fanciful devices: Quite a bit to say for myself this time.

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.

3/23/15

Quite a bit to say for myself this time.

Basically I just let a ton of stuff pile up to be photoed so now I have a mighty big batch to share.

Jugaad . Bright blue rustic assemblage bracelet with iridescent beach glass, turquoise druzy, lapis lazuli, vintage pieces.

Jugaad.
Like these bracelets using beach glass from a bottle so the curve would lay against the wrist.

The glass for these was gifted to me by darliciousrejuvenations, isn't she lovely?
Weltgeist. Chunky assemblage bracelet with iridescent beach glass and chunky antique African glass in bright cobalt blue.

Weltgeist. Chunky assemblage bracelet with iridescent beach glass and chunky antique African glass in bright cobalt blue.

Weltgeist.
Above a chunky version with super old African beads from Patroness.

And I'm working on this one next, though I got sick of making the wound wire bits so lets see when I get my ass to finish it.
Ubuntu . Rustic assemblage bracelet in shades of purple violet with kuchi and druzy agate slice.

Ubuntu . Rustic assemblage bracelet in shades of purple violet with kuchi and druzy agate slice.

Ubuntu.
Speaking of assemblage bracelets, I'm in love with this one- isn't it cute?

I took out the ugly plastic kuchi cabs and added my own enamel gunk mix.
Abditive. Rustic assemblage necklace in shades of pink with vintage glass opal and seashell.

Abditive. Rustic assemblage necklace in shades of pink with vintage glass opal and seashell.

Abditive.
Necklace in pink!

That hook was actually a broken finding of basically a big ring soldered on to a little one. I twisted the big ring a bit, little hammering, voi-la.
Pareidolia. Rustic assemblage victorian tribal cluster choker necklace.

Pareidolia. Rustic assemblage victorian tribal cluster choker necklace.

Pareidolia.
Really enjoying little clusters of thing. They take on their own semblance of meaning, which is what the title means.

Yes, I'm also quite happy with this bunch of titles, go to the shop if you're curious.
Cyaneous. Bright blue white rustic assemblage necklace with long rough kyanite pendant, beach pottery, art beads.

Cyaneous. Bright blue white rustic assemblage necklace with long rough kyanite pendant, beach pottery, art beads.

Cyaneous.
You can see I bailed a lot of rough stones in my Cosmic Rocks technique, they're popping up all over.

Here's some beads I shared on Instagram. I made these polies with teeny nail decals!

I have more to try out but you know how it is- too busy making shit to have time to make shit.
Gigil. Thick and chunky rustic assemblage choker with textured art beads.

Gigil. Thick and chunky rustic assemblage choker with textured art beads.

Gigil.
Some of my polies appear in this chunky chunk as well.

I'm counting and there are FIVE gifts in this piece as well. Wait. SIX!!!!! Oh shit no SEVEN. OMG.

linda = teapots and telephones
kathy = FrenchSentiments
triballis = I misspelled it here. tribalis
emmanuelle = (misspelled, the shame) CreationsAsh, on vacay mode right now.
Claudia = she'll soon have a shop up.
omg I forgot = please forgive me! people send me things under their real names, they chat under etsy pseudonyms, a gal gets easily confused.
But the links above, if you haven't visited, I can't recommend enough. Not to mention shipwreckdandy for all the help and inspiration in my poly creation. A Tiger in Me. Rustic assemblage necklace with watermelon tourmaline, druzy amethyst, coin.

A Tiger in Me. Rustic assemblage necklace with watermelon tourmaline, druzy amethyst, coin.

A Tiger in Me.
A gorgeous ten peso coin from Uruguay with a touch of solder top and bottom for connections. This isn't even vintage, I just ox'ed it and it looks friggin' awesome.

The druzy culster was also from Uruguay, I oxed the electroplated rim.
A Candle. Rustic choker with antique medal.

A Candle.
And guess where this baby's from? That's right! Uganda! Oh wait no...

But the chain I put together from bits of old broken kuchi bracelets. And I made that ring out of unneeded keyring and lots of solder. In fact, it was one of you lovely ladies that commented to say the key to getting good solder globs was to use tons of flux. I can't thank you enough!
Djenné. Ancient beads in rustic ring.

Djenné.
I made one like this before.
Y'all, texting has spoiled me, I'm finding keyboard typing awkward and fraught with misspellings.
Bildung. Labradorite beads in rustic ring.

Bildung. Labradorite beads in rustic ring.

Bildung.
As I was torching this for patina, I ended up annealing the metal and idk... is it too mushy? I don't mean mushy looking, I like that. I mean actually mushy...
Halcyon. Rustic assemblage asymmetrical earrings with sea urchin spines and Baltic amber bits.

Halcyon. Rustic assemblage asymmetrical earrings with sea urchin spines and Baltic amber bits.

Halcyon.
I've been having fun with my sea urchin spines and some of the stuff linda sent that I shared earlier. I really liked how the flip flop asymmetry worked on these.
Abessive. Rustic assemblage asymmetrical earrings in grays and orange.

Abessive. Rustic assemblage asymmetrical earrings in grays and orange.

Abessive.
Another asymmetry- a rough colorless amethyst mismatched with a poly drop of my own. I actually had two of these poly drops but I just really liked this pairing.
He'll Make You Shine. Amethyst slab and cotton cord with gold leafed tin earrings.

He'll Make You Shine. Amethyst slab and cotton cord with gold leafed tin earrings.

He'll Make You Shine.
Look at these! More Uruguayan amethyst set in salvaged tin with composite gold leaf and this awesome cording!!! Which I still have to wax actually if I don't want a fuzzy mess. I did something here a bit different- I didn't ox the wires. Not even noticeable, idk. Me and my ox obsession.
Lovat Moons. Rustic victorian tribal vintage baroque pearl cage earrings.

Lovat Moons.

I made some more baroque pearl caged guys cuz they're so popular.
Even made this second pair I haven't listed yet.
Underwater Tribute. Tribal gypsy bangle stack in blues and greens.

Underwater Tribute.

Speaking of popular, another bangle stack. Linda has copper filler bangles in her shop that are really cool and textured, as seen here.
Even made this second stack which I haven't yet listed.

Phew that's a lot of stuff!!!! I'm all:

Plus last week was all about doctor's visits and getting that damn root canal, which had me like:

Though I'm still not sure which cat I am.

10 comments:

Thoughtfulhands said...: Gorgeous Gorgeous love your style... I am truly in love with the blue necklace with the beach pottery and your flowered polies.

P.S. Flux is your friend :); 3/23/15, 3:32 PM
Relics Revisited said...: As always, love the creations and the kitty cats! Your necklace with the blue porcelain reminds me a lot of Caldor's work, look him up if you want some awesome inspiration!; 3/23/15, 5:34 PM
Beatnheart said...: as per usual...you do it better than anyone...your ideas are unique and an inspiration...I admire your killer skills and imagination...
oh and your little animal vids I love so much sometimes I just get hypnotized especially that little grey kitten...; 3/23/15, 9:04 PM
darlene said...: ab fab babbeee! love what you've done all around. xoxo; 3/23/15, 9:50 PM
Anvil Artifacts said...: So many wonderful new fanci goodies! Especially liking that first bracelet and the necklace with the long dagger of kyanite and the........ALL of these are inspired! Yum!; 3/24/15, 9:32 AM
Juliette said...: Wow. I've found about 7 necklaces I want. Your work with clasps is just - wonderful!! I'm working on my own chains, and while I've done some clasps I've gotten a lot of inspiration from yours. LOVE these pieces.; 3/24/15, 1:41 PM
Unknown said...: Haven't been for a visit for awhile. I'm bowing down to you Marina. Bowing down. *bowing in Vancouver* Norma; 3/24/15, 3:16 PM
Unknown said...: I also look to Marina for clasp inspiration. ..; 3/25/15, 1:45 PM
Cynthia and Co. said...: You out did yourself with this collection Fanci - I love everything - especially the ring that you questioned. Thanks for a great inspirational post.; 3/26/15, 12:20 AM
stregata said...: Thank you for stopping by and for your encouraging words, Marine. It means a lot to me.
Your work is sensational. as always. Sigh.; 3/27/15, 1:49 AM