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The Seeing Stone is having a sale right now that will last all through January 2009. Save 20-60% off on 2009 fairy and fantasy calendars, Amy Brown Fairy Divas and Nene Thomas Fantasy Couture ornaments, mouse pads, mugs, holiday cards, handbags, tote bags, T-shirts, and things that the shop cats have chipped or cracked but still look mostly pretty good. We want to make room for some awesome new stuff.
And here’s how you can help with that part: we’d love to hear your feedback! We want to know what products and artworks you’d like to see in our store. After all, our mission is to delight and inspire you. As an incentive, we’ll email you a coupon for a free button or sticker of your choice if you write to us at info@seeingstoneshop.com with your comments and/or suggestions (please, nothing that’s, you know, randy, nor anything silly, like saying you’d like us to offer unicorn rides).
Another exciting bit of news you may have already noticed is that we finally have a beautiful, redesigned new website! Purty, innit? There’s even a slideshow so you can view the wider selection of great items we’ve been able to offer in the larger space we moved into this November. Props to Griffin of the design firm Pixel Sprout for his care, talent, and skills.
And, if you are interested, here is the part where I do a little musing about things somewhat unrelated (or are they?) that I find to be particularly magickal or inspiring:
We see snow here in Portland so seldom. When it does appear, I can’t help but find a kind of otherworldly quality to it. Only twice in my life have I ever seen actual snowflakes up close. When one would land on my glove, I’d stare at it, admiring the gorgeous, iridescent geometry until, to my regret, the warmth of my breath melted it into a droplet. Certainly, the snow brought dangers and difficulties with travel, plumbing, and the business of retail (eek – that’s an unpleasant subject I’d rather avoid altogether here), but still it spreads glimmering blankets over the grey sidewalks and streets, softens the angles of automobiles and architecture, and frosts everything with a cold, crystalline medium that begs to be sculpted into people, animals, igloos, and, yes, mostly harmless weaponry. In our climate, it doesn’t last for long. Two weeks later, every trace of the snow has nearly melted completely after two straight days of heavy rain. The city is up and running again. Let’s lift our New Year’s glasses to the snow: like many experiences in life, it is both wondrous and a big pain in the butt.
And here’s to a New Year full of blessings, health, prosperity, positive change, and to the return of lighter days!
P.S. We’re now on MySpace! Just look for The Seeing Stone. Sign up to be our friend. Listen to our fine musical selections. Look at the picture of Boris the cat. Find out what the artistic title background will look like when we find one that will upload consistently. Maybe we’ll even get a Facebook account next. It’s what all the kids are doing nowadays. We’ll let you know.
Warm Regards,
The Seeing Stone, comprising of Carrie, elves, and kitties
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I love these summer days. Being bathed in so much sunshine makes me feel human again after the endless gray, drab days that comprise most of the three other seasons in Portland. I love being barefoot and unbottoned, seeing everything lush and in bloom, getting brown and sweaty, and the utter sublimity of tasting the fresh fruit and vegetables that are ripening. Perhaps it's from a deep, primal satisfaction, or the chance to temporarily revert back to the lightheartedness, delight, and wonder that makes up much of childhood but is often lost or forgotten as the cynicism, rationality, and self-consciousness of the adult years, with their adult responsibilities, challenges, and expectations, seeps in. When it's summertime, it's as though nature herself is telling us in every way imaginable to remember to play.
And this is why I love working with, and being surrounded by, fantasy art. Even though it can be playful and fun, some of my favorite imagery also deals with the shadowy, cold, mysterious, grotesque, and terrifying. There's no jadedness there, but the same sort of wonder and fascination one might feel when watching a deadly-poisonous spider from behind glass. It's an integral part of the whole experience, if not something you'd necessarily want to stick your bare hand into.