Doing a little bit of trimming quickly before teaching tonight. Love when the ribbons come flying off cleanly & quickly… especially when working with my DiamondCore Tools & Giffin Grip. The perfect combo for some quick trimming fun!!!

Some crusty architectural flourish for another Texture Tuesday!

A little early morning sun illuminating another Spring tree in bloom along the lakefront. So many pretty trees blooming as a gift from Mother Nature.

With barely a cloud in the sky, it was a perfect morning to get out early & go for my morning ride. A slight layer of low-flying clouds on the horizon… but otherwise clear skies for days!!!

I hate when I come home and find broken flowers in my front garden… presumably from someone, or someone’s kids, or someone’s dog…. trouncing through the flowers I’m trying to grow out there. Luckily, I have plenty of mini vases to give them a little “extra life” after being broken off the plant.

So I got an email from my friend Donna awhile back… saying she just had to set down the travel lid from a different cup… and happened to set it on one of my stamped mugs! And VOILA’… it fit perfectly!!! Who knew??? She might just be onto something… accidentally… and yet perfect for another Mugshot Monday!

Lookey-lookey!!! The new postcards & posters have arrived! I just got my stash of marketing materials for the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR. So excited to be returning to the Tour as a guest potter at my friend Cory’ McCrory’s studio in Sandwich, Illinois. Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 8th & Sunday, June 9th and plan for a full day or two of pottery fun! Drive the Tour from studio to studio… visiting artist and seeing a LOT of great pottery!!

For more Tour information… check out the website here!

Christmas in April… as this quartet finally received their Christmas gifts from my friend Maryann. Looks like some of her grandchildren were pleased with their new pottery… round vases with crackled slip, stamped rims & soda-fired flashing effects! Thanks for sharing your “holidays” with us Maryann!

After my class demo, my SURFACE DECORATION students went off to start carving on their own pots. So much fun to see them using different techniques & tools to create their own special carvings, patterns & textures!

This week with my SURFACE DECORATION class, we tackled carving & slip trailing… okay, so mostly carving! We talked about carving textures & patterns into our pots with different tools to get different effects. Like some clean carved grooves using some of my DiamondCore Tools … and fun little circles with an old drill bit.