LASTDAY2011 20% off sale

Beginning today at Noon, Dec. 31 thru Jan. 5th Noon, everything in my Etsy shop is 20% off when you use the coupon code LASTDAY2011.  Hope you find something you like!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MartiC51

Once again, HAPPY NEW YEAR, and God bless you in the coming year...Marti C.

Very Happy!

I am very happy with the new things from the kiln this morning. I will add pictures later, I have a few things to mail out first! Am taking this opportunity to wish all of you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR and may God bless you throughout the new year.

Here are a few of the new things...

Here is the bead holder with some beads on it fresh out of the kiln.  

Enough for now!  

Kiln is Full

The kiln is full and will soon be running!

Today I put a few more things in my Etsy shop.  Here are some of them:

This Black Feather piece is one of my favorite designs.  It came from a Victorian Salt Shaker that I found at a yard sale years ago.  The shaker is a beautiful old blue color and the only piece of that design that I ever found.  The black glaze is another favorite.  On the speckled clay it really shows itself off.

Time to pack my clay away for a few days.  I think I'm going to have a big sale in a few days to get rid of the old to make room for the new...

It's that time of the year again, 2012 is right around the corner.  The older I get it seems, the faster time goes.  I guess that is the way of things, as I heard that from my elders years ago.

Changing It Up a BIt!

Mixing glazes and changing a few things up here.  I am anxious as always to get these fired and see how things go.  I've always been very hesitant with my glazing, just trying to get it right, but the last couple of days, I've been doing a few different things, at least for me!  Probably old hat to others...

The weather is chilly here today--up to 37 this afternoon!  

Getting Started Again

Only a couple of days off and it seemed like a week! But I guess it was closer to a week than I remember. I got back to some wet sanding and glazing yesterday and will later today as well. This morning I have to go for a health check, all is well as far as I know, and I'm trying to keep it that way. We had a wonderful Christmas break. A nice visit at my brothers house, my sister in law is a great cook and the girls are growing up so fast! Hope you had a blessed holiday as well!

Wet Sanding and More

Had another clay idea yesterday, so I made a few more pieces.  Also had a request from Australia, but will see what the response is.

Doing some glazing today.  Got my new glazes yesterday and that is always exciting!

After today, I'm going to take a few days off from blogging to do the usual holiday things.

I want to wish all of my family, friends, facebook, twitter and blog friends a very Merry Christmas--happy holidays--hope you have a happy celebration of what ever it is you do!  Blessings to all...see you in a few days!  God bless you and yours!

Listen To Your Mother!

I've been on this earth going on 56 years and I've probably wasted two years looking for things I've misplaced and didn't put away where they belonged!

How my ears ring with Mom's words "just put your stuff away and you'll be able to find them when you want them the next time"...yes, Mom, you were so right!

My disorganization has got to stop!  It has to!  I don't do many New Year Resolutions because I mean well, I just don't carry thru as I should, but this year I am promising myself I am going to organize this mess and the next time I need the thing I'm looking for...I should be able to find without a problem!  Hang in there with me, won't you!  Keep my feet to the fire, this has got to stop...LOL!

Send me your organization tips, will you?  I have drawers full of things I can't throw away, but not sure why I'm keeping them either!  If I would just get rid of the things I really don't need, I'd have plenty of room for the things I do!

Okay, enough already, just a reminder...if you had a mom like I did, listen to her, she was right all along...I knew it, I really did!

Christmas is just around the corner, we are having rain right now, the temp outside today is 61 degrees!  So far, it's been a very mild winter, but we never know what is around the corner...take care!

So here is before and after pictures...still looks like chaos, but at least I know where things are now!

Wet Sanding

I'm wet sanding today and I took some pics to share with you.  Wet sanding is just that...I sand off the burrs and sharps on each piece, equal out as much as possible.  Nothing fancy, but wouldn't fire without doing this step first!  No fancy equipment either, just water and a sponge...

Some newspaper on the table to soak up most of the mess I make!

Here is the batch I started with this morning, they took an hour to do.  

This piece has been cut out and dried...not very pretty!

But looks much better after wet sanding...

Well, there are many more pieces to do, so I better get busy.  Hope you have a great day, I'm going to get muddy!

A Change in Plans

Getting company today, so my wet sanding plans have been set back a day. There is so much to do around here, but it's not as bad as usual. Those who know me know I am not one for keeping house and I tend to let things slide a bit, but today with company on the way, I have to change directions. It is so good of them to give me fair warning! Hope you all have a great week! I'm off, vacuum in hand!

Troubles in Life

We never know what lurks around the corner waiting for us to be blessed or blasted. I've had both as we all have. Please read and donate to the lady below...she has had a tragedy...thanks, Marti C. http://fancifuldevices.blogspot.com/2011/12/raffle-fundraiser_15.html

More Smalls

Clay play was successful today, made more smallish items and a few new things.  I don't know how much the weather affects clay, it must somehow.  Some days are very successful, others not so much, so I'm blaming the weather...couldn't possible be because I hardly know yet what I'm doing!

We are having a little snow, don't think it will amount to much.  Doesn't look like it's going to be a White Christmas this year according to the weather man.

I think I'm going to quit for today, have a nice day off tomorrow and get ready to wet sand Monday.  Hoping you all have a great weekend...

Still waiting for 20 followers so I can have a giveaway!

Not Always about Clay!

Went to the DMV this morning to get my husband a new drivers license, and after we got home looked at the license and they run out in two months...now we have to go back and do that all over again...thanks DMV!  Could be worse, no doubt!

Thinking Small

Thinking small is not something I normally do, but I was gently nudged yesterday and for that I am thankful.  I make big things, too big for most people, so to help my shop out and myself, of course, I am working on small things today.

The pieces are coming out better than expected, I thought cutting down on size would cut down on details, but not so I am finding out.

Excited to show you what comes out of the kiln (several days from now) in smalls..
that is smaller pieces than I normally do!

Christmas is just ten days away.  I hope the blessed holiday finds you merry!  God bless!

A No Clay Day

But I did several things around the house today to get them out of the way tomorrow. Hopefully, then I can make a muddy mess and have a good time at it!

Repeats

Made a few new things today and some repeats. I found some cute things in town the other day to texture with and I'm excited to see how they come out.

34 years!

Thirty-four years ago today my dad passed away. He lived just ten years after this picture was taken in 1967.  I just can't get through this day without mentioning him. He was as good a dad as he knew how to be and I've lived without him longer than I had him in my life. He was a lifer in the Army and we travelled with him everywhere but Viet Nam, of course. My younger brother was born in Germany and as children, we got to go places and see more things than a lot of folks get to in their lifetime. West Virginia was home and when Dad retired, back to the hills we came! We have had a good life here too! I just mentioned to an online friend last night, I am as happy in my life now as ever and my clay play has a lot to do with that. So, thanks for coming 'round, take your time looking! I hope you enjoy your visit, but excuse me please, I have to go get muddy!

My Etsy Store

I have more stuff in my little Etsy store than ever before!  There are a few small things yet to be added, but in time.
This is a busy time of the year and I am way behind!  As usual!  Hope you all are caught up and ready for Christmas.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Too Cold for Pictures!

It was so cold this morning I did not go out to take pictures of the new stuff.
I was so excited to see how well things did!

A couple pieces sold as soon as they hit Etsy.  For that I am grateful.  Hopefully more will sell soon!  Let me know what you think!

Kiln is Loaded

The kiln is finally loaded and on.  I pray all turns out.  Since I am still a novice, I'm really not positive how things will turn out.  I have my hopes, but sometimes, the kiln or the glazes, just don't do what I think they're going to.  But, it's always exciting and by morning I should be able to show you what worked or what didn't.  There is always a few pieces that don't turn out like I think they will, so it goes...

My kiln is over 30 years old and a real workhorse, tho I don't use it as much as I could.  It has four switches and the high temperature is cone eight, which can go to 2320 degrees F.  I keep a timer going and every hour I turn on another switch until they are all on...then I wait until the kiln sitter does it's job and stops the kiln.   I have over-fired a time or two and I've under-fired a time or two, but I think I've learned the secrets of my kiln now, so I watch it carefully until it goes off.  My timer is my friend in this case.  I write down when it starts and when it stops and keep an eye on it until it quits.  It used to make me very nervous to run the kiln, but I'm more used to it now and I just let it do it's job and hope for the best outcome possible.

Third Day of Glazing

Today is the last full day of glazing for a while.  I have a few small things to finish in the morning and then I get to fire.  By Friday morning/afternoon I should have a few new things listed in my Etsy shop.

Here is a link to a new item that Jean A. Wells has made a beautiful bracelet out of:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/88017482/blue-snowflake-stoneware-cuff-bracelet

I have been blessed in more ways than one by getting acquainted with Jean.  It makes me very happy to see how she uses a piece I made.  There are more of my pieces floating around "out there".  I would love to see and show what you've done with a piece of my clay!

Second Day

Second day of glazing and I have about two shelves full.  Have been doing different colors on the same piece, so it takes more time.

The weather is getting colder and I'm not minding it one bit.  Could have snow tomorrow.  I should have hung up the Christmas lights while it was warm, but leave it to me to wait until it's freezing outside!

Glazing!

I am starting to glaze today.  There are four shelves for my kiln and I think I have enough done this time to fill it to the rim.  At least I hope so! 

New glazes are so exciting, finding out which ones work for me is fun.  Some are delightful, some not so much.  A few new brushes are fun too.  I like size number four and eight with natural bristles.  Most of the things I glaze are small, so small brushes work well for me.

I made a couple new bead holders.  Bead boxes do not work for me and I don't know why.  I've tried a couple and was not happy with them.  So after a while I finally thought of this idea.  It works very well.  Kind of dangerous!  I have to be careful or get stuck, but I like it so much better than anything I've used so far.  The little mounds keep the bottom of the bead off the floor of the bead holder and the glazed bead won't get stuck.  I am going to use a little kiln wash on it.

The first one I made had the wires too close together and even my small beads would bump into each other.  If you've ever had glazed beads stick together, you know what a disaster that can be...no fun at all!  So this one is a little more spacious and I'm anxious to see how it works.  More will be made in this fashion if it is successful for me.

New Textures

Went shopping yesterday and found several new things to use for textures the next time I get some clay out.  Still have a few things to wet sand and then the glazing begins.  That will take several hours, up to days, depending on how busy my real life gets.  There is housework to catch up on...always...not my favorite thing!  I'd much rather play in clay!  So bear with me and in a few days I'll have some new pics to share and new items to put in my Etsy shop.

Wet Sanding

Wet sanding this morning and this afternoon!  The wet sanding process takes time.  I use a damp sponge and wipe off all the rough edges, sharp spots, even up borders if possible, mainly just beautify the piece before it is glazed and fired.  This is done in the greenware stage, before the bisque fire.

I use to bisque fire everything, but anymore I do the glaze fire after the wet sanding process.  The pieces are thin and it seems to be working just fine.  There are a few other potters that skip the bisque stage as well and their work turns out beautifully.

Hopefully will begin glazing this evening.

The weather today is beautiful, sunny but cool, my favorite!

Sanding Time

Many new pieces are lined up waiting their turn to be wet sanded, glazed and fired. This process takes a while. I've glazed many times for three days to load my kiln and fire. Not unusual, time consuming but exciting. I never Know for sure what I'm going to get, so it's like Christmas morning when I get to unload the kiln. Some gifts you like better than others...so it is with firing, some things are most pleasing to me, others not so much, but you never know who's going to like what I'm not crazy about! So the adventure begins once again. Pictures will follow as soon as I am able and the kiln is once again cool. Later!

Made many more pieces today and am pleased so far how they are turning out. Might wet sand tomorrow.

A New Day, December 1, 2011

Working up a few more things in clay today, along with a few household chores.  I have a dog and kitty pendant to send to an animal rescue with some charms for earrings.  Working up more curved bracelets pieces today with some owl pendants and charms.  I'm thinking of mixing some greens and blues on a set, I have some fantastic new glazes to work with right now.  We'll see how that goes...

It's Time

It's time for me to get serious about my clay work! So, it's clay time almost any time around here.  My husband, Rusty, is happy that I have something to do that keeps me out of his hair!  It's time for clay!

I've got some new things started, but let's go back a bit and take a look at what has already been done.  I have to add some pics...

These have been done lately and they have been pretty popular and I am thankful.  Makes me wonder what is around the corner!  Stay tuned!