Book Inspiration: Villette

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I'm getting ready to make my first monthly donation (2016 donation goal of $175)!  With each listing purchased in shop, I'll donate $1 to Feeding America--read the details here.

New in Shop

Small kraft boxes with phrases made from a vintage copy of Jane Eyre and a new interchangeable dangle...

Love Love Love -Small Kraft Box

Moody Smoky Quartz and Garnet Dangles

To be added this week:

Friendship Small Kraft Box

Poetic Soul - Small Kraft Box

Teatime Small Kraft Box

An Elusive Gem

Been rereading one of my favorite novels, Villette, by Charlotte Bronte, and found this inspiring gem of a quote that's pertinent to jewelry making:

"Pendant from the dome, flamed a mass that dazzled me - a mass, I thought, of rock-crystal, sparkling with facets, streaming with drops, ablaze with stars, and gorgeously tinged with dews of gems dissolved, or fragments of rainbows shivered.  It was only the chandelier, reader, but for me it seemed the work of eastern genii..."

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Another 2016 goal of mine is to make more jewelry: ideas for both simple gemmy bits and funky color clashes have been brewing steadily in my mind--and have since been translated on to paper.  Shortly, I'll be making these paper- and mind-bound ideas a tangible reality.  Can't wait to share the process with you all.  Stay tuned...

Book Quote Goods

Poetic Jane Eyre Small Kraft Gift Box Quote

Hello all, happy almost fall.  I just wanted to share the Jane Eyre quote goods that I've recently added to my shop, which are the end products of this blog post.  It's been such a fun, exploratory process cutting out my favorite JE quotes and designing the below cards that I am most likely going to keep this an ongoing project--book page cut-out quotes and paper goods, that is.  On the subject of paper goods, at one time, I was a self-described poet; the small gift box quote listing above is the closest I now get to writing poetry, as I now prefer the matter-of-fact undulation of prose to the metaphoric ebb and flow of poetry.  Cutting and pasting JE sentence fragments then are entirely appropriate, for I still have the creative license--albeit with someone else's words.  And what a someone else she was, this Charlotte Bronte.  More to come soon.

Tea Lover Quote Card

Romantic Quotes Stationery Set

Stillness Nature Quote Card

Anatomy of a Book

Took apart one of my old copies of Jane Eyre to satisfy a creative urge.  

Off came a few pages with some of my favorite quotes; 

then off came the front cover and then the back.  

What was left were the bare bones, 

the words without the pretense imparted by the dated cover.  

Skimming every page and paragraph,

I was again reminded of why it is one of my favorite texts of all time. 

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Jane Eyre book page goods can be perused here.

More to come this autumn--please stay tuned.

Abstract Life

Is life abstract?  This is a question that I ask myself on a near-daily basis.  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word "abstract" holds numerous meanings: the word is simultaneously an adjective, a noun, and a verb.  The definition that bears the most weight is the word used as an adjective--and specifically, definition number four, which defines "abstract" as "having only intrinsic form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content."  When applied to a lived life, "intrinsic" can mean one's intrinsic value, or one's set of morals.  Conversely, a "pictorial representation or narrative content" can refer to one's outward "value" or achievements, including one's occupation(s), awards, and how others perceive you.

On a deeper level, the novelist Charlotte Bronte employs a complex literary device that mirrors this definition of life in the abstract.  In The Three Brontes, May Sinclair discusses Charlotte Bronte's use of this literary device to describe the deep psychological processes that Bronte's protagonists must contend with on a daily basis.  The protagonists each have an "inner world," or psyche/mind, which is affected by an "outer world," or outside influences (i.e.: circumstance, one's "lot" in life, etc.).  Substituting the phrase "inner world" with "intrinsic form," and "outer world" with "pictorial representation or narrative content," the abstract can be seen as an analogy for one's intrinsic value and contentment, which contrasts greatly with dominant modes of measuring happiness or prestige. 

You can probably see where my allegiance lies.  I hold tightly onto what contains intrinsic value.  It is not that I shun awards, what others have to say, achievements, and the like; I just prefer quietude to endless noise.  A little fanfare is fine, but when it borders on raucous applause and exuberant photo taking, I pause...and take flight.  Maybe it's a hermit's lot in life.

At this point, my life is abstract.  I attempt to live intrinsically, while continuing to be acutely aware that my narrative content is a bit slow on the uptake.  My resume may not read like an accomplished ingenue, but the intrinsic value is priceless.  "Post-accomplishments," I have learned much about myself, but it's a tough process, this learning to be content! 

So that is why this blog post--with an image of blurry, green baker's twine and a mention of one of Charlotte Bronte's literary devices--is pretty abstract, for it reflects a congruous, abstract life.  And frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.  With tongue-in-cheek humor, I shall leave thee until next time.