fanciful devices: coupon

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.

3/16/12

New Tute

PDF Tutorial- Tribal Gypsy Bangle Stack.

Ok, people...

Here it is so stop hounding me already! I truly cracked my brain over this one trying to make it clear and pretty and all that... Thing is, since it wasn't as straight-up, step-by-step as the headpins and had more of a variety of possibilities, it was a hot mess for quite a while. And it was such a big file that email couldn't handle it... So I had to cut it down. I removed the section on metals and oxidizers, sorry. That's gonna have to wait for another tute. Still, it's 21 pages with 59 photos and 5 diagrams. It's really the photos that make it so big, so I had to remove a ton. Thing is, we types are visual learners. You can say "loop the long end over the short, wrap the short end counter-clockwise eight times and finish with a sailor's knot" and it won't make a bit of sense. Slap in a picture and it becomes crystal clear:

As I said, it's aimed at beginners, with some discussion of design for more advanced-ers... and your momma.
Dudes, new things are hard. And writing tutes is new for me. My husband thinks it's hilarious that I call them tutes because it sounds like "toots" which sometime when I wasn't looking became the cute new way to say fart.
What was I saying? Oh yeah, since last time I had trouble with lots of people's email size limits, this time I have it on-line. So instead of the email, you'll be getting a link and a password. Unless you really want the actual file- and your email provider allows 25MB attachments- in which case I'll email it to you. You can even have both! Hell, I'll send it to you via astral carrier pigeon if you like.
Last time some people had questions about, say, if they had an electric stove top could they still make the headpins? (Answer: Yes.) I want to re-itorate: Me likey the questions. Please ask some, yo.
Speaking of headpins. Check it:

RESERVED - Benthos - The depths of the sea - Tribal sea gypsy earrings

Squeeeeee!!!! I look at these and start doing a wiggle-jig in my chair. And she really made them her own, ya know? The colors are crazy and crazy saturated. Wait, I just realized this means she had these as eyeshadows. !!! Kim (the artist previously known as Corvid) !!! I thought you were such a demur lady! Well paint me surprised (in muted neon).

Exclamation point.

Also:

Sea wolf - Tribal shark tooth earrings

On an unrelated note, have you seen Petra's leetle bottles?
Floral Amphora

These two already sold, ya snoozers! But here's still one left, and it has a belly: Gecko Heaven

Yeah, yeah, I know. Shut up and give us the coupon already. First, you have to actually click on 'Apply Coupon Code'. It doesn't work if you write it in the 'note to seller', ladies. And did you know it doesn't matter if you write it in capitals or lower case? True fact.
So type in TOOTS or toots for 20% off the tute. And if you're really nice I'll send you some complimentary astral pigeons.
(OK, and now I actually remembered to activate the coupon. Derp. And did I mention it's another 48 hour coupon? Cuz it is. OK, carry on.)

3/1/12

Foiled Again!

Don't worry you pooperscoopers, check it:

Now, nothing looks interesting to me without foil. Like that hand... isn't it just asking for it?

Here's a micro mini batch:
The Describable Universe. Cuff and Ring Set. Recycled Rustic Biscuit Tin with Gold Gilding.

The Describable Universe. Cuff and Ring Set. Recycled Rustic Biscuit Tin with Gold Gilding.

Much Transformation.

A set, no less.

Since it's a mini batch, I'll indulge in two pictures of each without worrying they might be redundant.

He Had Been in Heaven. Victorian Tribal Recycled Assemblage Rustic Found Object Choker with Gold Foil.

He Had Been in Heaven. Victorian Tribal Recycled Assemblage Rustic Found Object Choker with Gold Foil.

He Had Been in Heaven.

I think that's a binocular lens. And crap I forgot to wax the old fabric cord. I'll do it now and hope it doesn't look different enough to require new pictures. I'm afraid that without wax it would just crumble over time.
He Had Been in Heaven. Victorian Tribal Recycled Assemblage Rustic Found Object Choker with Gold Foil.

So, sales are always meh for me this time of year. So I'm going to have a special sale just for you guys my bestest invisible buddies.

Teach the People. Crystal Quartz Points and Kuchi Tribal Belly Dance Charms.

Teach the People. Crystal Quartz Points and Kuchi Tribal Belly Dance Charms.

Teach the People.

20% discount, I'm thinking. Get some sales and celebrate that my period ended. As soon as I was finished writing about it- Pow! There it was. Man, I used to have a one male commenter named alek but I'm guessing all this period talk has scared him off.

This weekend I'll be in Wisconsin helping with the little goblins while my sister and her hubs move into a brand new house. We're all very excited about their big move and their posh new digs. I can't believe I just wrote "posh new digs." Who am I?

Sea So Deep. Rustic Victorian Tribal Assemblage earrings with Gold Gilding.

Sea So Deep.

Point is, I won't be around. Hopefully, I'll come back to some sales. I don't know how long the coupon code will be active, though. Fair warning.
Sea So Deep. Rustic Victorian Tribal Assemblage earrings with Gold Gilding.

Here's a picture of my dog I posted on the new Heartbeats forum thread.

My dog usually wouldn't be caught dead showing his belleh. He doesn't consider himself a submissive dog. Or, as my dad would put it, "You shouldn't penetrate his invisible core of dignity."
We often tease my dad because he can't say anything normal. (correction: "You shouldn't violate his invisible core of dignity." I knew It wasn't quite as creepy as 'penetrate.' And normal would be to say "He doesn't like showing belly." Or something.)

Meanwhile my mom: I tole da stori, dey all crack.
Me: They crapped? Mom, they crapped?
Mom: (cluelessly) Yah.
Dad: (joining in) They crapped their pants?
Mom: (happy at the reception her anecdote is getting) Yah! Dey totali crack.

Apparently mom worked with a lot of people suffering from incontinence.

And with that... type in CRACK for the 20% off.

Now here's some mail love I got:

From Melinda of BeesOnPie, real horsehair and the sweetest canister. little legs and bits.

From Rosie of EclecticTea. I realize I should have photographed this while it was still intact, but I started taking it apart before it was out of the package. Already the two pieces at either end you see at the bottom here are part of those earrings above.

Oh, here it is from her blog. If you can even see it->

From Roberta.... who I seem to have lost any linkage to. I think you emailed me instead of convoing and y'all should know better than that!

These stones really caught my eye. I've never seen anything quite like them and I love the chunky way they were faceted.

As usual, I feel totally flustered and actually embarrassed to receive gifts from out of the blue and never feel like 'thanks' is enough. Sometimes, the feeling of embarrassment will actually cause me to put off saying thanks to people! And then I can't remember who sent what and it becomes a ridiculous mess.