Mugs all trimmed and handled

Yikes, it was over a week ago that I was to have had these mugs trimmed. I did get them done last Tuesday, I just neglected to tie up the loose ends of the last post. Anyway, I did get the handles on, as you can see. I also trimmed all the other pots that I threw out of the 2 boxes of Polar Ice porcelain that I managed to get my hands on. Amazingly, Ceramics Canada is all sold out of that clay now. No more until the new year I guess. No biggy, I should probably get a handle on the glazing of this body before I commit more time and money to it. In addition to the pots I have posted from this new clay, I got a couple of teapots out of it, as well as a few smaller serving bowls. I am finding that it requires an insane amount of trimming and I have a full bag of trimmings already that I will hopefully be able to make useable again. The few extra days off from my real job(s) that the holidays create will be spent in the studio loading bisque kilns, mixing test glazes, glazing, loading glaze kilns and crossing fingers. I will try to get into the studio on the 24th, but there are people in my life that don't seem to share the same enthusiasm I have for clay and will probably complain. I won't go on the 25th, I think that would be pushing it a bit, but boxing day is a given, as is the weekend. I will have a whole 4.5 uninterrupted days over the New Year as well. I never do anything on New Years Eve that would require any recovery from the next day, so I am hoping for a lot of productivity. I never make New Year's resolutions, but I think I might cave just this once. I am going to resolve to enter a large craft show next year. I am in no position to think spring, but I should be able to pump enough clay through my hands to be able to have enough stock for a Christmas show. I know, I know, but If I don't start thinking about it now, it will never happen. The show I think I should enter makes their entry info and forms available in February and I think the deadline is in April. Between now and then I need to come up with a booth design, have enough representative ware to fill that booth to take photos of so they can assess the booth, as well as have pictures of individual pieces for the jury process. If all goes well and I get accepted, I will be a very busy beaver over the next 11 months. I think I have the booth mostly nailed down. A friend and fellow potter has a display system that is very portable and she has offered it to me for the sale. I also have some ideas for some wooden crates. My idea is to paint them in milk paint and distress them. The colours will be very pale and muted so as not to distract from the pottery, but they will be stackable which will allow me to create a nice table top display without too much hassle as well as act as carrying totes. So that's it for now, I will be up to my elbows in clay for the next couple of weeks. I will have one glass of nog (maybe, i really don't like that stuff), but other than that, I will be busy busy busy. I have a pile of podcasts downloaded that I need to catch up on/start and the studio is the perfect place to do that. There is also the added bonus of the studio actually being closed on the 26th and the 1st, but I have a key, so it should be JUST ME in there with nobody to else to take up table space. There might be one or 2 other key holders in there, but they don't really count, as they are probably just looking for some peace and quiet too. If I don't post before then, have a Merry Christmas, and a wonderful New Year and we'll see you in 2015. I will probably be putting pics up on Instagram (see link above), but mostly just throwing, glazing and firing. Cheers!