Show and Tell

I went out to my workshop last night to get stuck into a good solid 3 hours work. I was all set. The girls were in bed and asleep by 7.30pm, the kitchen was spotless and Mike was in his workshop working on his latest figure. Ah, bliss, uninterrupted progress was being made! Within 40 minutes though, the distant strains of "muuuuuurrrrmmmmmmmmmyyyyyy" could be heard emanating from the baby monitor, and it soon became all too apparent that Isla had decided to come down with the tonsilitis that Nelly had only just recovered from. Sigh.

Anyway, I thought I'd show you a picture of the contents of my kiln waiting to be fired, before I was forced to put my mum hat back on...


Next up are the tools of my trade...well actually it was the mess on the workbench that I spent 10 minutes tidying away before I started painting last night, but it shows most of the tools that I use for cutting, breaking and grozing (nibbling) glass, and my lead knives for cutting, er, lead. The one with the curved blade I actually don't use to cut - it's a bugger to keep really sharp as the blade is too thick, although it is probably the type that most stained glassers use. I use it for about 150 different things (it has a weighted end) and it is my favourite of all my tools - with that lovely smooth "fits-snug-in-your-hand" feeling that old tools acquire.
I'm not quite sure what the rainbow pencil and kid's paintbrush are doing there though...


Last up is a completely brilliant paper doily that I bought from one of my favourite shops in the world, Frosts. It's a vast cavern of Everything You Could Possibly Need...part old-fashioned stationers, part newsagent, part hardware store, part toyshop and part craft shop. It is so long and thin, no-one has ever reached the very far back of the shop, which may in fact be a portal to another land where people are incredibly organised and never run out of anything, ever....
Anyway, I digress. The doily is a lovely item in its own right, but I am tempted to try to use it as a stencil over glass to try some different effects. As soon as the tonsilitis has gone, I might get back in the workshop and get busy!