Using Metalics

After the dry brushing came out so well, I thought of color combinations and here are the ones that i really like. Michelle and I sat down the other morning and she did the base colors and i did the dry brushing.



I did this bell in a teal and copper, and i think it really looks a lot like  weathered copper.



This is a popular ornament here since gas lights are my hometown's "theme" this is done in black and gold.



when Michelle painted this snowman black she just kept saying this feels so wrong. and as i experimented with mother of pearl and silver, I found it really started resembling pewter.  we both agreed that we really liked it and we have a rather LARGE project that I have felt quite daunted by. we each agreed that THIS was how that piece should be done.  (more on that after December 25th)

dry brushed ornaments

This is an old mold that my Grandmother had. I've never seen it painted but I had always wondered how I would do them. I was going to actually paint the scenes but through a twist of fate I got a little gold on a reindeer and as I was showing my mother in law the textures we thought it was pretty outstanding. So I may take some time and try out other colors and see how things turn out.

Ceramics?

Yea i still do them just WOW who has time? I did a kiln fire the other day and here are the things i finished.

Craft fairs...

Who would have ever guessed that so much work goes into getting ready for a craft fair? i just thought it was make your stuff and show up! BAH! theres inventory sheets, price tags, table prep. and thats just what IM doing! My coconspiritors, Bridgette, has done the application process. (i would have never gotten that done!) and Missy, is working on keeping us all calm as caft fairs to her are old hat!

I am the ever panicked one, stressing over do i have enough made of this or that. but with approximately 160 peices I think im good. I dont really know if i have enough done to get me through all three we have coming up. one in october (this sunday) one in november and the big one in december. but i know i will know a bit more about how this works after sunday!

Our weather for the event looks promicing although its going to be a bit on the chilly side with a high of 55deg. our event IS outside. so we willhave to dress for the occasion! I think i will wear what michelle calls my "Colorado sweater" she says it woudl be all the rage out that way! PSH. But it is a very warm outfit and its layered so if i need to i can strip some of it off if i need to.

unloaded kiln

After much hurring and painting i managed to get my kiln loaded and fired... here are some of my geogous results!

I have also started very informal classes, Not the ones like my Gma used to have, I want people to know how much work goes into slip-cast ceramics. soooo I am actually teaching the first steps like pouring molds.... the people that really like it will stay on. then we can have a nice little ceramics club. :)

Ceramic Ornaments

A girlfriend and I are trying to get things ready for a Christmas craft fair that will be in October. So I have been working at Painting a ton of ornaments. Here are some of them!

First fire done!

Well here are some of the posts i have finished! When i opened the kiln it was like Christmas morning! I have individual pictures featured in a link in the side bar. There are three links to three photo albums of crafts I have made available to purchase. Feel free to peruse them :)

POTS, POTS and MORE POTS!

My Mothers husbands oldest Son Hand throws pots, these are what he considers "trash" well they were left over from an order of 2,000.... Mom scavenged them from his house on his last visit.

She thought i coudl try out all of the new paints i had bought over the last year on them So i got started!

They have all be clear glazed on the inside, and on the outside of these i have numbered them with an underglaze this wont burn off as a marker or pencil will... and i have coordinated the numbers with the paint bottles as i paint them. 63 is the last number i painted...

then i load them into the kiln as i get them done! these are the 18 that i got done today. these are all but three of our "art" glazes. Art glazes have a neat effect. I chose to do these first due to the fact that i LOVE the surprise of these when i get to the bottom of the kiln.

Finally finished!

Well Nearly.... All that needs done is purchase a music box for this! The elves dance around the tree as the music box plays...

This one has been in the works now for three years. But it is done. This is an item of bisque that i purchased already fired. I encourage you to click on the picture to enlarge it to check out some of the detail work on this piece.

Craft items

I have decided to sell some of my craft items, as my hobbies are starting to overrun my home, my closets, and mostly areas all over.

IF you are interested here are the items i have, they are listed on my face-book page, Most of my settings are private, but these albums are public.

if you wish to purchase, you can contact me though facebook private message, or through my contact me on my blog.

This is the link to my finished craft items...
Kraft photos

This is a link to my ceramic bisque ware...
Bisque ware

bisque is painted with normal craft paint that you can purchase at your local craft store, and finished by spraying with spray of clear varnish.

The Story of the Bookworm

This is a craft I have had for YEARS. I just haven't done it. You need a bit of back story though...

My grandmother had a ceramic shop in the basement of the house I live in now. A room to pour in, and a room to hold green-ware until someone desired a piece then it would be fired.

These bookends were poured and sitting in the green-ware room. It was in many pieces. The head needed "slipped" onto the body and the hat was in pieces too.

It hadn't been touched in God knows how many years. Grandma died back in 1995. and she stopped doing ceramics YEARS before that.

So the lonely bookworm had sat there on the shelf in peices for an easy 10-15 years. Waiting for someone to want him. Then I moved in.

I was in the basement remembering Grandma and ceramics, the cool of the basement, the smells of the damp, and the slip that still is on the floor. All wonderful memories of summers spent in the basement because it was too hot to be outside. When and I saw him. I decided I would put him together. now it wasn't the best laid plan. I used broken green-ware and water to make slip (a big no no) and i carefully went to putting him together, I used too much slip and had to carve out his neck and hat to make him look as he should.

Grandma hated to slip objects together, and I will admit it is a real pain the the tukas. So it was no surprise that he had been in peices. After I had him together I felt better. I didnt feel as if I missed Grandma as much. A kind of calmess settled over me, and yes I left him in the basement, after all I had no kiln and there wasn't anything more I could do.

Then Mom bought a kiln. I was so excited I had him in the first fire. But then he disappeared. :( and was forgotten....

Yesterday he reappeared in a box of "unwanteds". This wonderful craft that was almost 20 years in the making, spanned three generations. An undeniable connection between Grandma and me. We did not share much but we do share this.

Now hes finished. And I have a smile as large as his :)

Ceramic shop

When I became ill I had to give up doing my ceramics. I simply was not strong enough to do the heavy lifting that is required to lift molds, slip, etc etc.

I think i have finally reached the strength that i can actually do them again. I am whooped. I can really tell i have worked hard today but i did it. and i have a fired off kiln, new bisque to paint as of TOMORROW, and a whole lot of greenware ready to be cleaned just as soon as its dry enough.

my molds are drying, and they need to be put back on the appropriate shelves. but its all cleaned up. the last time i tried this it just was too hard so today i am really glad that i was able to see it all the way through.

sour cream dish

I went to my favorite second hand store yesterday, and I found a certain sour cream dish a certain someone has been looking for. We used to have the Mold to make this but it has vanished. Hard to believe it was just sitting there looking at me, with the same color paint on it i would have used!

My Craft table is FULL!

There are more pictures on the Cancer blog! Go see the stuff before you come!!

Bunnie Ceramics

The hardest thing about Ceramics is you have to think far ahead. at the 4th of July you want to be working on Halloween stuff. Christmas you are working on Easter, and at Easter. you work on summer stuff... Christmas stuff you work on all year long.

I don't have the strength right now to do much pouring... but i did still have some other stuff kicking around that i need to get painted. these are two little bunnies that i like to have sitting out at easter time. they will also make a nice gift after i get tehm clear coated!

Christmas Ornament

I have brought out the ceramics and the paints for a while.

Today I painted this ornament. I thought it was small enough not to take too much of my precious energy so that perhaps i wont have to go forever without a post!

this still needs to be sprayed with some clear coat. after that it will make a nice addition to any Christmas tree!

prize winners

Since I have been quite ill this week I gotta tell you I have not had much time to do any crafting. But I thought this would be a good time to show you some of the things I have done in the past.

This is a stained ceramic piece. I entered it in the County fair last year and won a blue ribbon on it. I have a "sister" to it that is waiting to be painted. perhaps I can get to that once I get some treatments under my belt.