After the Show...I will

Well, I made it back from Bead Fest in Philadelphia! We rolled in at about 6 in the morning on Monday which is way too early for me but being nearly shot at a Waffle House in Ohio gave me the adrenaline I needed for that last push in to town.

I had a good time and a good show; thanks to all who stopped by to say hello including Julie Ryan. My email address is jewelrybyjules0@aol.com and if the zero after jules is left off then the email goes to Julie Ryan. This sweet lady has been forwarding my emails for over a year now and I thank her tremendously for this kindness.

I’m good at remembering to pack the camera but not so good at taking pictures mostly because I’m afraid I will be caught in front of the camera and be digitally reminded of how I really need to get my butt on a treadmill. Anyway, no pictures of the show; sorry!

I started making a list of stuff to be done “after the show” but since I had Bead and Button in May with only a little torch time in between, I opted to keep adding to the list until after Bead Fest here in August. That was maybe just a little too long.

One of the big items on the list was a clean out and reorganization of the studio. It’s been unnavigable since April but I had my excuse. No excuses now so that’s some of what I did this week. I didn’t take any “before” pictures but hey, if you don’t know what a mess looks like… The big part was the closet. It became one of those where you throw something in and close the door really fast. Everything had to come out. The left side has all of the mismatched storage drawers stacked up on either side with a board running across. This gives me a little workspace to package things up for shipping and, bonus, all of my shipping supplies are in one place now. The other side of the closet has my EZ up and light bar in the corner with a shelving unit to hold bins full of my show display stuff.

All of this new space gave me a chance to clean out my work bench area and even give the right half to Ann (my mom). As you can see, she is gearing up to do some serious jewelry type stuff including making jumprings.

Lastly, I hooked up my new torch, a Mega Minor. This is a small upgrade from my Minor but…well…it’s red and that’s cool! I need to tighten up the front screw so it sits upright without the film canister to prop it but it works and is ready to go.

I have a class with a bunch of lampwork buddies at Boca Loca Beads this Sunday so I’m looking forward to getting back to work next week creating some new goodies.

List and Notebook Obsessed

Where's my note book? No, my other notebook. No, my other, other notebook.

Hi, my name is Julie and I am obsessed with lists and my notebooks.
There's a little memo pad I carry with me for grocery lists or items from the store. In a pinch, I might use it for ideas that should go in the other notebooks and I staple them in to the correct notebook later.
My glass notebook never leaves the house. I would die if anyone ever saw how badly I draw. Worse, that I draw so badly I have to add arrows and explanitory post-its to my drawings so I know what the heck I was drawing in the first place.
Another notebook is for the list of appointments and things I need to do each day of the week. I HAVE embraced technology in that most of this is on my Outlook calender but not everything. A foot in each system and brains in none.
The last notebook is Big Red. He keeps my check list, lists of inventory I want for a show, what sold well at which show and ideas for the next year. He helps me budget my time for deadlines although not as well as I would hope and he keeps track of the signs I will need to make for my table.
The back page of a notebook is very important. This I reserve for stuff I will need through out the life of the notebook. Lists of movies to look for in the discount bins. Mere proximity to any place where movies or CDs are sold automatically erases the mental list of such and I have just finally accepted this about myself. The back cardboard is a really good place to keep phone numbers. I know I can program them into my phone and I have done that before but I think it's just like texting...I'm never going to "get it."
I can't even bring myself to get rid of my old notebooks. Lucky thing too since I had to reconfigure the router the other day and my list of steps was in my old lavender notebook from 2 years ago.
I think I'm a part of the last generation to remember life before computers or atleast home computers. There were those big ones in large rooms administered to by really smart looking scientists and the computer the Superfriends used each week to figure out who kidnapped Aquaman (why did they bother...he talks to fish and that's his super power?!?!). I guess I just thought by now I would be using a computer for everything and it seems like the more they do, the more attached I am to my notebooks.