Christmas crap part 2

Here's a picture of the deer antler basket:


Isn't it frightening? I bought a couple small things, nothing big though. I'm still far too cheap to buy things, especially when I feel like I can make things that are just as good or better. For example, there were ladies selling small quilts that they'd made from purchased panels, for $30 apiece. So if a panel is $6 and the backing material is about the same price, it's mostly profit. Sign me up.

The christmas crap show

The Lloyd christmas craft show is on this weekend. Hundreds of vendors are set up in the Stockade buildings. There are a lot of handmade things plus various pyramid scheme products. Jay and I wandered around pointing and snickering at the weird things people make and hope that other people will buy. Such as the deer antler morphed into wicker basketry, or the shiny flashing Jesus pictures. And I don't mean that in a christmassy sort of way. Think of a cheap neon bar sign, but with religion oozing out. It was fairly busy, I hate weaving around tons of people. I had a less-than-ideal day at work yesterday, so I was glad we didn't go for very long. However, I've promised to go again tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be ready for it.

pottery galore

I had a pottery glazing class today. I learned a lot, just not really about glazing. The class itself was basically a rehash of my previous glazing knowledge, however a refresher isn't a bad thing right now. The instructor had a lot of information about throwing and hand-building techniques, making glazes and firing, etc., so it was all good. Plus she confirmed a few things I'd been reading about lately.

Oh, I also made a batch of skor chip cookies for my kids at school. I hope Jay doesn't eat them all before Monday.

True this

"In good bat-climbing, as in good driving, one must never sacrifice safety for speed."
- Batman

Potting

For the past couple days I've been obsessed with pottery. I just finished an open studio pottery "class" and had signed up for the subsequent glazing class. Unfortunately, the lady who is firing the pieces told me that my low fire clay won't stand up to the temperatures that they glaze their medium fire clay at. So now I've been reading up on techniques, tools, kilns, and glazing in an effort to not feel so uninformed. I also have another reason, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to share that just yet.

Most of the other people using the open studio time had recently taken a class, and were focussed on trying specific techniques or projects. I felt inept, having forgotten a goodly portion of what I learned in Regina. I've gotten into a bad habit of feeling my way through and faking it. My pieces don't look too terrible, but on closer inspection I see all the flaws. However, I did manage to come up with quite a few pieces, and the other people there complimented me on them. I'm never sure if that's politeness or if people really mean it. I do feel like it was worth the money and time though.

At any rate, I want to look into the proper way to do things. Might as well fix it before it gets worse. Forth I go to the library, to see what they have for pottery books.

Let's talk about the weather

It snowed here today. Now the streets are all slippery and full of (more) scary drivers. I wish it didn't work that way.

I have my last pottery class tomorrow. I'm looking forward to getting some pieces fired. Plus I signed up for the glazing class next weekend.

I don't have to be at work until Wednesday, they gave us an extra-long weekend. Hooray!