Is it ever too early to start making pumpkins? The little ones are just so cute, but also so finicky to make. I've learned to always have two leaves and two vines because one is very likely to break off before it gets glazed. Once they're glazed they are unlikely to break (unless I drop the box like I did at one of my shows).
I actually make these in a little bit of an assembly line. Roll out the clay and use the pumpkin cutter to cut - let those setup a bit so they aren't too floppy. Then I make all the stems. Then roll the clay thinner and cut out the leaves. Finally I make coils for the vines and wrap them around handles. Once I have all the pieces then it's time to make the pumpkins.
First I make body of the pumpkin. Next I attach the vines then the leaves and then top it off with the stem. Last I do the final touches of moving the leaves and the stems the way I want.
Have had a whole lot of magnets come out of the last kilns that needed magnets glued on. It doesn't take a whole lot of time if you lay them all out. First everything gets globs of glue (e6000) then everything gets a magnet. The lesson I learned was to not try to have multiple magnets in my hand because they really want to join together and will jump around if I'm not careful.
I also had two wine gnomes come out who got their corks. There are another handful coming out of the next kiln.
As I've been ramping up production for 2023 I realized I have nowhere to store this stuff. I still had things in bins from the last show plus my dining room table was completely full. In the basement I had a really old entertainment center. My husband suggested that we pack up the stuff that was in it since a lot of it wasn't being actively used (I need to find fancy friends and have them over to use my grandmother's crystal goblets) and get rid of the 1970s pre-ikea but ikea like unit. I should have taken a picture before we dismantled it, but neglected to. It was quite ugly and very
In it's place we put up this wall shelving. The tracks and the shelves came from Home Depot. It was a lot cheaper than buying prebuilt shelves or using wood. I usually hate the wire shelves, but they had this plastic that snaps into it and with the weight of the pottery it works.
I made the decision to unpack everything that was in the bins since the last couple of shows were fall/holiday focused. Everything is now in one place where I can see it and I have a lot more than I realized. I have been debating whether or not I am ready for the Maryland Home and Garden show in March and I can now say that I am. I have all the basics and I can focus on making some creative show pieces for the show. I also need to stop making mugs until I sell some because there is no more room. I still have another dozen or so working their way through the drying to glazing process.
I think my favorite 2 pieces are the doggy prints. A friend of mine got a new puppy in the fall and her Christmas present was puppy prints. I made two just in case one got messed up, but when I had an extra one the W and R are my puppies Willow and River. Delilah was a little wary of it but once she sniffed it she was fine. With my puppies you would have thought the clay was hot lava with how the reacted. It was funny. I actually think there is a market for these if I could figure out how to do it - probably only local.
I really like how the tree experiment came out. I think that with the white it will likely only be sellable in winter, but the speckled clay with the white with the trees came out exactly as I wanted.
Also - the last kiln opening lost the glazes somehow. Not sure how that happened, but it's been updated now if you were curious on any of the glazes.