Carol's Carousel Creations

If you missed this week’s Thursday Night Live, you need to go check it out on Carol’s Carousel Classes Facebook group. We replicated a project by Michael Harbridge where he showed a Shamrock Cookie tree that was done and demonstrated making a Snowflake Cookie tree. You can see his video by going to his Facebook page.

We showed some of our collection of cookie cutters: hearts, circles, shamrocks, and gingerbread men. Most are metal and come in an assortment of different sizes. The top edge is folded over and the bottom edge is sharp for cutting. We also have a variety of smaller plastic cutters. In previous videos we have used cutters to make our Brown Sugar Bears.

For our Cookie Tree we used an assortment of Easter cookie cutters; egg, carrot, bunny face, chick, bunny profile, and a flower. We also used a small circle cutter to remove the center of the flowers. The tree was formed on a medium-size clay puzzling cone form. First the cone is wrapped in paper. A strip of clay was attached around the bottom of the cone. Then each cookie was overlapped over the base strip or over other cookies. The clay was rolled out with a rolling pin on a foam sheet and cookies were cut and attached one at a time using a brush and compatible slip. The tree is then removed from the cone, and the paper is removed before drying and firing. It usually takes about a week for the clay to dry enough for firing.

The cookies can be decorated using underglazes or EZ strokes when still in greenware or with stains or glazes after firing. Using a textured paint such as snow or French Dimensions will simulate frosting. We are looking forward to decorating our tree and will post pictures when completed.

Carol’s Carousel Creations

Where having Fun is why we come!

So how about making your own cookie tree?
Bring your cookie cutter collection or use some of ours.

MVCT (Mahoning Valley Ceramic Teachers) had nine members attend the show this weekend, taking classes, demonstrating rubber stamps, and buying lots of bisque and supplies.

To see what we did go to Jim Warneke’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003334540599) to see his walk through on Friday. He videotaped the various booths and interviewed most of the vendors. It runs a little over and hour.

Saturday Jim videotaped our Live at the MVCT table. It is on Carol’s Carousel Classes Facebook group page (https://www.facebook.com/100003334540599/videos/3595413800582857). I showed painting the stamped designs, how to apply the stamps, and talked through the variety of stamps and samples on the display table. This video was also about an hour.

Throughout the show, there was someone at the table most all of the time. People were encouraged to purchase a piece of bisque with a large area for stamping from one of the many bisque vendors. Then bring it to our table and stamp whatever they wanted onto their piece. Some just stamped on a piece of paper, some stamped their design on bisque to take home and paint, and some sat and painted their design after stamping. After the paint dries for 24 hours so it doesn’t smear (we used Duncan Concepts), the ware can be clear glazed and fired. The gnome stamps were especially popular, and many people wanted to buy some from me.

The video Jim did of the demonstration is our Thursday Night Live for this week.

Carol’s Carousel Creations

Where having Fun is why we come!

So come on over and learn how we use rubber stamps to add designs to our pieces.

Fired Products — Glazes & Underglazes

Last week we painted a dozen eggs with a variety of glazes during our Thursday Night Live. We used the following and you can see them finished during this week’s Live on Thursday at 7:30 EDT.

• Specktaclear — a cleat glaze by Mayco with specks of color in it. It comes in four different colors. Because it is a clear glaze, we only needed two coats.

• Semi-translucent glaze — this we used on an egg that has a swirly design as it fills in the detail. This type of glaze is good for detailed pieces such as trees, but an opaque glaze is better if you are looking for solid coverage.
  
• Crystal Glaze — both Duncan and Mayco have crystal glazes and Duncan also made a product called Color Burst Crystals (don’t think Mayco is going to make them). We used a glaze with small crystals due to the size of the egg, trying not to get crystals close to the bottom. They run when fired and will cause drips that make little feet if you are not careful.
  
• Shimmer Glaze — this is a sparkly glaze made by Duncan that requires four coats. For best coverage put over a base color of underglaze, which we forgot todo.
  
• True Matte Glaze — matte glazes do not run so you need to be careful to get smooth coverage when brushing it on. This lack of movement makes it ideal for majolica, painting designs over the unfired egg. Because we did our design with Concepts which is glossy, it will be a nice contrast with the matte finish on the background.
  
• Satin Glaze — satins are a little shinier than mattes and give a nice solid coverage finish to an egg
  
• Art Glaze — there are several different specialty glazes in the Duncan line with a variety of different names, depending on the effect. All have something going on besides a solid color. A lot of our art glazes are in our discontinued drawers.
  
• White Cascade — this produces a drippy white drape of color when applied over another glaze. We all remember the old brown mugs with the white flowing down over the edge of the cup. We put just a little on the top of our orange egg.
  
• Clear Cascade — you do not see this glaze, but it makes the other glazes flow. We layered two different glazes with cascade sandwiched in between. The results will be a surprise.
  
• Cobblestone — this is a texture glaze that shrinks when drying and even more when firing, causing the underlying color to show through. It is available in both black and white. We used white cobblestone over a dark blue glaze to get a good contrast. The heavier it is applied, the larger the cobbles.
  
• Appli-Kate — this is a textured product that comes in many colors and produces a sandy effect. It is made by Marchelle Burnham and her husband. We used it to paint an egg that had an embossed flower on it. First, we base coated the egg with concepts.
  
• Marbled Eggs — this is a technique rather than a glaze. We previously learned to use shaving cream to get this effect (with either underglazes or stains), but it is not really necessary, and this is a lot less messy to do. We placed several contrasting colors of Concepts on a piece of aluminum foil swirling but not mixing the colors. Then we rolled the egg in the color covering all of the surface. Quick and easy, it was done in no time and ready to fire. Since Concepts fire shiny we do not need to clear glaze the egg.

Non-fired Products

This week we are painting eggs with products that do not go in the kiln. Therefore, all eggs will be finished after they are sealed with a spray sealer.

• Azure Dotting — we use Azure brand alcohol to apply dots of color to an egg that has been clear glazed and fired. You can do an overall pattern, different colors in different sections, or try and draw a design.
  
• Azure Flowing — After applying color to our glazed egg, we drip alcohol over the top making the colors flow and run together.
  
• Acrylic Stains — Duncan Bisque Stains and Mayco Softies are both acrylic paints used to paint solid coverage on eggs, add your own geometric design, or paint a scene.
  
• Pearls & Metallics — We use Fashenhues brand paints to add what looks like a satin ribbon or metallic trim. They can be used alone or as added detail with stains.
  
• Glitter — We use a gel glitter that we purchase from Glaser. It comes in many colors and is less messy than using loose glitter. Because the gel dries clear, you need to basecoat the egg with color before applying the glitter. Again, this can be an overall effect or used to add detail. Always add the glitter last because it takes a while to dry.
  
• Mud — This is a textured product used to produce fine, lacy designs on your egg. It comes in white but can be tinted if you prefer color. The mud is applied by dropping several dots from a find tipped bottle, then using a liner brush to pull the dots into swirls and swishes, often creating flowers. The egg needs to be base coated, preferably in a bright color to contract with the white design.
  
• Watercolors — this is a set of paints used just like you did in grade school to add color to your design. Works best for detailed pieces, rather than solid coverage.
  
• Chalks — These are pastel chalk sticks that you might have used in art class. Color from each piece of chalk is applied to the piece with a brush. This technique gives a soft, delicate effect. It is new to me, but we have the chalks and will give it a try.
  
• Fashenhues — This is a brand of water-based oil paints used to paint detailed pieces. First paint the egg with two coats of basecoat color, either white or cream or one of each. Then antique the entire piece, usually with brown. Do small sections at a time, wiping back consistently throughout the piece. Then apply color using a new brush for each color and wiping back as with the brown. The effect is to leave a darker shade of the color in the detail and a lighter shade in the foreground.
  
• Antiquing — This is a technique using acrylics rather than a product and is used on detailed designs. First, you apply a base color to the egg. Then, using a mixture of 50/50 stain and water, you apply a darker color to a small area and wipe it back using a Viva paper towel or soft cloth. Or you can do small sections only, such as antiquing an embossed bunny.
  
• Dry Brushing — This is another technique with acrylics used to bring out detail. First, base coat with a dark color, Then, use a lighter color to bring out the detail by brushing across the top of the design. Use a stiff brush that has not been wet with very little color. Wipe the color off on a paper towel, paper bag, or coffee filter before applying. You can start with a very dark color such as black and use several layers of dry brushing to bring up the color, e.g., charcoal, grey, Snowcloud grey, and white. This technique is time-consuming and takes patience but produces a beautiful, detailed design.
  
• Egg Lathe — This is a new piece of equipment that holds your egg and lets it spin so that you can apply even banding, The technique would be used on a plain egg rather than one with an embossed design.

WOW! Another dozen eggs! I am not certain that we can get through all of these in an hour and a half but we somehow managed last week. (The additional time we were on the air was a commercial.)

Speaking of commercials — don’t forget to Follow the Carousel and do it before the start of class. At the upper right corner of this page is a box asking for your email address. Some lucky viewer will receive these two dozen eggs which can be mailed out right after those from Thursday’s session are sprayed.

Carol’s Carousel Creations

Where having Fun is why we come!

I just love bringing ceramic techniques to our followers as I am a teacher at heart and love to share. This “business” of ours has turned into an online shopping center, which was never our intention. Of course, COVID has helped to promote this and also caused in-studio classes to slow way down, technique workshops and party-van classes to come to a complete halt. So disappointing.

Help wanted with videos

• Is there some way to make the videos profitable?
  
• I have encouraged people to paint along with us but have only had a few purchases by viewers.
  
• Some ceramic teachers also broadcast on a U-Tube channel which I know nothing about.
  
• Help with the technology of using Facebook Live would also be appreciated. We always seem to have some kind of tech problem.

Upcoming Schedule

• 3/24 For our GLAZE CLASS next week, we will be glazing some Easter Eggs. Some ideas are crystals, marbling, cobblestone, cascade, Spektaclear, satin, True Matte, and art glazes.
  ……..
• 3/31 The following week, we will do more eggs but this time with NON-FIRED PRODUCTS. Ideas include acrylic stains, Azure alcohol markers, designs with mud, and watercolor paints.
  ……..
• 4/7 This is the first Thursday of April and our week for non-fired products. However, since we did non-fired last week (5 Thursdays in March) and will be broadcasting from the Midwest Ceramic Show we will clue you in on what is going on.
  
  MVCT (Mahoning Valley Ceramic Teachers) is demonstrating RUBBER STAMPS at the show using Duncan Concepts. We have a variety of stamps on hand including full-sheet texture stamps, strip stamps especially good for borders, shape stamps, and craft-store stamps. Paint is applied with a sponge dauber or roller.
  ……..
• 4/14 During PLAY WITH CLAY we will be creating a “cookie tree”. If you watched Michael’s demonstration, he made a snowflake tree and had a Shamrock tree in the background. We will be making a tree with butterflies & flowers and hope to have our Easter Egg tree ready to show you.
  ……..
• 4/21 UNDERGLAZES will be used to make handprint and footprint plates. Students often take the plate and some paint home to do the prints with baby, then bring them back to the studio for painting and firing. I find that most who do these make several … for Mom, Grandma, Aunt Betty, and so on. A great Mother’s Day gift and we also have our Daddy’s Grilli’n Plate for Father’s Day. You can do these with acrylic paints, it is just harder to wash off baby’s hands and feet.
  ……..
• 4/28 OVERGLAZES will be added to a pre-glazed project. Options include 14K gold (real gold), white gold, Mother of Pearl, and decals. All are fired to a much lower temperature than glazes, typically 017-020 instead of 06
  ……..
• 5/5 We will be STAINING our Mother’s Day tree using Fashenhues. We will be using what we call our logo tree because it is a better size than the small ones and we can add a greeting to the oval on the front.

“Follow the Carousel” Drawing

When you log into our website CarolsCarouselCreations.com it will open to the blog page. In the upper right corner, there is a box asking you to enter your email address. This will get you each week’s blog sent directly to your inbox, so you won’t have to log in to see it. It is just once a week, and no other emails will be sent. If we make changes or additions to the web page, we will note that in the blog and you can tune in if interested in the update.

Those who choose to “follow” the carousel page will be entered into a drawing for the complete set of Easter eggs painted on 3/24 and 3/31. (Maybe as many as two dozen, it depends on the timing during the Live broadcast.) The drawing will be held during the Live on 3/31and the prize will be mailed out right away. Please sign up and Good Luck!

Carol’s Carousel Creations

Where having Fun is why we come!

Please print out the Live schedule for March & April and add the dates to your calendar.
Then go to the website and “follow the carousel” to enter the drawing for ceramic eggs!

Orders

First, let me say that we are working on pouring carousel horses this week. All customers who have outstanding orders have already been notified. The large horses are difficult to pour and clean without breaking the legs so please continue to be patient with us.

New Molds

They are actually not new, but we have purchased a number of carousel molds to add to our collection from another ceramist. We will pick them up from her when we go to the Midwest Ceramic Show April 6- 9. If you see anything you want to order, send a pm or a text. I will try to add pictures to the Facebook post.

Doc Holliday 877 Prancer 6″ (picture looks like a unicorn to me)

Doc Holliday 877 Elephant 6″

Doc Holliday 850 Indian 6″

Doc Holliday 850 Goat 6″

Doc Holliday 852 Classic 6″

Doc Holliday 852 Calvary 6″

Doc Holliday 909 Polar Bear

Doc Holliday 909 Rose

Doc Holliday 923 Kangaroo

Doc Holliday 923 Parade

Gator 460 – Indian Horse

Provincial 762 – Indian

Provincial 763 – Armored

Doc Holliday 948 – Thoroughbred, 12″

Ceramichrome 1865

Ceramichrome 1953

Ceramichrome 1954

We will add these to our online catalog and to our Etsy store after we have them here.

Carol’s Carousel Creations

Where having Fun is why we come!

If you haven’t had the change, come on over to the studio and Ride the Carousel!

This tree is quite whimsical with curlicues and a flat face and back. (I will post some pictures on the Facebook page but for some reason this program no longer accepts my pictures.) It is a Mayco mold and Bob Morini of Mayco has created several seasonal variations. This is not a regular Christmas tree shape and thus does not lend itself to lights. However, some painters have been creative with adding lights on the curlicues or along the tops of the “waves” created by the curlicues.

Styles

Grinch: Most recently we have painted two versions of a tree — one with a face and one with a hand holding a Christmas ornament. Faux fur is added to the “hat” on the face version.

Santa: the Santa face is popular at Christmas with a little non-fired snow on his cap.

Elf: he could accompany your Santa tree.

Poinsettia: There is a cutout version where the flowers are cut out and the inside is painted red. This one does get lit.

Snowflakes: overall design in blues and white.

Snowman: I also did a snow lady with curly hair added.

Bunny: we will be painting an Easter Bunny tree this Thursday on Carol’s Carousel Classes Facebook page at 7:30 EST, The picture is not my own, nor Bob’s so I don’t know who should be credited for the design.

Scarecrow: Another of Bob Morini’s creations.

Witch: add some curly hair and a green face to get this adorable but scary Halloween tree.

Pumpkin: someone painted it orange and added a jack-o-lantern face.

Scene: you can paint anything you like. I did one called “Starry Night over Bethlehem” with punched-out stars and a silhouette town scene with snow. This one is lighted.

For more ideas:

• go to MaycoColors.com and search for jolly under projects
  
• search for jolly tree in Facebook
  
• check out the new Facebook page Jolly Tree by Mayco where folks are sharing pictures of their work
  
• follow the link to Carol’s Carousel Creations where this post is shared along with pictures of the trees described here.

Carol’s Carousel Creations

Where having Fun is why we come!

There is a tree for every season! Make some of yours jolly.

We did our second craft fair last Saturday and sales were still a little lite. Still looking for ideas to make this worthwhile. Your suggestions are appreciated.

1. Consignment with other shops in Courtyard Square such as pieces for wax melters, incense sticks, and dragon items; yarn bowls at the knitting shop
   
2. Updated items such as gnomes and old trucks. Other ideas?
   
3. PYOP table where customers can paint small and medium size pieces in stain or purchase bisque kits to take home.
   
4. Workshop where customers learn to paint a specific project, scheduled and advertised ahead of time

MARCH theme is St. Patrick’s Day

Carol’s Carousel Creations

Where having Fun is why we come!

Tell us what you would like to see in our booth
or what you think would be beneficial
and make participation worthwhile.

Welcome to February, the month of Romance and all things hearts! We posted a tree sale in January in order to clear our shelves of sample trees. It looks like a forest in the studio, with all the trees ready to ship out! Someone asked about Grinch trees, so we posted some pictures and got lots of orders for them. Those we have to make as well as several other trees that were sold, but then ordered by another person.

All of our Valentine trees were sold. So, we made three more for next Saturday’s show. Then did the logo tree with the Valentine Truck silkscreen during a live on underglazes, and a valentine spruce tree in red Fashenhues during another live. So now we have five trees ready to take to the show. We will go ahead and take pictures of these and post them on our main page, Carol’s Carousel Creations, in case anyone wants to purchase them.

Christmas items were surprisingly ordered in January. Besides more trees, we are making a Scottish Santa, a Santa the looks like it’s carved out of wood, a complete Holland Caroler set, and the Twelve Days of Christmas Bears. We also have folks asking to come to the studio and paint their own trees. And the gal who cleans greenware for me is spending all her studio credits on making trees!

UFOs are a must — that is, all those Un-Finished Objects that are sitting on your shelf. The beginning of the year is a great time to focus on either finishing those pieces or taking them home to do later. Right now (with COVID) shelf space is not an issue as quite a few students have not returned. However,when they come back students will be limited to only one shelf.

Carol’s Carousel Classes hosts Live events every Thursday at 7:30 EST. If you haven’t tuned in, you may want to take a look. Last week was the non-fired session (Fashenhues) and this week is Play with Clay. We will be making Brown Sugar Bears for the March show. Be sure to let us know you are there by posting in the chat or by giving us a like. Thanks for watching.

Carol’s Carousel Creations

Where having Fun is why we cone!

Earlier posts have mentioned the Second Saturday Artisan & Vendor Shows at Courtyard Square in Salem (scroll down for more information)

Themes: February Valentine’s Day, March St. Patrick’s Day, April Easter. If we continue there will be Mother’s Day in May, Father’s Day in June and I also heard something about a car event coming up.

For February

• For sale: Valentine Trees, plates, figurines, heart boxes, and much more.
  Prices vary.
  
• Valentine Craft Kits: Scottie Dog, Cute Kitty, or Comic Mouse; Small Heart Box or Picture Frame; Valentine Ornament in bisque ready-to-paint; Acrylic Paints & Paint Brushes, Paint Pallet, Stir Stick, & Water Bowl; Coupons: Kids Krafts & Free Adult Lesson; Valentine Candy.
  These kits are in baskets and sell for $15 each or two for $25. Great gifts for the kids.
  
• Brown Sugar Bears: actually, we made them as conversation hearts and a few bears. These are small pieces of bisque colored with underglazes that you soak in water, then put in brown sugar and other food products to keep them from drying out.
  This is a free gift for everyone while supplies last.

March

• Leprechaun Boot Bank, Leprechaun decanter, beer mugs, shamrock boxes, and more.
  
• Shamrock Craft Kits: ornaments, shamrock box, and figurine. Painting supplies are the same.
  
• Brown Sugar Bears will be available again in the shape of shamrocks.

April

Watch for it! We have lots of Easter items including baskets, eggs, figurines, and “chocolate” bunnies!

Carol’s Carousel Creations

Where having Fun is why we come!

We have been posting trees on Carol’sCarouselCreations FB page and sharing with another tree page. There are:

• Small sierra spruce
• Small Nowell 341
• Holland 705
• Funky Tree
• Faceted Tree
• Jolly Tree
• Large trees
• Grinch trees

Most of these trees are on the shelf ready to ship. However, we can still take orders if you see something that is marked sold.

It has taken several days to get them all photographed and posted. And another two just to respond to messages from customers and creating PayPal invoices for everyone.

Hopefully, we can get the in-stock trees shipped out the beginning of the week. Pouring the special orders will take some time as Jesse came down with a fever yesterday. We are all praying that it isn’t COVID and that he will be back soon.

Carol’s Carousel Creations

Where having Fun is why we come!

If you want to come and make a tree, get your orders in as soon as you can.