Fired Up!

It's a happy morning when: 1) the garage/studio kitties are still standing, meaning the fumes from the kiln didn't kill them! 2) The house is still standing! 3) I pop open the kiln & see this.

Set up for theBeehive Bazaar is THIS Wednesday night. I'm chugging along, slightly, Very panicked.

While projectifying I've been listening to a lot of podcasts. I c/should be a professional podcast reviewer. A few favorites are Radio From Hell (Duh. It's pretty cool to have been an intern with them & like and admire them even more every day since.), Scotland's Funny Bits, the MOM Podcast (relevant, honest, clean)& Snap Judgement. The Quick & Dirty series is pretty cool as well.

I'm also listening to tech stuff about creating a podcast. Something I want to listen too: funny, clean, hosted by a woman. FUNNY; I want more Funny.

When I've exhausted my favorite podcasts & local NPR is sounding like repetitive, aloof, colorless people I turn on Pandora. Today's station:
~ Caravan Palace
~ Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
~ Snap! (I Got The Power)

I'm pushing: Two Big Blue Buttons.

These are CLAY BUTTONS. Aren't they lovely?
When Mlle. Margo was little and liked (loved) to look at my box of buttons I started a big button collection for her, so that she could play without sounding off the millennial parent choking hazard fear/alarm.
Big buttons are hard to find so I created making my own! Find them next week at the fabulous, artistic, craftastic, colorful Beehive Bazaar!

Today! Today! Work While You May!

The day started out OK. Up & at 'em early. Lunch bags decorated, lunches made.

Quick drive to school. Home again to find I never started the drier. 

That was a clue: Go Back To Bed.

No doing. Instead of bed: I opened the kiln.

This is what I saw: Disaster. Sigh. Really? Who is going to buy tomato soup roses? No one. These just look so gross. A few years ago the company that made the glazes I used for years simply discontinued the entire line and replaced it with "safe" (no lead) and really ugly colors. This has made working with clay frustrating & has wasted a lot of my time. 

The rest of the day has been spent researching & finding new glazes online, finally talking to a great sales person at the Amaco Company.

 Today is a cloudy, rainy, cold day. Perfect weather for a gray blue heart. 

I actually liked this heart ... then I dropped it. It is about 5 inches and meant to hang in the middle of a funky over-the-window garland. Now it will take a trip to the bottom of a house plant's pot, if lucky an African Violet.

Who's Got The Buttons?

I do! I'm loving my buttons a bit more every day ... what I 'm not loving is not having enough time to make/glaze them! Sigh.

Not Quite Hamburger

A while back I was commissioned to create a a small series of washable ceramic pieces for a local restaurant. The results are quirky and colorful. They hang on the utensil rack and can be repositioned for cleaning. Red in a kitchen is tricky ... but these worked. I heard happy reviews from the dish washer & servers.