Further Adventures of a Techno-tard

Last week my husbands' computer took one last breathe and died.  We mourned appropriately and decided to get along with one computer...however, John, my husband, must have "crash computer" fingers or something. I have never had a problem with the dreaded blue screens that he had when he booted up...but after using my computer for only three days, he managed to get two of those awful screens on my set up.  We decided that it was time for a new technological baby in our house, so we traipsed off to Best Buy to hopefully find a geek that spoke English that we understood.

Why are there never salespeople for techy stuff that are past their twenties?  I always feel so old when I have to buy some techy equipment.  Of course, I am old, but I do hate feeling that way.  There was a woman in the geek squad area and she worked there and she had to be pushing 60, and I thought she got lost from accounting or the steno pool...she really looked out of place. Whoa - slap my face for promoting age discrimination...I do apologize.

Anyone who knows me, or reads my blogs, knows how much I not only hate change, but tie that in with something to do with technology and I am not a happy camper.  So this last week has not been a pleasant one in our house, either for me or my husband.  I have been at the screen way too many hours and if he wanted to eat, he had to cook...not his favorite past time.  Right now, he's steaming the floors, please don't anyone tell him that I am having fun writing my blog, not slaving over this d... machine trying to make it do what I want.

Why is it that in making things bigger and better, the creators assume that we know how to bridge the gaps from old to new - or we are willing to discard the old and fully embrace the new?   Hey, I'm almost waxing philosophy here - heavens forbid. In any case, I used AOL...and as most of you must know, only the least geekest among us use that, but, in my defense, I started using that when it was about all that was available and  I am not now changing my email that is printed and stored everywhere and with everyone that I know.  I had a huge contact list, divided into very logical divisions so I could send "sale" mail when I wanted to, contact a couple of groups I belong to, family, different groups of friends, etc. etc. So I go into AOL the other day and they no longer have groups - so all my contacts, probably more than a thousand are all together, and a vast majority I have no idea who they are or where they belong.  There is no fixing something like that - and it not only makes me irrationally angry ( there's a better word, but I hate to be vulgar in my blog) but it really mucks up one of my main means of promoting my jewelry studio. Maybe if I'd know ahead of time, I could have somehow coped with it, going so far as purchasing some softwear where I could have entered these lists and then had them downloaded when my info was brought from the old to the new.

Maybe I am not non techy - maybe I am anti-techy. Something  that is supposed to make our lives simpler and more organized and easier, should not present the problems that it does.  I realize that I am pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff, but how in hell should I know that my groupings were about to dissappear....was this an educational gap? Should I have known this intuitively?  I knew I was going to continue to use AOL for my mail and I assumed my groupings would be along for the ride.  I don't think I would be as upset as I am if I had any idea how to fix it....ah well, it's done, on to the next adventure.

I am now using Chrome for my whatchamacallit instead of Microsoft explorer which I was told that I HAD to do - I am not using AOL as my gateway to the internet - which I am assuming was really lame - so I  guess that I have climbed a few rungs on the techy ladder, but not enough...til next time.

Why Do I Love Being on Artfire?

Why do I love being on Artfire, you ask. Artfire treats me like I would treat people if I owned the web site and since that was the whole basis of our business when we were in business, that is saying allot coming from me. I have had two instances where the COO has actually answered the questions that I was asking and he regularily appears on the forums to help everyone on the site. Not only does Tony, the COO, appear but if someone else at headquarters is better equipped to help us, then they also pop in as the situation dictates.

I also love Artfire because they have helped me to grow and learn.  As any reader here knows, I am an admitted techno-tard and yet I was able to get my shop up and running with minimal pain.  I stopped learning about computers when they stopped printing documentation in the early 90's - I can no longer say that now though, because I have learned so much about computers in the last seven months that even I am impressed with myself...and my husband thinks that I am an absolute genius, and that is always good and doesn't happen very often.

I love Artfire because of the people who are there for me.  I have already mentioned the staff and they are incredible, but the forums alone are worth the price of admission.  There is ALWAYS someone there to help you.  People making jewelry help others who make jewelry, and I find that refreshing especially in the business environment that we are in right now.  People will critique your website, they read your titles and discriptions, they look at your pictures, everything on your site and make fixable, kind suggestions so that you are able to make your site a better selling vehicle.  If one succeeds, we all succeed - pretty amazing, isn't it????

I love Artfire because it made me make my jewelry shop a better place to shop.  I have just redone all the pictures in my shop - not because anyone told me to, but because I learned through looking around Artfire that my pictures were a real detriment to my efforts to sell my jewelry.  Because of Artfire, I have learned about SEO and how to make Google find me easier.  I have learned how important outside links to my shop are and how they increase my visibility and how to find some of them.

Because of Artfire and all of the above, my shop can now easily function in the other venue that I use it as. The majority of my sales is to small boutiques and my web site is my catalogue. I cannot have a "line sheet" because the majority of what I create is OOAK ( one of a kind pieces ) and line sheets do not function well in those situations.  As is my shop, my presentation to my shops is now so much better and professional that I am proud to give out my web site to any retail shop.

So in closing, the above is a small sampling of why I love Artfire and why it might be a place that you also could use to sell whatever you want to.  If you do have an interest please go to http://www.artfire.com/users/LindaSudimack/sell-crafts
and sign up for a shop, and if you do - we could both benefit financially, because Artfire has come up with another great idea. So please, take a look, you will not be sorry.

I am a Techno-tard

They say that in order to address a problem that you must admit that you have it.  Well, when it comes to the lack of computer knowledge, I have it in spades! ! !   I always said that I was deficient in computerese - or I was technically challenged - or one of those all encompassing phrases that covered my problem....but the other day, I was on the forums on Artfire and someone called herself a "techno-tard" and I fell in love with the term.  Not only does it describe accurately the malady that I suffer from, but it is euphonius to boot. So the world should take notice - I am officially announcing that "I AM A TECHNO-TARD" .  I guess what follows is a day in the life of a techno-tard - or better yet, further adventures of a techno-tard.

Artfire is running a "social media boot camp" right now and I signed up because it seemed to me that I can use all the help I can get.  Our first thing to do was to get a facebook account up and running, with both a personal page and a business page.  And much to my amazement, I was ahead of the curve, I had both. Then they wanted us to shorten the URL on our business page after we got 25 fans, which I had...so I followed the directions and this is the message that I got from facebook -

"To access this page, you'll need to switch from using Facebook as your page to using Facebook as yourself."

I hope this makes as little sense to you, the reader, as it did to me.  One simple sentence and I was totally lost. How could anyone understand what they meant?  I mean, I may be a techno-tard, but I am not stupid, at least I wasn't the last time that I checked.  So my URL is still an ugly long series of letters and numbers, unlike all the other campers, and even with personal help from several kind souls, I have not conquered the URL shortening.  It's depressing - I may have to go back to my cabin and hide under my cot or inside my trunk.

As a techno-tard, I have several pet peeves concerning computer use.  Why do they have to ask me if I'm "Sure that I want to proceed" or "Sure that I want to delete this" or "Sure that this is what I want to do" - idiots!!! Of course I am not sure - I don't know what I am doing - so they ask this unsure individual and I have to say "NO" - and consequently, nothing gets done.  Why couldn't they give mutiple choices, like if you proceed this will specific thing will happen, or do this and something else will happen?  I'm afraid if I go past these warnings that my computer will crash and I will be lost forever without any access to technology.

Another thing that really annoys me, and it took me forever to get past it, is that dam pop up window that comes up when you visit a web site and it says something about do you want to only see the material that was delivered safely or do you want to see everything and risk infecting and maybe, killing your machine.  Do you remember the scene in the movie Speed  where Kenau Reeves is telling everyone on the bus about the bomb that is on the bus that's gonnal blow if they slow down or anyone gets off the bus - and Sandra Bullock stands up and forcefully says "STOP, you are scaring all these people" ?  Well, I feel like those people whenever I see that dam blue pop up. I just wish that they would leave me in blissful ignorance once in while.

I don't know if there's a 10 step program for techno-tards or if it's a permanent condition.  I know that I have come a long way in my computer knowledge, but I also know that I have a hell of allot further to go than I have come. I think I am going to quit camp - I really was feeling pretty good about my expanding skills, and then one stupid sentence sends me for a loop and qualifies me as a failure at the easiest task that probably will be assigned.  The only thing is - they are going to be discussing Twitter - and that means, maybe, I could send tweats...don't know how much business it could generate, but it just sounds like fun..."don't bother me, I'm tweating"  Of course, with a line like that, my husband might have me committed with a bird fixation...I'll have to think on that one!!!

Getting Rid of the Elephant in Your Studio

I feel like I have spent the last several weeks killing my children! No, I am not a child killer, but I really needed to weed and feed all the jewelry that I have made since the get go and it was really, really hard.  I now have several containers of sterling silver to be recycled and lots of odd beads to think about all over again. With the price of metals today - I may just have made a sizable amount of money, one more bonus involved in this task.

This has been hard, because I really like what I make - if I don't, I rip it apart when I make it and start over, so any finished product has a small place in my heart.  I had pieces from when I  started doing this seriously, but didn't have the slightest idea of what I was doing.  I have some interesting coils, some hellacious wrapped loops, that take allot of imagination to be called either wrapped or looped, lots of clasps made out of way too fine wire - they look okay, but as clasps that don't quite cut it.  My wire ends never seemed to get tucked, because I could never figure out where to tuck it. There are lots of strung things that have bare wire on the closed jumpring and no crimp covers - I was so excited about these pieces when I made them, and now they look bare and unfinished to me.  I thought the other day that I couldn't believe that I sold things like this and that people bought them...I was proud of them and the people were happy. I'm not even going to mention the eye glass leashes that I truly started on...it is honestly a miracle that they have lasted this long and that is all that I am going to say about them, except, they deserve an honorable death.  Ah well  - guess this is where the old "live and learn" adage comes in.

I have about four piles while I am working.  The first one is for pieces that I can still use for donations, either a couple of schools that have auctions or the local woman's shelter. The second pile is things that need to die a fast and easy death - they must be demolished - completely, and hopefully the parts can be reused.  The greenies can finally be proud of me. I do the dirty deed as quickly as possible, so I don't have second thoughts. I have a third pile for things that are functional but need some sort of rehabbing - a new clasp, crimp covers, whatever it takes to make the piece sellable again. Unfortunately, I have a fourth pile and this is for things that I can't deal with just yet - they don't really fit into one of the first three piles, but they definately need something - if only for me to make up my mind.

Until you face this elephant that is growing in your studio, you have no idea how hard this can be.  I think that we all have storage problems and I really couldn't fit much more in my studio, and I needed to dejewelrize (new word) my living room/ dining room. If I take any more space, my husband is going to have to move out, and since we are now down to one car, that could present a whole new set of problems - maybe he could sleep in the car???? In any case, this is hard - we created these pieces - we labored over the designs - we cleaned - oxidized - whatever it took to make them, we did it - and now we have to undo it and it is a difficult task.  We have the ultimate emotional involvement in our jewelry - almost like our kids - and to destroy them really goes against my grain. However, it is a task that will give you a sense of accomplishment when you are done, it'll free up lots of storage space, and last, but by no means least, it needs to be done. 

The quide line that I use is - would I be willing to show this piece of jewelry to one of the boutique owners that carries my jewelry now in their shop??? This really cuts the mustard for me - I am merciless in applying this criteria to my stockpile.  You might have a totally different line of thought - depending on what you do with your jewelry after it is finished, but there should be some devining rod that you can use. Figure out that base criteria that you are going to use, adhere to it, and start cleaning up.

Now I have to admit something to all of you who might read this post - I came into my studio this afternoon with the intention of finishing up my jewelry cleanup - and somehow I found myself sitting at my computer, writing about the task rather than completing the task - I have been at this for about four weeks, in little dibs and dabs, and I probably only have one good afternoon left to finish it up, but what's left are the hardest decisions, and I keep wanting to delay them...Now I have spent enough time that I can put this off for a couple more days, because it's almost dark out and the lighting where I have this set up is just too poor to work in after the sun goes down.  Great excuse, what????

Terrific Tucson

I am one of the lucky people who lives in Arizona and am about 150 miles from the Gem Show.  I think that the first two weeks of February are nirvanna for jewelry artisans.  I have, so far, spent three days in this gem studded heaven and plan on making one more trip next week.

We went down the first day that the show opened so that I could see the vendor/friend that I met last year while she had all her goodies.  She was at HoJo's where I had allot of luck finding things last year - and this year was even better.  My Tibetan lady and her fantastic pendants were back - she smiled when we walked in and said that she remembered us from last year.  Next year, the smile will be even bigger, because I did allot more damage there than last year...but everything that I made from her supplies has sold.  I found a great vendor with natural colored coral that was reasonable and some nice stones and pearls.  We also found the best burrito I have ever had in the food court.

Our next trip was on Monday - it's nice being retired, you can go when other people can't - and we went to the To Bead True Blue show and I was so dissappointed that we left after only an hour.  It was supposed to be wholesale and retail - but the vendors evidently didn't know what wholesale was.  They all wanted me to buy $300.00 to $500.00 worth of their product and then they would give me 10 to 20% off, I said, "Gee, thanks" , and left for the Grant Inn Show.  That was fantastic.  As we were walking down one aisle, I said to my husband to look around - everyone was on their cell phones and everyone was speaking a different language.  I got ostrich egg shell beads...one of the first things that man used in jewelry making.  I saw a strand of beads that was made before Christ was born.  I found keishi pearls so my daughter can have her Christmas present.  She'd picked out a triple strand of said pearls, and I sold them and I had no more and they've been back ordered for several months.  Very bad mother, but good business woman.

I wore the new necklace that I made after my trip to my friend on Friday and three vendors went bonkers over it...and they see allot of jewelry, so that made me feel really good.  It has a centerpiece of an antique African pewter bead, big, brown, flat nuts, and beads made from fossilized mammoth bone...it is really pretty special and if the sun ever comes out in Arizona again, I will add a picture.  By the time I hit my friends booth again, I thought she was going to make an announcement over the loud speaker about the necklace...but it was fun. I have added the picture - not the best one in the world, but you get the idea.

Tuesday was my downfall.  We went to the Gem Mall and that is composed of two very large tents.  We hit the first tent fairly early and we couldn't have gone more than 50 feet, when I said to my husband, that we had to leave.  For some reason, he wanted to know why, when there was so much that we hadn't seen, and I told him that I had blown my budget and then some.  He tried to give me a lecture on restraint at that point, and I said that I had more than a fair share of restraint, but not when it comes to stones, bones and unique things to put into jewelry.  If I didn't see it - I couldn't buy it.  I tempted him with the promise of another one of those home made burritos - and off we went to HoJo's again so I could check the new shipment of pendants that my Tibetan vendor had gotten.

We are returning one day this week as I have a short list of things that I still need to purchase, hopefully, I will head directly to the booths where they are located and I won't get distracted by something fantastic, either that, or someone will buy 50 necklaces in the next two days, even 10 would do the trick, and I can shop some more, because my cash is gone and my plastic is seriously close to a major meltdown.

Thoughts on Weddings

I am involved in the Artisan Wedding Fair with my shop on Artfire and there is a link on my main page to the blog for the wedding fair that has all the participants...and there are allot of them with beautiful and very useful products.  If you or someone in your close circle is planning a wedding this year, it really would be worth your while to check it out.  We are supposed to blog about weddings, and that is what I am doing here...the only problem is that I don't feel like I have allot to say...but, as usual, I'll give it the old collage try.

My husband, John, and I have been married for almost 46 years - so our wedding is way back where I can hardly remember anymore.  Other than the fact that I was a New England wasp marrying a Slovac Catholic, and all the stress that that created, mostly for my mother, not much is crystal clear.  However, I do remember a few culture clashes - but those should be relegated to the back of my mind where they have been for almost 46 years.

Both of our daughters were married in our back yard in Warren, Ohio.  Warren is a small town with, at that point, no wedding co ordinators.  I have a few points to make to anyone planning a backyard ritual - first of all, think long and hard, because it can and does rain in most parts of this country.  It rained until 5:00 for the 5:30 wedding of one of our daughters, you want to talk about stress...it was ugly. Thank goodness, I was wearing a hat for that one, cuz there was not enough time to dress and do my hair.  Both ceremonies turned out beautifully but they were allot of work.

I decided, when I found out about the first wedding that I needed some help.  I knew with everything being at home that when the inevitable crisis happened on the day of the wedding that I needed someone capable of handling it without involving me.  I asked our decorator to give me a hand, because I had done business with her for years and she was organized and anile - just what I needed.  It worked out fantastically...she got people seated before the ceremony...started the music when it had to start for the bride...got all the wedding party down the aisle...and best of all, helped me plan and do the decorations. This became a great sideline to her decorating business, other than the fact that she wouldn't charge me, I had no complaints.  She helped with the second wedding too - which if anything was even harder, because we had done such a great job on the first wedding that there didn't seem to be any way to do as good a job, but we did manage. Both of our daughters had beautiful, dry, outdoor weddings.

I remember highlights from both of those special days - Lisa had very specific ideas on the table flowers, we had pictures of how she wanted them to look and the flowers to include to give to the florist.  The flowers arrived with bright orange lilies - lovely flowers, but neither the color nor the flower were on Lisa's list - that was a tearful moment that got worse with each delivery.  I just pulled the offending flowers and threw them out and we solved the problem.  Amanda calling me when her dress came in, in tears, that her dress made her look like a pregnant marshmallow.  Amanda's lovely and slighty weird friends from art school, posing around our yard in yoga poses - neither John, nor his sister knew what was going on. The Scottish bridesmade that had to find a chemist - took me a half hour to figure out she needed a drug store.  The cookies I worked weeks on left in the freezer by the caterer.  I could go on and on, but the best memory is of two beautiful brides, who had the wedding that they wanted, in the yard that they wanted to be married in, and they were both married by my sister.  They were both very special days.

I can only wish that you too have a very special day and that your marriage is long, loving, and joyfull....

Musings on Holiday Travel

We just returned from traveling to Pennsylvania for the Christmas season and we had a wonderful time, there is nothing better than a 5 year old on Christmas morning...especially one who sleeps until 8:00 A.M.. Now, is that a good kid or what???Of course, all of my grandchildren are perfect, so I really didn't expect anything less. So, before I get to the meat of this post, I would like to wish each and every one of you who reads this blog, a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2011.

We left lovely Arizona over a week before Christmas, in hopes that we would miss some of the holiday craziness of the airports. Other than the fact that we had to get up some time in the middle of the night to catch our plane, the airport was very empty...either that, or it was so early that my eyes hadn't woken up yet. We landed in Philly to the first snow of the season - oh, lucky us!!! Driving to our destination, which was about a one hour commute, we saw 5 fender benders and one very serious accident, reminded us graphically of why we wanted to leave the snow behind us when we retired. Not only was it white everywhere, IT WAS COLD - I MEAN COOOOOOOOOOLD.  I think I had blanked that mind numbing cold and how much that I hate it out of my memory banks, but it's back again.

Spent Christmas week in a blurry of activity - including making lots of cookies with a 5 year old - she cracks a mean egg, but other than that, her culinary skills are rather limited, except for the infamous cut out Christmas cookies. I think that it took us all day to complete one batch - granted, a large batch - but still one batch.  I'm not sure who won the colored sugar wars - the cookies - the floor - or the cracks in the table.  I am just very grateful that I got the chance to do this and that it wasn't in my kitchen.  We did make a mess - and my daughter may never get the frosting cleaned up - it was spread around a little more that one would normally see.  I must admit that my grandaughter vastly improved my ginger snaps - they are rolled into balls, rolled in sugar and then baked...she had to add red and green sugar to the white that I gave her to roll the balls in, and they ended up looking much more festive than mine have for 45 years.

Had a great time going to school with our granddaughter for her Christmas Party and I got to read to the class - fun!  She has the most incredible teacher and I told my daughter that it's going to be hard to top this one and she's only in kindergarten.  If you ever want to practise your powers of concentration, try reading "The Night Before Christmas" to 25 five year olds on December 23.  There was not allot of focusing being practised in that room, that day, but I did enjoy it.

 I was very glad that I brought my long underwear...I never took it off for 2+ weeks, as I said before, it was COLD. I even wore it to the two parties that we attended, luckily I was wearing a turtleneck so it didn't show, but I would have worn it even with a strapless gown - it was COLD. One good thing about the cold, we were able to make our secret egg nog that has to age for about 5 days and unless you have a walk in refrigerator, that usually takes place outside,so we haven't made it since coming to Arizona.  John couldn't wait to sample it - and did so most nights that we were there, it is good! ! As he was coming in from the patio with his evening glass, our grandaughter looked at him and said, "Poppy, you have an egg nog problem".

We had an uneventful journey home although it was a few days late - Mr. Flu paid a visit, early in the morning that we had planned to leave, so we had to change our plans.  Ended up flying in on New Year's Eve and stopped at In and Out Burgers on the way home for our big night out. So for now, my big green long wool coat is put away as are my gloves and winter hat - sadly though, I needed them when we landed. It was high 40's when we left Philly, it was 37 when we landed in Phoenix, the pilot thought he'd gotten lost, and it was 32 when we arrived home - ugh, at least there was no snow on the ground...Happy New Year All