Yesterday I got together with my niece Taylor to make her Halloween costume. She decided a few months back that she wanted to be a Minion from “Despicable Me.” Now I know that “Despicable Me 2” was all the rage with the pre-teen crowd this past summer. But I must admit that I missed that one. So I had to do a little research to make sure we got all of the details correct. So for the rest of you who also missed The Minions… here they are…

With so many Minions, so little time… we had to decide which Minion she wanted to be.
Of course, it was every kid’s favorite… the one-eyed one of course!!!

So I went out to my sister’s house early yesterday for a yummy “planning” breakfast, followed by shopping for costume parts & pieces. After gathering all of our supplies, it was back to their house to build a Minion. But when we got back to their house, I was greeted by a small family surprise birthday party!!! Yes, apparently my “Birthday Month” continues with more fun & parties!!!!

After we chatted, opened presents and ate party foods, it was back to my Minion!!! Some foam sheeting, some styrofoam balls & wreaths and a bunch of yellow fabric! And we’re off... into Minion Madness!!!

And my very-trusting niece Taylor was inside as I cut the mouth open… right where her face was. And yes, we were EXTRA careful. Grandma, of course, was sitting there cringing with every poke & snip!

With some pipe cleaners for hair, we were getting close to completion…

A few final touches… like getting the overalls to stay in place on her lack-of-shoulders!

And here it is… the final Minion!!!

So we had Taylor put on her overalls, shoes, yellow shirt, gloves and the Minion!
Then it outside for a quick photo shoot. She loved it – and I was surprised how tall it made her look! She’s normally shorter than the fireplace!

If you look closely, you can even see Taylor’s little nose poking out of the mouth.

Mission accomplished. Minion accomplished.
And here’s Taylor de-Minioned… but still excited & ready to wear her costume on Halloween!

Sadly, my cousin Kim’s favorite cat of all time passed away earlier this year. Rudy.
After years of cherished memories & warm nights snuggled together.
Luckily, her boyfriend Don knew that Rudy was so very special in Kim’s life, and that his passing was a momentous occasion in her life, so he had to be cherished, celebrated & memorialized. With that said, Don called me and asked if I would be willing to create a special, custom urn to hold Rudy’s cremated ashes. How could I say no? Although I’m not a fan of custom orders, this one was so touching & heartfelt… I knew I had to say ‘yes.’

I started by throwing two lidded jars. I knew that it would be better to hedge my bets and make two, knowing that at least one of them would turn out fine. There are so many opportunities along the way for a pot to get messed up, especially when soda firing. So I made two. One lower & rounder, the other taller and more statuesque. Each one was stamped with a nice repetitive pattern.

And then, I decided to customize them with some alphabet pasta letters… thanks to my former student Tracey who turned us onto the simple process.

So I separated letters and tried to find all the ones I needed.

Then I started pressing them into the leather-hard pots… okay, they were on the wetter-side of leather-hard. Along the way, I decided to hedge my bets one more time. To make one for “Rudy” and the second one for a more generic “Kitty.” I like the lower rounder jar better, so I was hoping for that one to be the finished piece for Rudy. But if that one doesn’t work out, “Kitty” would still be a viable option.

Once the letters were all pressed into the clay, I covered them with a band of colored flashing slip. A colored slip band across the jar and another one on the lid… with some accents in each an every stamp.

I left the pasta in place as they dried… and again when I bisque fired them. When the pieces came out of the kiln, they were a little scratchy around the letters where the slip had “built-up” around the pasta. A quick bit of sandpaper did the trick to even them out.

I then covered the stamps and letters with temoku glaze. Filling the indentations completely with glaze.

Then with a damp sponge, I wiped off the top layer of glaze to reveal the patterns & indentations now filled with glaze.

After a quick soda firing, both lidded jars turned out great. I’ve had to keep them “under wraps” for a few weeks so as not to ruin the surprise for Kim. The jars were in my last soda firing, but I had to wait until Kim received her gift before I could post them here

So this one now turns out to be an “extra”…
anyone have any ashes in a box somewhere that need a good home?!

And here’s the one that brought my cousin Kim to tears…
I gave the jar to her boyfriend Don during “Art In The Barn.” He proceeded to give it to her in front of all of us… my parents, her Mom, and more family & friends. She was so touched by the gift that she immediately turned into a sobbing mess. So touching. So emotional. So appreciative. Exactly the reaction one would like to get.  And now Kim’s favorite cat Rudy has a fitting resting place. RIP Rudy.

Today was one of the most beautiful Fall days ever.
Yes, it feels like Summer is over. The weather has cooled off, the humidity is gone, and today was perfect. Such a wonderful “Fall” day… to be “stuck” in my basement all day long.

Yes, I spent the day today with my best art fair assistants prepping, pricing & packing all of the pieces from my last soda kiln. We had a LOT of pots to tackle. Lots of pieces in milk crates with lots of protective foam sheeting.  It was a long day. We talked, we chatted, we solved all the problems of the world. But by the end of the day, we’re pretty much already packed up for “Art In The Barn.” Which is a pretty great feeling knowing that we’re almost weeks ahead of schedule!!!

And as a quick Thank You for their hard work… I took my Mom & Dad out to dinner!

Today I spent the day at Six Flags Great America with my niece Taylor, my sister Jen, cousin Kim and my parents! A full day of family fun. Sure, there were a few clouds & more rain than we would like… but never enough to dampen our spirits! Good thing the rain scared away a lot of people and ride lines were short. Couldn’t scare us away though… as we were there ALL day from opening to closing!

We first tried to get on The Whizzer, but it was temporarily closed due to a few showers. So we went on a fast spinny, twirly ride instead. Once we were all a bit wet, we were ready to go further on… to towards our first roller coaster for the day – “The Demon.” Including Taylor & Jen in their “hard-to-get-lost-easy-to-spot-in-a-crowd” neon green shirts!!!

I sat next to my cousin Kim who hadn’t been to an amusement park for FAR too many years! It was like riding them all for the first time with her. It’s a “shame” she didn’t like them at all… ha!!! She LOVED them!!! Aunt Kim needs to get out more.

After a good “warm-up” with The Demon, we were off to the iconic “American Eagle.” It’s the big white wooden roller coaster you can see from the expressway as you drive by Great America. Taylor had conquered this one last summer, so she was excited to do it again. But still looked a little apprehensive going up that first big hill…

And then we made it to the top, over the crest of that huge first hill, and DOWN WE GO!!!

Then back up… and down.. and up… and down… and around…

Back at the station, we could look behind us to see that Kim and my Dad had conquered “The Anerican Eagle” as well. Kim was excited… and a little cold.

Then it was time for lunch. Jen & Taylor went for a theme park classic – CORN DOGS!!!

While we were eating lunch, the rain picked up a bit. Not enough to dampen our spirits, but enough to scare away a lot of other people. Suddenly, the park was a lot emptier and the lines for the rides got shorter. A few Six Flags ponchos at the gift shop and we were good to go again!

And what’s a trip to Great America without cotton candy?!… it’s finger-licking good!

And the residual blue tongues!

Then we were back on the rides. Who cares if there was still some rain?!

Sure, you might get wet. But you’re still laughing and having a great time. And it’s just water… you’ll dry off later! Plus it was fun to watch people’s ponchos blowing & fluttering in the wind as they were spinning around on the rides.

Next up was “Ragin’ Cajun”… one of our favorites from last year. So, from the outside it looks like this little kid’s roller coaster. It’s not very tall. It’s not very big. And it looks like it should be geared towards 8 year olds. So last year we decided to suck it up and take one for the team (Taylor) and stand in line. The line was a lot longer than I thought it should be for a kid’s ride. Once you get on, you find out quickly that it is much more than a kid’s coaster. Imagine a Tilt-A-Whirl on top of a roller coaster?! Yes, the round coaster cars go up & down around the track, but about halfway in, they also start spinning around… going up & down at the same time!!! HYSTERICAL!!!

After the ride, Taylor decided it was time to win a stuffed animal. So Jen, Taylor and I did the water0-squirt-gun game. Squirt the target. First to the top wins. And Taylor got her purple-footed panda… courtesy of yours truly with a dead-on trigger finger!

Later in the afternoon, another bank of rain clouds went through the park. It scared away a few more people, including my parents who decided to go out for dinner. But were weren’t done yet. So we bid them adieu… and were ready to start another round around the theme park. Hitting our favorites again, and tackling the ones we missed the first time. Including the iconic double-tiered carrousel.

Then, as the last storm blew past, the sky cleared up. We were treated to a beautiful sunset. And more importantly, NO LINES!!! Yep, that last batch of rain seemed to have scared away most of the people!!! The rest of our rides for the evening had practically no lines. When Kim and I went on “Raging Bull” & “The Viper”, we walked right up to the trains without ANY line at all!!! So much fun for those who survived the day’s rain!

Our last ride for the night was a return visit to “Ragin’ Cajun” for more twisting, turning, spinning roller coaster fun! Even more fun in the dark when you can’t see the track or where you’re headed!

Our timing was pretty good. As the rides were closing, we made our way back to Hometown Square where we met my parents for “Ignite: The Grand Finale.” It’s the Great America stage show they’ve been hyping non-stop on the radio. Turns out it was a typical theme park stage show, but this time with a large white backdrop-wall-building. The white wall was transformed with a lot of pixel-mapping & lasers. Sure, the story line could have been better, and I would have appreciated if they were singing live instead of lip-syncing… but still, it was visually fun to watch.

The ending was made even better with a fireworks show shooting off the building!

One last shot of the carrousel as we exited the park. Exhausted after a full day of fun.
Sure, we would have preferred better weather, but the trade-off of incredibly short lines was nice. I think everyone went home exhausted with some great memories!

From this photo she just shared on Facebook, you can tell that my cousin Kim has a bumper crop of cherries growing on the tree in her backyard. Today was apparently cherry-picking day. Luckily, she found a nice oval casserole to put them in.

Now I hope she decides to make a pie or two to share!... or jelly… or jam!!!

A wonderful Fourth of July out in the suburbs with all three of my cousins & their kids. Too much fun playing with them all while they’re in town for the holiday! Some from Minnesota, some from Ohio and some from the ‘burbs. Could they be any cuter??? Really?

Here’s the “matriarch” of the family… my Aunt Marilyn and her grandchildren. All excited & waiting for the fireworks to begin. But first, lots of frisbee, wrestling, giggling, sugar, photos, stories, gymnastics & smiles!

Here’s my cousin Kim with her niece & nephews! It’s a “shame” they don’t get along. Ha!

And then Kim found the bag of Twizzlers! A holiday picnic is never complete without Twizzlers!

And then the sugar kicked in… and the shenanigans began!!!

As we were waiting for the fireworks to start, the sunset was pretty sweet… as we were treated to a wonderful sky show BEFORE the actually sky show we were there to see!

One last burst of sugar for Kim… which prompted her sunset cartwheels!

After the fireworks, it was smiles all around. And Christopher was excited about
his new glow ring! It’s a shame he hates taking photos!!! Ha!