As part of the GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN, my students we encouraged to finish their projects from Week Two for judging at Week 9… this past Thursday. Remember back when they had to throw a large serving bowl, pass it to another to match, and then pass it back to finish it up… and make coordinating serving utensils to go with it. Well here are the Top Three… congratulations Ashley, Katie & Aaron!

Last week in our LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, I challenged my students to throw their most “perfect” mug-shaped cylinder. After they had shaped, grooved & “perfected” them… they brought them all to the table thinking they were done!

Only THEN did they find out that the REAL challenge was that they had to throw as many “matching” cylinders as they could… at HALF THE SIZE!!! Yep, smaller versions thrown off-the-hump. So those who made their original cylinders more shapely or decorated, now had to make them smaller too! Some people had never thrown-off-the hump, so I did a quick demo… and then the challenge started!!! At the end, they only got points for the cylinders that were deemed “matching” at half the size by the group!

And then when they were done making their doughnuts… and thought they were done… they then found out that they needed to make a box to “keep it fresh.” A little twist that my GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN students hadn’t quite anticipated. So if they made a larger doughnut, they now needed a much larger box!!! A fun little handbuilding challenge to finish off the night.

This week, during my GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class, my students started the class with some “sweet inspiration”… DOUGHNUTS!!!

Only after they had eaten their sweet treat did they find out it was also their inspiration for the night’s challenge! Yep… they were challenged to make the most realistic doughnuts possible…twice as large as normal! Always fun to see how they each tackle a project they’ve never done before!

After a wonderfully productive day in the studio… you never want to end the day with that dreaded thwump, thwump, thwump sound when driving home!!! Only to find a huge “spike” sticking out of your now-totally-flat-tire. Ugh… luckily I had everything I needed to change to the spare. Looks like tomorrow I go to find a NEW tire!!!

Now that all of my students have their “assignment”… I can finally reveal what was in all those white envelopes last week… and the final “Big Build” project for my GREAT LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class! It’s about “time”!
So they each chose a white envelope which revealed a famous cartoon show. And then they found out what they had to do with it… “time” for the project info!

Turns out it’s “time” for them to build a working CLOCK!!!

And oh but wait there’s more… their clock has to be based on the cartoon that they chose. They can choose any elements from their cartoon… actual characters, logo, colors, vibe, style, environment, etc. … as long as it’s indicative of the cartoon!!! The goal is for them all to have this “Big Build” CLOCK done, glazed & working for their final critique in Week 10 of class! Not a “minute” to spare!

But then another pack showed up in my studio too!!!
WHOO-HOO again!

So it looks like we have TWO winners this time! Two packs of THE MOST OREOS and two FREE MUGS!!! Congratulations & thanks to Laury… one of my former students for bringing in another package of “limited edition” yumminess!

And yes, they are YUMMY!!! So much filling that they actually “squish” a bit when you bite into them!!!

So while I was working on these new mugs… look what showed up!!! WHOO-HOO!!! I had a surprise visit from master tile-maker Mike Skiersch bearing a pack of the newest flavor of OREO’s!!! Which also means he WON a free mug… as I had posted that challenge a couple days ago!!!

We ended out LILLSTREET THROWDOWN class Thursday night with a table full of envelopes. And you know I love a good game.. so it was a “White Envelope, White Elephant Game” of picking, trading & stealing! Once they picked an envelope, they opened it to see their clue… but there was a lot of “stealing” going on. Inside the envelopes were categories for their upcoming “Big Build” project challenge.

After they each had their chosen clue…
it was time to reveal their “Big Build”… which was…

C’mon… you don’t think I would reveal it quite so quickly, right?!

There were a couple people missing from class, so once they get their “assignments”… then it’s time to share more details about their very challenging project.

But only when the “time” is right!!!

The fifth challenge this week for my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN students was to roll the longest coil possible with one & a half pounds of clay. Same rules apply… if a piece breaks off, you can continue to roll the longer piece, but they could not squish it back on! Congrats to to Katie, Aaron & Claire who rolled their coils longer than the table… and had to make the bend!