You know how I love making my own stamps…
and this time I “might have” gone with a little bit of a theme?!
‘Tis the season…

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to work with some artsy kids at Vernon Hills High School. What I thought was going to be a workshop mostly about altering & decorating bowls, turned into a much more “interactive” wheelthrowing class as many of them had never really thrown before?! Of course I encouraged & prodded them “just a little” to get the to lighten up, loosen up & get muddy in the clay with me.

I taught them some beginning basics… and then coached them along the way as I continued to throw two dozen bowls. At the end of the workshop, we started altering rims, adding some creative flair & blowing kid’s minds!!! I loved seeing their looks of shock & awe as I altered some of the bowls. They loved it… and I had a great time molding clay & molding young minds!

Bringing out my favorite carving tools from DiamondCore Tools for some fun Christmas tree texturing! Nice crisp cuts with sharp tools… perfect for the glaze to pool & puddle in all the right places!!!

A striking Fall gradation of color & natural perseverance growing through a wooden pallet in the alley. Nature always finds a way!

Fall colors still hanging on… great contrast against today’s blue skies!
Sure, a lot of leaves have dropped already.
But we still have a lot of “pretty” going on around town!

Another fun night of bingo at IKEA!!! I had lots of numbers & lots of dots… but none that ever got me a BINGO! Luckily, my friend Tiffany scored with a BINGO & won an owl “basket” filled with goodies… and a cool IKEA bucket hat!! She kept the hat… but ended up trading her prize with an other bingo winner! Followed with some fun IKEA shopping… I mean, we were already there… how could we not?!!!

These two might be the last of the dahlias in my garden…
but my fingers are crossed for one or two more
if we don’t get a hard frost any time soon?!

Spent the day with a bunch of great kids at Vernon Hills High School today… making a bunch of bowls, chatting about pottery & trying to inspire them to play with their clay more. After I threw two bags of clay… two dozen bowls… we talked some more and then started altering rims & decorating bowls. Great fun with a good number of “wow” moments… until the school bell rang & we ran out of time!!! Luckily, all of my bowls are staying there so that the students get to finish decorating, trimming & glazing them… and keep their new bowls!!!

Luckily, NOT my car… but when I was leaving Lillstreet tonight after class, there were a couple cars “trapped” under some fallen trees on Ravenswood. I knew we were getting some rain, but I didn’t think it was strong enough to do anything like this?! Yikes.