YAy! We ordered our rings! We're getting matching damascus steel rings from J. Arthur Loose (http://jloose.com), an independent artist in VT. Himself is also a blacksmith, so he called the artist up and they talked steel and smithing. He's pretty confident that this guy will do a good job. We're just getting the plain ones lined in silver - nice, basic, and affordable.
This is one thing that he has been adamant about from day one - he saw high-end damascus rings in a bridal magazine a number of years ago, and decided that was what he wanted for his wedding rings. I like that they're truly unique, and enjoy the idea that they're both cut from the same billet of damascus. There is an odd sort of spiritual link between them - at least in my head. ;) We had originally hoped to go through these guys(http://www.furthers.com/damascus-rings.htm), since we both really liked the ones with the gold rails on either side, but they're out of our price range.
One of the things that we have always valued about our relationship is that, while we enjoy being together and doing things with each other, we still maintain our independence and do things on our own. It doesn't bother him if I take a Saturday to go bra shopping with a girlfriend, and I cheerfully wave goodbye when he goes to a blacksmithing event with his buddies. We don't have to do *everything* together. So, even though we're creating a new family, we're still maintaining our individual selves - and that's why we chose the damascus rings. Taking two different pieces of metal and forging them into one piece that is stronger, more durable, and more beautiful than the two pieces separately. It just resonates with us.
We're planning on taking this passage from Offbeat Bride for our ceremony, and modifying it to reflect the nature of damascus:
This is the point in the ceremony when I usually talk about the wedding bands being a perfect circle, having no beginning and no end. But we all know that these rings do have a beginning. Rock is dug up from the earth. Metal is liquefied in a furnace at a thousand degrees. Hot metal is poured into a mold, cooled, and then painstakingly polished. Something beautiful is made from raw elements.
Love is like that. It's hot, dirty work. It comes from humble beginnings, made by imperfect beings. It's the process of making something beautiful where there was once nothing at all.
I love the idea that love isn't perfect. We aren't perfect. But with hard work and a lot of heart, we can create something beautiful. :)
I have sat on this couch for 10 hours, working on my
taxes. On the plus side, I got to sit in my wonderful living room all
day with the door and window open, which I NEVER get to do. I love my
front room and I never get to enjoy it. *sigh* I swear to you, once I
get Greycat completely shut down, I'm locking the basement door for,
like, a month. I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the house.
:)
I actually got a TON done. My harddrive crashed in
September, so I had to go back and reconstruct all my business data.
This is why I keep paper records. (Yes, I know, I should have backed
up. I learned my lesson.)
Today I:
reconstructed all my sales data
reconstructed all my business purchases data
Took a break around 5pm to go out and buy Turbotax
OK,
it dosen't sound like a lot, but that actually took a LONG time.
Seriously. Now I'm going through my bank statements and
cross-refrencing them against my receipts, to make sure I didn't miss
anything. Although I try to be really good about keeping my receipts, I
usually $1,000 worth of receipts go AWOL every year. Cross-refrencing
with my bank statements is an extra step, but it saves me money in the
long run.
After that I'll pull togther all the household
expenses, pop it all into Turbotax, and it'll be done. One more good
night of it and it should be teh awesomeness.
Business was
slow this year, so I think my taxable income is going to be pleasantly
low. Which means that (hopefully!) I'll be eligible for some decent
financial aid/grants for school in the fall. Keep your fingers crossed
for me that I'm poor enough to merit some gov't $$$. ;)
For the
record, my mortgage interest statement makes me happy (yay! get to
write it off on the taxes!) and sad (OMFG, I paid *how much in
interest*?!?!?). It's freakish.
I recently completed a frock/pirate coat for a client - and as we all know, those things generally feature about a million and twelve (a conservative estimate) buttons. I had placed an order for his buttons a few weeks before I needed them - and found out right *as I needed them* that they were out of stock and couldn't ship.
(Communication, people. Communication!)
In a frenzy, I went about trying to find new buttons. Most fabric stores don't stock the quantity that I would need, and the selection can be inappropriate for this sort of project. After a lot of searching, I found Three Feathers Pewter, an Ohio-based family business.
The staff there was *very* pleasant to work with - they answered emails promptly, and were terribly cheerful when taking my order over the phone. When I explained the need for pretty much immediate shipment, they were able to do so with no problem.
The best part? They're *cheap*. Hand-cast heavy pewter shank buttons in a wide variety of styles and sizes, at 70 cents per button. 60 cents if you order 50 or more. And that's retail prices, folks. They carry a decent selection of celtic themed buttons, and a nice selection of Civil War and Rev. War buttons as well. Although I didn't ask them about custom casting, I'd be willing to bet that they'd entertain the notion. It wouldn't hurt to ask, at least. :)
The castings were all clean and uniform, the shipment was fast, and the packaging was very professional. I *highly* reccomend them. :)
