SHOW WEEKEND - 1ST OF THE YEAR

I decided to to a close by home show - The Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival 

Its April 2-3   - I have an indoor booth at the School ( good move as its going to be really cold this weekend) 

So if your out this way come and visit - I will be at the  Public School

As for my kiln -  a 1.67 part is holding me up with final electrical installation - a lug for the ground bar in the panel that will hold the larger wire 

 once the show is over I can spend time and get it installed hopefuly next week and start a test fire - I soooooooo cant wait 

Kiln is closer to installation

So finally today its slightly warmer so I went to the studio

first I needed to move out the super large cad table and cover it  with tarps outside  (my only option right now)

swept up

positioned the kiln where I think it will be its final spot

I had to undo the side sliders that hold the kiln lid up as we did not place back in when we moved it into the studio and I cant do by myself so the easy way was to undo the bolts and fix it - got that done quickly

then opened the kiln and saw so many of the elements hanging (which I saw when I bought)  so I took out the kiln shelves and put them to the side - and got my handy mapp gas hand torch with push button start and proceeded to heat the xiuka and spread them with pliers and pushed them back in - the only one I had to tighten was a lid coil -  so all nice and in position

I vacuumed and put my shelves back in with the 1" posts to lift them off the bottom for air/heat  circulation

a lot of the coils were dangling  and moving didnt help so I got those fixed quickly - just went around the kiln to ensure its all up to par 

Paragon has a great video on how to fix the coils  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zYmjtr0akk

lid had one dangling so fixed that 

You can see how big it is - 31" x 42"

this pic is my hand on the kiln shelves 

There are two 26' dia half shelves for each end  and one 13" x 26" shelf  so it reduces the size by  5 " 

 so kiln is set up ready to put electrical to it  

next is the electrical - have the 60 amp breaker - took the plug off that was on the end of the wire- they had a dryer plug on it  -they say better to be wired direct - and since breaker panel is right there why not -  so next is shut down my panel - see where the best place is to put the wire - - going to depend on the ground wire position as I'll have to lengthen that to get to the ground bar  from the breaker position - I will have to see

moved my shelf that I am going to put my molds on (right now has all the junk from the table tops )

plus I had to leave myself a path for next weekend - for the show to get my stuff out  and into the car

I feel like I finally got something done -  I may get that electrical in this afternoon when the sun hits and brightens up the inside without lights - depends on my mood - all the shoving and lifting etc has tired me out - so I  am on a break

Overpacked studio - getting the big kiln in place

Its was freezing on the weekend - was hoping for warmer weather - not fun to move things around in the cold - but did get the the large wooden bench out and shifted the cad table -  (that still has to come out I think - I just dont have anywhere for it right yet - going  to put tarps on it before moving it out ) will give me quite a bit more room to move around

so the kiln is to the wall - not quite right - and the cad table will be moved I hope this long weekend - I bought the wrong 60 amp breaker so need to return and get the proper one for my electrical panel

total mess right now - things all over from the bench  on all my tables and the huge cad table in the middle of it all along with a wire rack (you dont see off to the right ) 

come on long weekend - need to get this cleaned up and install the kiln before my 1st show of the year on April 2-3- not that I am making anything for this show - I just want to start playing.......

Glass Block

Another Item I am assembling more for my Christmas show booth  this year (yes thinking ahead) are glass blocks to make up those lighted presents

Normal  prices around here are about 8.68 per block  but I am grabbing some leftover blocks  someone has on Kijiji  at about 1.82 each  - very cost effective and more than enough for what I want  29 of them



the lighted blocks are great - going to do presents and vinyl sayings on them as well - here are some examples from the net



I have to drill the holes  -  Michaels carries these with the holes drilled and a little plug for 19.99  - I think I can for sure drill the holes  for the lights to go inside -

Still not into the studio

I ventured up to the studio on Saturday - was warmer but my  studio is in such a mess - I had to shift the shelving I am using for my molds over so that I could move all the stuff form the table top I have against the wall  that I need to remove for room for the new kiln

Seems Like forever but by Sunday morning I did have it all cleaned off - ready to take the counter top off and move out of the way -  and each night this week - clean underneath it  - larger boxes so may not take too much time but finding a place for the stuff is a pain - I have so much stuff

I went out and bought those plastic moving discs to put under the feet of the kiln so it moves easier (the metal on concrete just was not moving) I had a hard time shifting just so I could move around - but was able to get in and out to shift some things - putting a lot on that shelf  - which means I need to find a home for it some where

I went to the dump on Saturday morning and scored some Crown Royal bottles (I wash and clean when I brought back to keep up )  and when I went into town I went to the dollar store and bought one of those arm reaching thingy's that you grip and it will grab - about 3 ft long - helps retrieve out of the dumpster

My daughter also scored me some free old windows for me to use for painting

- cant wait to work on those either

So it seems I am trying to get going for the year - but I want to get this kiln in and working

I have the Maple Syrup Festival on  April 2-3  -  I will be doing the Painted Turtle in July and I submitted for the Hand Of Man end of October -  so I still want to look for some other things this year - the public school thought they would do a spring craft sale and another Christmas one so I am in for those if they have them

New toy coming for the studio

 

Yup - I keep saying I have pretty much all the tools I need  but ...........- its a Covington wet belt sander from from  Kingsley North

499.00 U.S.  very  well built

I accidentally got excited and ordered the wrong one - I bought the basic  that had no motor or water  fitting  or base -  but Kingsley North was great  (they were way too fast too) and got it back before it left the warehouse all packed -  and are swapping it out for the right one I wanted
So cant wait to get this in

The weather looks to be co-operative this weekend  so I may get some things changed around in the studio  and put away   and maybe get up there and prep a few things for the Maple Syrup Festival on April 1st and 2nd - get my booth ready and repack a few things

Revamped website

Working on setting up a new website - moving it over to GODADDY  - a huge savings for me
been with my current one for 16 years  and its time to bemore cost effective
going from 37.00 U.S t   4.99 per month  (but got first year at 1.99)  so working on the new site
so that is 37.00 u.s. = 49.28 cdn   - huge -  and I got a year at 1.99 per month only 17.88 for the next year a savings of  573.48    and when its normal at 4.99 a savings of  513.60  - so GODADDY IS THE WAY TO GO !!!!

can be viewed at :   http://deborahreadcom.godaddysites.com    till I transfer it over next week
takes up to 48 hours - I would do now but awaiting an email  so dont want to mess with it till then

and when done I will let you all know here and on fce book in case someone waiting on information
doesnt affect etsy