fanciful devices: Er, more non-eyecandy.

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.

4/13/12

Er, more non-eyecandy.

I've heard from a couple folks about a bangle challenge blog hop. Y'all should join with your gypsy stacks! It would be great exposure for your blogs to a whole other group of bloggers and she had 75 participants last I heard. Plus it enters you in a giveaway for a tutorial on a kind of reverse knotting (?) tutorial. Anywho, it's from this blog which is actually called "Make Bracelets," of all things. It's totally dedicated to just making your own skydiving equipment. Yeah. There's plenty of time to join as the reveal is on the 21st.
Go to it!
Meanwhile, my sister and her 2 little goblins are over. Just spent the last hour washing dog poo out of some "princess shoes." Then trying to get said princess to put her undies back on. Did I mention she watered the dog poo? In any case, more delays on the eye candy.
No, Lori, I don't miss the food cuz I grew up here. They call me gringa there. It's bizarre.
In my parent's house it was unanimously agreed that the cleverest comment we've seen in a long time has been Numinosity's "The prez is adorable. I like the Clint in his eye."
Get it?

But I love all your comments. They warm the dark depths of my shriveled black heart.

12 comments:

TesoriTrovati said...: Just finished my first reading of the tutorial, fanciful! I will be working on some bangle making tonight! Good stuff! Enjoy the day.
Erin; 4/13/12, 6:30 PM
Jackie said...: Oh bummer, looks like we missed the deadline.

"You must let me know you want to participate by Monday April 2nd, 2012."

Dog poo and princess shoes, what a combo! LOL; 4/13/12, 6:37 PM
Beatnheart said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/13/12, 7:07 PM
Beatnheart said...: I went toTracy's blog told her I was already stacked and ready to go and got an email confirming...she heard that Francij jus t posted about it so if you want to enter she might make room for it.. Whataya got to lose... It makes for a blog post idea and gets your stuff out there in a different way.. .
Cheers y'all !
Cynthia; 4/14/12, 8:10 AM
Rosie Moceri said...: Hey Jackie, It's not too late to join in on the bangle thingy... email her!; 4/14/12, 8:28 AM
Jackie said...: My bad! I'm gonna duct tape my mouth shut for a while, I keep giving out incorrect info.

Thanks for that info ladies!!; 4/14/12, 12:19 PM
Rosie Moceri said...: Thanks for telling us about this Fanci! This should be some good exposure for us!; 4/14/12, 3:09 PM
Sharon Driscoll said...: Thanks for the link Fanci and I have to say I think Pepe is a pretty cool dude.; 4/14/12, 9:04 PM
Aqua Junko Artworks said...: Can't wait to see the challenge - no can do surgery on my knee on Fri. But may work on my Bracelets during recovery time.
Lori; 4/15/12, 2:57 PM
Anonymous said...: Loving the new stuff, especially that cute little charlotte, yummy, and the japanese tin.; 4/16/12, 5:38 AM
Louise said...: Another drool blog from you! You must forgive me, sometimes I am so overwhelmed glaring at your eye candy images that I hardly stop to read. Then I go back to read it, if not have already gone to your shoppe to see if the stuff is gone. I love those earrings with the "Thin layer of utee over the paper and wax o" written underneath, when you will list... i wait and watch - just like a spider.; 4/16/12, 12:26 PM
betweenreader said...: this makes me picture a heart like a raisen -- the heart of Ramses II? very inspiring, Marina!; 4/16/12, 1:24 PM