Busy Hands

 Here is a little sampling of things I have been working on.

I watched a few YouTube videos this summer about making glassine envelopes using deli paper.

I spent an afternoon printing the deli paper using my larger gel plate. The printing process is always fun. Not every print is a success the first time around, but you can almost always print layers over it and turn it into something cool. I keep everything I print and often use scraps in other projects.

The envelopes were fun to assemble and add details to them. These were made in random sizes and I will probably use them as little gift bags. I plan to make more that are a standard card size. Not good for mailing, but nice for in person gift giving or to tuck in a box to be shipped.

I have a finished a fourth coptic stitch bound book. I made this one for my daughter who loves all things French. I bought a set of Paris stamps some time ago and thought they would be perfect for this project. I used a combination of parchment and glassine papers for the signatures and they were much easier to bind than watercolor paper. I gel printed the cover papers with this book in mind.

And YES, I still make pots! I am currently overwhelmed with piggy bank and salt pig orders. In between making those I am trying to make a few cheese stones for each firing. They are starting to sell online, which is a good thing since our gallery is still closed for in person shopping.

Have a great week, and if you are in the path of hurricane Sally, or the terrible wild fires on the west coast, I hope that you stay safe.

Always remember the three W's.

Wear

Wash

Wait

The Almost Famous Cheese Stone

I hadn't made cheese stones since last fall. I am not even sure why I didn't spend the winter cranking them out, to keep ahead, The thing with flat items is that it's hard to get them in the kiln. They are sort of space wasters. I usually make a bunch, they go through the bisque firing, and then it takes many glaze firings before they are done. I think this is where I lose interest. The waiting just kills me!

Wednesday afternoon I threw a few and was totally shocked that they were ready to be trimmed by Thursday afternoon. I am still not used to working in a studio with air conditioning. It can really move things along in the summer. Even though we turn it off at the end of our day, the studio stays cool and dry overnight.

I have found the best method of drying these evenly, and keeping them flat, is stacking them between squares of sheet rock. I top the stack off with a plaster form, just keep the last one weighted. I find it's best to dry these for at least a couple of weeks. 

 Now that our copper red glaze is behaving again, I can do some stones with this combination!

Baby It's Cold Outside...

especially for North Carolina. Friday night was down into the twenties and we were OUT of firewood. We have a gas heater in the living room, electric heat in the bathroom, and typically that would be fine. When it gets down to the twenties, those heat sources alone just don't cut it! Our bedroom was rather chilly overnight. Jeff ordered wood a couple of weeks ago and we were still waiting on the delivery. Can I even begin to tell you how happy I was yesterday, to see the dump truck arrive with a load of wood?

We wasted no time building a fire in both the house and the gallery. I even simmered our chicken chili on the wood stove. While attempting to keep warm, we unloaded the gas kiln. It's hard to believe that when we loaded it it was 70 degrees outside.

 I really like the shino with splashy glaze on this cheese stone. 

I am sure I will be doing more in this glaze combination. I keep going back and forth between calling these cheese boards and cheese stones. When I think of boards I think wood, so I am leaning towards "stone". I would be happy for input from readers on what to call them.

 There were four oval bakers in the "nuka" white glaze. I had one that cracked at the interior seam. 

I won't bore you with the piggy bank photos and I will save the fishy banks for another day. Have an awesome Sunday and stay warm.