I saw a chip and dip plate somewhere recently and had it in my head that I wanted to make one.
I used my larges GR Pottery form as the base, I think its 13x17, but its the largest oval they have. I then cut 2 long strips that were 4 inches high to go around the outside edge. I used a fairly fat coil to secure the edge on the inside. Last I added a compartment in the middle to hold the dip. I secured the sides and the bottom with a coil there as well.
I let it setup overnight and then cut handles in the sides. It's really hard to see the pattern right now, but it is heritage lace with trees, bears, and deer. Fingers crossed this makes it all the way through the process.
I use my GR Pottery forms a lot for various things. My favorite stacking form is the middle 3 hexagons. It's the perfect bowl for pasta, salad, ice cream.... During ClayShareCon I bought a stack with the intention of having Craig make me a permanent stack. He glued them together, sanded down the sides, and added a handle. It worked so well and no lines!
The handle made it really easy to pull out. When I just stacked them I'd always end up with a nail mark getting out the smallest one.
When I had it upside down to create the form I stacked spacers to cover the handle. This handle took two of the 1/2" and one of the 1/4".
I left extra clay at the rim because I was going to do something with it, but ultimately decided to trim it.
I might have a rolling pin problem. I bought several in the last few months and needed a place to store them. Craig made me the last one, but it was a bit complicated. During the studio tours for ClayShareCon I noticed that someone had what looked like wine bottle holders on the wall. It seemed like a great idea so I bought them. Rather than put them up individually on the wall, Craig made a board that we hung with 7 of them.
The funny thing was that Craig didn't realize that the holders were angled so that the cork of the wine bottle would be wet. He lined up the screws. Once he saw it he was all frustrated that it's crooked. I'm just happy to have my pins not precariously stacked in a bin where every so often I drop one on my feet.
Everything in this kiln came out amazing. I tried a whole bunch of new techniques and glaze combos which has its risks, but I feel like they all paid off. Need to not let this go to my head because the next time it could totally go the other way. The first bowl which has 4 pictures is my favorite of the kiln, but they're all awesome.
All the bowls in this post are the ones I made from templates from my Cricut. I'm really happy with the shapes and how they came out. Next step there is going to be to make some smaller ones (and then likely some bigger ones too!).
A bunch of the things in this kiln are for an upcoming bingo event with my company. When Covid happened all in person events got cancelled and in May of last year we got a point where our leaders felt like we needed to meet, even if it was virtual. It was scheduled for a few hours Friday night, 10 hours on Saturday, and then another 5 hours on Sunday. After working all week on zoom meetings, it sounded awful. I needed something to entertain myself so I didn't go completely insane. I talked to a colleague about it and we came up with bingo. My company has all kinds of words that we use that are super meaningul to us, but not to anyone else. There are also lists of words that our execs say or use as examples. Last year we did it underground because I wasn't really sure how people were going to take the mocking. It is meant with love, but it is still mocking :). So we did it and not only was it fun, but I had a whole bunch of people say that it helped them pay more attention than they would have otherwise.
Even though everything is opening up, we are having another virtual gathering this weekend. But....bingo has gone mainstream and with prizes! My mugs have been so popular within the company that our marketing team suggested that they be the prizes. As I was making the mugs I decided that we needed a better prize for the grand champion (aka the person who fills their entire card). I felt bad that Sara, who won last time, didn't get anything so I made her a plate too.
All the bowls in this post are the ones I made from templates from my Cricut. I'm really happy with the shapes and how they came out. Next step there is going to be to make some smaller ones (and then likely some bigger ones too!).
A bunch of the things in this kiln are for an upcoming bingo event with my company. When Covid happened all in person events got cancelled and in May of last year we got a point where our leaders felt like we needed to meet, even if it was virtual. It was scheduled for a few hours Friday night, 10 hours on Saturday, and then another 5 hours on Sunday. After working all week on zoom meetings, it sounded awful. I needed something to entertain myself so I didn't go completely insane. I talked to a colleague about it and we came up with bingo. My company has all kinds of words that we use that are super meaningul to us, but not to anyone else. There are also lists of words that our execs say or use as examples. Last year we did it underground because I wasn't really sure how people were going to take the mocking. It is meant with love, but it is still mocking :). So we did it and not only was it fun, but I had a whole bunch of people say that it helped them pay more attention than they would have otherwise.
Even though everything is opening up, we are having another virtual gathering this weekend. But....bingo has gone mainstream and with prizes! My mugs have been so popular within the company that our marketing team suggested that they be the prizes. As I was making the mugs I decided that we needed a better prize for the grand champion (aka the person who fills their entire card). I felt bad that Sara, who won last time, didn't get anything so I made her a plate too.
The kiln is taking excruciating long to cool. When I opened this morning it was under 200, but things started pinging so I closed the lid. Here's a sneak peek of the top shelf.
I saw a picture of a candle holder that I absolutely loved. I tried to track down the artist to buy one, but their online presence was non existent for the last 5 years. So I tried to make my own. It's not as refined as I want, but I'm happy with it as a first attempt.
It reminds me of a calla lily.
This shirt is a very simple pattern of two giant granny squares. The yarn does a lot of the work in making it as gorgeous as it is. This is a unified gradient from Fiber Optic Yarns in Bramble.
The square pattern has clusters of 3 half double crochets. That's it, nothing more fancy, but how gorgeous does it look?
Been making more bowls from the templates I made with the cricut.
These are all made with KY Mudworks Speckled Brown Bear clay. I still don't really see the speckles in the clay this dark, but I do really love how the brown bear looks. It's such a soft and smooth clay. This clay was so wet I had to leave it out extra long before I could shape the bowls. This first bowl is 7 inches on the top, 6 on the bottom, and 5 inches tall.
I love these outdoor stamps from Dela Designs.
This bowl is 9 x 4 x 4.5, but I think the next time I would try a 4.5 inch bottom. I don't know if I stretched the clay or something else, but it felt like the bottom was too small.
The last bowl uses an MKM roller.
This last bowl is 8 x 4 x 5. I really like the shape of this one. I think it might end up making a really nice planter.
I got a Cricut Maker 3 for my birthday. My intension is to use it for ceramics, but I think there are also a few t-shirts in my future as well. The software is relatively easy, although there are simple things that you just can't do (why can't I just add a square border?!). My first use has been making templates for bowls. One of the awesome things about not just Cricut, but die cutting in general - there are a ton of resources out there.
Through various web sites I found Template Maker which has an option for cones - aka bowls. I started with a bowl that is 8 inches in diameter on the top, 6.5 on the bottom, and 5 tall. It's a little big right now, but it's bmix so there will be significant shrinking.
Once I had the template from Template Maker, I used Adobe Illustrator to cut it into two pieces so it wouldn't be too big for my matt. I also cleaned up the grey line in the middle so it would not cut that. On the Cricut I used the deep cut blade and the purple sticky cricut mat. Everything I read said to make sure the foam is really attached so I used my pony roller, and then realized I should have cleaned it first. I taped it together using painters tape and voila! For the bottom I used one of my GR Pottery forms.
The making was fairly basic - bevel the sides, slip and score really well, add a coil to the bottom. I also used one of my large puzzling forms from Michael Harbridge as a rounder. You can see it started off a little wobbly.
It's drying now. I still need to decide whether or not I'm going to add feet. At this point I'm thinking no, but when it's dry enough to flip over I might feel differently.
I've already made more templates to try, but haven't had the chance to make more bowls. I realized that I could make my process simpler if I use the smart vinyl. As long as the template isn't greater than 12 inches wide then I can cut it all in one piece (which also means not worrying about using the sticky mat). Then I can lay it on the craft foam, use a marker to trace, and cut it out. Bonus: if I have pottery friends who want forms I can use the vinyl again without having to cut more on the cricut.
Through various web sites I found Template Maker which has an option for cones - aka bowls. I started with a bowl that is 8 inches in diameter on the top, 6.5 on the bottom, and 5 tall. It's a little big right now, but it's bmix so there will be significant shrinking.
Once I had the template from Template Maker, I used Adobe Illustrator to cut it into two pieces so it wouldn't be too big for my matt. I also cleaned up the grey line in the middle so it would not cut that. On the Cricut I used the deep cut blade and the purple sticky cricut mat. Everything I read said to make sure the foam is really attached so I used my pony roller, and then realized I should have cleaned it first. I taped it together using painters tape and voila! For the bottom I used one of my GR Pottery forms.
The making was fairly basic - bevel the sides, slip and score really well, add a coil to the bottom. I also used one of my large puzzling forms from Michael Harbridge as a rounder. You can see it started off a little wobbly.
It's drying now. I still need to decide whether or not I'm going to add feet. At this point I'm thinking no, but when it's dry enough to flip over I might feel differently.
I've already made more templates to try, but haven't had the chance to make more bowls. I realized that I could make my process simpler if I use the smart vinyl. As long as the template isn't greater than 12 inches wide then I can cut it all in one piece (which also means not worrying about using the sticky mat). Then I can lay it on the craft foam, use a marker to trace, and cut it out. Bonus: if I have pottery friends who want forms I can use the vinyl again without having to cut more on the cricut.
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