Looks like some new GHOULS made it down to Orlando, Florida… and quickly joined the festive family! Including one of the retired & much-coveted Mummies!!! Thanks for sharing your Ghouls Collection with us Anna!

So I’ve been stamping another batch of mugs! A little “something” different as they wre made with a new kind of clay. A tilemaker friend of mine bought some new clay and didn’t like how it “felt” when he started using it. And then when he fired his tiles, they all cracked during the firing. So he believes there might be something wrong with the clay?! He passed it on to me to give it a try… and here I did. I will agree it felt a little goopey & sticky… a little more finicky… but ultimately I made some cylinders for mugs. It was a little tougher to get them to stand up & hold their shape. But I’m sure I’ll get used to it… as he’s planning on passing his “bad” clay onto me!!! Bring it on… CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!

Mug 1 – before & after…

Mug 2 – before & after…

Mug 3 – before & after…

Mug 4 – before & after…

Mug 5 – before & after…

Mug 6 – before & after…

Mug 7 – before & after…

Mug 8 – before & after…

Mug 9 – before & after…

So for now

These rainy Fall mornings are definitely putting a kink on my sunrise biking addiction!!!

Last night in my pottery class, I did a handles demo – both pulling & attaching. I did two mug attachments in class… but I had another eight to finish today!

Pretty Fall colors & yummy sliced berries in their new handmade berry bowl! Such a colorful & pretty display… and healthy too!!! Thanks for sharing Trish!!!

Another photo entry for Texture Tuesday. In a strange kinda way… the colorful sumac I just posted photos of “reminds me” of this colorful stamped & soda-fired handbuilt vase. I think it might be the nice ombre range of colors?!

Another grey & dreary day in Chicago… so it’s always a welcome surprise to find a splash of color like this sumac bush in my front yard! Loving the range of colors and the natural overlapped textures created by jagged leaves!

Tackling the bottoms of some new stamped platters in the studio today. To trim a clean footring across such a wide expanse, it helps to have sharp trimming tools… like this favorite from DiamondCore Tools!

Yesterday was another great chance go get out of the City and enjoy the rural landscape. There’s something so calming about driving through farm fields & prairie lands during Fall. A little bit sad knowing that these colors will soon be gone… especially with the gusty winds yesterday.

Cloudy & cool… but not cold… and luckily the gusty winds have subsided. We never got an actual sunrise this morning, but it was good to see that some of the colored leaves are still on the trees after all the wind yesterday!