Yes, another peace sign....This one, sewn on a birthday card for my best friend from high school who lives in Vancouver WA and who recently turned me on to this magical medium called metal clay. The peace sign was once a little grey blob of clay, and after firing with a propane torch, became almost pure silver. Oh, my goodness all the details i could create with metal clay. There are classes on working with metal clays but i prefer to plunge in and learn by doing anonymously with a good library book on the subject. My choice is "New Directions in Metal Clay" by Cece Wire. Nothing like mistakes to help you learn well about a medium but Cece Wire really helped me understand visually how to fire and not melt my piece and other important details that i just didn't find in other books.

Anxious for another successful attempt at metal clay but at the moment i am in the midst of my Winter Collection and there is no room for my imaginings of a tiny silver goblet for my dollhouse.

In the midst of intense months of production for my seasonal collections i find myself distracted and head off in these other creative realms, totally unrelated and setting me behind in my schedule. Currently helping my sewing students come up with holiday gift giving ideas. My latest is pictured. My handmade soap is tucked inside recycled (100%wool) felted sweaters. I am trying one in my shower and it is like.... washcloth and soap rolled into one. And no, it does not smell wet animalish when wet as one might expect. It produces such a lovely lather and continues to felt itself with each use. Still waiting to see if it begins to mildew over time. Wool is supposed to be naturally animicrobal and i am keeping my fingers crossed that this is the case : )

The peace symbol has become one of my new interests. It used to seem so righteous and hard and now it seems so whimsical and graceful. Hoping i will find a way to use it in my work more often that will meet the graceful way it feels to me. Pictured is a crown from my Summer Collection.

My delivery of my Autumn Collection went smoothly yesterday on Fourth St. in Berkeley. 44 pieces. i am always torn between shipping USPS and hand delivery. Hand delivery always seems to win. Packaging and question of handling always detour me from USPS. i spend an incredible amount of time with my work and i just can't let it go into the sea of the unknowns.

A meeting with soft and nurturing Ashley at the Ark and a first time meeting of the beautiful new owner, Gerald, grounded me once again in my 10 year connection with that amazing store. And Fourth St., oh my goodness, is such a playground visually for Miss T. The Ark Toys, Castle in the Air and Anthropology fill me up inspirationally before my return to little, humble Sonoma County where nature is my inspiration. And the thrift stores....provide!

Hoping to post weekly to this blog to offer a place to ask questions, get news about the timing of release of current collections or just sneek a peek into the World of Miss T.