I apologize for posting again so soon but OH MY GOSH IT'S HERE AND I'M JUST SO EXCITED!!!!  AH!!!  Check out my AWESOME kiln guys -- YOU did this!!  

Special thanks to Chris, Jeff, Don, and John for all their help getting this sweet baby up and running today!!!

And look -- Maddy still fits in her cubby!

THE KILN ARRIVES TOMORROW!!  I can't WAIT!!  I'm driving everyone around me NUTS with my obnoxious exuberance!

The small kiln I've been borrowing for duration of this project has been a real trooper -- firing around the clock to make parts and pieces.  And our progress has been pretty decent... several smaller backer gifts have been delivered and quite a lot more should be shipped out on Friday!! 

I could not be more pleased with the results of these pieces.  Check out a sneak peak at some of the final pieces below.  Lots more to come later, it's going to be a super exciting week in the studio! 

We picked up our glass and related supplies from Vitrum Studio in Maryland last weekend and the kiln is being built even as I type. Every sheet of glass and bottle of frit made it home to Buffalo safe and sound and is now ready for action. Below are some pictures of us getting ready to rumble: sheet glass is unpacked and put away; bottles of frit are getting test tiles made for the caps and being labelled; Maddy is thankful to be back in her own cave and out of the car. Consider the creation begun! 

We started working on our 4" backer gifts and they're looking AWESOME!!  So we thought we would share.  :)  Glass orders are started, the kiln company has been alerted, we're ROCKIN and ROLLIN!!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!  

Wow!!  This journey has done so much more than just raise funds to jump start my studio - the feedback and support I've received from each of you is worth more than I can ever say and I am so excited/thrilled/pumped to have this incredible arsenal of new knowledge to work with.

And the fun's not over yet - we still have 8 days to go!  Just in case you are wondering, 'what now?' here is some of what you can expect in the days ahead:

Anyone can still back this project - there is no cap to how overfunded we can be - but the cut off is absolutely Dec 8 at 6pm.  Now, there is just less stress about hitting our deadline and pledging becomes more like shopping.  (And it's a deal, to be sure - galleries charge a commission which is never less than 10%, more than I have to share with Kickstarter - so these pieces will be at least 10% more expensive once they reach your local gallery.  It may not be a black friday deal, and it's actually a gift for your awesomeness...)

What's important here is: don't stop spreading the word! This project was successful because of the ripples of emails and facebook posts and tweets that you all engaged in on my behalf and I am most grateful!  Keep telling your friends, strangers in the elevator, family, the guy at the snack machine...

What will I do with the extra funds? Assuming we raise a few hundred extra dollars, I will invest the extra funds in more glass and possibly more kiln furniture after covering the costs of my additional backer gifts.  If, due to some wave of completely brilliance, we go thousands of dollars over funding, I will invest in coldworking equipment.  The equipment I would be capable of purchasing at that point would depend on how many thousands of dollars we go over and it seems like we should just cross that bridge if we get to it.  But if we get there, oh, we will cross it!!

Again, THANK YOU - each one of you took a risk and engaged in this excited project with me and I am thankful, immensely thankful.