Rambling Roses

If my life was a map it would be dotted with shiny red pins on many a territory,  from fashion student to milliner's apprentice to childrenswear designer to graphic designer, with some mind-numbing stints at some painfully corporate offices (trademark research? Muzak dispatcher?  Division of Motor Vehicles? Really?), but also some memorable training on how to be the best receptionist that a budding fashion designer could be, learned from the world’s best secretary with a heart of gold, a deep southern accent and a torrid history with acrylic nails…

Well, all the design stuff did stick for 17 years.   (The rest was just a means to an end) But as the fashion industry changed, I found that so had I.

So here I stand on the brink of something that could be as wonderful as I’m willing to make it.  Working for myself!  It was 7 months ago when a co-worker and I exchanged knowing, sympathetic glances across the parking lot and he looked questioningly at the plant I was holding.

“Don’t ask,” I laughed. “I’m taking him home.  He’s outgrown this pot-- he’s rootbound.  He needs to be re-potted.   I think it’s a metaphor for my life!”

Well, I did leave that job to invest my time in something I felt passionate about-- my leatherwork, hunting antique skeleton keys, designing, creating, collecting, and conceptualizing—all the things that make me giddy.  This blog will be like a garden that will grow and develop as it pleases.  If I water and nurture it and keep it in a sunny place, it will ramble like a rose.   As will I. ;)