In trying to grant the twins (quietly supervised) alone time with their teen-age friends, giving them full access to the house and pool – I’m stuck in my office, feeling like I’m in a time-out (can’t be in the studio, and my pool is over-run with loud, laughing teen-agers, and no ‘adult refreshments’ either!!) … [Heavy sigh!]

It’s all good, though … While I turn a well-trained ear to the noise/activity going on around me, I’ve got time to create listings for the shop, resize photos and update this site … Here’s a picture of my latest painting (with my new paints).  There’s a learning curve there (too much smudging of the black), but I like it for a first pass – and I love Betty Boop!

My slumped bottles suffered a set back.  It appears I can’t mix my new paint and hues-to-fuse.  Bummer, but I’ve got to learn the limitations sometime …

Had yet another mishap in the kiln … this one with my penguin ornaments.  In the past, I never bothered gluing the pieces.  Since I was working on several, I figured I’d ‘be safe’ and glue them.  Had three of them ‘pop their wings’  while firing.  I used No Days, and I see it’s used more for frit painting than actual glue … So, while I haven’t kicked it (No Days) out of the studio yet, it will be relegated to the back of the cupboard for a bit …  DH thinks I should do some sort of ‘plaque’ with the misfit penguins … Hmmm, we’ll see.

Here’s my latest dichro cabs fresh from etching.  When I’m allowed in the studio again, I’ll be getting them ready to fire in the baby kiln.  And, my ‘Welcome’ slumped bottle … trying to decide what the end project will be for it (a sun catcher/wind chime, paint it or leave it as is) …???