It's Alive!!!

Last Saturday, after a month of waiting for a new propane regulator and parts for our chimney, we had our first firing. We decided that the first firing should be a bisque. Bisque firing hardens the pottery, but leaves it still able to absorb water. This allows you to handle the pottery more easily when dipping into our glazes.

  We were all a little nervous that the kiln would perform as we hoped it would, but soon after lighting the burners all of our fears melted away. There was still a little water in the arch, but other than a little steam, it didn't cause much trouble. 

The firing ended with both top and bottom dead even and plenty of propane pressure in reserve. With any luck our first glaze firing will go just as well.

Stay tuned for photos of the next firing and enjoy some photos of the inaugural run

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Mini Gallery; Black Friday Etsy II by SweetlyFallen

Thank you to SweetlyFallen for sharing this treasury!  

Visit her shop HERE!

What are your purchases for this wonderful day <3

Mini Gallery; Over The River & Through the Woods to Grandmothers House We Go... by MollysMuses

Big thank you's to MollyMuses for submitting this treasury!  

Visit her shop HERE!

Who are you spending you Thanksgiving with? <3

Trunk Show Nov 30th & Dec 1st!

Etsy Lab Rats Team is hosting a virtual trunk show!  

What does it mean & how do you participate?

There will be many of our teammates offering deals online in real time (you have to be there to get the deals).  Some will even get on their webcam so you can meet the artists "face to face".  No, you don't need a webcam.  You can just spy on us ;)

You do need to sign in to your Etsy account.  The event will begin at 8PM EST on the 30th & 1st, if you get there a bit early you can get a good seat & chat with everyone in the room.  To find us... you can click on the Community tab, then Virtual Labs tab, then join us in the Moon Room (click the orange box).  Don't click on anything until the page loads fully, you might get kicked out & meet the error hamster... if this happens just try again.  You'll see a lot of little avatars in the white squares, click on an empty square to "take a seat".  Once you've taken a seat you can type in the chat bar at the bottom.  

Sit back & enjoy the offering of all our teammies :) 

What will WE be offering?  You'll have to join us to find out!  

Mike & I will (hopefully) both be on webcam on December 1st, so come on out & support the shop!  

We'd really appreciate it :D

THANK YOU!!!

Voila! A complete gas kiln!

Yay!  It's all finished up & looking beautyous!

So here's the final pics of the build.

Mike cutting a hole in the ceiling...

I climbed up there & cut out the supports & framed some of it in.  No pics of that... it was mostly my legs hanging out of the hole.  Mike was too busy (thankfully) spotting me to take pics.

The stack from the outside...

The regulator...

Mike made a little barrel stove for the barn to keep us warm this winter.  We were burning the paint off before we brought it in.  It's all installed & working wonderfully <3

We also got 1000 pounds of clay!

All put away in the studio <3

We weren't able to fire any ware this weekend.  We don't have enough to fill the kiln.  Mike did run it empty for a few hours to dry it all out & prep it.  It works so well!  I can't wait to take some pics of it all full of happy little pots.  I've even been throwing a little!  

The next question is what glaze colors should we make? :D