Wishing Everyone A Joyous Holiday!

I've been thinking about my Blog the past few weeks, but haven't had the time to post! I made and fired two loads of ceramics in the past month .... at least 100 pieces! I have a large gas kiln outside and it's quite manageable now since I bought lighter shelves last year. The shelves are 12" x 24". So I use the old heavy shelves for the two bottom layers and have no problem lifting the new shelves up high (head high). What did I do with all the extra old shelves? My son built a pizza oven and we decided the heavy 1" thick shelves would be great for the walls! He recently finished it and says it works great. I'm looking forward to buying some pizza dough from Trader Joe's, along with toppings, and heading over ....

Also, I spent the past couple weeks working with gourds. I went crazy for a while ordering them ... Now it's time to do something with them. I photographed and posted three today on RoseMarysClay.etsy.com

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!

Gourd Bird Feeders

It has been so beautiful outside lately, and the yard is full of birds. I can hardly keep up with them. They eat and eat and eat. I'm grateful for Costco and Smart & Final where I can buy a supply that lasts for a few weeks. Even today in the rain, the birds are here and eating. My dog Sarah sits and watches them all day. I know she is really watching for a squirrel to run across the back fence ... then she's off like lightning through the doggie door.

A few weeks ago when I went to my storage area to get a shipping box and had to move boxes to get to my boxes .... I realized I had tooo many gourds, huge boxes filled with gourds, all different shapes and sizes. No, you would not believe how many gourds I have.

I got out a few of the bird feeders I had ordered. They came with a hole already cut and a cord attached through the top for hanging. The cut hole was smaller than I liked, so I drew a larger circle and cut a bigger opening with my mini electric gourd saw. It'll cut the most intricate patterns. Then I wood burned, attached a small perch, and finished the gourds with a protective UV spray. Here's a few of them in my Etsy shop, RoseMarysClay.etsy.com