Christmas Tea-light Holders

On the last day of November we had a lovely frosty morning. So I popped into the garden quick with my camera to try to get some festive photos.

These Christmas tea-light holders with stars are made with speckled stoneware clay. On the handle they feature handmade beads made from porcelain and black clay. And to give them a seasonal touch, some gorgeous red glass beads, which are handmade too by my friend Anna Hayward.

Tea-light holders are not always easy to photograph. It's tricky to get them to look as cosy and magical as they are in real life whilst still trying to keep them in focus. Here's my attempt to show how cosy they can are in the dark too - they cast nice little stars on their surroundings.

Anyway, they're vailable in my Folksy Shop here! Merry Crimbles!

Modern Stoneware Beakers: Monty's Vintage Shop Blog Feature

Back in January in my last blog post I was throwing an order of beakers. Well since then I've been so busy (as usual) I've hardly had time to show off any of the things I've been up to. But today (while I'm waiting for the latest kiln to cool) I thought I'd at least mention what happened to those beakers...

After throwing them, I turned the bases next day and then brushed blue/black slip around the outside. To create a 'dotted line' pattern I then scratched through this slip to reveal the lighter coloured clay underneath: a technique called 'sgraffito' (which always requires a spellcheck.)

After firing them in the bisque kiln, I then glazed them in clear glaze both inside and out. I did have photos of this too - but it was so dark on the day they all looked out of focus. Instead, below is a photo of the order after the final glaze firing.

Since then my beakers have been featured in a lovely post on Monty's Vintage Shop Blog (a screen grab is seen at the top of this post). So I just wanted to say thanks again to Rebecca for doing such a great feature and showing off my beakers (which are now her beakers) to their best!  

I also thought this was a perfect opportunity to try out Etsy's new Shop Update feature. So I posted my first update today featuring my beakers. Here's the photo with the Etsy Tag. I currently have two of these available in my shop - just click on the pic for a link!

Speckled Stoneware Clay - Some New Pots and Designs

This year I've been using a speckled stoneware clay more often to make new designs. Some of these designs I make exclusively using this clay because they go together so well. When fired, this clay is lighter in colour than my usual stoneware and is best described as 'ecru'. It has a brown speckle throughout which comes from the tiny flecks of iron inside the clay.

As well as being a lovely clay to throw (it's very smooth and creates hardly any mess!) the speckle feature is very versatile. I often leave areas of pots unglazed to show off the natural bare clay. The speckle is great for this as it has lots of interest both visually and also to touch. It's a very tactile surface when fired and feels rougher than my usual stoneware but has a warmth to it too. It's great for making modern style cylinder shapes like my new large fruit bowls and salt and pepper sets (seen in the photos above).

I've also been using the speckle stoneware as a base for some new sgraffito designs (seen above). My usual stoneware clay is a bit too dark for this type of work, so having a lighter clay has allowed me to develop a new range of blue speckle ware. I've made just a few pieces in this style so far (some of which have been bought straight out of the kiln!) It requires brushing on a blue black slip onto the pot whilst still at the leather hard stage. Then I scratch (sgraffito) a design onto the pot. This reveals the light clay underneath giving a contrast. Finally I use a clear glaze over the whole pot to allow both the blue and the bare speckle clay to show through.

The lighter colour of this clay means that when I apply my usual glazes to it, these look very different too. This creates more versatility and options without having to create new glaze recipes. Most of the time though I prefer to use either clear glazes or an oatmeal glaze with this clay - both of which allow the natural speckle and ecru colour to show through. This style creates a very simple but modern feel which I really like.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the photos of some of my speckled stoneware pots! All the pots in the photos above are currently available in my Folksy and Etsy shops.