So while I was in Appleton, Wisconsin yesterday, I got the “full tour” of MKM Pottery Tools. Rick was very excited to give me the full tour & show off his business. The smell of wood & oil was amazing!!! I loved it… and found it amusing that the people there don’t even smell it anymore!!! HA!!! And not only did we see tons of amazing textured rollers & stamps… I “might” have also had one of Angie’s pumpkin chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven!!! … burp.

So I did a little roadtrip up to Appleton, Wisconsin yesterday to drop-off some hybrid mugs with the fine folks at MKM Pottery Tools. It was great to finally meet Rick, as well as his support staff with Angie, Rachel, Seth & Christopher… as we’ve only known each other “virtually” online. It was great to finally hang-out, get to know each other for real & deliver some of my soda-fired hybrid mugs to them. It was kind of a cool “full-circle moment” as I use the MKM handrollers to create my hybrid mugs. And Appleton is apparently where all the magic comes from!!!

I got a fun surprise “shout-out” by the folks at MKM Pottery Tools. There I was just casually scrolling through my Insta Feed… and suddenly… “Hey, that mug looks familiar?!”… and it was one of mine! Just another one of my “hybrid mugs” that are both wheelthrown & handbuilt. The top part is a textured slab made with my favorite carved handrollers from MKM Pottery Tools! So many patterns, so many options… thanks again MKM!!!

The new Ghoul isn’t gonna build itself!!! So I’ve been working on my newest character addition for the past couple days. Starting with a prototype… and deciding which of my tools might help facilitate my Halloween Ghoul production & personality this year?! Obviously… some handmade stamps & MKM handrollers will be used!

Time for a textured slab … thanks to the great handrollers from MKM Pottery Tools!
Great designs always with clean & crisp edges! Love ‘em!!!

The calm between the storms!

It’s handbuilding day in camp this week. Making cool theme mugs with slabs, textures & add-ons. Morning campers just left… afternoon campers coming in!!! More fun to come… very soon!

Just a little carving with my favorite tool from DiamondCore Tools! Another bowl from last week’s class demo… now carving patterns through ombré blended slips. More is more… right???

Pulling out some of my favorite textured handrollers from MKM Pottery Tools!
Making slabs… making sides for another batch of hybrid mugs!!!

I also did a demo for my campers yesterday while they were trimming… about how much fun carving can be. Especially when I’m letting them borrow some of my DiamondCore Tools!!! Just a fun little demo cup with “fireworks” all over the sides!!!

It’s gonna get hot in there… gotta see where we’re at!!! My cone packs are ready for this weekend’s soda firing… well, two for this kiln & two for the next! Each cone melts at a different temperature… so I’ll be watching them go down throughout the day tomorrow as I fire the kiln. Pull out a brick, take a quick peek & put the brick back in! Very hi-tech, huh???