Sure, there may have been a bit of rain this weekend during the Minnesota Pottery Tour… but pottery always looks better when it’s wet!!! Plus, I kinda loved the rain drops splashing on the black platter & filling the white bowl… and the rain “shadows” on the wooden shelving.

It was a beautiful weekend full of BEAUTIFUL pottery up at the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour. And it didn’t hurt any to have beautiful flowers gracing many of the handmade vases! Always one of my favorite pottery events of the year… with 73 potters all showing off their ceramic masterpieces at eight different studio locations. Several of my favorite potters are up there… so it’s always fun to see them too! Great fun traveling, shopping & chatting with potters making it all a wonderful community to be part of. Although it would be even more fun to be “part of the Tour” as a Guest Potter showing my work… and not just shopping the Tour!

For more information about the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour,
click here… www.minnesotapotters.com

Eight years ago this weekend, I started posting on Instagram. And this is a re-creation of my very first post! We were out for dinner and my friend & potter Emily Murphy grabbed my phone… pecked at it a bit… than handed it back and said “There, now you’re on Instagram!” The next morning I head out for the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour... and this very same sign post was my first Insta post. Several years later… and the “Instagram Addiction” is real!!! – @firewhenreadypottery

While I might “allegedly” be in Minneapolis already to play & shop at this weekend’s St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour… I wouldn’t want my SURFACE DECORATION class to miss me too much tonight. So I’ve set them up with my favorite sub, and her best demo ever!!! And I even pre-made some pieces for them to “play with” in class! Can’t wait to see what Catherine does with them as they tackle “water etching” tonight! Sadly, without me…

Looks like I’ve got some trimming to do…

I’ve heard great things about these cookies for quite awhile now… and finally made it into LEVAIN BAKERY on Randolph to try these sweet treats. And let me just say… they did NOT disappoint. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside & jam-packed with yumminess & plenty of chocolate chips!!! Well done Levain!!!

So good to see that some of the THOUSANDS of tulips
along Chicago’s Michigan Avenue are still blooming nicely!

A quick throwing session… some quick bowls before teaching class tonight!!! Always good to “squeeze in” some production work before heading downstairs to play with my Beginner’s!!!

Special kudos to Christine, our very own “Star Baker” for the week who made some amazing cookies… especially these crazy-cool tie-dye frosted sugar cookies! You know how I love me some tie-dye… and cookies too!!!

So we’ve decided that we don’t want to “spoil” any of the surprise for those who haven’t watched yet… too much. But we do want to play a game and have sweet treats. So last night Christine had Stacie in “The Pool”… as we all drew players randomly before the show started streaming. Since Christine’s player was kicked-off, it was her turn for bringing treats based on the category that took out her player. So she made three kinds of cookies to celebrate COOKIE WEEK on Episode One of “THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW.” We were celebrating Stacie who’s cookies kinda crumbled… and happy that Martin is back playing in the clay with us and “survived” the first episode on the show!

Please be kind… and don’t SPILL THE BEANS!!!

NO SPOILERS PLEASE!!! Some of us have watched all episodes, while others are taking their time. We’ve decided we can discuss Episode One this week. And then next week we can move on to Episodes Two & Three. So I would greatly appreciate no SPOILERS… especially in the Comments section. Please don’t ruin the fun for those who may not be up-to-speed yet. Thanks!