Monday, September 30, 2024

A day full of tasks.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Beautiful play of the light today. Enough clouds to scatter maybe half a dozen drops down on us, too; not enough for rain, but enough to break the heat, at least. Today was San G, and it must have been miserably hot on the plaza.

We had a day full of tasks today, which is why everything's so late. All the things we needed to get done [well, not even all; some have to wait for Wednesday now] seemed small in the abstract, but together they took up the whole day, and now I'll be working late into the night. It's that much harder when I'm feeling as miserable as I have today, full and worsening lupus and RA flare with no respite. It's not helped by the fact that today is the anniversary of the day BearGirl left us [our first shared animal loss, 17 years ago], nor by the fact that I learned yesterday evening that someone a lot of us liked, loved, respected on Twitter is gone, killed by a country that refuses to do the bare minimum of right by those of us with disabling conditions, or the bare minimum of right by public health in a pandemic, either.

So now, I'm turning my attention toward the need to make sales, because there's no choice, but also because immersing myself in work takes my mind off the other losses. After all, October's going to be expensive anyway. The first truck repair last month and all the rest really screwed us for everything else; there won't be any roof replacement, because there's no money for it. The solar panel system for our generator is no longer on the wishlist, thanks to someone very dear to us. But I still need to get everything else handled.

I have got to bring in sales. NOW. Our traffic is down to almost nothing, and I can't conjure the money everyone's demanding from us out of thin air.
 
Earlier this week, 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: hereherehere, 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. The first links are the four pairs of sterling silver tab earrings with amazing stampwork that I promised, and he currently has three pairs of the Picasso jasper earrings, plus one very costly pair of ultra-high-grade red-web Kingman turquoise earrings, already in the works. He also has a miniature collector's bowl in the works [less miniature than his past works in this style]. 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. But there's tons of new work on the site, in addition to all that's coming up shortly [including three new pairs of Picasso jasper earrings possibly tonight, but more likely tomorrow], 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, herehere, and here;
  • Three new cuffs from last week, two set with incredible turquoise focals, one solid silver; go herehere, 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 the liquid soaps and Amazon cards, 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.                                   

Monday Photo Meditation: Days of Golden Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2024; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for a day of glorious autumn weather here, nearly perfect for the feast day it marks. It's also an image that reminds us how blessed we are to awaken each day in this place and time, in a season full of Pueblo shadows and these days of golden light.

The post is hereWings's main page is hereAs always, his photos are available in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact formAfter a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses, [including more than $700 cash at the end of this past week on yet another vehicle repair], we badly need to bring in consistent sales for the rest 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.    

Sunday, September 29, 2024

A necessity.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Just look at that light. Seriously, enlarge it so you can see what it does to the trees in the distance. It's about as perfect a day as it gets, in terms of weather in September. A little warmer than it should be maybe, but then again, we always get a return of summer around San G.

Feeling a little better after two nights of halfway-decent sleep, and of course my chemo from Friday. Which means, of course, that I'll overdo it today, but that's the way this works. My task list grows by the day, and my illness means that I fall a little further behind every day anyway, so overdoing it isn't a choice at times like this, it's a necessity.

Luckily, we have the truck back. Between the costly new battery, the labor, and the tow, were out well over $700 cash, and we're tapped out. We still have to get through the second without shit bouncing everywhere, because there are autopays that come out at 12:01 AM on the first of every month, and our income from last week is completely gone and then some. I have GOT to make sales this weekend, at least a couple of them today, because I am at my wits' end trying to cover everything. And people wonder why I don't sleep? Between the relentless pain, the equally relentless other autoimmune dysfunctions, and the constant stress over covering everything, this is why.

And on top of it all, October's going to be expensive anyway. The first truck repair last month and all the rest really screwed us for everything else; there won't be any roof replacement, because there's no money for it. I also need to find a way to get that solar panel system for our generator that's on the wishlist, but I can't even think about that before everything else is handled. Every winter, we have days of lost power, and we need to be ahead of it this time. But right now, I need to worry about how we get to the post office and the grocery store and the pharmacy, and how much it's going to cost us to be able to do that.

I have got to bring in sales. NOW. Our traffic is down to almost nothing, and I can't conjure the money everyone's demanding from us out of thin air.
 
Earlier this week, 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: hereherehere, 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. The first links are the four pairs of sterling silver tab earrings with amazing stampwork that I promised, and he currently has three pairs of the Picasso jasper earrings, plus one very costly pair of ultra-high-grade red-web Kingman turquoise earrings, already in the works. He also has a miniature collector's bowl in the works [less miniature than his past works in this style]. 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, herehere, and here;
  • Three new cuffs from last week, two set with incredible turquoise focals, one solid silver; go herehere, 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.                                   

Wrapped In the Golden Arc of the Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's one of Wings's newest works, an extraordinary naja-style pendant manifest in the layers and depths of the breath of the light. It's an old traditional design given new form and shape and timeless animating spirit, all combining her to remind us that as long as we are alive, we are wrapped in the golden arc of the light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact formAfter a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses [including more than $700 cash at the end of this past week on yet another vehicle repair], we badly need to bring in consistent sales for the rest 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.        

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Tapped out.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Rainy skies this morning. It's sunny now, but there's another bank of dark clouds to the northwest. 

For this place, at the end of September? It's weird weather, by any standard.

We have the truck back. The mechanic had to have jumped us over several existing jobs to get it in late Thursday and have it back to us at the end of yesterday. It appears that it was the battery after all, although I've never seen a failing battery have that much power for all the bells and whistles — A/C, fan, radio, door alarms, lights — and yet not enough juice to get even a click out of the engine. At any rate, we have to hope that's all it was, because we can't afford any more repairs.

Between the costly new battery, the labor, and the tow, were out well over $700 cash, and we're tapped out. We still have to get through the second without shit bouncing everywhere, because there are autopays that come out at 12:01 AM on the first of every month, and our income from this week is gone and then some. I have GOT to make a sale this weekend, preferably one tonight and one tomorrow, because I am at my wits' end trying to cover everything. And people wonder why I don't sleep? Between the relentless pain, the equally relentless other autoimmune dysfunctions, and the constant stress over covering everything, this is why.

And on top of it all, October's going to be expensive anyway. The first truck repair last month and all the rest really screwed us for everything else; there won't be any roof replacement, because there's no money for it. I also need to find a way to get that solar panel system for our generator that's on the wishlist, but I can't even think about that before everything else is handled. Every winter, we have days of lost power, and we need to be ahead of it this time. But right now, I need to worry about how we get to the post office and the grocery store and the pharmacy, and how much it's going to cost us to be able to do that.

I have got to bring in sales. NOW. Our traffic is down to almost nothing, and I can't conjure the money everyone's demanding from us out of thin air.
 
Earlier this week, 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: hereherehere, 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. The first links are the four pairs of sterling silver tab earrings with amazing stampwork that I promised, and he currently has three pairs of the Picasso jasper earrings, plus one very costly pair of ultra-high-grade red-web Kingman turquoise earrings, already in the works. He also has a miniature collector's bowl in the works [less miniature than his past works in this style]. 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, herehere, and here;
  • Three new cuffs from last week, two set with incredible turquoise focals, one solid silver; go herehere, 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.                                   

A Season and Sky Transforming and Transcendent

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for days and nights of wild weather, for the last of the storm and the first of it, too. It's a pendant wrought in elemental opposites, fire and water perfect for this time of year, a season and sky transforming and transcendent.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact formAfter a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses, we badly need to bring in consistent sales for September and the rest 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.        

Friday, September 27, 2024

Three to five days out of every week.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

No more than two hours' sleep, none of it consecutive. I was awake by four; finally gave up a little before six and just got up. It was worth it then, because this was the sky in the moments before dawn. 

Not so worth it now, when no amount of caffeine is helping. But then again, this kind of insomnia is three to five days out of every week for me, so . . . . Yet another destructive side effect of advancing multiple autoimmune disease.

None of it's helped by the constant stress. The truck died again yesterday — as nearly as we can tell, it's the laternator this time, and we had to pay for a tow to the shop. Depending on how long it takes the part to come in, and how booked the mechanic is [he's always booked, overbooked, every moment of every day], we may not have transportation through next week. for the moment, we're stuck here, which is not so bad for four days, but at that point, it starts to become a problem. It also set us back a cool $220 + for the tow, and now I have no idea what parts and labor will set us back, but it's looking like we could be close to another grand by the time we're done for all of it combined.

We made a sale Wednesday, and now? Still no breathing room. And October's going to be expensive anyway. The last truck repair and everything else really screwed us for everything else; there won't be any roof replacement, because there's no money for it. I also need to find a way to get that solar panel system for our generator that's on the wishlist, but I can't even think about that before everything else is handled. But every winter, we have days of lost power, and we need to be ahead of it this time. But right now, I need to worry about how we get to the post office and the grocery store and the pharmacy, and how much it's going to cost us to be able to do that.

I have got to bring in sales. NOW. Our traffic is down to almost nothing, and I can't conjure the money everyone's demanding from us out of thin air.
 
Late the other 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: hereherehere, 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. He also has a miniature collector's bowl in the works [less miniature than his past works in this style]. 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, herehere, and here;
  • Three new cuffs from last week, two set with incredible turquoise focals, one solid silver; go herehere, 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.                                   

Friday Feature: Adance In All the Shades of Fire

Photo copyright Aji, 2024;
all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of works created entirely independently of each other, not intended to match, and yet that clearly belong together all the same. It's a necklace and pair of earrings built around daggers of autumn's hallmark stone, both adance in all the shades of fire, like our landscape now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact formAfter a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses [as of yesterday, a tow fee for the truck, where it awaits a new alternator], we badly need to bring in consistent sales for September and the rest 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.         

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Moving fast now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

The color change is moving fast now. I would expect that section on the southern slope of the Spoonbowl to look like that around the second week of October. But it was 85 degrees today, 11 degrees hotter than yesterday and 18 degrees hotter than the day before, and none of our usual patterns apply.

It's been a day, and not in a good way. This afternoon, Wings had planned to go pick up a couple of things that we knew would be at the post office, got into the truck . . . and it wouldn't start. Battery was working; lights, fan, sounds, everything, but most of the time, it wouldn't even try to turn over; sometimes, it wouldn't even click. So. New starter needed. But there as no getting it into neutral, even. We needed to have it towed to the shop. The tow guy used one of those literal battery booster contraptions and got it going, so likely the alternator, not the starter. But it set us back a cool $220 + for the tow, and now I have no idea what parts and labor will set us back.

We made a sale yesterday, and now? Still no breathing room, and possibly no transportation for as much as all of next week.

It sucks.

And October's going to be expensive anyway. The last truck repair and everything else really screwed us for everything else; there won't be any roof replacement, because there's no money for it. I also need to find a way to get that solar panel system for our generator that's on the wishlist, but I can't even think about that before everything else is handled. But every winter, we have days of lost power, and we need to be ahead of it this time. But right now, I need to worry about how we get to the post office and the grocery store and the pharmacy, and how much it's going to cost us to be able to do that.

I have got to bring in sales. NOW. Our traffic is down to almost nothing, and I can't conjure the money everyone's demanding from us out of thin air.
 
Late the other 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: hereherehere, 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. He also has a miniature collector's bowl in the works [less miniature than his past works in this style]. 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, herehere, and here;
  • Three new cuffs from last week, two set with incredible turquoise focals, one solid silver; go herehere, 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.                                   

#TBT: An Earth In Autumn's Grasp, and Its Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2024;
all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT work that dates back to June of 2023, and a very special commission by someone very dear to us.  It's a necklace in the form and shape of a traditional Pueblo ladder, seemingly emergent from a Petoskey stone — symbols of the wearer's history and faith journey, and now a manifestation of an earth in autumn's grasp, and its light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is hereAs always, this work will never be duplicated, but if the [very different] possibilities it suggests speak to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create something 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 September and the rest 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.         

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

There'll be a lot more of this.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

The red finally showed up visibly on the larger fire maple today. Just a little, but it's clearly red. Despite that, it felt like summer again; 82 degrees, 8 degrees higher than yesterday, and 15 higher than the day before.

There'll be a lot more of this, too.

A lot more of the need to bring in sales. I was, thankfully, able to pick up Wings's scrips today [except for the one that they apparently had to order, and it still wasn't in yet, so that's for Friday, I guess]. Another sale and I'll be able to pay the annual propane tank rental. 

But October's going to be expensive. The truck repair and everything else really screwed us for everything else; there won't be any roof replacement, because there's no money for it. I also need to find a way to get that solar panel system for our generator that's on the wishlist, but I can't even think about that before everything else is handled. But every winter, we have days of lost power, and we need to be ahead of it this time.

I have got to bring in sales. NOW. Our traffic is down to almost nothing, and I can't conjure the money everyone's demanding from us out of thin air.
 
Late the other 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: hereherehere, 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. He also has a miniature collector's bowl in the works [less miniature than his past works in this style]. 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, herehere, and here;
  • Three new cuffs from last week, two set with incredible turquoise focals, one solid silver; go herehere, 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.                                   

Fall's Armor, In Frost and Fire

Photo copyright Aji, 2024;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork created explicitly for this season of fall: early frost and sunset fire, and all the beauty and magic between them. It's the last remaining necklace in Wings's powerful but limited signature series, The Four Seasons, a necklace that is simultaneously a talismanic shield — fall's armor, in frost and fire.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact formAfter a full year of extremely low sales and absolutely astronomical emergency expenses, we badly need to bring in consistent sales for September and the rest 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.        

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

No, really, a real zucchini.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Hey, wanna see a giant zucchini? No, really, a real zucchini.

To be clear, the ones on the left are giant ones. The one on the right? I don't even know what that is. I mean, aside from 22" long. It apparently got buried under layers of leaves, and he didn't see it until this morning.  Most of this year's garden didn't take [drought, soil aridification, climate collapse], but the zucchini is rockin'.

If only everything else were. No sleep again, and between it and the all-consuming pain and the lack of sales and the climbing expenses, I'm at my wits' end. We've had no sales coming in at all, and we were down on the month already; one sale in the opening days of the month, and not a single thing since. We can't survive at that rate. We're down to our last few dollars until the second, unless I manage to bring in some sales in the interim, and that's leaving the propane until something comes in. But we need to pay for firewood this week, and 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. And, of course, I realized only yesterday that Wings's crips are due to be picked up tomorrow, and combined that's another almost $400 cash. 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. I also need to find a way to get that solar panel system for our generator that's on the wishlist, but I can't even think about that before everything else is handled. But every winter, we have days of lost power, and we need to be ahead of it this time.

I have got to bring in sales. NOW. Our traffic is down to almost nothing, and I can't conjure the money everyone's demanding from us out of thin air.
 
Late the other 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: hereherehere, 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. He also has a miniature collector's bowl in the works [less miniature than his past works in this style]. 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, herehere, and here;
  • Three new cuffs from last week, two set with incredible turquoise focals, one solid silver; go herehere, 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.