Perthshire Open Studios... final push!!!

Ok, the trouble with being busy is that you don't have time to blog/tweet/blah on about what you're doing just when you need to!!!
So I went from selling at the Edinburgh Festival last month, and the loveliness of this....



...My stand at the West End 3d2d Craft and Design Fair...(so clean, so light and airy...).... to this:

..not clean, not airy... just a pit, otherwise known as my pre- Perthshire Open Studios workshop... neglected and sad... and did I say, a pit... I mean, there's a single shoe there in the centre of the floor - why????

Anyway, miracles began to happen:

Well hello light and airy... welcome back!  And finally:

Oops... thought I'd slip that in so we can all admire Archie's astounding contribution to this event...

Ah yes, to this... um, maybe I cluttered up the space again with all my work on display but they tell me that's the point, so hey-ho.

Anyway, this is the final weekend! Hooray... no more house arrest on Monday!!! Er, I mean, boo.... no more chatting to lovely visitors and enjoying selling my work and sharing my passions...

Really, it has been a good week, with lovely interested folks touring about the back roads and secret places of Perthshire, enjoying coming upon these treasure troves of creativity that are dotted about!

Come see me - I'm open til 7pm for the last 2 evenings... yeah - the big push!

Tired

I am seriously knackered.

This is why:

and this ~ the nasturtium fire surround:

 

(part of which I overfired due to new over-enthusiastic kiln elements and the ability to sleep through FOUR alarms!!!)

 

It will be lovely when it's finally finished though...

Also rather weary what with making about a gazillion of these for said Potfest....

...and one or two other commisions and orders which are in the mix.  One more whole day before the Potfest set up on Friday and it's gonna be PACKED!!!

Should probably check kiln and go for a snooze, then!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Kiln Repairing Workshop Happenings...

Is it Sunday night already???????? *weeps* Been a busy week in the CWS Empire.
The result of which is this...

Nightmare!!!  I can't help it... I have Potfest in a few weeks!  Not to mention a number of orders and commisions...

Actually let's ignore that and pretend everything's fine, la la la... 
So, I did a very good thing this week, production-wise:  I changed my kiln elements after *cough* a number of years.  Seriously, I could have fired tiles quicker just holding a match to them.  First thing to do when your pristine and shiny new elements arrive (and after unplugging the thing) is remove the back of the kiln...

Er, er... ............            No, it looks bad but let me tell you I have tackled bigger kiln electrics that look prehistoric and a lot more crispy than this.   Just get all the right bits to touch each other and not anything else and yer laughin'. 
*looks around for the fire-blanket*
So this is where the elements terminate and hook up to the fizzy leckie.  On the other side I was yanking out this:

Man those poor babies are well past retirement!  (They are gonna look so good on the Lady-Robot costume I'm thinking of for a 2069 space party I'm attending soon though!  I might wear them in my hair!) 

 Anyway, after much swearing, cutting my hands to ribbons and breathing lethal quantities of kiln fibre, (How many slivers of fibre does it take to do perminant damage, Ceri?  Oh, I dunno... ONE?!!!), my little kiln looked like this:

Deep joy and much rejoicing!  And yes it works!  If only I could rejuvinate my own bits and bobs with so little effort.          

Pauses for reflection....

Anyway, in anticipation of cuteness being a good thing for sales at Potfest, I've done some wee face badges and magnets - these are they in the raw:

And these are they biscuit fired:

Actually some of these, when finished and gloriously coloured, will debut at the mini Ceri at Boo Vake exhibition 20th-26th May (is that right, Arlene???) 

So that's a bit of a catch-up... just to show that when I'm not getting my paws dirty with mud, I'm just getting them dirtier with... other stuff.