End of year; longest night.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

End of year; longest night. The winter solstice is at 8:03 AM tomorrow morning, which means that by this time tomorrow evening, we'll already be [infinitesimally] closer to the sun again.

Not that we had any time to think about it or enjoy it today. It's been chaos from dawn onward. But I did manage to see three friends today: one brought us some of her homemade baklava [glorious]; the other two I got to see at their fundraiser this afternoon.  And I realized then how much I've missed them in recent weeks;; this time of year is always like this, with no time to think never mind anything else.

But we did get to the post office and the grocery store, and we did finally get our tree. Still gotta find the tree stand; that's for tomorrow. We'll let it sit for a while so its branches can settle, then slowly decorate it. If we're lucky, it'll be done by Christmas Eve, LOL. But we've taken to approaching Christmas that way, which is to say, the old way: the 12 days of Christmas way, where we celebrate from Christmas Eve through Epiphany.

And by "celebrate," I mean we finally get a little time to relax a bit.

Now, if only I had someone to put up our electric farolitos on the deck, because I learned the hard way last year that I can't do it anymore. 

We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment clears, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here before we know it [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to pull another late night to get five of them up yet. yeah, I know, I shouldn't, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.           

From Cold Coniferous Forests to the Earth Below

Photo coyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for winter's greatest raptor, here to remind us that Eagle carries the medicine of earth and sky upon his wings. Here, he evokes a bit of the spirit of his atmospheric relative, Thunderbird, and like him, he carries his gifts from cold coniferous forests to the earth below.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: fewer than two weeks left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

There's no end in sight to any of it.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Yesterday's shot wasn't great for actually showing what these will look like; this one's much more indicative.  Upper left, malachite above gray-brown sand-dune-like jasper; upper right, blue-flash Labradorite over the same jasper, bottom will be rainbow moonstone over Picasso jasper with tiny hematite beneath.

And then he'll move on to the others.

There's no end in sight to any of it.

Today's been a zoo; almost no studio time for him, and no time for any of my work for me. The pace is killing us both, but that's what it's like this time of year. Looking forward to being able to breathe again in a few weeks; I just wish we could have snow with it. Today looked like a change in the weather might be in the offing, but we know better than to believe it until we see it.

We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment clears, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here before we know it [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to pull another late night to get five of them up yet. yeah, I know, I shouldn't, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.           

Friday Feature: In the Cold, an Evergreen Rebirth

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of old-style traditional works created wholly independently of one another, yet very clearly meant to belong together. It's a naja-style necklace and an Art Deco cuff, all featuring extraordinary freehand work, all perfect for the winter season . . . and in the cold, an evergreen rebirth.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: fewer than two weeks left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

It's a lot.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025'; all rights reserved.

Settings for the new earrings. He's got three pairs at or beyond this point: the two Willow Creek pairs and the Picasso jasper pair. The two Red Creek pairs will come after that. 

It's a lot. And there hasn't been much time for him to get into the studio this week, unfortunately.  Anything done by Monday can ship Priority Monday, and it MIGHT get there by Wednesday evening. [There's always Express, but that's hellishly expensive for the client; we ship Priority as a matter of course.]

And tomorrow will be more chaos. Hell, so was today; I spent the day assembling two different things [not Christmas stuff; equipment], and aside from making me late getting to everything else, I hurt all over. The pace is killing us both, but that's what it's like this time of year. Looking forward to being able to breathe again in a few weeks; I just wish we could have snow with it.

We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment clears, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here before we know it [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to pull another late night to get five of them up yet. yeah, I know, I shouldn't, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.           

#TBT: A Winter's Prayer For the Pines

Photo copyright Aji Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT featured work that dates back just under a month, to late November, and one part of a very special multi-piece commission from a friend. It's a hair cuff set with a beautifully banded old malachite cabochon, framed by freehand stampwork perfect this moment, the embodiment of a winter's prayer for the pines, and for the rest of our evergreen world.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work will never be duplicated exactly, but if the general style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own.  This is it: officially fewer than two weeks left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.         

More elaborate.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Well, the earrings just got more elaborate, LOL. Top left is Picasso jasper topped by rainbow moonstone with hematite at the bottom; top center is Red Creek jasper topped by carnelian, with orange-red spiny oyster and carnelian below; top right is more Red Creek jasper with amber at top and natural Oregon sunstone at the bottom; lower left is Willow Creek jasper with malachite at top and hand-made ingot sunbursts below; lower right is more Willow Creek jasper with blue-flash Labradorite at top and more ingot sunbursts at the bottom.

So not done today, obviously. The Willow Creek ones might be done tomorrow; more likely early Friday.  The others, probably the weekend. IF people want them for Xmas, we can still ship as late as Monday, Priority, and possibly have them there on time. Better to ship Saturday, though. The new coils are up and awaiting descriptions; probably late tonight, along with the dragonfly set [which is just absolutely ethereal].

And the pace is killing us both, but that's what it's like this time of year. Looking forward to being able to breathe again in a few weeks; I just wish we could have snow with it.

We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment clears, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here before we know it [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to pull another late night to get five of them up yet. yeah, I know, I shouldn't, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.