Great fun in my mailbox this weekend…
The posters for the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour are out!!!

Mark your calendars for May 10th, 11th & 12th to make a trip up north
for an incredible weekend of pottery! This year there will be 50 well-known potters
from around the country showing at the seven local studios.

Sure, most of the standard favorites will be there… Bob Briscoe, Matt Metz, Suze Lindsay,
Steven Hill, Sylvie Granatelli, Ellen Shankin, and Delores Fortuna!!! But there are also a
few new faces on the Tour that I’m excited about too! Great artists. Great fun. Great pots!!!

Tis’ the season for family, friends, the sharing of gifts… and a lot of yummy food!
I was “assigned” to bring dessert for our family Christmas dinner. So I made a double
chocolate cheesecake with a brownie bottom crust. Pretty tasty if I do say so myself…
and even tastier when served on some handmade pottery!!!

My Christmas Eve is traditionally spent with my parents and their friends The Muellers.
I’ve know The Muellers since fourth grade when Alice Mueller came into my classroom
and gave presentation about joining a 4-H Club. I was hooked and wanted to join, but there
wasn’t a club close by. So I “convinced” my parents to become 4-H Club Leaders!
And the rest is history. They were leaders all the way through my sister’s involvement.
And I was involved all the way into my college Freshman year – when I also won a trip
to the National 4-H Congress for “Arts & Crafts.” Go figure…

Anyway, Christmas Eve once again did not disappoint. When they all return from Christmas
Eve Mass, I’ve got all of my Mom’s snacks all prepped, cooked & ready to serve.
Not surprisingly, my parents to have a rather “vast” collection of my pottery, and she had
already pulled out & chosen which snack was going to go on which pottery piece. So it was
an evening of gifts, snacks, hors’ doeuvres… and classic pottery!

You can almost see that she has some “classics” in her collection. The bowl with the
Chex Party Mix (which we have forever referred to as “Nibbley”) is an example of where
my stamping obsession started. With a simple line of stamps around the rim.  It was a
slippery slope and now there’s a LOT more stamping where that come from.

As the year comes to an end and you’re looking forward to less-hectic days
of January that follow, what are you going to do?! Why not a new hobby?
You know you’ve always liked to play in the mud… to get your hands dirty…
so why not put that to use and try wheelthrowing pottery?!

My new pottery class begins on Tuesday, January 8th from 7:00pm-10:00pm.
Beginning & Advanced Beginning Wheelthrowing Class.
So that means that it’s good for anyone who wants to play in the clay. Whether
you’ve never touched clay before, or dabbled with it a few years ago, or even just
want to come play with us for ten weeks… pretty much all levels are welcome!

Click here to register for my class – Tuesday nights from 7:00pm-10:00pm!
Be sure to register soon, as my class typically fills up early – with a waiting list.
If you register by December 17th, you’ll save $20 for Early Registration!

While replenishing the shelves for this Saturday’s Holiday Home Show, I was excited
when I saw the sun shining through the window and hitting this temoku glazed platter
in just the right way! Streaks of sunshine mixed with streaks of shadows. Perfection.

On my way to the Lillstreet Holiday Opening Party tonight, I made a quick stop-off
at the Ceramics Showcase in Evanston. While I “should have” been at Lillstreet getting
ready in my studio… instead I was hanging out with my friends and doing a little shopping!

While I am not part of this collection of potters, three of “My Talented Friends” are.
So I stopped by early to see if I could help anyone set up, and they were pretty much all done.
So I got to stand around and chat… and shop! But here they are from left to right…
Cory McCrory, Roberta Polfus & Delores Fortuna.

So if you’ve got time this weekend for some great ceramic work, be sure to stop by
the Evanston McGraw YMCA and say hello to Cory, Roberta & Delores for me!!!

Part of the fun of Thanksgiving is sharing food with your friends & family. Taking time
to make something homemade to share. And I always find it better to share my homemade
treats in homemade pots! So this year, I was in charge of appetizers. So I made a cheese
spread with sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta cheese and more! So yummy.
Special thanks to Rosene & Gerry for sharing this yummy recipe… so I could share!

My cousin Kim was in charge of the vegetable. And Thanksgiving wouldn’t be quite the same
if we didn’t have that “traditional” green bean & mushroom soup casserole! Which, if I must
say myself, always tastes better when baked in one of my own handmade oval casseroles!

I also made another pumpkin marble cheesecake with gingersnap crust.
My sister was in charge of the pies. I figured you can always have more dessert, right?!

And a little plate of chocolate fudge is always a welcome addition… even if it does have
a “secret” ingredient in it. I got the recipe from one of my Lillstreet students. We talked
about it in class, she shared the recipe and I just had to make a batch to share with everyone!
Of course I would never share the “secret” ingredient until AFTER they’ve tried it!!!

One more thing… here’s what’s left of the cheese spread.
Luckily, you can see the bowl even better!

Well, it’s six-o’clock and my Holiday Home Show has officially come to an end.
A lot of pots in clay box “shopping carts” went home with a lot of happy shoppers!
Thanks again to everyone who made it out this weekend to kick-off holiday shopping
season! And if you didn’t make it… don’t worry. There’s a “really good chance” that
there “may” be another chance somewhere around Saturday, December 8th.
More details to come… and thanks again!

Still setting up for this weekend’s Holiday Home Show…
and I just surpassed 100 MUGS!!! Whoo-hoo! Plenty of mugs for everyone!

This weekend is my big Holiday Home Show. And I’m setting up all day today.
While unpacking crates I found this bowl that apparently didn’t “survive” the trip
home from the Art Detour Northwoods?! At least it’s good to know that my wall
thickness is pretty darn consistent!!!

And it’s also good to know that there are a LOT more crates and a LOT more bowls
to unpack. Plenty of great pieces in every room of my place!!!