My latest batch of holiday ornaments are now one step closer.
They’ve been stamped & trimmed… now waiting for cap, ring & some colored slip accents.

They’re all getting ready for my annual “My Home For The Holidays” Home Show.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 22nd & Sunday, November 23rd.
More details to come…

So a couple was here last Saturday for the Second Holiday Home Show.
They bought pottery and a few ornaments for gifts. Recently, the husband was getting ready
to give one ornament to a female co-worker. His wife caught him just in time…
and said he may want to re-think that!

So their son just stopped by to purchase two more ornaments
for a little more “appropriate” co-worker gift!!!

oops… guess I should have opened my mail sooner today?…
and the most recent addition to my ornament collection that came in the mail today
from one of my Facebook Fans in Massachusetts. She got a mug in my first online sale…
and I just received a beautiful, stamped ornament. Thank you Pam!!!
What a great holiday surprise.

Many of you may have seen my extensive Christmas ornament collection when you came to the “My Home For The Holidays” Home Shows over the years. And then after this year’s Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge, I now have even more! I’ve always loved handmade ornaments. I guess because I’ve always like to “make things” as a kid. So it’s only fitting that I continue to collect handmade ornaments. And it’s even more fun now that I have so many “Talented Friends” who make so many cool things!

Growing up as a kid, every Christmas we would get a new ornament for our collection from our Grandma Mills (my Mom’s mom). She was quite crafty and worked through the year making ornaments. Many of them are still cherished keepsakes.

And then my Mom took up the tradition and started making us a new handmade ornament every year. As you can see, my Mom works more in the sewing & needlepoint world with tiny little details and a lot of counted-cross-stitch. These have merged nicely into the collection, and grace my tree every season.

Meanwhile, I’ve made a lot of friends who also like to “make things.” So many “Talented Friends” who make cool things… including cool ornaments. And so I continue to expand my Christmas ornament collection. These are just a few from my ornament collection… there are SO many more… far too many to share every one!!!

Cory McCrory                                               Roberta Polfus

Terry Hogan (front?)                                   Terry Hogan (back?)

Cory McCrory                                               Emily Murphy

Roberta Polfus                                             Cory McCrory

Marian Castro-Palanyk                              Zack Medler

Anna Leong                                                  Roberta Polfus

Emily Murphy                                              Lisa Harris

Nancy Jana-Kent                                         Emily Murphy

Terry Hogan (front?)                                  Terry Hogan (back?)

Nancy Jana-Kent                                        Marian Castro-Palanyk

Emily Murphy                                              Amy Higgason

Cory McCrory                                               Rosene Snekhaus… my FIRST art fair friends!

Terry Hogan                                                 Nancy Jana-Kent

Amy Higgason                                             Danny Mansmith

Unknown… but I got it at the “One Of A Kind Show”… and I LOVE IT.
                                                             …and I love grape soda!!! Go figure.

My journey through this year has been spotted with holiday ornaments!
When Sarah Chapman and I devised this monthly challenge, I didn’t quite realize how much work it was going to be. Nor how much fun it was going to be. It pushed me to make different things. Pushed me to met the monthly deadlines. And at the same time… I ended up with a LOT of holiday ornaments!!! Twelve months worth of ornaments… plus a few extras along the way! Why stop at twelve??? More is always better, right?

I also realized that many of my “entries” in the Ornament Challenge were only shown in process or drying to greenware. Come to think of it, I can’t even remember if I EVER showed any finished ones here on my blog??? So… to make up for that, here are all twelve of my holiday ornaments for the year.

JANUARY – stoneware wreaths with a metallic-red-glittered clay bow

FEBRUARY – soda-fired double puffed stars with a texture on both sides.

MARCH – porcelain domed white snowflakes… some glazed, some not.

APRIL – soda-fired silhouette ornament shapes in either porcelain or stoneware.

MAY – contemporary glazed porcelain discs.

And an “extra” bonus ornament… made from the cut-out circle from above!

JUNE – tiny textured porcelain fortune cookies.

JULY – soda-fired stoneware spirals with stamped patterns & slip accents.

AUGUST – terra cotta textured double stars.

And oh, but wait there’s more... soda-fired stoneware ones too!

SEPTEMBER – whimsically dangling gingerbread men made with terra cotta.

OCTOBER – soda-fired dome star cut-outs

Plus, when you have star cut-outs... you can make tiny, little star ornaments!

NOVEMBER – glazed white terra cotta snowflakes on an underglazed textured ring

DECEMBER – Ho… what more can I say? Stoneware glazed… some soda-fired, some not.

All of these ornaments will be available at my SECOND Holiday Home Show!!!
Saturday, December 14th – 10:00am-6:00pm. Contact me for address info.
Some of them are in very limited quantities. So come grab ’em up quickly.

It’s the last month of the year… and here’s my last holiday ornament!!!
Searching for a little holiday inspiration, I pulled a little inspiration from my own front porch! If any of you drive by my condo, you might look up and see my holiday proclamation in lights… plus some twinkling “snow” flickering about. Keeping it short and to the point.

So why not make them in clay too?!!!… and I did.

Sure I could have just let them slump & dry… but instead I propped up the “H” on bamboo skewers to account for the thickness of the “O” to keep them level & flat.

I saw Sarah here in Chicago this weekend as I was helping her at the “One Of A Kind Show.” And she said that she would most definitely have a December entry in the Monthly Challenge. So when I get it from her, I will definitely post it here on the blog too. Fingers crossed for one last ornament from Sarah…

The “online” mugs & ornaments are ready to be shipped out.
My first online sale seems to have been a pretty big success, huh?!
It’s kind of exciting to have pieces going out all around the country… places like Kansas, Utah, Maryland, Louisiana, Iowa, Florida, Vermont, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Alabama, Virginia… and of course, Illinois.

Just for the record… I’m still not a fan of shipping my one-of-a-kind pottery. I much prefer the face-to-face interaction with my customers who can touch, fondle, caress and love my textures & pots. But I feel a little guilty about not offering a few pots for the rest of you NOT in the Chicagoland area. So this “online sale” was a special event, not a regular occurrence. Yet with the success of this “online sale”… I’m sure there will be more! I’ll keep you posted.

Tonight I stopped in at the Ceramics Showcase in Evanston. So much fun hanging with a few of “My Talented Friends.” Cory McCrory, Roberta Polfus, Delores Fortuna, Amy Higgason & Mary Dye, Glad I got there when I did, as Delores was running really late and I got to “save the day” by helping her unload & get her space set-up! If you’re looking for some nice pottery this weekend, be sure to stop by Evanston and say “hi” to my friends!

Here’s a quick peek at what I came home with from the Evanston Ceramic Showcase…
wonderful goodies from my friends Cory Mccrory & Delores Fortuna.
I love having Talented Friends!!!

A wonderful tufted & textured goblet by Cory McCrory…

A whimsical, dotted mug by Cory McCrory…

A little party blackbird ornament by Cory McCrory…

And a beautiful dinner plate by Delores Fortuna.
It was actually a “thank you gift” from Delores for helping her out this evening. As she said, it was one of the worst days ever for her… lots of problems, conflicts & personal crises… capped off with a flat tire as she was driving in from Galena.

So there she was, arriving in Evanston “after” the show had already started! Luckily I was there – ready & willing to help. Trying to quickly get her shelving & pots into the room so she could get set up. It wasn’t until I was taking a couple extra plank shelves back out to her van that I ran into a little trouble.. err, well ran into a shelf… literally!!! The plank shelf that I was carrying out was apparently longer “taller” than the door frame I was trying to go through. The plank hit the door frame and stopped… unfortunately, I didn’t stop. Wham!!! I walked right into the plank. Ouch. But I was still trying to get Delores all set up, so I didn’t really think too much about it until I felt a little bit of swelling. It wasn’t until I got home and looked in the mirror that I noticed I might be getting a little shiner!!! Yep… took one for the team!!!

But I digress, back to pottery…
My new Delores plate is a great “partner” to this other Delores Fortuna plate
that I’ve loved using for years! Whoo-hoo… now I have TWO!!!

Tis’ the season… with a lot of mugs & ornaments to pack up today!!!

Looks like ALL of the mugs have been claimed…
and we’re down to the last six ornaments!!!
They’re still looking for a good tree to hang on… yours???

Thank you all for making my first “Happy December Online Sale” a huge success!!!
In fact, this was my very first online sale EVER! I may need to consider doing more of this?
Which means I may need to “get over” my dislike of packing & shipping pottery?!