Sanbao came out with a new thing they call a Kiln Rod Bracket that I was thinking about trying. With the new hollow ornaments I made, I needed something that was going to stand up to their weight. I have some nichrome bars, but they bend over time and the ornaments are on the heavier side. Sanbao also has alumina rods that you can get which are supposed to stay straight over time.
I went back and forth on whether to get just the rods or both, but eventually went all in and got both. I was really nervous trying them out with ornaments, but I had read nothing but good things about them. The actual holder is less than an inch high, so I put kiln posts under each of the 4 corners to balance it. I was conservative in how many I hung both for the weight, but also to make sure they wouldn't touch.
You saw the results in the kiln opening, but here's what it looked like in the kiln. If you make anything that needs to hang, I'd highly recommend these two items.
This Friday, Saturday and Sunday November 1-3 I will be at the Howard County Craft Spectacular. The show is at the Howard Conty Fairgrounds and I will be in the new building in spot F5. Hope to see you there!
The new stand worked perfectly! I'll post more on that next time. The ornaments themselves are fantastic. I did the new Spectrum floating glazes on them which was a bit of a risk, but they're all great colors.
I think I'm getting a rhythm down on the grape wine chillers. I really just love making those, there's something about being able to go 3D on a vertical piece.
I mixed up the ghost mugs, highlighting with purple and orange - the pictures don't really do them justice.
When I opened the kiln to take a peak something started pinging and I closed it real quick so no peak just the big reveal.
Before we get into the glazes, I will be at Painted Whims in Catonsville, MD this weekend. The shop is going to start carrying some of my work and I will be there to kick off sales and meet anyone who stops by. Hope to see you there!
Lots more crabs in this kiln, but still not all of them. I love the Christmas Crabs, they are going to make great ornaments. All the other tiny things with hooks will be jewelry. The speckled ghosts are so cute. I don't know what it is about white speckles, but it definitely tickles my brain. Oh and my first bell! It sort of works, I need to make more now that I've learned a bunch.
The trees definitely look better with another coat of emerald.
The trees were perfect, although I wanted them to be a bit more green so I'll be adding a little more glaze to those that haven't gone through the kiln yet. The giant mushroom was from my class back in May and it finally worked out that it fit. It's just so tall, I'd get to the last shelf and it would miss by like 1/4 of an inch the last few times.