Fun! Friday!

Coffee in the New Orleans skyline mug, "Emmanuel" covered by William Ackerman on iTunes. Two days have passed since my return from Chicago and I am finally slipping back into the groove. I fused a couple of pieces in Middle Ground yesterday and will slump them today. Today I will also fuse two Cosmos lattice panels--the last of my show orders and do a little experimenting with an opal bowl in frit. I return to opals from time to time to see if I can work out a series like Morceaux de Verre that is predominantly opaque glass. The timing of today's experiment is driven by a commission I got yesterday as a follow-up to the One of a Kind Show. A man wants a gift for a friend in the colors of the Red Rock Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Pumpkin, paprika, and pea, with a dash of gray, white and black. The closest matches I have for the colors are opals so I'm off to blend and play again.

Stacy is coming to the studio today too, and I want to plan the next steps for finishing it up (painting, furnishing, etc.) and spring marketing with her. All this needs to happen before 1:00 as I pick J up then and we are going to make little Christmas ornaments before she goes to Fun Friday. While I am not taking official vacation time over the next couple of weeks, I am planning to work less. My glass order from Bullseye comes next Wednesday, and Thursday I need to begin firing every day to get the corporate gift pieces done for January. I hope to be able to do the kiln loads first thing every morning so I can spend the rest of the days with the J while she is on winter break. And I will take off Christmas Day completely.

Oh yes, and in the next couple of days I need to knit J a pair of fuzzy slippers for school. She has a pair of fuzzy store-bought slippers, but she doesn't like them and so wears the "borrowing slippers" from school everyday--they're a much-worn, much-loved pair of big-yarn knit slippers. That'll give me three active projects on the needles--Dave's sweater (from several years ago) J's coat and now socks. Hands gotta be busy!