Jul 02
Jun 30
Image via Wikipedia
I'm cleaning up the kitchen so that I can turn around and get it dirty again when I bring in the beets, peas and carrots that need to be processed. Lately a good deal of my life is spent in circular projects: washing clothes so I can get them dirty in the garden or camping, vacuuming the carpet so the dog can come in with muddy feet and get it dirty again.
I understand about the circle of life and our place in it, but right now I just don't feel like I'm getting ahead. My circles need to be more linear, if you get my meaning. And if you do, I'm worried about you too.
Jun 26
After reading where Steve Rubel had switched his lifestreaming to Posterous I decided to take at the application look myself. I'm a web app junky – and my social apps are unmanageable and often ignored. I regularly (more or less) use Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, YouTube and FriendFeed. I used to be addicted to FriendFeed, but as I got away from the more technical aspects of the internet I became less enamoured – there just weren't many people I wanted to follow on a regular basis. Then there were my three blogs – two Tumblr blogs – one for my business with CSS, web design and marketing tips, the other a more personal one with stuff I found cool, and my personal blog. It was just too much to keep up with.
Additionally, there was the problem of noise, which was mostly my own fault. When I twittered my tweet would show up on Facebook, but would also change my Facebook status. Since Friendfeed picks up both Twitter and Facebook, there would be at least two posts there. A mess.
So this morning I cleaned out Facebook and turned off everything external that could communicate with it; updating RSS feeds, updating status, showing Flickr photos, etc. Now it will be updated only by Posterous. I imported everything from both Tumblr blogs into my Posterous blog. From now on Posterous will:
- Update Twitter
- Post to Facebook
- Post to Chicken Teriyaki Bowl #7
- Post photos to Flickr, my blog and Facebook
And I can manage where I want everything to go just by email! For example: flickr@posterous.com will post a photo to Flickr, but not to Facebook or my blog. I can even type flickr+facebook@posterous.com to post a photo to both at the same time!
But here's why I really love Posterous: the customer service. I was peeved because I couldn't send pictures from my phone to Posterous. I'm not web-enabled, but I can send emails using SMS. I couldn't find a solution on the site, so I Googled and sure enough, someone else had the save problem. They had contacted customer service with the cell phone email address that the photos were coming from and customer service manually activated it. So I sent off an email and immediately got a response that the email had been activated! This totally rocks especially since he didn't scold me. You see, if you have Posterous set up for SMS and then send an email it will guess that it is from the same person and ask you confirm it, thereby activating that email. I had failed to send the "hello" SMS to set it up correctly and then just didn't wait long enough for the confirmation to appear.
Posterous is free and their blog says they will be adding additional features for a premium in the future.
Jun 22
I’ve been busy with our garden – I harvested about 6 cups of shelled peas and several pounds of beets which all needed immediate attention. Both have the most wonderful taste – very sweet and the beets are so tender they melt in my mouth.
Also on my to-do list is shelling walnuts from last year’s harvest. I found out that besides the half a box I have left, my MIL has TWO more full boxes in her basement! I tried looking for an easy way to press walnut oil, but for our small quantity it doesn’t make sense. So I’ve been cracking walnuts and bagging them up. Luckily they are English walnuts, not the black kind which are extremely difficult to crack.
Finally I found some time this weekend to work on a few pieces – mostly taking care of in-progress projects on my table. The first is my favorite so far and there is a little story behind it.
A couple of months ago my DH and I went to the Quinault Beach Resort. The weather was wonderful and we walked on the beach and collected sand dollars. There weren’t many agates, but the DH found a beautiful stone and gave it to me – granite with quartz bands running through it. It has a strange shape and vaguely looked like the end of a bone.
Usually a stone like this would end up in some dish with a bunch of other rocks I loved at one time, but this time I wanted to wear it.
Beach Stone Pendant
The frame is tinned copper which I distressed on purpose. The stone is wrapped with 22 gauge copper wire to suspend it in the frame.
I liked this so much I’m going to try a similar treatment with other found objects!
Jun 04
My newest necklace is called “Leaf” and I’m liking it so much I hated to put it on Etsy! It is lighter to wear than it looks and hangs beautifully!
"Leaf " (click to see detail)
Here is the detail of the pendant:
"Detail of Pendant" (click to see detail)
The leaves are actually wisteria leaves which were pounded onto watercolor paper and then peeled off, leaving their pigment impression. It was then heat dried and sealed with a UV varnish.
I’ve got some more necklace ideas in my sketchbook to work on. It seems when the ideas start coming, they just flow!
Jun 01
These circular pendants are made of copper wire and stone, bone and bamboo beads. I love how they look when worn.
"Copper Globe Pendants" (click to see detail)
May 22
I am loving this necklace made with hammered metal and dichrotic glass beads. I don’t have a clasp on it yet, not sure if I want it a tad longer or not.
"Blue Circles" ~ Hammered metal, dichrotic glass beads (click to see detail)
I also bought myself a soldering iron and am learning to solder…which is a little harder than it looks. My second charms looks better than the first, so I’m thinking I should have something I can show in a day or two.
May 19
Part of my Constitution series, Foundation is a little different. I wanted to show the dynamism of the Constitution as well as how it protects things we may not agree with.
May 16
Moving from just creating artwork to offering it for sale is a huge step. It gives me a purpose and seems to have inspired me – I’ve got several more projects on my worktable!
My new store, Liberty Wear, is at Etsy for original, handmade work. I’m also looking at offering cards, prints and t-shirts through Drizzle or Cafe Press.
May 16
"Liberty" ~ acrylic, resin, metal
This charm bracelet features 7 prominent Republicans: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant, Theodore Roosevelt (who started as a Republican), Calvin Coolidge, Margaret Chase Smith, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan. Between each charm is a diamond shaped charm spelling out liberty with a sparkly stone at the start.
Available at Etsy.
