Tibetan Flowers, AI, and Clay Bells

These sweet little clay bells were inspired by a picture floating around social media of 'Tibetan Bell' flowers.

After seeing the image below someone said I should make teacups or bells that looked like them. Because I am an easily influenced person, and because it was an excellent idea, I totally did as was commanded.

But... are these REAL flowers? I suspect this image is actually AI generated. The only examples of this plant that I could find were from questionable seed sellers using this exact same image, and slew of AI sites. I could totally be wrong, but I'm leaning toward these being beautiful, but fake. Booo! The closest real flower is maybe a Fritillaria imperialis? While still beautiful, lacks the blue details. Searching 'orange and blue flowers' yields no relevant results. What do you think?  Whatever the case, we're living in weird, weird, times.

Whether these little bells were inspired by fake flowers, or the real deal, I like them well enough. I bet my fairy folk will be tickled with them too.

Tiny Clay Cottages

I have been having far too much fin with my little mini microwave kiln. That thing has been put through the ringer over the past month! It's absolutely given me a kick in the creative pants. I'm completely and totally enamored.

My latest completed pieces are a slew of little clay houses.

Here they are freshly made. Once completely dry they're popped into the kiln for their first firing.

Here they are after their first firing and with glaze drying. They look dull and muted, but once they're fired again, the colours come to life and they have a glossy finish.

I mean, how cute are these finished fellas?! It's magic.

Handmade from white earthenware clay, bisque fired, glazed, then fired again for a shiny finish.

I've learned soooo much while making these.

Each of their imperfections is a lesson learned.

How much glaze to apply. How to achieve a flat edge. How to properly affix those little chimneys. How long to fire. How... how... how... So many variables to figure out!

And while the next batch will absolutely be closer to 'perfection' this big batch of cottages are utterly charming with their dents, wobbles and drips.

If you'd like to snag some of these little cuties, I have ten sets available in my etsy shop. Each set includes 5 ooak houses in a variety of sizes and styles. Scoot on over HERE to grab a little fairy-sized town of your own.

Microwaves, kilns, and learning curves

Mr. Pixie gifted me a microwave kiln for Christmas.

'The heck is a microwave kiln' you ask? Its a little round chamber you pop in the microwave that heats up and allows you to fire pottery, metal clay, and glass fusing.

When you get a microwave kiln that also means you need a microwave, clay, safety gloves, glazes, kiln paper, a million little bits and bobs and a whole whack of patience.

Earthenware buttons bisque fired in microwave kiln

It seems unreal that you can create little clay objects and successfully fire them in a microwave, and to do so in a fraction of the time it would take in a regular kiln. And yet, fire it does.

There's definitely a learning curve and much experimenting, and trying, and practicing, and failing! But there's a joy in that part of the creative process, and so much satisfaction when you manage to pull your experiences together and say "Wow! I learned a new skill!"

Glazed buttons ready for second firing.

I'd read a bunch of posts/comments that said that glaze firing would be impossible in the microwave, that temps required would not be possible... but I've seen loads of projects that prove the contrary, and managed some really cute results myself. Just look at the shiny happy buttons below

Finished glazed handmade buttons.

While you'll be seeing clay projects pop up in my timelines, I probably won't be doing any tutorials for using a microwave kiln. There are just too many variables to consider (clay type, humidity, kiln size, microwave wattage, direction of the wind, alignment of the planets) and that makes tutorials difficult when many people need/want specific direction.

All that said, if you've been considering grabbing one of these hot little gadgets, go for it! I've had soooo much fun with mine over the past couple of weeks. If you're a craft nerd who loves the process of learning, you'll likely find this a rewarding addition to your creative arsenal. 

Be safe & have fun!

Tattoos, Lil Peep, and Homemade Gifts

Every year I make my kid at least one gift for Christmas. In the past I've made a needlefelted sasquatch, a miniature brick wall for graffiti, a needle point that read 'Liquor and Whores'... I try to make a little something that reflects something he's been interested in that particular year.

This year my son has been on and on about old school tattoo flash. I saw some super cool examples of wooden artist hand models that had been painted with tattoos and knew that was just the thing to make this year.

Then my kid shared his Spotify roundup and his top artist was Lil Peep. I actually painted a portrait of Lil Peep for his Christmas gift a couple of years ago so I knew that he's one of my sons favourite artists, and that he was heavily tattooed. I figured I'd include a nod to him too in my little piece. 

I dabbled with the idea of replicating Lil Peeps hands as they were covered in tattoos, but then the issue became displaying the hands. The model sits on a flat base, fingers pointing up. This would mean that any wording on the hands would be upside-down when displayed. Instead of being faithful to the inspiration, I made a mashup of old school flash and tattoos that adorned Lil Peep.

Many of the Lil Peep source photos I used showed his nails painted bright red, so I included that detail too.

I'm pretty happy with how this piece turned out and hope my kiddo loves it. Making people things that reflect their loves and likes is such fun :)

Hope you had/are having a lovely holiday, sweet friend. And now, I, for one, am going to have a much deserved nap on the couch.

P.S. You have no idea how many times I typed Lil Poop while writing this.