Unsuccessfully successful

Today was a love-hate day at the studio for me. I came in with the hopes of throwing a new mug but my time was consumed with a previous project I hadn't finished yet. I have this mug that I was planning on just trimming and waiting for the handle to dry out a bit before I could add it. Instead, when I picked up the mug, I realized how heavy it was because I made the bottom really thick. So, I instead spent my entire hour there carefully trimming and re-trimming the mug to make it lighter as well as appear a bit cleaner.

Then, as I was cleaning up and ready to put on my handle I thought "Wow! What a great idea it would be to press on a wood-like stamp onto my handle for pattern!" Well, I did exactly that and my stupid self didn't realize it would stick to the table I had laid it out to dry on. Needless to say, the handle stuck to the table. I plan on going back tomorrow and trying that again! Let's hope it works out.

Here's the amount I trimmed off (which might not look like much but it's an entire handful of clay off a mug). I hadn't realized previously how thick I made the bottom.

From left to right, just to give you an idea of the types of tools I use when trimming; large carving tool, pin tool, smaller more detailed carving tool.

The two carving tools give away their purpose in the name but the pin tool not so much. Basically what it's used for is a number of things in the process of making pieces. You can use it to trace a line across the mug while spinning to see if it's centered, you can cut off unwanted/uneven tops, and is also used for drawing in designs onto your mug.