Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

The magic of a dragonfly in flight with the sun glinting on its wings holds me spellbound every time.   For several years I’ve been fascinated by the variety of colors and challenged taking their pictures. The current issue of Audubon Magazine (July-August 2012) has an article on the increasing popularity of ‘Chasing Dragons’.   The article points out that birding and butterfly watching have long been popular and that watching dragonflies is new to many people.   There are, of course, great photographs accompanying the article.   http://mag. http://www.audubonmagazine.com/ audubon.org/ Not to be outdone, I’m sharing some of mine with you!   It seems I need to write a post once a year about dragonflies!   If you really look at these fascinating creatures, you’ll see large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body that ends in a variety of shapes. Some dragonflies tend to perch and fly from plant to plant.   Some seam to flit all

Last Friday I shared my first buttons in polymer clay.   This week I’m sharing my first bird cane in polymer clay. For those of you who do not know what a ‘cane’ is in polymer clay, it is a long roll of clay that has other colors and patterns in it.   When you make slices from the end, the same pattern appears with each cut.   Look at last Friday’s post for better pictures. I decided to make a bird we have locally, the Black-headed Grosbeak who lives in our pine-oak forests.     I had those colors of clay and I like him.   He has a short stout beak for seed cracking and is butterscotch and black with some white.   I traced a picture of the bird, made a copy to put under my glass workspace and found my clay colors – butterscotch, black, white and tan.   The limb is copper and gray.   The body was first, then the head and last the wings.   I put green around and all this sounds so much easier than it was and took longer too!    I made a short cane and ended up with 3 somewhat

A friend of mine is looking for a new job.   I imagine all of us have friends or maybe ourselves looking for jobs.   After having coffee with her, I thought about the many times I started over due to a store closing or downsizing or moving.   I was reminded of my photos of windows and doors.   Windows have so many shapes and sizes and so many things on the other side.   They remind me of opportunities, dreams, and stories.   I can always make up stories about what I could do or what someone else has done or should do.   For me windows are the possibilities.   Doors on the other hand require action.   Do I want to go through that one?   Am I prepared for what is on the other side?   Can I walk out again?   What if I pick the wrong one?    What if someone closes it and won’t let me in?   Job hunting was always a little scary, unsettling, depressing, overwhelming and discouraging.   It was also an exciting adventurous time.   It was a time of opportunity