My Blog

Hurrah!

Clovis — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:42:04 GMT

NEW WEBSITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm free of my old, nasty, unfinished website! FREEEEEEEEEEE I tell you! Same old URL (www.coppercamel.com) and similar content, with a shiny new look. One iffy thing: I built it from scratch with WIX, and you can't flatten or merge the images you cobble together to build the pages, so...each...component...loads...separately...every...time. I don't care! I can update it myself! I haz a WEB-site, I haz a WEB-site, I do a CHAIR-dance, la la la LAH la

Got my hallmark today

Clovis — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:25:28 GMT

My new jewelry stamp arrived today. Having trouble getting it to make a clean mark, so I ordered a bench-block, which is a hunk of steel about an inch thick. It ensures that your table or whatever doesn't absorb all the force you need to make a clear impression. I didn't order one to begin with, since I didn't want to ding the design on the front side of the pennies, but I don't want to have wasted the ducats, either. I guess we shall see. In other news (sadly unsurprising,) my mutant power seems to be the ability to inflict a general malaise upon anyone who might be in a position to help me out of this freaking rut I've been in for the better part of a decade. Penny guy? Too damned depressed to fling my property into a box and mail it to me. The professional editor who was supposed to be reading my novel for the second time? Lying on the couch at her parent's house and watching reruns while worrying about the economy, at least according to her LiveJournal. I would have appreciated an email. I have more on the list, but my stomach is starting to digest itself as I type. Is there anyone you'd like clinically depressed? I'll be happy to contact them and request one each of their advertised services. For a small fee... :::::::The picture for the day is an album cover from 1974::::::::

Tomorrow--Sandblasting!

Clovis — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:38:46 GMT

Being the obstinate creature I am, I left the coins in the turpentine until now. They turned it a lovely oxide blue, and the pennies looked like absolute hell when they came out--splotched black and red and just....ick. But you know what? The &%$#@!ing paint is still on. Now, I'm not saying it looks *good* but other than the couple I had the patience to scrub so hard I think I just wore the paint down, they're still very colorful. Right now soaking in vinegar to get all the tarnishy crud off. Tomorrow, one of us is admitting defeat. I am perversely excited to see what they look like after being sandblasted to hell. Deep in the harsh and uncaring desert, a caravan winding through the dunes like a delicate string of dark pearls is forced to shelter from a sandstorm. Little do they know the sleeping treasure the savage wind and shifting sands will unearth at their very feet. Copper, most ancient of metals, and beloved of the Pharaohs...... UPDATE: Yeah, okay--sandblasting was a fairly expensive bust. But. I remembered I had a wire brush attachment for my dremel, and with a lot of patience, I can buff the paint off without wearing down the design. Then, I just have to go over it with a very fine steel wool to make sure there aren't eny weird buffing patterns. Oy.

Seriously.

Clovis — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:25:55 GMT

What, you may ask, is captured in this terrible, overexposed, inscrutable photo? That is a pressed penny, happily soaking in a jar of turpentine, where it has been all day. All. Day. The paint has not budged. I knew I was brilliant , but THIS SHIT DOES NOT COME OFF! Back when first started painted my pennies, I made some *ahem* unfortunate color choices, and I wanted to clean them and reuse the pennies. Salt and lemon juice? Nice and shiny. Nail polish remover? Nope. Freaking Turpentine? Ha.* It's a solvent, right? The only other thing I can think is to buff the paint off, which will scratch up the copper. Maybe I'll have an "Antiquity" line in my shop, where they're all beaten to hell and ancient looking. Harrumph. *The reason that this is a Friends Only post is that I DO NOT recommend you do any of these things to your poor pennies. At the very least, such treatment will dull the finish on your paint, and I'm trying to strip this one totally, not clean it. I was just shocked at how tough it really is--a gentle rub with baking soda toothpaste every once in a while or a clean polishing cloth will do just fine. ::::::::::GUINEA PIG UPDATE::::::::::: Somewhere between hour 15 and 24, the turpentine finally started to eat through the clear bonding agent that holds the mica pigment together. There was a little color change before I went to bed, and then this morning--with a fairly rough salt scrub--the paint finally started to come off. Success! So it isn't indestructible, after all. But I am Extremely Pleased to know that the paint won't just wipe off if you have a freak accident in the painting studio and drop one into a bucket of turpentine;) *******UPDATE UPDATE******** Okay, I don't know which small god of alchemy is laughing at me right now, but last night, I put some more pennies in the turpentine--you know, just to see. As of 4pm today, I reiterate THIS SHIT DOES NOT COME OFF. I don't know if the first penny was a fluke, or it has something to do with the different pigments, but every coin I tried to clean today looks like the day I painted it. Again, Harrumph.

Etsy store now open!

Clovis — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:19:17 GMT

I've just finished setting up my Etsy account, and have a few pendants listed already. My seller name is thecoppercamel, so you can find my shop. I will figure out how to link it, but I seem to have misplaced the FAQ bullet that told me what my perfectly simple and reasonable address is. Harrumph. I've been sitting on my ass too long today. Aha! http://thecoppercamel.etsy.com See? Perfectly simple and reasonable. Checked through other Etsy shops to see what other people are charging for penny stuff--they're nuts. So, prices in the shop may fluctuate as I see what sells, but just give me holler for custom sets, as always.

Try, try again...

Clovis — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 02:55:06 GMT

I think I'll open up an Etsy shop, and see if I do better that way. Sound good? Show of hooves? My website has languished unfinished for like, three years now, and it's embarrassing, but Unfrozen Cave-camel Merchant finds your modern technology frightening and confusing. (Seriously, I'm on my second cell phone ever, and it's waaay too much technology for me.) I have learned several, several times, that when I am forced to depend on someone else for part of a project, I inevitably end up being frustrated and disappointed, because it simply isn't as important to the other person as it is to me. That's what happened with the webpage. So, I'm going to try trimming my webpage down to a nice informational site about my pressed pennies, and contact information for custom orders, then open up an Etsy store so I can damn well update and edit it myself. Sometimes you can't get through, but you can go around. Here's hoping there are customers on the other side!

Some whine for your cheese...

Clovis — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 05:39:05 GMT

Now, I've been trying to keep this private and dignified, because complaining about it just makes me feel unprofessional. But after nearly three years of the same damn problem, I think I'll unload on every poor slob who wanders in this week. I'm feeling self-indulgent. Some of you may have noticed that I am not trumpeting my two new designs to the skies, and some of you have even had me promise them to you, and then had me grovel--repeatedly--for your understanding. That's because a third party has had the new dies for over a year now, and is too *depressed* to put them in a freakin' box and mail them to me. No dies, no pennies. This person also has the dies for my first three designs (which five dies are long since paid for, you understand) and I have been writing letters, calling, and otherwise cajoling in any fashion I can over state lines, for him to return my property to me. Twice he has agreed to send them, and twice there has been no wonderful sound of the box being lobbed gently from the base of my driveway onto my porch. For all I know, he's sold them. So, honestly, every piece of jewelry that goes out of here is a limited edition. And that sucks.

Things you never think about...

Clovis — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:43:41 GMT

I've had the great fortune of having three separate orders in one week, but have also encountered a problem I never had before. It's so effing hot and dry here during the day, that my paint is drying on the coins while I'm still trying to work with it. Arrrrgh! I was trying to do a set of eight with a water-colory progression like those in the photo (not those colors.) But nooooo. I have to paint at midnight, because I don't have AC, and if you add too much water, it beads on the coin and won't stick to the metal, and if you don't, it dries out and you get drag marks from your brush. Grumble, grouse, snarf, grwwl.... Harrumph, I say!

The Buddha on the Stockroom Floor

Clovis — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:24:10 GMT

Normally, I don't like my personal life to intrude here too much--this site is for promoting my work, but today the whistling in the air has gotten louder, and the shadow growing around my feet is looking distinctly anvil-shaped. So, I feel like sharing one of my little pleasures in life with anyone who happens by. There's a Buddha on the concrete floor of the back stockroom where I work. Worked. Whatever. And through the last few years, which have been fairly stagnant for me (not for lack of trying to make the water move) whenever I happened to glance down and see that round belly with its obvious navel, unapologetic man boobies, and rays of stained Buddha-ness spreading out in all directions, it made me smile. If only just a little. So, please, enjoy the Buddha. I hope you're smiling.

For those of you directed here from the Website-in-Progress:

Clovis — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:42:12 GMT

Who we are: The Copper Camel What we do: Design and sell elongated pennies specifically for the belly dance community. Who is that ravishing beast? Clovis the Comely, our dashing Caravan Boss. Yes, it's legal. These are real copper pennies, minted pre-1982, after which time all U.S. one cent pieces are zinc, clad with a very thin layer of copper (we're talking electrons here.) We like to put bells on, we like to put tassels on, we *love* to paint them, and we're just starting to build a stock of pre-made jewelry pieces and coin sets, for those of you who find the custom process too intimidating. You know who you are;) The picture above shows our first three exclusive designs, with two more on the way for the holiday season. Please browse though the album to get an idea of how truly versatile these coins are, and be patient with our poor website (we're rebuilding it from scratch.) If you have any questions at all, please email us at clovis@coppercamel.com. CtC

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Clovis — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:55:40 GMT

Still in business--It just doesn't look like it out on the web. Do you know how hard it is to get camel-spittle off a keyboard? Must be all the Twinkies......

Clovis does the Snoopy Dance!

Clovis — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 05:05:45 GMT

Soon, very soon, we'll have wrested our domain name away from the brigands who have been holding it captive. The caravanserai will then be dismantled and moved to its new, better location along the great silk road. Website address remains the same (because it's ours, by damn!), but we'll be knocking down walls and rearranging, so mind your step and watch your heads, tarps and scaffolding everywhere! The boss is in such a good mood, he's decided to treat everyone to sneak peek of one of our upcoming elongated penny issues. This is a Buddha in the singular Thai style, depicting the moment of the Buddha's enlightenment, signified by the lotus on which he's seated. Deep in meditation, he takes no heed of the downpour and rising floodwaters. A seven-headed Nak, worried that he might be disturbed before attaining enlightenment, lifts him above the waters on his coils, and spreads his hoods above to shield him from the driving rain. The serene, minimalist depiction is a direct homage to the genuine amulets made and blessed by holy men at famous Thai temples, though there were some marked proportional differences required to best use the oval canvas. Special clay recipes that vary from temple to temple and can contain the ash of burnt sacred scriptures, sanctified earth, and magical herbs, are pressed into hand-carved molds to create the distinctive talismans. There are many styles of these amulets, as there are many facets of Buddhism, but this has such a lovely story behind it, and the Nak is a much beloved--and very ancient--figure even in modern Thailand, where they are charged with guarding the temples. You have no idea how hard it was not to add any ornamentation to this coin--maybe an Om symbol on either side, or at least some rays coming out from his body--but that wouldn't be a true representation of this elegant Thai artform, and that felt somehow disrespectful.

UPDATE:Most of these have been sold--but fear not, any of these can be duplicated or bettered--JUST ASK!!!

Clovis — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 05:32:20 GMT

Here's a small sample of the large array of pendants I currently have for sale. I'll try to get more photos posted, but I've done nearly a hundred of them, so if there's a particular design and color combination you'd prefer, email me and I'll send you pictures of the ones I think you'll like. Each one comes with a coordinating satin cord (lobster claw closure,) a small paper gift bag, and a handmade gift insert briefly telling the story of the featured design. Prices vary according to the materials used and the time put into each, but the most expensive are twelve dollars, and most are well under. An unusual gift or stocking stuffer for that unique person in your life!

Not all pennies, all the time...

Clovis — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:46:49 GMT

Designing for pennies is hard in some ways, but you get into the groove of having very strict parameters. What you design has to be recognizable at less than an inch in height, fill up the space you have well, and be a strong enough composition to stand out from the attractive copper. I've been lucky enough this summer, however, to again design for other media. And in so doing to interact with A Client, who inevitably has something Grand and Perfect in their mind, that to them seems a complete and wonderful idea already, when what they actually have are very strong feelings attached to a sketchy concept that probably won't play very well on either paper or pixels. (Yes, I'm the unfrozen caveman graphic artist--I still prefer to start out with a pencil and paper, because your modern technology frightens and confuses me. Actually, though I know how to beat most graphics suites into submission, I've never gotten the fine control I wanted, and usually scan my cleaned-up sketch into one to start fiddling around with color and scale.) The picture is of my finished logo for VEDA salons here in town, and which they've purchased as their new trademark. It was originally a T-shirt design for their Earth Month sweep, and included a lot of collateral materials utilizing the same Five Element Flower. VEDA recognizes five natural elements; Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Infinity (I know, don't get me started), and their corporate symbol is a pared-down leaf silhouette. So, starting with the balance of five, the leaf, and their natural elements, I arrived here, which reads very well in white ink against the requisite black t-shirt. ( I was also pleasantly surprised when the owner loved my suggestion of using organic cotton tees, since it was Earth Month.) The symbol in the center is the Aveda "A"-- they're the natural product line that franchises the salons. I think the most wonderful compliment I got from the whole thing was a girl at one of the salons asking if she could remove the "a" and get it tattooed on her arm. Success!

The Copper Camel at Tribal Fest!

Clovis — Tue, 29 May 2007 03:27:15 GMT

Many thanks to the lovely ladies of Mizmar Madness for showing our humble trinkets off to such sultry effect. Lucky is the camel who has such envoys! All photos of the mavens of madness were taken by Dennis Netjek.

Greetings, salutations, and welcome to this, the Copper Camel's Tribe.net debut.

Clovis — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 03:11:35 GMT

The boss said I had to do this, since having only two toes on each ...er....hand, neither of which is opposable, makes blogging nigh impossible. And having a hypertensive, twinkie-phile camel muttering in your ear is so much easier. The Copper Camel makes elongated pennies specifically for the belly dance community, and--as far as we are aware--is the first to do so. Our first three designs can be seen at our website www.coppercamel.com, and what we'd dearly love is for some of you goddesses out there to spin by and tell us what you think. We're having a hell of a time getting listed on Google (though thanks to Tribaltique, Mizmar Madness, and Tribalsouk, we're showing up at all now) and that's making business less than brisk. The website could be a little more user friendly, we know, but we're switching to a new host soon, so we hope to make it more visually appealing and easier to navigate. Kisses from Clovis.