The back stack of the soda kiln gets loaded first. I tried putting the bottles a little lower than normal. Usually the taller pieces go on the top shelf. But I don’t want them to get “blasted” with soda, so I’m experimenting by putting them a layer lower… and leaving 1-1/5 shelves of tiles on the top.

Once it’s all the way up to the arch, then you can start the two front shelves which typically load together. Again, trying to keep the bottles a little more “protected” than the top shelf “blast zone.”

And some of you have asked how I fire my Christmas ornaments. Well, I make a little tripod and then balance them upside down. This is what they looked like as they were waiting to be loaded in with the rest of the pots.

Once completed, the front of the kiln is closed up with bricks. One by one, all the way to the top. Burners on for about 15 minutes as I clean up. Then its OFF for the evening as I rush home for a few hours of sleep – and then back again early tomorrow to get it started!!!

Looks like it’s going to be a long day of glazing, wadding and loading for my soda kiln firing tomorrow!!! I unloaded my last bisque kiln this morning and now have another large batch of mugs to glaze!

I’ve also been working on my holiday ornaments adding some glaze details. Still a lot of other pots waiting for their chance to take a “dip” in the glaze too! It’s going to be a LONG night!!!

Unloaded my bisque kiln this morning and my ornaments are one step closer. Now for a touch of glaze accents, then they’re into next weekend’s soda kiln firing!

Today I finished up my latest batch of Christmas ornaments. A little more detailing, hand-built caps and some color slip accents. Drying now, but will soon go into my next soda kiln firing. Just in time for my Holiday Home Show the weekend before Thanksgiving. Mark your calendar… November 22nd & 23rd, 2014.

So a couple was here last Saturday for the Second Holiday Home Show.
They bought pottery and a few ornaments for gifts. Recently, the husband was getting ready
to give one ornament to a female co-worker. His wife caught him just in time…
and said he may want to re-think that!

So their son just stopped by to purchase two more ornaments
for a little more “appropriate” co-worker gift!!!

Many of you may have seen my extensive Christmas ornament collection when you came to the “My Home For The Holidays” Home Shows over the years. And then after this year’s Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge, I now have even more! I’ve always loved handmade ornaments. I guess because I’ve always like to “make things” as a kid. So it’s only fitting that I continue to collect handmade ornaments. And it’s even more fun now that I have so many “Talented Friends” who make so many cool things!

Growing up as a kid, every Christmas we would get a new ornament for our collection from our Grandma Mills (my Mom’s mom). She was quite crafty and worked through the year making ornaments. Many of them are still cherished keepsakes.

And then my Mom took up the tradition and started making us a new handmade ornament every year. As you can see, my Mom works more in the sewing & needlepoint world with tiny little details and a lot of counted-cross-stitch. These have merged nicely into the collection, and grace my tree every season.

Meanwhile, I’ve made a lot of friends who also like to “make things.” So many “Talented Friends” who make cool things… including cool ornaments. And so I continue to expand my Christmas ornament collection. These are just a few from my ornament collection… there are SO many more… far too many to share every one!!!

Cory McCrory                                               Roberta Polfus

Terry Hogan (front?)                                   Terry Hogan (back?)

Cory McCrory                                               Emily Murphy

Roberta Polfus                                             Cory McCrory

Marian Castro-Palanyk                              Zack Medler

Anna Leong                                                  Roberta Polfus

Emily Murphy                                              Lisa Harris

Nancy Jana-Kent                                         Emily Murphy

Terry Hogan (front?)                                  Terry Hogan (back?)

Nancy Jana-Kent                                        Marian Castro-Palanyk

Emily Murphy                                              Amy Higgason

Cory McCrory                                               Rosene Snekhaus… my FIRST art fair friends!

Terry Hogan                                                 Nancy Jana-Kent

Amy Higgason                                             Danny Mansmith

Unknown… but I got it at the “One Of A Kind Show”… and I LOVE IT.
                                                             …and I love grape soda!!! Go figure.

My journey through this year has been spotted with holiday ornaments!
When Sarah Chapman and I devised this monthly challenge, I didn’t quite realize how much work it was going to be. Nor how much fun it was going to be. It pushed me to make different things. Pushed me to met the monthly deadlines. And at the same time… I ended up with a LOT of holiday ornaments!!! Twelve months worth of ornaments… plus a few extras along the way! Why stop at twelve??? More is always better, right?

I also realized that many of my “entries” in the Ornament Challenge were only shown in process or drying to greenware. Come to think of it, I can’t even remember if I EVER showed any finished ones here on my blog??? So… to make up for that, here are all twelve of my holiday ornaments for the year.

JANUARY – stoneware wreaths with a metallic-red-glittered clay bow

FEBRUARY – soda-fired double puffed stars with a texture on both sides.

MARCH – porcelain domed white snowflakes… some glazed, some not.

APRIL – soda-fired silhouette ornament shapes in either porcelain or stoneware.

MAY – contemporary glazed porcelain discs.

And an “extra” bonus ornament… made from the cut-out circle from above!

JUNE – tiny textured porcelain fortune cookies.

JULY – soda-fired stoneware spirals with stamped patterns & slip accents.

AUGUST – terra cotta textured double stars.

And oh, but wait there’s more... soda-fired stoneware ones too!

SEPTEMBER – whimsically dangling gingerbread men made with terra cotta.

OCTOBER – soda-fired dome star cut-outs

Plus, when you have star cut-outs... you can make tiny, little star ornaments!

NOVEMBER – glazed white terra cotta snowflakes on an underglazed textured ring

DECEMBER – Ho… what more can I say? Stoneware glazed… some soda-fired, some not.

All of these ornaments will be available at my SECOND Holiday Home Show!!!
Saturday, December 14th – 10:00am-6:00pm. Contact me for address info.
Some of them are in very limited quantities. So come grab ’em up quickly.

The “online” mugs & ornaments are ready to be shipped out.
My first online sale seems to have been a pretty big success, huh?!
It’s kind of exciting to have pieces going out all around the country… places like Kansas, Utah, Maryland, Louisiana, Iowa, Florida, Vermont, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Alabama, Virginia… and of course, Illinois.

Just for the record… I’m still not a fan of shipping my one-of-a-kind pottery. I much prefer the face-to-face interaction with my customers who can touch, fondle, caress and love my textures & pots. But I feel a little guilty about not offering a few pots for the rest of you NOT in the Chicagoland area. So this “online sale” was a special event, not a regular occurrence. Yet with the success of this “online sale”… I’m sure there will be more! I’ll keep you posted.

Tis’ the season… with a lot of mugs & ornaments to pack up today!!!

Looks like ALL of the mugs have been claimed…
and we’re down to the last six ornaments!!!
They’re still looking for a good tree to hang on… yours???

Thank you all for making my first “Happy December Online Sale” a huge success!!!
In fact, this was my very first online sale EVER! I may need to consider doing more of this?
Which means I may need to “get over” my dislike of packing & shipping pottery?!