fanciful devices: Dumb things you shouldn't do.

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.

10/10/11

Dumb things you shouldn't do.

For starters, the comment that made me laugh out so suddenly and loudly that it scared my dog:
"I can't believe I used to think you were a man."
--shipwreckdandy
What's wrong with me that that so made my day?

Also, amth13: They knew but they were on a gambling high.

Jennifer Valentine: I seem to have no volume control, people are always shushing me and telling me, 'You don't need to scream, I'm right here.' Also one time I answered the phone and the guy on the line asked if my mom or dad were home. Yup.

Abeille à miel: Congratulations! Same here!

Patty: Oh, come on! Right now, we're in a conversation that spans the globe. I just clicked on your site and you're teaching art journal-making classes from the comfort of your own damn home! That is waaaaay cooler than flying cars. Amaright?

vintagegreenvy: Several classes in high school, I'm pretty sure time stopped and part of my soul is still trapped there. But I've decided that time flying by is a sign that you're happy. Think about it.

0storm0: Wait, hu?

alek: What's the Gate of Horn? I have flying dreams all the time where I can't get back on the ground.

Jackie: WTF is 'do a "legal"'? Or wait... wtf is a '"legal' I can't believe'? Yeah, that's the wtf....

Tina: You're 25. You still haven't hit bottom enough to, like, know what to do with your life. Just wait.

accusedredemption: Are you just being weird on purpose? Or are you a teenager that's actually been grounded? Like, by parents?

SpiritedEarth: I agree, but.... What does walking upright have to do with it?

Lorna: Make several more blogger profiles so you can enter as all your alter egos.

The Condor. Vintage Matchbook Label Soldered Assemblage Choker.

As for the rest, we all seem to loose touch with our age after reaching the ideal 20-something. It's like we're all programmed. When we're little, we want to look 20, when we're old, we remember being 20. So depressing. And the rest of the rest of you- 'congrats' is not something one can't believe! Unless you're stunned about the fact that I'm approaching 1000 sales. Which I am, so I guess that's fair.

So, the winner picked by printing names out, cutting into strips, throwing in the air then carefully selecting the one I wanted to win: KATHY BARRICK! Write me at marinarios@yahoo.com so's I can get yr address and all that good stuff.

ANYWAYS, 2 days ago I thought I'd add a line to ALL my mudderfookin listings saying to come on over to me blag for the giveaway. I dunno why, I guess I'm a glutton for comments... So I cut 'n' paste the line : "I'm celebrating my upcoming 1000th sale on my blog w/giveaways" blah blah blah. And I go thru all SIXTYFOUR listings to add that fugger in there... only to realize as I finish that I hadn't written '1000th', but rather '100th.'
Thats right. I'm a 'tard.

And I had to go back and do it ALL OVER AGAIN. To all my listings. Dearlordinheaven.
And that, children, is why you shouldn't drink a Monster and then go on line. What else shouldn't you do? Leave a comment telling me to enter this next giveaway.
This time, I'll choose randomly after whittling it down to the comments I like best. Oh that's right. It ain't random baby. It's a meritocracy up in this! A meritocracy of dumbness.
Aaaanywho, these pictures show today's prize- a double-sided necklace with a soldered pendant featuring different antique match box labels on either side. Good luck ladies. And lady-like gentlemen. (Why else would a dude be lurking 'round these parts?)

17 comments:

Louise said...: The necklace of time. Mine mine mine. It echoes the past and speaks of the future. A talisman. Love love love. And it's my birthday today so I really ought to win. ;D (and I thought you might have been a man once too!);D; 10/10/11, 3:16 PM
Kathy Barrick said...: WOWOWOW!! I'm such a lucky girl!!! Thank you Fanci!!! If I ever have a give away on my blog, I'll put all the names in a hat and pick your name too!! Kathy; 10/10/11, 3:31 PM
richelle said...: I thought you were a man because I originally found your Etsy shop by clicking on a pair of earrings that were on the front page in a treasury. This was probably two years ago.

I think the earrings were called sugar-something, and they were kind of colorless dangling petals. They were like antiearrings. Things live in my mind far differently than they actually are.

Anyway, I clicked on them, went to your shop, and there were all these antiearrings and whatnot--I specifically remember a pair of beads with chainage falling OVER the beads, instead of properly UNDER, and it was so lovely and unexpected. It was the first shop I'd seen that gave me a little hope.

Have you ever been to a very old library that has transparent floors? I remember there was an originally a practical reason for it, but it doesn't matter now because they are all clouded from time and books, and they just exist there as pure form, all reason and purpose has been silenced, and in this quiet is the real meaning, which is human construction completely purified through fabulous neglect, which always equals beauty.

That's a pretty abstract analogy. But--the jewelry I saw in your shop was unique and pure enough in form, a mix of that timeworn austerity mingled with opulence that is so alluring. I remember finding and discovering this quality so much more when I was in my late teens and twenties, when there was so much to discover, so much I hadn't yet seen, and although it was relatively recent--it was the mid 1980s, I swear to god the world was different then, and it wasn't just my youth. I have lots of examples, but this is already turning into a Dr. Bronner's style label rant. And I haven't even told you why I thought you were a man, and why that mattered.

Simply, your Etsy avatar. I didn't look very closely, didn't realize it was a print or ephemerical. I took it literally, and the idea of a man creating these delicate, ruinous, feminine, industrial pieces of jewelry was so amazing to me that it was almost heartbreaking.; 10/10/11, 4:08 PM
Chelsea said...: I hate to tell you this, but Craftopolis (I just spelled it Craptopolis, oops) has an app that allows to you change multiple listings at once. :/ It's called Edit Express.

http://www.craftopolis.com

At least you know for the future, right?; 10/10/11, 5:18 PM
Kathy Barrick said...: I'm back. Just had an idea. I think we should all TRY to be Fanci's 1000th sale!!!! I mean, who wouldn't want another piece of her amazing jewelry????? Are you all IN?

Kathy; 10/10/11, 6:28 PM
fanciful devices said...: calm down kathy.
breathe.
i'm not giving anything away with the 1000th listing.
ok, now i feel like an asshole! I guess I AM giving something away, lol.
no idea what.; 10/10/11, 6:56 PM
Kathy Barrick said...: LOL I didn't mean we need another gift! I just think it would be cool to be the 1000th purchaser! Like we'd go down in the history books or something! LOL; 10/10/11, 9:46 PM
Kathy Barrick said...: AND, I meant that it wouldn't make us suffer to PURCHASE a piece of your jewelry to be the 1,000th sale, because your jewelry is so cool, we all want some anyway. Is this making any sense at all???? OMG I need to sleep!!!! Just tell me to shut up!!!; 10/10/11, 9:56 PM
E Makes Art said...: Ok, first off... I just found your blog and think you are both 1. crazy talented and 2. completely nuts. And I read the comments people left on your last post and they're all a bunch of loonies too. It's like a nutball breeding ground here. I love it. I never want to go home... can I live in your blog? And what else? I NEED that necklace! It is sooo flippin amazing and it wants to be on my neck SO badly. Yup.

Ok, to the question...is it What you shouldn't do after drinking a Monster drink or just in general? If the first I'll have to say breastfeed... yeah, you shouldn't drink a Monster then breastfeed immediately after...not good ;-) If just in general... you shouldn't leave long babbling crazy comments when it's your first time on a blog and you're trying to win a gorgeous necklace. Probably not the smartest... yet here I am.

ok, that's enough of that. thanks for the chance.
xoEsther; 10/10/11, 11:19 PM
E Makes Art said...: I'm completely obsessed with this necklace. Can't stop thinking about and looking at it. I also noticed that one side of the pendant says "the condor" which is not a coincidence and means it must be mine, since my high school mascot was The Condors, and what were our school colors you ask? Yup. Blue and gold(yellow)! Ok, high school was 21 years ago, but crazy thing is my husband now teaches at my old high school! So the necklace is calling to me even more. And I just spent WAAAAAYYY too long looking around your blog and Etsy shop and LOOOVVE everything, but this one seriously is my favorite. Sigh...

xoEsther; 10/11/11, 12:48 AM
Anonymous said...: So I've been denied a saucy man, but this necklace looks mighty fine and it won't burp in my face or scratch it's unmentionables. Doesn't drinking lots of monster make you do that....Running...; 10/11/11, 3:11 AM
Penelope said...: It feels like every time I come here I think 'have they been giving out free day passes again?'.

Madness breeds madness.

I totally love that people used to think you were a man. I think everyone on Etsy is a woman until stated otherwise.; 10/11/11, 9:04 AM
Jackie said...: I must admit, I also thought you were a man. I also thought Fanci was quite the strange name for a man.

Your creations were so dark I actually thought you might be a creepy sort of man so I avoided your site. But I kept getting drawn back for quick peeks of your fab creations.

After discovering that you were not a creepy sort of man ... I'm here to stay and to see if a bit of your awesomeness might rub off on me.

And this is my "legal" post of the day! lol :o)

...Jackie xo; 10/11/11, 9:50 AM
Aqua Junko Artworks said...: I love your work -- but I am often as confused as you are. On good days I wish I could have coffee with you, maybe. I want the necklace what else can I say. I don't drink Monster drinks - it scares my cats. Lori B.; 10/11/11, 10:19 AM
Jennifer Valentine Morford said...: i never thought you were a man.
i always thought you were simply otherworldly.
originally, i typed "otherWORDly", but then i thought, you are that too...
sometimes i wonder how much of my work has been cast aside, or simply thrown away.
your work is not something anyone would ever throw away...like an original painting by their favorite artist...
you're my favorite artist. I actually display your work, like pieces of art, in my bedroom.
You inspire me to be "me".
and you make me laugh...
thank you for that.; 10/12/11, 6:23 AM
fanciful devices said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/12/11, 4:58 PM
alek said...: The gates of horn and ivory are a literary image used to distinguish true dreams (corresponding to factual occurrences) from false. The phrase originated in the Greek language, in which the word for "horn" is similar to that for "fulfil" and the word for "ivory" is similar to that for "deceive". On the basis of that play on words, true dreams are spoken of as coming through the gates of horn, false dreams as coming through those of ivory.

there is a whole section on flying in the oneirocritica - 0f artemidorus -
'someone dreamt that he rose up by his own volition and was flying towards a proposed destination which he was eager to reach. then, when he was there, he dreamt he had wings and ascended with the birds, and afterwards returned back down to his house. in real life, the man emigrated from his homeland, as was indicated by the flight, and since he got to his destination, he was succesful in the business projects which he pursued with great industry. and then after he had become sufficiently rich (since we say that the rich have wings) and had lived in a foreign country (since birds do not belong to the same biological familly as human beings), he returned to his own country...'

perhaps in your dream - that you cannot get back on the ground signifies your not having returned ...
:); 10/21/11, 4:12 AM