fanciful devices: Vacation Mode Activate!

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.

6/4/14

Vacation Mode Activate!

I'm closing shop for about 3 weeks- don't wanna have to rush back into things after the trip, don't wanna be making packages tomorrow when I should be packing, you see. So yeah, tonight.

Some textured wheels from the burnt nuts batch. they came out all black and puffy but kinda cool as well.

Also made some of these mixing very moist white with very hard blue but not really mixing it all the way.

Since the Chinese factory goods I'd ordered for the girl-cousin gifts never arrived I made them a bunch of simple earrings out of me own beads. Pretty good. Good enough. Plus it's actually something I made so idk...

Last time I got them all those faux vintage pocket-watch necklaces you see all over etsy. Found a shop that had them for like 2 bucks a pop and they were a huge hit. Just having access to cheap and appealing goods is a big deal when visiting lots of family.

So yeah thank you guys for all the encouraging comments on my own beads and stuff, it really makes all the difference. We humans are such gluttons for validation, sigh.

I'll see you in a few weeks!

9 comments:

Vintajia Adornments said...: Don't ya love the smell of burning nuts?
Have a great trip (Dark tinge of green here); 6/4/14, 10:49 PM
La Fileuse said...: Enjoy your holidays ! o/; 6/5/14, 5:17 AM
StaroftheEast said...: Enjoy your trip!; 6/5/14, 6:06 AM
Penelope said...: ummm those earrings a like a trillion times better than factory goods! I would actually wear those earrings. And you're not supposed to buy factory junk from etsy, you're only encouraging them! Sleeping with the enemy! Batting for the other side! No wait that's something else. I sentence you to 3 weeks in South America! And bring me back a llama, I love those guys.; 6/5/14, 12:17 PM
Juliette said...: I've missed reading you!! Pretty much moved into our new house now, and now you're going away - have a great trip and post lots of pics XOXOXOXO, Juliette; 6/5/14, 1:19 PM
Unknown said...: Have a wonderful time and the earrings are going to be loved!; 6/5/14, 5:14 PM
Jennifer Valentine Morford said...: Have an amazing trip my sweet!
I have missed you so much.; 6/5/14, 8:32 PM
betweenreader said...: Enjoy your travels and come back with lotsa cool theengs! XOXO, P.; 6/6/14, 8:42 PM
Unknown said...: Uh, have a great vacay! And when you can back, share your found goodies with us (picture-wise)...I wanna see South American authentic awesomeness, bejeweling drooling ferramenta! So...yeah, have a good time for me too ;); 6/7/14, 11:14 PM