A quick apology for being so delayed in posting this one.
Kinda scary how fast the year is passing by. We’ve all been so busy!!!
Busy in our studios making art. Busy at the weekend art fairs… SUMMER CAMP!!!
And hopefully busy having more than a little fun playing this summer!

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.
And now we’re over half way done! Whew… 2016 is just flying by!!!

My Talented Friend : Cory McCrory
Cory has had an incredibly busy time this summer preparing for her son’s wedding…making vases & mini cups! Looks like that theme has continued with a few more mini cups to celebrate her Scandinavian heritage. A few tiny Glogg cups to hang on the tree... maybe after a few sips!

My Talented Friend : Sarah Chapman
Sarah’s ornament for July is a twisted take & fun with copper wire. For those who know Sarah’s jewelry line, this style of wrapped wire & twisted knots might be familiar. I’m thinking she might “need” to add these to her product line… maybe some large hoop earrings???

My Talented Friend : Roberta Polfus
Roberta is makes wonderful little teapots everyday in her normal work. Beautifully carved & sculptural mini-pots. Normally not this small… possibly the smallest tea set ever. The cutest cup of tea for your Christmas tree!

My Talented Friend : Amy Taylor
For July, Amy has been working on her “Heavenly Desserts” collection. They’re adorably whimsical… but now I kinda want the real treats too?! Especially the OREO’s!!!

My Talented Friend : … oh wait, it’s ME again!!!
For July ornaments, I went with textured porcelain “icicles.” My plan is to fire them without glaze to keep them white… and then “maybe” paint one side of the spiral with a metallic silver paint, plus some ribbon to hang them from.

So there they are… July ornaments (a little bit late) of My Talented Friends Cory, Sarah, Roberta & Amy. Hopefully everyone’s schedule will settle down a bit in these last few days of summer. I know mine definitely will slow down a bit now that Summer Camp has finally come to an end.

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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We’ve been doing this Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge for six months now. It’s a little tough for the ceramic folks to show finished pieces in a timely basis. What with needing to glaze and fill a kiln and all. So we frequently just show the greenware versions of the ornaments and hope that people can “visualize” the finished outcome. Well, Roberta has been busy glazing & finishing some of her ornaments from previous months. No more “guessing”…. now you can see the real thing. And how incredible they all look!!!

To see more of Roberta’s ceramic work, click here for her website.

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Six months in. Six months to go!!!
And 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.
And now we’re half way done! Hard to believe 2016 is already half way over???
When did THAT happen?

My Talented Friend : Cory McCrory
After last month’s fish ornaments, it’s not too surprising that Cory stayed aquatic… err, amphibian… close enough… and went with some adorable frogs for June! And as usual, Cory supplied us with a piece-by-piece, part-by-part photo story. Sorry, no tadpoles to start with, but…

Legs…

Body parts…

Assemble line…

Sightless frogs…

And here they are…. Cory’s adorable amphibians for June!!!
Can’t wait to see them in color after she glazes & fires them!

My Talented Friend : Sarah Chapman
According to Sarah… “The June ornament is covered with snowflakes that were etched into the brass. Very glad that there are no actual snowflakes in sight right now!”

My Talented Friend : Roberta Polfus
Roberta is for the birds! This month she created these beautiful “two turtle doves.” The holes on the top will be filled with a wire ring for hanging.

My Talented Friend : Amy Taylor
For June, Amy went with a longer hanging ornament… complete with dangles, spangles and a faceted black onyx stone.

My Talented Friend : … oh wait, it’s ME again!!!
And for my June ornaments, I went with textured squiggles. These will be destined for my next soda kiln… but I’ve got to add some color to them first. They’ll get a couple layers of different colored flashing slips before they start to dry.

So there they are… June ornaments of My Talented Friends Cory, Sarah, Roberta & Amy. Be sure to check out their 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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Here we go…. our fifth month… May.
And 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.
I think it was a little tougher this month for many of us as we were all prepping for the kick-off of the art fair season… but somehow, we all squeezed them in!!!

My Talented Friend : Cory McCrory
Cory went back to her roots a bit… and revisited clay fish! When I first met Cory MANY years ago, we were both at the Hinsdale Arts Festival and she was making fish. I know have a whole school… and a great friend!!! This month Cory also shares a step-by-step photo tour of her ornament production. Starting with a few sketches & maquettes…

And then the fish started taking shape… piece by piece, fin by fin…

Then underglaze colors to really bring them to life!!!

A – DOR – A – BLE – !!! Must have at least a few!!!

And now she’s just showing off… but… Cory went one step even further and glazed & fired her fish for this month’s entry!!! It’s typically tough for we ceramic people to get things made & fired in a timely basis to meet this monthly challenge. But somehow, Cory was an over-achiever this month!!!

My Talented Friend : Sarah Chapman
For May, Sarah went a little twisty with her ornament. Holes, twists, curves, beautiful.
THese would look especially cool on one of those Orna-Motions that rotates ornaments.

My Talented Friend : Roberta Polfus
Roberta went a little organic this month. Adorable little cactii and succulents. Like miniature versions of her already “mini” pods & shapes. So cute. Can’t wait to see these after they’ve been glazed.

My Talented Friend : Amy Taylor
Amy continued with her ornate & stunning metal ornaments for May. A beautiful trio of holiday glamour. Each one with a beautiful, swively hinge on the top.

My Talented Friend : … oh wait, it’s ME again!!!
And for my May ornaments, I went with textured ornaments. Three sides with three different patterns. I got them built in time, but haven;t quite had time to paint them with colored flashing slips. These will be destined for my next soda kiln… but I’ve got add some color to them first.

So there they are… May ornaments of My Talented Friends Cory, Sarah, Roberta & Amy. Be sure to check out their 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!

Here we go…. our fourth month… April.
And 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.
We’re four months in… it’s hard to believe we’re a third of the way through already!!!

My Talented Friend : Cory McCrory
Cory was a bit “sheepish” about turning in this month’s ornament. She didn’t have time to create a whole flock like she wanted to. She was a baaaaa-d girl. I’m in the days to come she’ll be cranking out a few more… as she wouldn’t want to pull the wool over our eyes with just one!

My Talented Friend : Sarah Chapman
For April, Sarah made a patterned metal ribbon ornament out of copper. According to Sarah, “I needed a break from making earrings for One-of-a-Kind this week and decided hammering some metal would do it! I started by roller printing the floral pattern onto a copper sheet. Then I went to work hammering folds into the piece, letting it be as ribbon-y as it wanted to be!”

My Talented Friend : Roberta Polfus
Roberta made a few “Queen Of Hearts” ornaments by carving & poking some porcelain. A beautiful stylized ornament.

My Talented Friend : Amy Taylor
Amy switched back to her metalsmithing ways and offered up a few ornaments very reminiscent of her hinged jewelry line. Sweet little jewels for anyone’s tree!

My Talented Friend : … oh wait, it’s ME again!!!
And for my April ornaments, I returned to a variation of a favorite from two years ago. The stamped star impression becomes more dimensional when the star “puffs up” with a gentle curve on both sides.

I started by cutting out the stars and giving them the gentle curve. I then attached tow of them together… one with the stamp impression for the front, and a plain star for the back.

I then painted the back solid with Nichols Gold Flashing Slip… as well as the front border around the star impression. Once soda-fired, we should see some nice “mustard” gold-ish colorations on the front & back. The star impressions will most likely be inlaid with temoku glaze and then soda fired in my next kiln… in about two weeks! So we should see some results relatively soon!!!

So there they are… April ornaments of My Talented Friends Cory, Sarah, Roberta & Amy. Be sure to check out their 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!

Keep moving forward… colored slip accents have been painted onto my ornaments. Hopefully these colors will come-to-life when they are fired in the soda kiln. But first… they need to go through a bisque kiln firing.

This latest batch of wheelthrown holiday ornaments is one step closer. They now have handbuilt “caps” attached for hanging on your tree next Christmas! Too soon?… never!

The bottoms have all been trimmed off the batch of ornaments… thanks to the “magic” of my Giffin Grip. So now what was the thrown-bottom, is now the trimmed-off-top to the ornament. Some of them are stoneware with iron, while others are soda clay. Next up in the process?… some handbuilt “caps” and colored slip accents.

While not quite part of the Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge, I have been working on another batch of my wheelthrown ornaments for my next soda kiln.