Functionally fall.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

That was this morning: a single cloud to the north, one more to the east, a light haze in the southwest.

It's gray now. 

I really thought, when everything cleared so completely late yesterday afternoon, that we might have seen the last of the rain yesterday. To be clear, that would not be a good development, but it's functionally fall, so it's to be expected. But we might have a little rain left in our world yet before the autumn aridity really hits.

I just hope we're in for a good, heavy, snowy winter.

I'm so relieved to have the tax thing [mostly] in the rear-view now that it feels like a ten-ton boulder has rolled off my chest. I didn't realize how little I was able to breathe, and I mean that literally, all summer long until now. Now, if I can just bring in regular, steady sales between now and Christmas, life will be much easier, or at least less capable of killing body and spirit.

But I do still have to bring in those sales, and this long holiday weekend would be a good weekend to start. It would be really helpful to get September under way with a few good sales to start the month, and the fall season. In theory, the truck will be fixed next week, although it'll probably take my whole Patreon and then some to do it. There's the roof replacement, there will always be more medical, there's so much that needs to be covered. And I will need help to make all of it happen.

There is a ton of new work on the site from just the last couple of weeks [with three or four new bracelets in the works currently [one shown above, a wristband], and some collectible items coming soon] the top three bullets are all items completed just this past Sunday: 

• 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 ppeline that needs covering [truck, roof, more medical, etc.]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (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.                               

A Hoop of Storm and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the sacred hoop of life's journey, for the last day of meteorological summer and a fall already here, readying us for the winter to follow. It's a coil bracelet in spectacular shades, manifest in the shades of the winds and directions, at once the path of the wheel and a hoop of storm and light. 

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. After a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses, we badly need to bring in consistent sales for what remains of the year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.      

Today's harvest.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024;
all rights reserved.

Today's harvest. This is all Wings's work; I wasn't able to do anything that gardening requires this year, given the drastic escalation of my symptoms. But we'll have squash tonight.

Also, we'll have a night without the weight of the tax man's threats hanging over us [more accurately, over me, because I'm the only one who actually worries about these things]. Of course, I have to generate enough sales to prepay some of next year's, but I'm taking this weekend off from thinking about it, because I'm tired beyond words of all of it, especially knowing what our tax dollars are used for these days.

But I do still have to bring in those sales, and this would be a good weekend to start. In theory, the truck will be fixed next week, although it'll probably take my whole Patreon and then some to do it. There's the roof replacement, there will always be more medical, there's so much that needs to be covered. And I will need help to make all of it happen.

There is a ton of new work on the site from just the last couple of weeks [with three or four new bracelets in the works currently [one shown above, a wristband], and some collectible items coming soon] the top three bullets are all items completed just this past Sunday: 

• 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 ppeline that needs covering [truck, roof, more medical, etc.]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (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.                               

Friday Feature: After the Storm, Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a trio of works from the same category, three pairs of earrings set with the blues of storm and night in the embrace of silver light. It's three old-style traditional designs, each updated with Wings's hallmark style, all of them embodiments of the truth that after the storm, light not so much returns to our sight as reminds us that it never left.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. After a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses, we badly need to bring in consistent sales for what remains of the year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.      

Chaos.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

More work in progress. Not that he's had much time this week to work in the studio. It's been chaos.

The good news is that, thanks to an order against future silverwork, we're going to be able to write a check to the tax man out tomorrow for the full amount. Of course, I'll still have my fingers crossed that everything clears in time and that they do as they're required to do and go by the postmark date, not whatever date they get around to opening the envelope. So there's still a little weight on my chest, but the biggest boulder has rolled off it.

Also, turns out the part's been in for three weeks; the guy's phones have not been working properly. [No, it's not an excuse; this is a known problem here in this town/county.] So in theory, the truck will be fixed next week, although it'll probably take my whole Patreon and then some to do it.

Which means that while the worst of the pressure is off, after the dismal year this has been, I have still got to make consistent sales, now through year's end. And I will need help to do that.

There is a ton of new work on the site from just the last couple of weeks [with three or four new bracelets in the works currently [one shown above, a wristband], and some collectible items coming soon] the top three bullets are all items completed just this past Sunday: 

• 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 ppeline that needs covering [truck, roof, more medical, etc.]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (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.                               

#TBT: In the Sunlight, In the Storm

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT featured work that dates back only two months almost to the day, one commissioned by a very dear friend. It's a hair cuff milled by hand and set with denim lapis, capturing the skies of this day simultaneously in the sunlight, in the storm, and seeming to promise the medicine of both.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, 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. After a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses, we badly need to bring in consistent sales for what remains of the year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.       

Taking over everything.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Jade, co-opting the birdbath. Even the small birds mostly use it for drinking water, not bathing [except the starlings, natch], but Jade's particular skill is taking over everything and makes it hers. She's done the same with Cricket's doghouse, laying an egg on top of his bed and blankets every day but one or two for the last couple of weeks straight. She's the master of "What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine."

Kinda like the tax man. 

Which is what's bedeviling me now, because I have to bring in almost $6K before Friday, and the stress has been indescribable. The whole year [and more] has been like this for me. As it turns out, we may have a solution, thanks to Wings being brave enough to do what I am not, but even so, we'll still have to bring in enough to repay it all, which amounts to the same thing.

I have got to make consistent sales, now through year's end, but especially right now.  And I need help to do that.

There is a ton of new work on the site from just the last couple of weeks [with three or four new bracelets in the works currently, and some collectible items coming soon] the top three bullets are all items completed just this past Sunday: 

• 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 prevent this monster looming over us from biting us hard, never mind catch up on the year [and that's just breaking even]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (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 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.                               

Where Light is Breath and Storm Is Abundance

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork for these waning days of summer, and for the buffalo sky that delivers the rain. It's an old-style collar necklace, a throwback to the masterworks of a century past, wrought in the shapes and shades and spirits of a land where light is breath and storm is abundance.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. After a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses, we are up against it now. I have until the end of the week to bring in several thousand dollars for the tax man, and no way to do it except by sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.      

I don't have that luxury.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Rain coming. Maybe not precisely here to us, but coming to the slopes, at least.

I need the other kind of rain, though, and I am entirely at my wits' end. The last twelve months or so have been absolutely terrible on every front: financial, medical, people, you name it, it's been twelve of the worst months in recent memory, and believe me, that's saying something. 

Yesterday was a horror show. And I can't do this much longer and keep what little health I have; the stress of it is killing me, literally, and I am at the end of my rope with it all, with no means by which to change it. I am the one who has to bear the burden of making it all come together and ensure everything gets covered. Wings just assumes it will all work out; I don't have that luxury. 

Right now, I need to bring in sales every single day to have a hope in hell of getting the IRS off our backs by the September due date. One week to do this, and I'm getting nowhere.

I HAVE GOT TO BRING IN SALES NOW, NO MATTER WHAT.  I NEED HELP.  TODAY.

There is a ton of new work on the site from just the last couple of weeks [with three or four new cuffs in the works currently, and some collectible items coming soon]: 

• 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 prevent this monster looming over us from biting us hard, never mind catch up on the year [and that's just breaking even]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (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 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.                               

Red Willow Spirit: Medicine of Summer Storm and Sun

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for the last few days of meteorological summer, for the beauty that flourishes before fall's arrival, officially and otherwise. It's three images from this day nine years ago, linked by two works of spectacularly apt wearable art, all of them manifest in the medicine of summer storm and sun.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, his photos are available in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. After a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses, we are up against it now. I have until next week to bring in several thousand dollars for the tax man, and no way to do it except by sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.    

Monday.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Yellow flowers everywhere, and it's all ragwort. Which would be why I'm sniffling and sneezing and coughing constantly, why my eyes itch constantly and I'm using my inhaler at record rates. 

Yesterday, that field was green with some gold. Now it's gold with . . . well, not really even "some" green, just a little visible. That's what last night's massive rains wrought.

Monday, and it's been a Monday, and despite the rain, I'm terrified of not bringing in any of the other kind this week. We're up against it now; I have until the first week of September to bring in several thousand in sales and have it clear. That's it. So basically this week; no more.

It's bad enough having all this life-destroying expense hanging over me, and no sales to offset any of it. It's worse when I can't even get my brain to function enough to chase sales in the first place because the pain is so bad. For the moment, we've abandoned all hope of the roof repair and anything else that needs doing, because we can't do anything until this is covered. 

So things are bad. It's been terrible for a year now. And right now, I need to bring in sales every single day to have a hope in hell of getting the IRS off our backs by the September due date. One week to do this, and I'm getting nowhere.

I HAVE GOT TO BRING IN SALES NOW, NO MATTER WHAT.  I NEED HELP.  TODAY.

There is a ton of new work on the site from just the last couple of weeks [with three or four new cuffs in the works currently, one of which I hope to have up yet tonight, a necklace, and at least one belt buckle that I also hope to have up tonight, three new pairs of gemstone-bead earrings yet tonight, and some collectible items coming soon]: 

• Three new cuffs, 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 sales at a rate of at least two per week for the rest of the year for us to catch up [and that's just breaking even; I'm already behind on that, which means I need to make FOUR sales this week just to catch up]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (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 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.                               

Monday Photo Meditation: Where Gold Is Not Wealth, but The Storm Is Abundance

Photo copyright Wings, 2024;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for summer's end, and for the snares that would draw in the unwary now. In a place now overrun by colonial profiteering, it's an images to remind us that it remains a land where gold is not wealth, but the storm is abundance, and that we must engage with our world accordingly.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, his photos are available in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. After a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses, we are up against it now. I have until the first week of September to bring in several thousand dollars for the tax man, and no way to do it except by sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.    

Out of time.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

It looks like the rain is coming . . . and then the sun pops out again. We've had half a dozen drops, nothing more. The mountains are getting it hard and heavy, but down here? It's wait and see.

With the metaphorical kind of rain, we're out of time for waiting. We're up against it now; I have until the first week of September to bring in several thousand in sales and have it clear. That's it. 

It's bad enough having all this life-destroying expense hanging over me, and no sales to offset any of it. It's worse when I can't even get my brain to function enough to chase sales in the first place because the pain is so bad. For the moment, we've abandoned all hope of the roof repair and anything else that needs doing, because we can't do anything until this is covered.. 

So things are bad. It's been terrible for a year now. And right now, I need to bring in sales every single day to have a hope in hell of getting the IRS off our backs by the September due date. I have two weeks, basically, in which to do this, and I'm getting nowhere.

I HAVE GOT TO BRING IN SALES NOW, NO MATTER WHAT.  I NEED HELP.  TODAY.

There is a ton of new work on the site from just the last couple of weeks [with three or four new cuffs in the works currently, one of which I hope to have up yet tonight, a necklace, and at least one belt buckle that I also hope to have up tonight, three new pairs of gemstone-bead earrings yet tonight, and some collectible items coming soon]: 

• Three new cuffs, 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 sales at a rate of at least two per week for the rest of the year for us to catch up [and that's just breaking even; I'm already behind on that, which means I need to make FOUR sales this week just to catch up]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (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 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.                               

To Find the Sun In the Storm

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the brilliant colors that attend these waning days of summer, and for the accompanying forces that animate our world now. It's a pair of Wings's gemstone-bead earrings, one of his newest pairs in the series, these perfectly suited to our efforts to find the sun in the storm . . . or, perhaps more accurately, the storm in the sun now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. After a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses, we are up against it now. I have until the first week of September to bring in several thousand dollars for the tax man, and no way to do it except by sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.      

I know how it feels.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024;
all rights reserved.

This poor aspen has been struggling in this drought. Even in the face of a 1200-year record version, plus all the other aspects of climate collapse bedeviling us these last several years, it's managed to leaf out most of its branches, save the highest ones. 

Until now.

Yesterday's ridiculous gale-force winds that swept through here repeatedly stripped all the remaining upper leaves from it, and all of the northern half of the lower part, too. All that remains are the leaves on the south side of the trunk, and only the lower half of the tree at that.

I know how it feels; I feel pretty stripped of anything healthy and alive myself lately.

Yesterday was chemo day, and while the pain hasn't abated, at least my brain feels a little less dead. My illness's effects on my brain go way beyond simple brain fog; it's a feeling of swelling, and also of disintegration, almost melting. So even if there's no respite from the pain, just having a little of my brain back is useful now. I can only hope it lasts more than a couple of days before the inflammatory response takes over again.

It's bad enough having all this terrible expense hanging over me, and no sales to offset any of it. It's worse when I can't even get my brain to function enough to chase sales in the first place.

But things are bad. It's been terrible for a year now. And right now, I need to bring in sales every single day to have a hope in hell of getting the IRS off our backs by the September due date. I have two weeks, basically, in which to do this, and I'm getting nowhere.

I HAVE GOT TO BRING IN SALES NOW, NO MATTER WHAT.  I NEED HELP.  TODAY.

There is a ton of new work on the site from just the last couple of weeks [with three or four new cuffs in the works currently, a necklace, and at least one belt buckle plus some collectible items coming soon]: 

• Three new cuffs, 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 sales at a rate of at least two per week for the rest of the year for us to catch up [and that's just breaking even; I'm already behind on that, which means I need to make FOUR sales this week just to catch up]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (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 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.                               

The Earth and Growth At Summer's Heart

Photo copyright Aji, 2024;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for what is born here from the richest clay, for the gift, and the medicine, of our plant relatives and the land that sustains them. It's a pair of earrings from Wings's signature series, The Summer Elementals:  Earth, a jeweled tribute to the earth and growth at summer's heart.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We're now past the midpoint of the year, still facing enormous complications and costs that have wiped us out and continue to do so (some carried over from the end of last year, some all new, from thousands each in roof and truck repairs to more medical costs for us both later in the year to the new pressure switch we just had to replace on the well last Friday). Just to break even on the year, we need to make consistent weekly sales urgently [this week is going to be very costly, and I'm once again down by two for last week, which means I again need to bring in four for this week], so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.      

Not done yet.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

It has been a day, and it's not done yet. On the one hand, it's been a good distraction from the marker this date is, three times over; on the other, I've felt worse today than in a very long time, and given the last two weeks, that's really saying something. 

However, today was also chemo day [it's low-dose, and it's oral; I just pop the pills], and so I'm stupidly, stubbornly hoping that tomorrow I'll start feeling better, at least for a couple of days. Not sure I would've survived this day without it; given all those dark clouds up there, you'd be forgiven for thinking we got a lot of rain, but no: just a few scattered drops, with enough high winds to send the ragwort pollen everywhere and my allergies into hyperdrive. I'm sitting here sniffling, eyes watering, coughing, asthmatic, on top of all my autoimmune flare issues, because today's pollen is so bad that even chemo can't suppress my immune system enough to deal with it.

And thanks to everything else going on today, I've accomplished exactly nothing of what I needed to be doing, work-wise: namely, bring in sales. Seriously, I need to bring in at least one sale a day for the rest of the month, and probably for the first 10 days of September, too, and I'm so far in the hole on that goal it's terrifying.

Because the expenses won't wait, particularly the taxes. We have come to the point where the IRS is openly hassling us, threatening us, demanding money we don't have on a timetable we can't meet. I have to have help. [That leachfield/septic failure early in the year, coupled with the complete lack of sales for months on end, set the stage for this mess, and our expenses have only gone up since then. I have to hold out at least another grand for the truck, whenever that stupid part comes in.] But I was only able to send them a token payment in April [see $10K leachfield failure], and now I have to give them a much bigger chunk. And then there's the $1K on my imaging last Thursday, and the additional $550 cash out the door last Friday, because the pressure switch on the well failed. It's endless, and I'm losing my mind trying to make everything work, especially when I'm in this much pain.

I'm going to need to bring in at least $4K-$5K a lot more than that in sales this week alone, and that feels like such an impossibility that I don't even know where to begin. I mean, other than cry, which I can't afford to do now because I won't be able to stop. One thing I do know is that, barring a miracle, the roof repair is out of the question. And that's horrible, but here we are.

I HAVE GOT TO BRING IN SALES NOW, NO MATTER WHAT.  I NEED HELP.  TODAY.

There is a ton of new work on the site from just the last couple of weeks [with three or four new cuffs in the works currently, a necklace, and at least one belt buckle plus some collectible items coming soon]: 

• Three new cuffs, 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 sales at a rate of at least two per week for the rest of the year for us to catch up [and that's just breaking even; I'm already behind on that, which means I need to make FOUR sales this week just to catch up]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (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 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.