Just hoping that everyone is having a “sweet” Fourth of July today! I’ve got my red, white & blue going already… feeling very festive!!! Just be safe, be smart & be wise today as we all celebrate from a safe distance today!

Okay, so I’m pretty sure these OREO’s were meant to celebrate the Olympics this summer… but we all know THAT’s not going to happen any time soon! So I guess I’m glad that they’ve decided to “release” them under the guise of Fourth of July… instead of trying to keep them in the warehouse until the Olympics hopefully come back next summer!!!

Under wraps for the night… so I can come back to them later to do a little smoothing & touching up. As well as adding some accents & details with a bit of colored flashing slips. Then they can be left out to dry… and then into a kiln!!!

After a productive night in the studio, we now have a dozen mugs…
ready for some colored flashing slip accents and then a quick trip to the bisque kiln!!!

Here’s the “fussy part” of doing handles… score, slip, attach, repeat.

I always start with the top attachment… then move on to the bottom attachment making sure it’s secure, lined-up and that the handle is a good proportion to the cup.

I try to smooth them in as much as possible… but know that I can do a little more refining when I come back to them. Thus another one of the reasons I keep my mugs under plastic again after attaching handles!

Making handles for the new mugs… starting with small blocks of wedged clay that I slam on the table to make these “carrot” shapes.

And then I pull my handles the old-school way, let them set-up and then attach them to my mugs!

Several steps & timing along the way…
all to make a cylinder become a MUG!!!

Trimming the latest batch of mugs with my new trimming tools from DiamondCore Tools! Still loving the feel of the handle, the sharpness of the blade… that and the fact that I just LOVE TRIMMING!!!

Even more striking Asiatic lilies blooming in the garden. These ones are right on my street corner! Such a beautiful greeting when I come home!

Another batch of mugs just in time…
hoping to get them through all the steps of the process in time
to get them into my next schedule soda kiln.

So tonight I did a bit of stamping… here are the before & after shots…

Mug #1 —

Mug #2 —

Mug #3 —

Mug #4 —

Mug #5 —

Mug #6 —

Mug #7 —

Mug #8 —

Mug #9 —

Mug #10 —

Mug #11 —

Mug #12 —

So for now they’re all stamped and back under plastic for the night. My plan is to trim them all tomorrow night… and then add handles… and then paint some colored flashing slips on them… dry… bisque… glaze… wad… all before my soda kiln deadline!!!

The asiatic lilies are blooming all over the place. Each more striking than the next. Gotta love this beautiful time of the year!

Another beautiful bike ride along the lakefront. With a few waves rolling in, and a few cool cloud formations wafting through. We had several good “moments” along the way… a couple great photo moments!!!