Friends and Life

Many times, while trying to start my Wednesdays, I will drop by my local Barnes & Noble bookstore to check out the latest magazines and pick up a book or two that I will find interesting. Yesterday was no exception. I dropped through their doors, headed to the magazines and got several that I needed current issues of, then headed to the books to get a replacement copy of Tolkien's "Silmarillion" (I've been hunting for my copy for more than a month without success - so it was time for a replacement copy). I heard my name called from the cafe area of the store and looked up to see a dear friend and customer - Linda Davis. Linda is a doll maker with a wicked and lovely sense of humor. She embellishes her dolls with beads and they come alive! I adore her work and she's been a constant source of color and inspiration for us over the past few years. She's been fighting lymphoma for the past year, so I hereby send white light to her (I've been doing so for several months, but it never hurts to re-focus) and thank her for once again brightening my day.

As workshop days go, it wasn't extremely productive. But I did start working on a project I've had on the back burner for a couple of years. I have two specific cigar boxes that have a recessed lid. I purchased them for cheap at the Renaissance Faire when the local "smoke shop" sold the used boxes rather than reload them into their vehicle and take them back to their brick and mortor shop. I've been wanting to enamel the recessed panel, just haven't been able to decide on a theme. Since I have two of them, I have finally decided to do one of them with six panels of Elvish sigils. The sigils, visible symbols of a house, king, etc., are emblems of heraldry and are beautiful. I have the ones I have chosen in miniature pictures, but need to redraw them to meet the size requirements. That's the next stage. So, even though I didn't get a chance to do a lot of creativity, I still did manage to vaccuum my lower level flooring, scrub my shower and bathroom, hem and work on my cloak, and decide the sigils for my cigar box. All in all, a good workshop day, even without firing up the kiln.