Coastal Carolina Clay Guild 2013 Holiday Show/Sale

Hi folks, for those who might like to see quick (not especially professional) videos of our show/sale here in Wilmington NC on Nov 3 weekend here are the videos   you will know which table was mine from my previous postings.

Still playing like a mad scientist

Found larger foam sheets at the Dollar Tree, these 8x12" sheets give me a lot more potential.  I also found that I can use paper tape (also from Dollar Tree) to tape another piece of foam to make a 12"x12" design.  That is as large as the Cameo will take, though could go up to 12x24 if I bought that mat.  Hmmm, well for now, I am having fun exploring new capabilities.  I started thinking I could make templates out of the foam, it does not stick to the clay so it is ideal.  Also the paper tape won't stick either.  I have learned that I dust the packing tape with powder (cornstarch will do as well) and then the tape won't tug on the clay, nice clean releases.  After playing around with a bowl template (I am going to make lots of bowls for our local "Empty Bowl event in March), so I am off and running.  I usually like to test new glazes, forms, etc for this.  So after making a template plain, I decided I could put designs on the templates and when I roll the template and cut, the pot is already decorated, just needs assembly.  More time at the computer designing things to fit this template and learning more about the Cameo software tools as well.  So, here goes some photos showing my templates and a few bowls and other items I have made using the larger foam designs.  All of these are greenware, still in drying process before firing/glazing.  Lots of gray clay, I am using white earthenware for this phase.

Show is over, whew I'm exhausted

Had an excellent sale, most of the items in my recent posts were sold.  It was a lovely sale with outstanding potttery with a wide diversity of styles, which is why this medium is so much fun.  Lovely to connect with my fellow potters as well since I am much of a hermit working at home now. The raffle tickets for donated items raised thousands of $$ for our local food bank.  The show was very well organized and run by the committee and I am honored to be a part of this group.

Details on how foam was cut using Cameo

There were a couple of comments from some who tried cutting "Regular"craft foam with their Cameo's saying it didn't work.  I bought the CB09 blade assembly "and" both the 45° and 60°
A good rundown on this whole blade thing can be found here:
http://ligayatg.blogspot.com/2012/04/aluminum-blade-holder.html?m=0
Here is a picture of the blade holder with the 60 degree blade in my Cameo:

Here is a picture comparing the blade extension on the CB09 with the regular Silhouette blade:

Sorry this is not a clear shot, but suffice it to say the CB09 blade extension is more than the Silhouette Blade set at 10

AND the craft foam that the Cameo will cut with this blade can be found at Dollar Tree in this package:

and is about half as thin as the regular craft foam found in Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc, my guess is that it is about 1 mil thick 

I have compared it with the cardboard that is the backing for yellow ruled tablet paper and it is about that thick, but the foam is soft, smooth and easier to cut.  I have yet to try sticking the cardboard that is the back of the ruled tablet and test it to see if the 60 degree CB09 blade would cut that.

Getting ready for Guild Sale--

These are low fire clay items, some with glazes I have never used before, some are forms I have previously only made with Cone 5 clay, and on several, I have used my new foam cuts  to create relief images

This image is on reverse side:

and as it was drying:

And from this---drying after shaping and using foam cut tree:

To This After Firing:

and this box, used various sizes of trees using this foamcut:

 with enhancements

And these cute little stick figure plates from foam cuts

and two more wall hearts:

Finally used foam cuts on my pottery

Opened Kiln this week, most of the items were made well before the foam cut thing got a hold of me, now of course I have so many, I need to start working with them.  I did manage to get one piece made using the foam, glazed and fired.

 My next kiln load will be mostly things I am making with the foam relief on them.  It is just so much fun.  Here are a few items from the kiln load this week:



Here are some of the other things that came out not related to the foam cuts:

All this was single fired, I did use foam cut to create fishscale texture.
And if anyone is interested in steps to create the heron in the marsh scraffito, etc AND all single fired, here is an in process picture

The hearts I made are similar to others I made earlier, but they sold quickly so I made a few more.  Since then, most of the previous hearts have also sold, so I need to get busy again.
In the meantime, I am trying to get a kiln load of low fire items, most of which will feature the bas relief resulting from impressing the foam cuts.  Here are a few in progress: