Baby plates for babycakes

Hey look! I remembered to bring my camera to the studio with me for once!

Finally, FINALLY got a big dipping bucket of the new recipe for Maggie Moo's Blue-Green glaze mixed up. I am super happy with this version, and it looks fantastic layered with all the other studio glazes. Thanks to Maggie Schlebecker who did her school science fair project on glaze testing and provided us with her recipe. Hooray girls and science!

I got a cake plate out of the kiln, which warped just as I expected. We have been working on making a cake plate in my Tuesday night class that could double as a chip and dip when flipped over, but the bowl as a base just isn't enough support to keep the plate part from warping in the kiln (especially when you use porcelain, like me). It's not completely horrible, but I do want to refire it because I'm not satisfied with the glaze application. I will probably use it for Maddy's birthday party if I can improve the glaze on it.

Why yes, that is a birthday gator! Or a crocodile, which ever you prefer.

These are kid's plates I'm working on. One is for Maddy! I can't wait until she's old enough to use it! I'm going to get them painted today. I cannot wait to make more of these. They're so fun!

Last but not least, I got my painted pendants out of the kiln. What do you think? I keep wanting to sit down and roll out more of these, and do some different shapes, but I haven't had the time. Maybe after the baby party extravaganza?

If anyone is interested in the glaze recipe for the Maggie Moo glaze, let me know. I'd be happy to share!

Hooray test tiles!

I got my test tiles out of the kiln this week, and I am really pleased with the results so far. This is the first time I've ever mixed a chrome tin glaze. How cool that such a vibrant green powder can make such a lovely wine color after firing! I definitely want to do more research on chrome tin glazes, since I understand they can be difficult to get right. I feel a bit like I cheated by skipping all the testing and using the tried and true recipe provided in my book. I did learn that you only need a tiny amount of chrome to get the best color - .1% provided the richest raspberry color.

Raspberry glaze from Mastering Cone 6 Glaze.

 I just found a very helpful article about trying to get a pink glaze using mason stains, and it breaks down the different elements that are needed to get color, and which ones will bleach out the desired pink or red (magnesia apparently is not compatible with getting pink to work, apparently). I assume that the same guidelines provided in this article are true for mixing glazes from oxides rather than stains, but I guess I'll have to test to find out.

Two mixes of Floating Blue Woo

A blue green copper glaze. We call it Maggie Moo, because our instructor Cathy's daughter, Maggie, mixed up the original recipe for a science fair project. How cool is that?

I hope I can learn from these base recipes and eventually be able to formulate my own glazes based on the results I desire. There certainly is a lot to learn!