Spent the day with “My Talented Friend” Sarah Chapman at the One Of A Kind Show today. Such beautiful pieces. Wonderful designs. Fun shadows. And Sarah is pretty darn sweet too! Stop by tomorrow to see Sarah, fondle her jewelry and maybe take home a piece or two! Booth #2118 on the seventh floor of the Merchandise Mart.

If you can’t make it tomorrow, visit Sarah’s website by clicking here.

Now that we’re into December and thinking about holiday gift giving, it’s time to mark your calendar for next Saturday. It’s another Holiday Home Show with my friend & guest artist Amy Taylor joining me for the day. Looks like it’s pottery and jewelry for everyone on your holiday gift list!

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So cute when your friends’ kids come home from school with an art project. Apparently, they were supposed to decorate their turkey with words of thanks for those that that they’re THANKFUL for. And look who made the list?!!! Thanks Rosie!!!… and thanks to your parents Kel & Kelly for raising such wonderful children and for making me part of all their lives. I’m thankful for all of you.

Hard to believe we’re just over a month away from Christmas!!!
How did THAT happen??? So now it doesn’t feel so weird making ornaments, huh?

So here’s another batch of holiday ornaments made by me & four of My Talented Friends.
Remember, we’ve all signed-on for a Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge.
The plan is for each of us to make a new ornament each month of the year.

My Talented Friend : Cory McCrory
Cory has knocked it out of the park again this month!!! How cute are these little Elf Shoes?!!! Friggin’ adorable… that’s how cute! And you can bet they’re going to be even cooler after they are painted & glazed!

My Talented Friend : Sarah Chapman
Sarah’s gone with a twist this month! A lovely pierced spiral ornament in shiny brass.

My Talented Friend : Roberta Polfus
Roberta has stuck to her roots this month by making these flowering pod shapes that she’s known for. This time they’re a bit smaller than normal to make wonderful carved ornaments.

My Talented Friend : Amy Taylor
After a rough month in September, Amy returned to The Challenge with a vengeance. Simple, yet elegant. Beautiful sterling rings that will shimmer and shine on any holiday tree.

My Talented Friend : … oh wait, it’s ME again!!!
My October ornament is pretty simple this month. I’ve been SO busy getting everything ready for my latest soda kiln. Not to mention raining & doing my first IRONMAN. Regardless… I made a lot of these textured heart ornaments to add to my “bargain box” of ornaments. They’re all textured, slip painted and ready for the soda kiln to work its magic!

So there they are… October ornaments from My Talented Friends Cory, Sarah, Roberta & Amy. Be sure to check out everyone’s websites. They’re all in the LINKS section in the far right column. And they all have fun Facebook pages too. Find your favorites & follow them everywhere!

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Another apology for being delayed in posting again this month.
Life has just been slipping by… and some of us had an IRONMAN to tackle!!!
So now that that’s over… yay me!!!… it’s back to the studio. Back to ornaments!!!

Here’s another batch of holiday ornaments made by me & four of My Talented Friends.
Remember, we’ve all signed-on for a Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge.
The plan is for each of us to make a new ornament each month of the year.

My Talented Friend : Cory McCrory
Cory made adorable little mittens! So cute with their little thumbs. Their little textures. Can’t wait to see the pairs of mittens colored & glazed in time for the holidays!

My Talented Friend : Sarah Chapman
Sarah’s has embraced Fall moving into the Minneapolis area. Her September ornament is a copper leaf… complete with veins & textures. When set amongst actual Fall leaves, they’re kind of hard to discern from the real things?!!! Nicely done Sarah!!!

My Talented Friend : Roberta Polfus
Roberta made these wonderful textured & carved porcelain pod-horns for September. I love the subtle textures and how the light & shadows play on them.

My Talented Friend : Amy Taylor
Uh oh… Amy had a rough go of it this month. Too many art fairs, commissions and other commitments keeping her too busy to make ornaments this month. So we’ll give her a “one-time pass”… and really expect great things, and great ornaments, for her October entry!!!

My Talented Friend : … oh wait, it’s ME again!!!
My September ornaments are cute little Christmas presents with textured “gift wrap” and a fun little bow. I painted colored slip on the box so that there is some color contrast with the bow. The “presents” are destined for my next soda kiln – and I can’t wait to see how the flames created some wonderful flashings on my September ornaments.

So there they are… September ornaments from My Talented Friends Cory, Sarah, Roberta & whoops… NOT Amy this month?! Hopefully everyone’s schedule will settle down a bit and we can get everyone back on track with their October ornaments?!!!

Be sure to check out everyone’s websites. They’re all in the LINKS section in the far right column. And they all have fun Facebook pages too. Find your favorites & follow them everywhere!

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Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Take a quick drive up to the Galena area for TWENTY DIRTY HANDS. It’s a fun weekend pottery tour featuring the studio & pottery of my friend Delores Fortuna… two of the twenty hands! She just opened a kiln of new work and is opening her studio for the weekend. My friends & fellow potters Roberta Polfus & Amy Higgason will also be guests of Delores sharing their beautiful pottery as well.

Click here for more about the Twenty Dirty Hands website.

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After a long & wandering road trip, we finally arrived in Louisville, Kentucky.
We tried to avoid the construction traffic everyone was complaining about. And somehow we wound up in the middle of nowhere relying on Siri and Google to send us in the right direction. Along the way we had a ton of fun, saw some wonderful landscapes, and even a wonderful Amish community. Sometimes it’s fun to get “lost” along the way!

After we checked into our hotel and lugged all of our luggage and gear up to the room, we took a little walking tour to see the town and grab some food. It was fun to see the excitement at Fourth Street Live… Louisville’s center attraction. Lots of neon. Lots of music. Lots of food. LOTS OF EXCITEMENT!!!

It’s a little nerve-racking knowing that in just two days this will all transform into
The Finish Line!!!

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Day One of ART IN THE BARN was great!
So many fun people stopped by to say “Hi” and to buy my pottery.
I was excited to get my red ribbon for being one of last year’s “TOP TEN SELLERS.”
Now that’s the ribbon I want to get every year!!!

Always good to have a bunch of shopping bags ready to be picked-up!

And look at the riff-raff that moved into the booth next to me?!
My friend & metalsmith Amy Taylor and her hubby Tom. Ha!!!

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Huge congratulations to one of my favorite teachers ever!!! Steven Young Lee and his new gallery show at the Renwick Gallery in Washington DC. Amazing pots. Fantastic artist. Incredible teacher. Thank you Steven for sharing your art, knowledge & passion with the rest of us!

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My friend Donna Sauers is apparently working late into the night to make just a few more beauties for this weekend’s ART IN THE GARDEN. Pack it in & go to bed Donna… we open tomorrow at 10:00am!!!

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