Earthborn Pottery
A little over a month ago, I had the chance to get together with some other bloggers from across the state and experience making pottery– like for real pottery at Earthborn Studios. With a wheel and all. I wasn’t intimidated. New social situation topped with demonstrating my lack of hand-eye coordination to the world? Easy breezy rice and cheezy.
Turns out, though, mastering the wheel of death pottery wheel is more of a hand-eye-foot-soul task. So, um, I didn’t excel.
But I did get this cool shot of me “throwing”:
I’m totally owning it. Right?
This was actually how it went down:
Tena Payne (pictured above), owner and head pottress (if that’s not a word, it totally should be) was a wonderful hostess and excellent teacher. She didn’t even banish me to the left-brain timeout room. And she should’ve. I was a hot mess with that wheel.
We got the chance to hand form a bowl out of clay. That was definitely more my speed. Mainly because it involved a lot of this:
Even with all the yacking and laughing, I turned out a pretty nifty bowl.
Turns out, throwing pottery doesn’t come with a spreadsheet, so I didn’t take to it immediately. What I did get, after I was at it a while, is that it’s something you have to feel. Given a few hours (without an audience of new blogger friends), I could totally get into it. And I think it would be great fun to get some girlfriends together for a little pottery party. They offer a Girls’ (or Guys’) Night Out for $35 a person (minimum of 6 people, bring your own drinks and snacks).
If your interested in a more serious undertaking, Cahaba Clayworks classes are six weeks long (meeting once weekly, from 6-8PM) and allow you unlimited use of the wheels for the duration of the class. The cost of the classes is $150 and usually includes a $15 fee for materials. But if you mention Bryants of Bham, Tena will waive the $15 fee! I’m thinking someone on your Christmas list would love this!
As a thank you for visiting the studio and telling all of our readers about the cool stuff going on at Earthborn, we got one of these lovely olive oil dishes of our very own.
Aaaaannnddd, one to give away to our readers.
So leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway. For extra entries, follow @BryantsofBham and @EarthbornStudio on Twitter. Don’t forget to leave a separate comment for each entry! We’ll draw for a winner on Friday, October 5th!
Big Community Yard Sale
The Saint Mark United Methodist Church (on Columbiana Road) is having a big Yard Sale this weekend. The doors are open Friday, July 20th at 7:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. and again Saturday, July 21st at 7:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. It’s just a giant gym of neat stuff. For cheap!
All of the proceeds, from this annual event, go towards helping build homes for folks in need down in Mexico. They’ve got everything from clothes, cabinets and books to toys, patio furniture and dishes. Lots of TVs, computers and electronics too. There are even bikes, stereos and magazines. The crowds were managable last year, but as cheap as everything is priced it all goes very quickly.
Recap GeekFest 2012
This past Friday night the Hoover Library hosted their first ever GeekFest. . . and it was fantastic! The library shut down at 6 p.m. and two hours later opened their doors to a crowd of folks. The fun began right from the start as Storm Troopers patrolled the crowd (something about looking for Droids).
Stormtrooper on patrol
These types of events need to do well in three areas – costumes, games for the kids and food. The Hoover Library and their volunteer force nailed all three. The costumes were great:
Web-slingers
We have many many more photos. . .
… And Speaking of Blessed Unions
Taste of the South is my favorite food magazine. It just happens to be published right here in Birmingham. I was so excited to see that one of my favorite food bloggers/cookbook authors, Christy Jordan (who also just happens to be right here in Alabama), is now a contributing editor for Taste of the South. Starting in September, she’ll have her own column and complete dinner menu of exclusive recipes in each issue!
She has all the details up on her blog now. She’s also giving away a ton of prizes all week to celebrate– if that’s your thing.
Also, while we’re on the subject, do yourself a favor and print out Christy’s Ten Minute Rolls recipe and keep it handy. Give your family the gift of carbs without having to mess with that fickle ol’ yeast business.