Tonight was the final night of our SODA-FIRING WORKSHOP at Lillstreet. My students finally got to unbrick the door of the soda kiln to see their new treasures inside! Its always an “emotional-adventure” when you start to see your new pots “revealed” as the door comes down row by row by row! Lots of oohh’s & aahh’s along the way… and a few ughh’s as well. I always tell students that just because it may not have turned out how you “expected” it to be… doesn’t mean it’s bad. Sometimes they just take a little longer to win your lovin’!

You gotta love when you make it into the studio… and your studio “neighbor” has deep-dish apple pancake leftovers to share!!! Thanks Lesley… such a yummy surprise treat!

As part of last week’s class demo of “throwing-off-the-hump” we tackled a few Christmas ornaments. It’s never too soon, right?!

Topping off a trio of lidded jars with stamps, knobs & colored flashing slip accents. Just finishing up a few of last week’s class demos… with a couple extra lids “just in case!”

Looks like Rikke has continued her adventures with texture using one of my carved rolling pins from Stodola! We started this in our Thursday morning class when she wanted to go bigger than her textured rubber mat would allow. The carved rolling pins from Stodola allow her to go as big as she can! The texture & pattern is working well… and we’re both loving the “wood texture” inside some of the pressed squares!

Click here to see more from STODOLA!!!

Even the portraits were made out of LEGOs!!! So much work. So much creativity… so many flashback memories of FRIENDS. I kinda think I need to go back and re-watch every episode from the beginning again!!!

So who is YOUR favorite FRIEND… and why?!

Let the binge begin… “Could that BE any more fun???”

My favorite part of the THE FRIENDS EXPERIENCE yesterday was the full-blown replica of Central Perk… all made out of LEGO’s!!! Fully interactive with all the furniture, details, colors & props you remember and want to play with for your photo-ops! So much fun… and SO MANY LEGOS!!!

And yes, before everyone gets weird… there was PLENTY of safety protocols in place! Full masks all the time at THE FRIENDS EXPERIENCE… staggered time entry, limited group access to exhibits, social distancing and more than a LOT of cleaning stations to keep everything “Monica Clean”!!!

Yesterday I took my niece Taylor and her parents to THE FRIENDS EXPERIENCE downtown. She’s a new FRIENDS fan having recently binged the entire series during the pandemic… so I knew this would be the perfect birthday gift! Especially when your friend Terry is one of the creative masterminds behind the project and gets you free tickets for the exclusive preview event!

So much fun touring through the world of FRIENDS. Central Perk. Monica’s kitchen. The window to poke Ugly Naked Guy. Joey & Chandler’s apartment. Phoebe’s guitar. The wedged sofa. Joey wearing all of his clothes at once… even the fountain & sofa from the opening credits!!! Tons of memorabilia and plenty of photo-ops along the way… PIVOT!!!

Be sure to stop by THE FRIENDS EXPERIENCE on Michigan Avenue as it opens this Wednesday, March 17th. And special thanks again to Terry for hooking us up… I love having talented FRIENDS!!!