A different kind of key ring

I saw this fabulous ring listed on Elsewares. What a cool idea! Apparently the ring is cast in sterling silver from an actual key. I definitely don't have the metal-smithing skills to make this myself, so I'll add it to my wish list for now.

I've always had a fascination with old keys, in part because my dad's parents took us to a place called The Baldpate Inn, which has an extensive key collection. Also, my mom's father passed down a box of old keys that had belonged to my great-grandfather. I've since used some of these keys to make a couple different projects--a windchime for my mother and a lampshade for me.


Elsewares also has other darling things, like a fly catcher necklace, a sterling bird necklace, and the Um tote. I'm in love with the tote because not only is a made of felted wool, but it also folds flat. Very clever.

We're all intertwined

A funny thing happened this week that made me think of a quote that has been attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle:

"It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world."

I was reading a post on a crafty blog I enjoy, Bella Dia. She described how she had been inspired to make a cake stand out of old glassware, thanks to a post that she had seen on betz white's blog.

Sound familiar? It's essentially the same project that I blogged about in October 2007. Had I ever seen betz white's blog post? Not until this week.

I'm constantly amazed by how many crafters come up with essentially the same project as someone else (often me, it seems). It just goes to show you that there really aren't any original ideas out there.

But that's okay. I don't see this as people "stealing" each other's ideas. My friend Cat and I have talked about this several times since we often dream up projects indepently and then later realize that we're making the same darn thing. Instead, I like to think that it's some amazing interconnected web, where we're all channeling the same muse at the same time.

And besides, what is an idea really? Just something we thought up. It's only our egos that make us feel like we should be possessive about our ideas. And what are we really? Just specks of dust passing our time in this great universe. Okay, enough amateur philosophizing for now! (But this does mean that I now have an excuse to use the cool picture I took at the Einstein Memorial of the constellations at his feet.)

Here's one more interesting experience that seems to emphasize that we're all interconneted. I recently crossed paths again with a gal I went to high school with. The last time we saw each other was probably eight years ago here in Gainesville because we shared mutual friends. In the time between then and now, she got a degree through the department that I now work for and became friends with the people who are now my co-workers. That in itself was a cool six-degrees-of-separation moment. But now she tells me that she fell in love with my Etsy site a year or so ago and had no idea it was me. Small world.

Einstein Memorial
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter

Clever keychain

Thanks to Cat for inspiring this project, which will be featured in the January issue of The Satellite magazine. It's a great way to use up odd beads leftover from previous projects. All you need is some leftover beads, flex wire, a couple of crimp beads and some imagination.

So what's stopping you? Go bling out your keychain!