Christmas Balls! Ok maybe I need to stop calling them that. It's probably not good marketing, but it makes me laugh so I keep saying it. Squiggle Ornaments? Ornament Squiggles? Does it need Christmas in there or is it implied? Whatever they're called they came out amazing. Michael Harbidge did a live on these for Clayshare a few weeks ago. I followed the technique for building, but went a different way than him on glazing ideas.

I definitely like the Christmas plates and ornaments in laguna 60 better than the ones in the KY Brown Bear. The brown bear are too dark for me, but I also think they're really striking at the same time. Before they came out of the kiln I was sure I would love the brown bear ones better. What do you all think?

Mayco Dragon Red UG 2 coats 2167 clear Amaco Palladium on the top x4	Mayco Eggplant x3 Amaco Palladium on the top x4
Mayco Green UG 2 coats Opulence Emerald x2 Amaco Palladium on the top x4	Hat: Mayco Tuxedo Nose: Mayco Orange a Peel Eyes and buttons: Mayco black designer liner 2167 clear all over
Left is Laguna 60, right is b-mix Mayco black UG wiped back Mayco Eggplant x3 Mayco Blue Hydrangea x2 Antlers: Mayco designer liner brown Nose: Mayco designer liner red	Left Laguna 60 Mayco Lavender Mist x3 Muddy Waters x2 Right is b-mix Midnight Ceramics Boxed Wine x3 Both: Mayco black UG wiped back Antlers: Mayco designer liner brown Nose: Mayco designer liner red
Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Trees: Mayco Cotton Tail Birds: Mayco Hot Tamale Mayco Frosted Lemon x3	Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Trees: Mayco Cotton Tail Birds: Mayco Hot Tamale Coyote Parakeet x2
Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Trees: Mayco Cotton Tail Birds: Mayco Hot Tamale Laguna Power Turquoise x3	Mayco Eggplant x3 Eyes: Mayco Tuxedo x3 Nose: Mayco Orange a Peal x3
Mayco Black UG wiped back Dreidles: designer liner blue Amaco: Sky	Mayco Black UG wiped back Antlers: Mayco designer liner brown Nose: Mayco designer liner red Amaco: Sky
Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Red and White designer liner 2167 Clear	Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Red and White designer liner 2167 Clear Right Mayco Eggplant x2 on the rim
KY Mudworks Brown Bear Mayco Designer Liner Red, White, Yellow, Light Green, Black, Blue 2167 Clear	KY Mudworks Brown Bear Mayco Designer Liner Red, White, Black 2167 Clear
Laguna 60 Mayco Designer Liner Light Green, Orange, White, Yellow, Green, Black, Brown 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Trees: Mayco Cotton Tail Birds: Mayco Hot Tamale Mayco Hot Tamale, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed, Fruit of the Vine 2167 clear
Mayco Black UG wiped back Hats: Mayco designer liner red and white Ornaments: Mayco designer liner red, light green, blue, orange, yellow 2167 clear	KY Mudworks Brown Bear Mayco Designer Liner Red, White, Yellow, Light Green, Black, Blue 2167 Clear
Gnomes: Mayco Designer Liner Light Green, Orange, White, Yellow, Green, Black, Brown 2167 Clear Lights: Mayco black UG wiped back, Mayco designer liner light green, red Opulence Emerald x3	Dreidles:Designer liner blue Top two: Amaco Fog x3 Bottom two: Amaco Sky x3
Colors for Earth Color Strokes Tea Rose, Phlox Pink, Violet Blue, Bright Purple, Orchid Blue, Jade 2167 clear	Laguna 60 Midnight Ceramics Spiderwort x3
Opulence Sea Spray x3

Just a quick reminder that I will be at the Howard County Holiday Mart this Saturday December 3rd. Just about everything from all 3 Thanksgiving kilns will be with me at that sale.

How awesome are the clay ornaments!!! I realized I likely wouldn't have time to over glaze so I went hunting and found that in my box o NFS (not food safe) glazes I had Palladium. I don't know the last time I used it, but it looks awesome and shiny. There are a couple more smaller ones further down in the kiln. The next challenge is going to be - how much do I charge for these? Despite the fact that the bigger ones do use more clay, they are actually all pretty difficult and time consuming to glaze. If I had gone for a more minimalist approach and wiped back (like Michael did in his video), it would have been easier, but I really wanted deep glaze. It was definitely worth it though.

This is the first of 3 Thanksgiving kilns results. Even though the last one is firing post Thanksgiving, since I spent my Thanksgiving weekend glazing these are all Thanksgiving kilns. Here is to hoping that the next two are as good as this one.
Love my leafy gnome. He took a long time to do both in the making and the glazing, but I think it was worth it. The question is do I keep him for me?
I made a ton of ornaments with my new De La Designs stamp and cutters. I love the gingerbread people, house, and reindeer so very much. I have more coming in the next couple of kilns.
Also loving the snowman and cookies for santa plates.
The one exception to all the awesome is that my pointettia bowl cracked. It's still pretty, but going to be extra fragile with that crack. I think I made the clay too thin and the cut too deep as a v. It was fine in the bisque, but the stress must have been too much.

Mayco UG black wiped black Hat: Coyote Parakeet x2 Body: Opulence Emerald x3 Leaves: Mayco Hot Tamale, Sunkissed, Jack o Lantern, Java Bean Nose: Mayco Cutie Pie Coral x3	Opulence Emerald x3
KY Mudworks Hydra x2, Triton x2 Mayco Light Flux on rim	Laguna 60 Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco Norse Blue x3 Light Flux on Rim Mayco Hot Tamale x3
Hat: Mayco Northern Woods x3 Body: Amaco Snapdragon x3 Nose: Mayco Cutie Pie Coral x3	Hat: Amaco Snapdragon x3 Body: Mayco Northern Woods x3 Nose: Mayco Cutie Pie Coral x3
Hat: Laguna Power Turquoise x3 Eyes: Mayco Tuxedo x3 Nose: Mayco Orange a Peel x3	Star: Mayco Sunkissed x3 Leaves: Mayco Underglaze Leaf Green 2167 clear Note: I didn't take into account the clear pooling on the tops of leaves, but it actually made for a cool effect. This is the last thing I had to glaze from the Michael Harbridge workshop and is the same standard clay
Clayscapes Cream swipe, Coastal Blue	Mayco Underglaze Fire Engine Red, Snapdragon x2 Mayco Underglaze Leaf Green, 2167 clear Tops Amaco Ancient Copper x3
Clayscapes Cream swipe, Garden Green	These two are inverses of each other Amaco Snapdragon x3 Mayco Northern Woods x3 Noses: Mayco Cutie Pie Coral x3
Hat and mouth: Mayco designer liner red, white Eyes: Laguna Power Turquoise Eyebrows, moustache:Mayco designer line white Beard: Mayco designer liner white and then a coat of Mayco Cotton Tail 2167 Clear over top	Top Left: Mignight Ceramics Malibu Barbara Top Right: Laguna 60 Mignight Ceramics Malibu Barbara Bottom Left: Midnight Ceramics Bogeyman Bottom Right: Midnight Ceramics Wine About It
Laguna 60 Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco designer liners white, blue, red, light green 2167 clear	Laguna 60 Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco designer liners white, red, brown 2167 clear
Laguna 60 Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco designer liners white, blue, red, green 2167 clear	Left: Laguna 60 Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco designer liners white, blue, red, black 2167 clear Right: Midnight Ceramics Malibu Barbara
Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco designer liners white, blue, red, black, light green, green, yellow 2167 clear	Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco designer liners red, light green, orange 2167 clear
Speckled b-mix Mayco designer liners red, white, light green Nose: Mayco Cutie Pie Coral Mayco Northern Woods x2 2167 Clear	Speckled b-mix Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco designer liners white, blue, red, green, yellow, black 2167 clear
Laguna 60 Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco designer liner red and white 2167 clear	Speckeld b-mix Amaco Poppy x3
Laguna 60 Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale 2167 clear	Colors for Earth Jade, Violet Blue 2167 Clear
Laguna 60 Mayco UG black wiped black Mayco Hot Tamale x3 2167 Clear	Laguna 60 Midnight Ceramics Bogeyman x2
Laguna 60 Coyote Oatmeal x3	Laguna 60 KY Mudworks Hydra x3 Mayco Light Flux x2
Mayco Underglaze Fire Engine Red, Snapdragon x2 In the middle Mayco Sunkissed, Orange A Peel in the middle 2167 clear all over	So pretty, but crack :(

So originally my plan was to take all of last week off of work and do a ton of pottery stuff. I was going to make some things, I was finally going to use my raku kiln, and I was going to glaze to get ready for the Howard County Holiday Mart. Work had other things in mind for me. I ended up getting to take off half a day on Wednesday, but then I ended up working Sunday evening to get ready for a workshop. C'est la vie.

However, since I got Friendsgiving out of the way the Saturday before Thanksgiving that left me with enough time to glaze and get ready for the show. I had a ton of holiday stuff that ended up filling 2 kilns with a bit spilling over into a third. The second is cooling now (pictures to come later this week) and my plan is to unload and fire the third tonight. The third kiln will have some other things I had on my shelves waiting to be fired that aren't holiday (elephant ears!), but there was enough that didn't fit in that I wanted to fire again even if it's not packed as tightly as normal.

As this is the first year I've been selling this is the first time I've done a holiday show. I don't quite know what to expect. How much are people looking for holiday specific things or just gifts for others. Packing for it later this week will be interesting.