winter hottie - cheaters felting

we have been collecting old woolen jumpers and blankets and scarves and even socks - my crafty friends and i - and we have been putting them through the ‘felting process’. ie purposely shrinking them on a hot wash as opposed to those heart stopping times when the favourite jumper has slipped into the machine by mistake and come out just the right size for a doll : ( or perhaps a chiwawa

and then we have been getting a bit creative with them. i must admit i find it really hard to make that first cut - how to improve on that gorgeous blanket (that sits in the cupboard never seeing the couch at all! never being wrapped around anyone’s shoulders on a cold winter’s night). anyway, i digress, the images above are of the hot water bottle cover made last monday night. anita made one and i have the matching pair. two hotties for two hotties i hear you say. well indeed

chopped and blanket stitched and decorated - a fine result and it has inspired more thinking - a hat next!
now i had better get my new tea cosy on that pot to keep me up a bit longer tonight…
xx

porcelain milk jug

i had a lot of fun with this one, wrapping the clay around a rolling pin to get the shape and then attaching the base… the paper clay seems to have greater shrinkage than the usual southern ice clay as it seems much tinier than when it first went into the kiln. probably 20-25% shrinkage. good for a small tea soiree

i have my saucers ready to go but need to perfect the cups so that is what i will concentrate on in the next couple of months - yes, could take a while. in fact it could be the end of the year before i have an entire tea set including the sugar bowl unless i get a week to myself (hmmm tell her she’s dreaming!)

ceramics - pre bisquit fire

it is amazing how different pieces look before and after a biscuit (or glaze) firing so i thought i would show you a couple of images pre-firing. the look is very matt but just you wait!
these beads are pre biscuit firing (a lower firing temperature). the porcelain has been stained and then shaped. they will probably drop back in colour intensity after the firing but i am hoping not too much
i will post the glazed (before high firing) images shortly. clay is such a fun and rewarding medium to work with and porcelain is really my favourite right now
by the way, my very talented friend (and mentor!), kirsty manger from yum design, is participating in an exhibition by the geelong potters at the karingallery, 4 james street, geelong at the moment. i might see you in there!
x

glazed ceramics - some ok and some not so ok

so here are the results... the testing phase has given some interesting results. some are good and some look like cake mixture has been stuck onto the clay - not so pretty. all a good learning curve though : )
i think i will re-glaze some and see what happens and i think what i have learned from this is that the porcelain really doesn't need much to enhance it at all
some of these will be utilised as jewelry and some mounted as wall pieces
oh, shots taken on iphone, not new camera
these are the stained porcelain beads. some of which then have a stained glaze (actually an extender with a powder stain mixed through it) and some have a clear gloss glaze and some are the stained clay fired to the higher temperature. you can see on the tulip in the middle that the stained extender is quite lumpy and flat. i may fire these again with a clear glaze over the top...

some of the tiles warped in the kiln as they were not flat but stacked sideways... they make for some interesting shapes and ideas for the future!
the linework was created by making my own tissue transfers. i generated a design on the computer, had it made up into a screen and then printed onto tissue paper and  applied the dried transfer to the clay (i did it with wet and dry clay to see what happened). so far they are not as clean as the commercial transfers but perhaps that is my doing

gluggy stain : ( and washed back glaze which looks a bit dirty on the white


rings - these i love because the porcelain is gorgeous. the detail it holds is lovely and a clear glaze on the unimpressed areas really highlights the patterns as well


xx
ps this was the really garish one that looks like green cake mixture and very bright pink icing - good for testing a few other things on!

school holiday projects - better late than never...

just a couple of things the girls put together at the beginning of the holidays. some inspiration came from kelly doust’s book the crafty kid which is full of gorgeous and usable projects...

a mobile (9 years)



a lined bag (10 years) & owl (9 years)


a water bottle installation piece (7 years)

x

did you miss me? back again - with a new fuji x100

my camera stopped talking to my computer : (
i am not sure if they had a huge falling out or if it was a small tif but it was going on way too long so i took the plunge and bought a NEW camera and i am in LOVE! and my computer is also somewhat smitten…
after a lot of talking, researching and reading of blogs - especially by steve huff who writes one of the most real camera review sites i have experienced… i have bought a fuji x100 (with those gorgeous fuji colours. mmmm mmmm). zach arias also does a good review and includes lots of extra information on add-ons
hopefully i will do it justice but i am back on board with this blog (fingers crossed a little more regularly) and a few other projects where the x100 will come in very handy
i must also thank anita beaney and ben saunders for their unflagging patience with all of my questions : )
a couple of low res sample shots below to show the various things it can do - it is super sharp…




ps the best price i could find was gerry gibbs camera house - they were great…