fanciful devices: Grey Sky Morning

A Stone Is Nobody's

A man ambushed a stone. Caught it.
Made it a prisoner.
Put it in a dark room and stood guard over it for the rest of his life.

His mother asked why.

He said, because it's held captive, because it is captured.

Look, the stone is asleep, she said, it does not know whether it's in a garden or not. Eternity and the stone
are mother and daughter; it is you who are getting old. The stone is only sleeping.

But I caught it, mother, it is mine by conquest, he said.

A stone is nobody's, not even its own. It is you who are conquered; you are minding the prisoner, which is yourself,
because you are afraid to go out, she said.

Yes yes, I am afraid, because you have never loved me, he said.

Which is true, because you have always been to me as the stone is to you, she said.

Russell Edson

FAQs

1. Are you a Southeast Asian dancing girl from the 1800s?

No, sorry to disappoint. My avatar and banner images are from an ancient book I found in the depths of my grandmother's cabinets. More on that here.

2. How do you make everything look so old?

First, you need a good oxidizer to brush on every bit of metal you can reach. I'll tell you all about it here.

Then there's this wax. I first mentioned it here. You'll have to scroll down a lot.

3. How can you be so productive?

I'm insanely obsessed and I have no offspring. I do nothing else- I don't have a day job, I don't clean my house or cook, I spend all day in pjs, often completely abandoning personal hygiene... I only interact with other humans when I walk my dog. And I like people! But I prefer dogs.

And I'm sloppy- but I make that sloppiness work for me.

4. Any tips you'd like to share?

No! Except for these 16 posts about techniques and this one about how to find your aesthetic.

5. Would you be offended if I took some inspiration from your designs?

Well, I'd be happier if you outright copied them.

No really, imitation is how we learn. I have enough ideas to go around. And even if I don't- please. No one's going to do this obsessively enough to threaten my business. (Probably.) I learned by copying others and I've seen others copy me as a step toward developing their own voice. So feel free. (I'd love if you tossed me a link in my comments, so I can feel like a proud momma.)

6. What do you look like?

Why, what have you heard? Really? Wow.

7/20/10

Grey Sky Morning

Silver Blue Pearl and Crystal Flower Necklace -- Blue Ophelia

Vinyl Wall Sticker Decal Art - Pretty Flower Pattern

MILK ON CHARCOAL - White Opalescent Glass Flowers on Oxidized Silver Dangle Earrings

Set of 5 Wool Wrapped Stacking Bangles (1912-1911) FREE SHIPPING

Romantic Satin Ring Bearer Pillow...You Choose the Colors. ..Buy One Get One Half Off...SHOWN IN IVORY AND DARK GREY PEWTER

Grey flowers - an oversized ponytail holder

Giant Pearl, Ethnic Filagree Pendant with Gemstone, Pearl, Sterling Silver

Morning glory - Fine art photographic print (8x10 inch) duotone

Lampwork Glass Bead - BK A2 - Grey with Grey Squares with White Halos - AWESOME

thebeadgirl put together this 'fistimacated treasury featuring my this: Play with what you love. Button Wrap.

I dunno, it's not very 'me' but this necklace gives me the warm and cuddlies.

Here's some images of more random baggies of mini ephemera I found in my stash:

A few of you are interested in ephemera. Good!

I'll make a deal. I'll send them out to folks who have signed on to be my followers. Which I think all y'all have.

(Sorry, I get such a thrill when I see that little number slowly crawling upward.)

Just email me your address at marinarios@yahoo.com.

And the next time I have a bunch of jewelry to mail,

I'll send out some packs!

And by the way, can I show you these cute little packs ready to go?

I love my cute little packs!

And they're only this elaborate b/c of all this paper I have without use or purpose. Which brings us back to the ephemera giveaway.

Though I do love to hear in the feedback people saying it felt like their birthday to receive such pretty packages.

But lots of this stuff is really precious to be used like this... so yeah.

And I gotta spend less time messing with it.

4 comments:

Jennifer Valentine Morford said...: oh my.....this is gooooooooooood.; 7/20/10, 6:21 PM
Venus Soberanes said...: I'm In!!! I would love to receive some ephemera!; 7/20/10, 7:36 PM
Unknown said...: wow, this is really nice of you; 7/20/10, 8:23 PM
stregata said...: Love your envelopes - just fantastic!!!; 7/20/10, 11:26 PM