fanciful devices: I forgot

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.

1/16/11

I forgot

Violent Source-World. Gemstone Heishi and Afghan Kuchi.

...to list this one yesterday. I should spread out my listings. Give you a little at a time instead of a flood of items every few days. Its just that when you wake up at 1pm and the sky goes dark at 4pm, there's not a lot of time to take pictures. So I end up just making more instead of photographing what I already have. Violent Source-World. Gemstone Heishi and Afghan Kuchi.

Violent Source-World.

So, I like this one, but I'm not sure about the colors. I guess I'm not crazy about the green. Or maybe it's the fact of so many primary colors together. OK, I know green's not primary, but with blue and red it looks primary. I priced it quite high. I guess I say that as a warning. You know what I need to do to assuage my ridiculous guilt? I'm gonna go give some money to some primates... Non-human ones, that is.

Oh, I also took a picture of this loveliness I got from jansjewels:

Any idea what I might possibly do with this? Cuz it's on wire, is the thing.

She also has these for $3 each, or $2.46 if you get 5 or more:

And these for $8 a foot:

I've seen similar on etsy for $14 a foot. Is alls I'm saying. So what to do with them? Is alls I'm asking.

And I'm thrilled to say the consensus it to leave my blog just as busy and epileptic-fit-inducing as it is!

Also, I forgot to mention that the trim here:

was a freebie added to my purchase from fancylinda, who clearly knows me all too well. Girl, I think you could just go "I have a bunch of very 'you' things that I'll sell you for X amount, interested?" and I'd have to say yes sight unseen!

Here's an image from her current blog post:

I know, right?

p.s. there's a squirrel making itself at home in my chimney, which goes through my computer/bedroom. The aluminum sheet that lines it rattles every time s/he runs around in there and it's making me mental. In the cutest way.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: I got some of that white glass wired footage from Jan's Jewels too. I got the kind with the leaves and the flowers on it. I was planning to resell it, but she gave it to me in one very long continuous piece and I'm kind of afraid to cut it. If I come up with some creative way to use it I'll let you know, but most likely you'll come up with something long before I do!; 1/16/11, 5:18 PM
stregata said...: The glass garland is magical! I'm thinking you could sew it on a piece of fabric...
The colours on the bracelet are just as they should be - they echo the stones in the kuchi piece.
So - you have a squirrel in the chimney and he is driving you nuts? Hmmm.; 1/17/11, 12:09 AM
Malin de Koning said...: Thank you sooooo much for telling about JansJewels shop. I have never heard of it. Lovely beads!

And all your jewellery looks great as usual. That top bracelet is gorgeous. You say ou are not shure about it, with all the colours. How about letting one of the colours (green blue or red) be the dominant one and the others just accents kind of. Just an idea ...

Casual squirrel ... :-); 1/17/11, 6:01 AM
Penelope said...: You could use the wire leaf lengths to make tiaras, just stitch them on some ribbon and make headband styles or get funky with solder for proper 'sit-up' types.

my friends have possums in their roof. Sometimes the possum pees and it leaks through the lining boards. That's fun.; 1/18/11, 2:21 AM
Jennifer Valentine Morford said...: As always, I love your creations...you have enspired me to stretch BEYOND my own self imposed restraints.
Just you wait and see....
I so adore you Fanci...; 1/18/11, 3:36 PM