Sangria is a great glaze and I really love it on this new texture. I need to make more things with that texture. Lots of leaves in this kiln. The grape leaves came out awesome as did the maples.

Spectrum Sangria x2	Spectrum Sangria x2 Bird Mayco Bluebeard x2 Dandelion
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Leaves - Mayco Hot Tamale, Jack o Lantern, Sun Kissed, Just Froggy, Java Bean Bird - Mayco bluebird, dandelion Inside, handle and Rim - Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid x3	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Leaves - Mayco Hot Tamale, Jack o Lantern, Sun Kissed, Just Froggy, Java Bean Inside, handle and Rim - Amaco Tangelo x3
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Leaves - Mayco Hot Tamale, Jack o Lantern, Sun Kissed, Just Froggy, Java Bean Inside, handle and Rim - Kentucky Mudworks Morning GLory x3	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Leaves - Mayco Hot Tamale, Jack o Lantern, Sun Kissed, Just Froggy, Java Bean Inside, handle and Rim - Mayco Frosted Lemon x3
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Inside and Rim - Midnight Ceramics Bogeyman x3 Stamps Mayco Silver Lining, Bluebeard, Cotton Tail, Tuxedo	This is just the other side - such a cute alien Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Inside and Rim - Midnight Ceramics Bogeyman x3 Stamps Mayco Silver Lining, Sour Apple, Tuxedo
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Green Opal x3 Blue Hydrangea x2 Handle Amaco Dark Green x3	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Rasberry Mist x3 Peppered Plum x2
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Rasberry Mist x3 Amaryllis x2	Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Green Gloss x3 White Gloss Dots Worm Mayco Tuxedo x2 2167 Clear on the bottom
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Red Gloss x3 White Gloss Dots Worm Mayco Tuxedo x2 2167 Clear on the bottom	Mayco Red Iron Wash Slightly wiped back Clayscapes Oribe dipped
Mayco Red Iron Wash Slightly wiped back Clayscapes Oribe dipped	Mayco Red Iron Wash Slightly wiped back Clayscapes Oribe dipped
Mayco Red Iron Wash Slightly wiped back Clayscapes Oribe dipped	Mayco Red Iron Wash Slightly wiped back Clayscapes Oribe dipped
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail x2 Hot Tamale x2 2167 clear

It's been so hot that my shelves have piled up. I have glazed and glazed and yet I still don't have empty kiln shelves. Here's the first of the progress though. My napkin holder and the pitcher with the new texture on the top look amazing. I hope that the rest of the grape leaves look like this one because those are perfect too. Also no dead worms on the mushrooms this time!

I might be out of control on the 3D scandi things. I had this ornament that just wasn't fancy enough and turned it into a 3D ornament. I think I want to make this glittery.

When I was at retreat with Michael Harbridge back in May, I was sitting with Debi from De La Designs and had the idea for a scandi pumpkin that was like her scandi trees. When I made the trees, I remembered that I hadn't made them yet. I learned a lot in my first attempt. The first is that I need to make sure that the bottoms are flat. The second is that I probably should have used a 60 degree cut instead of a 45. All that said, I'm still really excited by this and want to make a few more. I'm thinking a witches hat would be really cool like this too.

How cute are these tiny little scandi trees? I could make a whole forrest of these.

I had a request for a colander fruit bowl from a friend. My first attempt was much wider, but she was looking for something taller and narrower. This, of course, is upside down, but I neglected to take a picture before I added the feet.


I accentuated the seem with a second stamp.




This is the first bowl that was much wider. I still really like it and might end up keeping it for myself.




I really like the pattern of the holes on this one.

These turned out sooooo cute! I used the Christmas in July Mystery Box Cutters from De La Designs. Debi did a demo on Clayshare, but also provides step by step pictures on her web site. Making these was time consuming, but not actually hard. I can't wait to make a few more. I used the Gingerbread and Traditional house cutters. In this first go round I kept them separate, but I think in future iterations I might mix them.

I ended up making the gingerbread a luminary and left the traditional as a cookie jar.

I cannot look at this tree and not see Dr. Seuss characters winding around it. It's made by smooshing balls of clay onto it.

Ironically one of my snowmen "melted". I noticed him leaning and it was a cute lean, but one morning I came into the studio and he was on the floor. Sad. I did do something a bit different than I've done before - I let the pieces setup overnight prior to attaching them. I find that the bottom pumpkin can't handle the weight when its too wet and this clay was very wet. The baby snowman is because I had extra clay and so I cut 3 more of the smallest ones. I was going to make pumpkins, but then the baby snowman popped into my head.




This is how they look as they setup overnight.




I might try making some in laguna 60 with the intent of glazing them with snow. I love how the speckles come through on other things and I think it would work here.

Is it time for trees already? I need to make a few of these and they take so long that it is! I started by sitting and making just a lot of leaves. I think I made 40-45 of each size. That's more than I need for one tree, but less than is likely needed for two. It's not an exact science because the leaves don't go on the same way twice. I have a tv in my studio so I just sat for like an hour and made leaves.




Next I put clay around the form. It's important to have paper under there so you can take it off the form later and it still has something helping it stay in shape. The smoothing doesn't need to be perfect because it will be covered with leaves.




I start by putting leaves on the bottom and then add rows going up to the top.




Adding the leaves is actually a fairly quick process if you've made them all first. Probably only takes 20 minutes to add them all and shape it. I will let it setup under plastic for a bit before taking it off the form. I find if I take it off too soon the bottom sags a bit.

We were up at the cabin last week and the lily pads were in full bloom. You might remember last year I sent my husband out on the canoe to get them for me, but this year I have a new kayak/paddleboard and was able to do it myself. I probably looked ridiculous to anyone watching. It's a sit on top and it's really stable because it's meant to be both a kayak and a paddleboard. So I would pick the lily pad that I wanted and steer myself towards it. Then I'd put my foot in the water and try to catch the stem between my toes. The smaller ones I could break with just my foot, the larger ones I'd have to pass from foot to hand and pull hard. Again, I probably looked ridiculous, but it got the job done.

I've learned from the past that I need to use the lily pads within a couple of days (and to keep them sealed in the refrigerator). I made a few different plates and platters. These lily pads were definitely more brittle than some of the ones in the past and only a few were reusable. The rest were torn to pieces to pull them off.




I used a mixture of 50/50 iron oxide and gerstley borate on this bowl. I know that I'm going to love the look when it comes out of the kiln, but this is soooo messy. Iron oxide just gets on everything and has to be wiped down multiple times. This is why I don't use it more often.

One other thing - I was careful to not put the water I was using from this back into my Cink. Last year I put the water in and within a couple of weeks the water stunk so bad. It was also so very gross when I cleaned out all the traps.

I decided I wanted to try some texture on a few of the ornaments I made last week. The first one I tried carving, but it was a little too thin in areas. Then I remembered my DiamondCore Tools Impression Set that I bought a couple of months ago and haven't had the time to try out.

I had a bit of a learning curve figuring out how to make things symetrical one a shape that isn't the same diameter at any given spot, but I like how they came out and I think that the glaze will go a long way to hide some of the imperfections that I'm probably the only one who can see anyway. I need to use these stamps more, it's amazing how easily they all fit together and create patterns.