm pushing the pearls. Pearls for the other girls, I call them. Not Charlotte-from-Sex-and-the-City-pearls. Big fat glass pearls and smooth and lumpy natural coin pearls.

Ya gotta love pearls... but they don't have to be perfect, you know? And neither do I.

Creative Flow

2008-11-09T14:56:00.003-05:00

I'm still on an Obama-high! For the last couple of days, I've found myself waking up, thinking, "Did it really happen? Is Obama really President?"

Yeah, it really happened. Yes, we can, and yes, we DID.

I seem to be on a real creative jag lately which I guess is attributable to being in a lighter mood these days. Still have a lot of things that need fixing in my life but I DO have hope. I also have a few shows coming up this month and I'm really hoping that they go well. Tis the season, after all, right? Obama's win doesn't mean the economy is automatically fixed -- we've got a long way to go. But I do think that people are feeling more hopeful, and let's face it, whether we're broke or not, most of us still try to squeeze out a few bucks for the holidays.

It Happened. In My Lifetime.

2008-11-05T06:58:00.009-05:00

My mother was deeply involved in the civil rights movement when I was growing up. Picket signs, sit-ins, and peace marches were as much a part of my life as going to school every day. Idealistic young white men and women -- "freedom workers" -- slept on our couch, and sometimes on our floors, after staying up half the night planning a protest. My mother called me at 6 am this morning to ask me if I'd taped President-elect Obama's victory speech.

I didn't. I fell asleep. I woke up for a minute to hear part of McCain's concession speech, so, somehow, in my hazy mind, I knew that there was a Democrat in the White House.

I didn't vote for Obama because he was a black man. I voted for him because he wasn't a Republican and I did not believe the country could survive four more years of Republican rule. But I couldn't be more proud this morning. Honestly, I never thought I'd live to see the day; the personification of Martin Luther King's speech, "I Have a Dream".

Your Vote is Your Voice

2008-11-03T10:31:00.003-05:00

Vote, please.

Just do it.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T09:34:00.010-04:00

Not a big fan of Halloween, really, not since I was a kid. But it's mostly a happy holiday for most (especially dentists everywhere, no? LOL!) so I figured I'd try to get in the spirit.

Halloween notwithstanding, fall is the best time of the year. Sweater weather. Changing leaves. I took a walk with The Object of My Affection the other day and took the pictures here (except for the one to the left; he took that one. That's me and it was my idea to take it with my back to the camera.)

I've been on quite a creative jag in the past few weeks. Surprises me since my mood has been very up and down lately. Hmmmm... maybe I should start tracking this to see if I'm more creative when I'm happy or when I'm depressed.

Let's see... what else have I been up to? I got a few sales this month which always makes me happy, especially now. Is everyone as poverty-stricken as I am, or is it just my perception? I'm way too old for this.

Getting ready to send out the next newsletter. Let's see if I can drag myself into a shiny happy mood before I start writing. :-)

Sorry about the messy layout. Blogger can sometimes be a bit... cranky.. about layout and I'm not up to wrestling with it right now. :-)

Passages

2008-10-29T08:04:00.003-04:00

My crafting group, Artisan Beaders Street Team, suffered a terrible loss this week. Our dear member, Cori Portalatin passed away suddenly.

I didn't know her very well but our few interactions were wonderful. She was a very talented, energetic, and enterprising young woman and she will be missed by many, many people. I am quite honored to be a member of Artisan Beaders. The caring and compassion of this group is absolutely phenomenal.

Do It Afraid

2008-10-27T11:41:00.006-04:00

Participated in a craft show this past weekend that turned out to be one of the worst. The weather was horrific! Heavy rains and high winds. My table was inside a structure sort of like a big top circus tent. Having never actually been to a live circus, I'm no expert but I think that's the best way to describe it. My friend's table was stationed outside. I lent her my tent which totally collapsed, along with a few other vendors' tents in the high winds and rain. In fact, all of the outside vendors packed up early and even the food vendor left early. Food vendors are usually the last to go.
Not exactly a good time, unfortunately. In addition, the area where the fair was held is not really my market but I figured I'd take a shot at it anyway. Won't be doing that again.

But there's almost always an up side, right? Here it is: I did a show by myself for the first time ever, and it wasn't bad at all. I was worried for nothing! All it takes is a little preparation and planning. My username on gmail is "do it afraid" because that's the personal mantra I've been living by for the past 10 years or so. I decided to do almost everything I was afraid to do, at least once, even if I was terrified. I flew on a plane -- twice, yet! Don't think I'll be doing that again. But I did it even though I was terrified at the mere thought of being in a plane. I dated a much younger man -- still am -- not sure how long it will last or if I'd do it again. So far, so good. And I did my first craft show alone. Afraid. But I did it and now I don't think I'm afraid anymore. Kudos to me! It was kinda fun, actually, and I'm ready to try it again. Wish me luck.

By the way, I made three sales at the show. Yay.

Surprise, Surprise....

2008-10-21T13:30:00.014-04:00

I don't like surprises. Never did. Whatever's gonna happen -- good, bad, or otherwise, I like to know what's coming. I like to prepare. Recently I got a very unpleasant surprise from a jewelry supplier.

As I have to watch my extremely limited funds like a hawk, I've been trying to spend more wisely, less impulsively, and to plan a little before I purchase supplies for my jewelrymaking. Comparison shopping is very important here. I recently did some comparison shopping for an item I need for an upcoming craft show (the Handmade Faire in Medford, NJ on Sat, October 25. Please stop by if you're in the area). I needed some jewelry displays and forgot to order them a few weeks ago. Went to one of my favorite online suppliers, Fire Mountain Gems, but the item I wanted was out of stock. I'd heard about Nile Corp from other crafters so I figured I'd take a look. They had displays similar to the ones I wanted and slightly less expensive than I'd seen them elsewhere so I decided to give them a try. I knew I'd get killed with shipping costs since I needed them sent 3-day but I took a big swallow and plunged in. Nile Corp has an app on their site that gives you an estimated shipping price based on your zip code. The price returned was $18. WAY more than I'd hoped to spend but I figured this is the cost for not being on top of this and forgetting to order them sooner. After I placed my order, I saw that Nile Corp did not show the shipping cost on the invoice. Instead there was a notice that I would have the shipping cost included on my final invoice when the order was shipped. That should have been a HUGE red flag for me but since I assumed I knew what the shipping price would be, I wasn't that concerned about it.... until I got the final invoice via email.

Instead of $18 for 3-day FEDEX, they'd added $26 in shipping fees to my order! WTF?! According to the tracking info they sent, the item was already on the truck. I immediately sent a strongly worded email to Nile Corp advising them that I was extremely unhappy with the way they handle their shipping. I have received no response.

To my fellow crafters: AVOID NILE CORP like the plague, or at least, pay CLOSE attention.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled whatever.

Addendum: While I was writing this, I got an email from NILE Corp which reads:
The shipping estimate that you see online is not the correct charge. Unfortunately, we cannot obtain the shipping charge until we have your order processed. At sometimes, it might be less but we do advise of a $15 difference for shipping confirmation. What this means is that, if the shipping charges are off by $15, (more) we will call or email to confirm prior to shipping. We do apologize for any inconvenience.

Again I say, WTF??? I've been online for more than 15 years and have done a lot of shopping on the web and have NEVER encountered this type of situation -- EVER. Shipping fees have ALWAYS been clearly stated somewhere on the page so that a customer can cancel if it's too high. But NILE doesn't bother to get in touch unless there's a $15 difference? I responded by stating, more or less, what I just wrote. I'll not be shopping with NILE again. I'd advise crafters to proceed with caution with this supplier.

The Artisan Beaders Holiday Gift Guide

2008-10-06T13:19:00.004-04:00

The Artisan Beaders Holiday Gift Guide is now up and running at: http://abstgiftguide.blogspot.com

What is this, you say?

The Artisan Beaders Street Team is an incredibly talented group of artisan jewelry and beadmakers on Etsy.com with whom I am proud and pleased to be associated.

Our mission:

Begin with a passion for beads. Combine with creativity. Mix with encouragement. The result is Artisan Beaders; a charismatic group committed to providing the knowledge, resources and support to help members succeed in their entrepreneurial dreams.
Artisan Beaders: Infinite Inspiration.

As I said in the last post here on my blog, in these troubled economic times where you have to watch every penny and budget your money carefully, you still need to be able to treat yourself or someone you love just a little bit. It's what makes life worth living; what breaks up the monotony of getting up- going to work- coming home- eating dinner- going to bed- and then doing it all over again the next day. The holidays are coming. Whether we're ready for them or not. Buying from an artisan specializing in handcrafting fells several birds with one stone:

- You get something pretty and unique
- You help a small business owner
- You shop online thereby saving gas -- thereby saving money AND the planet
- It'll put a smile on the face of the person (people?) you give your items to.

You feel good, the recipient(s) feel good, and the artisan feels good. What could be better?
Check it out: The Artisan Beaders Holiday Gift Guide

Mad Money

2008-09-25T10:30:00.004-04:00

Wiktionary online defines mad money as "A sum of money, often relatively small in amount, kept in reserve to use for impulsive, frivolous purposes."

In these challenging financial times, when you're scrambling for rent or mortgage, credit card payments, food, gas, and anything else that keeps you from having to live in a cardboard box, it's hard to even think about holding on to any mad money, or even having any. Still, I think it's absolutely necessary in order to hold on to one's sanity; one of those teeny tiny things that makes life worth living.

Even when I'm scrambling, scraping the bottom of the barrel, wondering/worrying about what the next month, year, day! will bring, I make it a point to have my little indulgences whenever I can. Sometimes it's five bucks for a lottery ticket. Sometimes it's an expensive chocolate bar and trust me, once you have one of those, it's hard to go back to Hershey's. And sometimes it's a small piece of jewelry that I just have to have. Like these featured on this page. A friend and fellow crafter made these beautiful brass roses and despite having next to no cash for supplies or any other sorts of indulgences, I had to have them. Had to. You know what I mean. It's those little things that get you up in the morning and put a smile on your face when everything else around you is going to hell in a handcart.

Someone once told me, "Control ends at the tips of your fingers. You can only control you, not others around you. So don't try. You may not be able to change circumstances but you can change your reaction to them," and I've tried to hold on to that in these challenging times. I'm still working on it. So. Sometimes I put my worry aside just for a few minutes, throw caution to the winds, and follow a teeny tiny impulse to buy, eat, wear, see something beautiful.

And I almost never regret it.

Happy Accidents

2008-09-14T14:27:00.007-04:00

The ongoing war between my practical side and my creative leanings is ever present and well, sometimes exhausting. I'm always editing, editing, editing. "... Is this too much? Does this color go with this one? Are there too many beads on this thing? Is this going too far?" I think I often err on the side of being too conservative. The rare times when I'm not overthinking things sometimes allows me to create a new earring design that I really love, something that would not have happened, I think, if I'd given it too much thought. A happy accident. I like that phrase -- happy accident. The earrings in the photo were one such happy accident. Truth be told, I made (and sold!) something similar earlier this year with creamy white coin pearls but I usually don't revisit a design I've made before, and the pearls were smaller and flatter. It didn't occur to me at the time to make anything else with the brass filigree.
In any case, I love the color, feel and look of the smooth, pale green tallow jade beads on my worktable. I happened to have the brass filigree flowers in a pile of other stuff. I put them together 'cause that's what was in front of me on the table at that moment. Voila! (By the way, did I ever mention that one of my biggest pet peeves is people who don't know that "Voila" is French in origin and is not spelled "Wahlah" or "Walla" or anything like that? I can't tell you how many times I've seen that on the web and it pains me. I'm a word Nazi. I admit it.)

More happy accidents, I say! Less editing and more going with the flow. Not sure what the end result will be; we'll see. As they say on Bravo TV, "watch what happens".

Memories of 9-11

2008-09-11T08:22:00.004-04:00

It's said that time heals all wounds. I'd say it heals most of them. Time can be a blessing because while it may not take away pain, it definitely dulls it. Last year at this time, I barely remembered or acknowledged the anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy. This year I didn't remember it immediately either; I turned on the news this morning and there it was. And then I remembered everything.

I was living in my hometown at the time, New York City. I was late for work as usual and as I was riding the subway, we suddenly stopped in the tunnel. Over the loudspeaker, the conductor said that there was a report that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Like most people who didn't actually witness the tragedy, we all thought it had to be a small plane that had somehow lost control. The train started moving again and when it got to the stop, the next to last stop in Brooklyn, it was announced that no trains would be going into Manhattan. They were going to turn around and go back through Brooklyn. This isn't that unusual in New York City; train schedules get modified all the time. I worked in downtown Brooklyn, right across the river from Manhattan, just a few blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge. As I approached the office building, I saw dozens of people standing out front, looking up. Everyone remembers that day as beautiful and sunny, with a clear blue sky and puffy clouds and I do too. I saw some friends in front of the building who said that they had seen the plane hit the Trade Center from the office window. Rumors started going around that it was a military plane. No one's cell phones were working... and that's when I started to panic.

I took the elevator up to the 21st floor where I worked. The TVs were on in the conference rooms where some people were gathered, some crying, some obviously in shock. When I found out what had happened, I ran to my desk to call my daughter. She worked just a few blocks from the World Trade Center at the time. I couldn't get through but there was a voicemail from her asking me what she should do. It took several phone calls to get back to her and I could feel the panic rising in me with each unsuccessful attempt. Finally I was able to reach her and I told her to go to my sister's apartment if she could get there. My sister lives on the Lower East Side in the apartment we all grew up in, so I figured if she could get there she would be safe. My mother somehow got through to me on the phone and told me that she had called my sisters and brothers and everyone appeared to be safe. My sister was supposed to be on a plane that morning but she didn't go; I don't remember why.

At that point, I went home. It was about 10:30 or 11 am, I think. I didn't ask anyone, I didn't speak to anyone, I just left. When I got downstairs, I saw papers all over the street that looked like someone had swept them off their desk and they'd flown out the window. Days later, I learned that these were some of the papers that drifted across the river from desks in the World Trade Center. I lived in Brooklyn at the time, about two miles from work. Flatbush Avenue is a main drag in Brooklyn. It goes through the entire borough so I took that route, along with hundreds (thousands?) of others. There was no traffic that day. There was barely a sound as we all walked. A few minutes after I started the journey, I looked back and saw great billows of black smoke behind me in the distance. That's when I lost it. Never one to cry in front of others, I broke down and sobbed right there in the street, walking up Flatbush Avenue.

When I got to my apartment, I turned on the TV, then called my mother and my boyfriend. I held my breath waiting for my daughter to call, praying to whatever god there is that she was safe. As it turned out, she'd gone to her boyfriend's office. He also worked not far from the World Trade Center at the time. Luckily they found each other and wound up walking home across the bridge hours later. I still get choked up about our conversation to this day. When I asked her why she didn't go to her aunt's house, she said, "Mom, I thought it was the end of the world. If I was going to die, I had to be with one of the two people I love most in the world. If I couldn't get to you, I had to get to him."

I used to work in the World Trade Center. I actually worked there just before I got the job that I had at the time. Two weeks in, I got a call from my former manager asking me to come back. I declined because the office was on the 69th floor and being somewhat elevator-phobic, I was never comfortable riding in them every day. It was months before I could look at the list of names. It had been several years since I worked there but when I finally worked up the courage to look at the list, thankfully I didn't see anyone's name that I recognized. I think the office had closed or moved to another location.

The day Kennedy was shot. The day Martin Luther King was shot. 9-11-01.

If anyone asked me what I did last week at this time, I couldn't tell you. It amazes me how much detail you can recall when something this traumatic happens in your life.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-09-09T14:34:00.007-04:00

Today's my birthday.

I never used to be coy about my age. Never understood why people bothered to lie about it, especially women. It occurs to me now that it didn't bother me because I was often taken for many years younger than my chronological age. But now, it appears to be catching up with me and I'm as vain as the next woman. I see a little droop here, a little sag there, a few lines that weren't there before.

Darn.

It's OK, though. You get older or you die.. there's no third way, right? The thing is to do it with grace. Heck, I've got grace coming out of my ears. :-)

So. Many years ago, I worked with a friend who told me that traditionally, instead of expecting gifts on one's birthday, one is actually supposed to give them to others. She always brought in donuts or bagels for everyone at work on her birthday. I kinda like that so, in celebration of my birthday, I'm having a 10% off sale. Except for CLEARANCE items, anything else in the shop can be had with a 10% discount this week only if you say "Happy Birthday" in the "Notes to Seller" box on Etsy.com.

So here it is again for clarification:

10% off from today until Saturday, 9/13/08 at midnight ET, if you type in "Happy Birthday" in the "Notes to Seller" box in my Etsy shop and this doesn't apply to any item listed in the On Sale section. When you make your purchase, stop when you get to the step where you have to pay for your item. I'll get the notice that you have 'purchased' an item in my shop and then send you an invoice via PayPal with the 10% discount. If you make a mistake and pay for the item, I'll refund you back the 10% via PayPal.

Happy Birthday to me; 10% for you.

A Witness to History

2008-08-29T07:03:00.008-04:00

If anyone had asked me ten, even five years ago if there would ever be a black President in my lifetime, I would have said, "Of course not!" I didn't think the country was ready for that and I'm still not sure it is.

I was raised by a woman who was very active in the civil rights movement. I remember sit-ins and picket signs. I remember young people, black and white, working for change, coming from other neighborhoods, other states, spending the night on the floor of our apartment so that they could attend a nearby rally the next day. Times change, people change, and things are better today for people of color in this country. Better... not best. Nowhere near where they should be. But better, yes, without question. Still, I never thought I'd live to see this.

If Barack Obama doesn't make it all the way to the White House, that's OK. It's alright. I lived to see a black man get the Democratic nomination for President of these United States. No matter who you are planning to vote for, know this: you have witnessed history this week.

=====================

Moving on.

I'd planned to send out the third edition of my newsletter by now but I haven't done it because I haven't quite wrapped my mind around what the topic should be. I think it will be something about the change of seasons.

Some people celebrate spring as the start of new beginnings. For me, it has always been Fall. Sharpened pencils, new clothes, those notebooks with the black and white crazy pattern on the front: these are the things I think of. So. The newsletter will probably focus on the end of summer (SOOOO glad to see it go. This was not a pleasant summer for me), and the upcoming season. In terms of my crafting, this time of year really works for me. My eye tends towards darker, earthy colors; I think I'm more creative in the fall and winter.

At this year's May Fair -- a craft show I participate in -- a woman looked around my booth, touched quite a few items and then asked, "Your collection is really lovely, but do you have anything in summer colors?" Summer colors? What's a summer color, I thought? I fudged a little and looked around quickly for something that didn't appear so 'dark'. I pointed her toward the sterling silver items and tried to steer her away from the antiqued brass ones. Maybe something there might be considered appropriate for "summer"? She didn't bite. She smiled and walked away. Didn't hurt my feelings but got me thinking. I'm of the generation that still thinks it's odd to wear white after Labor Day, but I've never changed my jewelry according to the season. It has never occurred to me that women do this! Talk about clueless! I did pretty well at the craft show but this woman's comments stuck in my mind and the next time I sat down at my worktable, I purposely tried to steer my eye towards lighter colored beads. When I was in the market for new supplies, I looked for light, bright "summer" beads and endeavored to make items with more sparkle. I sat at the table, put the wooden beads that I had set aside to sell as destash in front of me and tried to make myself SEE something "light" and "summery" that might appeal to the heat-seeking, summer-colors-crowd. I came up with a few things that I thought might work and waited to see what would happen.

For these efforts, I got a fair amount of new 'views' on Etsy. I gained quite a bit of 'hearts' over the summer. ("Hearts" are people who mark you as a Favorite on Etsy.com.) But a jump in sales? Nope, not really. No particular inquiries from anyone looking for light, bright, white, summer, what-have-you.....

Did I feel duped? Bamboozled? Hoodwinked?

Nah.

I'll put the lighter, brighter baubles on clearance in my shop. If they don't sell there, I'll offer them for a ridiculously low price at a yard sale. If they go home with me, I'll save them for that lady at next year's May Fair. Hope she comes back. :-)

Clean House

2008-08-21T07:59:00.008-04:00

"Who wants a clean houuuuuuuuuuuuse?"

While flipping through channels one day a few months ago, I stumbled onto the show "Clean House" and became instantly addicted. As one whose home has always been a bit "lived in", I can understand how some of those people lost control of the situation. Others just make me want to shake my head... but I don't 'cause you know, there's that thing about people in glass houses, etc.

The one room that would definitely qualify me for a visit from Niecy Nash is my office/workshop. No, I'm not posting any pictures of it here. Way too embarrassing. Seriously. I try to get a handle on it but it somehow keeps getting away from me. I need more and better shelving and a larger workspace and until I get it, well, it's just gonna be the messiest room in the house. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Speaking of cleaning house -- have decided to roll back prices just a wee bit. The economy truly sucks and I've been terribly affected by it. Seriously, I'm worried. And I'm not unaware that many are doing worse than I am. But you know, in the past, in my single parent days when I was really scraping the financial bottom, my mother often commented, "Wow, for someone with no money, you always manage to look sharp!" :-) I don't know about all that but I do know that it's natural to want to look your best no matter what your financial status. My latest inspiration? Sarah Jessica Parker and Steve & Barry's line: BITTEN. I'd never heard of either Steve or Barry before I saw an interview with SJP regarding creating a clothing line that is aiming to sell high fashion, affordable sportswear. Steve and Barry, whoever they are, were smart to put SJP out in front of this (no offense to SJP -- looove that girl -- but I don't think she woke up one morning in her fancy NYC apartment and life and decided on her own that the less fortunate should be fashion forward. Oh, Lee. You are SO cynical.)

Anyway, borrowing a tagline from an entity I am WAY less fond of, I've decided to roll back prices. Nothing in my shop will cost more than $20 and many will be priced closer to $15. Clearance items will go for less.

And, if you can stand just one more teeny weeny item in your In box, you'll reap some rewards: sign up for my newsletter and you'll get a coupon you can use for even more savings.

Let's get through the tough times together -- and look good while we're doing it!

A Perfect Day

2008-08-17T06:34:00.007-04:00

I was chatting with a friend of my mother's many years ago, when I was maybe 12 or 13, and she commented, "You always say you 'love' this or that: you 'love' that ice cream, or you 'love' that TV show . You should say you LIKE them. If you keep saying you 'love' everything, you won't know what love is when it really happens."

Food for thought. I've recalled that conversation many times over the years. But the fact is I tend to be a bit theatrical in spite of myself. My speech is an ongoing exercise in hyperbole; I probably describe everything as the "best" this or the "worst" that... and let's face it, few things in this world are actually "perfect". But I've evolved into a carpe diem kind of person, so:

...this really was a perfect day. And I loved it. So there. :-)

The weatherman predicted rain in the morning, but there was none. Instead we got blue sky and puffy clouds and the summer heat was bearable for a change. Hot, but dry. It almost feels like fall even though we're many weeks away. Today was my fourth anniversary with the Object of My Affection and we spent it taking a long leisurely drive to Atlantic City. Traffic was light, the roads were great, and we actually both won for a change. It's been awhile! He's luckier than I am. Me, I'd just about stopped going because I was tired of donating my hard-earned cash to the slot machines. But The Universe decided to smile on us, I guess. Took some lovely pictures at the beach and then took a leisurely drive back home. And yes, those are my toes in the picture above. On the boardwalk. In Atlantic City. Where I WON 50 bucks - yay!

The post above is a departure from my usual rambings about jewelry and my trials and tribulations surrounding that. But just so I don't leave without mentioning my craft at all:

One of my neighbors stopped by not long ago. She was carrying a small bag and she said that she'd been going through a lot of old jewelry that she was planning to toss. It occurred to her that I might be able to use it so she brought it over. My first (uncharitable, ungrateful) thought was, "Oh great. She gets to get rid of her crap by passing it on to me." Needless to say, I was raised right so I thanked her for her thoughtfulness and accepted the bag graciously. I'm nothing if not polite... and her heart was in the right place. Truth be told, most of it went into the trash but I did manage to salvage a few items of interest. (Geez, I hope she doesn't read this blog.)

In the spirit of the 3 R's (no, not reading, writing, and 'rithmetic! Where have you been living? Under a rock? Reduce, reuse, recycle!), I polished these coppery beauties up, added a bit of jasper and handcrafted earwires and voila! I may decide to embellish them a bit more. If someone doesn't buy them soon, I'm definitely keeping these for myself.

Melancholy Baby

2008-08-12T12:41:00.005-04:00

Someone once said that one of the saddest things about growing older is being around when your friends/family/contemporaries die. I thought about this recently when I heard the news about Bernie Mac. And then again after hearing that Isaac Hayes had passed on. I remember one night a thousand years ago talking with my brother about the soundtrack album, SHAFT, and how masterful it was. I remember thinking how lucky I was to be a native New Yorker living a stone's throw from Greenwich Village, so it was easy for me to actually go and check out "Cafe Reggio" after hearing that piece on Isaac's album. A couple of years earlier, my first serious boyfriend played Isaac's "Hot Buttered Soul" over and over in his tiny apartment in a sly and slick attempt to relieve me of my virginity. For the record: he was unsuccessful.

But the music was fabulous.

The economy. The war. The upcoming election. The deaths of two very talented men... I'm feeling very unsettled these days.

I keep trying to get into my workroom and make new things or to photograph the ones I've already made but I can't seem to get motivated. In any case, I'm kind of happy with the latest items I created before being overtaken with this melancholy mood. Sparkly items are a real departure for me but I like the way some of these things are turning out. I don't know if this is good news or not -- my style is already all over the place. Now here I go adding something new to obsess over. :-)

Cool Change

2008-08-06T19:34:00.005-04:00

You know how you get a song in your head and can't get it out, no matter what you do? Lately, the song, "Cool Change" by the Little River Band has been playing in my head incessantly. I went online to download it, figuring if I heard it a few times, I'd get over it. That's what usually happens. A song I like will pop into my head, I'll go and play it a few times and then I'm "cured". Not so this time.

I'm thinking this might mean one of two things. For one -- I'm SO ready for fall. Haven't cared for summertime in quite awhile. Too hot, too humid, and there's always that annoying, hovering expectation that you should be outside doing something. When I was a kid, one of my favorite summer activities was to throw myself on the bed and spend a quiet afternoon reading a book. After awhile my mother would come into the room and say, "It's a beautiful day. Go outside. You need some air." Drove me mad. Could be I'm still reacting to that (some 40 years later? Good grief!) Or it could be all those TV commercials with shiny, happy, ridiculously thin couples dashing off to some beach or cruise. I like October. Shorter days aren't so great, but I love it when it starts to get cool enough at night to need a little sweater or jacket to go out.

Or the Cool Change might be about some change in my life. Lord knows my life could definitely use some shaking up right about now! Hmm. Might have to play the song a few more times to figure it out.

If there's one thing in my life that's missing
It's the time I spend alone
Sailing on the cool and bright clear waters
There's lots of those friendly people
Showin me ways to go
And I never want to lose your inspiration
Time for a cool change...
I know that it's time for a cool change
Now that my life is so pre-arranged
I know that it's time for a cool change

Change of subject: The stones in the earrings pictured here were sent to me without labels so I haven't a clue as to what they are. They're a turquoise color with beautiful deep red streaks and small flecks of black and white. Some of my crafty friends said they looked like they might be moss agate. Others identified it as ruby in zoisite and the online research seems to bear this out. So. If you know anything about gemstones and would like to weigh in, do drop me a line.

Sunshine

2008-07-29T09:20:00.004-04:00

I seem to be drawn to jewelry with golden hues lately .... which is a little out of character for me. Perhaps it's all this sunshine we've been getting lately. NOT a fan of summer, mind you. Way too hot and uncomfortable here in the northeast. I'm a fall baby and even now, I'm anxiously waiting for October!

Who knows what will spark creativity? There are days where you sit at your worktable and wait. And sit and wait. And you put something together, take a good long look at it and realize that no one would be caught dead in it. Then you wonder if you have used up all the creativity in your soul and if you'll ever get it back. Somehow you do, but when it's waning, I've found that it's best to just walk away at that point. Step away from the table! Put down the tools! Do something completely different. In a day or so, sometimes a week or so, it comes back. Geez, I wonder how "professional" artists/artisans make a consistent living at this!

If I could, I'd certainly love to give it a try rather than return to Cubicle Hell known as the 9-5 world but I've developed this annoying habit of eating at least three times a day and keeping a roof over my head. Darn.

Dark Days

2008-07-22T19:33:00.009-04:00

Went to see The Dark Knight over the weekend. First, I gotta say, I've been crushing on Christian Bale ever since he played opposite Winona Ryder in "Little Women".
Also, I really enjoy the direction that the Batman movies have taken lately.... less cartoonish, darker, more tortured. The Batman of my baby boomerette days was not quite so tortured and melancholy but I've been told that this is true to the way this character has evolved in recent years in the comic books. I stopped reading them many, many years ago so, who knew?

The late Heath Ledger was brilliant. Truly. I didn't care for Jack Nicholson's version of The Joker in the prior Batman movie, I must say. Heath's seemed more sinister. Let's face it, Jack Nicholson of late is one of those actors who is always Jack, always kind of winking at the camera, and his Joker was just a bit too over the top for me.

As for the part of "the girl": I don't get Maggie Gyllenhall. I've only seen her in a few movies but I just don't see talent there.

Anyway. The movie could easily have been edited down by a half hour to 45 minutes, and the storyline was more drawn out than it needed to be, but the special effects were wonderful and all in all, the film was just FUN. A solid 7.5 out of 10 stars.

New subject: Did a show on Saturday which turned out to be quite disappointing. The weather was blisteringly hot, the show was not a craft show, it was a festival, not juried, all kinds of merchandise to be bought, and I should have known better. Attendance was WAY down and I didn't make one sale. First time in a very long time this has happened. My best guess is that the heat and the desperately flagging economy were the biggest factors here. Note to self: Stick to juried craft shows where I do best.

The earrings at right are called "Lemonade". Lord knows I drank enough of it over the weekend in a vain attempt to cool off. :-(

No Fuel Required - SALE!

2008-07-13T07:23:00.005-04:00

I don't drive. Native New Yorker who's never lived farther than 100 miles away from there. I moved to a city offering fair to middling public transportation so I still don't drive and am on the fence about whether or not to learn. Having a car would make life a bit easier for sure, but -- over the past year, I've been witness to the gas price craziness. The Object of My Affection will drive around for several minutes checking the signs, rejoicing when he sees one that reads, "$3.89" instead of "$3.96". When you drive an SUV out of necessity, every single penny counts. He often talks about trading his truck in for a smaller car or truck, but he's a contractor; he needs a vehicle large enough to haul stuff around in. Sigh.

Save gas, money, and time by shopping the Artisan Beaders Street Team's "No Fuel Required" SALE now running until July 19. Just go to Etsy.com, and type in "Absteam" in the search box to see a list of talented jewelry and bead makers. You'll get to browse through several shops, less than two dozen, all with different styles and flair. No doubt you'll find something you just have to have! Follow this link to get there: No Fuel Required and look for participating shops.

Little of this, little of that

2008-07-08T02:05:00.005-04:00

The last few days have been a little bit crrrrrrrrrrazy! Had lots of fun company over the weekend but I am tuckered out! My adorable so-cute-you-want-to-eat-him-with-a-spoon grandson came to visit with his parents and my mom. I don't get to see my family as often as I'd like and I thoroughly enjoyed the visit. Grandson Lucas is entering the terrible twos at the age of 18 months and he is quite a handful! Whenever he is hungry, tired, or in a general state of frustration, he lets out a shriek that can be heard two states away! Still, I wish I could be around him every weekend and I definitely plan to see as much of him as I can.

Also went to see the movie, "Hancock" with Will Smith. Hmmm... what to say about this film...? I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars. Entertaining enough 'cause Will Smith always is, right? But the storyline had major, MAJOR plot holes, and was in desperate need of some tightening up. Not a bad way to spend a few hours, but you might want to wait for the DVD. The problem I have with Will Smith is that he is almost always, well, Will Smith. I almost always expect him to break the fourth wall and start mugging for the camera. Probably the only film I ever saw him in where I felt he almost disappeared into the role was "I Am Legend". Thoroughly enjoyed that one.

Ok, back to business. I've been working on improving the images on my selling site and I love the way they are turning out. I'd been photographing some of my items on colored paper but I think I prefer the way they look on fabric. Still experimenting. Who knew that making and selling jewelry would require advanced photography skills? I'm getting there.

Have joined a NEW group called Artisan Beaders and I believe it's just the kind of group I've been looking for. Very active, business-minded, professional and crazy talented. This is gonna be fun.

Also working on the second edition of my brand spanking new electronic newsletter. The last one was pretty well-received so I'm excited about the path this is taking. Stay tuned. If you're interested in receiving the newsletter, do shoot me an email.

Hope you had a happy 4th!

Hoop Dreams

2008-07-01T19:48:00.010-04:00

I was a huge fan of hoop earrings when I was a kid. The bigger, the better. Do you remember those old "blaxploitation" films where the women wore short afros and hoops bigger than their heads? Yeah, that was me.

Hoop earrings never really go out of style, do they? Good for dress up or dress down, the only thing that that alters is the size, shape or material. Smaller gold ones for work if you're in a conservative setting. The aforementioned giant hula hoops for hanging out in the park OR the jazz club. Can't go wrong. This month, I'm featuring variations of the classic hoop. One of the items in this collection gave this blog entry its name, "Hoop Dreams". Look for it when you go browsing around the shop.

SUMMER Colors? Summer COLORS!

2008-06-25T07:14:00.011-04:00

Had an interesting experience at the craft show I did last month. One woman spent a fair amount of time perusing through my displays and then turned to me and said, "Where are the summer colors? Do you have anything for the summer?" I was a bit flustered; I don't remember how I responded because I was clueless as to what she was talking about. I wear all of my earrings year round. Unlike my clothing, I don't put some earrings away for the winter or summer. And of course, when making or pricing items in my collections, I usually filter it through what I would wear or what I would pay ('cause it's all about me, don'tcha know! ROFLMAO!)

And then the penny dropped. I got it. I tend toward earthy, darker tones. My creative brain is eclectic and a little left of center sometimes, but I'm often accused of being too safe in the clothing I wear and the colors I choose.

So. It took me a minute or two but I figured it out and have been forcing myself to look at my collections with a more critical eye. Some changes have been made and I love the way they turned out. I also renamed the sections in my Etsy.com shop from materials-based to "occasion-based". What used to say "Glass Bead, Gemstones, Sterling silver, etc., " now reads "Jeans and a Tee", "Vintagey Bohemian", "At the Jazz Club", etc... and these may change later depending on my mood. See, that's what wearing jewelry is primarily about. Mood. And occasion. And this has been rolling around in my head for months but it was a conversation with my super-talented-best-friend-smart-as-a-whip-can't-believe-she's-really-mine -stay-at-home-mom-by-day-marketing-genius-daughter that helped me get it from head to heart to web page.

I've just recently designed a pair of earrings that I really like but that I can't seem to photograph correctly no matter what I do. Several of my crafty friends have told me that some jewelry just does not photograph well no matter what you do and I think I've truly hit the wall with this one. I love the way they look in my ears but online, I just can't seem to get it right. I've become a pretty good photographer out of necessity so I've tried different lighting, different angles, etc... the only thing I haven't tried, now that I think about it, is staging them next to something -- a book or coffee cup. Must give that a try before I post them in my Etsy shop. The aforementioned briliant daughter wrote some lovely copy for them and I'd hate for it go to waste.

Also planning to go through all of my current inventory with a serious fine-toothed comb. You'll find a few items in the Etsy shop that I brought back to life. They sold well at the craft show and since I still have some of the materials I used to make them, they are being resurrected. Plus -- I really like them! Other changes: lots of older pieces have to GO. If you're reading this, you should head to the shop some time later today because I'm going to have a sale yet again to make new room for new inventory. If you don't get on this now, the sale items will go away forever. I don't run sales very often. Come on over!

Happy Summer - almost!

2008-06-11T11:23:00.007-04:00

We've had a brutal heatwave over the past few days, and it's not even 'officially' summer yet! Temps up to 100 degrees, high humidity, the whole nine. My allergies are going nuts! The weather finally broke today. Still warm but there's a breeze, less humidity, not as viciously hot as it has been. But that heat wave was rough -- I'm thinking if this is any indication of what summer is gonna be like here in the northeast, I'm gonna shoot myself. Sigh.

The good news is that the weather has inspired me to continue to 'lighten up' the colors in my collections. I'm loving these sterling silver spear headpins I got awhile back. I kept looking at them, turning them over in my hands, trying them out with this or that, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with them. Now I know. I really love the way these "summer spears" are turning out so I've spent the morning making variations on a theme. Light, easy to wear and feminine. What could be better?

More good news: Bohema, the consignment shop that displays some of my items, has sold FOUR pairs so far. Yay! If you're in the Philadelphia area, particularly Roxborough or Manayunk, the address is 6152 Ridge Avenue. It's just the kind of shop I'd like to own and manage someday. Vintage-y, funky, casual and relaxed atmosphere and everything on display is handmade. Lovely!

Lightening Up

2008-06-06T12:17:00.005-04:00

I do better at craft shows than I do on online which I guess isn't surprising. Women like to touch and handle jewelry before buying -- I know I do. Having said that, however, I *have* bought pieces online in the past, way before I started making my own. At the most recent craft show, one of my buyers asked, "Do you have anything in summer colors?" Wasn't clear on what she meant (and wasn't thinking much about it since she bought something from me anyway - yay!) but after I packed up and went home, I took a look at my collections and noted that I do tend toward darker or more 'earthy' colors.
I am committed to staying true to my aesthetic which is, more or less, clean design with not a whole heck of a lot of frills and fuss, can't I ain't a 'frills and fussy' kinda woman. Still, I sometimes like to dress in a more feminine way than my usual dress casual thing, and over the past couple of years, I've been trying to lighten up the color palette of the clothes I wear. It occurs to me that this should extend to my jewelry as well. And if it brings more sales, hey, that works for me too - LOL!

Off-topic: Does anyone else hate those Vonage commercials as much as I do? Honestly, Vonage might have stellar service but I will never know because I've gotten to the point where I either turn the channel or mute the TV when that commercial airs. It seems like it's on 100 times a day -- that smarmy woman in that hideous orange shirt, and I hate that little hip action thing she does toward the end. Also, that "whoo hooo" music in the background -- SO annoying; which ad agency thought that up? Somebody, please remind me to try to find out so that I can avoid everything else they produce.

Have a stellar weekend, ya'll!

Catching Up!

2008-06-01T20:41:00.012-04:00

Greetings, salutations, and yes, I've been neglecting my blog lately -- shame on me! What with looking for a new 9-5 -trapped-in-a-cubicle existence, making new stuff, trying to update my website, renovate my house, maintain my relationship, and keep up with craft shows, I've barely had time to breathe. Have they perfected human cloning yet? If so, I need to be first in line. I'd definitely send my CLONE to the 9-5 job, so that the real me can stay here in my overly cluttered, majorly disorganized workshop/office and make lovely stuff all day.

Ok, first things first. The craft fair in Collingswood, NJ was fabulous as always! Lovely weather, nice people and I did pretty well. I've always been one to keep my expectations fairly low, right or wrong, so we always leave the house with two goals for a craft show:

1. Have fun
2. Make back the booth fee

I had GREAT fun and I made about 5 times my booth fee, so I'm one happy chica! (Well, I guess "mujer" is more accurate; I'm a bit long in the tooth to be considered a "chica", but I like it so I'm using it.)

You never know what will sell and once again, I was surprised. Some items that I was lukewarm about flew right off the shelf and others that I was sure would sell came right back home with me.

Who can tell? One thing I'm most proud of? I sold my first $30 pair of earrings! I generally have 3-4 price points, all roughly the same as I sell online. I bump them up slightly because I include the state sales tax. Online, you only get charged the sales tax if you live in my state. I was so amazed that I sold a pair of earrings for that price that I hardly remember which ones they were, but I think I know. If I can find the image, I'll post them here later.

Anyway. I sold out of the earrings entitled "On and On" (named after the song by Miss Erika Badu), pictured at right. These are among my favorites and I forgot to keep a pair for myself - damn. But the good news is that I've ordered more of the good stuff that inspired me to put these together. So if you've had your eye on them, stay tuned... and when you see them in my shop again, BUY them before they go away again.

Also, sold out of some earrings I made last year that got lots of views on Etsy but had been languishing in the shop since last year. Very happy with my tumbler -- buffs away tarnish and puts a lovely shine on anything I throw in there.

Second -- had a very promising second interview but I don't want to jinx it so I won't say more. Won't know anything for a few weeks anyway -- this place is slow to hire but oh, so worth it if it works out.

Third -- Went to see the Sex and the City movie today. Fabulous! Four out of five stars for me! Won't spoil it for anyone (a POX on the houses of all internet spoilers everywhere) except to say it was like one of those great weekly episodes that you talk about at work all day the following Monday. I miss those water cooler conversations with my girls at the job where I worked back then. Ah, well. Time marches on.

And better days are coming. Right? Right.

Circle of Life

2008-05-22T10:17:00.002-04:00

I'm a huge fan of Elton John's and have been for years. This morning I heard "Circle of Life" on the radio and man, I just love that song.

In the circle of life
It's the wheel of fortune
It's the leap of faith
It's the band of hope
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, the circle of life

I'll be at the Collingswood May Fair in south Jersey selling my wares this Saturday and this will be my second time there. In the midst of trying to get myself together -- do I have enough to sell, where are my displays, don't forget to throw some stuff in the tumbler -- I found myself thinking about how I started this journey a little more than a year ago. Actually, I found myself thinking about a lot of choices I've made over the years that led me to where I am now. I don't believe in regrets usually, but talk about bad choices -- man, I've made some whoppers. But if you believe in cause and effect, action and consequences, and life being a circular journey, then you must also believe that you are currently where you were meant to be. And if it isn't where you want to be, figure out where that place is, make a plan, and go there. One thing I have learned and am learning over the years is that time is the one thing you can't get back once it's spent. Try not to waste it.

Anyway...
The Collingswood Fair was my second craft fair and was SO much better than my first. I wrote about this last year when I first started this blog so I won't repeat myself here, except to say that I am truly looking forward to this Saturday. The Universe is working with me for a change in terms of granting us nice weather. Surely the weather we've been having lately has made the record books: it's been raining a few days every week for the last few and that's pretty unusual for May.

Lessons Learned Over the Past Year:
Art evolves. The pieces I make now are very different than the ones I made a year ago. I've developed a better eye for colors, shapes, textures. I prefer natural materials over plastic or resin. My earrings are stronger and better made. I'm still not sure I want to make bracelets or necklaces. I probably should... but I like earrings and I don't know why I've been feeling apologetic about that. Maybe I should have named my company "just earrings" or "ears only". :-)

Mind your business as well as your craft. I don't care at all for the business side of starting your own craft business. I like making jewelry. I like going to bead stores and becoming totally immersed in colors and shapes and rows and rows and rows of strands and findings and stones... well, let's just say it's an intoxicating experience for me. I like the satisfaction of making one perfect earring, having it turn out exactly the way I envisioned it and then, bracing for the challenge of making its match. I don't like managing inventory, figuring out taxes, organizing beads, and trying to price them using the unruly mathematical formulas suggested by my crafty friends: Add the cost of the beads (If I buy 50 at a time, that means I have to go back and figure out what ONE bead cost) to the cost of the findings (I buy 100 or 200 headpins at a time and have never stopped to figure out what they cost per headpin), to the cost of my labor (sometimes I can make an earring in 30 minutes, sometimes it takes hours to get it right) to the cost of the packaging and shipping... Ack, it makes my head hurt. If I ever get rich and famous, I'm hiring an accountant. Someone like Jean Stapleton in the movie, "You've Got Mail".

Believe in yourself.
This one is hard for me but the good news is that I found out that this feeling is not uncommon among artists or crafters. When sales are slow to non-existent, when no one seems to be interested in your art, when your creativity seems to run dry, when you see other artists making things that seem somehow better than yours, prettier? more intricate? more colorful? more something? -- it's easy to wonder if you shouldn't throw in the towel and forget about it. Don't give in. This too, shall pass. Put it down, step away from the table for a day or so. Your creativity will come back. You will get a sale. You will rediscover your love for your art or craft. I promise.

Bohema!

2008-05-15T12:18:00.004-04:00

I'm very excited to announce that some of my earrings will be sold on consignment at a very cool new store called Bohema Artisan and Vintage Boutique, located at 6152 Ridge Avenue in Roxborough (a few miles from Center City Philadelphia). Go there now.

Have been neglecting this blog a little, I confess. Once again, my real life's priorities have superceded those of my cyberlife. Sigh. But I'm getting a handle on it so please stay tuned for more frequent updates.

Change of subject: I'm not a huge fan of so-called 'reality TV' but I've just succumbed to a new addiction: Top Chef. Who couldn't love this show? Project Runway, Top Chef, and Workout are the shows that helped me survive the recent TV writers strike. Nobody eating bugs, surviving the wild, or walking around naked. I think all of them are a bit staged and directed, but these programs just seem to have a little more 'real' in their reality. Or maybe I just need a break from my other addiction: HGTV.

:-)

Supply Shop Grand Opening!

2008-04-29T12:36:00.005-04:00

Rather than continue to offer 'destash' items in my jewelry shop, I decided to open a new shop on Etsy for supplies.

Fivetonine Design Supplies is located at http://fivetoninesupplies.etsy.com.

I've got some lovely wood, resin, glass, and gemstone beads that would work well not only for jewelry but for other aft/crafting projects as well. The DIY Network is always highlighting projects where you can add beads to lampshades or cellphone charms, etc., and I think a lot of these would work very well!

Trash to Treasure

2008-04-20T23:46:00.009-04:00

Still trying to 'de-stash', so I'm highlighting these again. Anyone who sells anything on line or anywhere else knows that you always wind up with too much of this and not enough of that. So. I've got some lovely stuff that I don't need and would love to sell at sharply reduced and crazily affordable prices to other jewelrymakers or crafters out there. DO stop by and take a look.

And now for something totally different: Is anyone out there as freaked out as I am by TriStar's Pegasus -- the little video that used to play at the beginning of TriStar films? When TriStar merged with Columbia, thankfully that stopped using that creepy horse running through the clouds. But I gotta tell ya, when I watch an older film and hear the beginnings of that trumpet announcing that that huge horse is gonna go flying across the screen, I still break out in a cold sweat. If you don't know what I'm talking about, rent a copy of Philadelphia (starring Tom Hanks) or Only You (starring Marisa Tomei). At one point, I actually went out of my way to avoid renting anything by TriStar -- is that looney or what? I'm sure there's a name for this phobia but I'm clueless as to what it might be. Pegasusophobia? Flying-horse-o-phobia? If you know, do write me and let know...

Oh, Happy Day

2008-04-16T14:30:00.006-04:00

The Edwin Hawkins Singers made "Oh, Happy Day" a gospel hit that crossed over in a big way back in the 60s, I think... or maybe the 70s? Who remembers? Heard it on the radio the other day while I was cleaning and had to stop in my tracks.

Here's the mark of a true music lover: I'm an agnostic or atheist, depending on what day you catch me, but I looooove a good gospel tune. I even went to see Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, and Yolanda Adams in concert a few years ago. TWICE. Once in New York, once in Connecticut. FABULOUS show!

Anyway, I made a sale today -- oh, happy day! Sales have been slow, which is not unexpected thanks to the sagging economy. So. Whether it's been days, weeks, or months, getting an email notification of a sale is always cause for celebration.

These have been in my shop for awhile. They got a decent amount of views and lots of compliments but I wondered if anyone was ever gonna buy them. Now I can wonder no more. :-)

Just Can't Seem to Get it Right Today

2008-04-15T21:35:00.006-04:00

A thousand years ago when I was in my 20s (or maybe 30s), someone started a trend of wearing only one earring. It was often a big hoop or a key, or, a la Janet Jackson, a hoop with a key. The trend didn't last very long, though, maybe because it was kind of silly.

If you have any interest at all in reviving this trend, you might want to take a stroll around Philadelphia's Center City. Over the past few months, I've managed to come back from lunch wearing only one earring -- and I've done this three times. Three. Times. And naturally I was wearing some of my favorites. Luckily I usually make two or three pairs, particularly if it's a style I really like. Still, it's kind of embarrassing to be walking down the hall and have someone say, "Um... do you know you're only wearing one earring?" Three. Separate. Times. Argh! I'm pretty sure they got caught in my scarves or hats and went flying off somewhere when I either put on or took off my coat. Of course, this could be avoided if I remembered to put on the earnuts when I put on the earrings. And, by the way, did you know the little rubber thingy that keeps your earrings on is called an "ear nut"? Who knew? I only discovered this when I started making earrings over a year ago, and it was hell trying to look them up on Google to find a company that sold them. How do you look for something when you don't know what it's called? The word "earnut" doesn't come up in general conversation. When you're sitting around with your girlfriends, you might ask if anyone has an extra tissue.... or cigarette... or a tampon... but people just don't go around talking about "earnuts". But you can bet I'll be wearing them from now on. By the way, I bought hundreds of the little rubber thingys and almost always include them in the package when I make a sale. That is, if I remember. Sheesh.

It really bites, losing earrings. Money issues, work issues, and the generally shitty economy seem to be getting to me.

"Just Can't Seem to Get it Right Today" is a lyric in a song by a singer songwriter named Joe Purdy who I'd never heard of before I heard the song on a Kia commercial. Lately, I've been feeling a little bit disconnected; like I've misplaced my joy, or as if my chi is off-center or something. So I thought I'd borrow this song title for this post.

Just can't seem to get it right today
Just can't seem to get it right today
I think I'm gonna give up
Oh, I think I'm gonna give up...

Nah, I'm not giving up. The thing is, I never stay down for long. I made these earrings just today and haven't even posted them on my site yet so you're getting a special preview here! They are the exact opposite of my current mood: light and swingy, the color of a blue summer sky. Hey, I just decided that's what I'll call them: "Summer Sky". :-)

My Daughter, the Copywriter!

2008-04-10T14:53:00.005-04:00

In case you were wondering, this is my equivalent of "my son, the doctor". :-)

Lately, it seemed as if my creativity was flagging just a bit and I'd gotten lazy about my jewelry descriptions. So lazy that I'd bring it all the way down to naming them solely by what they were made of, e.g., if the earrings were made from hematite and silver, I'd call them "Hematite and Sterling" or something else just as snooze-worthy. So I let my fabulously creative daughter (and new mom!) loose and she began sending me the most lyrical, visual, wonderfully colorful descriptions! I've only used one so far (did I mention I had an attack of the lazies?) and only changed a word or two. I'm a fairly good writer myself but I've always been a much better editor than someone who can put together something out of whole cloth.

If I ever get rich and famous as a jewelry designer (which I plan to, of course), I guess I'll have to pay her. Imagine that: me, a small business owner with an employee -- wowza! She'd better not ask for health benefits, though! I gave that up when she went to college and I ain't going back! :-)

Crystal Blue Persuasion

2008-04-08T06:58:00.005-04:00

I named these earrings "Crystal Blue Persuasion" because I loved the blue in the aquamarine quartz. And because that song by Tommy James and the Shondells, was playing in my head when I was making them. I was a huge fan when I was a teen, about a thousand years ago.... "Crimson and Clover, over and over....."

And anyone who thinks that Tiffany popularized the song, "I Think We're Alone Now" is obviously fairly young. Listen to the original hit by Tommy James and the Shondells, please.

Years later, someone told me that Crystal Blue Persuasion was a drug song. Who knew? Geez, I was naive. Then again, so many songs were so-called "drug songs" in the 60s and 70s. If I'd known, would I have cared? On a subconscious level, I think I knew that "Cloud Nine" by the Temptations was a drug song but I was so busy trying to learn the latest dance steps and more importantly, trying to learn the lyrics, I don't think I paid much attention to their meaning at the time. In the days before the worldwide web, if an artist didn't include the lyrics in the album, the only way to discern them was to play the record over and over, write down whatever you could catch, check with your girlfriends, etc.

These days I tend to keep my radio station tuned to either soft rock or oldies stations so I'm not always up on what's new out there unless it becomes the kind of megahit you hear everywhere. So, every now and then instead of listening to the news when I get up in the mornings, I turn to VH1 or MTV to see what's new. (I only watch the news to catch the weather anyway and to make sure there aren't any serial killers roaming the area that morning.)

I gotta tell you: I ain't all that impressed with what I'm hearing lately. I watched the latest video by Maroon 5. Mmmm... not great. And the music tended to drown out the lead singer. Since Adam Levine sings lead on all their hits (I think) and does it quite well, it's probably not a good idea to drown him out. "These Days are Gone" by Matchbox Twenty. Just OK.

Saw Madonna's new video with Justin Timberlake, "4 Minutes". Hmm. Ok, I guess. It's common knowledge that Madonna started her career as a dancer as well as a singer. Can I just say, I always liked her singing better than her dancing? She dances like a white girl. Always has, always will. I'm an enormous fan of her music and I admire the fact that she definitely puts a lot into her videos and always has. But honestly, Britney Spears is a better dancer, if you ask me.
Sorry. Guess I'm getting old. It takes way too much to impress me.

Meaningful lyrics. A tune I can't get out of my head for days. Passion. Emotion. An immediate, visceral reaction: the song makes me tear up or smile as soon as I hear the first few bars. It doesn't have to have all those elements, mind you. But two or three work for me. "Yeah" by Usher comes to mind. Not exactly a profound song lyrically, but the music, oh, man, the music -- made you get out of your seat the instant you heard it. The video came across as if everyone had a fabulous time filming it. It's a few years old now but I still bob my head when I hear that song. "No One" by Alicia Keys. For the most part, I find her songwriting to be a little thin and repetitive, not terribly deep, but the way that song is put together is anthemic and energetic. You find yourself tapping your feet and bobbing your head in spite of yourself.

Is that too much to ask from music today?

Finally....

2008-04-04T07:19:00.004-04:00

... broke my plateau! Yay! The scale wouldn't move for THREE weeks and I was getting pretty discouraged. But then I decided to go to my favorite source for information -- the web, of course -- and found out what I could do to break a weight loss plateau: Try different exercises, watch your eating to make sure you're not slipping up, and wait for the body to readjust. So, I did a little more weight lifting this week and also worked out with a couple of my favorite TV exercise gurus: Gilad and Cathe on Fit TV. I dropped FOUR pounds this week. Color me happy!

I call these earrings "White Eggplant". I don't know if it's because I've been making an extra effort to incorporate vegetables into my lunch and dinner meals for months now.... or because I've got summertime on my mind. They just look like white eggplant to me (which I like to look at but not eat, by the way - LOL!). I'm wondering if I should ask my talented daughter (who has the soul of a copywriter, if not the actual job) to come up with a name for these.

So. I broke down and ordered the liver of sulphur to darken my earwires and findings. So much for living green, right? The problem with trying to reduce your carbon footprint is that sometimes it's costly, inconvenient or time-consuming. Sometimes all three. But I tried. Really. The egg method was just too messy, took too long, and it was using up all my eggs. Have you been to the supermarket lately? Eggs are getting to be expensive little suckers! I don't care much for eggplant, but I gotta have my ham and cheese omelets - LOL!

Anticipation

2008-03-28T09:13:00.003-04:00

13 pounds down- yay! But I'm stalled... Hit the plateau that sometimes happens when you lose 10-15 lbs. As I understand it, the body is 'readjusting' to the new weight and refuses to lose more unless you change up your routine. Sigh. This is complicated by my having injured my already-arthritic right knee to the point where intermittently, I can't put any weight on it without sharp pain. Sigh... which means no treadmill. The exercise bike is a little boring but I'm gonna have to use it and work hard enough to work up a good sweat if I wanna break this plateau. And I DO. To that end, I bought some stuff from the drugstore that's supposed to help arthritic joints and I'm gonna rest the knee and Icy Hot it to death all weekend. Luckily I'll be alone this weekend. :-)

I'm experimenting with oxidizing silver. Thanks to my crafty friends on Etsy.com, I've just learned that I can oxidize (blacken) sterling silver with a boiled egg. The sulfur apparently causes a chemical reaction that darkens the silver. Problem is -- I think it takes too long. Apparently the egg has to be hot and if it cools, it stops working. It was suggested that I stick the egg in the microwave to heat it back up again and then put it back in the sealed bag with the jewelry. Tried that... it's working ... but I'm not a patient woman. So, off to buy some liver of sulphur which apparently does the same thing but it's faster. Oh yeah, and toxic. Which kinda messes with my ongoing attempts to reduce my carbon footprint. Oh well. Maybe I can balance it out someplace else in my life.

Stormy Monday

2008-03-24T09:35:00.005-04:00

"They call it Stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad....."

Truer lyrics were never written! It's actually sunny out today but my mood is kinda stormy today. I despise Mondays. I used to joke that "they can just take Mondays out of the week for me and I'd be one happy woman!", until someone pointed out rather obviously that in that case, Tuesdays would psychologically become Mondays, and then what would I have to complain about? :-)

I guess most of us wage slaves hate Mondays. Even when I had a job I loved many years ago, I've had to fight the urge to call in sick every Monday for the past 25 years. I mean, every single one of them. Sigh.

New subject: One of the teams on Etsy.com is EtsyBEAD, a group of very talented crafters who come up with a weekly theme to highlight their wares. This week's theme is "Stormy Weather" and the earrings you see above are one of my selections, part of a new line of all sterling silver or mostly sterling earrings that I've been working on. Hope you like them. More than that, I hope you buy them. :-)

I selected them for this theme because of the steel gray hematite bead. Gray = stormy, right? :-)

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T11:41:00.004-04:00

Happy Easter, ya'll!

I don't really celebrate it so it's just another Sunday for me. I'll probably spend it making new stuff (the item on the left is brand new!) and vegging out with HGTV reruns. I miss coloring Easter eggs with my daughter but I guess I'll just wait until my grandson is old enough for that sort of thing.

Still on my new health plan (trying not to refer to it as a diet). I've lost 12 pounds so far but I fell off track a little last week. My supervisor at work is our resident chocoholic. Last week, she brought in these humongous gourmet chocolate bars and put them out at the front desk. Needless to say, I found half a dozen reasons to go out there and hence, I had half a dozen pieces of chocolate. Luckily my new health plan includes exercising 5-6 days a week so my scale reports that I didn't lose anything this week... but I didn't gain so that's always good. And my clothes are starting to get looser! I really need to atone for my slips last week but hey, it's Easter... I just might have to go searching for a chocolate bunny....

I'm not following any particular eating plan; I'm convinced that the only way to make these changes stick over the long term is to eat what you want, just less of it. To that end, I'm trying to keep the carb count down, consume more fiber, drink more water, and read labels so that I can make better choices. I just discovered Thomas' Lite Whole Grain English muffins. These things are a wonder: only 100 calories per muffin and 8 grams of fiber. I'm still scratching my head over that one: EIGHT grams? What are they making these with? Wood chips?

Craft Shows

2008-03-19T05:07:00.004-04:00

Craft show season is starting and I can't wait! I just got accepted for the second year in a row to the MayFair Craft Festival in Collingswood, NJ. We had a ball last year! Very well attended, music, food, nice people and the weather was a little hot but otherwise, nearly perfect.

We didn't make a ton of money but it was our second craft show and we learned a heck of a lot that has since improved our game. We have better displays and a better tent now, courtesy of my not-so-silent partner, and with each show, I'm managing my natural shyness just a little bit better. I was crippingly shy as a child and I'm still a little laid back until I get warmed up. But once I do, you can't shut me up! Hope to see you on May 24 in Collingswood, NJ.

This and that....

2008-03-17T16:03:00.006-04:00

Ok, so it looks like the votes are in and most of you think I should keep the blog the way it is and I think I will for now. Maybe as we get closer to warmer weather, I'll go in and look for a lighter, brighter, more 'summery' theme but for now, I'll weather the eyestrain and keep the pages as is. I've decided to bold the text until then to make it a little easier to read.

I'm selling off a lot of my glass beads so if you're in the market, take a look at my shop -- link to the right of this post. I haven't listed them all yet but plan to very shortly. I'm also preparing for an upcoming craft show, even though I haven't been officially accepted yet. Had a great time there last year and am hoping it will go well this year as well, even with the dangerously sagging economy. When the acceptance letter comes through, I'll post here where I'm gonna be in case you care to stop on by.

************

Adventures in Cubicle-Land:

Manager waited until the last possible second on Friday to edit a presentation that had to be made to an important client on Monday. The meeting was at 9 am so he wasn't coming into work; instead I was to make the edits, have the presentation copied and bound and Fedex it out to him and several others to arrive on Saturday morning.

Naturally the color copier chose that afternoon to die, I had to run several blocks to the copy shop, which didn't get to the job until late in the day, and there was no time to proof anything before Fedex pickup deadline so that it would arrive on Saturday morning. I packed it all up, put the packages in the drop box, and got home at nearly 8:30 pm, tired, annoyed, but satisfied that I'd done the best I could under the circumstances, and pretty pleased that I'd managed to pull it all off... until Monday when I discovered that Kinko's screwed up the job (missing text, some pages out of order) and manager decides that someone should be blamed and that someone should be me.

I think not.

If manager had not waited until the last minute to edit, if color copier had not died, if Kinko's had not screwed up, all would have been well. Even if I'd had time to proof all the copies, there was no time to re-run the job before the Fedex pickup deadline.

So this little minor debacle actually came about because not enough time was given to getting it all together. Not my fault and guess who's losing no sleep over this?

It's just a job, ya'll.

Look Ma, I'm Published!

2008-03-08T16:06:00.015-05:00

Just when you begin to have a little bit of a crisis of confidence, something nice happens that shores you right up again. Isn't that how The Universe usually works?

Bead Trends magazine has featured one of my earring designs on their pages in the March/April issue! Whoohooo!

Um.... is it terribly ungrateful of me to say that I don't care that much for the way they staged them? Typical Virgo; I can't help myself. I read in an astrology book once that Virgoes can immediately find the slightest speck of dust on the most beautiful painting in the world. It's a curse. :-)

Anyway, I digress. I'm actually kinda thrilled and just had to share the news.

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Crafters: I'm still "de-stashing": selling older merchandise, mostly loose glass beads, to make room for new stuff. I've just uploaded some more items to my Etsy pages. Do take a look.

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In case you missed it, I've been thinking of changing the colors of the blog to a white background or some other color. I think the black is kind of striking but it's a little hard on the eyes so I was thinking of changing it. Would love some opinions -- if you'd care to share, please click the poll on the top right. Thanks!

Simplify, simplify...

2008-03-06T22:11:00.008-05:00

Thoreau said, "our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, SIMPLIFY!" To that end, I'm finally making some attempt to de-clutter my life, starting with my workroom. I swear, I lost the cat in there the other day! I hadn't seen him for awhile and figured he'd gone to sleep in the little playhouse we bought him downstairs or on my bed (grrrrr....) but after a little while, I just happened to look down and found him curled up on the closet floor in the workroom, and I barely noticed him because he's the same color as the pile of clothes, shoes, bags, stuff he was laying on. But I digress...

Buying beads is not unlike buying clothes. You go to the store, see something you just love, get it home and then realize that you have nothing whatsoever to go with it or that it doesn't flatter you. Heaven forbid you should take it back. Some of us go back to the store, but most of us just put our "oops" purchase in the back of the closet and figure it will work if we either lose five pounds or buy a pair of shoes to go with it. In reality, it just lingers in the back on a sad little hanger, neglected. A fashion mistake. We jewelrymakers sometimes make "bead mistakes" too so, out they go! Clearing the clutter means sending all the 'stuff' I've been meaning to sell or toss to a new home. One artisan's "trash" is another artisan's "treasure", right?

If you're a crafter and you're in the market for some new stuff, visit the link on the right under "Shop Now". There are only a few things in the "destash" section now but I'll be adding more very shortly.

Time For A Cool Change

2008-03-05T13:12:00.006-05:00

This post is named after a song made popular by the Little River Band. You may remember them by another one of their hits, "Reminiscing: "Friday night, it was late, I was walking you home, we got down to the gate, and I was dreaming of the night, would it turn out right..."

Anyway. I haven't quite decided who I'm going to vote for yet but I must say that I'm getting slightly irritated by those who claim they can't elect Barack Obama because of his limited experience. Didn't stop anyone from electing Jimmy Carter or John Kennedy...

How exactly does one practice to become the Leader of the Free World, anyway?

I think I'm gonna have to mellow out on my usual cynicism, though. I must admit that I never, ever thought that in my lifetime, I would see either a black man or a woman get this far in a presidential election. Evolution -- and revolution! -- is often a sloooooow process.

Just Checking In...

2008-03-04T11:57:00.005-05:00

I'm amazed -- and very pleased -- to find that I have a tiny little following here so I just thought I'd post today to let my readers know what's going on since I haven't written in a few days. There's a poll to the right of this box. When you finish reading, I'd appreciate your help in making a decision about the blog.

I'm still planning to make some new things, reorganize my domain a little and sell some of the beads I won't be using anymore but I haven't gotten around to doing any of it. Sigh -- I need a 30-hour day. 8 hours for sleeping, 10 hours to work as a wage slave somewhere so that I can pay the bills and 12 hours to work on my craft and my website. Is that asking too much? Of course if I had my druthers, I'd eliminate the 10 hour wage slave stuff, but that's not in the cards right now. Damn. In any case, I'm committed to getting some of this stuff done this week if it kills me.

Anyway, I'm waiting for some new supplies to come in the mail which should be here any day now. Don't you just love shopping online or through a catalog? When you finally get your stuff, it feels a little like Christmas. I ordered some steel shot for my tumbler so that i can finally get started on making my earwires. I really love the look of handcrafted earwires and think it adds a little more of an 'artisan' feel to my work. I actually handformed the ones on the earrings pictured here but I'd love to see what they look like tumbled and polished. Stay tuned.

I'm also thinking of reformatting the blog. I like the look of it now but these aging baby boomerette eyes are having a bit of trouble with white type on a black background. Been perusing other blogs to get some ideas and I'm wondering if it might be time for a change. It's a new year and I always strive to do one thing differently with each new year. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but it certainly makes life interesting. What do you think? Guess I'll find out whether this blog has a following -- tiny or otherwise -- if i don't get any responses - LOL!

Adventures in the 9-5 World

I've bored my friends and family to stupefaction with my endless griping about the insanity that goes on in the 9-5 world so I have no venue left but this one. The filmmakers who created the movie, "Office Space" should be canonized. Truly.

The latest insanity: The director of the department (whom I support) came over to my desk yesterday to make a request: "If you get here before I do, can you turn the light on in my office?"

WTF? What is this about? Are you afraid of the dark? Too elitist to touch your own light switch?

I asked one of the other admins about this and was told, "Oh, he just likes people to think he's in even when he isn't."

How do you even make such a request? Is it that you don't mind sounding completely foolish... or perhaps that it's OK to sound completely foolish to your administrative staff because their opinions don't matter?

Sometimes all you can do is just shake your head in disbelief.

Annoyance #2: One of the staff members had to reschedule her midyear review so she came by my desk to have a look at the director's calendar. He was pretty booked and there was one entry this Friday that took up most of the day. Since he manages his own calendar some of the time, I was reluctant to book something there. In addition, a fair number of the consultants take Fridays off or work from home. This staff member kind of insisted that she be scheduled and kept saying, "Well, what about that time," clearly pointing to the booked entry. I looked at her, telepathically communicating that she was getting on my nerves and then she said, "well, not exactly at that time, maybe before or after." Ummm... yes, 'cause how much sense would it make for me to put you in at the same time as another appointment. Of course it would have to be before or after, and you'd better hope he's in that day or we'll have to do this all over again, I wanted to shout.

Deliver me.

Annoyance #3: The director called me in at the end of the day and wanted to know had lunch been ordered for the big meeting tomorrow. Since no one had told me to do so nor did I even know there was a big meeting, I said, in my most professional voice, "I have absolutely no idea." He said, "Oh. Well let's call Susie (the other admin and no, that's not her real name)." He then proceeded to call her on the speakerphone and said that he and I were on the phone and wanted to know if lunch had been ordered; she said no. He then told her what he would like and how much to order. He hung up with her and then said, "so now it's done." Now, I'm guessing this little exhibition was to show me what I'm supposed to do next time. Seems to me this could have been conveyed in a better manner. Silly me. See, it's stuff like this. This is why I'm slowly and deliberately planning my escape....

Is That All There Is?

2008-02-28T11:41:00.007-05:00

"Is That All There Is", is the name of a very depressing song popularized by Peggy Lee in 1969 or 1970, I think. Not feeling particularly depressed today, just somewhat philosophical.

I didn't get yet another job I applied for but I can't say I'm terribly upset about it. When you've interviewed as often as I have, you get a little numb after awhile. The economy is playing havoc with my life, as it is with many others. Nearly every interviewer has mentioned that they've been deluged with resumes... which makes me feel somewhat special that I made the cut and they took the time to dig mine out and schedule me for a phone or face-to-face interview. But the search continues. I've finally realized that for the most part, one executive admin position is no different than the next one or the last one, really. Basically it comes down to choosing one that bores you the least, working with people you dislike the least, doesn't it? :-)

Made an interesting observation this week: Where I currently work, the admins tend to rush around all the time. Whether they're going to the copy room, retrieving a file, etc., when asked to complete a task, they nearly bolt out of their seats and are often scurrying about with paperwork in their hands and a "can't talk now, very busy, gotta do this immediately" look on their faces. Is that what's required in administrative support today? Scurrying? I understand priority-setting and deadline-meeting and all that, but this rushing about as if one was delivering life-saving medicine is kind of amusing. :-) At first I thought it was my being a little older than some that made me less likely to 'scurry'... but now that I've observed some of my peers, I see that age is only partly responsible for my outlook. It's about attitude and perspective. I suppose my feelings about it now are that as long as I'm doing the very best job I can, there's no need to "scurry". Frankly, I didn't do much of that when I was younger, anyway. :-)

On to more pleasant subjects - jewelry! My focus for the foreseeable future will be changing just a tad. A friend of mine introduced me to the interesting world of chakra jewelry and I'd like to explore this a bit more. I like working with gemstones anyway and learning about the properties of different stones has been quite enlightening. To that end, I'm planning to do some major "de-stashing" (as they call it on Etsy.com), selling most of my glass beads and whatever else I no longer need that has been disturbing my wa (Japanese term for harmony, peace.. and why didn't I just write that instead of "wa"? I like the sound of the word "wa".). The clutter in my workspace is ridiculous and I think it's blocking my creativity flow, so time to take some steps to clear the clutter. If you're a jewelrymaker in the market for small quantities of glass beads, you may want to take a look at my Etsy shop in a week or so. If you're a jewelry buyer, you'll want to take a look too at some seriously slashed prices on the glass bead earrings pictured here as well as many others. Will announce the dates of the sale very soon.

Made a Sale!

2008-02-26T10:11:00.005-05:00

As far as my online business goes, I do OK - not as good as some, better than others and I have some plans to try to step things up a little in the future. Sales seem to come in dribs and drabs. Nothing for months, and then a little wave starts where I'm selling a few pairs of earrings at at time. I was happily surprised to log on yesterday and find that I'd sold two pairs of earrings, pictured here. The feeling is not unlike how I used to feel a thousand years ago when AOL was popular: you'd sign on and hear "You've got mail", and your heart would leap a little... that is, until the (mean-spirited, idiotic, ego-driven, small-minded, small-peckered) spammers came along and effectively killed your buzz by filling your mailbox with crap.

Anyway... online selling throws you into a roller coaster of emotions. You're thrilled when you make a sale but shortly after, the stress level builds as you wonder when or if you'll ever make another one. I imagine actors must feel something like this at times unless they're very successful. Perhaps it comes with doing anything creative.

The oppositive of creativity: In my 9-5 life, I earn my living as an executive assistant. Not a job anyone aspires to, more like one you fall into while you're waiting for life to begin, and before you know it you've been doing it for years. It's not awful but it's not usually fun and occasionally it can be infuriating. Yesterday's gripe: One of the consultants asked me to mail something and send it Certified Mail-Return Receipt. Fine... except she explained that our postage meter would probably be able to spit out the right amount of postage but still the mail had to be taken to the post office, a block away, and since our meter might be off, I might have to pony up a quarter or something. Ok. But then she went on to explain that she had already taped the green card on the back and that the postal worker would attach the barcoded slip onto the mail and the receipt would be stamped and I should be sure to bring back the receipt, and if I needed some help with the postage machine, she'd get one of the other admins to help me -- no, in fact, she would just go ahead and tell the other admin to come and help me, yada, yada, yada.... The whole time she was babbling, I was smiling and nodding and trying to reassure her that having been on the planet for a little more than a half-century, I knew how to send mail certified-return receipt. Moreover, I'd even (gasp, choke) had occasion to mail something that way for myself from time to time!

Deliver me. I've long since made my peace with the fact that some staffers treat admins as the lowest rung on the food chain but it was all I could do not to scream, "I don't have your title, money, or numerous degrees, but I've been employed at one job or another for the past 35 years, raised a child mostly by myself, never been jailed, homeless, or institutionalized. I think i can manage to mail a letter without a 20-minute tutorial, OK???"

-- End of rant --

Good news: my manager and her manager are both out of the office until Thursday. Happy Days!

Fun in the Big Apple

2008-02-25T14:29:00.005-05:00

I went up to NYC on Saturday afternoon, the day after we had a horrific snowstorm. It's a four hour trip door-to-door and I almost cancelled. I've been kind of proud of being a non-driver, saving myself extra expenses like car insurance and maintenance, and doing my little bit to reduce my carbon footprint, but boy oh, boy, on Saturday afternoon, I'd have tossed all of that stuff right out the window for a drivers license and something with four-wheel drive. There's just no faster way to get to NYC via public transportation from where I live, unfortunately. But I'm not sorry I went. Had a lovely visit with my mom for her birthday (on Saturday) and a fabulous time with my adorable grandson, my daughter and son in law on Sunday (my daughter's birthday).

My mom kind of guilted me into coming up and I confess I was feeling a tad resentful at the time but as I said in my previous post, "I'll always love my mama, she's my favorite girl". Naturally we chatted about the same nonsense things we always chat about; my mom repeated some of the same things she's told me 700 times before, and I just figured out that she must be slightly hard of hearing. She always has the TV at top volume and tends to talk loudly over it as if doesn't occur to her that she wouldn't have to shout if the TV wasn't so loud. :-) Occasionally I reach for the remote on the sly and turn it down but as soon as there's a lull in the conversation and something on TV catches her eye, up goes the volume again. And as usual, I was jarred awake at 3 am by the sound of it blaring from the living room. Like many seniors, she rarely sleeps through the night because she naps during the day, so when you go to visit, you just prepare yourself for the lack of sleep (note to self: buy earplugs!) . I usually sneak into the living room (she insists on giving me the bedroom when I stay over) and turn down the TV after she's fallen asleep around 10 pm, but of course when she wakes up she's totally oblivious to the fact that the TV volume couldn't have lowered itself... and she turns it right back up to earsplitting volume. I hope this doesn't read like I'm annoyed by it; I'm actually smiling as I type this because I'm thinking this is just one of those quirky things about my mother that will make me chuckle when I think about it years from now when she passes on.

Lost another one of my favorite pairs of earrings over the weekend -- argh! Would you believe I did the exact same thing that caused me to lose an earring the day before?? Wore a turtleneck, forgot to put on the little rubber stoppers, went to the store and came back and discovered I was only wearing one earring. Argh. Maybe I should start making post earrings - LOL! My mom's ears aren't pierced and she refuses to have them done (I've threatened to shoot her with a tranquilizer dart and carry her to the jewelry store) so I have to use clip-on fittings for her earrings. She's asked that whenever I make earrings for her, to be sure to make three: "a pair and a spare". Guess I need to do the same for myself!

I'll Always Love My Mama

2008-02-21T07:36:00.011-05:00

".... She's my favorite girl... you only get one, you only get one, yeah..." Love that song by the Intruders. I was in Au Bon Pain the other day when one of the workers was absentmindedly singing to herself as she went around washing the tables. At first it kind of annoyed me, but after a few minutes I had to smile to myself. It's a great song and yeah, I WILL always love my mama. She's celebrating her 78th birthday tomorrow. And my daughter's birthday is the day after. How cool is that? I've got a ton of things to do at home but my heart is in New York with my two favorite women so, home I will go for the weekend. Here's an oddball observation: Did you ever notice that when some killer decides to go on a rampage and starts by doing away with his parents, it's very rarely a person of color? I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but you know, even the most hardcore, ghetto-lovin', gold-flashin', tattoo-wearin, AK47-totin' gangsta reveres his mother -- and you'd better, too, if you know what's good for ya....

Lost one of my favorite earrings yesterday -- damn! (The ones pictured.) They're painted bone in a mudcloth pattern with little copper balls on the end and I'm crazy about them. See, that's what I get for not wearing the little rubber backs. Ladies, don't forget your rubber or plastic thingys, especially when you're wearing a turtleneck -- you'll be sorry! Luckily, I have a replacement bead so I can make another one. Whew.

Ok, so I did something a little drastic... but it was something I'd been planning for awhile. (Drumroll, please.)

I cut about 5 inches off my locs. Yep, I did it and here's why this is a big deal: I wore a teeny weeny afro all through my teen years and 20s. In my 30s, I started perming it off and on, but it was always fine and fragile and sooner or later it would start to break. In my 40s, i realized that if I kept chemicalizing my hair, I wouldn't have any. So. I loc'ed my hair about five years ago and at this point, it had grown to the middle of my back. Frankly, I'd gotten a little vain about it; when you've reached the half-century mark with short hair (wow, that sounds so old - LOL!), it's interesting to suddenly have hair that actually gets in your way when you're going about your normal activities. But it was kind of scraggly and heavy and was starting to become bothersome so I'd been thinking about cutting it for the last few months. So, this morning, I got a scissor, lopped off about five inches and I love it. My head feels ten times lighter! No point in being vain about long hair if it looks like crap, right? It's just brushing my shoulders now; I think it looks and feels much better!

Ok, this post is getting scarily long but here we go. Mind you, I've spent a lifetime avoiding having my picture taken and hating every picture of myself ever foisted upon me, but in the second half of my life, I've been letting go of my fears one by one. In the interest of "get over yourself, please" here goes. The first batch - where you can't see my face - are the 'before' pix:

Sorry if the layout is out a little odd... haven't completely mastered Blogger's oddball formatting yet....

Here's the "after". I might even go a little shorter! (By the way, I didn't realize that I still had conditioner in my hair when I took the second set of pictures; that's the weird white stuff you see in my hair!)

Just Like Starting Over

2008-02-19T04:41:00.006-05:00

For those of you under 40 or so, "Just like Starting Over" is a song by John Lennon, and so we return once again to using song titles here. At least, for today, anyway. You know me; I change on a dime. :-)

Been thinking a lot about The Beatles lately, ever since I watched the movie "Help!" a few weeks ago. I actually only have one or two of their CDs. We had all the albums at home when I was a kid, but that was because of my older sister. She was the record-buyer in the house (Yes, young ones, we bought records, there were no CDs/MP3s/DVDs at the time. Oh, the horror and deprivation!). I still don't shop very often for music. In any case, The Object of My Affection tends to buy everything new that comes out, so I don't have to now, anyway. Bless his heart.

Just did my taxes and oh my stars... I must do things differently this year if this is going to be more of a business and less of a hobby. The first time I saw a glass bead and the findings to make jewelry, well, it was love at first sight and being me, I dove in headfirst. I'm a hopeFUL romantic who almost always leaps first, asks questions later... which is cool but one must try not to lose one's head completely when it comes to the business end of things.
So. Thanks to the cold, money-grubbing, criminally unfair, so-archaic-it-needs-to-overhauled-or-at-least-revolted-against bloodsucking IRS machine, I have some new ideas for managing this two headed-monster (love of craft + business). I believe I've gained some insight into things I need to do differently and how I want to, and need to shake things up. I'm working on a new focus and some fairly major changes throughout this year which will benefit me and my buyers. The first change will be a major inventory sale in March while I'm working my way to the new direction and focus. Stay tuned, please.

Sex and The City redux?

2008-02-15T11:38:00.004-05:00

So, unless you've been living in a cave, you've heard about the Sex and The City movie coming out this summer -- hooray! Can't wait! Trying not to get too excited so that I won't be too disappointed, but forget it - that ship has sailed. I'm excited, OK? Feels like I should decorate this page with earrings made out of champagne glasses or stilettos, but I don't do that kind of thing. Instead, I'm sprinking the page with pink earrings - Sex and The City's signature color, and, for further silliness, please note that the earrings at the top are called "Ballerina Slippers". Since Carrie wears a tutu in the opening shot of SATC, I figure they were appropriate for the page. Come on, they do look a little like ballerina slippers, don't they?

Anyway, this post is really about the two new Sex-and-The-City-esque shows that are on TV: Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle. I've now seen three episodes of Cashmere Mafia; two of Lipstick Jungle and here's what I think. So far, Cashmere Mafia wins. I wasn't sure how interested I would be in either of them at the outset. I figured my addiction to the lives and loves of well-off white women had pretty much been satisfied by the box set of Sex and The City DVDs (Thank you again, Object of My Affection, and yes, I've even got him watching a little.)

But the writers strike left us with not much to choose from, so I had to give both shows a shot. Let me say that they are both a little silly but I like the characters just a shade better on Cashmere Mafia, except maybe the one who hasn't decided whether she's a lesbian or not. (I understand the bi-curious thing, but come on, lady, pick a team.) As for Lipstick Jungle, Brooke Shields' character is my favorite; Kim Raver... hmmm... still trying to decide (I liked her better on Third Watch, a show I miss every day), but Lindsay Price's character is whiny and silly. I can't imagine someone like Andrew McCarthy (a Mr. Big-type) being remotely interested in anyone who acts so juvenile. In addition, I find the writing a little lacking here, not really genuine, and not nearly dramatic enough. In last night's episode, when Wendy (Brooke's character) decides to go to see an unscrupulous publishing agent who is preparing to put out a nasty tell-all about her personal life, I sat waiting for the big 'tell-off' speech. It didn't come. I barely remember what she said. Very disappointing.

It's also apparent that the writers/producers of these programs have been watching that of their competitor. Some of these storylines are getting dangerously close: one of the women fooling around with a younger man; high-powered working mom trying to juggle professional obligations while being there for the kiddies. Perhaps, though, this is just what professional women in general go through, so perhaps their respective writing teams are just going to have to endeavor to not have their characters do the same things during the same week. :-)

As an aside, I can't wait until they air new episodes of The Woman's Murder Club. The premise is unbelievably unrealistic, but the writing is sharp, the personal storylines are interesting and ya gotta love Angie Harmon. That woman can really ACT.

Anyway, I'll give the two Sex-and-the-City-lite programs a few more weeks to see what develops. Stay tuned.

The Heart of Rock and Roll

2008-02-14T10:26:00.006-05:00

I generally try to avoid the whole Valentine's Day hoopla. It's nice and all, but come on, we all know it's a manufactured holiday. But so as not to be a total curmudgeon, I accept whatever gifts come my way and make sure I reciprocate in kind as best I can. I've often thought that my past suitors made a big deal out of it because they assumed they were expected to, not because I asked for anything or even anticipated it. But you know, some men do enjoy it as much as women.

In any case, I'm determined to make it a good day so I will put away my curmudgeonly-ness just for today, no matter what happens. Just because. This morning when I was on the treadmill, I heard, "The Heart of Rock and Roll" by Huey Lewis and the News (LOOOOVE that Huey!) and it instantly put me in a good mood.. and I'm gonna hold on to it, dammit, if it kills me! :-)

Make it a Good Day

2008-02-13T07:21:00.005-05:00

Is anyone else bothered by that stupid commercial pushing a brand of bread where some country couple sings, "I don't love you much, do i?" The scene is a group of friends gathering outside in someone's yard and the hostess has a loaf of this bread on the table. And I guess this setup is supposed to mean that she 'loves' them enough to serve them this fabulous bread. Is it me? The song is a love song: "I don't love you much, do I? Just more than all the stars in the sky. I think you hung the moon, and that's alright. See how it sparkles in my eyes; I couldn't hide it if I tried, that's right...." It's a little corny and sticky sweet for me, but it's kinda nice and in another context, I might be able to stand it. But my point is: We're selling bread here, people. Bread. Come on.

See, this is the good thing about being a baby boomerette -- I'm so beyond holding my tongue on anything.

And speaking of bread and tongues, guess who just dropped another pound? (Ok, it was a stretch and not a very good one. But I'm pressed for time right now so I have to think and type fast.) Those of you who have been reading regularly (who apparently have no lives! I'm kidding!) know that I am on a weight loss journey ( I love that phrase; 'journey' makes it sound so much more glamorous than it really is). This is so cool. I have discovered that I can eat chocolate every single damned day and still lose weight as long as I don't get crazy with it. I can do that.

So, let's see -- how to tie this in with my art/craft? Hmmm... I've got it. Here's a photo I took a long time ago that features both of my passions: chocolate and jewelry-making!

One more pound down. 14 more pounds to go. I'm feeling so good about this, I'm gonna go out and make it a good day*.
And here's the reference: David Hartman was the first host of Good Morning America. (I prefer the Today Show, but we're not talking about that right now.) His daily sign off was "Make it a good day."
Don't you like that better than "Have a nice day"? You're not in control of whether or not you 'have' a nice day. You get whatever day you freaking get, right?

Ah, but if you change your thinking a little and say, "Make it a good day," that hands you some responsibility for the outcome. I'm so loving that. And I just realized that I've done it again -- lapsed into the current young-person-vernacular, "so loving that". Oh, what the hell. That's the way I talk so that's the way I write. As my brother likes to day, "Deal with it." LOL - I'm on a roll today! As you can see, I tend to be a little quote-happy!