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.

3/16/10

go here now.

I just discovered Regretsy. Anyone who's having a rough day- you gotta see this.

3/14/10

some bits

I wanted to make these earrings w/sterling silver, which I don't have right now. But I couldn't wait, so I took the 2 that I considered not as valuable, ear wired them w/regular ol ear wires I shape from hard nickel free steel. Then listed them. ($44 and $33. Too pricey? Ah the eternal conundrum.)

I also took pictures of some new glovelettes I stitched up in Uruguay.

And even this guy I never got a chance to photograph:

Which has already been purchased (!) by the ever-lovely ShesSoWierd.

Then I whipped out 3 necklaces and I'm all crazy about them, so once again, I'm going to commit the blog crime of posting scanned images. And I was able to get some shots!

There's an extremely detailed etching of Cervantes on the focal. I think it's Cervantes. Maybe it's just a dude.

The lion above (from my rastafarian collection according to my hubby, because of the lions) opens with a hook that comes out from the lion button.

The faux amber is a barrel closure. The printed tin bits are tobacco tags. I'm not sure what those were for, but they're not from Uruguay. I got those from a trade with Hummingbirdeyes before I left.

3/10/10

inspiration

Patricia Lemaire

3/8/10

Treasuries

Got another one of the while-I-was-gones.

The lovely creator, ksk jewelry designs, sent it to me special from her blog.

It features:

I have a lot more Uruguay haul I have yet to photograph. I have a gagillion things to do and I'm in a haze...
And I'm hungry...

I'm back, continued.

I was also in, like, 4 treasuries while I was gone. Wasn't able to see any of them. So far, I've gotten only this one, by my best bud sparrow, because she always image-captures them on her blog.

It features:

And here's some more haul:

Here I am w/my uncle's little pig, Olivia. So named by my cousin's 3 year-old after a cartoon pig. Uncle took her from mama pig after mama pig stepped on Olivia and broke her jaw. Now she's convinced Uncle is mama pig and is always snouting around in Uncle's pants cuff looking for a teat and making ridiculous noises. Uruguay is full of such cuteness.

Oh, and this photo is straight from the camera w/absolutely no editing! This is the camera husband bought for the trip. I am agog. Needless to say, I'll be posting new items in the shop much faster and w/less stress, oh happy day.

I'm back!

So strange to be back. So strange to have left. Here's some of my haul.

The guys in the airport had a time figuring me out. The rusted pocket knives didn't make it. They were also baffled my my gringo (hubs) w/a local team's cap on his head. We were the funniest thing that happened to them in a while.