fanciful devices

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.

7/11/15

Manic Makies!

Listing up a storm these days. Faculae. Antique kuchi and vintage rhinestone bracelet. Rustic assemblage victorian tribal bracelet.

Faculae- bright patches visible on the Sun's surface.

Lots of these sold already tho. But you know you only come here for ideas to cop- er, inspiration.

The Goal of Knowledge. Stacked earrings with rustic art beads. Victorian tribal assemblage. Orange, brown.

“She is the source of light in all luminous objects. She is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. She is knowledge, She is the object of knowledge, and She is the goal of knowledge. She is situated in everyone's heart.”

―The Bhagavad Gita

It's all sweaty in Chicago today.

Exulansis. Stacked salmon earrings with rustic art beads. Victorian tribal assemblage.

Exulansis- n. the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it (...) which allows it to drift away from the rest of your life story, until the memory itself feels out of place, almost mythical, wandering restlessly in the fog, no longer even looking for a place to land

-The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Dangle Moons.

Which reminds me, you know those dudes in the gym that have sweat just rolling down their bodies in rivulets? What's up with that? I get one drip and I feel like an ant's crawling on me and have towel that shit off immediately. Dark Moons. Caged baroque pearl earrings.

Dark Moons.

Wow, you certainly did not come here today to picture sweaty dudes with rivulets. I am so sorry.

Bone Moons.

As you can see here, operation Infinite Pearls is a go.

Oceanic 1.

Like I said last post, time to drown y'all in bracelets.

Overcast.

These were such a treat to make though. The cuffs are vintage lamp banding, a decorative trim for lamps. There's all kinds and some you might recognize is used by assemblage artisans to sort of trim tintypes and stuff. It's super fun.

Beach Sand.

But so I got a bunch a while ago and then I was like, yeah I know I wanna make cuffs but then what? Finally it hit me- bracelet sets. All the fun and ease-of-production of bangle stacks without the sheer overwhelming number of unwieldy bangles.

Oceanic 2.

Plus I had no crappy beads I wanted to use purely for destash, only awesome beads that I had no particular plan for. Add some embellishment on the band cuffs and voi-la.

Beach Sand 2.

Actually, all the cuffs have extender chains and hooks,. Since the metal isn't the springy kind cuffs are always made of, you need something to keep it together sort of. And it's an excuse for a cute oversized bead as the extender chain dangle.

Oceanic 3.

Been realizing that the easiest stuff to make is so often the most popular. Even though I always feel like I should be wielding torches and smelting fine metals instead of just playing with cute beads as I tend to do...

Earthen Path. Bangle stack. Rustic tribal gypsy bracelet set with cuff in browns, copper, amber.

Earthen Path. (Here's a set without a cuff, but rather a triple-wrap dealie made with wide bracelet and mesh chain)

I keep seeing how truly lovely silver is in metalwork. How silver wire can look smushy and super strong at the same time:

poppy heads green garnet earrings sterling by ewalompe

here

But I can't bring myself to spend the big bucks on the stuff cuz... Like I'm a cheapskate, I know this. I have been able to overcome that and regularly spend what a few years ago would have shocked me on supplies, but wire? I'd be so precious with it there'd be no room for spontaneity. Plus then I'd have to move into a whole new price range and I don't know if I can sustain that...

So yeah.

So check it so I posted this on instagram:

With this caption:

And got this awesome response from my old bestie Sparrow:

Which was awesome because A) first time getting scolded on Instagram and that alone made me inexplicably happy and 2) whole new perspective which did push me to get all these listings up but also C) making is fun and listing isn't at all so really ... Like, I could be the tooth-flossingest person ever if I just... but that's never gonna...

OK, whatever I just said made sense in my head. Have another gif.

or two

or three

7/4/15

Blogging on the 4th cuz I'm a big loser.

Hello friends. How are you all? I'm really good, whiny me hasn't been around lately. Cyaneous. Baby blue rustic cluster brooch with sea pottery.

Cyaneous.

I remembered how to brooch a little bit! Not too shabby.

Rückkehrunruhe. Delicate green assemblage earrings with sterling silver sombrero charms.

Rückkehrunruhe- n. the feeling of returning home after an immersive trip only to find it fading rapidly from your awareness

-Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Fitzcarraldo.Rustic assemblage earrings with dark oxidation and flashes of white.

Fitzcarraldo- n. an image that somehow becomes lodged deep in your brain

-Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

I Crossed an Ocean of Time for You.

So as you see, a lot of earring-ing happening.

Ubuntu, because of who we are. Grey dangle earrings with face buttons, labradorite, medal.

Ubuntu- (Bantu) African philosophy roughly translated, "I am what I am because of who we all are."

These adorabuttons, a gift from Linda of TeapotsandTelephones.

Willowisp. Dark iridescent lampwork earrings.

Willowisp- also will-o'-the-wisp, or ignis fatuus (Latin: "foolish fire") is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over marshes. It resembles a flickering lamp and is said to recede if approached, drawing travellers away from safe paths.

Those are my polies, I made 'em, that's right, me... I did.

Golden Moons.

Gotta keep churning these out, give the people what they want. Plus they're way fun to make, so.

Silver Moons.

Like these three pairs, I didn't even have a chance to list them before they sold. So I went to ebay and got the grungiest old ruined necklaces and when they arrived I jumped and squee'd while bits of their pearl finishes flew off around me. Sealing and waxing time, is what it is.

Mutalibun. Dark oxidized rustic assemblage bracelet with coins.

Mutalibun- (Arabic) treasure hunters

I love this thing. I just went and upped the price a few bucks when I remembered all the work that went into this.

Ambedo. White rustic assemblage bracelet.

Ambedo- n. a kind of melancholic trance in which you become completely absorbed in vivid sensory details

-Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

And look at this glorious bit of wrist candy! I know you know who made that focal. I know I don't have to tell you.

Barakah. Dark and dainty rustic assemblage lariat with metaphysical symbols.

Barakah - (Arabic) a beneficent force from God that flows through the phystical and spiritual spheres in the forms of prosperity, protextion and happiness.

This sweet lariat has a Buddhist dorje/vajra and a Christian sacred heart and this pleases me.

Keta. Dainty rustic assemblage necklace.

Keta- n. an image that inexplicably leaps back into your mind from the distant past.

-Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

This thing is simple and minimal and this pleases me as well. I'm easily pleased though.

Gigil. Dark chunky rustic tribal assemblage necklace.

Gigil- (Tagolog) The thrill that accompanies a strong urge to lay your hands on something, while possibly holding yourself back from doing so, such as the urge to pinch a baby's cheek.

OK, this is not little and dainty. It's a remake of a mess of a thing I had up a while back, but I am thrilled with it now.

I also have available two other special necklaces which I haven't gotten around to listing yet.

These two necklaces were featured in The Mixed Media Artist by Seth Apter and they're all about my ruminations about the universe as my conscious flits through the galaxies. They're chock-full of special bits that I'll eventually get around to explaining. Like the long dangle on the left here is a vintage Japanese printer's stamp with the word for 'rare' on it.

And this one which shows how within each of us is just a conscious looking out into the vastness. Kinda thing.

$145

$115

Someone sent me a picture of a glass case they have just to display some baubles they got from me.

OK, the image is super blurry but I just thought it was so sweet, especially considering the bracelet there is something I made, if I remember correctly, about 50 years ago.

It never stops surprising me that pieces I sold and sent off ages ago still continue to exist outside of my awareness. It's as silly to be surprised by that as it is to be surprised by the passage of time, which is the only thing in the universe that is 100% predictable. And yet we do that everyday. What's wrong with us? I think our brains were not made to last this long, seeing as how when we evolved we were meant to be dead by 30.

Cheery thoughts by fancifuldevices...