Two Week Wander....

Been two weeks since I posted.  I must apologize.  One of the main reasons, was I wanted to share what happened about one of my  terra cotta pots. Giddy I was as I shipped a pot to a high school classmate in Iowa. Thought I packed the pot all snug. Secure. And everything. 
I wait for my classmate to let me know said terra cotta had arrived.  Anxious I became, when the pot didn't show up on the day I was told--it went USPS. My class mate said not to fear. They lived in a rural Iowa town---all 800 of the population. I had a surprise for her, and I couldn't wait for her to get the box.  The main pot, was a 6 inch terra cotta--the one in this link--but I also put two 4 inch pots--one bluish and on purplish inside. Honestly, I didn't like the six inch pot, and I thought the smaller ones were much prettier. The package arrived in a couple extra days. I couldn't wait to hear from my classmate. Well, turns out two of the pots were broken.
Yep.
I gave the durability of the terra cotta more than it deserved.  My fault I didn't protect the the treasure enough in the box. Shoulda done a bigger box. Coulda bubble wrapped, padded them more. I am still heartsick this happened--this was my first shipping of pots. 
Bummed. Bummed. And more bummed.
My class mate said the surviving pot is pretty. I plan to send her another pot. Wrapped better. More secure. I admit to feeling like a failure.  What if this had been a paying customer and they received a busted terra cotta pot?  I am grateful my classmate was understanding. 
Learned alot on this lesson.
In the meantime, I will take a cue from the cat posed pretty here. She likes my terra cotta pots any which way--just as long as the pots don't detour her from the food dish....Stay tuned. 

Thursday Terra Cotta

This terra cotta 'drip drop' pot will
Shipped off to its new home tomorrow.
A few weeks ago, a high school mate said she wanted it--
I put off shipping it for a couple reasons--
One, my HS school mate wasn't going to be home for
A week or so to receive it. The other reason, I had such 
Conflicting thoughts to even send it to her. 
Why?
'cause I am really not feelin' the love for this pot.
Yea, yea. I realize I gotta ALL that 'cause 
It ain't really all about me.  :)
So as I type, this 6 inch terra cotta pot is all packed up
And ready to go, but in my usual way I missed 
The last mail pick up for today, hence tomorrow
Said terra cotta pot it will be on its journey to
Its new home in Iowa.
Stay tuned. 

Drip Down Terra Cotta

I gathered up my nerve and tried to do what I have seen online. Paint that drips down a terra cotta pot. What you see here is my first foray into what I call 'drip drop' painting. Wasn't quite sure what look I was going for, yet this is not really quite it, however the more I look at the pot. I kinda like it. 
***This is a 6 inch terra cotta, with Thompson's Water Sealant sprayed on the inside. I painted with all acrylic paints, including the white base. I flipped the pot upside down and then went--well--a little nuts. I did not  know different paints would do different things--like, oh, not drip! Hence so many colors. 
*** The lesson here is, use runnier paints, like Michael's store brand, or some Apple Barrel gloss paints. After seeing what happen, I'm sure you could dilute some of the thicker paints,with water, so they will drip. 
***The pot needs to dry for along time. I would say a good overnight to 24 hours. 
***For me, on my next terra cotta drip drop try, I won't use as many colors. Less could be more in this case.  And I'll spray with a gloss sealer to give it a more finished look. 
Stay tuned. 

Terra Cotta Three

Three pots needed some sponge paintin'

After I sprayed the insides with

Thompson Water Sealant and

Let that dry-

The 6 inch green and 4 inch blue terra cotta pots 

Are draped in Folk Art metallic acrylic paint while 

The 4 inch red pot is DecoArt acrylic paints.

After the pots dried, the inside and outsides

Sprayed with Mod Podge Gloss Acrylic Sealer. 

Should've painted just enough of the insides tho-

For a hint of color to show

To give a more finished look.

What I did today...

Left work early--unexpectedly. Nothing wrong. Since job transitions on Monday, I didn't want to spend the rest of my day doing nothing--again. My work has dwindled because of the change. Got tomorrow off, and my boss said, "Go ahead. Start your weekend early." No need to tell me twice. I was out the door almost before my "Out of Office" reply was set on my e-mail. This was 12:15. Treated myself to "The Lion King" at he Moving Picture show. I snuck in my bottled water and chips. I didn't bother with the 3D version of the movie also out. I was OK with Regular D. Just me, and a mom with her daughter in the Moving Picture Show. Loved It. Even after seeing The Lion King a million dozen times, I still LOVE it. I remembered the folks I saw it with back in 1994. I thought we would be chums forever. Not so much. Have no contact with any of them. Not even on Facebook. Nonetheless, I still chuckled at Timon and Pumba, and got teary eyed at the end... ah, Hakuna Mata! So on I went to munch on bar-b-que. Then the hunt for birch bark sheets. Yea, it exists. I just don't know where, except on an actual birch tree. Which, by the way, I had to Google to find out what s birch tree looks like. Did errands. Got a Mocha Frappucino because it was 100 F degrees in Dallas today. 71st day of the year of triple digits. And finally got home at the time I woulda got home if I'd stayed at work. My co-worker, The Captain, e-mailed me at home and said I shoulda stayed cuz it was "easy money." I had to draw the line. We had no work. Sure, we would have talked, laughed, and surfed the 'net like we've done the last few days--yet enough was enough. I had to get up and get on with doing something than just waste my time. Then this pot I posted. It is a 6 inch terra cotta pot, painted with Plaid's Folk Art acrylic black for the base. Then I used that nifty natural sea sponge just bought. Sponged the colors Metallic Pure Gold and Metallic Copper all over the pot. Kinda fun. And in conclusion--I really liked what I did today!