So, yesterday I said that my charms (at least the first batch) had fired up well. That was before I had washed them. While washing them, I realized that the charms hasn't sintered properly. For those of you unfamiliar with metal clays, when they are fired, the clay binder burns off leaving sintered metal - 100% metal. The binder did not completely burn off and two of the charms broke in my hand. This was NOT good. I had fired according to the directions on the website... I went to work and put a call in to Jackie Truty, the head of Art Clay World, US. Jackie and I discussed the firing schedule and possible causes, etc. All we could come up with was to lengthen the firing time, so I put a second batch in last night and I'll check it this morning and see if I got better results. I really liked working with the Art Clay Copper, but it needs to fire up correctly also.
Isn't this a great poster? It shows so graphically
that the Pyrenees await the riders.
Today is the last of the flat days for Le Tour de France before we hit four days of hell in the Pyrenees. Andy Schleck is still in the yellow, but due to a last minute attack by Alberto Contador yesterday, his lead has dropped to 30 seconds. Not a lot of time with the mountains still ahead of them. The crowds at Le Tour this year are larger and more enthusiastic than ever, and they are always totally crazy in the Pyrenees, so I'm really looking forward to Sunday through Wednesday, even though Chickie will be on vacation and I won't have a day off next week. I'll make up for it during the following weeks when I get my own vacation to do my workshop and conference.
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