It's been quite some time since I made gnomes. I was really feeling like making them lately for some reason.
I started with some normal size gnomes making half male and half female.
Then moved on to some smaller gnomes, also male and female, that can be used as wine topers.
One of the females ended up with Princess Leia buns!
I also had in my head to make some mushrooms.
And before I knew it 2 birds and a fish happened too. This has gotten me thinking about the menagerie of animals I made a couple of years ago that never got glazed. I wonder how many could become wine toppers!
I am nearing the end of weekends that are taken over by wedding events. There's only one more at this point which is the actual wedding in 2 weeks. I did manage to sneak in some clay this weekend. I didn't have time to make mugs, but was feeling a bit more abstract and made leaf forms.
The more I make these the better I get at them. I made these rolling the leaf forms into the clay and then trying to soften the edges before making the shapes. I think it's going to make a difference in the final product. The small vase is a new form.
I ordered some new texture from an Etsy Shop in Europe a few weeks ago. I have one more I haven't used yet, but loving both of these textures.
This is a repeating star texture. I think it's going to be really nice to hold once fired.
This is a leaf pattern that has really nice veins. I'm trying it out with the 214T Mugg Plugg which I think is going to make a really nice cup.
I saw a demo of the Mugg Plugg on ClayShareCon a few weeks ago. I saw a demo a year or so ago on the original Mugg Plugg, but they've expanded to tapered forms and that caught my eye.
I decided to take advantage of the deal and I am really glad I did. This is the 3T and according to Mugg Plug with a 5" tall slab, this will hold between 18-20 ounces of liquid.
I decided to make them upside down because that's how I freehand my mugs. I rolled the slabs out and let them stiffen up a bit before putting them around the wood. I made my own template ahead of time using a pencil and rolling the form on some craft foam. Before wrapping the clay around the wood I made sure to use a lot of corn starch, but one time I forgot and was still able to wiggle it off pretty easily.
Here is my almost finished mug, just need to do the rim once the form is leather hard.
Apologies for the unintentional hiatus. Work has been insanely busy the last two weeks. My sisters bachelorette 2 weekends ago was fun and everyone loved their cups. Last weekend I went to the American Craft Council show in Baltimore and picked up some cool things I'll share later in the week. I feel like I blinked and both January and February are gone!
Coming up in March and April is my first gallery show! I will be a part of the All Fired Up show at Off Track Art in March and April. This weekend is our opening Saturday March 8th from 3-6pm and I'd love to see you there. If you can't make it, but are still local then you should definitely find time to swing by.
Here's my setup
Finally got my hands on pints of some of the new spectrum glazes and immediately put them to use on the wine cups for my sister's bachelorette. This is the first time I've used them on speckled clay. While I still really like them, there really isn't that much difference between bougainvillea, shallot, and sangria on Laguna 60. The big difference I've learned is that while sangria doesn't move at all, the other two move a little bit.
I made the rose heart platter for my sister, but I think I'm going to make a couple of more because it really just pops. I also finally glazed the menorah I made for her last year and then ran out of time to glaze. It came out amazing.
I have had this mennorah bisqued since before the holidays, but with the rush at the end of the year for shows I didn't get it finished. It is now a very late Hannukah present for my sister. Also in this kiln, way at the bottom, are the wine sippy cups for her bachelorette this weekend. Fingers crossed that they turned out well. I used some glazes that I haven't tested thoroughly which may have been a terrible idea.
Planning this weekend away for her while traveling 3 days a week for work has been interesting. I think it is going to be amazing, but I will be really glad when it's over.
Adults definitely need a bit of a lid to drink their wine out of.
I really like the cups with the half lids. I decided to make a few crab style. I first saw this style of cup on a demo from Alexandria Pottery and her jig. I have the jig, but I'm actually finding that while I love the shape the jig slows me down. I made so many mugs last year that making cylinders has become something my hands know how to do.
Just a cute little trinket dish with snuggle puppies.
I've had this placemat for probably 2 years and never used it. I thought it would make a good cheese platter for the bachelorette party. I ended up not putting feet on it so now to dry SLOW.
My sister is getting married in March and I am the matron of honor. We are doing a bachelorette weekend up in the Finger Lakes and I decided to make wine sippy cups for the party. The theme for the party is Rose All Day and I got ridiculus straws that look like diamond rings to put in them. I'm excited with how these turned out.
I will likely do these in a couple of different colors as I glaze them. Not sure yet it if will be all pinks and purples or if I'll throw in a few other colors. I've also batted around the idea of just using an underglaze on the lettering and clear glazing the outside.
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