color block

I should have better pictures coming soon of this one and others. Its mug central over here.

Weekday escape

I want to go to there.

My Saturday

More video inspiration

This is what I am talking about. See Part I here.

Thank you, Ira.

edit

First batch home!

You can probably tell I was drawn to the lighter glazes. The light blue is called Robin's Egg. I think the name's accurate. :)

Actually I have had these home for some time now, just haven't gotten them up here on the blog. In my class, we started out using a clay with grog which produces the speckles most of these pieces have.
A few of these pieces are some of the first that I threw when I started the class. We waited until the last session to glaze. Talk about anticipation! I can literally see how the quality of the pieces change and progress as I gain more experience. I am starting to focus more on the finishing touches and details, like leveling off the rim and trimming down to the curve I want. Oh trimming, so therapeutic!

I am still experimenting with different shapes and sizes. There are so many options out there. More to come! (Think polka-dots!) :)

Summer rain

Happy Birthday!

Finally! I brought some pieces home glazed and ready. My mom chose which one she wanted for her birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! 

More to come soon. 

Ok. I have totally slacked. Life has been a whirlwind of crazy and busy with a few bouts of lazy (which I think are a little earned). But no excuse!

My class at the pottery studio is now over, sadly, and I am now attending the open studio regularly. I am still slowly learning and I want to eventually recap what I learned during the class.

It is so great to be able to meet new people while you all are on a mission to enrich your lives. Each person that was in my class and that I meet in the open studio are all so different from me and the thing that bonds us together is our love for the craft. And everyone was always so encouraging! I found that I was taking forever to throw one piece because I was either watching other people at work or talking. Well that and I really am super slow. Perfectionism and ADD do not really mesh well....

Pictures soon of some of my glazed pieces. I am so excited to see all of them and how they turned out!

(Pictured above: statue in the Colosseum) 

Tools of the trade

I love tools. I really do. That is the collector side of me speaking. My obsession with tools could get dangerous to our budget. 

Tunnel vision

Father's day on the lake. Don't mind if I do. 

First go at it

One of my first pieces. I started out with more clay than that. :)

Week 1 of pottery class: Wedging and cylinders.

The first class, we learned how to wedge. I thought this consisted of cutting the clay in little wedges. That makes sense right? You can tell I did a lot of research before starting the class.
Wedging is sort of like kneading dough, really dense and hard dough. I hadn't quite gotten the rhythm down yet and made it harder than it should have been ( I have now learned). We had to wedge for about 2 hours straight and I was seriously sweating. On my way home I tried to scratch my head and was surprised that my fingers just wouldn't do it! Trying to type and use my hands at work the next day was near to impossible. My hands would enter into a full out shake.

The three top pictures are my first attempts at pulling a cylinder. These have only been fired, not glazed. The fact that they didn't blow up in the kiln is a good start.

The picture just below are pieces done by those that use the studio, not mine.

  

Short trip home after pottery open studio today. Had a mini photo shoot with my niece, Claire. She is too cute. 

Let's begin

This post is long over due. Better late than never right?

When I first decided to do this project, I knew that pottery would be on the list. And when I first saw someone on the wheel, I was immediately drawn to it and wanted to be a part of that world. I think it is just mesmerizing! I searched online for pottery classes and the first to pop up was at the EAC Pottery Studio. I had no idea this existed and so close, who knew?! It is a six week course, two days a week, and the classes last for three hours. Sure it is a commitment but I didn't think twice. This kind of set the two month timeline for the project. It gave me enough time to learn and to continue to use what I learn for a few more weeks.

After that fell into my lap, other things began to come up too. I first happened upon the Create and Connect Project, an awesome collaboration of two girls who seriously know how to turn their passion into profit and choose to share that with others. After obsessing over that for a few days, my husband and I were taking a Sunday drive, we heard an interview with Eric Maisel, author of Brainstorm: Harnessing the Power of Productive Obsession and it was super interesting! It was like a light bulb went off in my head! (Is that the right expression?) I saw and heard various other things, all within the course of one week,  that just seemed to pump me up even more.

So here I am, in the thick of pottery class and loving it (I think it will be super hard to take a break from it after two months!) I am knew to the blog world, as far as writing one goes, and I am in dire need to brush up on my photography skills. It is a learning process all around.

More to come in the near future on what the heck I am doing in pottery class! Have a fantastic weekend!

Stamping set on its way!

(source: EviesToolEmporium)

I just ordered this metal stamping set and I am super excited!

(source: PoppyTalk)

I first saw them on PoppyTalk in a great gift tag tutorial (which I am so doing). But what I am most excited about is seeing how they look on the little pottery pieces I am making. It even comes with a tiny little ampersand. 

(source: PoppyTalk)

Wouldn't you love getting this with a gift??

This is my make-things project.

I have made the decision to learn how to make and create! I will spend two months on learning one craft, then move on to the next for as long as I can. My first craft is pottery, second is welding, and third is sewing, or more specifically quilting. My goal is to add one or two more crafts to this list as I go.

Why am I doing this? Humans are naturally meant to use their hands to make what they need or want in their every day life. I am greatly inspired by the unmatched quality and beauty in things handmade. There is an imperfection and uniqueness that just intrigues me. I love to see the hand at work in things. And I have always felt like my ridiculously long fingers and my wandering mind could join together and make a great team.

Once I made the commitment to learn, the possibilities were so overwhelming that I couldn't decide on one direction. I also had no clue what I would be good at or what I would enjoy doing. I figured I could start at some of the very basic of crafts. So I will be trying my hand (literally) at a few for a specific amount of time and we will see where that takes me.

This is also my own personal accountability partner, my goal tracker if you will. In making a commitment to learn, I am committing to getting up off my butt and DOING MORE. I will be the first to admit, it is easy to come home after work, get something to eat and relaxing for the majority of the evening. Where does this get you? NOWHERE. What better way to break this habit than to post my life for all to see? There are so many goals (work out, budget, eat better, garden) and so little time! Encouraging and motivating words of wisdom welcome. :)

Watch us learn, grow, and hopefully become our better selves in the process.

test

girls night. 

This is my test post. I like it so much that I think I will keep it....in all its randomness. Enjoy a preview of our life.