#chiaruna

[lunaramoonlight]

So, exactly one year ago I did this:

It's a fully hand woven pride flag, and this time I went further than ever with all the work. I studied how to weave, I built the weaving loom, and only then wove the flag, which took about two full weeks. It's far from perfect, but I am so proud (pun fully intended) of how it turned out.

It's made with and of love (the rest is 100% cotton 😌); not meant for me, but ended up with me in the end

It will always be a dear memory, with all that it entails

And now, one year from there, I am so so happy ❤️

Wips:

Here for the wips of the weaving loom

Here for the part 1 of the wips of the pride flag

Here for the part 2 of the wips of the pride flag

[lunaramoonlight]

The wips for the pride flag, pt. 2 of 2

Here for pt. 1

Here for the wips of the weaving loom

[lunaramoonlight]

All the wips of the weaving loom

[lunaramoonlight]

The wips for the pride flag, pt.1 of 2

Here for the part 2

Here for the wips of the weaving loom

[lunaramoonlight]

Let me set the scene: I had met @bartimaeus for about four months at the time of this craft. And the more we got to know each other, the more I realised how unreasonably unique she was.

Now, as you may have guessed, I am in utter, pure, endless love for anything related to the sky, and the space in particular. There's no awe and breathtakingness like a starry night sky for me; it makes me shiver of amazement just to think about it. And believe me, @bartimaeus is the very person that gives me the same feelings. I can't, like physically-emotionally-mentally can't, think about her, and how much of a marvel of the universe she is, without feeling the same feeling of stunning amazement. Even now just writing all of this... she truly is my stars ✨

And do you know the soothing feeling the sound of the waves gives, and the lightheartedness of staring at the blue running beyond the horizon? I always feel a sense of belonging, a tender hug gifted by the sea. I can be myself, truly, with my strengths and weaknesses, in front of it. And again I get the same feeling from that beautiful soul that is my best friend. The way I feel free to be myself, all the affection and warmth we share... she truly is my sea 🌊

Aaaaand all of the above was what I wanted to convey in my gift. And with rainbow colors because we're both gay AF🌈. So I once again worked with wooden earrings, the same block of wood of those actually, which in hindsight has its own poetry, because the same block was the base for the gifts for my two best friends. What a career hahahah. I obviously wanted to try something new, and having already seen this technique in which you melt crayons in a carved figure, I wanted to give it a try. It's actually much more complicated than it seems, and I had to do several meltings before getting a results I was satisfied of. But when I got to it, I was very satisfied of them 🥹

And here are the usual wips

[lunaramoonlight]

Well, from the earrings to this, there is more than a year of nothing (08/2021 - 12/2022). I spent that time mostly fighting for my right to exist, and barely surviving.

It took me meeting @bartimaeus, who is now among my best friends (🥹) and absolutely THE most mesmerising soul I ever encountered, to make me resume start crafting again (she won't admit it (yet) but she literally irradiates art and inspires souls; at the very least that's the effect she has on me).

Anyway, the first time we met she said she loved street lamps, and me being me, took a mental note of that. And then, before christmas I started working on this:

The "new thing tried" in this work is the phosphorescent stone in the center; I wanted it to be yellow or at least a warm color, which is not the usual gradient most stones of this kind have. So I used a special (pink) paint, and a very thin layer of acrylic color, and this is the result:

This is the usual link for the wips

This gift was honestly a bit of a leap in the dark: at that point in time I had known @bartimaeus for like two weeks, but I already felt I had met someone unique and special, and still to this day, I keep being proven right.

It was a leap in the dark, but some people shine enough to cast away the darkness and catch you ❤️

[lunaramoonlight]

The sea and stars earrings wips:

[lunaramoonlight]

The wips for the street lamp penchant:

[lunaramoonlight]

Ooohh we (we?) have arrived to one of the works I'm most proud of. It was a gift for the same best friend I mentioned in my previous post.

So the story is, some months earlier she gave me/us a pair of rings to exchange, one with the Moon (for her, to keep me close) and the other with the Sun (for me to do the same). Now, you have to know that I am completely enchanted by symbolism, and at that point I already had told my friend that she was my Sun, because of her general attitude to life, the blazing light of her beautiful soul, and the light and warmth she shined on me all throughout our friendship. She was the one I held onto when I went trough my darkest and most desperate hours.

Also I am literally fueled by sweetness and displays of affection, so she melted my heart with the rings ���💚

So, when her birthday was about to arrive, I wanted to reciprocate, and made two pairs of earrings (again, one for me, one for her). As per the meme, I never made earrings before, neither I had any experience with metallic wire. So overall I am completely happy with the final result, and my friend was enthusiastic, so it's a win in my book 😌

I consider them my first true "serious" work.

⬆️In detail

And here's the usual link to the wips.

[lunaramoonlight]

The earrings wips:

[lunaramoonlight]

Ok so, the next in line is a gift I made for one of my best friends. It wasn't for any occasion in particular, I just wanted to do a nice thing, because one of my main expressions of affection is gift giving, and if I really really like you, I'll probably make up silly excuses to give you small gifts (be them homemade or not).

The project was for a little fox (she love foxes) pechant, and this was actually my first time trying to "model" wood (I wouldn't call that carving, because I mostly sawed and sanded it), so I'm quite proud of the final result.

Unfortunately I haven't seen her wear it a lot; well actually in five years from then, I think I saw her with it only, like, twice? Which is a bit sad, but I think part of giving a gift is accepting that you're not entitled to appreciation. Maybe it was too childish? I don't know, to me it looked cute, but again, it's not for me to decide. I'm happy with it nonetheless, and I love my friend deeply. The next ones went way better, I probably just needed to fine tune to her hahaha

Link for all the (clumsy) wips

[lunaramoonlight]

The wips for the fox penchant:

[lunaramoonlight]

Posting my works because I realised I never did anywhere, and also I want to write down their history and the thoughts behind them. I don't think anyone will actually be interested in them, but this would be fine also as a "journal".

This one was made for a once close friend for her graduation, several years ago (like 2018?) as a wish she could finally be able to catch her dreams.

As many of my crafts, I never did a dream catcher before, but I liked the vibe of the final result, it felt genuine and that was what mattered the most.

Sadly, I lost that genuine connection with her a little after this, and never really been able to re-establish it again, despite my best efforts.

And this was my last gift for her, chronologically but I think also as in "there will be no more". In these last months our relationship feels very forced and strained, and I've decided that after so many years of trying, with the heaviest heart, it's time to let her go.

[lunaramoonlight]

Yeah, about that... we did it again

So, @bartimaeus can show exhibit B 😌❤️🌈

So, exactly one year ago I did this:

It's a fully hand woven pride flag, and this time I went further than ever with all the work. I studied how to weave, I built the weaving loom, and only then wove the flag, which took about two full weeks. It's far from perfect, but I am so proud (pun fully intended) of how it turned out.

It's made with and of love (the rest is 100% cotton 😌); not meant for me, but ended up with me in the end

It will always be a dear memory, with all that it entails

And now, one year from there, I am so so happy ❤️

Wips:

Here for the wips of the weaving loom

Here for the part 1 of the wips of the pride flag

Here for the part 2 of the wips of the pride flag