Well, none of my horse decals fired well, so I won’t have anything for the open house tomorrow.  Oh well, that just means I won’t have to stand in the freezing cold all day long, so at least there’s a bright side.  A couple of the pendants are kind of cool looking–they look abstract horses, so I’ll try to move those and see what happens.

A lot of my other stuff came out well, though.  I was able to find a lead free green glaze, so I made up some stuff in a yummy evergreen color.  My smaller earring sized pieces came out well, too.  I need to cut my plaster boards in half again so that I can dry different thicknesses of clay at the same time. 

I forgot my tripod attachment for my camera at home (I’m at the shop today), so no picture taking today.  I think I’ll cut pendant cords and start tying them, maybe watch some favorite show online (can you watch My Name is Earl online???–that sounds like a plan).

December Bead Trends Magazine, page 79.  Whoopee!!!  They also chose them for one of the shots on the table of contents page. 

I have some projects up my sleeves involving some ceramic beads and ear wires that I’ll be submitting around.  

Greenware doesn’t fly???

 I wish it did.  I was wishing pretty hard when the box of greenware pendants that I was going to work on today at the shop went flying off the stack, down the steps, to the ground.  D0-over.  I also had a bisque football helmet that I was going to glaze up in Patriots colors for Isaac.  Crack.  I guess it was technically a fumble, and no, I did not recover.

So tonight, I’ll be cutting pendants like mad, praying that I can get them fired.  But on the plus side, the open house that I thought was scheduled for Sat is actually on Sun, so I do get an extra day.  Whoopee!

And I found my rolling pin (after I bought another one, of course).  It was at the shop, where I left it last Wed when I was cutting pendants.  Uh huh.

See, he’s made me stupid.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right????

I’ve lost my rolling pin.  The one I use specifically for ceramics.  Now, it’s not little, so it couldn’t have gone far.  But, if I’ve been working and Isaac gets up from his nap, I usually hustle to put stuff away.  Hence, I have no idea where I put the bugger.

My mother and I like to say that looking for stuff is a hobby for us, because the alternative (that we’re disorganized and clutter-bugs) is less pleasant.  So I’ve been actively working on my hobby for a couple of days now.  Ugh.

The picture above is of an order that was just shipped out yesterday.  My customer requested a number of small ceramic pieces to create adjustable rings, but don’t you think they’d work for glue-on earring backs? 

I’ve been busy listing a number of different pendants in my etsy shop.  I’m also hustling to get a bunch of horse-themed ornaments and pendants ready for an open house that will be hosted by Burgundy Hill Farm Morgan Horses this coming Saturday.

I put in a request for a small test kiln for Christmas, so hopefully it won’t take me two months to fill a kiln anymore.  I also just got some smaller high-temp wire which will fit into the small holes that I prefer on the pendants.  That should make life easier–before I was having to make s hooks out of a small gauge wire, then I had to hand them on a rod, making sure they didn’t touch anything.  Now I’ve got lots of wire, I can just load the wire as I work (maybe that will keep me from firing half-glazed pieces, as well–again, I’ve become stupid….)

  My computer is acting up, so this will be fast.  These are just a few examples of what I have available, along with the designs which are already in my etsy shop.    More coming soon….

 This is a sampling of the glaze colors I have available.  I’m pretty sure the list isn’t complete, but I need to set aside some time to do new samples.  These samples are on top of a white tile.  I had a particularly hard time getting the colors right on the pale blues and greens, so just be aware….

     These are the underglaze samples.  They can be coated with either a coat of clear glaze, or I can coat them with a colored glaze.  Again, I know I have more, I just have to get everything together in one place.

 I’ll be posting some samples of my texture sheets and cutter shapes within the next day. I made some new molds today that I’m itching to try out, so maybe I’ll have some new pendants, as well

Here’s a little peek into how I make my pendants.

 The tools of the trade.  I have a piece of cotton sheeting underneath, which is what I roll my clay on.  You can see various texture sheets (some that I made out of polymer clay),  cutters, a small sponge to smooth edges, and my rolling pin.  The dowels that are there are my rolling guides, so I have some consistency in the pendants.

 I’ve rolled out the clay between a couple of smaller dowels (flipping over and turning the clay with each pass, to reduce warping), then on this piece I took a snowflake pin and made impressions in the clay.  I’ll then take that yellow cutter, cut out the snowflakes, then I’ll put holes in the pendants using the purple straw. 

 This is a polymer clay stamp that I made.  The process is the same as above.

  Little soldiers, drying on a piece of plaster.  I have another piece that I put on top so that the moisture gets sucked out at the same rate.

Coming soon….underglazing and glazing….

I’ve been hemming and hawing over whether or not I should sell seconds in my etsy shop.  I sat down last night and looked over them–most of them are quite nice, other than some slight warping.  I finally decided that as long as I fully disclose what’s wrong with them, I can move them at a discount.  It seems like such a shame that they should linger in my bin. 

I was hoping to get some photos today, but the sun was only out for about 5 minutes this morning (and the afternoon doesn’t look promising).  I guess I’ll have to get the lights out–bugger! It’s so much easier going on the deck and setting the stuff down.  The cost of living in New England.

Off to go work on a wholesale order.  My new shop is getting more exposure than my first shop, and I love making the components.  I can’t wait to see what people do with them…

Stay tuned for the December issue of Bead Trends magazine.  I created a pair of earrings featuring sterling silver, pearls, and garnets, and the editorial team chose to use it as a December project.  I hadn’t heard that they have switched over to a monthly format, so I was amping when I received my issue of Trends last week.  Alas, I was a month early.  Well, just gives me something to look forward to, I guess.   I can’t add a picture until the magazine is published, but these earrings would be perfect for holiday parties.

I’ve also had 5 sales this week between my two Etsy shops, plus a wholesale request.  I’m trying to make an effort to boost my exposure on there, which hasn’t been easy, timewise.  Monkey man keeps me running from the time he pops up in the morning till he crashes at night.  Kudos to anyone who has more than one small child and can still get anything done!  I don’t know what I’d do without “Nan + Boppa” (my parents), and hubby, who distracts Isaac long enough for me to work for 10 minutes at a stretch.

The kiln gods were kind this time, rather than farting in my general direction (yeah, I know, my father knows about his elderberry stink).  I’ll be able to sell most of these.  Unfortunately, I had some issues with an orange glaze I was using , so some of my fall theme beads are lost.  I love the way glazes can pool, but I’m thinking I might just stick to underglaze colors with a clear glaze.  I have to glaze some large containers by the end of the week, so any beads that needed an extra coat of glaze can go back in. 

I have some buttons in the works, too.  I know of a few knitters who would love some handmade buttons, so I’m going to give it a whirl.

I’ll be getting photos in the next few days, so look for new pendants in my other etsy shop, WinchellClayWorks.