I made some more pumpkins this week. I knew they were awesome, but they were also one of the highlights of the show over the weekend. People really loved them. Here are two new ones in clay form that are now drying.


You might remember that this is what the last 2 looked like finished.




I have another pumpkin mold that's a bit more short and wide that I used the same technique on. I think this cutie is going to be awesome too. Now to get all 3 to make it through the glaze process. The pumpkins are really sturdy once they get through glaze, but as greenware they are so fragile. I was so nervous last time on what seems like a very long walk up the basement stairs and to the garage.




Speaking of fragile....I also attempted to make another bark/leaf globe last night. This isn't a great picture, but its the best I could do in the form. The last time I did this was at Michael Harbridge's workshop. I had to think back and remember how I did this. My work table is a lot higher than Michael's folding table and that made it a bit more challenging.




This is the finished piece from the workshop. I left the wet globe at Michael's house and he bisque fired it for me and then mailed it. Going to be interesting getting it into bisque. This one scares me more than the pumpkins! It's just so gorgeous that it's worth it!

This one pumpkin gave me so much trouble. I could not get it to stay on it's stilt. I did all of the other pumpkins on a different shelf and then I went back to this one. I was so proud of myself for getting it to stay. Ha! The blue thing is a part of the fish 2.0 that I'm making for Craig.







I brought it up to Craig to show him the "progress" and he immediately turned it into a dog hat. Who wears it better?




These things happen sometimes. I think the fish will work with one less body piece and I can always make another. I also think maybe I can market this dog hat thing ;)

This past weekend I was at the MacKenzie-Childs Artisan Craft Festival in Aurora NY. It was their first time holding this festival, but I hope that they decide to continue. There were great crowds both Friday and Saturday. Sunday was a little slower, but still had a good number of people.

This was my first show that was out of state and required staying at a place overnight. So what did I learn? First, MacKenzie-Childs puts on a really good show. Starting with the drop off which was really well organized with time slots. We got the booth "empty" setup on Thursday afternoon.


This is my setup from Friday. I am still loving the shelves that Craig built for me. It enables me to display the more artsy items separate from the more tactical items in my booth.




The shelves work really well. My one complaint of them is that he intentionally made it so that the biggest shelf was on the bottom. That means that I can't display some of my pieces like the lemon plates at eye level. I'm not sure it matters though as peopel did come in and interact with the shelves at just about every level.




On the right side of my booth is more tactical items like the mugs and some smaller plates. It has been interesting finding the balance between having enough variety out for people to see vs not making things too cluttered. I ended up setting up slightly differently each day. Also during the day I'd move things around. It's the first time I've really done that and I think it worked well.




I didn't realize how dark this picture came out with the light behind it. I should have taken it later in the day. I had a new jewelry setup for this show. I still didn't sell a lot of jewelry. I'm not sure if that's because I still don't have it displayed well or if people just think ceramic jewelry is too heave or people don't like my jewelry or if it's the display. Going to have to do more research on this one.
Speaking of research, I have a clipboard of what I have and then as I make sales I record what I've sold. You know when that's difficult to do- when there is a line of people waiting to buy stuff. I mean, it's great to have a line of people wanting to buy my stuff, but it was also stressful.




There was a gentleman in the next tent selling felt flowers. You could go into his booth and make your own bouquet. I always mean to have fresh flowers in my vases to show off what they are, but never have the time. Leaph Boutique was the perfect solution to this. Now I'll always have flowers, he even styled them for me.




Part of the expense of the weekend was because we rented a house so we could bring the dogs with us. It's just a really expensive area. Willow approved though.




The view from the house was also amazing.




All in all this was a great experience. I do hope that MacKenzie-Childs decides to make this an annual event. I don't know that I want to do other out of town events, but I would strongly consider doing this one again next year.

Originally I was going to try to get 2 kiln loads in over the weekend before the MacKenzie-Childs show happening this weekend September 30 - October 2 10am-5pm. I decided to pack for the show on Friday night and while packing decided - pushing myself to do 2 kiln loads wasn't necessary. However, there were a few things that I did want to get glazed to bring to the show.

It's hard to pick favorites from this kiln because it's a lot of goodness, but the pumpkins and the birch vase definiely pull ahead to the front. I don't know why I don't make more extruded pots. I always love how they turn out, they're just so unique. I made a vase like the tree one in this kiln load recently on b-mix. I had also made several soap dishes on the Laguna 60 that I really liked with that pattern. I decided to combine the two and WOW.

The ghost jewelry came out better than I imagined in my head. They're just so cute. I made 3 of the bats to start. One didn't make it home from Chaumont. One didn't make it into the bisque. This is the last one and it's also so cute.

Mayco Jack o Lantern x3, Just Froggy x3, Sour Apple x3, Java Bean x3	Laguna 60 Mayco Black underglaze wiped back all over Mayco Root Beer x2 Mayco Cotton Tail x2, Hot Tamale, Sunkissed, Jack o Lantern, Fruit of the Vine 2167 clear over the trees
Georgie's Autumn Foliage wiped back Georgie's Zinc Free Clear	Mayco Kings Blue underglaze wiped back Amaco Smoke x3
Transfers from Elan 2167 clear Amaco Snapdragon x3	Transfers from Elan 2167 clear Amaco Snapdragon x3
Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid x3	Laguna 60 Spectrum Sangria x2
Laguna 60 Coyote Pam's Blue x3	Laguna 60 Amaco Blue Midnight x3
Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Hot Tamale, Sunkissed, Jack o Lantern, Fruit of the Vine 2167 clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Hot Tamale, Sunkissed, Jack o Lantern, Fruit of the Vine 2167 clear
Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Hot Tamale, Cotton Tail 2167 clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Hot Tamale, Cotton Tail 2167 clear
Column 1: Coyote Dragon's Eye x2 Column 2: Opulence Sea Spray x2 Column 3: Coyote Amethyst x2 Column 4: Mayco Fruit of the Vine x3, Sour Apple x3	Column 1: Laguna Power Turquoise x3 Column 2: Coyote Hydra Scale x2 Column 3: Opulence Emerald x3 Column 4: Coyote Frosted Topaz x2
Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Jack O Lantern x3, Just Froggy x3	These are all Mayco Stroke and Coat's but I lost track of which is which in the kiln
All Mayco stroke and coats, lots of blending	Mayco black designer liner 2167 clear
Mayco black designer liner 2167 clear	Mayco black designer liner 2167 clear
Mayco black designer liner 2167 clear	Mayco black designer liner 2167 clear
Mayco Tuxedo x3, Cotton Tail x3, Hot Tamale x3	Laguna 60 Coyote Peacock Green x3
Laguna 60 Coyote Pam's Blue x3	Kentucky Mudworks Comet x3
Kentucky Mudworks Neptune x3	Coyote Pam's Blue x3
Outside Mayco Regal Purple wiped back Amaco Lavender x3 Inside and rim Mayco Lavender Mist x3 Muddy Waters x2	Mayco Tuxedo x3 in the trees Coyote Parakeet x3
Kentucky Mudworks Hydra x3, Triton x2

Last kiln opening before the MacKenzie-Childs Artisan Festival this weekend. There are a few things in here that I am super excited about and hoping that they came out ok (well I'm hoping for fantastic).

The pumpkin looks like it came out amazing. There is another larger one on the full shelf below it that I'm hoping looks as good. I'm also loving the pitcher on the left. I stressed about how to glaze it and I really love it.

The tree in the front is one of 3 of varying sizes. I have a set in my house that I love and I finally got around to making a second one. I have it sitting on my coffee table in the front room and it really just fits there.

I also have a replacement fish hanging for Craig. I made version 1.0 last year for him. We had to move it earlier this year because we took down the branch it was on to make room for the gazebo. The next trip up I found it on the ground and mostly smashed. I'm not sure if it was just too windy or if the twine would have given out any way, but time for version 2.0.