…On their way to being art. Fire Mountain Gems had a closeout sale recently, during which I got some great items that will all make incredible book or jewelry art. Eventually. The first such transformation will be these six carved bone rings, originally from China & dyed with dark brown bands and peace symbols. For…
Read More Six Bone Rings…‘Breathe’ has been on my to-make list for a couple of years, ever since I stumbled on the quartet of Latin mottos that inspired it. Is it based in soaring social feelings and a genuine wish to see good in the world? Yes. Especially in this sordid election season and social turmoil. But there’s a…
Read More First look: ‘Breathe’ fiber art bookA month or so ago I posted a progress report on a scarf project. It’s finally finished. I may or may not sell it, but I’d like to wear-test it first. Materials: natural gray-tan linen, bias-cut cotton, cotton-polyester thread, rectangular mother of pearl beads. It not only came out close to my initial sketch, it’s even…
Read More Linen Pearl Scarf – Done!After looking at my old 1st attempt at a fossil mammoth-ivory needle, I decided to re-create the second needle I made back in the mid-80s. Ergo, the new needle is here: This is a fossil mammoth ivory needle 62 x 4 x 3mm, hole 4 x 1.5mm. Inlaid plug of stabilized turquoise. Anchored with DevCon…
Read More A new needleSo, since I didn’t get Singer In Rhunshan into PitchWars (and knew it would be a longshot), I’m back to the revisions on Moro’s Price. For those of you who didn’t know, the latter is a big space opera-ish M/M erotic romance set against a futuristic but by no means scientific background. When wrote it…
Read More Valier, digital pastel, 8-26-2016I thought I’d step back from dire politics, horrendous wars, and unimaginable natural disasters for a look at an amazing artifact just announced to the world. This bone needle. Of probable Denisovan origin, it dates to around 50,000 years old, and was found at a very information-rich cave site in Siberia. What’s so cool about…
Read More The oldest known bone needleBecause sometimes, simple is good. Materials: Champagne SoftFlex heavy duty beading wire, sterling silver lobster clasp, heavy jump ring, crimp tubes, crimp covers, and wire guards from Plazko.com. Orange carnelian nugget beads from the Tucson Rock & Gem Show 2016. Length: 18″ I do have an ulterior motive for making this piece, which you’ll see…
Read More Orange Carnelian NecklaceThis will be an elitist rant about metal wire. First, soothe your eyes by looking at this piece: (Lisa Barth: ‘The Perfect Marriage’ bracelet, photo courtesy of Lisa Barth and Bead & Button Magazine. Link: http://www.firemountaingems.com/resources/gallery-of-designs/f761) Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about wirework jewelry. Sometimes known as wire-wrapping, wire-weaving, or tension…
Read More Etsy Showcase: some twisted wiresI’ve entered a manuscript into the 2016 Pitch Wars. I’m one of about 2000 writers vying for 128 slots, to be mentored for two months while I revise the mms. In early November, the mentee authors get a chance to have their work considered by a large group of agents and publishers. I have a…
Read More Writer’s Dilemma: 2016 edition(And a bonus Craft Credo rant!) I had forgotten how much fun wire wrapping can be. After a clunky start, I’m picking up on skills I left dormant a decade or more ago. Ear cuffs (aka ear jackets, ear couplings, etc) are a fun but ambitious way to jump back into this technique. 1) Here’s…
Read More Silver Ear Cuffs, revisitedNearly any fantasy writer knows someone who cosplays the Lord of the Rings* movies. It may actually be a rule of fandom, I’m not sure. The jewelry, props, and costumes were that damned good. I draw the line at some of the ‘elf ear’ pointy earcuffs, because I’ve only seen a few that were magnificent.…
Read More Blackened Silver Ear CuffsSo, apparently I’m doing this thing called Pitch Wars next week. I have my first chapter reasonably polished, hammered together something that might pass for a hook, cooked up an 800-word synopsis, and achieved a query that didn’t make my current CPs barf. I am exhausted but happy. For people stalking my mms, there’s plenty…
Read More My Pitch Wars bioA subtweety primer, for folks who ship stuff from online sales: If you are selling glass jars of honey over international borders, it doesn’t matter if you carefully wrap all jars in bubble wrap…if you push them against one side of a too-small cardboard box! Nor does the amount of air-packs and newspaper you stuffed…
Read More Packing and shipping for dummiesI say ‘first edition’ because I have several future paths for my first published novel, now that its association with Loose Id LLC has come to an end. Moro’s Price no longer exists as an ebook on Amazon.com, or on the Loose Id website. Over the next month or so, it will leave AllRomance Ebooks,…
Read More Moro’s Price first edition 2012 to 2016A progress shot of the constructed-fabric scarf I just made from some of these gray-tan linen strips I showed before. I posted the image on Twitter a few minutes ago, so here are the specifics: Size: 80″x9″ Materials: 1.25×80″ linen strips / matching thread / some secret ingredients / 140 flat mother-of-pearl shell rectangle beads.…
Read More Linen pearl scarf in progressOne of the perks of living in a large, relatively low-income Sun Belt city is the diversity of thrift store finds. As I’ve mentioned before, a lot of this transferred wealth comes from tragedy: retirees dying off and their heirs shoveling stuff to Goodwill or the dump, divorced or unemployed folks suddenly having to get…
Read More Thrift store treasures: flask and black glovesI love this graphic novel series enough to have it in my sidebar. I follow several dozen online and print graphic novels, because they’re excellent. If I included them in the links, it would be probably bore you. Girl Genius is there for lots of reasons. Give me 600 words, and I’ll blather about why…
Read More Learn to write with Girl GeniusDelaney Green is one of them that don’t burn. Possessed of the Touch – with the ability to not only see the future but manipulate it – she’s been kept in an institution for most of her life. When the Salesman, a murderous entity with a connection to Delaney’s past, starts burning girls to death,…
Read More ‘Of Lips And Tongue’ by A.G. CarpenterI have some free hours tonight. To help settle my manuscript submission jitters, I’m playing with several sewing projects that need to advance to their next stages. Not finished (cue hysterical laughter); any one of these will take far more than a couple of hours for that. Refine the patterns and start cutting UV-blocking fabric…
Read More Sew MadnessI’ve always loved the red-orange tones of carnelian: 1) Grew up in northern New Mexico. 2) A kidlet obsession with ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. While designing the worldbuilding for the Lonhra Sequence, I somehow got fixated on the idea that the Dana homeworld’s vegetation was primarily red to purple (I blame Barrayar for that, probably).…
Read More Carnelian Collar