April (Rabbit!) Moon

April Moon

[For sale here on Etsy!]

Coral, Czech crystals, Chinese wood pendant, sterling silver findings. A basket of bunnies hanging amidst the branches of an early April night. Wood dark with mist and frost, budding with the first pale colors of early spring. 18 inches long at the collar.

Based on the song April Fools Day by S.J. Tucker!

Carrot casts the circle round
and Rabbit rules the afternoon.
Keep your leaping summer fires--
We revel 'neath an April moon!

If you aren't buying anything from my shop today, please go to S.J. Tucker's website and purchase some fantastic music ;-)
http://www.skinnywhitechick.com/


And have a happy Chinese New Year! Today starts Year of the Rabbit, or Year of the Cat depending on your tradition ;-)

Also... I really wish it was April already. Even though we sometimes get April snow in NYC.


Queen of the Cat People, class with a cult following.

Ravens in the Library!

Last week my friend's new album Mischief came out! Yay! It is wonderful and magically delicious!!!! S.J. Tucker is super awesome at everything she does :-D

And most especially, it includes a recording of her song "Ravens in the Library" which is one of my favorites. I've been waiting for it to be available in MP3 format for at least a year. Squee!

And why is their music on a jewelry blog? Well, first it's Friday. Second, I'm in a library. Third, I made a shiny tribute to this song a few months ago ;-)

Ravens Studying Jewels
[For sale here on Etsy!!]

Song inspired, artist approved! :-D

Part of the "Summer Reading Sale!" Marked down from the original price for a 15% discount.

Black agate, reconstituted onyx, frosted quartz, sterling silver, and OODLES of Swarovski crystals! 17 inches long.

Hours of study flying by,
Words soaked up by beady eyes,
Long debates into the night,
Pages flying everywhere.
Seek the language word by word,
Like the black and clever bird,
never let it bring you down,
All the things we haven't figured out.

My friend bids me come and see
The ravens in the library,
setting quiet pages free!

If you're not buying anything from my shop today, please go to her website and purchase some of her amazing music!
http://www.skinnywhitechick.com


Queen of the Cat People, class with a cult following.

I'll make this city long for you...

Palimpsest is a slow, steady stream of inspiration for me these days.

But Quartered, the album inspired by Palimpsest, has it's own charms ;-)


This track definitely influenced the necklace I made by the same name.



The whole album is available for purchase as a CD, or MP3s. Follow the links ;-)

And if you've read Palimpsest, CMV is launching a cyberfunded serial novel on Monday: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. Prepare yourselves for awesome, and more awesome sparklies from here ;-) And I'll put up the serial's address when I find it.



In other news, I had plans to be very industrious this week, but I seem to have the soul flu? I think it's due to the unseasonably cold & wet weather pattern that hit NYC this month. Fie.

Remember to come see me at the Brooklyn Indie Market on Saturday! And if it's still monsoon season, pls bring me herbal teas!

Summer Reading List Sale!

Its almost Summer! That means it's time to start combing the book shops for your between-semester reading assignments, or languid beach side amusement.

To celebrate, and because we're in a Recession this Summer (*shrugs*) I'm putting most of the pieces in my Song and Stories section ON SALE for the next few months.

ESPECIALLY the Palimpsest pieces ;-) Casimira, November, and more to come in the next few weeks. Most discounts range from 15 to 20% off.

Enjoy!

Dream yourself to death...

I have assaulted Etsy with more darkness. Hurrah.

Casimira, Dressed in Green [Etsy link]

Matriarch of Palimpsest, lady, general, temptress, teacher, lost little girl.

She wears a severe dress, just the sort of thing a governess might wear, green-black from throat to floor, clasped by an enormous copper wasp at her collarbone... Her curly hair is piled high, an artful, decorous shade of green, deeper than emeralds or water, a sedate and proper color. It is the exact shade of her eyes...

Deep green ribbon with onyx, green Czech glass, metallic Czech crystals, dainty antique brass colored insects, black cinnabar hearts, sterling heart toggle clasp, and a black cinnabar cameo.

Based on the character by the same name in Palimpsest, a novel by Catherynne M. Valente. And the sister album Quartered by S.J. Tucker.








I ended up getting a lot of them, but I don't think any really captured the deep vibrant green of the ribbons. I've been having a lot of other problems with my camera lately, usually when my photos are either blurry or grainy.


And if you luv Palimpsest, or don't but would like to know what the hell I've been mooning over for the last several months:
Cat Valente and her touring partner S.J. Tucker will be putting on their Palimpsest performance of prose and song tomorrow night in NYC. It's the last show of the tour that started in Brooklyn. But this time it's at South Street Seaport, ON A PIRATE SHIP. June 2nd @ 7pm. How can you miss that and live with yourself?!?
For more info: The New York Review of Science Fiction, Readings

Stay tuned for more Palimpsest pieces, anon.

Music and beadwork

Last night I went to see the Cruxshadows for the first time ever, and it was great! I've been listening to their music on and off for the last 6 years or so, and I'm so glad I finally attended their show. They are incredible live :-) And their new album is also wonderful! Listened to it this morning before work, and it's already sparked some ideas for some new pieces.

Lately, even before I heard about the concert, I've been playing their albums as my main 'crafty' music, in addition to Depeche Mode, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Loreena McKennitt, and Evanescence (tho not their new album yet). No wonder I've been using so much onyx and garnet lately...

And the Cruxshadows are still touring! If you like goth music, definitely check them out: http://www.cruxshadows.com/