Another Blizzard

Oh, my gosh! We are having ANOTHER blizzard! I cancelled all my kids' classes today and school is cancelled all over the region. I decided to work in my pottery studio and have been throwing a large bowl and matching small bowls for my nephew. He is getting married the end of May. I hope he and his fiance' like chips and salsa! My hands are cold from being in water and working with the clay. My clay is sort of hard so it is being difficult and has a mind of its own.

I'm hoping to make a bisque mold today, too, so it is quicker for me to make small mother and child figurines. I'll be able to press clay into the mold, so each one will still be individually made. But because it should be a quicker process, I'll be able to price them for less. I'm looking to price them right under $30...we'll see!

The yarn I ordered a week ago finally arrived...after I called the company yesterday and complained about the lack of service. I was disappointed because last time I ordered from them, I had the yarn the following day. I'm making clog slippers for everyone in our family. I've made one pair but haven't felted them so I hope the size will be OK. We don't have a top loading washer so I'm waiting to felt them at our daughter's house this weekend.

Stay warm and if you are in a sunny place, enjoy and appreciate it!

Clock Fix & Photographing Art

Thanks to Cindy for her hint on finishing up polymer clay with Future Floor Finish! I'm busy today redoing all my clocks and wine charms to rid them of their sticky feeling - I'll be glad to have that project finished so I can confidently box them up and ship them off to happy new 'clock watchers'. I can say they make me happy, lined up on my work counter, when I turn off the lights at night and their little buttons glo in the dark!

My hubbie is working diligently to figure out our new camera and how best to use it to photograph art. He has stools and a ladder in the living room, with clamps to hold up the lights, a cloth draped down the front of the fireplace and across a low, Japanese-style table. I'm so thankful he'll mess around with it because I don't have the patience for it!

Two of my pottery students, a fifth grader and a third grader, had success yesterday centering their ball of clay on the pottery wheel - all by themselves. They were thrilled and so was I...it is such a feeling of accomplishment for all of us!

My felted wall hangings, madonna and child, and landscapes will continue showing downtown through the holidays so that was good news. I guess they don't have another artist scheduled yet - happy accident for me! I'm going to lend my curio cabinet to our daughter, Amy, so she can show her pottery there for a month or so (go to amyuthus.com to see some of her work). We are both in the process of getting shopping carts on our websites - hopefully, that work will be done in the next 10 days or so.

Thanksgiving was such a fun time - our daughters (3) were all home, along with our son-in-law and two granddaughters. My youngest sister, Julie, and her family also came, my parents and two other sisters/hubbies. We played Wii (Mario Cart was a fave), cards, 'Katie's game' (a word/drawing game, sort of like written 'telephone') and Chase the Ace - besides eating more than plenty all weekend! Such fun to have company!

I've posted my schedule of Sunday kids' classes for January through May on my website (www.jackiesart.com). I'll add a pottery class or two a bit later...

Happy day to all!