Baby Party EXTRAVAGANZA

Maddy had her first birthday party this past Sunday, and I've been dying to blog about it all week, but I've been teaching a kids clay class and flipping out over how me and my hubs might be buying a house... (More on that stuff next post!) It was a super fun and adorable party, and Maddy was pretty much awesomely happy all day long.

I was really ambivalent over what to do for Maddy's birthday. At first, I thought, "She's a baby. All she needs is cake and a few family members. She won't even remember this party." Then I thought about it for a while, and I was like "Screw that! I'm gonna do something awesome for her!" Maddy had recently discovered her love for tunnels and crawling back and forth between our ankles, and I had seen a cool cardboard play tunnel with colorful socks hanging inside on Pinterest. I thought, how cool would it be to build stuff out of cardboard that she would enjoy playing with? I decided to do everything for the party based only around things I know she'd play with and enjoy. If it was something she wouldn't notice, or would be too young to appreciate, it was out. That made for a nice happy medium between flipping out over planning the perfect party, and totally slacking off on doing things right. There was an article in Parents magazine featuring this BYOB party (that's Bring Your Own Box) for twin one year old boys, and that pretty much cemented the idea that I was going to build a castle.

I put an ad on Freecycle asking for large appliance size boxes, and scored one 70" flat screen tv box that I was able to fold into a perfect castle base. Smaller boxes made the tunnel and the turrets, and my mom-in-law crocheted the chains for the drawbridge, and added brown floral wrapping paper to the castle where we needed to hide yellow duct tape. She also made the totally adorable pennants!

Andre guards the gate

Moat monster

Pennants

Here are Maddy and Virginia, our baby party guest, playing peekaboo with the window flaps. 

Maddy and her Daddy

Aunt Mariah checking out the flower box windows

 I decided I wanted to make her a rainbow layer cake, because that's what all the cool kids get for their birthday, and I thought Maddy would flip for the bright colors. But then I read a thing about artificial food dyes being horrible for kids, and decided to try natural dyes instead, from this recipe. I wish I could say it turned out awesome, but it was a bit of a let down. I tried baking the cake twice, because I really screwed up the first one. You use fruit and vegetable juices to dye the cake, and if you forget to reduce the amount of liquid in your cake recipe, you end up with runny pancake batter. Not good. Unfortunately, even after reducing the liquid on the second try, the cakes didn't rise well at all, and the colors were barely noticeable. I think in the future, I will just stick to yummy recipes, and not worry about cool color cake. Maybe next year I'll do cool things with marshmallow fondant instead. I gotta say, though, that the frosting was some of the best I've ever had. Hooray Swiss Meringue Buttercream! I will never, ever make American style buttercream frosting again! I added lemon extract, juice, and zest to the frosting, which just pushed it over the edge of deliciousness. And Maddy smashed it all in her face, so she enjoyed it, which is all that matters:)

Here are those baby plates I was working on. I decided Maddy gets to keep both, because I can't bear to part with either one. I really did intend to put the cat one in my Etsy shop, honest. But just look at it! I love it so much! I think I'll hang both on the wall in Maddy's room until she's old enough to be able to use them.

So hooray baby parties! It was a little exhausting, but she had such a blast, so it was totally worth it. And now we have a castle! I look forward to next year, when she'll be even more people-like, and we can up the awesomeness. Or, you know, just take her to Chuck-E-Cheese.

Playing catch up

Everyone jokes now a days about how this generation is so attached to their smart phones and digital devices that they burst into tears if they can't find their iPhone for a day. I had no idea I was one of those people until I got my iPhone good and lost this weekend. It's been missing since Saturday morning, and though I haven't fallen to the ground sobbing yet, I really am kind of lost without it. I had no idea I was so dependent on that thing.

I managed to take some pics this week in the studio and of my girl outside enjoying the weather, and I thankfully uploaded them before I misplaced my phone. Argh! Now I have to actually charge my real camera, and I have to use the landline to make phone calls, and I can't check in when I go to the movies or check my friend's status messages every 5 minutes! HOW WILL I LET MY FRIENDS KNOW INSTANTANEOUSLY HOW MUCH I ENJOYED THE HUNGER GAMES???

Anyway, I spent some time catching up a bit on my own work at the studio after mixing a new dipping glaze and doing some test tiles. I didn't realize how much half finished stuff had piled up in my space. I made two scallop edged plates that I intend to decorate, and one of them is to commemorate Maddy's 1st birthday. We're having a real party for her April 1st that's a cardboard box extravaganza and playdate. Unfortunately we are antisocial people and only know a handful of parents with babies, so I'm thinking it's going to be a sparsely attended affair, at least by baby to adult ratio standards. I feel like going to the park and finding random people with babies, and just dragging them to our house. Here! Come play with my baby! Before she becomes an antisocial recluse like us! NO REALLY WE'RE NOT CREEPY STALKERS I SWEAR

I'll probably write again post baby party, as my mother-in-law and I are preoccupied with getting ready for that, plus this is the last week of the session at Beech Grove. Hopefully I'll be back with lots of adorable pics, taken with a real honest-to-God camera, and maybe even my phone if I can freakin' find it.

Btw, just a heads up: if you have the Find My iPhone app, it works great until you turn off your phone. Stupid phone.

Happy Birthday, Madeleine

Today is Maddy's birthday. Much like every other parent out there, I find myself marveling at how quickly the time has passed. Much like every parent out there, I find myself wanting the world she grows up in to be a better one than it is.

I've been reading a lot about human rights, been reading bell hooks and a lot of blogs, and following all the women's rights issues that are being stirred up by the upcoming election, and also the continuing turmoil in Egypt and the women who are being abused and violated because they speak out, and the case of Trayvon Martin, the young black kid who was shot for walking through the wrong neighborhood at night with a bag of skittles and a can of tea. Some days I'm just infuriated, and sad, and overwhelmed. But I want the world to be better than it is, and I believe that the best way to do that is to educate myself, and to be a better person. I cannot change what's outside without addressing what is inside. I cannot raise my child to be open and loving and respectful of all peoples if I do not set that example for her myself.

A friend of mine posted a link to a blog post about bullying, and a letter the blogger has written to her young son to read when he is older. It is beautiful, and so full of love, and it is so apt right now. Because if the world is to be a place where everyone is ACTUALLY EQUAL, regardless of their sex, race, social status, culture, religion, body type, clothing, or any other feature we choose to prejudge others on, it has to begin with us, and with our children. I want to share it with you, because I think it may be the most awesome thing I've read in a long time. It being Maddy's birthday, I may just write a letter to her myself.

A Mountain I’m Willing to Die On

Happy Birthday, babycakes:)

A perfect week

Two new plates, still cooling. (I had to peek.)

My sister-in-laws rockin' their 20's garb for a theme party. I got very into helping them put together these outfits. We referenced Pinterest a lot;) Don't they look cute?

The infamous Josie cat, getting some good morning rubbies today.

The Chinese Magnolia across the street. I look forward to seeing this out the front window every spring.

So many nice and lovely and fun things have happened this week, and I have neglected to blog because I've been too busy enjoying them. The end of a perfect spring day would come, and I'd snuggle Maddy and put her to bed, and have a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and not feel inclined to sit in front of a computer screen to write. I feel like I need to pick up my paper journal again. Writing in a pretty hardbound book feels like bliss. Blogging feels like work sometimes.

I feel a little guilty for enjoying this perfect spring weather all week (blue skies, blooming trees, 70-80 degrees and a breeze blowing) when it's so early in the year. I keep thinking, oh god, it's global warming, this summer is going to be brutal if the weather is this nice in March. I have to tell myself to shut up and enjoy it. It's not like I can control the weather!

Maddy and I have been going for walks daily, partially in an effort to get in shape (that's me, not her!), and partially because it's too beautiful out to stay indoors. Maddy was pretty grumpy earlier in the week, and was shooting surly glances at everyone we met, but then her new tooth came thru, and she's a much happier girl now. Her birthday is coming up this week (can you believe it's been a year?!?), so I've been planning her cardboard box themed birthday party. God bless Pinterest, right?

I went to an artist talk on Wednesday given by my former instructor Lesley Baker, which I really enjoyed. It was a very intimate gathering of mostly artists and a couple art lovers, and we sat in a round table kind of fashion to listen to Lesley talk about her life and work. It was great to finally hear her talk about her influences and processes after having her as a teacher, where she was very careful not to share too much of her work with us so we wouldn't be too influenced by it. Lesley has recently updated her website, and will be adding pictures from her solo show (un)Naturals very soon, so you should definitely check it out. She also had a large installation called Bull in a China Shop on display during the Super Bowl that got some national press, which is very cool. I really can't do the installation justice talking about it here, you have to see it in person (which you can thru the end of the month at Wug Laku's Studio and Garage, if you happen to be in Indy). I know I'm biased because she was my teacher, but I love her work so much. She's been a major influence on me in a lot of ways.

That's enough typing for today! I'm hoping to get at least a couple things listed on Etsy, but who knows if that will really happen. Maddy will be waking up any minute now, I suspect. Maybe during nap time...

Sicky baby

I seem to be losing some steam on the blog posting front. Maddy has been sick with a cough and runny nose, which has kept me pretty busy making sure she stays fed and hydrated. Poor girl, she takes having a cold so much better than I do! I cooked some beef stew for the both of us to get our strength up, since I was sure I'd be sick next. I've been feeling kind of crappy, but Maddy is just running around cheerfully talking to herself as though nothing is wrong. If it wasn't for the runny nose and adorable sneezes, you'd never know she was sick.

I haven't felt much inclined to do any drawing, and I haven't made it into the studio at all. This morning I just feel dizzy and totally off. I'm ready to go back to bed.

I found a couple of recipes (here) for tomato red iron glazes that I plan to try in the studio this week. Now that I know more about controlled cooling, and programming the kiln to slow the cooling cycle down, I feel a little more confident about testing some these. I haven't punched them into my glazing software yet to see what they look like, and how stable they might be. They sure look pretty, though!

Baby Foofaraw

My daughter is 10 months this week. Everyone always says "They grow up so fast," and I've always thought that was such a cliche thing to say. Of course they grow up fast, that's what kids do. Then you have one of your own, and you just can't stop thinking it to yourself. I feel silly every time I think it, but I can't seem to help myself. It seems like Maddy masters a new skill daily these days. This week, she discovered how to clap all on her own, out of the blue. Just a minute ago, she was a chubby little amorphous blob that made grunts and growly noises, and now she's learning how to walk. It's pretty amazing to watch.


Maddy at 2 months.


Maddy now.

I forgot to bring a camera or pull out my iphone, but I brought Maddy to class with me a couple weeks ago. She wanted to be right next to me most of the time, which made it difficult to do a throwing demo with her hanging on and wanting to touch every sharp object within reach (of course, she went right for the needle tool first.) But she put her hands on the clay as I was pulling out a flat disc for my citrus juicer demo, and the wet slip slid under her hands as the wheel turned, and she went "ooooooooh." She was totally mesmerized by how it looked and felt. It was adorable! I don't think it'll be long before I'm teaching this girl how to throw her own pots:D There are three year olds that can throw, right?

Another photo mega post - raku, new doll jars, and Jeanette Zeis spoon trade

I've got too many pictures of ceramic related things not to do another blog post. That's pretty much my motivation anymore -  a lot of backlog of pics on my iphone and camera = time to blog. Maybe one day I'll commit to a more regular blog posting, but in the meantime, here are pretty things to look at.

We had our first raku firing at Beech Grove Clay Works today. It went really well, and we got some excellent results. I even mixed up a raku glaze recipe from Tracey Boone's pottery blog, which got a lot of reduction and did exactly as she said it would. I was pretty excited about that. Thanks for the recipe, Tracey!

Raku firing is so exciting! All the smoke and flames, and getting to see the pieces red hot like that. I can't wait for the next one, I'm hooked!

I made some cute mini doll jars that I'm going to fire at a friends house tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about them, and I'm dying to make more.

I'm also firing some new test tiles tomorrow with a base glaze and varying amounts of mason stains. I did some yellow, and some that are either blue or violet (the mason stains were old, and not all of them were well labeled.) I'll post more on those later if they come out looking halfway decent.

Remember those spoons I made? And the ones Jeanette Zeis made? Jeanette liked my spoons! And I adore hers! So we agreed to trade. I am so excited about getting to trade with her. I now have a ceramic spoon to add to my collection of lovely handmade ceramics from other artists. I admit, I got the better end of the deal, as her spoons are a lot nicer than mine. But I'm happy that she liked mine! She chose the green superhero girl spoon. I hope she enjoys it as much as I love mine!

Finally, here are some pics of Maddy, just because. She is adorable, and she's getting so big! I am dreaming of the day I get to bring her to the studio to throw with me.

Grandma took a huge tutu and added ribbons so she could wear it as a big fluffy dress. She likes to play peekaboo by pulling the tulle up over her face.

Her aunt Mariah made her a huge leaf pile to play in. She wasn't terribly impressed, though.

Bear baby.