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| Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. |
Lots of weather weirdness today, from a dawn shower that wasn't in the forecast to a cloudburst this afternoon that wasn't predicted, either. In between, lots of clouds, lots of sun, high heat, high winds, lots of foliage change. The aspen line at its highest points is already going rusty orange, and that's normally a month later and more.
It's been a day, but that's not unusual anymore. We took care of one major source of stress for Wings simply by refusing to be part of it; we have options now, and we'll use them. Not so lucky for me, unfortunately. About three weeks ago, I tore something around the bicep of the shoulder whose rotator cuff I tore 20 years ago, and it's coupled with a sublux [minor but long-lasting partial dislocation], and the pain is excruciating. Of course, it would be my dominant arm, natch. On top of that, my lupus and RA symptoms have been so badly jacked the last couple of weeks that I wondered whether my chemo dose was now too low [IOW, if I was becoming acclimated to it, and needed to raise it]. Today was chemo day, so I increased it by the smallest increment possible, and . . . NOPE. Good god, I feel sick. So apparently my magic dose is still the magic number; guess both are just progressing enough that it doesn't have the same effect as it did. Anyway, I feel absolutely horrible, but the work has to get done, because the need for sales hasn't diminished.
Like, at all. We are down to our last few dollars for the next eleven days, unless I manage to bring in some sales in the interim. I managed to get the insurance paid, and I think we've got enough grace period left on the propane to wait until something comes in. But we'll have autopays coming out on the first that need to be covered, and more medical for us both, plus vet bills for the dogs at the end of October in addition to all the rest. The truck repair and everything else really screwed us for this month; there won't be any roof replacement, because there's no money for it.
Late last night, I posted the four new pairs of sterling silver tab earrings, all with Deco-infused stampwork and at a lower price point than most of his earrings: here, here, here, and here. That new necklace I've been talking about [it's phenomenal] became Wednesday's feature, and its gallery entry is here. In addition, his new naja pendant is up, here, and his new cuff, here. The former features both an interior pendant and amber cabs at the ends; the latter is extraordinary, two strands of Deco butterflies set with something that's not a stone, but is phenomenal all the same. In the photo are the four pairs of sterling silver tab earrings with amazing stampwork that I promised, and eventually, the Picasso jasper earrings will be done, as well as other styles. If I could sell them all, I'd feel a lot more confident about the next several weeks.
The rest of the month [hell, the rest of the year] is going to be geared around making sales, because I don't have a choice about that. I'm so tired after all the nonsense of this year to date, but I can't let up, because so far, we're not even breaking even on the year, and I will have to worry about next year's tax bill soon enough. Also, all indications are for extreme weather this winter [and potentially this afternoon, too], and our generator needs a solar panel set-up; it's now at the top of the wishlist, because at ~$500, there's no way we can afford it. But there's tons of new work on the site, in addition to all that's coming up shortly, so go look:
- Completed just last weekend, two absolutely phenomenal new cuffs, here and here;
- Completed the previous weekend, an all-new wristband, here;
- One extraordinary new belt buckle set with an incredible Skystone, here;
- Another new vintage-style cuff with a mysterious Skystone, here;
- Three new pairs of earrings in his gemstone-bead series, here, here, and here;
- Three new cuffs from last week, two set with incredible turquoise focals, one solid silver; go here, here, and here.
- Six pairs of new concha floral earrings in the Earrings Gallery here [larger are garnet, golden rutilated quartz, and malachite; smaller are amber, carnelian, and iolite];
- Art Deco Labradorite cuff here;
- Triangle wire youth bangle here;
- Art Nouveau vine pattern-wire youth bangle here;
- Small Art Nouveau pattern-wire bangle pair here;
- Malachite butterfly/leaf-wing earrings here;
- A big solid silver classic cuff here;
- Ten new pairs of the gemstone-bead earrings are also up in the Earrings Gallery;
- And another new cuff is also here.
There's more on the way very soon. And I need to sell them all, because I still need to make multiple sales daily for us to catch up on the year [and that's just breaking even] and cover all the stuff still in the pipeline that needs covering [roof, more medical, etc.]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:
- Sales here;
- Testimonials here;
- Amazon wishlist here (Priority is that solar panel set for the generator at the top of the list; part of prepping for a hard winter. Next to that, Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point);
- Patreon here;
- Ko-fi here.
After such a grim year, this one already far worse than the last, we really need to get what's left of 2024 onto a better footing, so please share all of the links.
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
