Upstairs Downstairs

I think of the kitchen as my first floor studio and the little dormered room on the second floor as my upstairs studio.

In the first floor studio I create sparkly edible pretties. I sugar cookies beyond recognition, crown teeny cupcakes with edible jewels and gold leaf berries. I frost grapes, sprigs of rosemary and citrus peels, all in hopes of dazzling the undazzable.

Some days I "flit" from one space to the other, some days, trudge. Usually there is something going on simultaneously, so it's up-down-up-down. Sure, I have had a few overdone cookies. If the music is loud and I miss the oven timer I pretty much eventually get a whiff followed by an uh-oh. And if I get caught up in one more row of dragees on a shortbread crown I then discover a paintbrush that did not make it into the water in time. Uh-oh. Creative freedom comes with a price, but really it is priceless.

Upstairs, I do much of the same, sans the oven. I glitter, sparkle, be-ribbon and bead. On paper, has been necklaces, chandeliers, pine cones and pocketbooks I aim to dazzle.

I left my table this way last night and went to bed, something I never do in the kitchen. Upstairs I can turn off the light and walk down the hall, slip into bed and hope to dream of all things pretty. In the morning, I am so pleased to peek my head in and take another look.
Sometimes, like today, I was, in the end not pleased with what I saw.
No matter. I will untwist the little wires, put pearls, chandelier crystals, keys and other treasures away in their respective soap boxes. I will start over and over again, until I am dazzled. It will happen, and I will move on to the next thing that catches my fancy.

Everything in this picture pretty much makes sense except the check book register and the pink Post Its. This would be a good picture for kids to decipher "what does not belong" if they even still do that! I guess those two things just happened to be in harms way when inspiration struck, I am not known for clearing the decks.

The third thing that makes sense to me, but does not belong, (hint: it is green and holds ponytails) is there because every so often, like five times a day, I need to see if I can get my chin length hair back and time how long it stays. Currently, my ponytail is 3/4 of an inch and it stays about 7 minutes if not jostled. That is with no bobby pins or hairspray. It will happen.