I was dreaming about spring as the temperature got really cold and this bowl came out of it. It's made with a flower rim template and draped over a bowl. I'm already envisioning bright colors for it. Maybe some Georgie's tie dye glazes.

I've had these giant bowls from Learn Fired Arts for a few months, but with seasonal and holiday stuff I haven't had an opportunity to try them. I have a bunch of things in mind for these forms, but as I was making stuff I spotted them and decided to make some bowls. They aren't perfectly smooth on the inside. I started trying to make them perfect and ended up liking the more organic look better.


The bark texture is oak from the template that I made up in Chaumont over the weekend. I don't think that I'm going to try to glaze it like bark, but I really like the texture it provides.

I've been keeping track of what I've been selling at each show this year. My number one seller last year was mugs followed closely by my appetizer plates. At each show I have a printed grid of what I've brought to the show and then just make a tick mark when someone buys something. It can be difficult when things are busy, but I really wanted the data.

I tallied up what I sold at each of the shows and then made a list of what I want to start making for 2023 shows. Something that was really obvious after the fact - it's more effective to make things in batches than in ones or twos. I know I need to make a lot of mugs and appetizer plates and if I make them in batches of 10-15 it actually takes me less time overall than if I were to make more of a variety of things.




This is the first batch of mugs based on this model. My birch and crab mugs were my most popular mugs in the speckled clay.

If you sell at shows I highly recommend using data to help you know what to make.

Last year I was using one of my sponge holders as holder for my business cards. It worked really well, but then someone wanted to buy it. So I decided I wanted to design a business card holder and here is my first attempt. I think I like the design, but we'll see how they perform once they make it through the process.

Two new Opulence glazes in this kiln. I am loving the Sea Spray and Pebble Beach combo. It works on brown and white clay!

Also really excited about the elephant ear. It's too cold to try this as a bird bath outside now, but I might try it inside just to see if it works.

KY Mudworks Brown Bear Opulence Sea Spray x2 Pebble Beach x2	Brown Bear Opulence Sea Spray x2 Pebble Beach x2
Georgie's Sand and Surf Lightly Wiped back Zinc Free Clear	Georgie's Sand and Surf Lightly Wiped back Zinc Free Clear
Laguna 60 Opulence Floating Blue x2	Opulence Pebble Beach x2
Amaco Glacier x3	Mayco Black UG wiped back Amaco Wasabi x3
This was a refire because I thought the clear looked dirty with the black UG, but this is worse with Amaco Smoke on top. Now its dirty snow	50/50 Gerstley Borate Iron Oxide Mix Clayscapes Oribe
Laguna 60 Mayco black UG wiped back. Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale, Just Froggy, 2167 clear	Laguna 60 Mayco black UG wiped back. Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale, 2167 clear
Laguna 60 Mayco black UG wiped back. Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale, 2167 clear	These are a custom order that I didn't photograph pretty before I delivered them. Mayco Basketball, Camelback, Cotton Tail, Buttercup, Tuxedo

This kiln is not as full as I usually pack my kilns, but I had my very first commission order that I needed to get done (the little birds you see on the shelf). This has a number of larger items and not a lot of small items. The last of the elephant ears is in here. This is the one I'm hoping to turn into a bird bath. I've had a solar fountain for a while just sitting around waiting for it.

Also I've been a bit behind in updating my glazing pages. They are all updated (not including this firing). I decided to break out Opulence into it's own page as I've been using (and loving) more and more of their glazes. There are actually 2 new glazes in this kiln from them - Pebble Beach and Floating Blue.

I've been wanting to make a soap dispenser for a while, but just hadn't gotten around to it. After my last show I had a customer reach out and ask me if I had any. This was the push I needed to try to make them. I got these dispenser heads from Amazon. The corks have a bit of wiggle room in them which should make this work. However, worst case scenario I've made bud vases!


I used the smallest size of De La Designs cones. I think next time I might try the medium. I had to stretch the top a bit more than I wanted to. It is loose enough now for the cork, but we shall see.




A week or so before Thanksgiving we finally had our first frost. Before we did I went out and cut the dill flowers by my front porch and put them in a vase. When we were cleaning up for Thanksgiving I put the vase on my table intending to make pots with it. Then life happened and while I went on a glazing spree I hadn't actually done anything with clay since before the holiday! The stems in the water were a little fuzzy and the flowers had dried out, but I still rolled them into clay. Since it was so wet I couldn't pick all the pieces out. I'll rub some more out when it gets leather hard and whatever is left will burn during the bisque.




This last one was made with the leaves from Learn Fired Arts since there are no real leaves left out in the garden this time of year.

Last weekend was the first indoor show that I've done. I had gotten really used to the 10 x 10 space and this one was only 10 x 6. I quickly realized that the wonderful shelves my husband built me wouldn't fit and I could only use tables. This definitely presented a new creative challenge for me to solve.




The first thing I did was buy vertical shelves you can see on the table that's in the back. Technically these are shoe racks, but they worked really well for pottery. I usually have a board that goes across my two crates that I put my mugs on, but I was able to put far more mugs on this. I think this might become part of my outdoor setup as well. I also had a lot of ornaments and magnets that were holiday themed that I put into some cute little baskets meant for tea.




I bought a mini tree (I think its a spruce) at Home Depot. It's something we can use in the yard long term, but it was perfect for displaying the ornaments. Some people got a kick of taking the ornaments of the tree and others would hunt through the basket for the right one for them. The pine needles were a little messy, but it definitely drew people in.




I had a lot of Christmas and Hannukah themed items. This squiggle tree was one of the first to sell. I still can't get over how perfect it came out.




This is one of the two trees I had made. The process to first make and then add all the leaves took a lot of time. I got a lot of compliments about how cool they were.

This kiln wasn't as packed as I normally do, but there were some things I wanted to get done before the Howard County Craft Mart this past weekend to take with me. It was a whirlwind of load the kiln, empty the kiln for a few days.

My favorite thing in the kiln is the squiggle tree. It's both simple and complex at the same time. This was actually one of the first things that sold at the show over the weekend.

I think my second favorite is the elephant ear. The depth of texture in the leaf is highlighted in the glaze.

I had some space in the kiln and I finally glazed the composite pitcher I made at Jessica Putnam Phillip's workshop at Clayscapes over a year ago. The glaze really makes this because it's so not my style, but I'm oddly drawn to it now.

Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid x3	KY Mudworks Brown Bear Amaco Honey Flux x3 Opulence Sea Spray x2
Midnight Ceramics Boxed Wine x2 Sexy Mermaid x2 on the top	On the frame - Georgie's Tree Bark wiped back lightly Zinc Free Clear x2 In the frame - Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale, Orange a Peel, Sunkissed, Fruit of the Vine
Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale, Orange a Peel, Sunkissed, Fruit of the Vine	Georgie's Sand and Surf lightly wiped back Zinc Free Clear x2
50/50 Mixture of Gerstley Borate and Red Iron Oxide on the wet clay Clayscapes Oribe	This was a refire. Originally it was 50/50 Mixture of Gerstley Borate and Red Iron Oxide on the wet clay 2167 clear Refire was Clayscapes Oribe on top
Mayco Blue UG wiped back Amaco Smoke x3	Mayco Designer Liner Red and White Mayco Cotton Tail Opulence Emerald x2 2167 clear over Santa
Opulence Sea Spray x2	Amaco Deep Sea x3 Opulence Emerald x2
Left: Georgie's Sand and Surf White Cloud x2 Middle: Laguna 60 Georgie's Sand and Surf White Cloud x2 Right: Laguna 60 Georgie's Sand and Surf Eggshell Wash x2 Leaf: Amaco Matcha Gloss x2 Stem: Amaco Ancient Copper x2	Left: Mayco Green UG Opulence Emerald x2 Middle: Mayco Dragon Red UG 2167 Clear Right: Mayco Eggplant x3 Tops: All Amaco Palladium x4
Mayco Green UG Mayco Designer Liners 2167 clear	Mayco Designer liner Red, Light Green, Yellow, White, Orange, Blue Left and Center: 2167 Clear Right: Opulence Emerald x2
I glazed these months ago and didn't write it down, but they're cool :)	Left: Midnight Ceramics Spiderwort x3 Right: Georgie's Cherry Fix x2
Mayco Designer Liner Red and White 2167 clear	Mightnight Ceramics Malibu Barbara x3
Mayco Shipreck x3 KY Mudworks Daffodil x3	So sad it ran Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid x2 Amaco Palladium x4 on the top