Shelly Your Coffee Server

[AndyL]

Shelly, I completed construction of your coffee server today. :) Right now it's in it's rotation for drying. Hopefully it'll go thru it's first firing sometime next week. In this stage it's fairly fragile so cross your fingers it isn't bumped hard during it's drying. After this much work on it I'd hate to see the handle broken off accidentally. BTW, You're still after a blue or green glaze on this piece?

[Disneyfan9771]

Andy,

Yep blue green is perfect. My dining room chairs are upholstered navy blue and my carpet throughout the house is emerald green. So that color combo fits perfectly with the house. I will take a pic of the bud vase on my kitchen counter and show you how it blends in well with it.

Your cookies are baked and going to be shipped off to you either today or tomorrow. It is pretty icky and sticky ( drizzly and foggy ) so I might forgo errands today if I can. Would you like another pound of flavored coffee? My treat!

Shelley (my fingers are crossed that my coffee server doesn't get bumped during this firing!):D

[AndyL]

Thanks for the crossed fingers on the coffee pot. BTW, I made another version of the bud vase for you since I needed the challenge. So when you cross them digits it'll be for that piece too. :)

Wow, that was fast on the cookies. Would I appreciate coffee??? Flavored coffee is my favorite vegetable :) My mom will love some with the cookies I can tell you. :)

[Disneyfan9771]

Coffee a vegetable???????????????? Ok with me. I think I need to cut back a little bit since I have been dealing with insomnia lately. I know I need to sleep but my body doesn't want to. My mind just won't turn off at night. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

OOh cool another bud vase. Ahhh shucks you are spoiling me. :peri::minnie:Ok so my fingers will be crossed for both pieces. :xfingers:Too late to go to the post office today (it just closed) I should be able to send cookies and coffee tomorrow. How's that sound? This time you are getting 2 dozen instead of 1 dozen. Plus I am enclosing the recipe just in case you decide you want to try to bake them yourself. Talk to ya later.
Shelley

[AndyL]

Thanks Shelly. If both pieces come out od the first firing without a problem I'll take pictures of their raw forms. It'll give you some idea of what you'll be getting. It'll be with my ancient digital camera so "some idea" is the operative phrase here :)

[AndyL]

Shelly, One thing tho. I'm guesstimating the the shipping cost on both pieces is going to run about $26 going by past shipments.

[Disneyfan9771]

Andy,

So are you saying $26 per piece to ship or for both together? If it is both together okey dokey, if it is separate then wait a little while to send the second bud vase. Since I am a stay at home mom the money I use to pay you is money I get from my hubby as " I love you money" . Essentially money that I can do with as I please. I am also trying to sell cakes and cookies to other mom's who don't have time to bake homemade goods. Can you tell I love to bake?????????

Let's just say that money is tight here right now. I will start saving up so that I can send you the check when my server arrives.

I will send your cookies tomorrow. This box is the same box as before. Hmmm I think it likes the trip back and forth to New Jersey and Texas. lol

Shelley

[AndyL]

Shelly I figure about $26 for both pieces in a single shipment, not separately. Anything over that I'll absorb. Sound fair? Yep that cardboard box sure gets around :) I thought you might recognize it :) BTW tomorrow I'm hoping both pieces may be out of their bisque fire. I'll post pix of their raw state.

[Disneyfan9771]

Andy,

Ahh cool sounds good to me. If the amount is over 26 you don't have to absorb it. I will pay you what I owe I promise. Cool I would love to see the pics of the pieces before they are painted. What kind of clay do you use? I like that it is different than the grey clay I used when I was younger.

How are you holding up with that winter storm barrelling down on y'all? I don't know how close are far you are from Buffalo but from what I read on the news they are getting pounded. Stay warm and safe my friend.

Shelley

[AndyL]

Shelly, I use a red stoneware clay. I like it because it lends itself to handbuilding. Your server is built of coiled clay, not thrown on the wheel. The bud vase is hand built as well. I'm using most of the decoration on your first bud vase but I've done different geometry, enclosed the chamber and added a small round vertical to the top.

Luckily at this point it looks like the storm will go to the north of us. My location? I'm on the Bayshore of New Jersey very close to Sandy Hook.

[AndyL]

Shelly here are the pix I promised

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Crafts/ShellyBudVase1.jpg

The new Bud Vase out of bisque fire and with the glaze applied but unfired

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Crafts/ShellyPitcherA1Raw.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Crafts/ShellyPitcherA2Raw.jpg
The first version of the server Out of the bisque firing

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Crafts/ShellyPitcherB1Raw.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Crafts/ShellyPitcherB2Raw.jpg
Built a second version of the server in case the first handle fails in the glaze fire. Right now it's drying. These pix show it mid construction

[AndyL]

Cross your fingers Shelly. There's a good chance your pieces will be out of the glaze kiln tomorrow. I'm hoping for a successful firing :)

[AndyL]

No go on either server Shelly. Both handles cracked. The Bud vase looks great tho so I'll send it on. I don't see any need for you to wait till I eventually get a workable handle for the server. Consider the vase w/shipping a gift and thank you for the cookies in the mail now. When I get a successful server finished just pay for that shipping. How does that sound? BTW don't feel bad about me remaking the piece. I need to figure out the problem with the handle so I can build other pottery successfully. In a way this is a good thing to happen since it shows the in common technique I was using for both pots was flawed.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Crafts/ShellyBudVase2-2.jpg

[AndyL]

Rebuilt the server today Shelly. Maybe the third time will be the charm? Tried building the handle in an entirely different way then the last two and have it drying VERY, VERY slowly under plastic wraps. Hopefully this will even out the moisture in the piece so the handle won't dry out first and get a stress crack again. Time will tell. I tell you though. It's very frustrating for me to only have 3 hours of session time to work twice a week. I could have easily built 3 or 4 servers if I had a studio of my own without time constraints. One day that'll happen hopefully..........

[AndyL]

Too bad Shelly. The 3rd Server hasn't come out of it's first firing yet AND I built a 4th one last Thursday that should be out next week. My lab sessions are closing after the 23rd but I booked more hours starting in March. If I like the look of either of these two servers I'll glaze them and send off the better looking of the two when they're done. Still keep crossing them digits tho. Eventually I'll get a server whose handle didn't crack or blow up......IT's just a matter of time :)

[Disneyfan9771]

Okay Andy,

Sounds good to me. My fingers will still be crossed for either server to come out unscathed and all together. Like I said before "Practice makes perfect" :D I am not in any hurry for the servers. Let them take their time to dry and then to be fired. Yes I can understand your frustration in only having small amounts of time in the studio. To have your own studio would be awesome. I would love to have my own commercial oven so I could make bigger cakes and lots more cookies at a time. So here's to us getting our dreams into reality.:xfingers::celebrate:

[AndyL]

Speaking of dreams Shelly. You might have been following another thread of mine about entering the international Orton Cone Box Show? The entries for the Cone Box Show competion ended yesterday and the judging begins anytime now. If I place in the competition I hope I'll be notified but the entry notes I need to keep checking the Baker University website for pieces accepted for general display & sale to support the college also. So please excuse me if my typing gets ragged with typos for a while. It'll be from biting m/fingernails and and checking the Baker site more than I log on here :)

[AndyL]

Shelly, The 3rd server came out of bisque today. I glazed it the blue you like. Chances are it'll be out of the glaze kiln March 6th and I'll check it over for damage. I'm hoping the 4th server will be out of bisque this Saturday. With luck I'll be able to glaze that one too for the March 6th kiln opening.

The 3rd server : Bisqueware
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Crafts/ShellyPitcherC1Raw.jpg

[AndyL]

The 4th server came out of bisque today but had a crack. I'm not giving up on this tho if it takes me 500 pots to find the solution. Remade the pot again.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Crafts/ShellyPitcherE1Raw.jpg
This time I'm going to slow dry it by letting it sit under plastic till March 6th. If nothing cracks I'll bisque it or build another AGAIN :)

[Disneyfan9771]

Very cool looking Andy. What are the words that are around the server? Sorry to hear that the fourth one cracked. My fingers are still crossed that the third one makes it.

So how well did y'all survive the latest snow storm? I am going to brag and say that it is high 80's here and not a cloud in the sky. :cool:

[Frogman]

Seems to say "SHARE SHARE SHARE" Shelley. :yes:

[AndyL]

Brian hit it on the nose Shelly. The printing on it is the word Share repeated. Seemed the right sort of thing to put on a coffee server even tho it designed more to be decorative now then functional. I think what blew the crack into the handle on the 4th one was it was fired too soon instead of being left to dry slowly, Right now #5 is off the firing rotation cart and on a storage rack till the craft's center reopens March 6th for classes. I'll put it in for firing then if it hasn't cracked..

Did it snow here? Yep and my sheltie Belle was in 7th Heaven playing in it since she loves the snow.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Family%20Album/BelleSno1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Family%20Album/BelleSno2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Family%20Album/BelleSno3.jpg

[Disneyfan9771]

Andy,

I love Belle's cover-up. She looks like she is having fun. When it snowed here in 85 we got 14 in and the entire city shut down. I had to let my collie out and he was the biggest baby when it came to walking on the snow. If you have ever seen a dog tiptoe mine did. Oh he hated being in the snow. This also was a dog who hated water from sprinklers too. Wow that looks like a lot of snow. Like I said before I am sitting here in a tank top and the a/c is on. Oh and it's about 80 something degree's here. ONly a few wispy clouds in the sky.

[MissBianca]

What cutie-pie pictures, Andy! Wouldn't it be fun to have Belle meet Zac and Zoe!

[AndyL]

Two days before the Crafts Center opens Shelly......Still got those fingers crossed nothing cracked? :) I've got mine too I CAN tell ya :) Keep that pitcher pixie dust coming :)

[Disneyfan9771]

Ok Andy,

All digits are crossed!!!!!!!!!! Hoping that all turns out well in the end.

[AndyL]

Keep em crossed Shelly hopefully they'll finish cooling the kiln today and crack it tomorrow so I can take a close look at # 3. Have some things to deal with today so I couldn't get into the center tomorrow anyway.

[AndyL]

Shelly #3 came out of the kiln with the handle intact. #5 is in rotation now for it's bisque fire. Hopefully it'll be fine to glaze next week. Then I'll choose the better of the two pitchers to send on to you.

[AndyL]

Shelly server #5 looks fine so I glazed it with a green Celedon. This should make the "Share" graphics visible under the glaze with blue hints where the the glaze is thicker in hollows. Hopefully it'll be out of it's last firing next Thursday and I'll chose the better of the two to send on to you unless you want both??

[AndyL]

Shelly the "Share" pitcher came out of it's glaze fire fine. To me it's the better of the two servers. I'll send it out tomorrow by UPS and let you know the shipping cost by PM. You like it??

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/AndyL/Crafts/ShellyPitcherE2Glazed.jpg

[AndyL]

Shelly, the coffee server is shipped and is promised for a 3/27/08 delivery. Let me know if it arrives in one piece?

[AndyL]

Shelly, I was just tracking the server and see it made it there a few days ahead of schedule. It arrived in one piece?? When I did it I based it on Ancient Roman pottery with the addition of the "Share" decoration to modernize it. How do you like the piece?