just saw an excellent scary movie

i just had to tell somebody about this movie! if you like scary movies i just finished watching one of the creepiest scariest horror movies i've seen in years. REC is the name of the movie, a spanish subtitled bloodfest about a bunch of people confined to an apt building because of an infection. the infection is something like the rage virus in 28 days later. it had my heart pounding and i was squirming in my seat and biting my nails, literally. in all a great movie if you like lots of suspense and gore. not for everybody i know, but we sure liked it.

haven't had alot to say the last week or so. i fired a bisque load earlier in the week and i'm working on mixing up a few glazes to test out. also bought the glaze master program and i'm trying to figure out how it works and get my recipes programed into it. not much more i'm afraid. i did get a couple more requests for some mugs and other things this week so that's good. i really need to get my etsy shop up and going.

but i'm a bit preoccupied lately w/ what's goign on w/ kylie. we've got an appt w/ a geneticist on tues along w/ an OT eval later that afternoon. just too much to think about...

can't get pink out of my head!!!

i've been singing this song all day and it's driving me nuts. something by pink. gary rith posted it on his blog this morning and my son HAD to listen to it several times, and now he keeps asking me for it off and on. (thanks a lot gary) so i've been singing about countdowns and scary clowns as i'm trimming my plates and bowls. will it ever stop??!?!

yesterday i got the kids dinners sets i wanted to do thrown, all 4 of them. made each one different and tried to match the pieces somewhat. got them trimmed up this morning while kylie was literally strapped to my side in her little papoose thingie. i'd forgotten about that baby carrier/wrap thing i had (mine's a moby wrap), but she was wanting to be held and i was wanting to clean the kitchen so i dug it out and it worked so well i started trimming stuff after the kitchen was cleaned up. i think she enjoyed it till the temptation got too much for her and she started squirming to get to my tools. so she was on the loose when i was trimming the last bowl and darned if i didn't get the bottom too thin. so i made a thin disc of clay, stuck it in the bottom of the bowl and stamped it w/ a sun stamp i have. worth a try right? we'll see how it works. i also added a sun to the plate and cup that goes w/ it. it looks pretty cool and could work wonders for my son who has too much energy to actually sit down and eat most days..."eat your food till you see the sun" think it'll work? we'll see...
meanwhile, kylie's crying again...

I got my 12x12!!

what a great day for me so far lol, kylie decided to take a nap this morning and i actually got 14 pieces thrown before she woke up. small pieces yes, but i'll take what i can get. i made 4 ring holders, 8 ramekins, a mug for my 6yo, and my mom suggested a holder for eye glasses so i'm tinkering w/ the idea and made one. who knows if it'll work or not but we'll see. i'm lucky if mine make it off my face and on to the night stand before i'm asleep lol.

i'd planned on making this stuff last night but kylie wouldn't go to sleep and man was she awful. maybe that's why the nap this morning. so now i'm off to helena after lunch to take the kiddos to their therapies, not likely to have more wheel time till after the munchkins are in bed. hopefully i'll have the energy tonight to finish up those kids dinner sets.

and on a quick personal note, i think i may have found a doctor in PA that will be able to help kylie w/ her smell. he's going to get in touch tomorrow or thurs for some more info, but so far he doesn't think she's got TMAU thank goodness. very exciting after so long waiting for an answer.

facebook is confusing. don't know why i bother. some day i want to have it all networked w/ my website and this blog, but i have a feeling it'll be awhile lol...

my husband's home tonight so i do get some time at the wheel after dinner, i can't wait! i did manage to get some cleaning and organization done in there today, but the baby only took 1 30min nap so couldn't do a whole lot. on the agenda - 4 kids dinner settings, some little ramekins (sp?), a few mugs, and a few other things i can't think of right now. stay tuned to see how i do!

went to archie bray today

here's a picture of one of my favorite sculptures on the grounds at archie bray. i haven't been everywhere there is to go there, but i pass this by everytime i go to the clay biz and it always catches my eye. i don't know what it is about this grouping, but i just love it. i want it in my front yard lol. i'll get some closer pictures when the snow's gone.
i really do just love that place. there's sculptures big and small everywhere you look and everybody's always so friendly. i can't believe i didn't know it was even here when we made the decision to move to MT. i remember being worried i wouldn't be able to find a local place to get supples, little did i know lol. i haven't had a chance to take any classes or workshops there but i hope to sometime. they're not exactly cheap, but i suppose what you learn and who you learn it from would be quite valuable. my problem is finding the time to do it esp considering it takes me almost an hour to get there. but i was in helena today for therapies for my kids and had to go by to get the colbalt and copper carbs that the guy forgot to give me last time. the guys are so helpful in there and sometimes i feel like a total moron talking to them (i really have alot to learn!) but i feel comfortable in there at the same time. i hated the place i had to go to when we lived in VA. the ladies in there were rude, unhelpful, and just plain snotty, but that was the only place to go that wasn't 2+ hrs away. after dealing w/ them for a coule years the first time i went into the clay business at archie bray it was complete culture shock. they were so nice and helpful and never made me feel like an idiot.

i've almost got a kiln load of pots done!! i havent' fired up my kiln since early december. it's been such slow going but i'm finally getting into the groove again and i'm actually getting some things done lately. i'll be bisque firing soon!

the last few days i've gotten several large plates and some tea bowls thrown, and i got an order for 10 ice cream bowls so got them thrown too. and, wonders of all wonders, i got them all trimmed w/o them drying out too much. i did trim right through the bottom of 2 plates and a tea bowl though darnit. oh well... and tonight after i got the munchkins to bed i threw 9 more of my wavy mugs. hadn't planned on making more of them, but i'm really drawn to the loose shape and i tweaked them a bit so i think i'll be very happy w/ the end result.

tomorrow i've got a full afternoon of therapys for my 2 youngest so won't get anything done during the day. but i'm kind of coming up w/ my own 12x12 challenge to motivate me, only my 12 are to be made by midnight instead of noon! i really tried to do michael kline's assignment last week, but there's no way i can get the time to actually make 12 anythings by noon w/ the baby up my butt all day lol. seems like the best time for me to get on the wheel is either when my husband has the kids or after they're in bed which is what i did tonight. of course i only have 9, but i ruined 3 balls of clay experimenting a bit.

in all i feel good about my progress the last couple weeks. it's so nice to feel good about what i'm doing instead of getting down on myself because i can't even find the time to make a mug. plus i got a confidence booster today when i was at the bank drive through. the teller asked me "aren't you the ceramics lady?" (i love small towns lol) turns out she bought a tray from me a couple months back and is really happy w/ it. i've gotten a few other nice complements from customers recently. always nice to hear good things. more in a few days...

i'm mad. well, not really. i'd planned on doing michael kline's assignment to make 12pieces before 12noon. didn't happen. kylie just would not cooperate. i did manage to get lots of clay wedged today so that's something i suppose. i do find that this blogging thing is motivating me to actually get a few things done. it's nice for me to have a goal for the day even if most days i don't make it. i could do w/o the running commentary going through my head all day though lol. i write entries in my head about laundry being the bane of my existance. or why doesn't my husband know where anything goes in the kitchen. that's one thing that's driving me crazy. but i've met some nice people in the last few months and i'm actually getting a few things done so i'm happy.

3 new platters

here's a few pictures of some platters i started yesterday.

i like this one alot. just sort of winged it and this is what happened. there's some ball like feet on the bottom that hold it about 1/4" off the table so i can glaze the bottom too. i think i'll go back and put little holes in the feet so it can be hung on the wall easier.


i used a textured towel to put a subtle texture on this one. the handles are hollow tubes i made w/ my extruder. i just cut a slit and attached them to the slab so it's open inside. not sure about the feet though. i wanted loops so it could be hung on the wall but they remind me of tractor treads. it's growing on me a little but i may still change it.



still have to finish this one. this turned out to be a horse shoe themed tray, sure didn't plan it that way but oh well. used the foot of one of my son's horses for the horse shoe. the the horse is probably 18" tall, should have gotten a picture of me holding hte horse over the clay to get the imprint lol. maybe the horse will fall apart and i can keep a foot... i still have to attach the handles when they dry out a bit and i think will cut out the tray some where the handles join. nothing else has gone as planned on this, i'll probably do something different when i get working on it lol.

I have walls! well, sort of...

my studio is coming along, there are walls now. yes, you can walk through them but that will be fixed soon enough. the electric outlets are next, plus my husband has to run more power over to the corner where the kilns are for the controller i'm getting and also the kiln vent. the broken window has been fixed and we're going to add 2 more windows to the other wall to let in some natural light and for airflow during the summer. and the new item on the list, although probably towards the bottom, are french doors to replace the crappy garage door. we'll have to fill in some space most likely and the siding on the outside will look kind of funky so i think i'm going to make some tiles or somethign to fill in the space between the door and the siding. should be pretty cool.
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been busy so just a quick update. woke up the other morning to this
it looked like a crystal sculpture. it snows a fair amount here but the snow isn't worth a darn. snow balls fall apart, snow men look kind of pathetic, you can't sled in it very well, and the stuff blows away when the wind blows which is almost constant. we do get some build up here and there, mainly behind the house where a whirl wind is formed between the house and retaining wall. it burried my husbands truck last year while the front yard was almot swept clean by comparasion. skiers like it i hear but last time i skied i couln't stop and almost ended up in the parking lot. quite embarassing considering i was screaming my head off at the time. this snow was so fine it coated everything in this fine white powder and i had to take a picture. of course the picture is nothing compared to what it really looked like but oh well...

here's the soup bowls i've been workign on i'll go over them one more time when they're almost dry but they're headed for the kiln as soon as they're dry.

here's the espresso cup set

and i got a request for another tooth box so here it is.
i think the next one i'm goign to stretch out the roots a bit more and make actual feet. i'm really liking these things, planning on making a few and glazing them in a matt white w/ pastel colors on the inside. the one i made for my daughter is splotchy pink on the inside and i keep thinking of a rotted tooth when i look in there lol. anyway, kids are at school and baby's napping so i'm off to work.