I'm Doomed!

It's a little dramatic, but it's also the best description of the past 24 hours of relatively fruitless activity.  I need to make charms to take with me to the PMC Conference in two weeks.  I plan to make these from Art Clay Copper and enamel them.  I'll have to do the enameling during my evenings and/or Sundays, because after today I will have no more studio days until after I return.  My original plan was to make a PPP (that's photo-polymer plate) of my egret sigil - the symbol that I use to sign each piece and drawing that I make, and bas-taille enamel it.  I purchased a system for PPP from my friend and former customer Gwen last year at Metal Clay World, but I hadn't used it yet.  I took a refresher class from her last month at Bead & Button, so I was very confident about what I wanted to do and the process to do it.  Then fate stepped in. 

Despicable Me - I'm King of the World?

I got the image ready to expose without any problem - both a positive and negative image.  I assembled the light fixture - I certainly knew how to do this, I had helped Gwen assemble the ones that she needed for her class just a month before, and I plugged it in.  So far, so good.  I turned on the light - no problems here, until after 30 seconds when the center of the light bulb went dead, leaving a non-functional fixture.  So...I needed a new bulb.  Now, this is not just any bulb.  It is a specialty bulb that even Gwen finds difficult to locate.  But, I did find a place with a bulb for me, drove out there, purchased it, put it into my car, and worked for the day.  Last night, I put the new bulb into the light, and....nothing.    Gwen is sending me a new fixture and bulb, and I need to shift gears and figure out what to do for my charms now....

Andy Schleck in Yellow - What a wonderful sight!  Hope he does well today on
Le Tour de France.

But tonight I get to play a bit and I'm going to watch "Despicable Me" with Chickie and Claire.  I'm really looking forward to this.  We decided to watch the normal show - not the 3D one.  Next week I'm going to see "Inception" with Meghan and Chickie.  That one we will see in 3D - that one deserves the extra money.  I hope your day will go a bit better than my Tuesday did. 

The French Flag - wave it proudly today!

Oh, and I almost forgot - Happy Bastille Day to my friends in France!  I remember fondly celebrating Bastille Day in my youth in Aspen, Colorado.  Our resident composer that summer was Darius Milhaud, so rather than celebrate Independence Day, the town celebrated Bastille Day.  Later in my life, while working as an archaeologist, we celebrated Bastille Day while working with Cynthia Irwin Williams.  Many happy years with many good friends - many happy memories.  So Happy Bastille Day to all of you!