The 3/50 Project

Click on the link above for all the details, but here's the summary:

It's a simple idea...pick three locally-owned businesses you'd hate to see close their doors, and stop in, say hello, and buy something. Commit to spending $50 a month at locally owned businesses. Go out to eat at a locally owned restaurant instead of a chain. Head to a locally owned gift shop to buy your birthday cards (and gifts!) instead of giving your money to the chain store in the mall....

Blank book bracelet

Lately I haven't been doing as much with text on jewelry as I'd like-- (been working with texture, rather than text) but don't think I've forgotten about it! Oh, no, I have not. The other day I was thinking about my ambitions with respect to worn text, and it occurred to me that if one were to do a small but very long book in coptic stitch binding, using Keith Smith's method of sewing single sheets, one might could make an interesting bracelet.

So here we have the prototype in progress. It's just under 2 inches long now, 63 pages. Only 5 1/2 inches to go! It takes about an hour per inch using cardstock and waxed linen thread. That gives me a lot of time yet to design a decent clasp. The purpose of this is to make an interesting art piece, rather than a functional item for everyday wear. So none of that, "But how will it hold up?" nonsense. That's not the point. Think of it as sculpture, not wardrobe. And true, there's still no text on there-- I just wanted to see if the idea will work, so nothin fancy. I'll use this one as a blank book once I'm done-- a very portable idea notebook/ conversation piece!

If I can figure out how to get this to work in general, I'll try doing it with a thicker thread and resin-protected pages. If I make the pages the same thickness as what I use for many of my other jewelry pieces, not only will it be sturdier, but it'll be a lot quicker coming together, too (at least during the seweing portion of the construction).

The sun cooperated a bit more today, so here is the promised photo! It's a rather more delicate-looking piece than others I've done up until now-- the length of the paper piece is about 3/4 inch. I'll definitely be making more of these...

I finished a sample of a new style of necklace I'll be introducing this fall, but it's too dark today with the rain and all to photograph it! Hang tight, next sunny day we get I'll put it up, I promise.

In other news, I was googling around yesterday for "bad calligraphy" (why? It's related to another project I'm working on, don't ask how). Sadly, despite the pervasive presence of bad calligraphy in the world, there wasn't much out there on the web. Lots and lots for bad kanji or bad Chinese calligraphy (often on tattoos, so sad), some hits for Arabic calligraphy, but very little for Roman script (with the exception of this. That's the spirit!). Why? We should call out the bad calligraphers in the world. Well, perhaps not the calligraphers themselves, bless their hearts, but the shoddy lettering. "This," we should say to the world, "is not how it's done." If the web can support sites dedicated to bad cakes and punctuation errors, then by golly, there should be a place for ridiculing bad calligraphy. Jus' sayin'.

Sunset

A new pendant I've just added to the storefront...I'm calling it "Sunset" for obvious reasons. It's 1 inch in diameter. 14k gold-filled wire bail. The back is also very pretty-- could be reversible if you're so inclined! Comes on an 18 inch adjustable length cotton cord necklace.