Yeah, the tulip vase is fired!

Here it is, finally! I'm quite proud of my first major project!  I started this tulip vase back in May.

It's 12cm high (4.75"), more for a grand mansion than my Georgian townhouse, but that can't be helped and it will get a good place in my dollshouse. I'm planning another one, but probably with square pots, like the one I originally saw in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

I've also made some more tiles with a different type of clay, hoping to make them more uniform and easier to decorate. That's another project in progress.  It's a good thing to have several things on the go and at different stages in pottery, at least I'll be producing more to help fill up the kiln :).

Four of the other pots have also been fired ( all four in the photo of the boxfile below, one on the table and three on the floor). Several others went in with experimental glazes that haven't worked very well, these are going to be fired again. Two of those with a dark blue glaze, which somehow was pale grey-green and much too thin after the first firing. The other two are also blue and white.

All but the flat dish on the floor to the right, are mine!

I really like the two in the middle on the floor. They have a different glaze that is a bit whiter, if that makes sense. The Delft type glaze is ever so slightly yellow. All pots except for the Japanese one are earthenware.

Fabulously Small's give away

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http://fabulouslysmall.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/yes-im-very-delighted-to-let-you-know.html

Monique's miniatures are just beautiful!

Thanks Ilona, I managed to get it just where I wanted it!                                                         ===>

On my own 'progress' the only news is that some of my pottery should be fired this Tuesday! Other than that I'm doing lots of embroidery (the oriental rug) and lots of 'research'. It's really just spending oodles of time on other blogs/websites, haha.

We had a lovely autumn day here, it was lovely and sunny for a walk near Mayfield in East Sussex!

Aren't they lovely barns, never seen anyone here, but there are a few horses..

Just a beautiful play of light on an old wall

Lots of mud before getting to the gate!

Hope to have some mini-stuff to talk about next time :)

Idske

Tulipvase progress

Finished decorating the tulipvase, all that's left to do is glazing and firing. I'll glaze it next week and then it's waiting for the kiln to be filled. As Yolande, the pottery teacher, is producing a lot for Christmas, I probably won't have wait too long.

And another pot was fired, I expected it to be olive green, but apparently I had the wrong glaze. As the blue and white is black when you paint it, glaze is mostly greyish, white with a hint of blue or green or just murky. I still like it!

The glaze has bubbled on the inside of this pot, which is about 1 inch diameter. Just trying to decide whether it is a plant pot or a pot for the kitchen....

Idske

Apeldoorn 2012!

I went to the Apeldoorn Show last Sunday. It was quite a last minute decision as I didn't arrive in the Netherlands until Saturday 6pm after a -thankfully- uneventful drive. It took quite some time to have a look at all on offer at the show. There were some stalls with seriously beautiful furniture, porcelain and glass, awe inspiring!  

A lovely potter, Cocky Wildschut was kind enough to talk to me about her porcelain techniques and give me some tips to take back to my class. I also bought this lovely blue and white dish from her! 

I didn't stop there, though..

The next item was the glass decanter, unfortunately I forgot the name of the maker. His glass was just beautiful and I had to keep in mind what I wanted for my house, because I could have really gone overboard and bought lots of glass.

In front of the boxfile, which really needs a new name, are all of my goodies from Apeldoorn. Lots of jewellery findings for making lamp shades, candle holders, picture frames and anything else I can think of for the boxfile shop, some 'linden' wood (lime wood?) and small clamps, as you can never have enough clamps when making miniature furniture! :)

The Apeldoorn October 2012 Show

Happy mini-time!  Idske