Just look at that glaze!

I thought my newest love affair with the high-fire Porcelain had about run it's course... though I do really like the almost transparent look where it's thin, and the over-all delicate look to the pieces compared to earthenware (or low-fired Porcelain), I was frustrated with the color palette of the high-fire glaze.  As in, not much richness of color, and not many choices.  I had started using some underglaze color to liven things up in the previous set of items, but that has problems too, because at the higher temperature, much of the color evaporates or runs... The porcelain has not gone over well with buyers either, so except for a little more experimenting, I was going to stop working in porcelain for a while, this was the last set before taking a break....

When I first glanced at my most recent set of porcelain pieces I was a little disappointed.  I was also on my way out the door, so didn't really get a good look at the things.  So imagine my delight when I took a closer look later in the day!  These two pieces have a low-fire glaze on them, (just to see what would happen), and look what happened!  It looks like Agate stone!  The pictures are not showing just how cool these pieces look, I'll get out the camera stuff and take some proper pictures later.  Hopefully the almost transparent spots will show up in a photo, the glaze colors go from pale Blue to pale Green to Pink, then White, then almost gone completely where you feel like you're seeing right through the piece!

Maybe I will be doing a little more experimenting with the Porcelain before moving back to the more popular earthenware...

Live Miniatures!

Today when I went to the front page of Etsy, I saw this blog post of interest:

How-Tuesday: Micro Planters

Photo by Steve Belkowitz for Microcrafts

What a clever idea! I'm thinking of making some containers for miniature live plants to see if this could be a new product line for people who possibly weren't interested in miniature pottery before.

As far as live plants go, I am a murderer of such things and will need a little help in this department. I currently have only one Spider plant given to me about a year ago. All other house plants have been either neglected or over-watered to death... I might see about air plants. What could I do to them?

Other news...

Well, we have our feet fully into the new year now, and though I didn't make any particular resolutions, I have wanted to keep my "year in miniature" on track. Over the past few weeks I have been giving high-fire Porcelain a try and found I really like the looks of it with the most recent set of items. I listed the new things on Etsy yesterday, and should know if other people like the Porcelain items by the end of the week.

My personal dollhouse town is still in the fantasy mode. I have spent many hours browsing around Etsy and eBay getting sparks of ideas, and am pretty sure I will be making the Bar/Tavern/Hang Out first. In my mind I have it all mapped out, even a way to have lit candles on some of the tables... whether any of these plans will really work or not, I will have to wait and see :)