02.20.2018
Sure, the holidays SEEM far away… but it’s always fun
to make a few ornaments & mini’s on a wet & soggy rainy day!
Plus, there’s only 308 days until Christmas!!! Giddy-up!!!
12.22.2017
We’re getting closer to the holidays…
still plenty of time for shopping, wrapping, packing, and “ornamenting.”
12.20.2017
I just LOVE surprise care packages in the mail… especially when it’s a beautiful handmade ornament just in time for Christmas! This beauty was made by my friend Pam of NorthWind Pottery. Sure, I may have purchased it online a year ago, but I definitely forgot all about it thinking that I would just “pick it up” from her at some point… making this care package an especially great surprise!!!
11.26.2017
Seven Days & Seven Photos in black & white of your everyday life.
No explanation, no people. Challenge a friend to join everyday.
Day 7 of 7. I was challenged by my friends Barb Duro & Pam Walden.
Today I challenge Scott Hayner on Facebook… and Taylor Hayner on Instagram!
11.17.2017
Still setting up my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW and putting out some of my wheelthrown & soda-fired holiday ornaments. Lots of ornaments… and lots of fun to make!!!
04.30.2017
Ornaments drying after adding handbuilt tops & some flashing slip accents…
which will hopefully be a smooth buttery-yellow after soda-firing.
12.19.2016
We’re inching ever closer to Christmas… days away now…
and we’ve finalluy made it to the end of the Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge.
The plan was for each of us to make a new ornament each month of the year. And we’ve finally done it. Four of My Talented Friends joining me for a year of holiday ornaments… and crossing the Finish Line with another festive batch of ornaments!!!
My Talented Friend : Cory McCrory
Cory’s ornaments for December are literally “out of this World!!!” Cory’s last entry in this year’s holiday ornament challenge is a collection of spaceships fresh out of a B-Movie!!! Charming. Adorable. Like they’re straight out of Flash Gordon!
And a splash of color like they’re flying through the Galaxy!
My Talented Friend : Sarah Chapman
Sarah went with a hydraulic pressed copper puff reminiscent of a pear!
Almost a partridge in a pear tree?!?
My Talented Friend : Roberta Polfus
Roberta decided to ring in the New Year this season with festive Christmas bells.
Each a small, hand-carved porcelain bell… ready to grant some angel their wings!
My Talented Friend : Amy Taylor
Amy went sterling again this month with three curvy & hinged pendants each with a sterling silver bezel. Beautiful scrolls dangling from your Christmas tree… or on a chain around your neck? Or the perfect gift for that special someone… maybe even YOU!
My Talented Friend : … oh wait, it’s ME again!!!
My December ornaments kind of went on a “journey ” this month. Each month we tried to come up with ONE idea for one ornament. But somehow, with this being the final month of the challenge, I had trouble narrowing it down to one. First I started with a large snowflake. This was the first prototype. My plan was to do large textured snowflakes (surprising, huh?) but it seemed heavier than I wanted it to be. I still like the idea… but maybe I’ll try again next year!
Next I decided to try out a new snowflake stamp on a concave disk…
but I kind of felt like I’ve done this “trick” before. Different stamp. Different size.
Still too similar.
And then I saw these wonderful stylized peacocks in a window display in Dallas
and they’ve been stuck in my head ever since.
So I went back to my high “quilling” days… and created stylized peacock feathers.
Or maybe too much like a pinched cinnamon roll? Not quite sure how these might be glazed? Another challenge I’ll put off for the New Year.
So I finally landed on some colorful fish for my final ornament.
Each one has stamped “scales” and colored fins, head & tail. I made them out of terra cotta
so I could get them single-fired in time for Christmas. As you may recall, I like to dry thin
flat pieces on plastic grid to help avoid warping.
And then a quick coat of clear glaze sprayed on… and yes,
this odd green color will fire to be a shiny clear!
I kind of loved the residue left on my banding wheel after spraying the fish
while sitting on the plastic grid.
A quick cone 06 firing and we have a shiny school of Christmas fish!
So there they are… December ornaments from My Talented Friends
Cory, Sarah, Roberta & Amy. Amazing how the year has come and gone so quickly.
Twelve months of holiday ornaments. And how we’re all wishing you a very
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
12.19.2016
Christmas is just a week away. And you know how much I LOVE making my wheelthrown holiday ornaments. Looks like I still have a “few” more to add to my tree!!!
12.10.2016
The Second Holiday Hone Show starts in a hour.
Anyone who comes to my condo today and shows me this INSTAGRAM photo
on their phone’s Instagram Feed gets a FREE Christmas Tree ornament!
Whoo-hoo… let the games begin!!!
