Another “floral surprise” today… my Thanksgiving Cactus has decided to bloom all over again?! This is the exact same cactus plant that was in full bloom for my Holiday Home Show back in November!!! Guess it got tired of just sitting around being green? Time to show off a bit!!! And again… I think it’s all about the handmade flower pot that keeps the plant happy. Just sayin’…

Look who decided to pop open & greet the day today! My first re-blooming orchid of the season! Hopefully a few more orchids will start blooming in the weeks to come. Always fun to have an old orchid re-bloom at home… I’m sure it’s the handmade flower pot that makes the difference!

The perfect gift for those plant lovers on your holiday shopping list – NEW for this weekend’s SECOND HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!! I’ve selected a few of my pottery pieces and planted them up with some houseplants… all ready to go! The perfect gift to brighten someone’s house for years to come. As long as they splash a bit of water now & again… and don’t worry, they all have drainage holes too!

Looks like Cory McCrory is in the final stages here… with some clear glaze in all the right places! Yes, that mint green color is actually a low-fire CLEAR glaze! So it will make all of Cory’s underglaze colors a lot more vibrant. And it will make the terra cotta areas darker & shinier than the “raw” terra cotta areas. Can’t believe ART IN THE GARDEN is this weekend already… but it is good to know that these are already in the final kiln firing. So I think Cory has timed it perfect… although they might just be “a little warm” when they come out of the kiln just in time for this weekend’s art fair!

After the underglaze is wiped away, everything shows up so much better. All of the grooves, stamps, textures & Cory’s whimsical additions! These are looking so fun… can’t wait to show-off these collaboration pieces at ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend!!! – “Cory, you’re killin’ it!!!”

To help highlight my stamped textures & her handbuilt details, Cory does a wash of dark underglaze. It fills all of the stamps & seams… and then gets gently wiped off leaving the underglaze only in the recesses. And it really helps make the colors POP!!!

While all of our collaboration pieces are safely in the final glaze kiln firing…. I’m just sharing a few more production photos from Cory McCrory’s studio! More underglaze painting to make all of the parts & pieces even more fun!!! Just hoping these all look great when they come out of the kiln for ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend!

ART IN THE GARDEN is just a few days away… and the collaboration pieces are coming together nicely… I see COLOR!!! My pal & co-collaborator Cory McCrory has been working so diligently in her studio adding her own special sense of whimsy to every piece! We can’t wait to show-off the finished flower pots this weekend in Glenview! Remember, there are a limited quantity of these colorful collaborations!

Well, it looks like the collaboration project is finally “collaborating” together! Yep… this year it’s terra cotta flowerpots for the WIN!!! I made all of the flowerpots & water saucers with my stamping, and now Cory is adding her own special sort of handbuilt whimsy! Love her creativity… even more when you see them come together in COLOR!!! More photos to come… as the “Big Reveal” will happen at ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend in Glenview!

One last step before I hand them off to Cory McCrory to start her part of our collaboration project for ART IN THE GARDEN. It’s one of the coolest parts of that art fair… where all of the artists have a chance to do some fun collaboration projects with other artists. One-of-a-kind artworks that may never happen again! Just a great chance for we artists to “play together”.. and then share our craft with all of you. And some lucky customers will get to go home with these pieces at ART IN THE GARDEN. More to come…