This Easter I decided to do something different for my grandsons. I made a personalized, clay Easter basket for each of them. They will not be able to hunt eggs with it, but it will be full of fun things for them to play with and eat.  Their parents will provide a basket for hunting eggs.

I ran across some great basket stuffers on Etsy.

PRIMITIVE GRUNGY PAPER MACHE EASTER EGGS- 1 DOZEN ASSORTED

http://www.etsy.com/shop/20milestand

Bunny

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/BiggyPiggy

Felt Food Carrot

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/leonar18

Little Hoppers - Set of 12 Small Easter Bunny Crayons in Spring Colors

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

PERSONALIZED Fiesta Maracas (Set of 2)

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/Bellahope

Balloon Ball TOY - Blue Gingham Noahs Ark Jungle Animals Fabric - great KIDS item for the EASTER BASKET

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/SDKdesigns

Coconut Dream Cake

This is my favorite Easter recipe. I searched all my recipes and seemed to have lost the one that I usually go by. The next step was searching the internet. This is what I found:

Coconut Dream Cake

Ingredients

1 package White cake mix

16 ounces Sour cream

12 ounces Frozen coconut (thawed and drained)

1-1/2 cups Cool Whip

1 cup Granulated sugar

Contributed By: http://www.mealsmatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/14164

Ceramic Journal

My journal is finished! This has been a project that I walked by everyday, looked at and said to myself, I really need to get this finished. All in all it turned out much better than expected, of course it is for my own use and I an not sure I will attempt making another one.

Inside of Journal

If I had researched bookmaking in the beginning, it would have made this project so much easier. I would suggest this blog for book binding: http://users.stargate.net/~dearsam/bookarts/ and this blog has good ideas for ceramic journals:  http://lestaret.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/ceramic-book-covers/

I have to confess, I didn’t go by the rules. When making the cover I didn’t put enough holes in for the binding process. When I started binding my journal the blog above suggested sewing in one fold at a time. I guess you could call me the impatient Potter. I got one fold in and thought to myself, this is going to take forever, so I put all the folds together and sewed them in.

The blog also suggested using carpet thread for binding. The only carpet thread that I could think was on my floor. I did consider unraveling a section in the back of my closet, but changed my mind and decided to used a nylon thread used by surveyors and dyed it with brown shoe polish. (Twine, which was my first option did not work). I used thin cardboard for the inside of the front and back cover and brown shoe polish to give it a rustic look.



Once again a new toy has been distracting me from working in clay. Before Christmas I had been working with stencil’s. After cutting stencil’s all day, with the help of my Mother, I knew there had to be a machine out there somewhere that could make my job easier. I have to say that I didn’t do a lot of research. My Mother saw an infomercial advertising the Cricut Expression and said that it may be something I could use.

Like I said before, I didn’t do very much research before I made the purchase. After getting the machine and working with it, I realized I would have to spend a lot of money on cartridges in order to get the cuts that I wanted.  I am not into scrapbooking, if I had been this machine would have worked great.  Just before deciding to send the machine back, I started watching some videos on You Tube, demonstrating how to use it.  That is when I discovered two software programs that I could use with my Cricut. All I have to do is work with my images in Photoshop or any other photo software program, download images from my computer, through a USB cable and cut.

I downloaded a trial version of Make The Cut and absolutely love it!

Being a part-time potter, there is little time for experimenting. When I head to the studio after work I am usually either working on custom orders or pieces that I know will sell.

After the Christmas rush is over my imagination kicks in. Sometimes it is good, other times not so good. What one person likes, another doesn’t. I think the inspiration for my latest project came from having a such a long winter,  with very few days of sun.

Desert Sunrise Bowl

This is a new project for me and being the first, it is completely experimental.  This idea came to me after rolling out some slabs and transferring images on them.

I textured the edges, used an oxide wash and a clear glaze.  The next step was adding decals, something that I haven’t worked with in a while.

Journal Front

Back of Journal

Journal Spine

I plan on cutting cardboard for the inside of the front and back, using card stock for the pages and twine for binding.

We have a small pond for our goldfish. About a month ago it was invaded by frogs. I will be the first to say that I have never been a fan of frogs and toads until this year. They are not pretty or even cute. Yes, yes I know they eat insects and I know how beneficial they are to the environment. Their singing at night is what made me decide they weren’t so bad and thought their own home would be nice. Just my luck by the time I had their home finished, they had moved on. Oh well, they will be back. If not this year, next.

The pebble pot dried a bit slower than I had expected.  After drying for two weeks I was able to do the bisque firing and then this week, the glaze firing.

Deciding what glaze would work best  was another decision.  I considered using a gray glaze and outlining the pebbles in black .  I  looked  through the glazes that I had mixed and saw  the waterfall glaze from Mastering Cone 6 Glazes. This worked out perfect. The pebbles are green, outlined in brown.

Another Easy Children’s Project:

Everyone that works with clay and most parents that have children in school have heard of pinch pots.  This is the same idea, done a little different.

I used 1 lb. of  clay, a glass dessert bowl, vegetable spray and a stamp.

Roll the clay in a ball, press it against your elbow or knee.

Start at the bottom of the bowl working your way around and up to shape the bowl.  I used a glass dessert bowl, sprayed the outside with vegetable spray and sat the bowl down in the clay.

I went around the center with a stamp and then trimmed the top of my clay pot before taking the glass bowl out.

This bowl can also be made with an air drying clay and painted with a water based paint.  I used  stoneware clay, a glaze that I mixed and fired the bowl to cone 6.

I have had a 50 lb. bag of pottery plaster closed tightly in a plastic container waiting until I got time to start experimenting with it.  Well after I broke the bisque bowl that I used for drying clay I thought it would be the perfect time to make a large plaster slab.

I went to my husbands workshop,  found the wood to make a frame,  plugged in his saw and went to work cutting the wood for my frame.  I was actually proud of myself that all my fingers were intact when I finished.

I used a type of craft paper with a slick back, filled the seams with clay and used Murphy’s Oil Soap on the bottom and around the sides.

I went by the instructions and had everything measured out and ready before I started.

I  started mixing.  When I got to the very end I noticed the plaster was getting warm and decided to use a mixer since there were still a lot of clumps left.  (Bad idea).

This is all the plaster I was able to get out of bucket.  Now I have a 5 gallon bucket of hard pottery plaster.

Lesson learned:   Start with a small batch.

This is one of my beautiful Easter flowers that survived the snow and cold weather that we had this past week.

Instead of having a traditional Easter this year we decided as a family to pick up KFC and go on a picnic.  It doesn’t compare to home cooking,  but it is less stressful, especially for the women in the family.

Since the weather was nice we went to Grandfather Mountain.  This was my one year old grandson’s first trip there.  I thought he would love the bears, but I think the otter’s were his favorite.

The views are fabulous and kids love the mile high swinging bridge.

I vowed that I wouldn’t touch clay this weekend.  I didn’t touch clay, but I did unload a bisque firing when I got home.

Since my studio is located in the basement and my husband will not allow me to install my kiln there, I thought I would share the way I transport my bisque and glaze work to my kiln, which is located in his workshop.

I use two old creates that were once used for canned soft drinks.  The bottom one is taller than the top.

This method of transporting pottery has worked out for me so far with very little breakage.

Hope all that celebrated had a Happy Easter!

I have been making a folder of easy clay projects for children.  Several parents have asked me about teaching an after school pottery class.  While I am not planning on doing this anytime soon,  being prepared is always good.

Materials needed:  One 2 liter bottle, cooking spray, sharp knife and clay.  Spray the bottle inside with cooking  spray before placing the balls of clay in.  (An adult should always cut the bottle).

Roll the clay in quarter size balls.  They don’t have to be the same size.  “Different sizes will make your pot more interesting”.

Place clay balls  in the bottle, start at the bottom and work your way up the sides.

Once all the balls of clay are placed in the bottle, start pressing the clay together on the inside, working  from the bottom up in a circular motion .

This is what your pot will look like before it is fired and glazed.  This project can also be made with air dry clay and painted with acrylic paint.

This makes a nice gift for a child to give as a flower pot or vase.  Hopefully my pebble pot will be glazed next week and I will be able to show a finished pot.