Look at these… they’re simply adorable! And I can’t wait to use them.

I decided that I needed some new stamps…
especially if I was going to be making more Christmas ornaments & miniature vases.
You know smaller pieces need smaller stamps, right? At least in my world.
And these are the smallest ones I’ve made so far!

As I was loading the kiln, I was carefully stacking bowls…
and began to notice how cool they started looking with the rhythmic repetition
of the curved & fluted rims, the details of the stamped details and the great shadows that
helped define the textures. I may have to consider this… and make some new nesting bowls?!

My answer is NO.
I love making small pieces that fit into all of the other pieces in the kiln.
Tumble stacked, piled together, nested, whatever it takes… a full kiln is a happy kiln!
I hate firing a kiln that is not well-packed. I feel like I’ve wasted space if it’s not full.
So the latest set of small bowls were intended to be “filler.” But then tonight I decided
to make even more! And even smaller! This time… I made a full batch of miniature vases!

So I threw them all “off-the-hump” and let them sit for a few minutes.
Then I back-tracked and started stamping the first ones as they were already getting stiff.
So now there’s even more to trim!… and even more to pack into my next bisque!!!

Yesterday I threw bowls. Today they were ready to stamp. So I did…

Now they just need to be trimmed…
and then they can all go into the bisque kiln early next week! One step closer…

Same bowls, different angle… a view from above!
I’m kinda diggin’ the new stamped-inside look with the fluted rims! So far, so good…

Perfect timing… I went back into the studio today hoping to stamp the bowls I threw yesterday.
Luckily for me, they were at just the right “stiffness” for some good stamping! So I did..

Bowl #1 : before, during & after…

Bowl #2 : before, during & after…

Bowl #3 : before, during & after…

Bowl #4 : before, during & after…

Bowl #5 : before, during & after…

Bowl #6 : before, during & after…

Bowl #7 : before, during & after…

And the tools of the trade… my banding wheel, a couple of my handmade stamps,
a needle tool, bamboo skewer, chopstick & and a dowel rod. That’s it… voila’.

With “Empty Bowls” in full swing downstairs, I opted to be productive upstairs in my studio.
I ran downstairs to see what all the commotion was about… and it was great to see hundreds
of bowls all over the place & plenty of customers picking them up and donating to the cause!
I especially liked when I saw people carrying one of my bowls as their final choice! After all,
there were a dozen of my donated bowls to choose from!

Back upstairs, I started throwing some new pieces. Having received my “acceptance” letter
today for the Schaumburg Prairie Fine Arts Festival on Memorial Day Weekend, I thought I
better start making more flower pots for the Spring art fair selection! So I threw some more
traditional-style flower pots with the water dish attached.

What to do next?… well, there’s never enough bowls, right? So I decided to throw a batch
of bowls with B-Clay. Plan being that I will be ready for another soda kiln fairly soon,
and B-Clay turns out really nice in the back stack of the kiln… where most other clays
turn out “dry” after soda firing.

With my tables filling up quickly with freshly thrown pots, I had to make some room.
Luckily, the new batch of kitchen utensil crocks was already stamped and ready to be
trimmed. So I finished them off… and added decorative slip to a couple of them.

By the time I finished trimming the utensil crocks,
and made another trip downstairs to check out more “Empty Bowls”…
the new flowerpots were already stiff enough to start stamping! Giddy-up!

First with a single stamp pressed repetitively around the sides of the pot.
Then a small divot added around the rim to help with spacing.

With the proper spacing “indicators”… it is then pretty easy to “flute” the rim
all the way around. Consistently pressing the wet clay – enough to move the shape,
but not enough to squish or smoosh the shape of the pot… trying to avoid
an “ovalled-by-accident” flower pot!

After a few stamps… the new flower pots are decorated and ready to stiffen up to
leather-hard. They are now covered with plastic, as are the bowls. Tomorrow I plan to
head back to stamp the bowls. Maybe they’ll all be ready to trim on the next couple days.
And then I can make more!!!

I love to get comments from “fans” on my blog.
It reminds me that people are really out there reading it… and that it’s not just me
rambling on here for no reason. And then, when I actually find out that my
ramblings have actually “inspired” someone, that’s even better!!! And here’s one!

So I’ve gotten a few comments over the past few weeks from Sam Brown. A potter
out in the middle of Nevada who has been feeling a little uninspired… although
challenged with a wonderful project! She has been working on a making two hundred
& fifty bowls. 250! That’s a LOT of bowls! Here are a few of Sam’s early bowls…

And then she found my blog… and realized how much fun stamped textures can be!
We’ve “chatted” a few times through the blog and she finally sent me some pictures
of her newly “inspired” pieces. I love the new direction she’s going. And I hope that
I’ve been able to put a little “jump-start” into the final stretch of her 250 bowls!

Here’s a “new, improved & inspired” stack of Sam’s new bowls!!

Plus, she also sent me a few other pictures of her paintings and basket-weaving.
I was intrigued by her combination of clay & basketry! Keep up the good work Sam!!!

After yesterday’s throwing marathon, today had to be the stamping marathon!
Shucks, huh?… good thing I love stamping!

Although my pots were all still a little wetter that I would like them to be,
a little “strategic drying” really payed off. A little bit of fan. Some rotating.
A lot of waiting… and some trimming of older pots & another batch of tiles…
and I finally got to stamp all of the pots I made yesterday. Okay, so they were
still a little squishier than I would normally like… but it was fun to see the
transformation from “plain” to textured. So much better now…

Coming soon… a LOT of trimming and handles for the mugs!