Each Monday I hope to feature some articles from my fellow Etsy Maine Team members’ shops.  Enjoy these picks!

 Topsy Turvy Reversible Hat by anabelfuzz

 Wild Rose Fairy Flower Pin by burntmeadowbeads

  Robin Greeting Card by barnfirestudio

 Blue and Green Ceramic Bowly Bowl by kreatus

 Chocolate Pomegranate Goat Milk Cold Process Soap by longwinterfarm

My laptop works again, my digital camera works, and on Friday I had another great kiln load.  That makes three in a row that I didn’t have any pieces stuck together.  I did have two pieces that I apparently did not glaze the edges of (which is one of the risks of watching tv while you work), but that will be easily remedied in the next load.

What have I learned?

• Don’t get greedy and overload the wires.  If your gut tells you there are too many on there, listen.
• When you think the pieces are far enough apart on the wire, separate them a little more.
• Support the wire in the middle so it’s not as likely to sag.

Some of the buttons above are made from old buttons that belonged to my grandmother.  This was the first time I used the molds I made a couple of weeks ago, and I’m thrilled with how they came out.  I’m going through my mother’s button box now, since she has some great pieces in there as well.

I spent last night working on a piece for the Use The Muse contest, sponsored by the Beader’s Muse.  By the end I was a little bleary-eyed, but that could have been because we went out to eat and our son was wired!  He’s usually so good when we go out, but last night I swear he was on “toddler speed.”  I’ll be able to unveil my piece in another couple of weeks.

What’s coming up next?  I have some terra cotta clay coming, along with some new glazes.  I have some longer kiln posts coming, so I don’t have to worry about the wires slipping down in the cracks, which means more will go in the kiln (right now I have to lay short posts end to end in the kiln).  My decal paper came yesterday, so I’ll be able to create a new line.  And coming this spring?  I’ll be playing with the raku glaze I ordered yesterday.  Such fun!

Enjoy this beautiful, WARM spring day!!!

This is a sampling of what came out of the kiln last friday.  Now that I got my cheapo battery charger to work for my camera, I can actually get some pictures.  Tomorrow I’ll be back to the shop and will use the light box (home today due to another foot of snow.  Mother nature?  Mother something    The last kiln load was small, and it was about 1/3 glazed, 2/3 bisque.  I also have a handful of non-textured pendants to apply decals to; I’ll attempt that firing this week.  Does anyone know if you can fire decals with lusters in the same load?

I’m almost over the plague that I’ve had since the 20th of Feb.  I missed almost a whole week of work at the tax office, which was more than a little frustrating (especially since Isaac was sick too, and he is NOT a happy camper when he’s sick).  I did manage to get some buttons listed in my Artfire shop, and I’m hoping to get most of the pieces from this kiln load listed this week.

Onward and Upward (or at least sideways!)