 {Image Description: a collage of children playing made using stock photos with the words “celebrate neurodiversity” floated over top in a fun fuchsia colored font.} I was asked to interview with Channel Q's "Let's Go There" with Shira and Ryan on Monday evening to discuss the dangerous practice of parents trying to cure or reverse autism in their children. The public has been calling on the FDA to more strictly enforce laws to protect consumers (and their children) from false claims made by those who claim to sell alternative medicine. These laws have been in place for well over a decade but products like Miracle Mineral Solution continue to skirt the laws to the serious detriment of anyone who consumes them.
In preparation for the interview I got in touch with Emma Dalmayne of Autistic Inclusive Meets (based in the UK) and Melissa Eaton who have been working alongside other autistic people to call attention to the abuse of autistic children. Emma pointed out that organizations set up to protect the American people (FDA) and American children in specific (CPS) are failing to protect autistic kids from their own parents. The autistic community, which is made up mostly of autistic adults and some allies (that include parents of autistic kids), has been leading the charge to protect autistic children worldwide. You can see several links on Robert Gehrman's Facebook page, Autistic Avenger, including a form for public commentary for a meeting with the FDA on July 15th, 2019. A link to the post and a direct link to the form will be posted at the end of this post. I felt very unsure going into the interview because I am not an expert on federal policies and sometimes find it too emotionally taxing to read about the abuse of autistic children. I do, however, know exactly what it is like to feel unwanted based on my own differences from other members of my family. I was raised to believe that I was vaccine injured and taken to see several alternative medicine providers and healers from a very early age. I didn’t know that I was autistic until I was in my mid-thirties and already running my own business, with two small children in tow. The name of the show, “Let’s Go There,” seems particularly apt as I also talked about aspects of my own identity and lived experiences that I had never discussed in public before. I hope you will enjoy listening and join in the call to action to support the autistic community in protecting autistic kids!
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Cassandra really brought out the best in me and I am very excited to share this interview I did with her last month. I had a lot to say that day but I find myself at a loss of words for what to say about it today so I'm going to go ahead and just leave you with this..
My goal for 2019 is to make both of the brands, Lullaby Links and Fancy Fidget, more visible by 2020. I am in the process of hiring an amazing publicist but I have seen how powerful word-of-mouth can be so we are also going to be inviting applicants for Media Ambassadors. Media Ambassadors will be using their own social media platforms to spread the word about both of the brands I opened. As an artist it has always been important to me that my work not only be beautiful, but also that it be functional. The way that each piece moves and the way that people interact with the pieces in their daily lives is just as important to me as the aesthetic. Whether someone is soothing a small child, grounding themselves during a stressful meeting or absent-mindedly fidgeting during a long commute these pieces are meant for comforting. The Media Ambassadors will be showing all the ways that the jewelry I make brings comfort to their daily lives by showing them in action as well as just looking cool with various outfits. I have always loved seeing pictures of people around the world wearing jewelry I’ve made to soothe themselves and their little ones! There are albums on both websites with pictures of Lullaby Links and Fancy Fidget in Action but I want to see more. I would love to see people using the hashtags #LLinAction and #FFinAction on their social media platforms as well as in the chatter group we have on Facebook for both brands: LLaFF & Chat. You are all welcome to use those hashtags and click on them to see others using them too! If you’d like to apply to be a Lullaby Links and/or Fancy Fidget Media Ambassador please fill out the linked form: https://forms.gle/47wzdyqZEfBhGwbTA. We are excited to introduce our first two Media Ambassadors!DeShanna Neal is an author, a homeschool parent and an advocate for transgender children who works at the National Center for Transgender Equality. She works tirelessly to make the world a better place for transgender people of all ages and is raising four talented and thoughtful children. She asked me to make a piece to symbolize her holding up the world for her children and immediately I envisioned the world balanced on a teacup. The way that teacups stand up through generations despite being made as light and delicate as possible has always charmed me. I love the way pottery carries through from one generation to the next with stories and is a piece of our history with which we can interact. DeShanna loved the idea and I added four little orbits for each of her children. This piece, World in a Teacup will be available in both shops with or without orbits. To read more about DeShanna’s work with transgender kids you can follow her on her public page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/callmetrinitysmom, Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trinitysmamabear or check out her blog: https://mytransgendergirl.blogspot.com  Cassandra Nelson is a fellow autistic artist who is working with neurodivergent artists all over the world to bring more visibility to our art and our talents. She is also local to me and I have loved getting to know her since she volunteered to model for a Fancy Fidget photoshoot at my home. Her art business Exceptional 2 Infinity has a focus on positive art “that celebrates, commemorates and cultivates community within Neurodivergent culture.” I’ll be posting an interview I did with her in the next couple of days and am excited to see more interviews with neurodivergent artists she meets on her travels. This is an area of the art world that no one has effectively explored and I could not be more thrilled to see our stories brought to light by one of our own! Cassandra is fashion forward and her style has a bit of an edginess to it so when we talked about a design for her Ambassador gift I showed her some pieces with angles. I could not have been more excited when she asked me to make edgy hearts! It’s a spin on the polygon trio I have been wearing almost non-stop for several weeks and wore during my interview with her with a sweet little gold pearl for her daughter Margaux. This piece, Edgy at Heart, will be available with and without an orbit (in gold or silver) in both shops. I’m also excited to make a couple other designs with the edgy hearts that will be coming to the shops soon. You can see more of her artwork and the beginning of her journey into promoting neurodivergent artists/talents on her website: www.ex2infinity.com/ and follow her on Instagram at: https://instagram.com/ex2infinity and https://instagram.com/neurodivergentcreative  There are some new All in One necklaces in both of the shops! Fancy Fidget has more geometry inspired pieces and Lullaby Links has more traditionally feminine designs. I suggest you check them both out to see what fits your style best. All of the All in One necklaces are adjustable by up to 2” and have a single clasp at the back on the neck like a traditional necklace. For a la carte pieces that can be worn together or separately check out the a la carte sections of the shop. We love to mix and match with different styles of chains, centerpieces and charms but the All in One necklaces have always been a hit too. This is Becoming One, a two tiered necklace of two sets of links wired together to create one centerpiece in a modern looking design. This style is inspired by a quilting pattern that makes hexagons of three smaller polygons. The three shapes on the bottom fitted together would create the shape on top and the dimensions are made to match. The two small orbits on the hexagon and the rough texturing on the middle polygon are for visual impact and maximal fidgeting! The attached chain is made of twisted sterling that is bent into oblong ovals and oxidized to highlight the texture the twist makes. It has one small clasp at the back and a 2" extender so the lengths are adjustable.  This is Polygon Trio as an All in One Necklace. The three 5 sided shapes come together to form one hexagon shape and are the second layer in the Becoming One All in One Necklace. The middle polygon has a rough texture on it that is a nice visual and tactile contrast to the rippled surface of the other two. The attached chain is made of twisted sterling that are bent into oblong ovals and oxidized to highlight the texture the twist makes. It has one small clasp at the back and a 2" extender so the lengths are adjustable.  This is Architectural Links. When I made the first version of this necklace in early 2014 I was so excited I sent a picture to my ceramics professor I hadn’t seen in over a decade to show him I had finally found my medium. I was never able to make something in clay that really spoke to me and this.. it just sings to me so sweetly! It’s a two tiered necklace of two sets of links wired together to create one centerpiece in a modern looking design. The top set of links is Ascending Squares (V2) with 4 squares ascending is size and the bottom is an ascending set of 5 rectangles. The piece is inspired by windows in tall angular buildings. The two sets of links nest together beautifully with one set ascending and the other descending so they balance each other out visually. The attached chain is a sterling oval chain. It has one small clasp at the back and a 2" extender so the lengths are adjustable.   This is Infinite a simple elegant design with 5 little links: 3 hammered and 2 in round wire. It feels like pebbles in hand and is a sweet little piece whether worn at the nape of the neck or extended. The attached chain is made up of tiny sterling ovals. It has one small clasp at the back and a 2" extender.  Any of these designs can be made in mixed metal or all in gold. If you are interested in a mixed metal version or all gold version of one of the designs that is not offered in any of the sections of the shop you are always welcome to email me, Francie. My email address is: [email protected]. I hope you have enjoyed reading about these pieces and will find something that perfectly suits you in one of the shops!
 In the end of 2018 we launched a second brand that is a spinoff of Lullaby Links. We had been working to broaden the focus of Lullaby Links but there was always a stumbling block: the word "lullaby" always conjures up thoughts of babies in arms. We wanted to shift from being centered around caregivers with babies and small children to including adults soothing themselves with the jewelry. Lullaby Links has been a perfect brand name and we have loved being enmeshed in parenting spaces while all of the Lullaby Links team members (past and present) have been raising our own babies! Lullaby Links is going to remain focused on caregivers wearing jewelry with their little ones. Fancy Fidget will be focused on adults and teens wearing jewelry themselves to self soothe and promote focus at school and at work. Most of the designs will be overlapped, but a few will be exclusive to each of the brands. Anything that is specific to caregivers with little ones, including birth imagery and babywearing inspired pieces will be exclusive to Lullaby Links, for example. We are also working on making both brands as accessible as possible while still making room for semi-custom pieces. We will be offering some items made-to-order just like the samples shown, in our web shops, and some customizable pieces with google form entries (as shown by the forms below). There will always be some seasonal pieces and some classics in each of the shops and we will try to do 1-3 things semi-custom each season as well. You can read more about the Spring designs and semi-customs below. All of the pieces will be made to order in concert with each other! All invoices will be sent out from the google forms on Mondays and due on the Wednesdays after (roughly 48 hours) but forms can be submitted any time. This Spring I have chosen 3 of my favorite designs; Love Me Dew, Dew Drops on Lotus Petals and Ova Omega and Flora to add to the shops and offer as semi-customs via three separate google forms. Love Me Dew: https://goo.gl/forms/dblbBKCdhF7UWOv72 Dew Drops on Lotus Petals: https://goo.gl/forms/Wo6Gqs6hN8bXgJtX2 Ova Omega and Flora: https://goo.gl/forms/2V4VOZc9O2rAHv8J2 I will be posting the versions of these three that are made from the Semi-Custom forms on Instagram and Facebook, so make sure you are following both brands on each of the platforms. We are also reworking our group on Facebook that was originally made around Lullaby Links to include Fancy Fidget. We want to focus not only on little ones in arms but also on adults wearing for themselves. We will be bringing back trivia nights and continuing some of the fun traditions in the group with a couple new spins to make the group as inclusive as possible. While we are rolling out these changes the group name, Lullaby Links Chatter, also clearly needed a change; so we have changed the group name to include both brands, with a nod to my love of acronyms and humor. The new group name will be LLaFF & Chat! That's Lullaby Links and Fancy Fidget & Chat but it's pronounced "laugh." Speaking of pronunciation.. Did you know that the word coop in our other Facebook group Linklette Coop is pronounced like a coop full of chickens? It never was a co-op but many people thought that was what it meant! The Linklette Coop is a sales group for Lullaby Links and Fancy Fidget. It is mostly secondhand sales but I occasionally offer some new pieces there and post about current offerings on the websites there as well. We hope you will join us in the LLaFF & Chat group for some laughs, games and post a selfie or a picture of your LLaFF collection! |
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