Easter Giveaway x Three

Three little chicks need a new home (and, No! I'm not talking about my own three little chicks who have all flown back to the nest for Easter, although, actually, now that I think about it ....).

No - I wouldn't do that to you. But these three are ready to fly off to whoever wants them.
Query - do chickens fly or do they just jump up and down and flap a lot - like the rest of us?

And each chick will bring with it a little bag of assorted handmade ceramic beads, buttons, tags, etc, something like this little lot in the picture above.

So if you feel you could offer a good home to a patchwork chick, just leave me a comment to let me know. Simple as that.

And the three winners will be drawn out of a hat in two weeks' time - on 30th April. Obviously, the Giveaway Gods will probably look down more kindly upon those entrants who are followers of the blog, so if you're not already, you're very welcome to join!

How to Make a Patchwork Quilt

So, no, of course I didn't actually make that one above - as if! That would have been a good one for April Fool's Day last week.
No, I make mine like this:
First I roll out the clay and imprint the design into it, putting a pretty flowery border all round the edge by pushing in a strip of lace. This particular quilt-block pattern is called 'Towers of Camelot' - can just about see why, I think!

When the whole design is complete, I think to myself: 'its gonna take a hell of a long time to paint glaze into all those flowers - why did I do that?!'

Then I carefully lift the flat piece off the cloth and push into a large round mould. I faff about with the edges a bit to make them nice and fluted and raggedy, in a smooth kind of way.

Into the kiln it goes and out of the kiln it comes. Then I glaze the whole thing, hoping the colours will work together as well in reality as they do in my head.

Into the kiln a second time and when its fired, I lift the lid whilst it is still very hot to have a cheeky peep, which I know I MUST NOT DO because one day the pieces will crack from the thermal shock of introducing cold air too soon - but I live dangerously and cannot wait.

The detail in the flower border was well worth the time and effort and, in fact, the whole thing was pretty much worth the effort. I take it out onto the sunny patio and take a terrible, hurried picture of it on a dirty grey patio slab, which does not do it justice ...

.... but, hey, I want to get this blog post done and get back out there in the sunshine. Its a pretty, Spring coloured bowl for a pretty, Spring coloured day.
Have you been out there today?

Make your own Beach Huts

First, roll out your clay and cut out lots of little beach huts.
Then roll out some more clay, imprint on to it your design and press it into a large round mould.
Stick your little beach huts all round the edge.

When the bowl has dried out, pop into the kiln and fire for the first time.
Take out of kiln and apply your different coloured glazes, and pop back into kiln for second firing.

Take out of kiln when done and HeyPresto! You have your Beach Huts Bowl - all bright and summery.

Don't forget to attach your little home-made shells which you made earlier.

And if you sell enough of these you could one day own your own real life Beach Hut. What colour would yours be and .... more importantly, what would you name it?

I can't decide between this gorgeous bright yellow one with its name straight out of Shakespeare's "Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day" ...

or this wonderful aqua colour with a name that surely sums up the gentle art of sitting in the warmth, gazing out to sea with permanent access to a kettle and teabags!

Do you have one? Do you want one? What colour? What's its name?

Tricks of the Trade

So these are some of the larger pieces I took out of the kiln last week.
Some of you may remember this post from just before Christmas when I showed you my advent calendar made by my daughter which contained various cheap or found everyday objects which I could use to make patterns in soft clay.

She did an excellent job and one of the things she included has become my all-time favourite pottery tool.
You see the funny red pattern which forms the border round these two pieces?
It reminds me of the little plastic 'people' from the game of Cluedo - are they still shaped like that? Bet they've changed ... everything does. Anyway, rows and rows of Miss Scarlets is what I think of when I see this.

And I'd like to say I carved it all out individually in a mammoth painstaking way, but actually I just pressed into the clay with the said 'tool'.
What is it? Is it some sort of salad server or something? Or a badly designed soup spoon!

Anyway, whatever it is, it does the trick.
Do you have any tricks of your trade/craft/hobby?

In Glorious Colour

I took delivery of these new glaze colours a few weeks ago and just hoped to goodness that the colours turned out ok once they were fired. What qualifications do I need to get the great job of giving glaze colours their names - or paint colours for that matter? Top left then going clockwise we have : Crimson, Triton, Pacific, Poppy, Cold Star (??) and British Racing Green.

Years ago when the kids were small and insisted on going to MacDonald's, they used to get a pink gloopy milkshake that looked exactly like this Crimson glaze. They nearly burst a blood vessel trying to suck it up through the straw! (The milkshake, not the glaze).

Anyway - all is well and the colours are brilliantly bright and in-your-face, which is what I wanted. Needed a change from doing patchwork hearts, so did these flowery ones instead.

Haven't attached the wire hangers yet - just wanted to get the photos done before the light faded.

Russian folk-art seems to be all the rage at the moment, on wrapping paper, tins, greeting cards, everywhere - so thought I'd join in and make a few hanging Russian Dolls, and am really pleased with them.
I'll show you the larger (more serious) pieces which I also took out of the kiln today in my next post. Hope you like!

Read the Signs

Just been tooooo busy to blog lately, sorry! I long for the times when I didn't have a 'list' on the go - I need another holiday!

Last year's holiday was partly spent on Lindisfarne where there were the most amazing expanses of beach with loads of driftwood. Honestly, we didn't have to look for it, we were tripping over it.

Its the best quality driftwood too - looks like its been honed by the sand and sea for centuries - really smooth and tactile.

I collected a few bits, thinking I might do something with them, but not knowing quite what. Now I know what, and I've run out of wood! Wish I'd filled the car boot with it now! Can't find quite the same thing on Norfolk beaches, but will continue the search cos its always good to have an excuse to go to the coast.

Which is where this lot is headed - to a little coastal gallery in North Norfolk, and of course they'll also be available off the website - in a few days' time.

Must remember to keep one back for my own little coastal hideaway - when I get one. Till then I'll just keep on dreaming!

Where's your dream cottage by the sea? And please don't tell me you are already living in it cos I'll be just too envious for words!

Starfish

It happens to be Jules Verne's birthday today - he of 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea' fame. I never read the book but I remember watching the film as a kid and being terrified by the scenes where Captain Nemo is battling with the Giant Squid. Eeek!


I don't think Captain Nemo and his crew would have had the same problems if they had encountered one of my sea creatures. No, its not a squid! Its a stacking starfish - much friendlier.

In fact, let's face it, if the crew of the Nautilus had seen starfish like these at twenty thousand leagues under, they were probably on some kind of hallucinogenic substances!

But I am really pleased with these, which came out of the kiln last week, and the design for the starfish gets wackier each time I make a set.

And yesterday I took delivery of a whole range of new glaze colours, so things are going to get a whole lot more weird and wonderful. Now ... should I make a giant squid ... how many tentacles is that? Hmmmm.