Mugs?

Sorry to be absent the last few days but I have been playing in the dirt outside my house for a change! I ripped out the forest of weeds in the backyard and in their place planted some really pretty flowers, a butterfly bush and lots and lots of herb plants. I know I'm kinda late in the season for such a big overhaul but everything I planted is supposed to be hearty and come back next summer. Now my backyard is petty but I am covered in bug bites! So my itchy self decided to take a break today and work on some stuff inside. It helps that it's been raining all day. I took some pictures of some new pots and some stuff for Michael to list in his shop. Here are some mugs I made using my new molding technique, not sure I like the hand built handles. Thrown doesn't look right but these look too.... amateur-ish? I'll have to play around a little more. Handles are my least favorite thing to make. I have never felt really good at it so I guess that's why. Oh well, here you go anyway!

Back in town...again.

We are back in Baltimore, again. This weekend we are not traveling (can you believe it!!) but we are having a BBQ to celebrate Michael's 30th birthday which we had to work during. In preparation I cleared out massive amounts of weeds from our back yard. We have these lovely garden plots in the yard but I have no idea what to put in them so they wind up just growing weeds and squirrel planted trees. I didn't have a yard growing up (we lived in a condo with a small garden that my mother is fabulous with) so I feel kinda lost when trying to landscape our lot. Hopefully this week I will be planting some things which I'm hoping will keep the weeds down. They can't grow if something is already there right? Anyway, if you are curious as to what I look like I thought would post this picture of me that Michael took with his iphone at the wedding we just attended. I rarely like pictures of me but this one was ok. I didn't even know he took it!

Off to PA...

Michael and I are off to a wedding in Pa this weekend and we are just working a little this morning before we have to hit the road! I'm kind of excited to wear my new dress this weekend as I splurged on a nice black cocktail dress for the many weddings we have ahead. This morning one of my tasks was to get the kiln unloaded and I wanted to share a few things that came out! It's kind of gray here today so the pictures are not quite as clear as I would like but what can you do? Can't control the weather:) I'm really excited about the petal bowls in larger sizes and the slow & steady cookie plates. They are all being listed in my etsy shop so stop by and check them out!

New stuff on etsy!

Finally I have posted a few new pots on etsy and there will be more to come! I have a shelf full of glazed work waiting to get turn in the kiln tonight so hopefully there will be some pretty new glazes coming out this week. Michael and I have a wedding to go to this weekend so sadly will not be at artscape this year:( I hope you can go anyway and check out all our awesome B-More peeps who will be there. Also, the car is now fixed and back in it's parking space, hopefully safe. It actually looks better than it did before it was hit...I think they washed it! Now I just need the check from the insurance company and all drama will be over. Phew!

Back and Inspired!

A crazy drum circle we ran into our first night in town.
Michael made fun of me for taking a picture of a street sign.
Here we are at the "scenic view" about 2 hours away from Asheville.

We are back in town from our trip to Asheville, North Carolina and we had a blast! Some highlights include....awesome food (our favorite was the Tupleo Honey Cafe), cute downtown with crazy good street music, The Big Crafty of course (we were 2 tents down from Mudstuffing and I came home with one of Keith's peep show mugs!) and a walk around the river arts district where we got to see just a few of the many many potters who live in Asheville. Wow, there are a lot. Today I was read to be back in the studio and spent some time mixing up glazes and sitting at the wheel, something I haven't done in a while since I've been pretty into handbuilding lately. It felt good to have the clay in my hands again and I can't wait to try out some new ideas that have been stewing in my head:)

BIG CRAFTY THIS SUNDAY!!

Hey everyone, come visit me at the Big Crafty in Asheville, NC this weekend. We'll be leaving real soon (in our rental Kia Sportage) to check out the town for the first time:) If your in the area make sure to stop by and check out our tent. It's Sunday from 12-6 at the Asheville Art Museum.If you can't make it don't worry, I'll be listing whatever I take back home next week in my etsy shop!

Wiped out.

Yesterday everything caught up with me and I wound up doing zero studio work and more or less sleeping on the couch all day. It actually made me feel better. Today I got up, called the car company, called for a rental car and got things moving on the whole car repair front. It took 3 trips to enterprise and many phone call from one branch to another to finally get us a car that will hopefully fit all of our stuff for the upcoming trip to North Carolina. Michael is thrilled with the "new car" and has taken it on his errands leaving me with his old Honda. It's his birthday so I'll let him have his fun. I have another bisque going right now so hopefully after this weekend I'll finally be able to put some new work in the etsy shop. Until then here is another pic from the last batch.

Back to reality.

We are back from NJ, we were in Ramsey for the Woodstock weekend, an event my brother helped organize. He had asked us to set up our booths for the show on Saturday and we gladly agreed since we don't really have any shows we normally do on 4th of July weekend. The concert was great and we had prime seats for the fireworks which was really nice. I felt a little disorganized since we couldn't fit all of our normal display into Michael's Honda, including the tent, and I felt like the set up was not up to our normal standards. I did get to hang out with my family for a day or so and see my niece and nephew. This morning it's back to reality. I have to take my car in to get an estimate of damage and hopefully a rental car. We need to get a car that's the same size as my Vibe and will fit all of our stuff since this time we're driving to Ashville for a show this weekend. I'm hoping to not have to argue with the insurance company (hers not mine) over this. This whole situation is costing me much needed time in the studio. Anyway, here are some pictures of a new sushi set I took out of the last firing. I think I really like the addition of the stain on some of the other pieces. I just wish I had a good recipe for a clear satin glaze that fires to cone 03. Anyone have a recipe they could share? Does such a glaze exist?

SMASH....

La la la...here I am just taking some pics of new pots when........
SMASH!......and there goes the weekend:( My car needs a makeover.

Well I was trying to take pictures of my new cups this morning when we hear a load booming noise. "Is that thunder?" Michael asked. "No, I don't think so." I replied, looking up at the bright blue sky through the open window. As I looked a little closer to investigate I noticed our next door neighbor running up to our door yelling and quite upset. We ran to see what was wrong when he informed us that a lady had just hit my car and drove off. His sister-in-law took off in her car in hot pursuit! He immediately called the police as Michael and I stood there kinda dumbfounded with "wait...what...?" looks on our faces. The police rolled up sirens blazing while we (by "we" I mean the neighbors who totally had our backs) gave them directions to where our one neighbor and her sister had cornered the car. They actually got the driver to come back. We have the greatest neighbors. She was preg-o, chain smoking, didn't have a license, claimed to have peed herself and well....isn't that enough? She claimed to have driven away because our neighbor yelled at her. Duh, you hit a car, of course he yelled at you. And she also said she didn't see my car....you mean the big red one parked in front of the house along with all the other cars parked on the street? Anyway, we filed a police report and called the insurance companies. Hopefully this will all get sorted out but in the meantime my poor car is not drivable. We are supposed to be leaving for a weekend trip to NJ and next weekend we have to go to NC. Our stuff doesn't fit in Michael's car so we either have to have my car fixed by Thursday or get a nice rental that will fit all of our work plus the tent. Ugggg. I don't even want to think about it. I hope your weekend is filled with less exciting fireworks....at least the kind that are pretty.

It worked!!

My glaze came out, YAY!!!! Here are some pictures from my most recent firing. The solid blue is my new formula. The bentonite worked and it went on super nice. The "simple" dish is an experiment with brushing a stain under the final coat of glaze. I like the way it turned out but I think my clear was a little too thin this time around and I didn't get that thick glassy surface I like so much. My next challenge will be how to combine the two surfaces. The new one is a little too matt for the interior of vessels but I'm trying it out layered over the gloss to get a semi-matt. The next load will be out hopefully tomorrow and with any luck I'll have some good pictures to share next week.

2 firings 2 days...

Well it's amazing what the addition of 1% bentonite will do for a glaze formula (especially when you were supposed to put it in to begin with!). I haven't fired yet but it already feels better. Much more like a glaze that will stick to the pot! I don't have pictures yet but hopefully I will soon. My little kiln is getting quite the workout this week as it's already taken 2 bisque firings and as soon as it's cool enough it will be glazing, hopefully twice before our show this weekend. I did want to give a little sneak peek at these awesome keys I bought from etsy a few weeks ago. I made molds of them and am trying to incorporate them into the jewelry I need to make for an upcoming show. My original idea was to totally cast them in porcelain but I don't want to fire my kiln that high just for some keys so I'm going to see if I can try to make it work with my red clay. We'll see. I'll keep you posted on how that's turning out!

Glaze testing this weekend

Yesterday I went to Clayworks and picked up a long list of new colorants and a few new ingredients to test some new glazes this weekend. I will be remixing the glaze that ran all over my kiln shelves so wish me luck! I'll be using the old shelves just in case :) Hopefully now that I have all the right ingredients it will turn out better.

Craving....

This morning I woke up with a craving for pancakes. Too lazy to go out I thought I would make some but I didn't have any eggs. I bought eggs at the farmer's market the last time I was there and they were so good we ate them all up and I'm holding out for more farm fresh rather than the regular market eggs. I needed a recipe for bread, preferable something I could put the fresh butter and pear,cardamom and sage jam that also came from the farmer's market all over. I wound up finding a recipe for drop biscuits that took about 20 minutes from start to finish including bake time. Sold! Michael and I savored the fresh, warm biscuits slathered with fresh butter and homemade jam. I no longer crave pancakes:)
Click here for the recipe.

Playing catch-up

Clay shavings from all the new pots:)
(above) Bowls drying, hand thrown slabs formed over thrown bisque molds. (below) Rows of new rectangular dip dishes and salt and pepper pots.

Well I hope you got out to check out Pile of Craft because it rocked! It also left me pretty out of stock for most things. Not that I'm complaining (at all) but it has caused me to be locked away in the studio for the last few days. Michael and I did make it out for about an hour last night to check out our new local farmer's market and get some ice cream. We will be making it a weekly trip since there was some seriously tasty looking food there that we didn't get to eat since we had dinner before going. I did buy some tasty looking beets and a couple of grass fed, all natural pork chops to throw on the grill later. Anyway, I thought I would take a break today while some slabs are drying to give you a little peek at what I'm working on. The studio is a mess so don't look too close:) I also figured out what went wrong with that glaze a few months ago...I just looked up the original recipe in my sketchbook and when I copied it down for the studio I left out an add-in ingredient. Doh! I will be remixing and retesting later on so I'll let you know if the results are any better.

Pile of Craft TOMORROW!!!!

Having fun...

I'm having fun setting up my new computer, I love all the features! It's going to make posting pictures everywhere so easy. Now iphoto has a direct upload to flicker and facebook, how awesome is that? I also got the new photoshop elements so I can edit all my pretty pictures:) I can't wait to figure that out. Oh, and like how Mexi Cat has to be in my face whatever I'm doing? It's hard to type over big furry kitty. I actually have this same picture from last year when I was setting up Michael's computer...cat in my face. Ahh, cats.

New Computer:)

Well it's finally here. The last day of school is Friday (wooohooo!!!) and tomorrow I will have to give back my ibook that I've been using for the last 3 years. It was so nice to have it but it will be even nicer to have my brand new Macbook pro! Michael and I went to the mall last night to pick out my new computer. I can't wait to see how the new laptop works. It's supposed to be more environmentally friendly and keep a charge for 7 hours. It's also really pretty and silver. Unfortunately I was so tired after moving stuff out of my classroom yesterday that it's still sitting on the couch in the bag it came in. So my assignment for tonight (after I finish glazing) is to crack that baby open and get it started! I'll let you know how it goes in case anyone is thinking about a purchase:)
p.s. The photo is a concept pic from last year but it's the best one I could find:)

Farmer's Market Trip

Onions and Potatoes in a Naomi Cleary Bowl I bought at Art Star.
Fresh Basil that made my car smell delicious on the ride home.
Asparagus and English Peas sitting in the fridge.

This morning I had to drop Michael off at the Hon Fest in Hampden, for those who do not know what a "hon" is just think big beehives, spandex leopard print, cat's eye glasses and John Waters. You'll get the picture. Since I was up and out of the house early I made a stop at the Waverly farmer's market which is on my way home from Hampden. This was my first trip there this season and oh how I missed it! I'm glad they only take cash because it helps me limit my spending, I go crazy for fresh produce:) I have a system for walking the market, I have to do a lap around first so I can see who has the best stuff and the best prices. Then I get the stuff that looks like it's going fast, like strawberries and asparagus. Followed by the heavy stuff like potatoes and squash and finally... anything that needs to stay cold like butter and cheese or delicate like lettuce. The market seemed to grow a little this year and is extending out into the main street a little so I had to walk it about 3 times to get all my goodies. Since this week also brought me a new camera lens (so excited!) I thought I'd take some pictures of my veggies to share here. I'll be cooking like crazy this week to use up all that I bought! Do you have a favorite market near you?

Nutella Ice Cream

This past Sunday we had a little BBQ to celebrate my leaving teaching (no, not yet, June 19th) and because our friend Andrew was in town from La. One of the things I made for dessert was my friend Karen's recipe for Nutella Ice Cream. It was a big hit and there was only a little bit left for an afternoon snack today. The pictures are not great due to a bit of freezer burn on the still delicious ice cream but I wanted to share anyway. You'll have to visit Karen's site and check out all her great recipes:) And I promise to post more than just food soon, but I have been cooking a lot lately and who doesn't love food?

Nutella Ice Cream

1 jar (13 ounces) Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Using a hand or standing mixer, mix the Nutella and sugar until smooth. Add the milk and mix on low speed until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.

Turn the ice cream machine on; pour the mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 25 to 35 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Melt in your mouth cookies

Today I spent some time in the kitchen making a batch of melt-in-your-mouth cookies so I could update my recipe card that I give out to my customers. I am trying to practice my photography skills (for a new top secret project I'm working on) and since I don't have any new work left from last weekend's show I will post my pictures of baking day until the next kiln load. Let me know what you think.
For inquiring minds, these cookies are a vintage recipe that produce a very delicate and buttery cookie. Somewhere between a shortbread and a sugar cookie? They were some of my favorite growing up and I still love them! The only problem is that all I ate today was cookies!!!

Miami Egg Salad

I was browsing IKEA the other day looking for some props to use in my photographs and I stopped in the cafe for a quick bite to keep up my shopping stamina. I have long been a fan of their shrimp and egg on rye toast (that's what I ate while most kids gobbled chicken fingers and fries. Not me.) and I wasn't too hungry so I sat down with my sandwich and a diet coke. As I sat realized that the sandwich was kind of nostalgic for me, it really reminded me of my grandparents home in Miami Florida where I spent many summer holidays. I don't know if it was the cheap shrimp or the rye toast but something took me back. As I nibbled the tiny shrimp I started to think that there was no reason I couldn't make an even better version of this at home, in the form of egg salad! Here is my first attempt at the "Miami Egg Salad Sandwich" although I haven't bought bread since discovering making it myself so this sandwich is served on homemade sourdough instead of the rye that I think would make it complete. Next time.

Miami Egg Salad
1 cup cold cooked shrimp, tails and veins removed
6 hard boiled eggs*
2Tbs freshly chopped dill
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 (or less) cup of mayo
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

*To cook a hard boiled egg first place the eggs in a saucepan and cover with water by about an inch. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat. Cover the pan and let everything sit for about 10 minutes. Transfer the eggs to an ice bath to cool and peel!

Chop the shrimp and eggs into smaller pieces and place in a medium bowl. Chop the dill and add it to the eggs and shrimp. Add the lemon juice and mayo, mixing until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with rye bread and spring mix.

This weekend in Philly.

If your in the Philadelphia area this weekend be sure to check out the Art Star Craft Bazzar happening Saturday and Sunday in Penn's Landing. It's sure to be a great time with music, food, the water and really nice crafts. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend and this would be a great way to spend it outside enjoying the sunshine. If you make it by be sure to stop by my booth and say hello!

Memorial Day Fun.

Yesterday we celebrated memorial day in true Baltimore fashion. We went to our friends row house BBQ, grilled, drank Natty Boh and played some poker. It was a nice way to spend a Monday. I hope you had a nice memorial day also:)

New work up!

New work posted on etsy, go check it out! I will be posting more throughout the week hopefully:)

Wedding Platter

I just made a platter for my friend Annie to give as a gift to her friend who are getting married. I think I might offer the design in my shop. What do you think?

Meet my family...

Hello Stranger! Yep, that's Stranger, our kitty (one of). Stranger is a tuxedo cat who enjoys chasing his food pellets around the house before eating them, catching bugs that fly into the house, plotting to catch the squirrels that run along the outside wires, napping on the heater, torturing his brother and snuggling while I'm on the computer. He is in a very intimate and monogamous relationship with a stuffed monkey named Merlin and his claim to fame is that he once caught a bird....while inside the house (we still have no idea how it happened since the bird *was* outside the house). While I decorate he sits in the chair behind my wheel, I keep waiting for him to make me some little kitty size pots. Sometimes he thinks that my works needs a little something more, or he's trying to sign them and take all the credit but either way I'll come in to a studio of little paw print plates sitting on my shelves. Yes, I said shelves. He likes to jump up on my full shelves and watch my heart leap from my chest as the whole wall of work wobbles while he balances like a little surfer. He does keep me company in the studio and even now as I type this he sits behind me on the couch kneading his paws into my back. Do you have a studio pet? Let me know in the comments:)