The Dragon

Dragon's Eye by Wind Dancer Studios

Oh my it's been a long time since I've posted!

I've had no heart to write or create and I hate to admit it but there were even times I had no heart to go on living. But I did, strength comes when you need it most and I have far more than I ever imagined. I had forgotten how truly blessed I am, and  I am blessed in so many ways.

I finally feel like it's time to create again. Yay! That thought alone makes me happy, makes my hands happy, makes my soul happy. I'm planning a little playtime in my studio today, thought I'd make a dragon fly.  And a dragonfly too :)

Another poem for you to tide you over until I share a new pretty.

The Dragon

T’was time to slay the dragon

on a quest she did go.

Ferocity in her heart and eyes

but little did she know.

The dragon she was out to slay

was her very own ego.

She thought the dragon

was a criminal but she was just a seed.

Planted by the fears she’d known

sown by a need.

She thought she could slay it

by treating it like a weed.

But weeds you know have many seeds

and plant themselves with ease.

On a journey into her heart and soul

was the only path it seemed.

The journey was a long one

filled with darkness, pain, and malaise.

She held onto the fear like a rope

through both the nights and days.

Slowly letting loose the grip

feeling it slip away.

Finally realizing it was fear

that had pushed him away.

But the dragon was

not yet slain.

Til Next time!

Thanks so much for sticking around!

I promise new pretties for you next post!

A Little Tennyson for Your Day.

Watching Penny Dreadful with the kiddo last night Ferdinand Lyle quoted Tennyson "It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all." We've all heard the quote many many times, and it dawned on me I had never read the entire poem prompting me to google it.

This truth came borne with bier and pall,

I felt it, when I sorrow’d most,

’Tis better to have loved and lost,

Than never to have loved at all–

O true in word, and tried in deed,

Demanding, so to bring relief

To this which is our common grief,

What kind of life is that I lead;

And whether trust in things above

Be dimm’d of sorrow, or sustain’d;

And whether love for him have drain’d

My capabilities of love;

Your words have virtue such as draws

A faithful answer from the breast,

Thro’ light reproaches, half exprest,

And loyal unto kindly laws.

My blood an even tenor kept,

Till on mine ear this message falls,

That in Vienna’s fatal walls

God’s finger touch’d him, and he slept.

The great Intelligences fair

That range above our mortal state,

In circle round the blessed gate,

Received and gave him welcome there;

And led him thro’ the blissful climes,

And show'd him in the fountain fresh

All knowledge that the sons of flesh

Shall gather in the cycled times.

But I remained, whose hopes were dim,

Whose life, whose thoughts were little worth,

To wander on a darkened earth,

Where all things round me breathed of him.

O friendship, equal poised control,

O heart, with kindliest motion warm,

O sacred essence, other form,

O solemn ghost, O crowned soul!

Yet none could better know than I,

How much of act at human hands

The sense of human will demands

By which we dare to live or die.

Whatever way my days decline,

I felt and feel, tho’ left alone,

His being working in mine own,

The footsteps of his life in mine;

A life that all the Muses decked

With gifts of grace, that might express

All comprehensive tenderness,

All-subtilising intellect:

And so my passion hath not swerved

To works of weakness, but I find

An image comforting the mind,

And in my grief a strength reserved.

Likewise the imaginative woe,

That loved to handle spiritual strife,

Diffused the shock thro’ all my life,

But in the present broke the blow.

My pulses therefore beat again

For other friends that once I met;

Nor can it suit me to forget

The mighty hopes that make us men.

I woo your love: I count it crime

To mourn for any overmuch;

I, the divided half of such

A friendship as had master’d Time;

Which masters Time indeed, and is

Eternal, separate from fears:

The all-assuming months and years

Can take no part away from this:

But Summer on the steaming floods,

And Spring that swells the narrow brooks,

And Autumn, with a noise of rooks,

That gather in the waning woods,

And every pulse of wind and wave

Recalls, in change of light or gloom,

My old affection of the tomb,

And my prime passion in the grave:

My old affection of the tomb,

A part of stillness, yearns to speak:

‘Arise, and get thee forth and seek

A friendship for the years to come.

‘I watch thee from the quiet shore;

Thy spirit up to mine can reach;

But in dear words of human speech

We two communicate no more.’

And I, ‘Can clouds of nature stain

The starry clearness of the free?

How is it? Canst thou feel for me

Some painless sympathy with pain?’

And lightly does the whisper fall;

‘’Tis hard for thee to fathom this;

I triumph in conclusive bliss,

And that serene result of all.’

So hold I commerce with the dead;

Or so methinks the dead would say;

Or so shall grief with symbols play

And pining life be fancy-fed.

Now looking to some settled end,

That these things pass, and I shall prove

A meeting somewhere, love with love,

I crave your pardon, O my friend;

If not so fresh, with love as true,

I, clasping brother-hands aver

I could not, if I would, transfer

The whole I felt for him to you.

For which be they that hold apart

The promise of the golden hours?

First love, first friendship, equal powers,

That marry with the virgin heart.

Still mine, that cannot but deplore,

That beats within a lonely place,

That yet remembers his embrace,

But at his footstep leaps no more,

My heart, tho’ widow’d, may not rest

Quite in the love of what is gone,

But seeks to beat in time with one

That warms another living breast.

Ah, take the imperfect gift I bring,

Knowing the primrose yet is dear,

The primrose of the later year,

As not unlike to that of Spring.

I'm doing a little better these days, working has helped. Being around people when I wanted to crawl in a hole and die has helped. I've lost more than 40 pounds and I can see myself in the mirror again, I've aged some these last few months. He's aged more. I don't know what exactly the future brings, but after the past few months I'm sure I'm ready for some good things to come my way. My schedule changes every week so trying to get back into a routine has been a little difficult. Some days work is all I can manage, others I look forward to trying to figure out a routine again. One thing I have learned is I don't need to be on the computer all the time to make sales, but it does increase the frequency when I do come online and do a little something.  Thankfully sales have been fairly steady, little lulls here and there but enough to allow me to make so I don't go crazy. My muse allowed me to make a sweet simple pair of earrings the other day and I fully intended to make another to list but haven't found the time do so yet. At least they're planned that's more than I've done in awhile! 

Be kind to yourselves. Love one another

Oil next time!

of Smoke and Mirrors and Missing Muses

Smoke and Mirrors

Every time I’ve sat down to write a blog post I’ve sat and stared at a blank page and it’s blinking cursor. Nothing, Nada, Zip
The world has gone crazy, my life is upside down, and Facebook seems to be in an awfully ugly political fight. Even Year of Jewelry can’t help this one, my poor Muse is sitting in the corner in tears, it’s all just too much.

*I’ve managed to hold on to my sanity because even though I’m not making a lot of new pieces, I am selling and making those pieces.

*I’ve been working on the house, mostly tape and texture work. Hoping to layout the tile for the Master bath this week, we shall see but I am hoping to.

*I have managed to make a couple new pieces for The Artisan Group, I’ve sent in submissions for Bones and the Originals, blog posts coming for those in the coming weeks. And I’m thinking I’ll send pieces for the Press gift bags for this years Emmys - but I still need an idea for that and the Muse is still over there, sigh. Hopefully we can coax her back out again.

*New Kitten, omg what a sweetie he is. He just appeared on the door step this last week and has just filled all our hearts with love and laughter - it was much needed. He answers to Boogie, so we call him that. Or Boog, or Boo, or BB. He’s one of those kitties that stares into your soul and is so chill about everything which makes me think he was dumped and not feral. And he’s also extremely gentle with his paws.

*I’ve been having some very interesting conversations with friends but I’m afraid they may be what triggered the ugliness to appear in my feed. The algorithm thinking since I had one conversation I want to see all the ugly there is on it - sigh. I really don’t need to, or want to for that matter, it puts me in a dark place that I don’t like.

*The Hay House group on Facebook is a life saver, the constant positive up lifting posts there are just amazing - best thing I’ve done for myself in a long time.

*I’ve just joined a copy writing group - when you stare at a blank page long enough you realize a little help every now and again is a good thing.  Once I was accepted into the group the first thing I saw was introduce yourself, use a graphic NOT yours, NOT of your product, or your art, or of yourself. Show what your aspirations are, who do you want to be? What inspires you?

I’m still working on my introduction, the above is the photo I’ve chosen. My tagline is Artisan Jewelry with a Touch of Boheme but the words that come to mind as I think on this and the photo are Sexy, Strong, Exotic, Sought After, Loved. Now we ….. well I …… need to decide how those fit into my aspirations and inspirations, some are easier than others.

So there you have it, what’s been going on in my world. Smoke and Mirrors and ha! more swords and daggers! Speaking of, I do have another stanza for the Nightmare poem/series. Yes, it has a name now. There may still be more to write but my Muse, in the corner, yup. Maybe look for the new stanza next week….. or a choker ….. or hey! why not do both!

Thanks for stopping by!
We’ll see you next time!
Dana

on Creating Efficiency, a Theme on a Goal

My new posts will feature the things that inspired my jewelry.

One of my goals this year is to be more efficient with my time in order to free up more time for the family. 

I’ve noticed more posts on FB doesn’t necessarily equate to more interaction. In fact I increased postings before Valentines and my stats dropped. So a high frequency of posting isn’t necessary at all, but a good quality posting still is. 

I opened a Hoot Suite account for scheduling purposes but I still haven’t used it. I have however started working on putting together some posts and trying to work out a schedule that doesn’t put the same post everywhere at the same time - no one likes that either, or at least I don’t, maybe no one else actually minds and I’m just weird that way. What “my” audience does seem to really like are in progress shots and inspiration posts and gasp posts about me? lol I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does. I kind of like it though. It’s like I’m finally finding that little something I’ve been hunting for.

The whole less posting thing has freed up a bit of time for me, and I feel more productive with my time when I am online and posting. More importantly my family is happier with my increased presence and availability for them. And THAT is what it’s all about. 

Aventurine Gemstone Donut & Silver Stampings

This weeks Year of Jewelry piece is a green Aventurine donut adorned with silver plated stampings, a sterling rolo chain and a couple sweet crystals in a matching green. I believe this one is running off to live on the east coast fairly soon but if someone were interested in a similar necklace I can easily pick up another gemstone donut or two…. or more. As pretty as it is in Aventurine, think how sweet this could be in the soft pink of a Rose Quartz! Or how fun a composite Turquoise would look with it’s metallic veining! I might have to buy some just so I can play with it now, I wonder who has some Mojave Turquoise available?? What do you think? Blue, Purple, Green? Or the heavy black matrix with pops of blue/green turquoise? I am really going to have to check this out as soon as I'm done posting here.... or after I get back from the post office... customer service first, shopping second.

Thanks for stoppin by!

See ya next time!

Just Keep Swimming!

Along with all the hand made goodness that has been consuming my life for the last couple of months I’ve decided it was time to give myself the gift of a lighter smaller stronger me.

I’ve always been very hands on in the construction of our house. When we started building it was really no different, I was very hands on and adamant about being environmentally conscious with the products we used. Having a big house made it even more so important as it’s a bigger footprint to be responsible for.  I even went so far as to source standing dead timber for our logs. 

Not wanting to use any more chemicals than absolutely necessary I opted for borate treating my sill plates over the arsenic filled pressure treated lumber for the basement. This meant my personally coating each piece of lumber with borate and while I was flipping 16 foot boards so I could coat the other side I tripped over a stack of boards the builder had set behind me. I went down, now maybe I would’ve been able to save myself had I not been holding a 16 foot board but all I could think of at the time was not braining myself with it so I held on. I held on as I felt the pop, I held on as I felt the burn. I held on as I hit the stack of lumber and slid sideways to the ground. 

My knee has never been the same and every time I’ve tried to get back to the gym or start running again my knee would tell me about. I’ve always been all out and gung ho so at first I thought I just needed a little more time to heal. Then I started gaining weight and the extra weight made it ache and I’d try to get back to the gym. Creating my own special downwards spiral. The more I tried, the more it hurt, the more I didn’t try, the more it hurt.

After several false starts - if you’ve been reading my blog for a long time you might even remember reading about some of them. I finally decided I needed this to be about the long term, slow and steady. No more all in or go home. That attitude had me going home and not achieving my goals - I don’t like not achieving goals. If I was going to make this happen I needed to allow myself to go at a slower pace. But going at a slower pace meant I needed some accountability, some one to keep me on track and give me a nudge every so often.

Every night as I drift off to sleep I think of the things I am grateful for. Special blessings of the day, some ordinary, some small, some big, reminders of the many things and people who are the good in my life. Sometimes I release things to the Universe, leave it up to God’s hands if you will. On this night I decided to release it and just do but I could use a little accountability to help me along. The next morning I had an e-mail from Bill Phillips on being over 50 and getting back to the gym, a challenge and a FB group to help keep you accountable. Believe it or not I had to take a couple days to think about it! My own personal GodWink as my friend Chris would say, and “well I just don’t know”…. I asked my son if he might like to be my work out buddy, he was my best  buddy when he was 4.  He and the kiddo had been working out together in the University gym but she graduated and he didn’t want to go alone so he’d been working out in our gym in the basement and hinting he needed someone to help keep him on track too. Make that a double wink.

So! Here we are about 5 or 6 weeks in, my scale hasn’t budged much but my measurements are shrinking, my clothes are fitting looser, my face is slimmer, I have a lot more energy and I’m a lot happier. My knee only hurt until I realized, it was the wrong knee and it was all in my head - just a little psychological self sabotage, a body at rest tends to stay at rest until a greater force comes along to change that.

But, a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Quoting Dori, Just keep swimming!

My 25th anniversary is coming up this next year…. I’m thinking Jamaica sounds like just the place to be for that! 

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming swimming swimming!

Have a great week! Thanks for stoppin’ by!

We’ll see you next time!    I think it’s just about time for our annual Hand Made Holiday Series!  

Of A Story on Nature as Inspiration or Telling the Story of Inspiration Naturally

The view from my window.

I live on a dirt road at the top of a hill along the river valley in a clearing in the woods. I regularly have deer in my front yard, doves in the back and I hold near daily conversations with hawks and other birds. It should come as no surprise that I find inspiration in nature. The colors, the shapes, the utterly calming ground it provides.

I have two pages here on the blog, one for my writings and the other showcases my Rebel Mouse account. If you ever wonder about what I’m finding and posting out and about on the web just click there. You can even subscribe and receive what I’m up to in your inbox. I might only blog once a week, or post to Instagram sporadically but it all ends up there on a daily.  It’s always kind of surprising to me when I get my rebel mail, while I'm finding and posting I don't think anything has much of anything in common, but seeing them together in the email  I can see the repeating forms, the themes and similarities.

I had thought for all the “planning" and posting and pinning I do, I am not nearly cohesive enough. But as I looked over the page I realized I tend to run in themes all the time, even more so when I’m not thinking about it! Here I had a slow day just two posts both on Pinterest, one a Design Seeds color palette, and the other a pair of earrings I was sharing and without meaning to I had a nature theme going. Then it dawns on me, I have so many nature themed pieces in my shop, including several pieces on my desk right now, and a ton of inspirational photos and color palettes that without any effort at all I had this beautiful story to tell. I’d been telling it all along and didn’t even know it!

I think we might all be just a little guilty of this. We love certain things, and they tend to show in what we do in various ways. But because they are so second nature to us, we fail to recognize them as part of our story. I do love it when things become serendipitous, last week I said I planned on telling my stories again and this week my eyes open to the stories that have been there all along. What a fun beginning to this reawakening of me. After all, that is the story isn’t it? How what I love finds its way into what I love doing and being able to share it all with you. Happiness

Thanks for stoppin by!

We’ll see you next time!…….. I always say we, but it’s just me lol…. oh and you! That makes a we doesn’t it?  :)