Christmas Weekend Raku

 I spent some time Friday, Christmas day (waiting for my sister and niece to arrive) and Sunday doing some raku firing. It is not fun in the cold...I do it out in my shed. I was even worried about the thermal shock to the pieces, going from the very hot kiln to the cold air. But everything turned out OK. These pieces are slowly going into my Etsy store. I did about 36 pieces total. This weekend the temp is supposed to go up near 50! Maybe I should have waited...well, who can predict the temp in OHIO?

New dragonfly design..carved into lino then pressed into clay




Beautiful cobalt blue and copper



This one is really SHINY and I need to get a better photo

This has a wonderful matte and shiny copper finish on the tree

Snowy Trees

Sunday, my boss at work had a pizza party for us at a park shelter.  It snowed that morning and I wasn't certain if I wanted to drive in it.  Well the snow stopped in time and the roads looked clear, so I went.  It was the most beautiful drive.  The snow was heavy and wet and clung to the trees, to make the most magnificent winter wonderland.  70 people were supposed to be at the party, and 5 people plus 4 children actually attended!  My poor supervisor sprang for 25 pizzas, salad and desserts.

Anyway, the snow on the trees inspired these snowy tree pendants.  Aren't they lovely?  For sale on Etsy.

More Star Ornaments

Here are a few more of the star ornaments that I made to put on my Christmas cards this year.  Many made with red clay instead of white.

Jewelery Accord

Last week I got an email from Erin Siegel.  One of my raku bracelet focals will be featured in a design in the book she and Lorelei Eurto are publishing.  The book is about making jewelry with fiber.  Wonderful news!

December Sale

My December special is buy $25 worth of merchandise in my store, and receive a coupon for 15% off your next order.

I have been posting a lot of new beads.  I call these Crown Beads.  They are glazed to match some of my pendants.

Cyber Monday Sale

Please visit my Etsy store today until Tues morning and enter coupon code CYMON at check out, for a 25% discount on your entire order.  Free shipping on beads, bead sets and bracelet focals only until Nov 30.

New Beauties

This past week I went back to my kiln and did a regular glaze firing with some of my new carved designs.  Here are some of my new beauties!

Winner Drawing #1

Sharon, you are the winner of drawing #1. Please contact me at sharleen@shaterraclaystudio.com with your address. Surprise pendant, because still can't add photos...thanks everyone for entering!

Drawing #2 Winner

MacCarroll Beads, you are the winner of Drawing # 2. I still can't leave photos, the icon to add photos is gone and I don't know what to do about it. You will receive a suprise! Please contact me sharleen@shaterraclaysudio.com with your mailing address...thanks!

Sharing a Tradition

I'm still adding new pieces to my Etsy store. I have some absolutely WONDERFUL things I raku fired this morning. I am so excited about this raku, I just LOVE the effects it adds to my pieces! There is nothing like it in the world. I am not going to pull the drawing winners until later on tonight, so keep leaving comments, it's not too late. Check back tomorrow for winner's names and hopefully pictures of the give aways. Winners will need to leave me their address at sharleen@shaterraclaystudio.com.

I'm so sorry I still can't add pictures today.

At 5:00 we were supposed to share a tradition. My family gobbles up this corn casserole dish every Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it is extra good made in August with fresh corn and tomatoes! My brothers call it "succotash" but I always thought succotash had lima beans in it? Anyway, here it is:

Baked Corn and Tomatoes

2 cups raw corn kernals
2 cups diced, seeded tomatoes
4 or 5 green onions, minced
1/3 cup minced green pepper
1/4 cup butter
salt and pepper
1 TB fresh chives, minced
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
4 or 5 slices of bacon, diced

Layer the corn, tomatoes, green onions and green pepper in a buttered casserole. Dot with the butter and sprinkle with the salt, pepper and chives. Strew the top with the bread crumbs and the diced raw bacon. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Serves 6.

Picture Icon Still Not Working

I will draw the winner of the pendant from the 14 comments I have had up until 3pm. New drawing starts now. Leave a comment! So sorry no pics. I have 25 new pieces from my raku kiln this morning. I am going to start listing them on Etsy.
And I forgot to add, I am giving 30% off my entire Etsy store all day. Please leave "Boc studio tour" in the comments of your invoice and don't pay the invoice. I will send you a revised bill thru Paypal.
Thanks!

What I Am Working On

Today for the open studio tour I was going to show some of what I was doing this morning. Except that my blogger isn't working. The icon to add pictures is gone. I hope that this will be fixed before the studio tour is over...or I think I will cry! Well, please leave comments anyway. I have a beautiful ceramic donut to give away at 3:00pm Eastern.

BOC Open Studio Tour Link

BOC Open Studio Blog Tour

Please visit my blog next Sunday, Oct 24 from 2 to 5 pm.  I will be participating in the BOC online studio tour.  Take a peak into the studios of Beads of Clay ceramic artists!
 Two drawings for free pendants will be held, at 3 and 4.  You will have 15 minutes to leave a comment on the blog to be entered into the drawing.
I will also be offering 30% off all merchandise, excluding close outs, in my Etsy store.  Place the order but do not pay.  I will send you a revised invoice that includes the discount.
I did this last year and it was a lot of fun.  Looking forward to seeing you online next Sunday!

Whoo-Hoo Raku

 

FABulous new pieces...for sale on Etsy!

Owl and Otter

Here are 2 more of my new designs.  These pieces were actually inspired by the poems on my other blog, The Owl and The Otter.

Another New Lino Design

I am carving more lino plates to use with my clay.  Here is a lion and I couldn't be more pleased with it.

Hand Carved Blocks

I have just discovered the joy of carving with linoleum blocks.  Well, that's not quite true.  Every year I make my own Christmas cards;  I've been doing it since I was a teen.  Many years back I used lino blocks to make the cards.  I wanted to try carving some of my own original designs for pendants and I tried rubber stamp blanks, and found it very hard to carve.  So I took myself to Dick Blick's and bought some lino blocks.  They are soft and easy to carve and so much fun to play with!  Here are some of the results.  These are raku fired.

New Blog

Some of you may know that I post every other Saturday on the Beads-of-Clay blogspot.  Twice now I have posted pictures on the blog of things in nature that I find beautiful or inspirational.  These posts have been so well received that I decided to start a new blog.  Every day for 365 days I will post a picture/s of something that I find beautiful, intriguing, or inspirational.  I will also post quotes or poems that define my life and determination to focus on what is wonderful in this world, and to let the rest slip away.
Please visit my blog for a daily dose of wonder!
365thingsthatinspireme.blogspot.com

With love, Sharleen

Raku Pendant

I had to post a picture of this.  My favorite piece to come out of the kiln last Sunday.  I almost do not want to sell it.  Raku is really hard to duplicate.  I used a combo of glazes on the sides that swirled together to make a marble-like surface of rust and dark green. 

I'm finding it hard to take pictures of the raku, getting the light just right to show the metallic beauty.

Crab Toggle

This clever toggle is designed so that the crab's back is a separate piece and serves as the toggle bar.  It has a wire loop on the bottom to attach the second side of the necklace to.
I went to Hilton Head this summer and enjoyed the hundreds of crabs at the nature preserve.  They are Fiddler Crabs and resemble very large bugs, and have only 1 large claw. When disturbed, they went scurrying for their holes, and jumped in legs first, holding the claw aloft like a flag!
This diamond shaped toggle is 1 1/2" square.  The crab is a blue crab, and background is painted with a golden tan glaze that looks like sand.  I used a heavy white crackle glaze on the edges to look like foamy waves on the sand.
Check out the Beads-of-Clay.blogspot.com  this Sat. Aug 6.  I am posting a tutorial on how I made this.

NewRaku

New raku pieces hot from the kiln

Raku Leaf Ring

I had to show these beautiful pieces that I raku'd yesterday. The ring has a 3D leaf, and would be a stunning shawl pin. And what a great copper flash on the swirl pendant.

I was foolish and really burned myself on the palm of my left hand. I immediately put ice on it and kept it there until I went to bed. All night I clutched a wet paper towel while I slept. When I got up the burn was nearly healed, just a slight tenderness. Water is the cure for burns.

The high heat exposure, and smoke, scare me, but I LOVE the results!

Close Out Sale

Check out my Esty store for bargains galore. Close out pendants $5 - $7.50 and FREE shipping on all close-out items until the end of May!

Saturdays With Sharleen - Bead Roller Tutorial

Check out beads-of-clay.blogspot.com every Saturday for I will be posting blogs there on different subjects related to ceramic beads and bead making. Today I have posted a tutorial on using polymer clay bead rollers with earth clay to make beads.

RAku Tree Donut

I have donated this raku donut textured with a tree design to the Beads of Clay store on Etsy. The raku pieces are so beautiful. It's REALLY fun!

Swap Necklace

The BOC group did a swap in March, ceramic pendant/bead designers exchanged pieces and made necklaces out of the components they received. Here is my piece, I made with a pendant from Denise Michaud. I love the symbolism in the pendant and designed the necklace with a southwest feel, adding a pewter snake as a connector, and adding lizard and snake charms.

RAku Donut

I fired this donut in my microwave...yes, my microwave! I have never been able to do raku in my kiln, because it has exposed elements, and also because it is trunk style and I can't even imagine the blast of heat if I lifted the lid with the temp at 1700. I had heard about microwave kilns for melting glass, but didn't know they would work for ceramic.

How cool is that?

Teal Pinwheel Donut

My teal pinwheel has been included in a treasury on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/c324b47ba7e1cf4b7de7f400

All turquoise and jade treasury

Daisy Pendant Necklace

Beads of Clay is currently doing a pendant exchange. Participants' names were put into a hat and 2 names at a time were drawn. The partners exchanged pendants and made a commitment to create something with the pendant.

I have had this pendant with my bead making things for a couple of years. It was sent to me when I made a group necklace with contributions from BOC members. I wasn't able to use it in the group piece. Since this current necklace exhange is going on, I decided to make a necklace from this. I started out with the idea of making it chunky with stick pearls, but it ended up very delicate, with pearls of all different shapes, sizes and colors. It changed a few times before I came up with a balance I liked.