Rockport is deserted. It snows every weekend like clockwork, and I just spent the last few hours of this cold Sunday afternoon staring out the store window at a total of ten people (actually more like five - they went up the sidewalk then down, so I counted them twice) struggling along, heads lowered against the blowing snow. But you never know, I tell myself, someone may brave the weather to buy a lovely handmade paper box. Or a vintage glass float. Or a birthday card. Birthdays don't stop just because it snows outside.
Well, I've been making things lately. That is, after I spent the first week of January curled up in a ball, in my usual post-Christmas state of sedentary misery. But now we're deep into the winter, and things are picking up, creatively-speaking. Rockport is about as quiet as it is possible for a town to be and still be inhabited by human beings, so there is not much to do at the shop, besides blow the cobwebs off the counter and fondly remember when people in this town shopped locally, at least during the winter months (actually I have no memories of such a time). Winter is a good time to stock up on all the items I make for the shop and brainstorm about rearranging furniture. Yes, there are more important things to contemplate during these uncertain days, but in the wintertime, I am not so nimble, physically or mentally, and am happy to consider the right epoxy for gluing seashells, or what color to repaint my walls. I'm sure I'm not alone. Below are a few photos of some pencil box collages I've made, as well as a few wintery displays in the store. May you stay warm and un-snowed upon this January!
Stack o' pencil boxes
