once upon a time…

i remember so clearly as a little girl looking through my box of skeleton keys, holding them and imagining the enchanting castle that they surely must have opened at some point in their existence (although i must admit i was also quite sure that i was a princess stolen at birth.) the keys fascinated me and i loved the whole idea of the beautiful places that they could take me…the secret doors that they could open.

my collection began with my wonderful grandmother. having lived through the depression and raising six children on her own she was very aware of how to make the most with the very least. she had been saving and buying antiques since her childhood and had accumulated a very impressive collection. from the time i was five she would take me with her to estate sales and antique auctions all over the country.

rather it be by train or in her very large cadillac (she was four foot ten inches tall and had to sit on a pillow to see over the steering wheel) no place was too far for a good sale. it was at these sales…in the bottom of the boxes at the end of the day i would find my treasures.

i remember once asking her why the keys that we used to open our doors now were so plain…not at all beautiful and certainly nothing like the enchanting keys that i kept in my jewelry box…her response was so typical of her, she said “honey, people throw away tiffany shades and beautiful china to read by bright lights and eat off paper”…i’m afraid the magic of rare and wonderful things has faded”.

well i believe we need more rare and wonderful in this world…. i like eating off beautiful china, i love reading under tiffany shades and i want my special key to open the door to the most sacred place i know…my home. So that is why i created my own magical keys.

i lost my gram a few years ago but i know she would be so pleased. she always called me the apple of her eye…well gram you will always hold the key to my heart.

m.