Acornish III

Filigree copper cones, Jet fire polish, and Copper Bali type spacers.

Acorn II

I'm completely "nuts" for these acorn bead caps that arrived in today's mail. But the large topaz fire polish I was going to use to create earrings: Out of stock. Harrumph!

Shields

Susan Storm Richards (also known as Invisible Girl and later, Invisible Woman--whether or not she grew or Marvel grew, I don't know...but I digress.....) is a comic book heroine created by Stan Lee. Sue received her powers after being exposed to a cosmic storm. She is able to render herself and others invisible. However, she can also project powerful fields of invisible energy which knock down walls, buildings and various bad guys.

I could probably live without the second if I had the first. But ya never know.

The shield bead is a really beautiful Picasso Jasper.

Acorn #1

In the 1600s, a juice extracted from acorns was adminis-tered to habitual drunkards to give them the strength to resist another bout of drinking. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I thought it was interesting. Back in North Carolina...every 4 or 5 years there was a rash of suicidal squirrels. Those you were completely certain were aiming for your car tires. I never could completely correlate it to a year with low acorn availability. Not that I tried terribly hard. I was really too busy dodging fluffy rodents.

Anyway: A few beads, sparkly and unsparkly, that I played with tonight in my quest for acorn adornment.

Nuts?

There is a certain German folktale that describes a farmer trying to outwit the devil. He assures Satan that that his soul will come to him as soon as his crops are harvested. And so he goes out and plants. His crop? Acorns.

In many cultures the acorn has been a symbol of patience...of waiting for what one has been longing for. There are very few days in which I am not teetering in a high wire sort of balancing act. (My need for solitude versus the needs of my family. The desire to make versus the need to sell. Depression and apathy at war with enthusiasm and renewal. ) The good news is always: This too shall pass. The bad news: Well, it's of course the same. (Drat it!)

Keep an eye out for Acorn projects in the next few weeks. Better yet, send me some of yours to show off. I've no major objection to the obvious symbol for February. (Especially in this time of surgery on the wee one) But the acorn seems far better suited to symbolize the L word.

Crow Call

Nancy Crow is simply my favorite favorite favorite Fiber Artist. I very rarely buy 65.00 books (Wait, I've never bought a 65.00 book) but this may change.

What are you craving right now?

Logarithmic Spirals in Nature

--The approach of a hawk to it's prey.

--The Chambered Nautilus Shell.

--The approach of an insect to a light source.

--The nerves of the cornea.

--Sunflower Heads.

--The Milky Way.

--Romanesco Broccoli. (Cool looking, but I've never eaten it.)

Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, reassessing and regrouping. --Julia Margaret Cameron

Fire Polished Czech Glass

10 things I know about Czech Fire Polished Beads:

1) They're lead free.
2) They've been made for over 200 years in the Czech Republic.
3) They're machine faceted and then "polished" in the fire.
4) They're produced by a company called Jablonex.
5) Until 1989 Jablonex was criticized for using prison laborers in their factory.
6) They're cheap!
7) They sparkle. (Ooh, Ah)
8) Originally they were part of a cottage industry--and were made in people's homes.
9) Size intensifies color. Therefor a 4mm bead will not seem the same color as a 10mm fire polished bead.
10) The shades of color (like in yarn) may vary from dye lot to dye lot.

12 Days Later

12 days later I'm finally blogging. In the interim I have:

1) Ridden over 2000 miles on a train.
2) Met an author and read his book. Michael Graham's "The Snow Angel."
3) Met my nephew. (He is now 4lbs and 7 ounces.)
4) Eaten Jaeger Schnitzel and red cabbage.
5) Slept very little.
6) Stayed in a Ronald Mcdonald House. (My nephew will be having heart surgery this week.)
7) Washed my hands 9000 times.
8) Shopped for baby clothes.
9) Paid tuition. (Mine. Intro to Anthropology and Cultural Anthropology.)
10) Spoken gently but firmly to teenagers who I'd never met but felt the need to explicitly discuss their sex lives 3 inches from my ear.
11) Bought a 75 year old woman on her way to Hawaii a Budweiser.
12) Marveled.

What have you been up to?

Wednesday--The Garden of My Life

In Winnie the Pooh, the dis-agreeable nature of the weather is attributed to its being

"Winds Day." Hump day reminds us that we are still climbing arduously towards the weekend. Wednesday's Child is full of Woe. In Richard Brautigan's In Watermelon Sugar, "Wednesday is the day that the sun shines gray." And it would be sad to forget that poor Solomon Grundy was married on Wednesday.

Pish Posh Apple Sauce.

This day rocked!

First, friend Mindy and ebay seller Haveonhand sent me a picture of a key she's been working on. The garden of my life sparkles nearly as much as Mindy. (Thank you!)

Second, son Samuel was REALLY REALLY brave and auditioned for the citywide children's choir. That he is much bolder than I was is marvelous enough. That he was accepted is Cake.

Third, it was warm. In Reno, in January, this is a pure grace.

And last: I found something I'd lost. Enthusiasm. While it ebbs and flows. It is always Chinook--a warm breath of Spring.

Just another Manic Monday

It's just another manic Monday. I wish it were Sunday; 'Cause that's my funday. My I don't have to runday It's just another manic Monday --The Bangles

Monday was made slightly tolerable with a gift jar of pebbles. Even more beautiful than you may have realized, because they're actually chocolate that friend Charles brought back from Chinatown.

I ride the bus (gasp) a lot in Reno. It's cheap and easy to navigate between home, work, and son's school. Today I tried to do some bead work on the bus. (Scitter, Scatter.) Tomorrow I may try chainmaille. (Clink, clink.) For a long time I've wanted to take photographs of bus passengers. (The Deity you fear and long for is here in the face of the person standing next to you on the bus. More than that, I can't offer.)--Etsy Seller Fancifuldevices What have you been wanting to photograph?

Fun Friday

I lived in Japan for several years as a little girl. My mother's house-keeper was my universe. Not only did she make me miso soup with quail eggs, but she also took me downtown to the "Hello Kitty" store. I love this BirdieBird. Etsy seller Loriola has some super fun lampwork!

Anyone else found something fun today? Send pics, would love to post a few!

Hang Ups

Nailing up doo-dads and gew-gaws in the studio today, I used twice as many nails as picture hangers. The leftover brass hangers were flattened, hammered and drilled to make earrings. A good reminder to "hang in there?"