Susan, Jessica ( my talented studio mate) and I all took a quick trip to Terrapin Traders today. Terrapin Traders  is the surplus warehouse for the University of Maryland and just a quick 20 minutes away from the studio.
Filled with dusty stacks of old desks, dented file cabinets and piles of obsolete lab equipment, it is definitely a hit or miss type place. I was in search of an old fashioned overhead projector for an upcoming project and Susan and Jessica tagged along for fun.
We found a sturdy 3M overhead projector right away, plugged it in and voila!

 Nothing else caught our eye until on the way out, Jessica's keen eye found a cardboard box high on a shelf- full of these fabulous brass tubes. The tag said they were " Ice Tube Shields", conjuring up wonderful images of a mysterious laboratory hidden in the depths of the science building.

We bought the entire box- I love treasure hunting!