Yay!

The show was a success! Sold a bit, networked plenty... Tues. going to have pics taken, so am completely revamping my site this week/end. Nicole was so sweet to help out. Met a lapedist; yay! First Thursday next week! Yola's coming in, J is turning 31... big, big week!
Started some alternative dreamcatchers, a scarf (for me), and a hat (pour moi-self). Gimme a short break, y'know?
Urgh.. had something to say and just forgot. oi vey. Time for bed, I guess.
Xo,
Me

Hat pattern:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTcouvercle.html

Iiiiiiinteresting....

http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040809/full/news040809-4.html
Rounder-sounding names apparently make you more attractive.

Quick, Mid-clas Update

I've been incredibly busy getting everything ready for the gallery showing TOMORROW! Everything may not be completely ready, but we've got some lovely pieces of jewelry, accessories, and home decor. It's occuring at Museo from 1-4, so feel free to drop in and have a look around. I have no problem explaining the origins of pieces of the work.

meet with an advisor m,t 8-6...w-f8-5, rio grande close to campus.. rios riverside: jewelry

Queen of Swing

Tonight I took my new shoes (pictures tomorrow!) out dancing. With my husband, of course. Every Thursday the Women's Federation holds the Swing Syndicate. Sometimes there's live music, but usually it's dj'ed. Either way... we don't lindy very well yet (all that twirling tends to make you pretty dizzy), but we kill at east coast so we went and jived down. Tried some new dips and tricks we watched others do. The place even has a powder room where I could take a paper towel and daintily dab the sweat from my brow every few songs (dancing is fun, but it's a heck of a work-out). Hopefully we'll be able to go more often, and we're definitely gonna practice the lindy.
xo,
out.

Beads, resin, and a whole lotta paint.

I went to a bead show over the weekend. There were so many mankei neko beads that I bought over $20 of them; don't know if I'll be able to part with them honestly. I found one that was shaped like a maneki neko, but was a bunny so that will become a necklace for my friend Yola.
Put the first (maybe last) layer of glaze on the steampunk headphones; they're looking pretty amazing!
My shoes are ready- the plain canvas pearlized, the scrapbooking grommets enameled pink and haphazardly hammered into the shoes, the laces tea-dyed. I'm trying to decide whether to paint the converse star black with little dribbles resembling ink... any ideas?
Also, going to be working on some little pill-boxes made from antique watch-part jars.
Finally have the camera up and running, will post pictures of projects soon!

Website up and running!

Except for the links page.. still trying to decide which sites will make the cut from my massive collection of randomly bookmarked awesomeness. Either way, I dyed my hair and took some pictures for the website. Now just making products like crazy so I'll have something for my friend to shoot next week so I can get started!

Rain, rain, feel free to stay...

I love that misty feeling when warm rain has been hitting hot pavement and everything feels somehow crisp and cozy at the very same time.
Didn't get a whole lot of work done today; had to change the wrong ink cartridge for the right (whoops).
Dropped by Bookwoman (Rock'n women's bookstore in Austin), with a stop into the gaming store next door that never looks open, but which is apparently just rather effete. However, they have so many beautiful ma jong sets.. I would love to learn to play!! Anyway, we wandered into the bookstore and picked up a copy of this book I had been looking at- it's about feminism and pin-up culture. I'm already on the second chapter! I spoke to the manager (after buying a new local cd) and she said to bring in samples so I've been working on feminist/ sapphic jewelry that's a little more... classy than the ROY G BIV beads strung on a necklace. I hope people like them, because I sure do!
I have until the end of next week to have everything ready.
Oh, and I dyed my hair! By a mixture of 2parts Manic Panic 'raven', a dollop of mixing toner, one part midnight black, one part ultraviolet, and a hearty dash (read all of) my emerald black bare essentials lining dust.. I now have hair like a raven in the sunshine. Experiment a hearty success!

'It is the summer of my smiles; flee from me keepers of the gloom..'

So very many busy thing have been going on lately. This blog now has an attractive new layout and *should* link to my very own website: www.deepwellatx.com
....which is still under construction. Creative I may be, technologically-inclined I am not.
This morning a rainbow arched it's way across 183, doubling itself. It isn't hard to imagine how ancient cultures believed them to be gods. Either way, it's been raining (yay! love the warm, gentle rain!) so I've been working on my metal stamping. It's a bit hit-and-miss actually (no puns intended). Must see about finding information on improving that skill.
Also, my first experiment with resin may end up on craftfail. It's pretty bad.
In other news, got some cheap, low-top converse in natural at target and used some luminex pearl on them; they look divine! I'm oven-enameling pink onto the rivets I'm going to use, and have already tea-dyed the laces. Also tea-dyed a red, white, and, blue handkerchief. Very patriotic-chic. Yay!
Little progress on the headphones. Don't get me wrong; the faux bois is top-knotch, but the scrolling on the sides is not going well at all. Trying to create a rough stencil, as one would for street graffiti.
I * really* need to get to work on my Latin, but the blackboard instructions are even more confusing than the verb declensions! J says he'll help tomorrow.

Next week, one of his friends (a professional photographer), may take pictures of my work so I better hustle to it! My ideas outweigh my skill-set, but some day... Either way, lots to do.

As I'm doing HCG, I've lost about 10lbs in two weeks.. which is not great, but I'm hopeful. If I can get my business going, then by the time I'm my size again, I'll be able to afford clothing I look good in and can wear to school...and maybe even work.
Xo,
C

Whoa...

So, while perusing the aetherweb for viable business-card ideas, I came across something absolutely terrifying. Ladies and gents, allow me to present:
Nyarlathotep's business cards:

http://www.vistaprint.com/vp/ns/studio3.aspx?pf_id=088&combo=79033.142.1.111819%7c111819%7c137%7c0&uei=142134&icparts=yes&ag=true&combo_id=141667&ssc=1&filter=4%3a10003%7c%7c1%2c9%3a10013%7c%7c1%2c3%3a10001%7c%7c1%2c4294936929%3a4294936109%3a4294936072%7c%7c2&xnav=previews&xnid=button&rd=3&referer=http%3a%2f%2fwww.vistaprint.com%2fpremium-business-cards%2fmodern%2fgallery.aspx%3fpg%3d1%26filter%3d4294936929%253a4294936109%253a4294936072%257c%257c2%252c4%253a10003%257c%257c1%252c9%253a10013%257c%257c1%252c3%253a10001%257c%257c1%26page%3d2%26pagesize%3d24%26sort%3dp_TO!desc%26xnav%3dpagenav%26xnid%3dbottom

business card ideas:

http://www.squizcards.com/
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat2785&PRODID=xprd623818
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat2785&PRODID=xprd623411

Oooow... I want!

http://www.cafepress.com/gtbwire#link-productCategory-108

To Try:

Coco Mademoiselle
Bvlgari Rose Esentielle
Heavenly by Victorian/Baby lotion

A Post That Struck Me:

"Jewelry captivates. It enchants and spellbinds. And now, there’s jewelry that inspires. Welcome to the wonderful world of inspirational jewelry. Inspiration and jewelry may appear to one as an unlikely alliance, but it’s true! Here’s something that not only adorns the body, but also lifts the soul and moves the mind.

Inspirational jewelry enjoys a unique duality in its appeal to our aesthetic senses. It not only leaves the beholder awestruck by its beauty, but also inspires. Inspirational jewelry comes with motivational words, phrases and lines etched on it that continue to inspire every time the eye meets them. One can find a huge collection of pre-etched can settle for the popular messages that such jewelry uses, or use one’s own customization.

Just think about it. Inspirational engraved jewelry gives you the unique opportunity to ‘wear’ poetry around your neck, on your ears and around your fingers. You could have Lau Tzu wrapped around your fingers, or Ralph Waldo Emerson around your neck. How about keeping a few golden lines by Walt Whitman close to your heart by having them engraved on a pendant? That’s the magic of inspirational jewelry. It can turn one’s favorite lines of poetry into exquisite pieces of jewelry.

Inspirational jewelry makes a wonderful for about any reason and any season. If you are looking for a slightly unusual gift, something that will set your gift aside from the rest and will make a great impression with the recipient, try gifting a piece of hand engraved inspirational jewelry. Don’t lose sleep over thinking what to gift your beloved on Valentine’s Day. Don’t get confused over what to give your mother on Mother’s Day. Stop worrying over the perfect gift to give to your spouse on your wedding anniversary or her birthday. Just gift a beautiful piece of inspirational jewelry and watch their faces light up. Your choice of a gift will be greatly admired and appreciated by all.

Inspirational jewelry has countless admirers the world over. Some of the well-known names today are great enthusiasts of inspirational jewelry, including Jessica Lange, Susan Sarandon, Mick Jagger, Johnny Depp, Meg Ryan, Seal, Sheryl Crow and Debra Missing. After all, there are few things as intimate as wearing poetry against your skin!

The Internet is a great place to start getting familiar with this unique brand of jewelry. Many of the most reputed designers of inspirational jewelry have their websites and e-stores on the Internet. Browsing through their inventory is quite an experience in itself. One of the best places to find a most dazzling array of inspirational jewelry is Jeanine Payer’s online jewelry store. Feast your eyes on a most exquisite array of bracelets, rings, earrings and necklaces – each meticulously crafted from precious metals with words of gold etched on them for eternal inspiration and motivation. Jeanine Payer is a San Francisco-based jewelry designer of significant repute and her name has become associated with some of the finest creations in inspirational jewelry. Payer’s designs are graced with the words of both contemporary and ancient voices such as Emily Dickinson, Rumi, Lao Tzu, Jane Hirshfield, and Ovid.

Take your jewelry collection to the next level with inspirational jewelry. Don’t just wear your jewelry. Feel them and make them move you."



By: Wain Roy

List Of Considerations

I purchased a book on building my business with some things to consider, so I'll consider them right here.
1. Why do I want to start selling my crafts?
Mostly, so I can afford to keep crafting. I tend to view myself as an artist (but never an 'artiste'), and to keep making what I love, I have to have the dough to support the craft-habit. Also, I feel that a lot of what is selling as steampunk are simply watchgears glued together.. which is both aesthetically appalling, and kind of lame. The neo-victorian era has so much more to offer than some tesla coils and bellydancers.
2. What are my monentary goals?
To support my craft. I'd love to create my own business, maybe open my own store some day. Even a minister needs an income, and I'm too clumsy to wait tables well.
3. What does my idea of success look like? How will I know when I've achieved it?
As stated earlier, pulling even would be great. To be known and appreciated for my craft would be even greater; I'd love to make my family proud of me by establishing my own line.
4. Do I have enough free time to devote to selling my work?
Currently, yes. I'm a college student and I don't have to work (right now, usually yes.. but not at the moment)...so now would be a pretty good time to establish my brand.
5. Do I have the tools at hand to begin selling what I make?
No, but I have some product already and am attempting to acquire the tools (and skills) I need to succeed.
6. Do I have a support system in place for taking on this venture?
I have my husband, who is the most understanding man I've ever met. Other than that, I'm on my own. Sink or swim. My Father just passed away, and my mother is not supportive. All of my friends live in other parts of the country.. so my support must come from myself and my god.
7. What are my biggest fears?
Failure, obviously. The fear that I will fail financially and incur a huge financial burden on my family. That my skills will not hold up to the flights of my imagination. That no one will like or appreciate my project. That even if I can create beautiful works, I won't be able to market it successfully. That it will interfere with my education.
8. What excites me most about starting a business?
I love being my own boss, creating what I love. I enjoy the idea that others will treasure the items I make, and I delight both in creating works of art and in the process of packaging them in exciting and inspired ways. I want to share what I love with others, even if I never meet them face-to-face.

My New Business

I've always loved to make things; when I was little it was doll clothes, drawings, "inventions" (such as a bread box that pushed the bread toward you when opened... unrecognized child-genius, I tell you). Then it was art; painting, graphic design, poetry, collage. Last year I took up embroidery (such as mine is), crochet, knitting, (a very small amount of) sewing. And then jewelry. I've always secretly loved jewelry, but could just never find anything I liked. I like organic themes (vines, branches), ornate scrollwork like the victorians, unusual materials, and relatively small pieces. I've never been more than 5'2", and sort of small boned.... larger jewelry doesn't compliment me, it makes me look like I'm playing dress-up... much like those sweeping, broad-brimmed vintage filmstar hats I've always coveted.
With the arrival of steampunk, which seems to meld quite nicely with my love of neo-victorianism (right down to the social niceties), I came across jewelry I loved..and had to have. However, usually with me, having to have something usually implies I have to make it, or at least make it mine.
So I found a book, applied for a tax-id, and created an etsy store. Business is slow, but I hope it will pick up soon...especially once I get my tools and materials.

shaving brushes

http://www.amazingshaving.com/page/amsh/CTGY/shb?gclid=CMq4-tPWnqICFQNinAodPUh2wg

The Dial

I've long been obsessed with the Transcendentalists. The original medium for disseminating ideas and debate concerning the American Transcendental movement was a magazine called 'The Dial'.
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=thedial

Penny Farthing Charms

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=418848

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=penny+farthing+charm&_sacat=See-All-Categories

http://www.beadaholique.com/default.aspx
http://greengirlstudios.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=GGS

Announcements!

Last night was the official opening of my shop on etsy; a hand-crafted jewelry shop full of one-of-a-kind, single-production items. See it on etsy.com/deepwell
For now I'm going to post some pieces I'm thinking of including in future pieces, and some things I need to get.
http://www.agrainofsand.com/cgi-bin/show/ags/16512.html
http://www.agrainofsand.com/cgi-bin/show/ags/14376.html
http://www.agrainofsand.com/cgi-bin/show/ags/13546.html
http://www.agrainofsand.com/cgi-bin/show/ags/11392.html
http://www.agrainofsand.com/cgi-bin/show/ags/10332.html
http://www.agrainofsand.com/cgi-bin/show/ags/9830.html
http://www.agrainofsand.com/cgi-bin/show/ags/9296.html

More Awesomeness!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGeneration
-Beautiful handmade slip-ons and mary janes.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/milloo
- Ridiculously gorgeous bags.

Hidden Treasures

I've found some amazing artists and sites that offer crafting basics lately, and my 'bookmarks' are getting full, so I'm going to offload them here in order to keep track of them *and* to share their awesomeness!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlondeChick
- Beautiful, simple, everyday jewelry.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/trendytreasure
- Paperworks.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/metamorph
- A jewelry studio centered in Raleigh.
http://monsterkookies.deviantart.com/gallery/
- Some of the most impressive work I've seen done in Polymer Clay.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/daniellejewelry
- Hand-created kinetic jewelry. What's kinetic jewelry? Click there and see :0)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Anhoki
- Hand-made soaps and body products including: Beer Soaps!
More later :0)

Um.. doh!

I have yet to post any pictures of my current projects for two very good reasons.
The first is that, though I've found and charged my super-expensive art-school style camera, I can't remember how to use it.
The second is that I simply haven't had time

I think I need to learn spanish...

Even the trashcan in my first class has a sign on it in both English and Spanish.. This signifies that it would behoove me to learn some Spanish, past the pitiful amount I took in highschool.
Anyway; as for me, I'm running about trying to get re-signed up for my classes. As I am doing so, I keep running across beautiful architectural motifs that make me long for my camera. Ergo, I may soon post of of these delightful images. The aged and gleaming wood finishing, the fossils set into the sides of the buildings... A sublime sense of awe and tradition pervade the entire campus, draped across it like spanish moss on the old oaks along the pathways.
More later!

The Very Beginning

This is my very first post on this blog. *big, steadying breath*
Up until last year, I had kept a blog for almost a decade; all the way through highschool and up into college. Things became slightly hectic (okay.. maybe frantic is a better word), and I ended up not recording a single day or project until today. So let's try this again, shall we?
My name is Ciara. I grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians and moved to San Francisco to go to school. Unfortunately, I don't do well in cold weather... so last year my husband and I (and our dog) moved to Austin, Tx. I was called to ministry after years of making rude faces at the mention of organized religion, and now am grinding my way through college toward grad-school. My husband (also known as the BFF) and I live in an apartment on the edge of the woods with our dog, our new cat, a fish, some astoundingly hearty house-plants, and the other random member of our family- Mori.
Things have been a bit rough lately; my father passed away last fall. I'm currently trying to get my collective uh.. stuff... in order, and am crafting my way toward stability. I'm teaching myself to knit and crochet, to make jewelry, to sew, to bake, to sculpt... all manner of new things. This will be where those things get revealed to the world, and where I post quotes, poems, and generally rant and sing about the goings-on in my little world.
Sunshine and Blessings,
C