It Just Keeps Getting Better

Stickpin with photographic greeting card.

I am thoroughly chuffed with how these stickpins are progressing. I love all their whimsical shapes and colors. They have a playful look, which perfectly reflects how it feels to make them.

I think I've come up with a very nice way to package them. It's a nice presentation and it aids in my Big Goal of trying to declutter my studio/home/life.

The stickpin appears to be resting on a plate white background, attached by a small piece of very easily removed tape. But that plain white piece is actually an envelope. Turn the whole thing over and you find a blank greeting card, too!

Photo card of 1860s Steinway Square Grand Piano (detail) with stickpin.
I'm quite happy with this solution to the problem of how to best display the stickpins. Also, most of the greeting cards are made with photographs by me. The one above is a detail shot of our Steinway square grand piano, which we sold on Ebay. I don't know about you, but I tend to hoard greeting cards. I like them, but I rarely get around to using them anymore. So it feels good to clear out the drawer with all the cards in it. Maybe I'll use some to package earrings, too. Maybe I'll even get inspired to revive the art of note writing, complete with "real" ink.


I think I'll get some washi tape to use in the future. It's so much more fun and I'm pretty sure it peels off easily, so as not to damage the envelope. 

We're finally having some nice weather ... I hope you are too. 

Bye Bye, Birthday Month!

Happy Birthday To Me (OMG I'm 63)

I slept until about 11, then got up to go to lunch with Adeline and Doug. Before we left the house, I noted the pile of presents awaiting. Who doesn't love presents? Doug and I have a tradition: he makes wonderful, whimsical wrappings and today was no exception.  There was a big box, wrapped in newsprint, with my name on top, cut out of card stock.

Um ... Honey, you spelled my name wrong.

Doug said he did notice, belatedly, that he had spelled my name wrong but he decided not to make a correct one because he figured I'd probably like this one better. He was right. I love it!

Ceviche and Camarones al Ajillo.
Lunch was fabulous. I had camarones al ajillo and ceviche. We all had fried plantains and salsa plus way too much Sangria. Actually, I think I'm the only one who had too much. 

After lunch we went to Jerry's Artarama ... a true sacrifice on the part of my two companions because they groan at the mere thought of how long I'll take, browsing the aisles. But how lucky am I to have such a great resource right down the road?

I made a wish before I blew out the candle.
It was a beautiful day, but too darn hot. By the time we got home, we were all kind of worn out and we all decided to take naps. So, now I'm up, Doug is happily asleep and Adeline is out somewhere. I think this means I get to open my presents tomorrow!

Life Force Diviner

An energy diviner for Tricia
One day, at the fresh fish section of the market, I noticed a tiny woman hunched over the packages of tuna and swordfish and sole. She had long, curly tresses, and she wore a cape wrapped around her as if it were a cave in which to hide; she looked a bit like a benevolent witch. I couldn't keep myself from looking, trying to figure out what she was doing. She had a chain dangling from one hand and she was holding it just above the fish, looking at them intently, as if she were reading their fortunes. As soon as she noticed me she scurried off, as if I had caught her in the act of something secret and leaving me feeling just a bit guilty for having invaded her privacy.

I had forgotten about this almost encounter until the day my friend Tricia came to the house for the purpose of performing Reiki and told me she would start by reading the energy fields associated with each of my chakras.  In order to do this, she took out a chain with a key attached to it for weight, and held it above specific areas of my body. The key and chain moved in accordance with the energy emitting from the chakra being assessed. Most of my chakras were pretty ordinary, one or two were somewhat blocked, but the one at the top of my head was apparently spewing forth energy like a geyser, sending the key spinning like mad.

It's a necklace, too
My chakras were out of balance but that's not really the point of this post. This post is about the choker necklace I made for Tricia, inspired by the chakra reading. My intent was to give her a chain she could use for divining energy fields; I wanted it to be beautiful as well as useful. Then I got the idea to make it so it could also be worn as a necklace, always at the ready to serve its wearer ... like when she wants to determine how much life force is still in the fish at her local market. Yes, I'm talkin' 'bout you, Benevolent Witch Person.

I gave the necklace to Tricia at a party in celebration of her latest book, Father Flashes. Many of the women there liked it and they encouraged me to make more and sell them in my Etsy shop. I asked to take the necklace home with me for the purpose of photographing it, assuring Tricia I would return it. That was over a year ago.  I wasn't lying. I did return it ... last week. What does this tell us? Well, for one thing, Tricia is a perfect friend because this kind of thing does not ruffle her feathers in the least bit. She is very laid back and very understanding of my foibles. The other thing we can discern from this tale is that somebody has a procrastination problem and her initials are MCM. How interesting then that one of my favorite sentences of all time is in Tricia's book and it addresses, perfectly and succinctly, the reason why procrastination is so deadly:
"My brother is inquisitive but procrastinates until possibility fades to loss." 
My internal translation:  Morna is creative but procrastinates until possibility turns to loss. What good is creative thought if you do not do something with it? And how easy it is to slay the energy of a perfect creative urge if you merely allow it to float around in your psyche instead of actually allowing it to jump out of your head and into your hands! But ... No More! From now on, I will do better and better.  Yes, I'm laughing a bit as I write those last two sentences ... how many times have I said those words or words similar to those? How many times have you? They might as well be titled The Procrastinator's Promise. 

Still, maybe this time really will be different. Maybe I really will make some more of these necklaces and put them in my Etsy shop. Maybe I should make several and then have a giveaway for one of them. I could do it in honor of my 63rd birthday, getting ready to slam me on July 24th.
Labradorite wrapped in antiqued brass wire, with multiple tiny crystals, on brass chain

Just for today, do not anger
Do not worry and be filled with gratitude
Devote yourself to your work. Be kind to people.
Every morning and evening, join your hands in prayer.
Pray these words to your heart
and chant these words with your mouth.
(The Reiki Ideals, Usui Mikao)

Remembering the Loma Prieta Earthquake

Monarch Butterflies at Pacific Grove, California :: Andre Gunther Photography
When we lived in Los Gatos during the 1980s, I took my daughter one day to the beach in an area which was known to be a wonderful spot from which to observe the annual migration of Monarch Butterflies. As I sat on a rock and one-year-old Adeline played in the sand at my feet, I marveled at the beautiful day and I felt a deep sense of belonging there. I realized how much I loved my life in California while I also pondered the fact that my husband was in the midst of negotiations which might result in us moving back to New York. Much as I had, in earlier years, mourned leaving my East Coast roots, I now had very mixed feelings about leaving my West Coast home.

Did one of these
save my daughter?
(photo :: K. Tempest Bradford)
Adeline and I arrived home in the late afternoon and I started dinner while she watched Sesame Street in the family room, which was more or less next to the kitchen. When the food was under control, she and I made a quick run to the delightful little toy store in a nearby shopping area for the purpose of buying a Koosh Ball I had promised her. We were driving, slowly, through the parking lot when the car began to rock.

Earthquakes are funny; funny strange, not funny ha-ha. They take you completely by surprise, you need a second or two to realize what's happening, and by the time you've made the logical leap to Earthquake!, it's already winding down or even completely over.

That day in the car, the earthquake didn't wind down. It got stronger. The car was rocking back and forth as if we were the victims of an unruly mob. The large windows of the stores were ballooning out as if they were made of bubble juice. The trees were whipping back and forth, bending nearly to the ground. As I sat there, wondering if this was The Big One, everything settled down and it was over. Some cowboy in the bed of a pick-up truck was gleefully yelling Yahoo! A man's head appeared at my car window, asking if I was all right. No I wasn't; at least I wasn't as alright as that cowboy.  I kind of wished I would take his more devil may care approach but, no, I chose to be shell-shocked instead.

A Los Gatos house (photo :: GSDS)
I turned on the car radio to find out the location of the epicenter. If the epicenter was under my car, then Wow!  But if the epicenter was miles and miles away, as was the usual case, then Holy Shit! It's The Big One!  The creepiest thing was that the radio was just static. Every single station was just static. I wondered, how bad is this if I can't even get a radio signal?

We slept on our lawn that night. All night long the air was filled with the sounds of sirens and helicopters. I thought, this must be what it sounds like in a war zone. As the darkness started to lift with that wonderful early light of dawn, I heard a Thwamp! on my driveway. It was the sound of our newspaper, the San Jose Mercury News. How odd it seemed, to be receiving our newspaper after such a night; but, as a former newspaper photographer, I knew it was the ethos of the newsroom to get that newspaper printed and delivered, come hell or high water.

The approach to the Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed,
killing 42 people. (photo :: GSDS)
The six foot tall bookshelves in the family room had crashed to the floor where Adeline was standing just minutes before the quake hit and books were strewn all over the room .  Cupboard doors were hanging open and broken glass and china carpeted the floor, although fragile glass vases on the living room mantle were undisturbed. Aftershocks were as alarming and strong as earthquakes in themselves and they happened for days.

Ironically, Doug had been in his office when the earthquake hit, talking on the phone with the airline, booking us a flight to New York to check out the housing market and decide if we wanted to make the move. He interrupted the conversation by saying, "I think we're having an earthquake. I'll call you back later."  Hah! My reaction was, Who needs an exploratory visit? I'm ready to move now!  I regret that I wasn't more of a trooper.

Book Cover (image :: NPR)
These memories visited me today as a result of an author interview at the NPR website. The author is William Leach and the book is Butterfly People: An American Encounter with the Beauty of the World.  It's a lovely interview and you can listen to it by clicking HERE. You can read an excerpt from the book by clicking HERE.

I apologize if I've stretched your patience too thin. I know there is nothing here about sewing, jewelry making, or crafting of any sort. Just some old memories of the quake that we ended up calling The Pretty Big One.

Next time, I'll share with you a special necklace I made for my friend, Tricia.

I leave you with this amusing bit of wisdom:  "I used to sleep nude - until the earthquake."  (Alyssa Milano)

The jewels delight

It's been quite a long while since I've sat at the jewelry work table. Tonight I finally allowed myself a bit of time to play. At first, I was nervous. I worried I might have forgotten how to do certain things. But, no , that was not a problem!  There is such pleasure in this work. It's an entirely different satisfaction from what I get out of sewing and textiles.


I have a beautiful collection of stones, beads, pearls, sterling findings, copper and brass too ... it is absolutely delightful to just spend time gazing upon them all! I do hope I continue to give myself space and time for creating. There are so many other things that get in the way ... paperwork, household chores, errands. You know what I mean, right?

We have to give ourselves that time to create. For me, it's a matter of making it a true priority. I've gotten in the deadly habit of putting off the create time. I fool myself into thinking I'll just do a few other things first, then I'll be able to spend time in the studio. Day after day I suddenly realize it's gotten late and once again I've failed to honor that one promise I made to myself, that I'd find time for creative endeavor.  And it's not as if I get all the other stuff done ... there's always other stuff to do. So I'm slowly getting back in the habit of making my work come first. The other stuff can wait.