Productivity

Purple goldstone donut with a fine silver center

I realized the other day that by putting all those items in my Etsy shop for the BIG, BIG BIRTHDAY SALE, I was running low on new things to sell at my upcoming Trunk Show for the Hospitality House of Charlotte on November 20. (Look to your right for more information about that.) And, I'll need things for the galleries for Holiday Shopping. So, here are a few of the new things I've been working on in the last couple of weeks...

Fine silver pendant on a hand-forged sterling silver chain

Boulder opal set into fine silver

Black akoya pearl on fine silver

Take a deep breath... let it out slow....

Photo: Tranquility Wallpaper by Lee

I sometimes forget that language subtleties, like sarchasm and inflection, cannot be conveyed well through typing online. And other people forget, or maybe just don't realize that this is true. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten upset over something that someone has put into an email, or a message board, only to be told "I was just kidding", or "You didn't understand me". Recently the tables were turned on me and I got lambasted by someone for something I said. It escalated, got worse and we both got mad. I chose to end it and just not respond any more. There's another person that swears that we're getting "closer" just because she comments on my Facebook posts..... I haven't talked to her in person for months, and then nothing that I would call a deep conversation. These things keep me awake at night and I consider this one of my personality flaws. I just don't understand sometimes how things can get so out of hand and I go over and over it in my head instead of just letting it go.

I was visiting a friend recently and her teenage daughter spent all evening texting on her cell phone. I asked her who she was talking to and she said it was her best friend. I wondered why they just didn't call and TALK to each other, or better yet, see each other and talk in person. She said that's "just not what they do". It makes me wonder if technology is eroding our personal relationships. Do you HAVE to use the latest technology just because it's available to you? What do you do if there's a digital misunderstanding?

I suppose I should just chill over this, but it bothers me and I don't like it any more than any one else when my words are taken the wrong way.

Things are going pretty good!

The Big, Big Birthday Sale is going well. I keep finding new pieces to add, things that I know you just need to have for yourself, so check it out: http://www.zoenelson.etsy.com/   Go to the section on the right side of the screen to find all the things that have been marked down.  There have been two people who took advantage of their own November birthdays and received an additional 10% off, and there are some names in the running for the drawing for the free pair of earrings at the end of the month. Here's a few things I've recently added:

Lovely dichroic glass with multi-strand cord and ribbons

Was $98.00, now $75.00

Shield pendant with lots of texture on a snake chain

Was $98.00, now $75.00

Blue and gold dichroic glass on a black cord

Was $90.00, now $65.00

I'm finally over all the dental mess I was in a couple of weeks ago. It took me another week to recover from the ravaging that antibiotics can do to your system and to get my energy back. Whew! That cost me nearly two weeks of lost time and now I'm working on catching up. I have three more days before I have to work in one of the co-op galleries, so now is the time to work on new things for the Benefit Trunk Show for Hospitaly House of Charlotte on November 20.

Gentlemen (and Ladies), Start Your Engines!

OK, folks. This is it. Today is November first and my BIG, BIG BIRTHDAY SALE has started. Just go to my Etsy Store and click on the link for the section where all the sale items are and you'll see what's been listed so far. I'm still working on it and everything should be listed by tomorrow, I hope. There are the following gimmicks attached to this sale: If you also have a birthday in November you can get another 10% off the already-marked-down price. If your birthday falls on the 17th of any month you also get 10% off. That means, of course, that if you share the same birthday as me you'll get 20% off! You have to be able to prove this by either sending me a scanned copy of your dirver's license, or by some other method like your Facebook page.

And... that's not all!!!....

Everyone who makes a purchase this month will get their name put into a drawing to win these lovely earrings... a $20 value... yours free just for purchasing. And, you'll pay NOTHING to have your purchases sent to you by standard US Postal service mail.

OK. Sorry. Can you tell that I spend too much time late at night watching info-mercials?

Shopping for Jewelry Supplies

I went to Ashevile yesterday to the Gem and Lapidary Wholesale show. I usually buy most of my non-metal clay supplies there that I'll use to work on new things this winter. Unfortunately, silver has gone up so much that a lot of what I wanted to buy was beyond my budget. I did manage to find some things that were on my shopping list, though:

Some tiny (2.5mm) round stone beads. Citrine, amethyst, clear crystal and garnet. Not sure how these will be used yet. They could be crocheted into a lovely (but terribly expensive) neck chain for a PMC focal piece, or maybe just strung in some way.

An assortment of bead caps, cones and bails in sterling silver. No intended purpose for anything but the cones. I use them for the ends of my multi-strand seed bead necklaces.

Some interesting new sterling silver chain from SII Findings. You gotta watch out for this guy! He's young and cute and has an uncanny ability to talk me into buying a lot more than I asked for in the first place. I'll use it all up eventually, though.

And, lastly, a bunch of watch faces. I've been intending on making some more watches, so this should keep me busy for awhile!

The best part of the day was that after I was done shopping I had lunch with a friend who I haven't seen in about 12 years. I found her on Facebook and it was sooooo much fun getting caught up. It seems that we have run parallel lives since we last saw each other, and the connection was there as if no time had passed at all. Thanks, Cheryl!

It's Almost Time

Can you believe that it's alomst time to set our clocks back again? Sunday morning, November 1. I'm sure you all get up at 2:00 a.m. to reset all your clocks. Many people are glad that they get an "extra" hour, but if you think about it, where did that hour really come from? There's still 24 hours in a day, right? Or did I miss something? A friend just sent me this story:

When told the reason for daylight savings time the Old Indian said, "Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket."

It just screws me up. I can't get up in the morning, then I can't get to sleep at night. Takes me weeks and weeks to get straightened out again. I'm not looking forward to it.

BUT, also on Sunday morning (although not at 2:00 a.m.) I'll start listing things for my BIG, BIG BIRTHDAY SALE that will last all of November. (And, I guess I'll have an extra hour to work on it!) I know everyone is poised with their mouse pointer on the link to my Etsy Store, waiting for the bargains to start, but be patient - only a few more days. When you get to the shop, click on the section for the BIG, BIG BIRTHDAY SALE on the right side of your screen to see all the things that are marked down. These are pieces that have slowly sunk to the bottom of the pile. There's nothing wrong with them - they've just been in my inventory too long and need to find a good home and make someone happy.

And, remember that you get an additional 10% off if you also have a birthday in November, or if your birthday falls on the 17th of any month. (You have to be able to prove this somehow.) Everyone who makes a purchase during November will have their name entered into a drawing to win a pair of earrings worth $20.00. Doesn't this sound like fun?

New Etsy Listings

I've had a little time to list some new jewelry in my Etsy shop today. More to come tomorrow. It's been a long time since I've added anything new, so enjoy!

This one was made  from pieces that broke off another one when I was trying to finish it.

This one has a nice square-cut CZ set into it.

A cute pattern with a 4 millimeter lab ruby.