You gotta love when a surprise “care package” arrives in the mail… this time from my friend Tracy! Who may have seen “somewhere” that I have a thing for OREO’s?! So when she recently went to France, she brought back a box of French OREOs for me. I can’t quite read the ingredients list or the nutritional information… but I’m just assuming that I don’t “want” to see that anyway!

It is good to see there is some protein in OREO’s though!!!

Hard to believe that the ST. CROIX VALLEY POTTERY TOUR is just one month away! So exciting… can’t wait to drive up to see a LOT of amazing potters & pottery! And if I can get my taxes done this weekend, I’ll see how much is leftover to have fun “adding to my collection” up north in Minnesota!!! Can’t wait…

After last week’s “terrible” Irish Creme Thin OREO’s…
We approached this week’s new flavor with a bit of trepidation. Especially since I am NOT a fan of the real tiramisu dessert. I don’t drink coffee, I don’t drink alcohol, not a fan of puffy-squishy lady fingers… and that fluffy moussey stuff?! Not a fan… mousse???… is it pudding, is it frosting, is it whipped cream? What it is it trying to be? My “palate of a four-year-old” gets confused. Too many things I’m not excited about. But I digress…

So we tried the new OREO flavor this week… and I must admit it wasn’t all that bad. I mean, we finished the bag!!! Much better reviews from my students than last week’s package of Irish Creme… that we actually ended up throwing away the leftovers!!!

A true harbinger of Spring… a beautiful vase full of orange tulips for another Floral Friday!
Two different varieties of orange tulips to compliment my stamped & soda-fired vase.

After crackling slip, we spent the last half hour of our SURFACE DECORATION class making clay stamps. My goal is to have them bisqued quickly so we can start playing with them in next week’s class… where the focus will be “stamps & sprigs”!!!

Last night in my SURFACE DECORATION class, we played with some different slip colors mixed with a sodium silicate solution to help us create these wonderful crackled surfaces on our wheelthrown pots!!! Exciting as every one is different every time!!!

Still a bit chilly, but bright blue skies sure help when highlighting these beautiful forsythia branches. Always a welcome sight as Spring is finally blooming all around us!

Another large stamped platter fresh from the kiln. Loving how this glaze pools & puddles in all the right places… totally accentuating all of the stamped textures along the way!

Gray morning. Gray clay.
Another batch of “gray-for-now” textured nuggets!!!

After my trip to Hausermann Orchids a couple weeks ago, I came home with this little beauty too! I’ve never tried growing a Lady Slipper Orchid before… which just opened & is STUNNING!!! The sales guy said it’s not any harder than caring for phaelaneopsis orchids… which I’m okay with… so, fingers crossed!!!