fanciful devices: I made some jewelry, how rare.

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.

9/22/12

I made some jewelry, how rare.

OK, nobody guessed exactly right, so I'm going to give coupon codes to all guessers because I'm craaaaaazy like that.

LaFileuse, neshuma, alteredarcheology, Venus Soberanes and AnvilArtifacts y'all convo me for your coupon codes. I'm not gonna chase y'all down. They'll be good for, I dunno, a month?

The theme of this necklace is allthetinyjunkwithinhandsreach.

Another little tin with a cute scene within, both covers coated in red stamps.

Stamps and tin provided by etsy's waterhand of the huge haul I mentioned.

Another resined slide. This slide is OLD though, so it's actual glass. Yeah.

There's this tiny ephemera bits that I got off the packaging of some 7gypsies stuff I used for wrapping ages ago.

Here you can see the gold foil sorta.

And here you can see the odd sorta clasp I wrangled for my moon cuff.

Pink madness. Might be the last batch of pink stuff I got.

Earrings. Decided it was time to use up some of the zillions of medals I got.

I dunno about this new blogger interface. It keeps telling me an error occurred while trying to save/publish my post, neither of which I was trying to do.

I'm having a dizzy day. If my fairy godmother wanted to appear with a hot fudge sundae I wouldn't complain.

These really are exceptional medals and didn't need too much fussing by me to accompany them.

Look, color.

Wait.

Did I say the earrings above were my last pinks?

Here's my last pinks.

I'm thinking of maybe destashing by offering diy kits. I dunno tho. They'd maybe be like - "Here's some things that would make for good mis-matched earrings if I had more time...." Yay/nay?

I'd include a bunch of findings and extra bits that I'd consider if I were gonna do the do. Doobidy do.

I think I need some chocolate.

Finally, I just don't know about this thing. What's it even supposed to be? And the wax didn't make the cords leathery, it just made them stiff. Maybe I'll just sell it for cheap... Imna go steal some chocolate from mom's house now.

10 comments:

alteredarcheology said...: Wow, nobody guessed how the pretty cosmic stardust patina was applied. Was it nail polish? Non embozzled embossing powder? Was it purchased from a Halloween superstore? Is it crushed up baby angels?? The saga continues....
I LOVE the destash idea, who wouldn't honestly? I would die to get my hands on somathat killer Uruhaul shiz!
I'm lovin the pendant with the shanks in the front with all the lovely little bits attached and the clasp you 'wrangled' (perfect choice of words, been there) Reminds me of a Japanese wave. And lastly, many thanks for the coupon, nothin like a reward for being completely ass wrong.; 9/23/12, 7:23 AM
La Fileuse said...: I wonder how you made the patina... By the way, thanks a lot for the coupon ! You're a sweet soul, you know.
And I agree, DIY kits will be a great thing ! ^^; 9/23/12, 7:50 AM
Lela said...: Theme: allthetinyjunkwithinhandsreach heh :)

And I don't know what that last thing is either...but it's cool & will look perfect with just the right outfit.; 9/23/12, 10:12 AM
PipnMolly said...: Swooning.
... and you do pink very well.; 9/23/12, 12:29 PM
Beatnheart said...: like the crstals with the rhinestone bits

love the faux patinas...you told me how its done and I still dont know how its done...maybe I’ll just use crayons on my stuff.; 9/23/12, 3:45 PM
betweenreader said...: I have had great luck using Golden's Interference Blue as a wash over layers of color, but don't think that's what Marina has been doing. Something tells me she is using cosmetics. Also, seems to me I saw a seller on Etsy offering the pigments in powder form that go into nail polish and such. Curse me, I just said hmm and surfed on. I bet you could use that powder with Dorlands and get something pretty keen. But we all know that Fanci's work is not just the patina or even the uruhaul. It'something magic happening between her ears. Chocolate fueled, but Magic!; 9/23/12, 5:23 PM
Flotsam Tide said...: I love that thing! No really the t shirt wrap necklace is awesome, looks really soft too which is wonderful, and is a great example of modern tribal like that pinterest board I showed you once. I get a kick out of the fabric pieces that you make every so often.. like that pom pom necklace. I secretly coveted that one. Um hot pink is one of my favorite color palettes that you do! Like crabby patty baby, and actually now that I think of it the very first piece I ever bought from you was a hot pink necklace. In any case I am getting distracted... sorry I am under the weather over here and not very lucid. Those quartz earrings are gorgeous, and I love those bright pink headpins in your medals earrings. Chocolate would be good yes... sigh..; 9/24/12, 12:41 AM
Unknown said...: I am loving that first necklace, allthetinyjunkwithinhandsreach - great name. And I think the safety pin clinches the deal for me. In fact I think I may be naming all the stuff I'm making that has been inspired by you all as "stuffthatnoonebutmewouldeverlove"...; 9/25/12, 11:32 AM
Tribalis said...: I like the pink pieces! :)) They fit great with my pinks nails..; 9/27/12, 11:48 PM
Anonymous said...: Hubby is going to grumble about take out tonight, me thinks.

Do you ever make molds of some of the gorgeous stampings and coins you use? Maybe you get so much gloriously unique stuff you don't have to, or don't want to. Or maybe you have a closet full of horded molds where bugaloos create groovy tunes to coincide with their sweetness.

Color me Ninjas turtles cause stuffs like you use is so not walking around in the hicksville I live in. We got birds, butterflies, and bunnies though so I won't complain too loudly. Until tomorrow when my favorite hare lends an ear, that is.

I like what you did with the quartz points and amethyst. I love those lil purple slabs. Kowabunga dude!

M; 10/1/12, 5:51 PM