DIY Animal Stencil Mugs
Share : this fun and easy way to spruce up plain white mugs and to personalize them with the kids (or your) favorite animals and designs. Stencil your way to the farm …. Country Living offers free stencils to download of cows, sheep and pigs.
New Year Umbria Jazz Festival
Share Happy New Year from Italy!!! We were partying here on the first day of the New Year. Umbria Jazz Festival is held every year around this time in the gorgeous Italian city of Orvieto. As this year, New Year’s day fell on a Sunday we enjoyed the happy opportunity to actually go see [...]
Shell-bejeweled Pots for Beach Cottage
Share Wondering what to do with that ever growing collection of shells? Here’s an idea for the larger ones. Again, simple design idea Found in Paris. Other beach cottage design ideas & DIY tutorials: A Beach in a Pot Waterproof Picnic Blanket for the Beach Bed Sheet with Beach Shell Print – Easy [...]
French Design Inspiration from Paris
Share Sharing my secret: I’m in Paris!!!! Instead of craft & DIY tutorials, you’ll find world-class creative inspirational photos to help you develop your own DIY and craft ideas… for the next 2 weeks! Some of the articles will be a single brilliant idea (I’ll be calling these articles ‘Creative Ideas from France’, [...]
How to Make a Simple Butterfly Mosaic
Share I’ve been inspired by mosaics for some time now. Mosaics can be whimsical, or serious. In consider mosaics classical. And, as historic mosaics in ancient cultures show us, they can be durable. This weekend, my 5-year-old niece and I ventured out to an mosaic making art workshop. Together, we created a mirror butterfly mosaic. [...]
Ceramics: Notes on Glaze Formulation and Firing
Share Continuation of part 1 of the article. Firing Conditions First, from my experience glazes fire better in periodic kilns than in tunnel kilns. Matching the tunnel kiln cycle to the periodic kiln’s cycle may not give the same results. The spatial configurations are different as is the atmosphere. The firing curve naturally has heat [...]
Ceramics: Notes on Glaze Formulation and Firing – 1
Share I hesitate to write an article on glaze formulation when there is so much on the Internet. Still, there are a few generalities that might be useful. Some years ago I categorized many glaze formulations according to firing temperature and surface finish. I did this for lead and non-lead glazes both glossy and matt. [...]
How to make Ceramic Art Cards
Share Having seen the most exquisite mosaics in Italy & France this summer, my interest in ceramics is certainly heightened! In an attempt to learn more about this fine craft and the materials used, I have been collecting articles on the topic of tiling, ceramics and mosaics to share with you. This is a very [...]
