So I’ve been doing a little stamping today… making more mugs with a bunch more stamping!!! So I thought it might be fun to show-off the before & after… and the stamps that did most of the work!

MUG #1 –

MUG #2 –

MUG #3 –

MUG #4 –

MUG #5 –

MUG #6 –

MUG #7 –

MUG #8 –

MUG #9 –

MUG #10 –

MUG #11 –

MUG #12 –

MUG #13 –

MUG #14 –

So for now, they’re wrapped up under plastic… waiting to be trimmed & handled on another day!

What better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than sharing cotton candy with a friend?!

Another barn… that has seen better times!

A few years ago, I went to Colfax with friends to meet sculptor Robert Cumpston at his home & tour his workshop. That was when I was “introduced” to his work… basically building life-sized animals out of rusty farm machinery parts & pieces… and you know how I LOVE rusty metal. \

While I now have quite a Cumpston collection at home, I thought I would pedal through “downtown” Colfax (one street, maybe a dozen buildings?) to see more of his work as I had heard that after his passing, a few of his pieces were donated to the town of Colfax to honor one of their most talented residents. I was hoping for more… as I only found a giraffe and a greyhound!

Blue skies & barns… pedaling along Old Route 66 yesterday!

One of the many cool things about Route 66 is the number of wacky & crazy things you’ll find along the way… the Wigwam Hotel, Cadillac Ranch, and many more further out west. But yesterday I found THIS little bit of wackiness right in Lexington, Illinois. A large elephant sculpture made out a bunch of random parts & pieces! Sadly, there was no description or explanation… just a fun photo-shoot with an elephant! Now that doesn’t happen every day…

BLOG POST UPDATE :
So here’s a LINK… my friend Tracy found this tidbit.
Apparently Lexington artist Kasey Wells hauled this crazy-looking scrap metal elephant around the USA in 2020 in a failed attempt to become President of the United States.

Who knew?!

Yesterday I went down to Chenoa to celebrate Fourth of July with my best friends from college. Because the festivities were later in the day, I brought my bike with to go for a ride along Old Route 66… so Americana nostalgic of me, huh?!

A fun morning ride… hotter & windier than I expected out there in the midwest farm fields! Basically my route was a big triangle from Chenoa to Bloomington-Normal to Colfax and back to Chenoa… just in time for the Chenoa Fourth of July Parade… and before the storms blew through and promptly cancelled the Chenoa fireworks!!! So luckily, I got a good bike ride in well before the storms!!!

This past week at Summer Camp, my kids did wheelthrowing for the first half of the week, but switched to handbuilding to finish up. Their “challenge” was to make two handbuilt mugs that represented two different animals that somehow tied together. Oddly, we had quite a few platypuses… or is that platypi?… NOPE!… but I think it has something to do with “Phineas & Ferb”???

Today was a beautiful day for an other bike ride along the lakefront. Perfect for exploring some of the more hidden areas… and I found LA RONDA PARAKATA. A very cool structure up on a hill overlooking the lake just south of 31st Street Harbor. Designed to honor the monarch butterflies, and built as a “gathering space” along the Burnham Wildlife Corridor. Always fun when you get off the beaten path to explore & enjoy some newly-discovered treasures.

Looks like my friend Rhonda is brightening her weekend with a beautiful floral arrangement in one of my stamped & soda-fired square vases! Those yellow calla lilies look great in there! Thanks for sharing Rhonda… it’s always great to see your work “living” in someone else’s home!