Here's the middle layer. Sending these from my phone so have to send 1 at a time. Espresso set, 2nd kids set, & the big bowl is a special order. Kind of reminds me of a sunset over the mountains. What do u think?

Top layer in the kiln. I really need to get some kiln wash on those shelves. Just too cold out there lately for me to do it. the plate w/ the flower on it is one of my test pieces. I'm not happy w/ it but i think i know how to get it where i want it. you'd think i'd test my ideas out on a scrap piece of clay... The other stuff here came out pretty good though.

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Dust storm!

We've lived in Montana for almost 3 yrs and i've never seen a dust storm till today. I was working working on glazingthe last few pieces for my next glaze fire and all the sudden it got DARK! I looked out the window and it was BROWN out there! I stuck my head out the door and it felt like my face was sand blasted. The tumbleweeds were wizzing by like crazy and i couldnt even see the neighbor's house across the street. you can barely see it in the picture above. The wind's been howling all day, nothing unusual here, but the dust storm was a new one for me! Then of course it started snowing and now the suns out. Go figure...

Glaze experiments

New glaze experiments i'm working on. Some plates and a kids dinner set. I'm Planning on covering with white glaze and hoping the color comes through. Will probably have the kiln loaded again by friday if all goes well. The kids have been sick this week though so it's slow going. I'll probably come down w/ it next...

my tooth fairy boxes are too small!!

you guessed it, gracie lost another tooth tonight. that thing was so loose she actually pulled it out herself after i tied the string on it. no dramatics like last time. well, not much anyway. she of course wanted to use one of the new tooth fairy boxes and suprise, suprise she chose the gruesome pink one lol. so she stuck her tooth in there and rubberbanded it together to keep the tooth safe. turns out the tooth fairy couldn't fit the money in there! the fairy had to fold the money up as small as it would get and tie a little ribon around it to keep it folded. then shove it in the box as far as possible and thank goodness for the rubberbands lol. there's definitely somethign to be said for using your own work. i've learned a huge amount just using my crappy 2nds around the house.

so... note to self... bigger boxes! no more dark colors on the inside. and i think i'll put the words "TOOTH FAIRY" on the outside so there's no confusion ;)

new pictures

just some quick pictures of the stuff i pulled out of the kiln today. i used the flash on most of these so the colors are not quite right, but no time to pull out the photo equipment right now. you get the idea though... i'm pretty pleased w/ most of it. there was one order of soup bowls that turned out less than attractive that i need to remake. but the other orders turned out fantastic so i'm happy over all.

juice cup, testing out some colors for a custom order
this is an order of 10 ice cream bowls, this glaze combo is my favorite! i also have a set of 4 nesting bowls in this same combo. it started out as a set of 5, but the big bowl cracked as i suspected it would. maybe that'll teach me to trim things before they dry out too much!
juice cups in the same blue/white combo
ring holders and an eyeglass holder experiment. they hold my glasses nicely for the first attempt!
got an order for 10 of these w/ the bears on them.
the next 2 are the tooth boxes i'm working on. the one on the left is one of the earlier pieces, a little clunky i think. the ones on the right are later attempts and i'm liking them better standing up on the root of the tooth like that. i think i've worked out the best way to make these, just have to work out a few more kinks. i'm not quite happy w/ the glaze on these. i maybe got it a little thin and i think the colors inside are a little darker than what i was wanting. and for some reason the clay where the lids sit is darkened a little. not sure why that's happening. over all i'm happy w/ where these are going. (just in time too, gracie has 3 VERY loose teeth! time to get out the string again lol)

a business card holder. (i can't stand my business cards - ACK!)
a few more glaze combo tests for an order. i really like the juice cup there, and the ramekins are handy to have around too. they're great for baking up some large muffins or a single serving casserole for the kids.

so what do you think? any comments or suggestions are more than welcome. the bulk of this kiln load was orders and i'm glad most turned out well. i've got some interesting things coming up in the next load though. hopefully by the end of the week i'll have more pictures for you.

been a busy week...

lots going on here this week. mostly family stuff but some clay stuff too. i've fired 2 kiln loads of greenware. then washed it all, waxed it all, and have almost glazed it all. i figure i have enough for at least 3 glaze kiln loads, very possibly 4. that'll teach me to just keep on making the stuff and not fire up my kiln more often lol. i'll hopefully get the kiln going tonight and will have some pictures for you guys on monday if all goes well. this kiln load will mostly be orders i need to fill, but i should have some things to list in my etsy shop. i think i'll take a few pieces to the local gift shop too and see how that goes. come to think of it, tourist season is coming up, maybe i should make some touristy stuff. hummm... time to buy more clay haha. i've forbid myself to buy any more clay until i get all these pieces finished and either mailed out, delivered, and/or up for sale somewhere.

and on the studio front, my husband is down in the garage as i type installing some drywall. so no more walk-through walls! i think i'm getting the layout firmed up in my head now and the end is in sight, i'm very excited to get out there working again instead of using the dining room table. over the years i've worn the finish off of it in spots! good thing i want to refinish it anyway.

he's also told me to go ahead and buy the kiln controller i want. now, this is just the controller board part i'm talking here. he's building one for me on the cheap instead of spending almost $1000 on an after market one. he's still got to buy all the stuff to make it an actual kiln controller and install it, but it's a start right? he says he can do it. i took one look at the wiring diagram and said 'you sure you don't just want to buy one?' but he's pretty confident so i say go for it, all the while keeping my fingers crossed ;)

so stay tuned to see how the glaze fire went. i'm doing some experiments and am anxious to see how they turn out. guess we'll see in the next few days...