Hard to think about winter when it's ninety degrees outside.

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

More detail work, this one for a commissioned piece. It occurred to me today that Saturday is August first, which means that we have only two months between now and the start of our holiday season, because it takes two full months' lead time for him both to build inventory and fulfill orders to be completed and shipped in time for Christmas.

I guess that means that if you've been contemplating the prospect of commissioning gifts for the holidays, it's no longer too early to start getting our orders in.

Hard to think about winter when it's ninety degrees outside, but such is the nature of this work. At least he doesn't have to get Christmas inventory done and shipped six months early every year to satisfy a dealer's catalogue schedule.

Everything's terrible in the outside world, but yesterday's hassle wound up getting rescheduled, so at least there's that. The next two weeks are going to be a mess, and I can't seem to get a single day to myself to catch up on any of the work that's been piling up. And whatever else is going on at any given moment, including my own body failing me repeatedly on the autoimmune front, I always, always need to make some sales.

The last in Wings's gemstone bead Elementals series posted Sunday, here (and you do want to click through each entry and see the other angles). Two nights ago, I posted his four brand-new pieces, one cuff and three rings, here. And he's got a whole host of other pieces in the works. But he's suddenly having to be much more mindful of what he creates, given the crisis-level spike in silver prices.

As I said earlier, we just learned that both silver suppliers in this state have more than tripled their silver prices (for some types of silver, much more), which has left me pretty badly shaken. And it's across the board; even small things, like findings and earring wires and backs, have gone way, way up. He's got enough for now to do what he needs to do, but nothing's going to change anytime soon, given that the justifications for it will be "supply-chain issues," "fuel prices," "war in Ukraine," and "inflation"; these prices are here for the foreseeable future. It's going to put a lot of Native smiths and jewelers completely out of business, and to make sure that Wings does not become one of them, I have GOT to make some sales. That's especially true with the holidays coming; these silver spikes are going to make this fall a crisis point for a lot of jewelers. Unfortunately, I'm being hobbled by everything else, not least of which is this flare that is making the progression in my illness much worse: numbness, muscle contractures, crippling pain. I'm going to need help to do this. All the links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priority is first and foremost, the other ladder);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

We're still hoping to put aside enough for a new well when the ground thaws enough to drill in the spring, too, Nah, we've given up on the well. No one's available to drill before late next year at the earliest, and this year's tax burden means we would never be able to afford it anyway. But it's even more of a good time to make a purchase, because Uncle Sam is a vindictive colonizer, and my current stress levels about paying it all are off the charts. And there's lots of fabulous work, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.