Little Fishies

Water, water, water, everywhere water! That must be why I'm thinking of fish. And bright fish in tropical colors at that! It's a bit dreary here in the mountains right now, so this must be a spot of self-help therapy. I'm dreaming of warm tropical waters and sunny colors...

Here I've entertained myself with a cheerful little tableau of three whimsical glazed ceramic fish buttons (by MuddyMuse on Etsy), navigating their way through a sea of glass and gemstone "bubbles" in fresh, summery (I'm guessing here, "summer" exists for me on a purely theoretical plane) greens and blues. I've attached them all to a solid copper base via hand-forged headpins in a random pattern, and used short lengths of silk ribbon in "faded denim" by Flamekissedartglass to attach the focal to copper rollo chain.

Happy Little Fishies

The wonderful little sage green lampwork spacers are by Pinocean, and the larger spacer in periwinkle blue is by Studiorent. (I also recently found another lampwork spacer shop on Etsy, TheSpacerQueen --loads of colors, both opaque and transparent, all about 5x8mm each, perfectly freakishly uniform. Quick shipping and great prices. Check her out!). Other beads here include denim lapis, some seed beads in matte powder blue and lime green, little matte blue glass discs from Happy Mango, fancy jasper and one lonely moss agate.

OK, time for me to go take some Vitamin D and sit under a light bulb. I'm starting to look like Gollum.

Harness Your Frog Energy.

"Frog's song calls down the cleansing power of the rain. Frog is a reminder of the sacred power of tears to transform and cleanse away sorrow. Frogs will die if away from moisture for too long, and thus Frog reminds us to refresh ourselves, and allow joy to moisten our lives and our hearts. If you are feeling "muddied" by the world, take a moment to dream, to laugh and cry and renew yourself. Frog also reminds us to cleanse our bodies, our environments and our auric fields. People with Frog energy should learn and utilize methods of psychic cleansing."

Whatever.

I made this today with a pewter frog totem from most fabulous Happy Mango Beads, combined with lampwork from Pat Redinger at Beingbeads, and a stash of moss agate in a couple different sizes I completely forgot I had and obviously never really looked at closely because if I had I would have been OBSESSED with it and ordered 10 more strands and 80% of the stuff in my shop would be made with moss agate. It ranges from translucent, pale iceberg blue (even sometimes approaching periwinkle) through teal blue to vivid viridian and even towards a yellow-green, all of it with a delicate, glassy translucency, and fascinating veining that really does look like moss.

I added some little rice pearls in iris green. I've been meaning to use this totem with some of my blue-green lampwork from Pat and decided today was the day. And it wasn't even something I started two weeks ago and then stared at! I started it late this morning, and finished it the same day. Frigging amazing. I had to periodically LOS-ize more sterling wire, and melt more headpins in my torch, but it went pretty smoothly. My owl totem bracelet was very similar so I kind of knew how to go about it. This time, though, I looped the leather through a jumpring and wrapped it securely with a coil of silver wire, instead of using the crimp ends like I did with the owl bracelet. That was easier than I expected it to be.

I really do like frogs, actually (if I start collecting figurines in my 80s it will definitely be frogs--in fact my favorite is the poison dart frog). And I have been known to periodically sob in the restroom (public or private), after which time I generally do feel better although I look like crap. I had always thought I was just having a breakdown, but it's such a relief to know I was only instinctively cleansing my auric field. Moistening my, ah, life. Getting my Frog energy on.

What is Frog telling you?

Something Fishy

This bonefish pendant is one of the many nifty pewter pendants I got from Happy Mango Beads. Been wanting to use it for a long time, but I was just waiting for the right beads. I was thinking maybe kyanite, but then I saw these petal-shaped Czech pressed glass in a pond-like green and they immediately made me think of fish fins. Found I had some rounds in the same color/finish, and then stumbled across some roundels as well. Realized I had matching freshwater button pearls, and voila! The first bonefish ever found in a pond. The kyanite would have been more ocean-like and appropriate probably, but I was just so taken with these mysterious beads. They make me think of deep, hidden woodland ponds and Ophelia and the Lady of the Lake and moss and wood sprites. I love how this photo turned out--looks like an oil painting to me. Not sure how that happened. I didn't do anything special with it. Slate, plastic tub draped with flour sack towels, and full spectrum light bulbs.

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