What have I been up to the past few days?
A few weeks ago, Kismet Designs, a fellow Etsy seller, contacted me and about 8-10 other local Denver artists about possibly starting a Denver Etsy Street Team. 4 of us met in person this past Sunday, including Kismet, Kastroll Kreations, Carla Sonheim and myself.
Not only was it nice to meet some fellow creatives, but it was also wonderful to brainstorm about doing some group marketing promotions together in the coming months. We have started a group blog, which will mainly serve to announce events, sales and other news and we hope to possibly test having a group booth at a few arts and crafts events locally.
In other news, I tested my new mini Aim Kiln yesterday and it’s working perfectly. I didn’t get any porcelain pendants started this weekend, but will do so in the next few days. I also tested my larger Paragon Kiln yesterday. I purchased it used last year and didn’t even know if it even worked. Good news! It got up to temperature for a bisque fire, and today, I’m going to test it at cone 6 (roughly 2230 degrees F). I thought maybe I would need to replace the elements, but it looks like I may squeak by for a little more time. I also found a pyrometer, hydrometer, tons of stilts, shelves and other kiln related bonuses. I guess I had never investigated my purchase fully when I brought it home.
I did make 8 wheel thrown spoon rests yesterday. They’re setting up right now and will be ready to trim today or tomorrow. I was practicing “throwing off the hump” to make these. No, that’s not some perverse clay technique, “throwing off the hump” is basically a technique where multiple forms are thrown from 1 large centered piece of clay on the wheel head. It saves time since you only need to center 1 hunk of clay.
