I packed 36 boxes when this was finished!  There are still a couple of orders that I will need to pack later, due to those cups not turning out as well as I wanted.

They are going out in dribs and drabs as I collect addresses and payments.  Thank you to all who participated!

This coop was a resounding success, thanks to Lori of Beneath The Rowan Tree.  She was efficient and fast and wonderful to work with.  Thank you for doing this for me, Lori!

Hmmm- what should I try next?  Had a request for yarn bowls…  but first, I think I will enjoy the last 10 days of summer…

Remember these?

Here they are after firing:

Pretty cool, huh?

And… once the squishies have undergone their first firing, they are glazed.

I missed taking a photo of the first step after bisque firing- the sanding.  Each squishy is inspected for cracks or holes and rough spots are sanded down.  This is extremely hazardous, as it releases airborne silica dust, which if breathed in, can collect in the lungs and cause silicosis, for which there is no cure.  This is why most potters wear a NIOSH N-, P- or R-100 mask when working in any situation that creates dust.  I always meant to get around to buying one… so yeah, go ahead and yell at me.  I never wore gloves either when I was an animal control officer so I’m used to getting yelled at…

Back to the topic- once sanded, the squishies are rinsed in hot water and left to dry for around an hour.  Then the liner glaze is poured in.  I use a glossy white glaze on the insides of the squishies.  I also manage to get some on me, the walls, the table… as you can see.

Then the glaze is poured out, and I wipe off any drips on the outside and also wipe the rim clean.

After the stray glaze is cleaned off, the cup is set aside to dry for an hour or so.  Then the outside glaze goes on!  This is achieved by dipping the squishy into the glaze bucket.

Ready to dunk!

This glaze is floating blue.  Before they are fired, glazes usually look nothing like the finished glaze, which can sometimes lead to confusion when glazing complicated patterns or images on pottery.

If I’m really careful I can get a nice clean line at the bottom of the cup.  It didn’t really happen here.

The squishy is pulled out and I let the excess drip off.

Then any stray glaze is cleaned up off the bottom and the cup is set aside until dry.  Glaze dries pretty quickly- usually these will dry in about 3-5 minutes as the clay body soaks the water out of the glaze.

Then the kiln is loaded as before, all the way to the top:

Remember these colors as they will look completely different once fired!  The kiln is programmed to fire to about 2200 degrees, and then it holds the temperature for 10 minutes to help the crystals in my beach glaze to form.  This takes a shorter time than the first firing, because it does not have to go as slowly as before.  Generally the kiln will reach temperature in 9 hours, but it takes a bit longer to cool off than it did before.

The final episode:  The finished squishies!

We took a week to go visit my brother and his family in the town where I grew up- Los Alamos, New Mexico.

After spending some fun and relaxing time with my extended family soaking up the gorgeous mountain scenery and air, and discovering lots of prehistoric pot shards at the Indian ruins, I am ready to hit the studio again!  Yes, we left the pot shards there.  It’s really REALLY bad juju to take artifacts from their resting places- everyone knows that! Not to mention that it’s against the law…

First on the agenda:  Firing.  Those squishy cups I threw last week are nice and bone dry and ready to be cooked.  So, we have…

The Squishy Saga:  Episode 2:  Firing

Loading the kiln- I didn’t grab the camera until I put the third layer of squishies in, but it’s pretty repetitive so you didn’t miss anything:

Those four little triangular or square posts will hold up the next shelf.  They are 4 inches high.  Here is the shelf full:

And on goes one shelf:

And the other:

I’ll skip to the last layer of squishies.  There are no posts in this layer, since this is the 5th and final layer of shelves.

I was able to fit 121 squishies into this firing.  Oh, and two mugs.  See them back there?  Here is the whole kiln:

I write everything down in a log every time I fire the kiln (remind me to take that binder off before I turn the kiln on; otherwise it will be vaporized by the end of the firing!)

And finally, I program the new firing into the kiln and turn it on!

Now, I have to be patient.  A typical bisque firing (the first of two firings that most pottery goes through) goes slowly and takes about 12-13 hours for my kiln.  This is an extra full load so it may take longer.  In a bisque firing, temperatures have to be increased gradually to slowly evaporate any water that may be in the clay or the piece might explode from steam buildup.  Once the bisque temperature has been reached ( around 1950 degrees), the kiln will automatically shut off, but it takes another 18-24 hours to cool before I can open the kiln.

Wow- the Hyenacart squishy cup coop that Lori of Beneath The Rowan Tree organized for me filled up in 25 minutes flat, with a total of 207 squishy cups ordered!  So now the hard work begins.  For the past 10 days I’ve been throwing, throwing, throwing.

I thought it would be fun to start a little series on how I make squishies… so here goes…

The Squishy Saga:  Episode One:  Throwing

The first step in creating squishy cups is weighing out the clay.  I weigh my clay lumps to make sure my finished products are fairly uniform.

Yeah, my studio’s dirty.  A lot of mud moves through here.

Okay, so once the lumps are weighed, I make them into balls.

Bags o’ balls:

Then comes the fun part.  Throwing:

Looks quick, doesn’t it?  Unfortunately, the part that is the most fun is also the shortest step in the process.  And, there are many, many steps to go through before they are finished.

Once they are thrown, they need to set up a bit- about an hour or two, and then they are squished:

At this point I also smooth the bottoms and put my stamp on the edge of the bottom.  I put it on the edge, because if I put it right smack in the middle, it will cave in the bottom of the cup.

After squishing, they are set up to dry for several days until bone dry:

And there you have it- the first day in the creation of a squishy cup!  Stay tuned for

The Squishy Saga:  Episode 2:  Firing

They are coming soon- Taking orders starting July 15th!

Please follow the guidelines here:

Squishy cup preorder

And just because I love this picture so much:

Monsters not included!

Universal Mama is having a big bash for our 6th birthday.  RSE will be participating in quite a few collaborations with Nature Baby Knits, Healing Pixie, Joyful Earth, Laines Magnifiques, Dwell Wool Knits and more!

We will have lots of guest vendors, and the members of UM have been busy creating all sorts of wonderful things for your enjoyment.  I will also have lots of goodies stocked in my own part of the store, including a drawing for a free squishy cup, so stop by soon!

So, it looks like Coffee wins out over blue-green for the third main color I will stock at shows.  The lineup will be Floating Blue, Coffee, and Beach.

Floating Blue:

Coffee:

Beach:

Although tidepool and red won out over beach, I will keep beach in my main lineup so I have a nice color variation at the shows.  I prefer to use red here and there because it pops so much- I don’t want it to overwhelm the shelves; and tidepool is in the blue family like floating blue- plus it’s a finicky glaze

Thank you, everyone, for all your help!

Thank you everyone!

Beach is back, baby!

For a goth girl.  Name blurred out to protect identity.

I love what tidepool does!

When I make inventory for shows, I concentrate on three glazes for the bulk of my products.

Hobbit Blue:

Beach:

and Blue-Green:

Of course, I make plenty of stuff in any of my other 15+ glazes, but sets of things, and things of which I can only keep a few on hand, are generally in the above colors.  I don’t sense a great love for the blue-green, so I’m thinking of replacing it.  This is where YOU come in!  Please take the poll to the right here and help me decide on a replacement for the blue green!

Thank you!