Always fun when your “friends worlds” collide!!! Like my friend Pam who has been using my friend Cory McCrory’s textured mug in her car… ‘cuz it’s cool… and ‘cuz it fits so well in the cup holder of Pam’s new car!!

One of the perks of working at Navy Pier so often is getting to play once & awhile… like a couple loops around the huge Centennial Ferris Wheel. Great views of the Pier… and the City from high above!

Spending some time with a few of my Holiday Elves!

Very excited to see the basement “greenhouse” in full swing last week when I visited my friends in Bartonville. Last year, their “pandemic project” was to grow colorful coleus plants in the basement and then sell them in the Spring. We had a great “Plants & Pottery Pop-Up” last May on their driveway. So much fun. So pretty. So colorful!!!

Well, since Covid is still going, Rosene has hunkered down for another Winter with her coleus garden in the basement… and we’re already planning another “Plants & Pottery Sale” for this Spring. She already has HUNDREDS of coleus plants… can’t imagine how many she’ll have come May for the pop-up sale!

Looks like Kristy is kicking off the New Year with a yummy bundt cake… lemon & blueberry!!! Of course it doesn’t hurt any to put a homemade cake on a handmade platter!!! A beautiful way to kick-off the New Year!

And here’s a fun New Year’s Resolution for YOU… when you use my pottery at home, be sure to send me a picture so I can share it with everyone here!… gary@firewhenreadypottery.com

A few weeks before Christmas, I was contacted by the boyfriend of a good customer-friend of mine. I’ve known Allison for several years… and now her boyfriend Terry had a Christmas “plan” for Allison. He decided he wanted me to make a “custom” mug just for Allison… something… err, ANYTHING with moon & starts on it. Since his request was a little to close to Christmas, I knew I didn’t have time for a good soda-fired mug. So I had to go another route!

I decided to go for a little more whimsical approach… with some fun textured stars, colorful underglazes & a moon that rattles!!!

After it dried, I had to bisque fire it and give it a coat of glaze. In the effort of time, and my “control” over the firing schedule, I decided to go for a clear cone 6 glaze. It gave the mug a nice shine, and helped “pop” the colors!

So then Christmas came… and Allison received her surprised commission mugs! Oh yes… plural… TWO MUGS as Terry came to my studio to make one of his own for Allison too! She seems like she was totally diggin’ the “moon & starts” vibe of her gifts!

The mug that Terry made started with a wheelthrown cylinder I pre-made for him, and trimmed the bottom. He handbuilt the accents & details… with lettering that says STAR SHINE!!! After he finished his piece, I had to bisque fire it, and glaze it to his glaze choices & specifications.

Little did Terry know that Allison had pre-purchased a special mug for Terry’s Christmas Gift as well!!! She had come to my Holiday Home Shows and picked out one of my soda-fired mugs with pointy spikes on them… little tetrahedron stamps to give it a fun detail.

Looks like Allison & Terry’s mugs already have a special place of honor… joining the others on custom shelving unit for their combined Mug Collection!

So exciting to be part of a quickly-blossoming Mug Collection!!! Surrounded by some textured & colored cuties by my friend Cory McCrory… and a few I don’t recognize?!

Great visit & great cake! Coincidence, I don’t know?

But it’s always extra “sweet” when your friends bake a chocolate carrot cake with raspberry filling & an amazing chocolate cream cheese frosting in anticipation of your arrival! Oh sure… the plate ain’t too shabby either!

My friend Kristen made her traditional Christmas morning strata in one of my large casserole dishes… according to Kristen…

“Made my Christmas strata in the casserole and the proportions came out exactly like for a 9×13, but so much prettier!”

Another Christmas gift… and another Christmas smile! Looks like Madeline is enjoying her new stamped & soda-fired goblet. Perfect for a sip of wine… or juice… or eggnog… so many options!!!

Looks like Keith & Julie were celebrating with their “special holiday mugs” for Christmas! So glad my mugs could be part of their holiday festivities… even if one of them is painfully unadorned & unstamped… wait, what?!

You gotta love when a Christmas present arrives in the mail from a good friend out in Baltimore… and when you open it up… and you see that she knows you, oh too well!!! Thanks for the extra “sweet” & creamy-flavor-filled gift Maryann!