Lately

I love that it's now June.  The weather is warmer, the pollen less, and summer wedding season is officially here.  If you're like me, you've been eyeing summer wedding dresses on Instagram and Pinterest with oohs and aahs, and reveling in the details of a bride's accessories and the wedding, itself.  It's pure creativity at play, a gorgeous mixing of traditional and modern elements that catch my eye.  But what I don't love is how behind I am on the shop front.  I haven't made or added new listings in months, but will finally make the May donation to Feeding America this week.  Also, I've further discounted my popular wedding-speech writing service for a limited time for wedding season, so check it out here.

Here's my tentative to-do list for the month...

To-do list for June:
- Finally make the May donation;
- Sit down and create new jewelry;
- Design new book-page wedding signs (from your helpful input);
- Carry out photography sessions for the aforementioned (new) shop goods;
- Edit photos and then add fresh listings to my shop;
- Work on my novel, whose progress has been on a months-long hiatus.  Yikes!
- Read more.


Can't wait to translate creative shop ideas, which I've been working on in my head, onto the page!  It may take a few tries, and certain projects may be scrapped altogether once begun, but that's the creative process for you.  Lastly, thank you for the high number of clicks on my blog post chronicling our recent road trip to Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada.  Hope you enjoyed reading the post (read here).

More soon,

   Deanna
EmeraldCut | The Introverted Writer

Last Night's Sunset

via Instagram

Last night's sunset had re-awoken something in me that was once fleeting, elusive even.  The sky was drenched in golden partial light and pulsed with fluffy rainclouds, a precursor of the day to come.  An expansive view it was as far as I could see.  To the right, the clouds drew out in wispy textures; to the left and above, they were thick and ominous; but right in the middle, where the setting sun found its immediate backdrop, was where the true delight lay as the last glimpses of sunlight diffused brightly into a cool, calm sky as ominous thunderhead-like tufts threatened directly above.  As long as I stared at the sky, not a cloud moved; only the setting sun guided the slow passage of time.  A minute became two became ten or even fifteen.  I do not remember.  But what I do remember is this: the sun set, the clouds eventually dispersed, and the mood lifted--surged and shook until it became whole again.

The Creative Journey

via Earmark.etsy.com

These pencils are just as appropriate for the creative journey as they are for the open-road journey.  I love the creative possibilities in each phrase here, which can be interpreted in many ways for the artist, traveler, writer - journey takers all around. 

Lately

via Instagram

Quiet and crazy: this is how it's been around here lately.  With the weather changing manic-like from 75 degrees one day to 60 degrees a few days later, I'm still reeling from the effects of a too-early spring with profuse buds and blooms and pollen dusting everything.  It's supposed to be winter, right?  At this time two years ago, I still remember the hummingbirds leaving for a few months because of the cold, only to return in spring.  This year, spring has come in February.  A part of me is hopeful that winter weather will once again reign before April, for at least a few weeks.

The crazy weather coupled with the relative quiet in shop news has been a fruitful recipe for some belated (and much needed) introspection.  Shop, donations, creative direction, and my novel are all included in this thought process.  This month's donation will be humble compared to January's, but I'm happy to donate what I can with your help ($1 per item purchased will be donated to Feeding America).  Also, I've been working steadily on editing my novel, which is a refreshing challenge on multiple fronts unrelated to the shop.  I've stopped making new jewelry for the time being to reevaluate my shop's direction, but will still accept custom jewelry orders on a case-by-case basis.  This isn't a permanent decision, though--expect new jewelry to be made and added to the shop by late April.  My writing services and bookish wedding items will not be affected by this ruminative slant. 

I hope that things are going well for you all.  "Lately" has been lovely and disconcerting at the same time.  Life often works that way, doesn't it?  

Valentine's Day Hearts and More...

Small Origami Hearts (2" size)

Here are newly added bookish Valentine's Day designs* in shop.  I know not everyone celebrates this holiday for different reasons, but I thought I'd share these book page hearts with you--as I'm satisfied with the way they turned out.  Above are small 2" folded hearts that I carefully cut, folded, and glued from an upcycled 1960s educational text.  The formal academic language in these, coupled with the sweet heart design, make for an interesting and lovely aesthetic.  For Valentine's Day, these hearts are on sale for a fraction of the initial listing price.

Small Origami Heart Bookmark with Initials

The above listing is for a small origami heart bookmark with stamped initials--a unique accent for weddings (as decor or favors), bridal showers, engagement parties, etc.  At around 2" in diameter, these hearts are the same size as my small non-bookmark ones (in this post's first image).  The differences are that these bookmark hearts are stamped using bold typewriter font with two initials, and navy-blue-and-white or solid-cream baker's twine is added as a tassel for extra bookish appeal.  If you'd like these without stamping, I'll be happy to accommodate your request.

via Instagram

Also, I've been making new jewelry as of late, which was another goal of mine for 2016.  It's been a slow process, even though I've been creating jewelry for over five years now.  My mind understands how to bend wire, how to shape and form it.  However, my fine-tuned dexterity gets rusty without consistent use, so I have to relearn how to bend the wire's end just right--bending too hard causes the metal tool to mar the wire (then I have to scrap the project and start again), bending too little just scuffs the wire without moving it, and putting too much of an angle on the tool pushes the wire in different directions.  For a visual, at the end of wire wrapping a piece, the space I am left with to bend the wire securely into is about a millimeter thin.  (To get this space, you have to eyeball and cut the wire at a certain length before wrapping it.)  However, this sliver of space isn't all that bad: when the wire fits perfectly, the jewelry is structurally the sturdiest it could be (for wire wrapping the way I do it).  This is where/why wire-and-stone jewelry making is a tough but ultimately rewarding process.  Every jewelry maker differs in his or her techniques.

Above is a photo of finished pieces from my jewelry-making session last weekend, which are now available in shop.


*These origami heart designs are not my own.  I found the folding instructions online and then customized the details to make the design unique.

Brainstorming a New Year

Is is already one week into the new year?  People say that the years go by faster when you're older, and I think they're right.  As for the shop, I have to get moving on designing some new jewelry designs that I've, over the past few days, been diligently brainstorming.  Also on the to-do list is to take photos of an evocative interchangeable dangle set that I hadn't gotten around to photographing during the busy holidays.  If you're interested, the two-dangle set is garnet and smoky quartz (rustic, dark, and lovely!).  The weather here has been rainy and the sky a brilliant-though-muting gray, so a photo session will have to wait until there's some sunlight.  Natural light will make the photo angles and colors pop on this lush piece.  Been rewriting content on my blog pages for clarity and relevance, too.

Now that it's the new year, and I've been making jewelry for over five, one would think I'd have a handle on these shop-related tasks.  Ha!  It's almost as if each year follows the beat of its own drum--some years are more productive than others, and each has its own fine-tuned focus while should-be focuses blur into the background.  Only to find themselves at the forefront, once again, when the creative process shifts.  Same goes for my writing.  As the pendulum swings.

via Instagram

One thing that fortunately doesn't fit this go-with-the-flow mentality is my focus on custom orders.  Whether for writing services, jewelry, or wedding goods, I keep up with the momentum; I do not fall behind.  I stick to deadlines, give each order my all, and maintain an intense, sustained focus that I later wonder about and attempt to replicate with brainstorming and making new non-custom pieces.  Nothing builds determination more than a deadline.  I've learned that honing a craft takes much practice, and this practice comes in many forms--one just has to persevere through the creative process, find equal footing through it all.  Generating ideas is one form of practice; actually sitting down to create a piece is another.  I'm still learning about sentence structure and timing when I work on writing orders, still learning new jewelry-making techniques even after five years.  I'll take the daily grind of life over its grandeur any day.  

Getting the Hang of It

How are you all doing?  I feel like it's been awhile (again...) since I've touched bases with you beyond the holiday hubbub and the showcasing of new shop items.  So here I am, shifting the subject to more humanlike thoughts--because humanity is what really matters when it comes down to it.  On the EC | TIW front, I actively started utilizing my Twitter account, while also writing here and posting on Instagram (see this blog entry for my dilemma about this).  First, I was confused about what to post on each site: the same information, but condensed?  Different information?  Have each social media account reflect different aspects of my shop?  Unnervingly, a cacophony of thoughts stormed my mind; I felt like I was in over my head.  Overstimulated to the max.  Finally, I decided to post what I wanted to, which has become fun for the following reasons:

1. Twitter's word-count limit lets me play around with words: those with varying weight, illustrative potential, and wit--to include as I see fit.  

2.  Instagram has been helpful to pull together photography and writing into shortened posts, with an emphasis on photos.

3. My blog, which remains my favorite mode of communication, allows me the space to write freely, and creatively, without word-count limits and ergonomic annoyances (i.e.:smartphone keyboard).  Although my mind goes a-mile-a-minute, I type very slowly; I think too fast and my hands can't keep up unless I use a regular keyboard.

Content varies per site depending on what works better for me: quick, pulsing writing for Twitter; evocative photos and their accompanying words for IG; chronicling the thought process via in-depth writing for this blog.  Together, it's a fun, exhilarating challenge that forces me to learn and use new words in the process.  (And you know how I love a good word...)

Bottom line:
What at first felt overwhelming and scary--the balancing of, and posting on, three social media accounts--is now something I look forward to on a weekly basis.  (Pinterest doesn't count because pinning visual inspiration is easy.)  I love playing around with words and ideas to fit these very different social-media platforms because it keeps my writer's brain happy.  It's only then that I can concentrate fully, without interruption from my ever-roving mind, on making jewelry and book page goods, plus crafting quality writing services, during this busy holiday season.  With practice, things have become more manageable.

Bookish Frenzy

I've been creating more paper goods lately.  Book pages and glue, plus cardstock and stamps, have made up my down time since the days have been getting shorter.  Working with paper is a consistent, meticulous process that is comforting in its repetition and movement: a fold here, a straightening of edges there, a precise cut with scissors--or else the edges won't line up (blasphemy).  From palm to fingers, my hands turn black-gray from dried glue, neck tenses and shoulders ache from hunching over; tips and sides of fingers are sensitive from using scissors and tiny wood-mounted stamps.  It's tiring but genuinely worthwhile work.

There's something exhilarating about smoothing the corners of paper--and slowly running one's fingers across its subtle grain--that calms the soul.  Of pressing rubber stamps to paper and hearing, ever so softly, the edges meet and then separate, leaving a strategic mark in its place.  When making book page goods, I often catch myself reading the upcycled pages instead of creating something from them.  I read on, shifting my attention to a plot that I am obviously not following (the upcycled book pages are never in numerical order).  This is especially fun since I catch only glimpses of character development and plot; so to compensate, I make up the rest of the story in my head.  The result is always messy, with a strange turn of events and a quirky ending--and never does the novel justice--but it is still a fun process.

Maybe it's the meditative, tactile nature of making paper goods that catches me: wily imagination and all.

* * *

Thank you to Fantasy Faction (The Hybrid Writer) and Life of a Female Bibliophile 

for featuring my bookish work...

On Writing More

This blog entry was increasingly difficult to write, so bear with me.  Creativity is a potent drink for magical thinking, but it can also be the source of all-encompassing agony.  It makes one person cry, while another buzzes with inspiration, and yet another metaphorically tears out her hair in frustration.  Over the process and its tumultuous fits and starts, the (in)ability to surmount an artistic blockage.  For the difficulty is always this: the process.  By making art, sometimes more of our imperfect inner selves is revealed than we can handle, and as a result, leaves us emotionally and mentally drained (and feeling vulnerable...).  Yet, when we can harness our artistic natures and surmount that creative block, oh, is it crafty magic.  If I could somehow distill creativity and inspiration into a bottle...

Sometimes I forget to draw a line between work and life, between obsessing over the details and just fully living each day.  It is a decision that can be difficult to make.  This is why I write and make jewelry and book page goods: tedium is released, the once-academic in me gets some mental exercise, and new jewelry ideas again surge with productive energy.  Writing tends to center me, while jewelry making is an energetic task.  Basically, I love them for different reasons.  It would be easy to concentrate only on jewelry making (and wedding goods), but I continue writing because it keeps me sane, endlessly inspired, and still.

Stillness is particularly important for those like me with ever-roving minds.  With stillness comes the ability to concentrate fully on the task at hand; this is especially helpful when it comes to writing.  Through personal writing, for instance, deeply held words are dripped onto paper out of my subconscious--I am often left wondering, after jotting them down, where the words had come from.  And with my writing services, a bit of myself is poured into this work, whether it is a well-turned phrase, a particular word choice, or even a stylistic lilt in sentence structure.  Every writer leaves her mark in subtle ways; I can tell when my writing has been modified by others for their own gain--but that is (kind of) not the point being made here.  The point is: by occasionally changing up my shop goals, the energy and mental clarity that is tapped into positively shifts my perspective on both work and life.  As a refreshing result, there is less obsessing over the creative block, and more constructive assessment of the direction of things.  I know that I am not alone in experiencing this.

Also, I know that balance is needed in all aspects of life if we are to function as the complex human beings we are.  After an intensive flurry of jewelry making, I am, humbly, writing more (present tense).  If all goes well, I will share some of that writing here.  Unlike my grad school days, writing more is no longer a chore; I no longer liken writing to the pulling of teeth without anesthesia.

Instead, writing is catharsis: it is the lifeblood of my existence.

* * *

I've also written about the writing process here and here.  

New in Shop & Catching Up

I hope you are all doing well.  It feels like a long time since I have blogged here about recent happenings, so I wanted to do so in this post.  Currently, my goal is to take some time each day away from the Internet and social media to nurture my inner self and the creative spirit that drives me.  I am not one to gather energy and enthusiasm from being online, although I wish I did, for it would make the creative process a whole lot easier!  Still, I am glad to be doing what I love--and am grateful that my work has continuously been well received.  Wedding orders have kept me pretty busy lately, and it has been fun working with kind brides-to-be, bringing their ideas to life.  Without your support, my work would not be possible, so thank you.  I know I do not say it enough.

Here are some new pieces added to the shop:

Citrine Point Pendant - Cognac Brown

Bold Monogram - Small Manila Hang Tags

Gemmy Amethyst Point Pendant

If you have been following my new-ish Instagram feed, you may have seen the following images below:

Although it is only the end of July, my mind is already headed towards autumn.  Towards the dark, moody, and evocative glowing richness of autumn-inspired jewelry, that is.  (And the crisp weather that will hopefully accompany the season.)  The above stone collection still sits on my jewelry-making table, waiting for a day of non-stop inspiration to beckon the creative spirit.  Jewelry design ideas are brewing, but the timing is not quite right yet.  This is how my brain works, frustratingly enough.

Speaking of inspiration and creativity...

This pledge item has finally arrived!  Rachael Yamagata's new album, slated for release later this year, will undoubtedly be a work of musical genius.  Each of her albums are--most notably the ones that are funded with the help of fans.  Absolutely cannot wait.  If you're interested, watch her live performance of its funktastic title track here.

Catching Up

It feels like I have not blogged about the comings and goings of shop life lately.  Beyond writing services and jewelry making, I have been coming up with gift tag designs (for weddings and the like).  Lots of them.  It's funny how my brain follows one train of thought until it exhausts all possibilities.  The other week, I designed five mini tags--with three of these designs finding their way to the photography table, and then subsequently to my shop.  For me, creativity and inspiration come in unparalleled spurts, so my ideas often do not quite translate as envisioned onto paper the first time around.  Typically, it is just a small change that will better the design, fill in the awkward spaces.  But I have been known to crumple up a once-revered idea, and toss it back into the recesses of my mind.  And the wastebasket.

Between the prototype and the final draft though is lots of coffee drinking, talking aloud, and walking around to loosen up the original idea in order to make coherent mental edits.  I need the mental and physical space to work through an idea, the freedom to look like a bumbling fool to the mere passerby.

Oh, the woes of the creative mind.  Others may lovingly refer to it as the "creative process."  Whatever your preferred phrase may be, know that you are not alone.

So Apropos

Found this fortune recently post-snack.  It's eery and odd when a toss-away item that you never take seriously hits your creative nerve.  Thank you, fortune cookie.

* * *

P.S. A shop-related blurb: All stamped large oak slices are now $3.50 each--plus, name your price for multiples.  Hurray for wedding season!

The End-of-Winter Process

Is wedding season really just right around the corner?  I'm still waiting for a decent dose of winter, but time doesn't wait for those who can't move forward along with it.  Recently, I have been writing quite a bit for clients, clearly putting their thoughts into writing.  Funny enough, I've nearly forgotten how an singular idea can get my creativity flowing, generate an excitement that courses through my veins.  This is what writing does for me.  Putting words into a coherent written work is half the deal--the other half is the process behind it all: the creativity, the enjoyment, the challenge and the frustration of taking someone's idea and working with that very idea, with the client's input, until it's right.  But oh, is it worth it.  Accompanying this has been a renewed interest (one that has eluded me for most of 2015 until now) in reading novels--actual physical books, as in paperbacks!

Literary inspiration is more prominent in my life lately, but I've also found inspiration in the natural world around me--in the colors and structural beauty of pre-spring flora and fauna.  These visual elements have captured my imagination, as I fervently scribble down ideas in my design notebook that will undoubtedly find their way into new EC | TIW designs in the near future.

That's all the news for now, so happy "almost spring," aka the start of traditional wedding season!

Creativity

via Pinterest

Very true.  While trends and fads will fade over time, filling the colorful pages of both our memories and pop culture, creativity truly never goes out of style.  Creativity is the driving force behind innovation, the flow behind art and fashion and of course, consumerism.  Without it, consumerism would be bland.  Creativity indeed makes the world go round; brightens the monotony of our days.

These are my thoughts as I think about what consumerism means to me.  I've never been one to follow fads and trends for long, as my soul has always tended to forge my own path amid the loudness of the world around me.  But I pay my dues to the trends that creativity fosters; the very ideas turned into products that fill page after page of Etsy searches.  My own included.  This line of contemplation has made me wonder if creativity is at all an individual endeavor, or if it is really a collective endeavor with its own little niches, nooks and crannies for the individual to make one's own.

We are all inundated with visual pop culture representations via real life and online sources, its loudness visible in SEO-friendly verbiage and hipster-heavy photography.  We often forget that behind the polished branding and blatant consumeristic slant this highly stylized, appealing visual representation was once a mere, simple idea.  A creative twinkle in someone's eye.  But what separates creativity from trend is the staying power of the idea and not just the physical product itself.  A genius idea--say Einstein's Theory of Relativity, or Dickinson's poetry, or Mohnton Knitting Mill's American-made cotton tees--is one that never goes out of style.  Instead, it becomes uniquely reinterpreted over the years to fit into vast stretches of time (with its interesting time-period trends and fads).  Creativity is, to sum it up, an adaptable force to be reckoned with.

New Poem Boxes

Made some new poem boxes recently, tiny poems 

created from cut-out letters and words excavated 

from a vintage copy of Jane Eyre.  

These little box art pieces have become 

a sort of creative endeavor for me: 

every time I am feeling uncreative, 

I respond by crafting 

these mini poems from words found.

Some may find working with 

random little words 

extraordinarily tedious and odd,

but I find in this craft a deft way to unwind;

a means to weather the storm.

Below are the latest to this collection:

The Word Tinkerer

The Creative Process: Maid of Honor Bookmark Tag

Over the weekend, I decided to try something new and create a bookmark tag with a wedding theme from a tiny manila tag and vintage Jane Eyre book pages.  I must say that the project was more tedious than the final product shows.  First, I cut out letters and/or syllables (whichever I could find) from the vintage novel to spell out "Will you be my Maid of Honor?"  Once that task was completed, I carefully glued the letter-syllable combinations onto the horizontally oriented bookmark using archival-grade adhesive, paying special attention to lining up the letters just right because it's easy for a word to begin forming a crooked line if the letters are just a little slanted to the left or right.  After the words were glued, I attached a thin strip of Japanese washi tape to towards the bottom of the bookmark to give the bookmark tag a classic-more-than-rustic feel.

The last step, besides attaching the baker's twine tassel, was to add a protective coating to the bookmark in order to preserve the delicately adhered lettering.  I used acid-free water-based sealant to do this, which I applied in one thin layer using a small brush--exactly like I do with my other sealed book page work.  However, in this particular case, the sealant took on a streaky gray-blue color in areas (the tint was from the protective foil seal that I have since removed), leaving this coloration on the bookmark tag even when fully dried.  Coupled with visible brushstrokes, that in my opinion are more prominent than the lettering itself, the final product did not look the way that I had envisioned it to.  This comes from a person who typically likes the aesthetic of visible brushstrokes on sealed surfaces, but this time, I think that the brushstroke textures are visually overemphasized due to the smoothness and expanse of the manila tag in relation to the tiny phrase.  Still, the piece is so unique and sweet!

I showed this completed bookmark tag to my husband, and he didn't notice the blue-gray streaks at all until I pointed them out to him.

I'm adding this item to my shop later on this week with a price tag of only $5.75 if you're interested in taking a closer look--it'd make a perfect little tag to attach to your Maid of Honor gift, or even presented as a bookmark slipped between the pages of a favorite book (idea!), with tassel hanging out, of course.  Completely one of a kind, it's cute in a classy, bookish sort of way!

Disclaimer: All my glues and resins are non-toxic and water-based.