Pottery Christmas Gifts and More...

I went back to Madd Platter in early Nov. to create a travel mug for my dad for Christmas. His mug turned out really well. I tried to make it about nature and animals since. I got to practice with foreground, middle ground and background which went well. I just hope the main color was manly enough so that he will use it. While making it I saw the "horny mug" on the shelf and thought of my friend Libby. :) This was perhaps one of the most difficult paint jobs due to the fact I decided to use stripes.  I use painters tape but it still left uneven lines with white spaces in between the stripes.  It was challenging to do 3 coats of each color while not hitting the others. It took forever but the results was pretty good.  My niece and nephew loved the mug.  Of course I wouldn't let them read the inspection on the bottom nor will I show you the viewer. It's a private comment between my friend and I. :)

I continued to think of gifts I could make and saw the ornaments.  I knew on my trip back home to Western NY for Thanksgiving I was going to see a couple ofmy Naz peeps and wanted to give them a little something. So I created these ornaments. I later designed an inspirational notepad with one of my images on it for another Naz peep who was in ned of some inspiration. I made that through York photo where I made my Christmas Cards this year.  I them realized I had to get a gift for one of the referral sites I work with at my new job for stupid gift exchange they do each year. I went back on York photo with a 40% coupon and used my images and created some designs and had a mug made for around $11.

I forgot to take a pic of the ornaments after they were fired and I gave them away this weekend.

work gift.

dad's travel mug

the horny mug!!

The Madd Platter

I was excited to find a cool pottery painting place soon upon my arrival in my new city.  Since pretty much none of my belongings were here and I needed to create I asked around and was told of the Madd Platter; http://www.mymadplatter.com. I went after work one day and checked it out.

I fell in love almost immediately. There was only a few people there which made for nice 1on 1 assistance. There was a ton of pieces to choose from to create and a lot more techniques then I was shown in the pottery place in Rochester. I was taught this new technique of silk screen printing on the piece which I loved! It was pretty easy and made for a professional looking piece.

I focused on making a traveling mug for my friend (now boyfriend) who was coming to visit. He is a pilot so I created a piece that was all about traveling and flying and gave it a vintage feel.  If you silk print with a darker color you can then water down a glazes and paint over the print giving it a water color/vintage look to it.  Below you will see the rough draft of the piece. I swear I took finished project pics but can't find them!!! Trust me it turned out awesome and he loved it!

The pen burns off and wasn't seen in the final product.

I ended up signing up to go back for my birthday which was this past week. They were having a breast cancer fundraiser. I showed my sister pics and how easy it was to create and she agreed to come with me and try something new.  At the fundraiser there was food and drinks and raffle prizes. My sister won some SC hot sauce.  I think she had a good time and it was a great night out for me.  I created another travel mug and used the silk prints again. I think I could make a mug for everyone I know I have so many ideas!  I may have to make this a monthly place to go!

Here's the finished products: