It’s no accident that my new iPod Nano is reminiscent of one of my favorite glazes!

Last week, I celebrated my 42nd birthday – and I had been wishing for my very own iPod to use in the studio. I love it and am enjoying loading music and podcasts onto it to listen to when I’m working in the studio. Thanks Ron and Mom – I can now donate my old 1980′s Panasonic receiver! I have an old school shuffle that I still use when running, but it’s clunky when compared to my new sleek Nano. When I received it, I realized that I needed a little cozy to protect it when not in use or hitching a ride in my cavernous purse. I could have made one myself, but found a perfect one on Etsy from Squirrel’s Nest that I just adore.

New 30″ maple wood rolling pin

Rolled stoneware slab 18″ wide

Last week, I took a trip to Mile Hi Ceramics and picked up a 24″ maple rolling pin to use when I’m at home to roll out slabs of clay for my organic shaped bowls. They didn’t have any of the large silicone rollers in stock, but they had this one and an even larger 30″ roller – though I settled on the smaller one. I spent the weekend making some plaster molds for my drape molded bowls and am almost finished making the pieces for my first wholesale order.  On a side note, those of you with slab rollers must think that I’m living in the stone age!

Meanwhile, ever wonder how much pottery plaster you need for a particular form? There are plenty of worksheets out there that give you the exact amount of water to plaster ratio, but I was stuck on the math part – specifically trying to figure out the volume in cubic inches of the bowl I wanted to replicate. I found this great calculator that helped me tremendously without having to deal with pi or any other calculations other than taking simple measurements. I’m not a bad math student – but for some reason, the mere thought of using math beyond basic calculations makes me break into a sweat.

Finally, I’ll leave you with this image of our new dog Danzig sharing the sofa with Zuzu – I think they’ve come to an agreement of sorts.

Have a good day,
~Cynthia