Category Archives: Hobbies Gone Wild

I’m a beekeeper, I make wire-wrapped jewelry, and I work with warm glass — among other things. When I pick up a hobby, I dive in headfirst.

A Week of Lapidary Learning

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I attend a week-long lapidary class at the William Holland School of Lapidary Arts in Young Harris, GA.

It all started when I watched a YouTube video about lapidary intarsia. I thought the resulting cabochons were very cool and had the potential to help my take my jewelry work to the next level.

Some definitions might be in order before I go on:

  • Lapidary is the process of shaping and polishing stones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (such as cameos), and faceted designs. Read more on Wikipedia.
  • Intarsia is a method of seamlessly combining stones, normally to make cabochons, but possibly as part of an inlaying process. (The Wikipedia entry discusses wood intarsia; stone intarsia is similar but with stone.)
  • Inlay is similar to intarsia but the stones are cut to fit precisely into a pre-made metal frame. (I’m also interested in learning how to do inlays.)

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Getting Sucked In to the Traveler’s Notebook Craze, Part 4

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For the final (I hope) installment for this multi-part series of posts, I got lazy and just shot a 7-minute video.

My Traveler’s Notebook Saga:
– Part 1
– Part 2
– Part 3
– Part 4 (this part)

As I alluded somewhere in this blog, I’ve updated my Traveler’s Notebook solution by remaking the leather binder that holds the notebook pages. I wanted to blog about it, but I’ll be honest with you: I simply did not feel like spending a lot of time writing, photographing, and laying out a blog post show-and-tell when a short video could do the job a lot better.

So I shot the video.

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It’s Not Enough to Make Art

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You also have to jump through hoops to sell it and account for it.

When was the last time you bought something from the person who made it? A piece of pottery, a wooden jewelry box, a framed painting, a hand-bound notebook, a leather wallet, a pair of earrings?

Do you have any idea what went into that item, from the moment it was imagined by the artist to the moment you took possession of it?

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Why I’m Not Blogging as Regularly as I Used To

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I think there are two reasons this time, one familiar and one new.

Let’s face it: I’ve been blogging at An Eclectic Mind since long before it had that name. My first blog post was way back in 2003. The blog had my name back then, Maria Langer, and it could be found at MariaLanger.com — where it can still be found; try it! I wrote about the things that were on my mind. For a while, I wrote computer-related how-to content, but I eventually broke that out and put it into a site called Maria’s Guides which I’ve since allowed to die. I wrote a lot about politics. I wrote a lot about my work and my play. I wrote a lot about my crazy divorce. I wrote a lot about social media. I wrote a lot about building a new life in Washington State.

Heck, I just wrote a lot about anything that was on my mind.

And that’s what I personally think a blog is for. At least this blog.

There are no ads here. No tracking. No annoying pop-ups begging you to subscribe or send me money. It’s just the blog of a writer — a person who has always written — sharing what’s on her mind.

If you come here often to read my latest and actually like a lot of what you read, great! I’m thrilled to have you here!

But if you stumbled in here unknowingly and have concluded that this blog is crap and a total waste of your time, well, just go away and don’t come back. It doesn’t bother me.

And if you think that’s harsh, well blame social media. (Also understand that “go away” is not what I originally wrote.)

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Getting Sucked In to the Traveler’s Notebook Craze, Part 3

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Four months on, I’m using my notebooks regularly and have made them part of my life.

My Traveler’s Notebook Saga:
– Part 1
– Part 2
– Part 3 (this part)
– Part 4

Time has gone by. I haven’t written much in this blog, mostly because April, May, June, and most of July have been crazy hectic for me. I finally got my boat into San Juan Yachting’s charter program, I made jewelry inventory for and attended four art shows, and I even managed to spend just over two weeks on the boat with a good friend of mine. Along the way, I planted my garden, maintained my vehicles, cared for my home and pups, and socialized with friends.

In other words, I lived a busy life.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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