Intentional Stones

Holidays: Getting the season moving!

 

Fed-Ex trucks are coming up my little dead-end street daily, carrols are on the radio, and the ads on TV have ramped up the the max.  It's that time of year again.

And we know you're thinking about your lists, even if the racket raised by retailers is driving you nuts.  (Some years it keeps me from shopping almost indefinitely.  Handmade holidays are my favorite!)

I'm working to keep it subtle around here.  I'd much rather post artwork and let you decide to visit our shops on your own.  Still, I would love it if you spent a little of your holiday shopping time looking at Intentional Stones! 

Here's the deal:

We're looking to liquidate the stuff we have so that we can start fresh in the new year. 

And we need your help.

Starting today, The last day of November, and ending January 15th, I'll ship anything via USPS anywhere for free. 

And over the course of the season, we'll run online sales, something different every day! 

Does this work for you?

 

 

Filigree

I got a surprise e-mail from the Center for Contemporary Craft.  My teacher, Adrienne, teaches there and she'd passed on my name as possibly interested in advanced metal classes.  I don't think I can thank her enough!

I met Stephanie, (who's studying for an MFA in Jewelry art via a distance program, something I need to look into!) and a lot of other new people.  An energizing and refreshing experience.

The teacher was from Germany, so even though I hadn't been planning on taking any classes this semester, I absolutely had to take advantage of the opportunity. 

The piece above is my very first piece of real filigree! 

I didn't get the wires twisted tighted enough, so the tiniest wires are a bit clunkier than they should be.  However, I adore the techniques I learned!  I've got several pages of sketches of elements I can make, now I'm deciding what to make with them.  Probably I'll start with pendants and charms, but you can build pieces of amazing complexity with simple pieces.  I need a whole bunch of time.  I look forward to after holiday show season is over, when I can dedicate time solely to playing.

-Simbelmynë

Winds of time

Nice dramatic title, eh?

The Wheel of Time books that I'm Still reading, (Yeah at just about 800pp per book and 13 books, it takes this slow reader a while.  Especially checking the Wheel of Time Wiki every time a character is mentioned, And listening to the podcasts a bunch of delightfully foul mouthed geeks are producing, spoilers abound, so if you're not up to date, don't go to either.  I'm a true geek.) start each story with the Wind.  The Wind is almost a character.  It carries the threads started in the prologue into the main part of the book.  A fun literary tool.  Especially when it clues in characters we've been wishing would get a clue.  Like a little gnat biting them.  Ok, maybe it just adds to the frustration.  But if I didn't love these characters, I wouldn't be on my 5th re-read of the series, nor would I be cheering on Brandon Sanderson to get the final book done. 

Anyway, the reason I mention all this, is that the past few months have flown by.

How does time do that?

Since starting the school year, on top of Show Season, on top of finishing the remodeling of the kitchen, on top of everything else, I haven't had time for anything.

I've been disappointed in the studio.  When ever I'm there, I can feel my skills growing and my work getting better!  But I can't spend nearly as much time down there as I'd like. 

I have a number of small commissions I picked up over the summer and fall that are nearly done, but they've been inching along!  (Thank you, if you're one of the people I owe work to.  I know you're looking forward to your pieces.  I wish I was working at any kind of decent pace.)  And I'm only barely making my deadlines.  I have been careful to explain to people that I'm severely limited in my work time, but it doesn't help me in feeling like I'm way too slow. And I have a big set I've been working on for months.  Since the beginning of the year.  That's still not done.  I work a little at a time and try to show my work when it's gotten somewhere.  And I just got a key to the biggest piece, so I hope to get a bunch done this weekend.  It's not that I'm not thinking about these things constantly, it's that I just can't find time to do everything!!!

There.

It's off my chest.

I'm terrible.

I'm not going to take any more commissions until the ones I have are done.  I'm hoping I can clear up 90% of them this weekend.  Putting them ahead of everything else. 

I'm certainly not making excuses.  Time is just moving way too fast lately.

-Simbelmynë

 

 

Monday Traffic

I figured it out a week ago, then the blog post was stale, now it's fresh again.

Mondays are like tunnel traffic. 

Living in Pittsburgh gives one a unique perspective on the concept of tunnels.  Tunnels and bridges are a way of life here.  There are something like 700 bridges and fewer tunnels, I've never counted.  But I live with a view of the Squirrel Hill tunnel.  It goes over 376, the main path from east to west through Pittsburgh.  When I first moved here, 12 years ago, I didn't understand why people don't like to cross town for gatherings, shops, events.  And then a few seasons of heavy construction on the bridges and tunnels showed me what it was. 

Tunnel traffic.

There's nothing quite like the psychological effect tunnels have.  Someone once told me that if the Squirrel Hill Tunnel was just 1 foot wider on each side, (East and Westbound each has it's own 2 lane tunnel), then the psychological effect of the tunnel would be lessened.  People automatically slow down when entering the tunnel.  There's a tendency for fender benders near and in it.  Most are very minor, but they can stop both lanes for a couple minutes at a time.  Stopping everyone else for 15-30 minutes.  And that's just for minor problems.

Construction is just that much more fun.  Removing lanes, putting up signs for slowdowns, rerouting exits (there's one right after the tunnel on either side).  It's all fun.

And on a busy summer weekend day, you can lose a huge chunk of your free time by braving these hazards.  Even I have started mentally assessing the construction situation before I commit to something across town.

My point, that I've gotten distracted from, is that Mondays are like my tunnels. 

Weekends are a time when I get to participate in a lot of my artistic pursuits.  I get to take classes, get together with friends, family, fellow artists, go shopping and hunting for materials in other ways.  I get to recharge. 

I also get to spend free time with my family, I get more rest.  I'm generally reenergized when Monday morning comes. 

I wake up and I feel like I could do anything.  Get through the school day, take on 2 new projects as well as finish all the old ones.  Clean up the house.  Have a great time. 

By noon, I realize that it's just like every other weekday.  School is hard work and it's using up all my energy.  Jewelry and household projects are going to need more than I have left at the end of the day.  And every day things like cooking, cleaning up after ourselves and keeping myself fit and healthy are going to take up even more of that energy.   The rest of the day is spent in that weirdly lighted, tightly enclosed space where if anything happened, I wouldn't be able to back out and I'd be stuck there forever. 

Every week.

I need some kind of alternate route through Monday.

Any ideas?

-Simbelmynë