Safety First ;-)

Making stuff has been on hold this week while we do a few fixes in the shop. There's nothing like molten silver trying to roll off the bench onto the floor to get you moving! And then I thought what if it had made it to the floor and melted a hole in the acetylene hose...not good. Time to re-level.

Supplies: A couple of extra-long deck screws

Tools: a level, a length of pipe, a hydraulic jack, and a cordless drill with a screwdriver bit

Step 1: Place jack and pipe under front edge of bench and raise it a bit for support.

Step 2: Undo screw holding brace at wall.

Step 3: Place level on bench and raise jack until bench is level.

Step 4: Fasten brace to wall using extra-long deck screw.

Step 5: Repeat for additional brace.

The best part was that I never even had to move stuff off the bench. Thanks, Ed!

Show schedule update

Ed had some issues last year with the heat at a show, so I'm being cautious and haven't booked anything until fall. Applications are out and I'm waiting to hear from shows, so keep checking back.

Show reports

We're back from Kerrville and the Texas Arts and Crafts Festival. This one includes fine art and fine craft from all over Texas. We got to see a lot of our friends from Gruene and make a few new ones, too. The weather was hot (it's summer in Texas, after all), but we had good shade under a tent in a grassy area--no pavement!--and a fan to keep the air moving, so we stayed comfortable enough. This was a new show for us and could certainly become a favorite very quickly!

Art in the Park in Arlington was a lot of fun, too. Since all the artists at Crystal Moon come and go as our schedules permit, we don't always get to meet one another. So we spent the day with Teresa, Eli, Jack, Carol (owner), Richard (her son), Dewayne, Blanche, and Marvin and his wife. The music was energetic but super loud, and we spent most of our time shouting at the top of our voices.