Unintended Magic

Some weeks it seems like I accomplish more than others. Part of my problem is that I tend to define success by how many projects hit the workbench completed. Even if I started them months ago, completing 10 or more projects in a week feels like success. Of course it can't always be like that. Life gets in the way of my art. Sometimes fun happens too.

While it felt like I was working really hard this week, not that much hit the bench finished.

I started off my week doing one of my very favorite things on earth: hanging an art show! My friend Lisa Rhoades makes beautiful art nests and has a month-long solo show in the art bar at the Lincoln Theater in downtown Mount Vernon. She had some wonderful ideas for her display and needed a second set of hands to make her visions a reality. Here are her kitchen nests, hung from a wonderful tangle of chicken wire:

The Lincoln Theater was constructed in 1926, as a vaudeville and silent movie house. It has recently been completely remodeled. The space is really intimate and beautiful, with lots of little nooks and crannies to tuck away branches and small pieces of art. 

The lighting was wonderful, and her pieces left the most fabulous shadows on the walls.

When we were finished, we both became entranced by the shadows and started taking photos. The shadows themselves became a kind of installation artwork, a kind of unintended magic.

The next day I decided to make a little magic of my own, I love the way light looks when it hits glass. I made some pretty glass potpourri, 9 different kinds. 

 I have friends who work in glass, both stained glass and glass blowing. They give me some of their broken scraps, and I've been saving them for years, along with my own broken drinking glasses. I decided it was time to put them to good use. This combination is called "Tropical Fruit."

This one is called "Clear Blue Sky."

...and this one is called "Christmas Candy."

I made some sheer bags for them to go in, to keep the scents separated

.

I finished the necklace I posted last week. I decided it needed a little more color, so I added a ribbon that matched the bachelor button flowers inside.

I must have been in a heart-making mood. I finished these four necklaces too. The hearts are made from recycled aluminum roof flashing. I ran it through my Epic 6 to get the patterns. 

I continue to be obsessed with soap-making! A few weeks ago I made my own soap molds, using dish soap, water, and silicone caulk. The combination makes really rustic molds. This one has an elephant motif.

I used my DIY soap molds to make more rustic melt-and-pour soap bars. These have cinnamon and clay in the recipe, and smell like almond cookies! 

I also worked out the packaging for the rose eye gel serum...

and the packaging for my hot-process crockpot soaps.

Somehow, in the middle of all of this week, which felt so busy, I also spent an entire day at thrift stores, where I found, among other things, these great beads:

...and finally, saving the best for last, Mr. Bees and I went to a metal recycling place, where I found this 13 and a half pound roll of 26 gauge brass sheet! They said it had been there "forever." 

So that was my week! It felt busy, but I really only completed 8 projects. Next week is all about writing. The submission deadlines for both GreenCraft magazine and Willow & Sage are coming up in 6 days, so I need to get moving on the articles!

Until then... leaving you with this quote:

"I surrender the idea of having some kind of control over the arc of my career a lot of the time, because you never know what tomorrow is going to bring."

-Wentworth Miller