Cool Stuff: Arthur Hash's Pink Chainsaw pin

What is it? This pin is made from laser-cut pink plastic. Arthur Hash is famous for making simple silhouettes of dangerous objects out of pink plastic.

Why is it cool? I could say something about feminine empowerment here, but come on, it's a pink chainsaw. How awesome is that walking contradiction? And i so do love a walking contradiction.

Where did you get it? At the American Craft Council show in Baltimore. It' s a great time, with some fun stuff. Hash was on lunch break, but his lady friend was happy to chat with me.

Can I get one? Sure! Arthur Hash has a shop right here on Etsy, but it doesn't have much. You just have to wait for the next Craft Council Show. In the meantime check out his homepage Here. It might crash your computer, though.


Extra opinion: Arthur Hash actually came to talk at my college. I found his playful attitude to art refreshing- he's made jewelry out of coffee stains, bubbles, and the omnipresent silhouettes (he was out of the pink machine guns :( ) It was a nice break from the way to serious people that were in my sculpture class that particular semester.

Cool Stuff: Gold Plated Hazel Nut

WHAT?! that's right. It's a hazel nut, plated with pure gold. It is one of my prized possesions.

but...WHY? well...when i bought it, i was a kid. It's gold, you know, and it's so very pretty.

Where did you find such a useless thing? I bought this around ten years ago at the Longwood Gardens gift shop. Going there and seeing the Christmas show in the greenhouse is quickly becoming a family tradition, which i love-i get depressed easily, and going to a greenhouse full of cool plants (they have a killer orchid collection, and the rainforest is not to be missed) sustains my mood for a little while longer.

Can you still buy them? Not that I want one...: Nope. despite having cool stuff like preserved flower jewelry and seeds from the garden, the gift shop no longer sells Gold-Plated nuts.

Cool Stuff: Glass Vessel Pendant

What is it?: a pretty pink glass vase that has a leaf-like handle. This makes it look like the world's cutest pitcher plant.

Why is it cool? well, it's only sort of cool- it looks nice, but I'm afraid to wear it-it might break! So it just hangs with my necklace collection where i can bask in it's cuteness.

Where did you get it? I got this at a stall at the Maryland Renaissance Festival- one of the three craft festivals i have to go to (the Holy Trinity is Rennfest in the fall, Faeriefest in the spring, and now Artscape in the summer) and yes, i do dress up.

Can I get one? i think so. I can't remember what the name of the exact vendor was, and there are a lot of glassblowers on the Rennfest site and not all of them have websites. Just go to Rennfest! You WILL find something you like!

Cool stuff: Butterfly Reversible Pendant

What is it?: it's a darling little silver and aluminum pendant. Custom colored just for me!

What's so cool about it?: it's reversible and made out of recycled aluminum. Reverible, you say?
BEHOLD!

Now it's a Red Butterfly pendant!

Where did you get that?!: This was made by mannmadedesigns (yes, all one word, all lower case) i found their stall at Artscape, and had to have one. The sweet artist, Jimmy Mann, asked if i wanted custom colors. You know me (or maybe you don't.) I can never decide on a color. So, i picked my two colors and ten minutes later i had my custom pendant- he stamped my custom peice of recycled aluminum while I waited.

Where can I get one!!!: Right here, on mannmadedesigns Etsy page:
http://www.mannmadedesigns.com/

hope you like the new feature!

Koru- in praise of Shrinky Dinks

"Koru Pendant"
shrink plastic, stamped image, pigment chalk

that's right, you read correctly. Nothing is more fun than shrink plastic. You stamp a big image on it, rub on some pale powder (it'll get darker as it shrinks), cut it out, and then heat it with a heat gun. Giggling insanely as it shrink to a quarter of it's size is optional. This is something i made to test out the process, a green spiral like the Koru (a Maori symbol for the unfurling fern, or birth and discovery)

Isolation- Prototype

"Isolation"
endless book: index card, ink.

a journal-type book, i wanted to make a book one night and just started writing. The poem has no beginning or end, and is meant to be read in person (take THAT technology!) I made it to explain how bored, isolated and depressed i can get, and how it was that bad this summer.

Text from this page:

Endings, I said to myself,
as the clock turned to Midnight.
Tomorrow is a beginning.
Now is an ending.
But things never seem to end anymore.
They just seem to stretch on endlessly,
one day is much like the other.

I feel like I'm in a foreign country,
and don't know the language.
You were born, and you die some day.
That's all i know.
That's all anybody knows.
You speak, your lips move,
But i hear nothing.
I am listening to something far away.


No clouds are in the sky.
I sit and watch the bubbles
meander slowly up the glass of ginger ale.
I've nothing to say.
Only a lonely Jay calls out.
All else is silent.


I tried to keep a diary,
but nothing seems to happen
worth writing about.
I'm just here.
I fear being here forever,
but I also fear the future,
when i won't be here
anymore.

now...can you guess what order i wrote them in?

Goddess Necklace

"Goddess Necklace"
nuts, carved horn, ceramic, clear quartz, cowrie shell, agate, pearl, and hematite, on waxed cord.

each of the pendants on this tribal style necklace represents one of the elements- the horn feather is for air, the ceramic bead is for fire, the shell for water, and the agate for earth. The clear quartz represents the All-Mother.