{"id":30927,"date":"2015-11-23T08:35:44","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T13:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=30927"},"modified":"2015-11-23T09:39:23","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T14:39:23","slug":"better-than-a-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/better-than-a-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Better Than a Bill!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before my parents moved out of my childhood home in 2013<\/a>, I retrieved some of my old things from their basement and various closets.\u00a0 I found a lot of letters. During high school, I had pen pals in England, and I was always running to the mailbox to look for a blue airmail envelope.<\/p>\n

\"Edward

Edward the dog doesn’t want you to see my old address.<\/p><\/div>\n

Who gets letters nowadays? You get a birthday card if you’re lucky. Other than that it’s holiday cards with pictures of people’s families; bills; and catalogs. Speaking of catalogs, why does J. Jill<\/a> think I’m a potential customer? Every time I get their catalog, I’m like, “Why the hell am I getting this catalog? This isn’t my style.” But my motto is “Never Is the Next New Thing\u2122<\/a>,” so I suppose I can’t rule anything out. Keep trying, J. Jill! Maybe I’ll break down.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I recently got something better than a bill. It was a promotion from the American Gem Trade Association<\/a> for the 2016 Tucson Gem Show<\/a>. On it was a photo of my very own Pink Elephant and Tipsy Writer Maneater ring<\/a>, which won honorable mention in the 2015 AGTA Spectrum Awards design contest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"agta\"<\/p>\n

How cool is that? Also, the earrings to the right of my ring are by designer Deirdre Featherstone, who I hung with earlier this month<\/a>. Those won first place in the bridal category, so I am in great company.<\/p>\n

The Spectrum contest calls for designs that make extensive use of colored gems. My entry for 2016 was my new Dragon and Knight Maneater ring<\/a>, which didn’t win. Alas! But I got great feedback from the journalists who saw it in person, so that was a bit of consolation. I’m already thinking of what I’m going to enter for the 2017 contest, of course. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before my parents moved out of my childhood home in 2013, I retrieved some of my old things from their basement and various closets.\u00a0 I found a lot of letters. During high school, I had pen pals in England, and I was always running to the mailbox to look for a blue airmail envelope. Who…<\/p>\n

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